Wei Changying's face turned blue, but Shen Cangfeng didn't know whether he should laugh or not. He patted his wife's hand to comfort her, shook his head to the lotus-picking girl, and said, "Thank you for your kindness, but I have already been married. You can take back your lotus seedpod." He then took the seedpod from Wei Changying's hand and threw it back to the basin.

The girl wasn't angry when Shen Cangfeng threw the seedpod back into her basin. She smiled as she said, "I can see how much you love your wife, and I dare not think of seducing you since your wife's appearance is drop-dead gorgeous, but I'm just an ordinary girl. However, you intended to pick this seedpod for your wife, but I picked it before you. If you are not happy about this, why not just take your seedpod back?"

She then said mischievously, "I have almost picked all the seedpods near here. If you want to eat lotus seedpod, this one's the last one. Or else, you'll have to go to the Furong Islet to get seedpods!"

She then picked up the seedpod and threw it to the boat.

Shen Cangfeng grabbed the seedpod and looked at Wei Changying. Wei Changying made a humph and threw the seedpod back to the basin as she said, "Who wants the thing you've picked? After all, I'm not very into this." Wei Changying's face turned sullen and ordered Cao Yingmei, "Let's go to Furong Islet. Don't waste time on our way there."

This time, the lotus-picking girl didn't throw back the seedpod. She put her head on her hand as she smiled and watched the boat leave. After the boat went far, and the lotus leaves covered the girl, Wei Changying was about to talk to Shen Cangfeng when they heard the girl singing. Her voice was sweet and beautiful, but the lyrics were "the trees on the mountains have branches, and the one I love was married".

Wei Changying's face turned blue. She gnashed and said, "How...how can she be so shameless?!"

Shen Cangfeng smiled and consoled, "Come on, she's just a lotus-picking girl."

Wei Changying glared at him and said, "She likes you so much that she even expressed her love to you in public. Of course, you will think it's nothing!"

Hearing this, Shen Cangfeng laughed and said, "I didn't expect that you care for me so much that you feel anxious even if I didn't react much to her." He then touched Wei Changying's chin and joked, "I thought you don't care about me because you often beat me and scold me."

Hearing this, Wei Changying thought that it was unreasonable to blame Shen Cangfeng, so she became gentle and pinched Shen Cangfeng's face as she said, "It's all this face's fault. Your face is a flower that always attracts bees and butterflies!"

Shen Cangfeng touched his face and then smiled as he said, "For so many years I've only heard people said that I'm handsome, and no one has ever said that my face attracts women like flowers attract bees and butterflies... Hmm, talking about attracting women, you are now attracted by me, aren't you? I wonder whether you are a bee or a butterfly."

Before Wei Changying had answered, Shen Cangfeng burst out laughing and touched Wei Changying's forehead with his finger. He said, "I suppose you are a little bee that will sting people when you are annoyed. You are very termagant!"

"Hey, I'm not a bee, you are! You are buzzing all day long, which annoys me a lot!" Wei Changying said as she spatted at Shen Cangfeng. However, she couldn't be angry anymore, and also burst out laughing. She touched her chin and asked, "There are lotus-picking girls here, and I wonder whether there are lotus-picking boys. I can also earn some seedpods for free!"

Shen Cangfeng said with a faint smile, "I haven't been to Furong Islet in summer, so I don't know. But even if there are lotus-picking boys, if they dare to flirt with you in front of me.... Although I didn't take my handy knife with me today, I brought my soft sword. I will cut their basins into pieces before they throw seedpods to you! See who dares to give you seedpods for free by then."

"How dare you talk about this?!" Wei Changying became angry immediately. She put her hand on Shen Cangfeng's waist and found that he really took a soft sword with him. She was so furious that she pinched Shen Cangfeng's ear and shouted, "Since you have a soft sword, why didn't you take it out when the lotus-picking girl was flirting with you? You felt pity for her, didn't you? But you can’t tolerate a lotus-picking boy flirting with me. You...you are an amorist!"

She then said with anger, "Why did I hesitate? I shouldn't have let her go because she is young. I should have beaten her up!"

Shen Cangfeng smiled and held Wei Changying in his arms. He begged Wei Changying let go of his ear, and said, "That girl has been working under the sun for years. Although she has a willow hat, her skin is still as dark as coal. Also, her appearance can't even compare with our maidservants. Why would I feel pity for her?" He said sweetly, "I didn't beat her because she praised that you are drop-dead gorgeous. I love hearing people praise you. I let her go because she told the truth, and she was clear that she couldn't compare to you."

Wei Changying sullen her face and said, "I don't believe you! That girl has dark skin, but who knows whether you are willing to try something new?"

"Something new?" Shen Cangfeng rubbed Wei Changying's cheek with his finger and said with amusement, "What's so new about her dark skin? If I want to see something new, I would rather go to the markets and see some slaves from Southeast Asia!"

When they were roughhousing, the boat had gone on a distance. It didn't go fast because there were too many lotus flowers and leaves. Wei Changying and Shen Cangfeng found that there were many broken stems on the water, but no lotus seedpods. It seems that the lotus-picking girl had told the truth—she had picked all the seedpods nearby.

Shen Cangfeng had finally made Wei Changying happy, and they drank the Agarwood drink together. Wei Changying looked at the lotus leaves and flowers which were taller than their boat’s sail, and asked, "How far are we from the Furong Islet?"

"It's hard to guess during this season," said Shen Cangfeng. He thought for a while and said, "Maybe we'll arrive after a while."

