V1: Ch 21 -35
CHAPTER21: Grind the ink for this prince
Behind the earnest expression, Xiao Hua had long been panicking when her memorization skill could no longer keep up. They had passed by several paths, but to her, they all looked the same! How on earth would she remember where was where?
"This is the prince's bedchamber." An Jing stopped before a door, her head lowered as if paying respect.
Xiao Hua was unsure what was going on when the door opened from inside. The Third Prince stepped out of the room in light blue attire, which made his red jade thumb ring that had never parted from his thumb become the main attraction. A eunuch with white hair and eyebrows followed behind him with a slight hunchback.
Xiao Hua immediately realized her mistake and quickly followed An Jing's pose, dipping her head low.
"An Jing, send Eunuch Sun to the gate with the new set of teacups that this Prince got from the Munzhu Country."
"Yes, Your Highness." An Jing stepped ahead until she was at the front where she
could be the guide. "Please, Eunuch Sun."
"The Empress would be happy with how filial Prince Long Zhu is," Eunuch Sun said with a brief smile before following An Jing at a slow pace.
"Come into the study." The Third Prince strode away leaving Xiao Hua standing alone.
Tian Zi appeared behind Xiao Hua silently and nudged her forward. "Elder Sister Hua, quickly follow our prince!"
Xiao Hua's short legs tried to keep up with the Third Prince, whose legs seem to be longer than an average sixteen-year-old's. But much to her surprise, Xiao Hua could catch up to him. Could it be..the Third Prince had slowed down his pace for her to catch up?
Pei! Xiao Hua, don't think too much!
She knows very well that men love beautiful women, with big boobs if possible.
Xiao Hua stared down at her current flat chest and sadly lamented that she possessed neither. It would not be good for her to dream about the impossible of being together with this beautiful man.
Xiao Hua sighed silently, lamenting that in this world, she would have to hold tight onto her heart again. Back in her world, she had to keep a tight hold on her traitorous heart whenever her handsome boss was around.
That man is like a walking temptation!
She had seen many ladies jump on him, but he dodged them all as if females were his allergy! But he avoided those men that had jumped on him as well.
Le Xiao Ting was one of the ladies in the workplace that would cheer inwardly when their boss got jumped by a man. She may be the type that would be jealous when a beautiful lady gets close to their handsome boss, but it was a totally different matter altogether when it was a man that did so!
It stirs up their fujoshi [13] fire! (4w<)
The Third Prince stepped into a room, where the door had already been parted open by servants.
"Xiao Hua, come in," the Third Prince said when Xiao Hua stood outside of the room, unsure if she should enter or not.
The smell of ink and paper filled her nose when she entered the room cautiously.
The Third Prince had already sat down on a chair behind a wide, long table. With her limited eyesight, she could roughly guess that the room was spacious with plenty of shelves that held things that she could not see.
"Grind the ink for this prince," The Third Prince ordered.
"Yes, Your Highness." Xiao Hua moved closer to the table and spotted an ink stick with its sides filled with gold-lined dragon pictures. Beside it was a thick inkstone with Chinese characters carved onto its surface.
It sounds easy, so it should be easy, right? All she needs to do is to rub the ink stick back and forth on the stone, right? (@_@)
"Stop," the Third Prince suddenly said when Xiao Hua had reached out to grab the ink and was about to grind it.
"Y-Your Highness?"
"Tian Zi, teach Xiao Hua how to do it."
Xiao Hua turned to Tian Zi, who immediately appeared as soon as her name was mentioned. "Elder Sister Hua, you must drip two drops of water onto the inkstone first."
"Oh!" Xiao Hua could see the logic behind it. The ink stick was dry, it needed water to moisten it so that it could produce ink.
"Here, let me demonstrate to Elder Sister Hua first." Tian Zi picked up a clean brush and dipped it into a small cup filled with clear water that was beside the ink-stone, and tapped the brush until two drops of water landed right in the middle of the inkstone.
"Now, we can start grinding" Tian Zi picked up the stick and started grinding it on the water surface in a clockwise direction. "See? The ink is starting to appear." Xiao Hua nodded, her eyes glued to the ink in awe.
"Now, Elder Sister Hua try it."
"Okay!" Xiao Hua took the inkstone eagerly. She followed the clockwise movement and started grinding but very soon she found that it was not fun at all.
The ink only melted a little even after she had ground so much and her hand was getting tired. But she did not say anything and continued grinding against the stone, occasionally adding a few drops of water in hope that more ink would appear quickly.
The Third Prince nodded. "Not bad." He picked up a brush and dipped it with the fresh ink. He started writing on a paper and Xiao Hua had to peel her eyes away from the prince.
Le Xiao Ting's boss was a picky person and never praised anyone for their task. He did not care about the process as long as they managed to produce the result that he wanted. His rewards were always in the form of company trips or year-end bonuses.
It looks like the Third Prince was an appreciative person. Not a bad boss at all! But it was rather unfortunate that this boss was one of the cannon fodder for the hero and heroine. What a dark future for employee Xiao Hua to work for employer Prince Long Zhu whose company would be destroyed in the future.
Perhaps... she could try to change the Third Prince's future? But that thought was even more depressing because she did not know where to start.
By the time the Third Prince finally stopped writing, he had filled up countless sheets of papers with neat words. Xiao Hua's arms were dead tired and her legs trembled like a newborn baby deer that just started walking. Le Xiao Ting had never done serious hard labor and Xiao Hua had only brewed tea and lifted small kettles filled with water. Even if the previous Xiao Hua had done any hard labor, that one month of easy labor had softened her up.
"Your Highness, lunch is ready to be served," Tian Chi announced from the door-way.
The Third Prince stood up and due to Xiao Hua's blurry eyesight, he seemed to have glided towards the door. If it was night-time and the Third Prince was dressed in a white robe and flowing long hair, Xiao Hua would have mistaken him for a ghost.
Tian Zi motioned Xiao Hua to follow the Third Prince before following behind Xiao Hua. They stopped at a room next to his study and the Third Prince took a seat in front of an empty roundtable.
"Serve," the Third Prince ordered and a few maids holding onto meal boxes entered the room and placed them on the table. They removed the lids and transferred the expensive-looking porcelain plates containing delicious-smelling dishes onto the table.
"Prepare for another set," the Third Prince ordered.
The servants found the order to be strange, for they had not received any news that there would be a guest joining the Third Prince for a meal. Even if they were curious, they did not dare to ask.
When another set of chopsticks and a bowl of white rice was prepared, the Third Prince turned his head to Xiao Hua's direction. "Sit down."
At first, Xiao Hua thought that a guest had entered so she turned to the door. When she saw no one was there, she turned to look at the Third Prince and noticed he was staring at her direction.
"Elder Sister Hua, our master is talking to you," Tian Zi whispered beside her.
"Me?"
Seeing that the Third Prince was still facing in her direction, she hesitantly stepped forward. When the Third Prince did not say anything to stop her, Xiao Hua slowly walked towards the table.
"Your Highness?" Xiao Hua asked meekly, her legs feeling weak due to fear.
Is she going to be his food tester? Or is it called a poison tester? Is this her punishment for last night's slap?
"Sit down and eat with this prince. This prince would not be able to finish the food."
Xiao Hua: "."
Why did this situation remind her of Long Lian and herself? Xiao Hua was the one that asked Long Lian to finish the food for her last night, and now she was asked to finish the food for the Third Prince today. Xiao Hua carefully sat down on an empty stool, not daring to relax her posture.
Shit! What is she supposed to do now?
This situation was even more stressful than when Le Xiao Ting had to dine with the rival company's CEO! She remembered when her boss and the rival kept shooting laser beams from their eyes at each other above her head. If they had not stared at each other with great hostility, Le Xiao Ting would have gladly imagined them flirting with each other instead.
"Pick up your chopsticks." Xiao Hua's hand had already picked up the chopsticks
before her mind could understand the command.
The Third Prince had already surprised everyone in the room when he told Xiao Hua to eat with him. Their master did not need a food tester because no poison could slip under his radar. Now, the sight of their prince using his own chopsticks to personally place a few of the dishes onto Xiao Hua's bowl nearly drove them into alarm.
Your Highness, your personal maid is the one to serve you, not the way around!
The Third Prince smiled at the dumbfounded expression on Xiao Hua's face. "Eat." Xiao Hua obediently shoved food into her mouth without tasting it. Her mind was in chaos and she was in no mood to taste it.
In the novel, the author had the character Xiao Hua fall in love with the Third Prince but he hardly noticed Xiao Hua's existence. To him, this little girl was his younger sister's maid, nobody special. So why would he treat a non-special person this well?
The one that had sent her into this world, listen up! Come out and this young lady promises not to kill you!
CHAPTER 22: Don't you wish to see everything, even this prince, clearly?
Xiao Hua was originally worried about what to do with the food when she could not finish it all. But to her delight, the Third Prince's appetite was the same as Long Lian's.
Both of them possess a huge appetite! Thanks to his spacious stomach, Xiao Hua did not need to stuff herself to death.
The food served on the table was enough for three people!
Xiao Hua scowled at the Third Prince's slim figure. How could he and his younger sister retain their figure with such a large food consumption?
Xiao Hua had long ago stopped eating and only moved her chopsticks around to look as if she was eating to avoid the Third Prince stuffing her with more food. When the Third Prince finally stopped eating, Tian Zi came over with a bowl of water and a cloth and whispered to Xiao Hua quietly. "Elder Sister Hua, the task of cleaning His Highness' hands will be handed to you."
Tian Zi gave the task to Xiao Hua because she was the Third Prince's personal maid, and since the prince had been generous enough to share a meal with her, she should do something in return.
Xiao Hua felt a bit embarrassed as she took the cloth and soak it into the lukewarm water. She squeezed out the water before tentatively reaching out to hold his hands, which he allowed, and carefully cleaned them.
Wow! His fingers are slender!
Compared to her own hands, the Third Prince's hands looked more feminine.
When the chore was done, she moved away before handing the wet cloth to Tian Zi. As a maid, she should be the one that had been taken advantage of but why does she feel as if she had taken advantage of the Third Prince instead?
"Your Highness." Tian Chi saluted at the doorway.
