My Childhood Days with Hong Lishen of the Kingdom of Saiunkoku

My childhood friend Hong Lishen is the most untouchable person in Hongzhou. Wherever he goes, he leaves a trail of destruction.

He always does whatever he wants and pays no heed to anyone. Well, anyone except his older brother, Hong Shaoke.

As one of the few people who grew up alongside him, I know just how hard it is to become his playmate. The children who tried to curry favor with the Hong family were always scared away by his endless pranks.

Watching them bawl their eyes out, he'd snort and say they were nothing special.

He's a demon straight out of hell!

Actually, I was one of those children at first. I only got to stay by sheer coincidence. As a member of a collateral branch, I went along just to accompany my cousin from the main branch. My cousin got scared off, but I stayed.

Over the years, I've helped him outwit the three Lan siblings, who tried to steal his brother's attention. I've also sneaked off with him to see his newborn niece Xiuli, and gone with him to Zizhou...

I've been a very devoted playmate.

I thought he'd repay all my hard work with plenty of gold and jewels. I never expected the demon Hong Lishen to give me his heart and ask me to be his wife.

Heaven knows, all I wanted was money!

*

Hong Lishen hates people who approach him because of the Hong family, just as he hates the Hong family itself. Because he despises them, he plays pranks on them and exposes their grand pretenses. But one person exceeded his expectations. Even with tears in her eyes, she stood her ground instead of trying to get away from him.

She was a young lady from a collateral branch of the Liu family, little favored by her relatives. She'd only come along to keep her cousin company after he'd been scared out of his wits.

Interesting.

Amused by the prospect of messing with her, Hong Lishen let her stay by his side.

Liu Shiwan was nothing like him.

If he was covered in spikes, Liu Shiwan was made of cotton, soft and fluffy. If you weren't careful, people could walk all over her.

Liu Shiwan was an idiot, but she was lucky for once, because she met him. He graciously accepted her, and every so often he would squeeze and knead that ball of cotton, making her show expressions she never did in front of others.

When he thought their marriage would naturally fall into place, he saw disbelief and astonishment on Liu Shiwan's face.

"What's with that look? Don't tell me you don't want to marry me?"

"It's not that. I just don't think I should be greedy. All I wanted was some gold and jewels."

"..."

She really was an idiot.

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