He then said, "If you are tired, you can...."

Before he was able to finish the sentence with "you can rest in my arms", the flowers and leaves around them moved, and a person showed up. She was also wearing a willow hat and short dress. As she looked into the boat through the window of the cabin, she smiled and said, "Sister Mei was right. A handsome young master has come to the Furong Islet today. He is so charming.... Sisters, come out and have a look! After all, it's rare to see such a handsome young man."

Wei Changying was about to get angry because of the first line. But she was surprised when she heard that the girl was calling other girls. Then Wei Changying noticed that several wooden basins came out, with some seedpods inside. Behind each basin, there was a girl who was no more than 16. Some of them were even 8 or 9 years old. They all looked into the boat cabin curiously and triumphantly....

"What a handsome young master! But there's no seedpod on your boat. Since you are so handsome, I'd like to give you some," said one of the girls. She giggled and threw several seedpods onto the boat. Shen Cangfeng caught all the seedpods with both hands and frowned as he said, "Ladies, I'm taking a boat trip on the lake with my wife. I don't want to be bothered."

"He's also a nice husband!" said the girls, "What a handsome and affectionate man! Whose husband is this? His wife is very lucky indeed."

Hearing the girls said that she was "lucky", Wei Changying tightened her fist and quickly considered whether she should ignore these shameless lotus-picking girls or fight against them for punishing them flirting with her husband. She immediately chose the latter. She grabbed the seedpods from Shen Cangfeng's hands, and threw one of them towards the girl's face!

Seeing Wei Changying grab the seedpods angrily, the girl didn't care at first. But when she noticed that the seedpod was heading to her face, she was totally frightened. The wooden basin was not big enough, and it was half-filled with seedpods— where could she hide?

Fortunately, she was young enough to respond quickly. She immediately jumped into the water before the seedpod could hit her, but the seedpod dived into the water right behind her with a big splash. See how harshly Wei Changying had thrown the seedpod!

"Sister Xu, are you alright?" The girls who had been joking around now were all frightened. They all rowed their wooden basins and checked whether Sister Xu was alright.

Sister Xu came out from the water with fear and held onto the edge of her basin. When she jumped into the water, she tilted the basin, so some of the seedpods dropped into the water. But now she had no time to care about the seedpods. She wiped her face and shouted angrily, "What an evil woman! We didn't do anything to your husband but flirted. No one really wants to be his concubine! You are so narrow-minded!"

Wei Changying looked at the girl coldly and crumbled another seedpod with her hand. She took the lotus seeds and said, "Go away now! Or I'll knock your teeth out!"

She then flicked the lotus seed with her finger, and then people heard a sound. The girls were shocked— the lotus seed was embedded into Sister Xu's wooden basin!

They were all terrified!

Since Wei Changying could embed a lotus seed into a wooden basin, it was kind enough for her to knock their teeth. If they really pissed off this harsh young madam, maybe they would lose their lives!

After Sister Xu had calmed down, she suddenly looked at Shen Cangfeng and said, "Young master, we don't have any bad intentions, and we even give you seedpods to show our kindness. Why is your madam so narrow-minded...."

Shen Cangfeng raised his hands and stopped her. He then said, "You should treat people as same as how you hope others treat you. You are still young now. After you get married, you'll understand how badly you are behaving today when someone else flirts with your husbands in front of you."

"What a cold-hearted young master," Sister Xu said. She then communicated with her companions with her eyes, and then said, "We know that you are from a distinguished family. But have you ever thought why we, as lotus-picking girls, dare to flirt with you? Don't you think that maybe we are not ordinary girls?"

Before Shen Cangfeng talked, Wei Changying lost her patience and shouted, "Who cares which family you are serving for?" After Wei Changying moved her finger, Sister Xu shouted out of pain and covered her mouth with her hand. Blood trickled down her wrist and mixed with the water, which looked horrible.

Other girls were terrified! One of them screamed, "We serve for the Crown Prince! How dare you!?"

"The Crown Prince?" Wei Changying was shocked. She thought these unruly girls belonged to a playboy. No matter whose maid they were, Wei Changying needn't to be worried because her status was high enough. But she didn't expect that they belong to the Crown Prince.... What was the Crown Prince's intention to keep these plain girls who always flirt with handsome men and make their wives envy?

Of course, it was not the moment to think about these. Even if Empress Gu's power had diminished, at least His Majesty didn't plan to abandon the current Crown Prince. Therefore, the Crown Prince was still as noble as usual, but Wei Changying had hurt his girls.... Wei Changying was thinking about how to deal with this situation when Shen Cangfeng suddenly said, "Mrs. Cao, be careful!"

Cao Yingmei responded with an "aye", and Shen Cangfeng suddenly stood up. Wei Changying felt the boat was tilting to his side, so she held the small table immediately. All of a sudden, she saw a blaze came out from Shen Cangfeng's waist and then returned to the sheath.

Only then did she heard the girls scream!

Wei Changying looked towards the girls with confusion...and she was shocked! The girls were covering their faces or foreheads with their hands, and she could see blood everywhere!

Shen Cangfeng put his soft sword back into the sheath and went back into the cabin, looking calm. He said, "It's nothing serious to joke with visitors, but it's evil for you to pretend that you are the Crown Prince's concubines and defame the Crown Prince! This is just a slight punishment. I'll let you go this time because you are still young. If you care about your families, you'd better behave yourselves!"