Wild Crimson Rose: Beloved Handyman Prince’s Courtesan Wife

"My apologies for the rudeness, Wangye. This subordinate had to make sure you weren't an imposter since your mask is well-known and it could be replicated to an extent." The guard bowed in apology and took it upon himself to lead the couple inside the shop through the crowd.

Seeig the mass of bodies that included men and women, thin and fat, young and old, Shen Tianyu thought it was a good idea to have an escort. She tugged Rong Jian's sleeve, looking up at him. Rong Jian looked down, feeling a tug on his sleeve and saw his Wifey looking at him. 

"Alright, please lead the way." Rong Jian looked at the guard before moving his gaze to the crowd that was behind his back. There were people shoving others out of the way without making any big movements. It might cause the couple to loose each other, ruin her clothes or some other accidents. Since he had the privilege to and a guard was offering, he would naturally choose the safer option. The guard asked them to stay put and hurriedly went to inform some of his coworkers. The guard soon came back with a few more military guards to meet up with them in the opening of a small and inconspicuous alley that allowed them a full view of the General Store, which was still blocked by the crowd. Th guards got into formation and surrounded the couple, carefully shuffling them forward.

"Ah!" As the group was approaching the crowd, they heard someone shout. They stopped, the guards gathering at the front in preparation. However, they soon found that this shout was not directed at them at all. From the crowd, a girl fell outside of the encirclement with her b.u.t.t hitting the pavement. She was dressed in decently luxurious clothes and askew hairpins in her hair. Her hair was done elegantly but the struggle in the crowd had undone it and now it was a mess. Compared to some of the others in the crowd though, her clothes were less expensive-looking and that was probably why they thought it was okay to push her out, resulting in her clothes being disheveled and her neckline being pulled more open than it was supposed to. The  girl looked ready to cry, probably never having experienced something like this in her life. But she was still determined enough to get up and attempt to dive back in again. Except the front of her robes opened further from her movement and her inner clothes were revealed. However she apparently hasn't noticed as a guard stepped in front of her and she eyed him angrily. Unfortunately she didn't have enough guts to start a fight with him so she could only glare. The guard motioned at his c.h.e.s.t, trying to make her look but her gaze turned questioning instead, staring at him.He pointed at her, then at his c.h.e.s.t again and that was when she looked down. She let out a shrill screech but immediately clamped her mouth shut, cutting of her scream, in order not to attract more attention and hastily fixed her robes. Holding the front of her robes so they wouldn't open up again, she nodded at the guard, this time in gratitude, before she dived back in, her face and ears completely red from embarrassment. The guard stepped aside, and though his face was as expressionless as usual, his cheeks had a light dusting of pink and his ears were the color of rubies. 

Seeing that the pair of VIP guests were not in any danger, the guards that were standing in front of the couple got back into position. Like an array, with the guard that first greeted them as the head, the group made their way through the more of human bodies. There were guards at their sides and behind in order to protect them from the pushback of the othe customers and anyone with ill intentions. The guards were working hard, blocking anyone from touching them while the couple was leisurely following behind their guide. After a moment of angry pushback from the humans in "line", some of them exclaimed in realization. 

"Isn't that Zhu Wangye and the woman he brought back?" Others calmed down to look more closely, through the gaps of the military men, to ascertain that oerson's claim.

"Eh? It is, it is."

"It's Zhu Wangye."

"Then the guards should have said so. Their pushing made me think it was some arrogant rich kid coming through."

"What's Zhu Wangye doing here?"

"What is Shu Wangye thinking, brining some woman of unknown origin here?"

"This is his brother's store, who are you to decide who he can and can't bring? You didn't actually delude yourself to think you had that right, did you?" Someone replied to the last comment with disgust.

However, the couple seemed as if they didn't hear the uttering she of the other customers nearby. Soon, there were girls that tried to get Rong Jian's attention by trying to talk to them or screaming Rong Jian's title. One of the girls came uncomfortably close to the group of guards, almost breaking through them. She wore a flowing green silk robe with embroidery of a whole garden of flowers on it. On her head was an mass of gold and silver hairpins that almost hid her hair itself. There were bracelets with precious gems and even some with refined demonic cores embedded in them, on her wrists and on her waist was a lacquered wooden plaque with the word "Bai" carved on it. The guards were wary of her but didn't seem to want to touch her, or rather, they didn't dare to.

"Zhu Wangye~" She cooed in a sickeningly sweet voice that even made goosebumps appear on Shen Tianyu's arms. Rong Jian clicked his tongue in annoyance beside her as he rubbed his arm through his sleeve. He probably got goosebumps from that too. She reached her hand through the gap in the defense of the guards and just when they were debating whether to grab her hand and who would do it, Shen Tianyu's hand met her's. She swatted her hand away, pushing it outside of the guard's circle and rubbed her hands on the hem of her robes, as if to clean them. Without looking at the girl, she turned back to Rong Jian and wrinkled her nose in disgust, even gagging as she wiped her hands even more vigorously.