"What is it?"
"Eunuch Xiang is here to deliver a message from the Emperor."
"Father Emperor sends Eunuch Xiang? Invite him in." Tian Chi bowed and left.
"Tian Zi, have someone bring in the appropriate tea set. Use the tea leaves given by Mother Empress from my last visit. Xiao Hua will brew the tea."
"Understood." Tian Zi assigned one of the maids standing guard outside of the room to get what was needed. The tea set arrived at the same time as Tian Chi returned with Eunuch Xiang.
The Third Prince stood up to welcome Eunuch Xiang, who was deeply touched by his gesture. The middle-aged eunuch had gone to the Second Prince's manor earlier to pass the invitation from the Emperor personally. Yet the hospitality between the Second Prince and the Third Prince differed vastly.
He was forced to wait a long time before the Second Prince could pull himself away from the business that was left unattended during his service in the battlefield. How-ever, the Third Prince had his servant send him right over to meet him and even stood up to receive him.
The tea set was placed on a side table and Xiao Hua quickly brewed the tea. Since the Third Prince had spoken, even if she wanted to complain about her lack of knowledge in brewing, it was too late.
The guest was already here!
Xiao Hua filled the teapot with two teaspoons of tea leaves before pouring hot water into the teapot until it was filled halfway. She used a chopstick to spin the teapot's contents a few times before pouring the water away along with the dirt that had stuck onto the tea leaves. After that, she poured clean hot water into the teapot until it was full.
Now let's wait for a bit for the flavor to release from the tea leaves!
Xiao Hua could only follow what her mother had done from what she could remember. Her mother always brewed tea during their weekend reunions and Le Xiao Ting never complained. Her deceased father loved tea, and Le Xiao Ting knew that her mother drank tea as her own way to remember her late husband.
Le Xiao Ting hoped her mother was doing well even without her around.
"Third Prince, the Emperor has sent this servant to pass on the invitations to every prince. The Emperor wishes to have a family dinner tonight, as His Majesty laments that it has been a while since he has sat down and properly talked with his royal children."
"For Father Emperor's personal eunuch to personally come to deliver the invitation to this prince is an honor."
"This servant only obeys the Emperor's command. This one still needs to deliver the Emperor's invitation to other princes. Please excuse this servant's rudeness, Third Prince."
"Then this prince shall not delay Eunuch Xiang any longer or else the invitations will not reach the other Imperial brothers in time. Tian Zi, escort Eunuch Xiang out with a warming jade."
"This lowly one does not dare accept such precious treasure." Eunuch Xiang immediately refused. Warming jade was just like its name. It produced gentle heat that helped to warm one's hands during winter. There was no winter season in the Guilin Kingdom, but today's wind was colder than normal days.
"A precious treasure needs to have an owner and it would be a waste not to use it. This prince wishes for Eunuch Xiang to have it. The day is chilly, and your body is not as tough as before. You must take care of your health to continue serving Father Emperor."
Eunuch Xiang knew that even if the Third Prince had said it was for the Emperor's sake, the prince still showed genuine concern for him.
"This servant humbly thanks the Third Prince for his generosity and will treat the treasure well." With a respectful salute, Eunuch Xiang followed Tian Zi out.
"Master." Da Liu suddenly appeared inside the room, causing Xiao Hua to jolt in surprise. It was lucky for her that she was not holding onto the hot teapot or else she would have spilled the content all over the place, herself included.
"What have you found out?" The Third Prince asked as he returned to his seat and looked towards Xiao Hua.
Xiao Hua blinked in realization. She was not supposed to be here, listening to what was supposed to be a secret. "Please excuse Xiao Hua."
"Xiao Hua, serve the tea for this prince," The Third Prince said, stopping Xiao Hua from leaving and reminded her that she had forgotten to pour tea for him.
"Da Liu," The Third Prince called out as if to remind his guard to speak. Da Liu glanced at Xiao Hua for a moment before turning back to the Third Prince.
"The Emperor is angry that the Second Prince insists on having Fifth Miss Liu as his Princess Consort. The Emperor invited all princes and the princess tonight because of this issue."
"Oh?" The Third Prince leisurely sipped the tea, and let out a satisfied sound, his eyes gleaming in pleased surprise. "Xiao Hua is good at brewing tea."
«This servant does not dare to claim it. Xiao Hua had never learned the art of tea brewing." The Third Prince smiled with his mood well. "This prince is very satisfied. From now on, you will brew tea for this prince."
"Yes, Your Highness."
With this, she had already made him satisfied? Xiao Hua was now curious about how tea normally tastes here. All she got to drink every day was water as tea was not something a servant could drink. Tea leaves were surprisingly expensive unless they hunt for the tea leaves themselves.
The only time she tasted tea was during that time when the Third Prince nearly choked her with tea. However, at that time she had not properly tasted it, too busy swallowing the contents down her throat to survive.
The Third Prince's eyes shifted to Da Liu, telling him to continue.
"This servant has got some information about Miss Liu. She is a concubine born, the fifth young miss. Her father is a merchant, often travelling around, leaving his main wife to deal with the household. About two months ago, Fifth Miss Liu was kidnapped by the men hired by her elder legitimate sisters, with orders to kill her. Fifth Miss Liu managed to escape by killing them all and met the Second Prince by chance."
"Hmm. You've done well Da Liu."
Xiao Hua remembered reading that the heroine had been transmigrated into the book for quite some time and exchanged blows with her vicious legitimate-born sis-ters. Due to the heroine's suddenly strong personality, the sisters felt threatened as their father begin to pay attention to his previously stupid daughter that had suddenly grown a brain filled with intelligence.
When they heard their father wanted to bring the heroine to the merchant market, the evil sisters planned something malicious. On that day, the evil sisters had hired assassins to separate their father and the heroine before making the kill, intending to cover the true reason for her death by using the wild animals as the scapegoat.
Obviously, the heroine escaped as she was a top mercenary that had killed countless targets in her original world. It was not a challenge to her when she dealt with those assassins. Her evil sisters had underestimated her and only sent low-grade assassins to deal with her.
"The Emperor intends to have all princes give their opinion on the Second Prince's insistence on having fifth Miss Liu as his Princess Consort."
"Did you manage to drop it?" The Third Prince asked.
"Yes. Eunuch Xiang had picked it up and delivered it to the Emperor."
"Good. I want you to go to South Guilin Village to see if there is new information. Have Xiao Liu, Da Bei, and Da An get ready to enter the palace tonight with me."
"Understood, Master."
"Dismissed." Da Liu disappeared, leaving the Third Prince with a beaming smile and wickedness shown in his eyes. Xiao Hua originally understood what they were saying but got lost in the last part of their conversation.
Is this the famous 'Behind the Scenes' of the novel that the author decides not to mention because it's not important?
Tian Chi returned and the Third Prince immediately tossed a new order to her.
"Tian Chi, find An Wan and have her prepare to enter the palace with me later."
"Master, will there be a second maid?" Normally the Third Prince would at least have two inner maids around him, so why would he only ask Elder Sister An Wan?
"The second one will be Xiao Hua." Xiao Hua and Tian Chi:.."
Idiot Prince, don't just decide on a whim!!!
"Do you want to fix your eyes?" The Third Prince asked Xiao Hua a startling question.
"Huh?" Xiao Hua responded foolishly.
"The cure for your eyes will be in the palace tonight. Don't you wish to see every-thing, even this prince, properly?" The Third Prince's voice was slightly husky and Xiao Hua's heart quickened a bit.
"Yes."
The Third Prince smiled. "Good."
...Oh, did she answer without thinking again? This Third Prince bewitched her again!!!
CHAPTER 23: Kill me with pink?
Si Si was assigned to help Xiao Hua dress up appropriately to avoid embarrassing the Third Prince. Xiao Hua's outfit for tonight was already prepared and waiting in her room. With her experienced touch and sharp eyes, Si Si confirmed that Xiao Hua's dress was made with high-quality cloth.
After making sure her jealousy was hidden properly, Si Si announced softly,
"It's done, Elder Sister Hua."
Xiao Hua nodded absentmindedly and walked out of the room, with Si Si leading the way. Leaving her body in autopilot, her mind started to dissect what the Third Prince had said. He told her that if she entered the palace tonight, her eyesight would be cured. Le Xiao Ting had no knowledge of any magical object that could heal in the palace at all.
The only thing, or person, that had the power to heal was Liu Chu Chu, the heroine!
The knowledge of her ability to heal was kept a secret until the day of the annual competition. It was because, on that day, Liu Chu Chu would heal the poisoned Em-peror. After that, Liu Chu Chu would become famous in the Guilin Kingdom and everyone would want to be friends with her.
Surely the Third Prince did not mean the heroine? But if so, how did he know about this? Could it be the Third Prince..... was no longer the original Third Prince?
She shook those ideas away. She should not just assume everyone would be a transmigrator like her just because they acted differently from the novel. It was more likely that the Third Prince had spies around the Second Prince and learned about the heroine's healing ability.
"Elder Sister Hua." An Wan stepped beside Xiao Hua, who was left waiting beside a six-seated carriage with two huge white horses in front of it.
"Sister An Wan," Xiao Hua greeted politely but her eyes were not at all restrained in scanning the other girl's attire.
An Wan was dressed similarly to Xiao Hua, wearing a light pink dress with small flowers sewed at the sleeves and at the end of the skirt's length. Both of them had their hair pinned up with real flowers that were pink in color.
They looked like flower girls that would follow the bride down the aisle!
Her eyes were filled with appreciation as she secretly glanced at An Wan. An Jing might have been the most beautiful maid Xiao Hua had seen in this world, but An Wan's beauty could be ranked second!
If that person was an ordinary man, An Wan would have done something to stop the shameless glances, but this was Elder Sister Hua, a fellow female with a higher position than her. Without any choice, she decided to bear with it but a seed of doubt had already been planted in her mind.
It was a normal occurrence for An Wan to see many ladies of any age stare at the Third Prince with undisguised lust and greed in their eyes, resembling a pack of hungry wolves. They could not peel their eyes from his divine form and, like a predator, tracked the Third Prince's every move.
