Chu Chen handed the lit incense stick to Li Xinyue, saying with a smile, "Your Highness the Princess, since you are so happy, then let you light these incense sticks."
Li Xinyue immediately shook her head upon hearing this, looking incredulous.
"Chu Chen, how can you do this? Shouldn't you be the one lighting the fireworks?"
Chu Chen scratched his head, somewhat speechless, and said, "Your Highness the Princess, you suggested playing with fireworks, but now that it's time to play, you're afraid?"
Li Xinyue seemed provoked by this and walked over to Chu Chen.
"Who says I'm afraid? Hand over that incense stick."
Li Xinyue angrily took the incense stick from Chu Chen and approached a firework. Her hands trembled slightly, but her eyes were filled with excitement.
Seeing this, Chu Chen quickly teased, "Your Highness the Princess, if you're really scared, it's fine. No one else can see anyway, so no one will laugh at you."
Li Xinyue shook her head, very firmly stating, "Even if no one sees, it's still not acceptable. It would affect my image."
With that, Li Xinyue rushed to the firework and lit it.
When she saw the sparks flying, Li Xinyue jumped up excitedly.
"The firework is lit, shouldn't we run quickly? Otherwise, wouldn't it be dangerous if it exploded near us?"
Li Xinyue said urgently.
Chu Chen smiled wryly and shook his head, "Your Highness the Princess, please don't worry, there's no danger. Those fireworks will fly away, just like the ones others are lighting."
Chu Chen pointed to fireworks in a certain direction and smiled at Li Xinyue.
Li Xinyue's attention was diverted by Chu Chen, and as she looked at the distant fireworks, the firework beside her suddenly exploded, startling her.
Li Xinyue quickly lunged towards Chu Chen, completely stunned.
"Chu Chen, what happened? Did the firework explode near us? I'm so scared, what should we do?"
Li Xinyue huddled in Chu Chen's arms, her body still trembling.
What had just happened was too unexpected. Li Xinyue was already subconsciously afraid of these fireworks.
Especially this time, these fireworks felt like they were going to be the death of her.
Chu Chen felt the soft, boneless body in his arms and couldn't help but feel a flutter of excitement, but he still tried his best to comfort Li Xinyue.
"Your Highness the Princess, it's all over. Look at the fireworks in the sky, aren't they beautiful?"
Hearing this, Li Xinyue quickly turned her gaze to the sky. Indeed, a brilliant firework was blooming there, and it looked very large.
Although Li Xinyue was a princess, she had only been out for excursions a handful of times.
Seeing that firework, she finally relaxed slightly and moved out of Chu Chen's embrace.
"Chu Chen, was that firework the one we just lit?"
Chu Chen nodded and said, "Yes, Your Highness the Princess. Would you like to light a few more? These fireworks are actually harmless, as long as we operate them carefully."
Li Xinyue watched the fireworks in the sky gradually dissipate, then her gaze fell back to the fireworks on the ground.
"These fireworks don't look scary, it's just that the noise is quite loud."
Having experienced the previous event and emerged unharmed, Li Xinyue's courage grew. She picked up the incense stick and began to light a second firework.
This time, the shape of the firework was slightly different from the first, but it was still floral.
Li Xinyue watched the firework shoot into the air and explode, her thoughts seeming to drift to the sky.
"Wow, these fireworks are so beautiful. It's just a shame they disappear so quickly, in just one or two breaths."
Li Xinyue shook her head, reluctant to let them go.
"Chu Chen, why don't we keep these fireworks? They might be very useful."
Although Li Xinyue said she wanted to keep them for a great purpose, Chu Chen could immediately guess what she was truly thinking.
"Your Highness the Princess, you don't want to light all these fireworks at once, do you?"
Chu Chen smiled wryly and watched Li Xinyue's performance, feeling it was somewhat comical.
Li Xinyue sneered, "What, are you the only one with money? Tell me, how much silver have you embezzled? Believe it or not, I'll tell the Empress right now."
Chu Chen quickly shook his head, "Your Highness the Princess, that's a huge joke. How would I dare to embezzle in front of His Majesty?"
While Chu Chen outwardly yielded to Li Xinyue, he was inwardly laughing heartily.
Although he hadn't embezzled, he had managed to win the Empress's favor, which could be considered the greatest form of "embezzlement."
However, he figured he was probably the only one in the world who could "embezzle" to this extent; anyone else would likely be beheaded.
"Your Highness the Princess, if you like these fireworks, after we finish setting off these few, we can hire a group of people specifically to make fireworks for you, what do you say?"
Hearing this, Li Xinyue became even more indignant. "You're getting ahead of yourself, aren't you? If the Empress knew I hired a group of people just to make fireworks, wouldn't she scold me for being extravagant?"
Although she said this, Li Xinyue's anger had actually subsided quite a bit.
After all, this also proved one thing: that their royal family didn't need to care about these external possessions.
"Alright, alright. I see you're just too lazy to carry these fireworks back. I'm in a good mood today, so I'll let you off."
Li Xinyue waved her hand, then bent down to the fireworks and lit three at once.
"Bang, bang, bang!" Three consecutive sounds, and three fireworks shot into the sky and exploded, illuminating half the sky.
The continuous fireworks had attracted the attention of most of the tourists on the lake to the two of them.
"Wow, look! They're setting off fireworks on that boat. They're so rich."
"Even from this distance, I can tell at a glance that the man and woman on that boat must be of noble birth. Do you believe me?"
"When their boat docks later, let's go over and see if we can try our luck."
"Try our luck at what?"
"Heh, of course, to see if the young master on the boat fancies me. If I'm fancied by such a noble young master, I'll be able to soar to the heavens and become a phoenix."
"That makes sense."
A group of young women stood by the lake, looking at the boat in the center of the lake, their eyes filled with endless fantasies.
Chu Chen and the princess, however, were unaware that their actions had attracted so much attention. They set off more than half of the fireworks in one go, and then Li Xinyue's gaze turned to the ten sky lanterns.
"Chu Chen, I suddenly have a fun idea. Let's release these sky lanterns first, and do it quickly, all of them."