An Wan had never seen Elder Sister Hua stare at the Third Prince with inappropriate eyes. She would always stare down, giving off timid and nervous feelings whenever he was around. On the other hand, she would daringly stare at Princess Long Lian and Sister An Jing. Now, she even stared at An Wan!
Could it be that Elder Sister Hua...towards females?! {(O_0)
But the truth was actually simple. Xiao Hua refused to look at the Third Prince to prevent the risk of doing embarrassing things. The Third Prince's beauty fits the definition of hazard to health in the workplace! Seeing her boss often did not improve her immunity!
A man in a suit has a different sort of attractiveness than a man in traditional clothing.
An Wan felt uncomfortable with Xiao Hua's stare and decided to move her attention away from her by giving her a bit of advice. "Do not speak unless the Third Prince tells you to. Follow my movements and pay attention to your surroundings. There are many that wish for the Third Prince's failure and as his inner maids, we must not be a burden to our prince."
She was worried when she heard Elder Sister Hua would be entering the palace with them. With no training and bearing of a first-class maid, Xiao Hua would be a laughing stock and threat to the Third Prince's noble image!
An Jing was the only inner maid that could advise the Third Prince without getting punished. But An Wan could not find An Jing anywhere after searching for a long time. Without a choice, she had to make sure Elder Sister Hua stayed at her side from the start to the end.
An Wan's sharp eyes caught an elegant figure walking towards their direction. She removed all of her worries from her mind and changed the expression on her face to reflect nothing but calmness before giving a proper courtesy.
"Your Highness, everything is ready."
Xiao Hua's first reaction when she saw what the Third Prince's attire was...
Momma! I'm blind!
What is this color!
Hot pink?!
Kill me with pink?!
Xiao Hua wanted to look away but her eyes were glued to the shocking pink. It was similar to one knowing that something would end in disaster but could not stop themselves from continuing to look.
"Xiao Hua seems to like this prince's attire. When we return, this prince will give you a similar set." The Third Prince was amused when he noticed his little maid could not peel her eyes away from his body.
"No!" Xiao Hua shouted in repugnance. It was not that Xiao Hua disliked pink but the shade of pink the prince was wearing was too...adventurous!
Si Si and the other servants were shocked at Xiao Hua's attitude. This was the first time Si Si had seen the prince up close. She felt that the color of the clothing was too feminine, but Si Si did not dare criticize it because it looked good on the Third Prince.
Yet this silly maid dared to refuse His Highness' goodwill!
Si Si's eyes flashed with joy. With this, the stupid girl will be punished!
Realizing how rude her reaction was, Xiao Hua panicked. With a soft thud, she kneeled down in front of the Third Prince.
Fuck! My knee hurts! (@ @)
Xiao Hua bowed her head until it touched the ground. "This servant does not dare to wear it! Only the Third Prince's unparalleled figure could match it! For a servant to wear clothing similar to their master is an offense to the hierarchy system!"
Xiao Hua did not know what she was saying, but it was fine as long as she was praising the Third Prince.
A soft, enchanting chuckle filled her ears before Xiao Hua was lifted up from the ground by her armpits.
This position again...
Everyone's eyes were wide open as they watched their prince have his personal maid sit on his left arm. His right hand patted the dirt away from Xiao Hua's skirt that had gotten dirty from when she knelt.
Did they get the facts wrong? Perhaps Elder Sister Hua was not their prince's personal maid but actually his hidden concubine?
"Xiao Hua is better suited in blue," The Third Prince commented thoughtfully, which caused Xiao Hua's scalp to feel numb.
Regardless of what happened that changed his personality, everyone referred to him as the Third Prince. No matter what, this guy had the power to kill her without difficulty!
"Your Highness has excellent judgment," An Jing, who appeared from nowhere, praised the Third Prince. "This servant will prepare a new set in blue."
The Third Prince nodded in approval. "Make a few more sets with different pat-terns."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Xiao Hua, who was still sitting on top of the Third Prince's left arm, suddenly felt cold. Perhaps he had a loli [12] fetish?
Si Si's face was calm, but her eyes exposed her true feelings. The inside of her mind was like a tsunami, creating waves of turmoil. Her expectations were different from reality!
Why did the prince give that silly maid clothes that were similar to his? Not only that, but he even wanted to give her more than one set? A set of the Third Prince's clothing was enough to feed a commoner's family for three months.
The Third Prince easily stepped into the carriage with Xiao Hua still seated on his left arm. An Wan and the three bodyguards positioned themselves around the car-riage, each taking a side to guard the carriage.
With strong neighs, the horses galloped out of the residence, letting Xiao Liu guide them to the right path.
The carriage was no longer in sight but Si Si's eyes were still trained on the road, no longer making an effort to conceal her feelings. Her eyes revealed undisguised greed.
Normally, Si Si was smart enough to not let anything disturb her mind and accidentally reveal her ambitions. But the shock she experienced had banished her façade, her logical thoughts had long ago been beaten down deep inside her mind.
An Jing, who had remained behind, took in every movement and expression of Si Si's. If Elder Sister Hua had not randomly mentioned how eager this maid was, she would have missed this dangerous thorn by Xiao Hua's side.
It would be unfair to remove Si Si when she had not done anything to harm Elder Sister Hua. It was a rule of the manor to only punish those who had committed wrong-doings, but not somebody that was suspected of doing something wrong. Even when one had suspicions, they needed proof to back them up.
It was troublesome but rules are rules!
CHAPTER 24:Your face is easy to read
Inside the spacious carriage, Xiao Hua did not dare to move even a tiny bit. Her breathing was controlled and quiet as she struggled to reduce her presence as much as possible. But it was difficult when the person she intended to hide from was sitting opposite her with his eyes stuck on her.
It did not help that she currently had questions such as what's going on' circling around her mind!
"What's going on?"
Xiao Hua's mind blanked as she stared at the Third Prince stupidly. Did he read her mind?
The Third Prince chuckled humorously. "Your face is easy to read."
Xiao Hua quickly looked down, hoping that her face was not blushing. She did not dare to say anything, but when the Third Prince did not continue the topic, she felt a little disappointed.
Will this young lady just let the topic pass by and forget? No way!
"Your Highness-"
The carriage suddenly came to a sharp stop and Xiao Hua fell off the seat. Luckily the carriage had a lot of space or else she would have fallen onto the Third Prince's lap and greeted his unmentionables with her face! As for the Third Prince, that fierce brake had not even budged him an inch.
Xiao Hua hurriedly got up from the floor, her short height allowed her to stand upright inside the carriage.
The door of the carriage opened, revealing An Wan's anxious face. "Master, are you alright?"
"What happened?"
"The Eighth Prince's carriage nearly collided with our carriage. Xiao Liu managed to stop before any accident happened."
The Third Prince left the carriage without a word. With the intention to follow, Xiao Hua placed her hands on each side of the door and had just stretched a foot outside the carriage when one of her upper arms was grabbed. Before she could see who grabbed her, both her feet had already landed on the ground safely.
A boy who was the same height as her with the lower part of his face covered by a black cloth stared at her with piercing eyes that made her skin crawl. Xiao Hua felt as if she had seen this guy before. With a flash of black, another boy dressed in an identical uniform and similar covered face appeared on the left side of the first boy.
Aren't they the mini-terror that's similar to Da Liu? They were the ones that dragged the two maidservants that had betrayed the princess away, as well as handling the traitor servant from the Munzhu country.
"Thank you," Xiao Hua said softly, but her eyes were alert as she stared at them.
Her mind knew that they would not harm her unless their master ordered them to do so, but they still looked pretty intimidating.
The one on the right pointed a finger in a direction and Xiao Hua automatically looked at where he was pointing. She could barely make out the Third Prince's figure but his hot pink robes make it easier.
Suddenly, his pink attire reminded her of the 'Skip Beat' Japanese manga where the main character was forced to wear a uniform with that same hot pink color. Xiao Hua's mind automatically imagined the Third Prince flashing a winning smile and saying 'Love Me.
"Pffft!" She would have laughed harder if the twins were not staring at her. Xiao Hua coughed and restrained herself, quickly thinking about unamusing stuff.
After making sure she had controlled her laughter, she turned back to look again and saw the short figure of a kid talking to the Third Prince. Xiao Hua could not see clearly, but she guessed that the kid was the Eighth Prince that An Wan had mentioned earlier.
Filled with curiosity, Xiao Hua turned to the twins and asked, "The person that's speaking to the Third Prince is the Eighth Prince of another country?"
"The Eighth Prince of the Guilin Kingdom."
"Huh?" Xiao Hua stared at one of the twins that answered her. The boy stared back at her.
The two teenagers that were similar in height stared at each other and the boy on the left found it funny. "Elder Sister Hua, that person is the Eighth Prince of the Guilin Kingdom, as Da Bei had said."
"Huh?" Xiao Hua's expression remained the same even after the boy on the left had clarified.
Standing on guard at some distance away was Xiao Liu, whose current duty was to make sure that no suspicious people approached the Third Prince. Being a cultivator with enhanced hearing, he could naturally hear the children's conversation. He had originally doubted the rumor swimming around the manor that Elder Sister Hua was silly, but it seemed that the rumor was true.
Your Highness, the Third Prince, you can choose any maid you like, but why did you choose a silly one? This is so dangerous ah!
The 'silly' Xiao Hua wanted to scream, 'Who is this Eighth Prince!'. There was no such character in the novel!
Le Xiao Ting remembered very well that the author only mentioned the three princes of the Guilin Kingdom; the First, Second, and Third. Xiao Hua vaguely remembered that Long Lian had mentioned a fourth brother that married a maid, but at that time she did not think about it seriously.
Xiao Hua quickly calmed herself down. Right, she had to remind herself she could no longer label this world like the inside of the novel. Perhaps, by some miracle, the author dreamed this world and decided to write it down, and that was how the novel was born. There were many possibilities and Xiao Hua can no longer compare everything in the novel to this world.
So yes, the Guilin Kingdom having eight princes is nothing to be alarmed about! But it was something to be alarmed about if the main events in the novels were different from this world. That means she would be unprepared for the future and the cannon fodder Xiao Hua would be even more in danger. She could have died without even knowing what happened and who killed her.
"Continue our way." The Third Prince suddenly appeared beside Xiao Hua, eliciting a small surprised scream from her throat. When she calmed herself down, she realized she had already been carried into the carriage and seated opposite the Third Prince just like before. Except that this time, instead of staring at her, he was leaning on the wall with a soft pillow and closed his eyes, leaving Xiao Hua to her own thoughts.
Now that there was no intense staring from the Third Prince, it gave Xiao Hua the opportunity to examine the carriage.
Hmm? There's something abnormal with the carriage.
There was no rough swaying that was usually felt when one was riding a carriage.
In fact, she did not feel any movement at all.
One of her hands reached out and with a light push, one of the windows that was installed on the side of the carriage parted open. The carriage was indeed moving forward with a speed that could not be considered as slow for she could hardly focus on the shops that passed by.
Perhaps it was because of the horses? Curious, she poked her head out of the window but before she could see anything, she was yanked back into the carriage by the back of her robe collar.
Xiao Hua unconsciously gulped when she turned her head and saw the prince no longer had his eyes closed. His everlasting gentle smile was gone and replaced with an expression that could only be identified as anger.
"T-Third Prince," Xiao Hua stuttered fearfully.
"Are you trying to kill yourself? Do you know how dangerous it is to expose yourself?"
Kill? Dangerous? Expose?
"The Third Prince means there are assassins?"
The Third Prince's anger slowly disappeared and his gentle smile returned. "What is it that caught your eye outside?"
She noted that he did not answer her question. "This servant is curious as to why the carriage isn't painful to sit on." Xiao Hua wanted to say 'bumpy' but she did not know how to say that in Chinese, so she had no choice but to say it in such an embarrassing way.
"This prince uses spiritual energy to stabilize the carriage."
Spiritual energy? Le Xiao Ting had heard of them in wuxia or xianxia [13] novels!
She was always curious about how they worked and found them cool to watch. But she did not have the courage to ask that from the prince.
The duo fell silent again and finally, An Wan announced their arrival when the carriage stopped. Xiao Hua was not sure if she should exit the carriage or let the Third
Prince out first.
Bloody etiquette!
The Third Prince left first and Xiao Hua did not dare to linger behind. An Wan appeared beside her, holding onto a folded bright red cloak, giving Xiao Hua a meaningful look.
Getting the hint, Xiao Hua took the cloak carefully and stepped close to the Third Prince. "Your Highness, the wind is strong today."
Her height was shorter compared to the other girls of the same age but even so, the Third Prince's height was pretty tall for a sixteen-year-old guy. If she wanted to help him wear the cloak, even if she stood on her tiptoes, she would still struggle to put the cloak on him.
He was more than two heads taller than her!
When the tall figure bent downward, Xiao Hua's eyes nearly dropped out from their sockets. With this action, could it be he was asking her to put it on for him? She had completely expected to pass the cloak to him and wear it by himself.
Xiao Hua cautiously unfolded the cloak and put it around the prince carefully, making sure that she did not accidentally elbow his beautiful face. Only when she was satisfied that the cloak was properly covering him did she tie the two long silken strings together around his neck to keep it from falling off.
Unconsciously, Xiao Hua smiled in satisfaction at her handiwork, revealing her adorable dimples and a gap for the missing tooth that was not noticeable at first glance. The Third Prince stared at her bright, round eyes slightly longer than what was appropriate before looking away and straightening his back.
The guards standing at the entrance wanted to watch but also did not dare to lift their heads. For a prince to bend down for a maid, even for the convenience of wearing the cloak, was unheard of!
An Wan's eyes were chilly but her heart was resigned. Her feelings could not move the Third Prince's heart, but to everyone's surprise, Xiao Hua succeeded. In the past, she had developed feelings towards him and made a move when the news of the Fourth Prince taking his maid as his Princess Consort reached her.
Unfortunately, she was punished for her transgression. Since then she did not dare harbor any inappropriate thoughts a maid should not have. Even so, the sight of the man she loved showing affection to another maid was agonizing.
An Wan's heart clenched in pain, but the perfect, polite smile on her face never wavered.
CHAPTER 25: The Dragon's Flower
Xiao Hua gazed at the long road in despair. She had expected the palace would be huge and had mentally prepared herself to take in its magnificent sight without gaping like a fool. But she forgot to consider the negative side, which was the larger the palace, the more walking she would need to do.
Transmigrating into the body of a maid has no bright future at all! (T-T)
It was only when her trembling legs ached from overusing her muscles did they finally stop walking. Xiao Hua's face flushed in an unattractive shade of red and her bangs were considerably soaked with her sweat. Her breathing was harsh and her heart was galloping from the exercise under the sun but fortunately, the chilling wind offered a little comfort to her.
Xiao Hua comforted herself by acknowledging that this body was at least tougher than Le Xiao Ting's body. When her breathing slowly even out, she looked around and noticed something strange.
Hmm? This does not look like a place for gathering. (• • ) ?
"There is still sometime before the gathering starts." An Wan, who had no sign of tiredness, explained patiently to Xiao Hua, who was sporting a confused expression on her face.
Xiao Hua glanced back to where the Eighth Prince's carriage was supposed to be following behind them but found it to be missing.
"The Eighth Prince has his own courtyard to rest," An Wan informed, as Xiao Hua's actions were so obvious that at times it would make her feel bad to watch. It was as if she was peeking into Xiao Hua's unprotected mind.
"Oh." Xiao Hua nodded as they followed a eunuch that led their party into a stunningly impressive courtyard. There was a small fish pond and a small roofless pavilion with tall trees framing the area.
"Xiao Hua!" A blur of green and white jumped onto Xiao Hua, wrapping her in a bear hug.
"Huh?" Xiao Hua automatically wrapped her arms around the person and took a few steps back before regaining her balance.
"Long Lian, behave yourself," the Third Prince admonished lightly.
The figure released Xiao Hua, revealing the beautiful Princess Long Lian in a beautiful light green dress with large white flowers embroidered on it. Long Lian gave the Third Prince a curtsy. "Imperial younger sister greets Third Imperial brother."
The Third Prince nodded. "Imperial Younger Sister."
"Mother Empress is using the teacups gifted by you and is waiting for your arrival with warm tea ready. She is worried that the travel would be tiring and cold for the Third Imperial brother."
Xiao Hua found it bizarre how formal and ladylike Long Lian acted. She was used to the ever-smiling Long Lian that hardly displayed any formalities with her. But she understood that they were not alone with privacy to do whatever she wanted.
"Then I should not make Mother Empress wait even further." The Third Prince's eyes fell onto Xiao Hua. "Wait for this prince in my room."
"This servant will show Elder Sister Hua the way." An Wan offered.
"Mother Empress wishes to meet the one that saved Long Lian's life," Long Lian cut in.
Ah? Saved Ah Lian's life? Is she talking about this young lady?
"Oh?" The Third Prince uttered only one word but it was filled with plenty of meaning behind it. "Then Xiao Hua, follow along."
"Yes, Your Highness," Xiao Hua said apprehensively.
Ah Lian, did you hit your head and remember things incorrectly? I have never saved your life before!
They entered a room filled with a nice smelling fragrance that worked well to calm tense nerves. Xiao Hua did not dare look around and kept her head lowered, staring down at her plain dark-colored flat shoes that were mostly covered from view by her long skirt.
"This son greets Mother Empress," The Third Prince greeted cordially. His affection was genuine, especially when the Empress was his birth mother who did her best to fight for her children's safety and future.
The royal harem was never safe and peaceful because hidden intentions and backstabbing were normal in the minds of the royal concubines. As the Empress, she had to be firm and manage the harem well for the Emperor to avoid being bad-mouthed.
"The journey must have been tiring for you. Come and drink the newly brewed tea to warm yourself." The Empress' voice gave off a strong feeling of authority that contrasted her beautiful appearance.
The Empress noticed what her son was wearing but did not bat an eyelid, already long used to it. Although the color was rather feminine and not suited for a man to wear, the Empress never said a word. As an intelligent woman, she knew very well that her son was disguising himself to escape the wolves' eyes, even if it would give him an unfavorable reputation.
"Thank you, Mother Empress." The Third Prince removed his cloak and handed it to Xiao Hua, who quickly took it and draped it over her arm. She had to roll the cloak around her arm twice to avoid the length sweeping the floor. He took a seat and unceremoniously picked up one of the cups to drink. "Mother Empress always has good tea."
The Empress dismissed the lower-ranked servants, letting her two inner maids remain behind. Now that Long Lian no longer needed to keep up with the princess fa-cade, she immediately dragged Xiao Hua forward.
"Mother, this is the Xiao Hua that I've told you about."
For Princess Long Lian to act this intimately with the Empress was also because the Princess' birth mother was the Empress. It also explained why she adored her third brother the most among the other princes.
"This servant greets Empress," Xiao Hua curtsied, trying to speak normally, but due to the tension of meeting someone with a higher ranking than the Third Prince, her voice came out soft. It gave off the feeling of a weak lamb trembling in fear before a fierce wolf.
"Raise your head for this Empress to see."
Xiao Hua abruptly raised her head as if she was conditioned to obey any command given to her. To survive, Xiao Hua needed to obey quickly!
Xiao Hua did not find it degrading to do so with her modern upbringing, for a wise person must learn to cope with any situation. It was good that Le Xiao Ting's nature was not antagonistic or else it would be harder for her to adapt to her situation.
Now that Xiao Hua was standing close to the Empress, she could see where most of the Third Prince's features came from. The Empress looked to be in her late twenties with a beautiful and seductive appearance, easily letting everyone know why she was one of the Emperor's favorites. Her bold red dress further enhanced her fair, white skin, making people unable to resist being seduced by her.
The novel had revealed that the Guilin Kingdom's Empress was the most beautiful woman in the Kingdom. Princess Long Lian had inherited her beauty as well, but the only one that could surpass the Empress' beauty was the Third Prince of Guilin King-dom, Long Zhu. That was why the Third Prince was known as the most beautiful man in the Guilin Kingdom.
The Empress nodded, satisfied with what she had seen. "She has the eyes of an honest person."
Long Lian pouted adorably. "Mother, you don't believe me?"
The Empress revealed a smooth, slender hand from her wide sleeves and pinched her daughter's white cheeks. "You are still young with not enough experience. It's not that mother does not believe you, but mother fears you would be pulled into a play without knowing."
Long Lian looked as if she wanted to argue and the Third Prince decided to cut in before a dispute started. "Mother, Xiao Hua is my personal maid."
The Empress had heard from her personal eunuch, Eunuch Sun, about her son appointing an unknown person as his personal maid. Although she was worried about Long Zhu's choice, she knew her son would not make such a big decision without thinking about it carefully. But she would continue to hold onto her doubts until the maid proved herself.
"To serve the Third Prince is considered goodwill for saving Princess Long Lian's life."
In her mind, Xiao Hua begged to differ, but outwardly, she bowed. "This servant humbly accepts the Third Prince's generosity."
"Long Zhu, you should have given her a better name." The Empress looked at her beautiful son, who far surpassed her looks during her best years.
"What's wrong with that name? I like it," Long Lian said defensively. The Third Prince smiled. "This prince likes it too."
Seeing her son's gentle smile, the Empress had a sudden bad premonition. But her voice exposed none of it as she spoke, "If you like it then it's fine. Hurry and rest after warming your body with the tea. The gathering will not end early today." The Empress stood up, her gold hairpins gently swaying from the movement, and placed a hand on one of her maid's arms.
"Rest well, mother." Long Lian and the Third Prince went to see the Empress off.
After seeing the Empress off, Long Lian went to Xiao Hua's side and gave her a hug.
"I missed you, Xiao Hua! Third brother, why not let her stay with me?"
The Third Prince continued drinking his tea calmly. "Return Xiao Hua to me before the gathering starts."
Even if the Third Prince's words were not what Long Lian wanted to hear, she could only take what was given. She happily dragged Xiao Hua away, who was still holding onto the Third Prince's cloak.
The Third Prince smiled to himself as he rotated the cup in his hand, thinking about his and Xiao Hua's name. "The dragon's flower." [14]
Not bad. It sounded pleasant to his ears.
CHAPTER 26: Money making plans
In the end, Xiao Hua did not get to rest and was forced to accompany Long Lian to chat. She did not know how long they were permitted to rest before the gathering started but Xiao Hua felt a little tired after listening to Long Lian's chattering.
Le Xiao Ting had close friends, but as years passed after graduation, each of them had their own life with different interests. Talking to Long Lian reminded her of times where she could not catch up with the conversation among her friends when it came to beauty products or current trends.
It was only when a maid informed them of the time did Xiao Hua's ears finally get some peace. Her neck felt a bit sore from the constant nodding to show that she was listening. Long Lian returned Xiao Hua back to the Third Prince, but she stayed right beside her, clinging onto her arm.
Why does this remind Xiao Hua of a little chick clinging to its mother?
Ah Pei! Ah Lian could be counted as Le Xiao Ting's younger sister! This young lady is still single and childless!
Speaking of younger sister... Xiao Hua glanced at the sixteen-year-old Third Prince, which was only a year older than Long Lian. In some way, the Third Prince gave off the feeling that he was much older than that. His calmness and patience, along with the gentle, unwavering smile had shown his level of maturity which was not something many sixteen-year-olds could achieve.
Even Le Xiao Ting, who was eleven years older than the Third Prince, could hardly compete with his composure.
Perhaps that was how people were in this hard-to-live era? They had no choice but to grow up quickly or else they would fall behind and get trampled over.
When Xiao Hua saw the long road she needed to walk before her eyes, she wanted to cry. She stared at the sedan enviously, for only royalty could ride them and escape the suffering of long walks. She could only comfort herself with the fact that her situation was better than those men that had to carry the sedan.
"Xiao Hua, come up and sit with me." Long Lian gestured at her sedan with an inviting smile.
A Princess sharing a sedan with a maid? It's okay to do so in private in the name of friends, but they are in public now!
Xiao Hua quickly shook her head and took a step back. "This servant does not dare."
"Long Lian, be mindful of proper conduct." The Third Prince stopped Long Lian from being persistent in extending her invitation.
Long Lian could only bitterly swallow back her good intentions. She was aware we as she the the at n
that as a princess, she must not be overly friendly towards a servant according to eti-quette. She should have asked Xiao Hua to be her sister instead. No one would dare to say anything about their friendship then!
"Xiao Hua, come over here," the Third Prince called out.
Confused, Xiao Hua walked closer to the sedan where the Third Prince was in. She could not see his figure properly, as the one-seater sedan was covered with a thin white veil. "What are your orders, Your Highness?"
Xiao Hua froze, along with the servants around them. The eunuchs and servants immediately strained their ears, unwilling to miss even a single sound. They were not allowed to raise their heads to look at their masters without permission, but that did not mean their ears could not listen.
"P-Prince?" Xiao Hua stammered in shock.
"Your legs are still healing from the burn. It's best not to walk too much," The Third Prince explained.
Those servants that were standing close enough felt as if they had heard a huge se-cret. But those servants who stood far away and yet to find a chance to sneak closer were in despair over their incompetence to train their ears well enough.
Team 'Closer Servants' secretly gave Team 'Further Servants' gloating smiles, igniting Team 'Further Servants' outrage. Team 'Further Servants' could only clench their teeth with bleeding hearts for missing the chance to obtain extra income by selling the information.
A servant's worries were the same as the worries' of their masters! Earning money!
Xiao Hua wanted to say that her legs were already completely healed from the burn because it was not very serious, to begin with. Actually, there were many things she wanted to say in this situation.
The shocked Long Lian recovered her wits and scrutinized her brother and Xiao Hua. After a while, she slowly smiled deviously.
"Third brother is compassionate for thinking about your maid's health. But to have a male and female to share a sedan is improper, so why don't this sister share her seat with Xiao Hua on your behalf?" Long Lian generously suggested.
"There's no need for my younger sister's generosity. Xiao Hua is this brother's maid. Naturally, it should be this brother's seat to be shared."
The Third Prince parted the curtain and stretched out an arm to wrap around Xiao Hua's waist and lifted her up, placing her beside him in the sedan. The sedan was designed for a single seat, and the Third Prince was not a small person despite his delicate appearance, which had Xiao Hua squeezed in a corner.
"Go," the Third Prince ordered and the carriage started to move.
Despite the gentle sway, Xiao Hua fought to remain as still as a doll, not daring to move or else she would accidentally touch the prince. There was almost no space between them and she could feel the heat coming from the Third Prince's body with the scent of the forest. A part of her was already melting in happiness for having such a good opportunity to get close to the Third Prince.
Long Lian pouted in dissatisfaction, but her inner-self was busy squealing! She had feared there would be a day Xiao Hua would get married and leave, following her husband somewhere far away. With her personality, it will be easy for her future husband to push her around.
But seeing her third brother treating Xiao Hua well gave her an outrageous idea, which was to get them both married to each other.
Yes, Xiao Hua would be her sister for real! (ou),
As the Team 'Closer Servants' was fortunate enough to hear everything, they could not hold back their excitement and it was revealed on their faces.
This is juicy news! They have a chance to get nice rewards now!
These servants dared to sell any information they had because they did not have a sole master, as their duty was generalized in the palace. Compared to servants that were assigned under a master, they had lower chances of being promoted to higher-ranking positions. A servant that was capable and talented was quick to be picked to be served under a single master. But those that were ordinary were considered left-overs.
It was a common practice in the palace for officials or concubines to ask these groups of servants with no loyalty questions, in exchange for some money or benefits.
Servants were the best spies and informers because they were mostly ignored by important people.
Unfortunately, they had disregarded something that could mess up with their money-making plans.
An Wan stopped before the group of servants. "Our Third Prince has the appearance of a gentleman but we all know his temper is not something that anyone can withstand."
She was acting as if she was idly saying what was on her mind, but it was actually a reminder for the servants.
The servants who intended to sell information started to sweat inwardly. How could they not remember the Third Prince's temper?
The Emperor's favorite Concubine He could only swallow her anger when her favorite fishpond was demolished after she unintentionally said something that angered the Third Prince. After that incident, she would go in the opposite direction whenever she saw the Third Prince to avoid an unfavorable incident to befall on her.
"Elder Sister An Wan is indeed the Third Prince's first rank maid."
Yes, we heard you and will not do anything that would send our heads flying! Thank you for your reminder, elder sister!
"That, I am." An Wan left the group of servants and followed the sedans on foot.
She could have easily given them hush money to keep their mouth shut, but since threats worked well, why would she waste her money?
When the sedan finally stopped, Xiao Hua did not care about etiquette and jumped out of the sedan first. She could no longer stand being rigid and careful not to touch the Third Prince.
An Wan, who was used to seeing elegant and graceful movements from high- ranked servants or ladies, winced when she saw Xiao Hua's clumsy movements.
In contrast, the Third Prince seems to have glided out from the sedan, his long pink robes moving as if they were a part of his body, sliding along his movement grace-fully.
"Xiao Hua, follow An Wan and don't go anywhere without her," The Third Prince ordered.
"Yes, Your Highness." Xiao Hua obediently stood beside An Wan.
The Third Prince climbed up short wide stairs and stepped past a large gate. The guards standing beside the entrance yelled, "The Third Prince arrives!"
Xiao Hua tried her best to copy An Wan's movement. Her head dipped low with her eyes trained on the back of the Third Prince. At the same time, she avoided stepping onto the Third Prince's long cloak that seemed to be giving the floor a free sweeping service.
If the palace servants had not swept the floor every day, who knows how many kilograms of dirt the cloak would have collected by the time he left.
The Third Prince walked slowly as he charitably gave out friendly smiles to everyone that had stepped forward to greet him.
"Third Prince, it's good to see you are in good health."
"The Third Prince is our hero for saving Princess Long Lian from Munzhu!"
"Third Prince, the color of your clothes is rather bold! I love it!"
Xiao Hua could not resist raising her head to look at the person that had spoken last. It came from a lady whose pregnancy could not be hidden under her thick, striking green robes, with her hair decorated with pearl hairpins. She was examining the Third Prince's clothes in fascination.
She seemed to be genuinely praising his fashion sense!
Now that Xia Hua had raised her head, she noticed that the Third Prince was surrounded by different types of beautiful ladies.
"Enough. Let the Third Prince greet Us first." A rough and deep voice interrupted the fashion gathering and Xiao Hua unconsciously stepped back. She felt intimidated as if an invisible force pressed onto her.
"Father Emperor, please ease up your presence, or else the Imperial concubines will get hurt," the Third Prince said in a helpless tone. His hand was supporting the pregnant lady, but she did not seem to need it as she did not look affected by the pressure at all.
The Emperor found it strange that his third son would say that, for all the females here, even their maids, were cultivators. They could withstand his pressure because it was mild and he had pressured them just to warn his concubines to stop harassing his third son.
His eagle eyes landed on a kid, who was the only one with difficulty withstanding his pressure. Seeing the little girl standing beside his third son's first-ranked maid, he made eye contact with his Empress
The Empress nodded with a gentle smile. "Your Majesty, that is the Third Prince's new personal maid."
The Emperor frowned but pulled back his presence. He turned his piercing gaze to his third son and his expression clearly showed that he was not pleased with his choice of a maid.
This maid was even weaker than his frailest concubine! How could this type of maid be useful?
The short-sighted Xiao Hua did not see the Emperor's disapproving eyes on her, as well as his rapidly darkening face. Of course, she did not dare to look at the Emperor in the first place.
She was busy feeling relief because the pressure was finally
CHAPTER 27: A hundred beatings
"Long Zhu greets Father Emperor and Mother Empress." The Third Prince paid his re-spects. As for the Imperial concubines that had surrounded him earlier, they had gotten the hint from the Emperor and returned to their seats. "This son apologizes for greeting the Imperial concubines first before Father Emperor and Mother Empress." Everyone could see the Emperor's dark expression but the Third Prince continued talking as if he did not see it.
"Today's gathering is to talk about the Second Imperial brother's marriage, but this son does not see him here."
Long Lian, who was standing beside the Third Prince, immediately stepped forward to do the greetings in an adorable voice.
"This daughter greets Father Emperor and Mother Empress."
Seeing that his third son was not willing to explain his new personal maid and his only daughter helping to divert his attention from Long Zhu, the Emperor decided to leave it for now and to interrogate him after the gathering ended, privately.
Only the Second Prince and the Third Prince dared to act like this towards the Em-peror. Not only was he not scolded, but the Emperor also did not seem to mind it much. On the other hand, if his other children or concubines acted that way, the Emperor would not hesitate to dish out punishment.
Concubine He had personally experienced it when she had complained about the Third Prince destroying her favorite pond to the Emperor. She was immediately sent to the cold palace to reflect on her own behavior. But being the Emperor's favorite, she was released after three days and was gifted with many health products.
The Emperor waved the Third Prince and Long Lian to their assigned seats before switching his anger to the new target. "Where is Long Shan?"
Xiao Hua and An Wan stood a distance away behind the Third Prince's seat, just like the other maids that served different masters.
A virginal looking beauty dressed in a bright-colored dress stood up from her seat that was assigned for the Emperor's concubines. Her hair was arranged artistically with bright pearl hairpins adorning it.
"Your Majesty, the Second Prince is still handling something that needs his immediate attention after his return from the battlefield. He has not stopped working since his return, not even to see his concubine mother when I sent an invitation to him, just to free his time to attend today's banquet. Please pardon his lateness." Her voice gave off a sweet and refreshing feeling, leaving the spectators with the great impression of her being a compassionate and considerate person.
"For the Second Prince to work hard after returning from a rough battle, that's strong dedication. But Concubine He, what is so important that the Second Prince chooses to be later than the Emperor that has more work than a prince? Is the Second Prince's steward not reliable and causing trouble for him?" The Empress' voiced her concern, but everyone knows her desire to embarrass the Concubine He.
Everyone had their eyes on the Emperor, Empress, and Concubine He, so they missed the gleam of satisfaction that was visible in the Third Prince's eyes.
Do you love my present, Second Imperial brother? You must have, as you spend a long time appreciating it.
Long Qian, the eldest prince, would never miss a great opportunity to throw some mud at the Second Prince. "This prince heard that the Second Imperial brother had encountered some problem in his manor. That might be why the Second Imperial Brother would dare to be late."
Long Qian, being the eldest son and the Crown Prince, was the one that looked the most similar to the Emperor among his brothers. Both possessed a large physique, sharply slanted eyes, and high cheekbones. Unfortunately for the eldest prince, the Emperor loved looking at beautiful things the most, and naturally that affected his attitude towards his eldest son despite him inheriting most of his handsome features.
The Emperor was fond of his beautiful-looking children, especially the outrageously beautiful Third Prince. Outwardly, he gave everyone the impression he favored his second son, both handsome and capable, even voicing it to everyone that was listening, because it would be disgraceful if word spread out that he favored a son that only knew how to maintain his beauty!
Despite the Emperor's effort, everyone's opinion that the Empress' position was secured because of her beautiful-looking daughter and son remained unshakable.
Added with her own beautiful appearance, the Emperor would not mistreat her unless she sought death herself.
"What news?" The Emperor asked with a frown.
"It's just a small problem in the Second Prince's manor. The Second Prince will arrive soon to explain it to the Emperor and will receive his punishment for being late," Concubine He said, not giving the Crown Prince the chance to create more problems for her son.
"A servant that dared to assassinate Second Imperial brother's new love is indeed a small problem." The Third Prince nodded in agreement and gave Concubine He a perky smile. "Fortunately, it seems that Second Imperial Brother's beauty is not in-jured, or else it would hurt his heart."
Concubine He's smile froze as her body tensed. If today's gathering was not because of her son's marriage, she would not have attended and given that snake the opportunity to bite her!
"Oh? That's indeed a small problem," The Emperor nodded, but his eyes were dark,
colored with the beginning of anger. "Long Shan will be punished for not able to handle the small problem appropriately."
"How about this, Father Emperor?" The Third Prince voiced out his suggestion with heavy reluctance. "Give the Second Imperial Brother a light punishment of a hundred beatings. With this, no one will dare say the Father Emperor is a wicked father-in-law for not showing concern towards Second Imperial Brother's new love."
Concubine He resisted the urge to vomit blood. That snake made it sound like a small problem and even suggested her son receive a hundred beatings! And what was that 'new love' word? That word would make the listeners assume their relationship was impure!
"What do you think, Concubine He? Will this be fair for the Second Prince?" The Empress probed in a concerned tone.
That pair of mother and son snakes! If she disagreed with the punishment, the Emperor might hand out an even more severe punishment! Concubine He had no choice but to smile sweetly and nod. "This concubine listens to the Emperor's decision."
She had originally wanted her son to arrive and set his own punishment himself, but who would have thought that snake would suggest the punishment before her son arrived.
Concubine He had always thought that the Third Prince disliked her being the Emperor's favorite, so he destroyed her favorite fishpond that she had painstakingly asked the Emperor to build for her. It was her mistake at that time to truly believe that the Emperor was crazy about her with how he kept on showering her with endless doting and gifts. His actions made her decide to complain about the Third Prince until he sought justice for her.
But who would have known that her plan would have backfired when the Emperor sought justice for his son instead!
"Then it's decided!" The Emperor looked satisfied as he rubbed his beard.
"The Grand Tutor and Miss Ping Shui have arrived!" The guard announced and a tall, slender aged man entered with a young lady in a bright purple dress with white lilies embroidered on it.
"This old official greets the Emperor and Empress!"
"Ping Shui greets the Emperor and Empress!"
Xiao Hua felt dejected because she was not able to see the newcomers' appearance clearly. She loved how firm and steady their voices were, with no trace of fear or nervousness when facing the royalty.
"Grand Tutor and his talented granddaughter! What brings you to visit us?" The Emperor asked warmly.
The Emperor respected the Grand Tutor, for he was the one that taught him and his elder brother. Even the previous Emperor viewed the Grand Tutor in a favorable light.
Unfortunately, the Grand Tutor was too old to continue teaching and decided to retire after teaching the current Crown Prince.
The royal family owed Grand Tutor a huge debt for teaching them to be wise indi-viduals, as well as a form of etiquette to be filial to their teacher. There was a saying of 'teacher is their second parent'. That was why the Emperor agreed to his Empress suggestion to have Miss Ping Shui engaged to his most outstanding son, the Second Prince, Long Shan.
The Emperor had always thought his second son was an indifferent man with zero interest in females, but who would have thought Long Shan would one day return with a beautiful lady and announced he would only marry her. Long Shan even wished to break off the engagement with Miss Ping Shui to remain as a one-wife man for the unknown beauty!
With the issue in deadlock, the Second Prince reluctantly suggested taking Miss Ping Shui as his concubine. However, this decision could be seen as the royal family looking down on the Grand Tutor.
That was why it would be better to either let Miss Ping Shui be the main wife and the savior be his concubine. Or else, it would be better to cancel his engagement with Miss Ping Shui.
"This gathering is held because of the Second Prince's marriage. It would be understandable to attend when this humble servant's one and only granddaughter's engagement to the Second Prince is going to be discussed, isn't it?" Grand Tutor laughed but his words were demanding the Emperor to agree for them to stay.
"We understand," The Emperor agreed. After all, this was a mess caused by his second son so he should explain to the Grand Tutor personally as well.
Long Shan was one of his children that had never caused him to worry as he hardly caused trouble. He was sensible and knew what was the right thing to do. The Emperor secretly sighed. It was only because of his good record and achievements that he was more than willing to be lenient towards Long Shan.
The servants were quick and efficient in providing extra tables and chairs for the Grand Tutor and his granddaughter.
"The Second Prince arrives!" The guard announced.
A handsome man dressed in white walked in with a beautiful lady dressed in red.
Their movement complemented each other as if they were a couple of many years.
Their hands were entwined, showing their intimacy and they were not shy to let anyone witness it.
Grand Tutor frowned at their shameless display of affection in front of him. As for Miss Ping Shui, her face was calm as she refilled her grandfather's cup. It was as if the newly arrived couple had nothing to do with her.
"The second son greets Father Emperor and Mother Empress." His voice was strong and clear, giving people the impression of a reliable and noble gentleman.
"Liu Chu Chu greets the Emperor and Empress." Her voice was tender and calming, carrying the bearing of a gentle, upright lady.
"Father Emperor, this son is un-filial for making you wait-"
"It's good that you know. Guards! Give the Second Prince a hundred beatings!" Behind his indifferent façade, the Second Prince was actually stunned. He thought he would be able to use his old tricks and decide his own punishment first, but why did the Emperor decide his punishment so quickly?
CHAPTER 28: Such a good scapegoat
"Second brother, your punishment was decided earlier in order to save time," The Crown Prince said gleefully, a rather inappropriate expression for the current topic.
"Aren't you going to thank Father Emperor for giving you a light punishment?"
It was indeed a light punishment. Cultivators like them could take normal beatings as if it were merely a small scratch. The stronger the cultivator, the more damage they could take. As for the Second Prince, he was a third-ranked cultivator, and hence, a hundred beatings were nothing to him. Even a thousand beatings would not give him a serious injury.
But that would be a different case if the caning pole was infused with spiritual energy.
"Thank you, Father Emperor, for the considerate punishment. This son deserves a heavier punishment."
Very good, Long Qian! This prince will remember this!
Unfortunately, the pit was carried by Long Qian, a truly innocent party. This was not the first time that the Second Prince had wrongly accused the Crown Prince of something that was actually done by the Third Prince. The Crown Prince took every opportunity to throw mud at the Second Prince, further accumulating the misunder-standings, but the Third Prince did not bother to explain any of it.
Such a good scapegoat, why would he not use it?
Concubine He could easily dispel any misunderstandings about her son, but the Emperor loved to visit her frequently, and the Second Prince would stay away from his birth mother when the Emperor was there. By the time the Second Prince was able to visit her, quite some time had passed and the anger in Concubine He would have cooled down. She would then decide not to tell her son the news.
To Concubine He, the small pranks done by the sly Third Prince would provide nothing but a distraction for her son from far more important things. In addition to that, she was sure her intelligent son was able to see past the snake's innocent play.
Fifth Miss Liu seems to disagree with the punishment but with a poised glance from the Second Prince, she was appeased. She believed that her fiancé would be fine.
Long Shan was strong and could withstand most attacks.
The Second Prince removed his cloak and outer robe, preparing to receive his pun-ishment. Shifting his back to the guard's direction, the Second Prince nodded at the guard that was holding onto a thick wooden rod to start the punishment.
Pa! Pa! Pa!
The guard did not use his full strength for fear of incurring the Second Prince's wrath but he was not allowed to hold back his strength too much either. One was the cold-hearted Second Prince that returned the pain twofold to anyone that offended him while the other was the Emperor that could end his family line with just one order.
After a hundred beatings were delivered, the Second Prince remained indifferent with not even a hair out of place. Even his back, the area that was hit, remained upright without any hint of pain.
However, the guard was sweating like mad, as if he was the one that was punished.
He quickly gave the Second Prince an apology before dashing away like a tiger was chasing after him.
An Wan, who was standing beside Xiao Hua, looked disgruntled. "Should have sent Xiao Liu to impersonate that guard."
"Huh?" Xiao Hua had missed what An Wan had said under her breath, as she was busy trying to ignore the harsh sounds of beating.
"Eat this." An Wan offered the younger maid a brown, round pill, the size of candy.
"What's this?" Xiao Hua's hand was already moving to take it before she finished asking the question.
"This is a Diet Pill, useful for enduring hunger." An Wan had already eaten something earlier but Xiao Hua was busy being Long Lian's tree hole' so she did not get to eat.
"Don't take that." The Third Prince suddenly spoke up and got Long Lian's attention, who happened to be seated at the table beside the Third Prince. The Fourth Prince, Long Yu, who was seated at the other side of the Third Prince, could naturally hear what his third brother said as well.
An Wan, noticing that the Third Prince had shifted his position to the side as if preparing a space for someone to sit beside him, quickly spoke up to remind him. "Your Highness, please remember we are in the public's eyes."
Normally, An Wan would not dare to challenge her master's actions, but right now they were in public, where they would need to put on a decent image. It would be bad if others found out that the Third Prince treated Xiao Hua, a mere servant, so well.
The Third Prince ignored what An Wan said, not even sparing her a glance. "Xiao Hua, serve tea for this prince."
"Yes, Your Highness." Xiao Hua moved forward and carefully picked up the teapot to refill the Third Prince's cup, while An Wan hid her look of relief.
"Diet Pills will bring more harm than benefit to your body. This Prince has a better pill back at the manor. You can eat it when we return," the Third Prince explained. His left palm was supporting his head with the help of the table and his right hand lazily swayed the tea inside the cup he was holding. He carefully took a sip of the tea but it must not have been what he expected because he stared down at the tea in disappointment.
Cold sweats broke out from An Wan's body when she noticed they gained more attention. The Third Prince might have spoken with a low voice, but everyone here, except for Xiao Hua, were cultivators with sharp hearing.
To give a maid a pill better than the Diet Pill was unheard of. There was only one type of pill that could be better than the Diet Pill, which was a Nutrient Pill!
The Diet Pill was actually a very mild version of the Nutrient Pill. The Nutrient pill was made for cultivators to remove the toxicity in their body while at the same time providing energy to their body for a short period without lasting effect. The Diet pills were made for the purpose of travelling in case a person could not find food. They worked well in stopping a person from feeling hungry and providing artificial energy but consuming it often for a short period was unhealthy.
The other reason why the Diet Pill was made was because the Nutrient Pill was not cheap or easy to refine.
Master! Please mind your conduct in public! (;)
"Thank you, Your Highness. Xiao Hua will treasure it well." However, Xiao Hua's response revealed that she actually did not know what a great treasure she was given.
"I have a good pill for you too, Xiao Hua," Princess Long Lian butted in. Her phoenix-shaped eyes seem to be challenging her Third brother.
Let us compete to see which pill Xiao Hua will like better!
An Wan could feel her face was drained of blood when she saw the Second Prince, the strongest opponent among the princes against the Third Prince, had his eyes on them.
Princess! Please don't join in! We are doomed if the Second Prince suspects anything!
The cause of the problem, Xiao Hua, did not even want those pills but it would be rude to not accept them. She clearly remembered the days where she was forced to take bitter pills when she was sick. Le Xiao Ting had a mindset that pills were for sick people and only to be taken when sick.
Why are they acting as if those pills are miracle pills? Aren't they afraid to die from taking too much medicine?
"We will have the main issue settled first before enjoying our meal," the Emperor announced, getting everyone's attention back from his third son's table. By the time the issue was settled, hardly everyone would have the mood to stay for a meal. Then it would be quicker for his third son to explain himself!
"Imperial Daughter does not agree with Second Imperial Brother's decision to marry Fifth Miss Liu," Princess Long Lian was the first to speak up. "Miss Ping Shui, an intelligent and talented lady, is better suited to be Second Imperial Brother's Princess Consort than one without any achievements that could be compared."
Fifth Miss Liu was a concubine-born daughter of an upstart merchant that had been doing well for the last few years. Liu Chu Chu hardly stepped out of her house and developed a great sense of inferiority because she had much more talented and legitimately born sisters.
"What Imperial Sister said is right," the Crown Prince chimed in. "Miss Ping Shui is our Grand Tutor's granddaughter. Not only that, but she is also a master of the four arts. From every angle, Miss Ping Shui is clearly better than a daughter of a concubine that only mastered two arts."
The heroine was originally a mercenary and only knew two arts; chess and callig-raphy. To her, painting and learning music was a waste of time. Do not even talk about the original Liu Chu Chu, for she was even worse than the heroine, having only average skills in the four arts.
How did the Crown Prince know about this? It was because he had his spies working hard inside the Second Prince's manor! The heroine did not waste time showing off her skills in chess and calligraphy, or else how would the hero have developed more affection towards her?
The Third Prince did not pay attention to the conversation and ordered Xiao Hua to brew fresh tea for him. The palace maids were quick to provide necessary items, leaving the brewing to Xiao Hua.
The Second Prince did not say anything to refute and gave the Crown Prince a look that gave him the chills. The Second Prince then turned to the Fourth Prince.
At his second elder brother's coercing gaze, the Fourth Prince could only smile weakly. He did not want to interfere with this matter, but Father Emperor had summoned all his children and wanted to hear their opinion. He knew his Father Emperor did not want to openly reject his second elder brother's wish and had no choice but to use this method.
"Second Elder Brother, this fourth brother has no objection to who you will choose to be your Princess Consort. Your fourth brother, after all, had chosen my Princess Consort from a lower background. But this isn't what we worry about here, is it? You just need to give Grand Tutor a proper explanation."
The Fourth Prince, Long Yu, did not have a dominating aura like the First Prince and the Second Prince. But that did not mean he lacked a backbone, he just lacked one in most areas. Or else he would not have been able to force the Emperor and Empress to let him marry his maid and succeed in making her his official princess consort.
The Second Prince nodded and turned to the Third Prince, whose attention was on enjoying his freshly brewed tea. His expression seemed to tell everyone that he was drinking the best tea he ever tasted. His eyes were half-closed in intoxication, his red lips stained with tea, and the front of his robes had parted slightly from his posture, revealing his long, slender neck.
Xiao Hua, who was standing right next to him, was fully exposed to the maximum effect of this scene! She found it difficult not to imagine licking his tempting lips! How regretful that her mobile phone had not transmigrated with her. She could have taken dozens of pictures of him and spent all her free time gazing at them.
"Oh?" The Third Prince raised his phoenix-shaped eyes lazily, and those with weaker will felt their heartbeats speed up. The ones that were most affected were the Emperor's concubines. The pregnant concubine was the only one with a bold re-sponse, letting out a happy squeal like a fan watching her idol offering a fan service.
The Emperor had no reaction to it because he was used to his harem reacting that way to his third son's beautiful looks. Inwardly, the Emperor wanted to squeal at the lovely sight too!
"I have no objection ... only if your new love can successfully heal my little maid's eyes."
Xiao Hua gawked dumbly at the Third Prince. Is he nuts? Why would he waste this chance for her when he could demand something crazy from the Second?
CHAPTER 29: Sorry heroine, this is my mental problem!
"We have heard of Fifth Miss Liu's healing abilities. Is it true that she cured Long Shan's soldiers?"
Panic slowly sneaked into the hero and the heroine's heart. How did the emperor know about that? They had made sure the news of her healing abilities did not spread!
The heroine would have started suspecting that the hero had sold her out if she was sure the Second Prince was sincere and appreciative of her talents. His gaze that was filled with cold anger also proved his innocence.
So, they had a traitor in their camp? Liu Chu Chu's gaze hardened. Anyone that dared to betray her would suffer from her retribution!
She was killed by her best friend in her original world and because of that, developed a drastic trait of being extremely unforgiving to those people that betrayed her.
"This son truly admires that the Father Emperor was able to find out about it. Nothing in the world could escape Father Emperor's eyes and ears. It is true that Chu Chu has some healing abilities, but it's not something to boast greatly about."
Since it was already known, the Second Prince decided to admit it but it would have been better if no one knew how strong Chu Chu was or else she would be in dan-ger.
The Third Prince pulled Xiao Hua towards the Second Prince's table with a bright smile on his face that could be compared to a holy being. His expectation was clearly visible on his face, letting everyone know that he had high hopes for Liu Chu Chu's skills.
"Fifth Miss Liu, my little maid's eyes will be counting on you."
"Third Imperial brother is rather eager about positive results but this brother fears you might be disappointed. The information about Chu Chu's skill might not be as accurate or miraculous as it described," the Second Prince said. He might not have known what the information that reached the Emperor's hands entailed, but it must surely have been exaggerated.
The Crown Prince chuckled mockingly. "Everyone here knows about Fifth Miss Liu's healing ability. This information was received by Eunuch Xiang. The informer would not have the guts to lie to the Emperor's head eunuch, isn't that right?"
To lie to Eunuch Xiang was the same as lying to the Emperor!
No one would dare to give him fake or exaggerated information. There were others that tried their luck before, but Eunuch Xiang mercilessly stripped all their future fortune away as punishment. With his wide range of connections, it was easy to cut off their path of survival in the Guilin Kingdom.
Seeing the Crown Prince's mocking expression, the Second Prince knew that the information being leaked had something to do with him. Just like that, another pit ended up being carried by the eldest prince for the Third Prince.
What a good elder brother you are, Crown Prince~
Liu Chu Chu stood up gracefully, her skirt rearranging by itself using gravity, but it looked as if the wind helped her as well. Her smile was polite as she greeted the Third Prince with a gentle voice. "Liu Chu Chu greets the Third Prince." The cat was out of the bag now. There was no way to put it back in when everyone already knew about it. If that was the case, Liu Chu Chu would just have to be bold.
Show off her healing ability and have the royal family protect her, a valuable trea-sure!
Xiao Hua was very excited. To personally experience the heroine's healing was a wish that came true for Le Xiao Ting, a fangirl. Le Xiao Ting was not exactly a fan of Liu Chu Chu, but a fan of the cool transmigrated ladies in the novels she had read. So gallant, so cruel, so decisive, and so cunning! They had the traits that Le Xiao Ting did not have.
Of course, the real reason for Xiao Hua's happiness was that her eyes finally got to be cured. She was getting sick of walking around being half-blind. That blindness made her feel as if she was in a half-dreaming state, with her vulnerable side exposed, feeling not completely in touch with reality.
Liu Chu Chu smiled at the shorter girl. "It just so happens that Chu Chu has some medicine that could cure your eyes. This could be considered as you being lucky." Hearing the word lucky', Xiao Hua's face suddenly went dark, filled with resent-ment. Her smile was obviously forced as she spat out, "Lucky? Yes, Xiao Hua is lucky."
The poor heroine, who had stepped onto Xiao Hua's landmine unknowing, already had Xiao Hua disliking her a little. Even if Xiao Hua knew that the heroine did not know what she had said incorrectly, she had already triggered her terrible mood.
Heroine, are you mocking my fortune for being able to transmigrate here and get my eyes cured? If I want to cure my eyes, I would just undergo laser treatment! Why bother transmigrating! Just because you are happy to be here does not mean this young lady is!
Liu Chu Chu took out a transparent test tube-shaped bottle filled with clear colored liquid from her small white pouch embroidered with red flowers.
"With a few drops of this medicine into your eyes, they will heal after ten seconds," Liu Chu Chu explained. Then she turned towards the direction of the Emperor and Empress. "This medicine is personally brewed by me and it has cured a lot of patients with eye problems."
Heroine, should you not explain that to Xiao Hua, the patient? They are not her parents!
"Which master did the Fifth Miss Liu have the fortune to learn from?" The Empress inquired.
"My teacher is a humble doctor, travelling around the world to help those in need. He goes by the name of Bai."
"Bai?" The Emperor was shocked, and so was everyone else. "You mean the Legendary Doctor Bai?"
"Chu Chu is not certain, Your Majesty. My teacher did not divulge his true identity to this student."
Le Xiao Ting, the reader, was the only one that knew without a doubt that the heroine was lying. The 'medicine' in her hand was not brewed by her, and she was not a student of this Legendary Doctor Bai. The heroine knew that she would need to explain where she learned her skills, so she picked the doctor that was mysterious with a good reputation, yet hard for everyone to meet.
As for the 'medicine', it was actually the water from her cheat item, the bracelet that she was currently wearing on her right wrist. That bracelet was actually spatial storage that contained a very wide land with rich spiritual energy as well as a pool with spring water that could heal any injuries. Miraculously, the spring water would refill itself after it was used.
It was an astonishing yet illogical existence. It only happened in novels, and maybe some other world that people did not know about.
The Emperor laughed happily and pounded his large palm on the table a few times. "Who would have thought We would get to meet the Legendary Doctor Bai's stu-dent!"
"Your Majesty, we do not know if Fifth Miss Liu speaks the truth. There isn't proof that could be verified if she is the Legendary Doctor Bai's student," the Grand Tutor spoke up grimly. His hold on the cup was tight, and it let out a cracking sound that only his granddaughter could hear.
"Grand Tutor is right." The Crown Prince was always the first one to help in throwing mud on anything that got to do with the Second Prince. "There are many that claim themselves as Doctor Bai's students. Yet, each and every one of them were proven to be liars."
A reliable sidekick indeed~
Hilariously, some Fujoshi fans wrote fanfictions about the Crown Prince secretly being in love with the Second Prince but being 'sundere' [15] over it. After passing numerous hurdles did the indifferent prince finally realize his eldest brother was actually a cute person hiding behind his fierce expression.
And their spring season officially started.
Liu Chu Chu stared at everyone confidently, not at all looking like a guilty liar. "My skills are enough to prove that I am a good doctor."
To the heroine, it did not matter if she was found to be a fake. She could always say her master did indeed go by the name 'Bai', but she did not know anything more than that. She said her skills were her proof, but it was proof of being a doctor, not that she was the legendary doctor's student.
"Actually... it does not matter if Fifth Miss Liu is Doctor Bai's student or not," the Third Prince spoke up. "What really matters is whether she can heal my little maid's eyes or not."
...Hmm? Why does that somehow make sense to them?
Liu Chu Chu, who was slowly improving her own value, was suddenly cut off and left hanging in the middle of the air awkwardly.
It was the Second Prince that came to the heroine's rescue. "That's right. It does not matter if Chu Chu is Doctor Bai's student or not. If Chu Chu is a great healer, it would benefit our Guilin Kingdom."
The Third Prince smiled at Liu Chu Chu. "Please, my little maid can't wait any longer."
Xiao Hua blinked. Since when did she say she could not wait anymore? But since this was what the Third Prince wanted, Xiao Hua could fulfil this small thing.
Xiao Hua stared at the heroine eagerly. "Miss Liu, this servant believes in your ability to fix her eyes!"
Liu Chu Chu stepped closer to Xiao Hua and removed the stopper of the test tube bottle. Xiao Hua took in a deep breath of nervousness and something sweet entered her nose, which was the scent of the heroine.
Every novel always described the heroine as smelling so sweet that the hero got intoxicated by her scent.
"Tilt your head upwards and don't blink your eyes."
Xiao Hua obediently raised her head up before she noticed there was a problem.
Le Xiao Ting could hardly open her eyes to use eye drops. Even the contact lens would need almost an hour to put in. That was why spectacles were her best friend, accompanying her for twenty-four hours a day!
As expected, Xiao Hua's eyes kept on blinking, already afraid of the impact before it could hit.
Sorry heroine, this is my mental problem!
It was after trial and error that the Third Prince decided to help after he secretly finished laughing. With her eyes that could not be closed after the Third Prince lightly tapped a spot on her face, the water easily dropped on her eyeballs.
"Leave it for ten breaths of time," Liu Chu Chu advised and moved the test tube bottle away.
It was nerve-wracking for her to not blink her eyes. Luckily ten seconds passed quickly and the Third Prince finally let her eyes move again. Xiao Hua gasped when she noticed her vision slowly turning clearer at an inhuman speed.
"Did it succeed?"
Xiao Hua turned to the Third Prince with a joyful smile but it quickly turned into an expression that was filled with awe.
So... So beautiful! This was a true high definition resolution! That smooth, soft, and pearl white skin! The sexy phoenix eyes lazily framed by his long eyelashes! The luscious and silky long black hair that lightly danced around in the wind!
Xiao Hua wanted to touch everything!
A charming laugh broke into Xiao Hua's fog of desires. "Chu Chu is happy to cure this little maid's eyes."
Xiao Hua turned, with high expectations to see another ravishing beauty. "Eh? Two-timer?"
CHAPTER 30: Two-timing beauty
"What did you say?"
Xiao Hua gulped. Thank goodness she had said 'two-timer' in English! It seems that the heroine did not understand English. Lucky!
"X-Xiao Hua says thank you!"
The Third Prince placed a hand on top of Xiao Hua's head, stopping her from giving Liu Chu Chu a bow. "There is no need to thank her. You are just replacing the original tester of her medicine."
The heroine's sweet smile faltered. She had originally planned on making a good impression on the Third Prince's maid so that she felt as if she owed her a favor. Then Chu Chu would use this favor to ask for information about the Third Prince.
But the Third Prince had quickly cut off that bridge before it could even be built!
Long Shan had told her that the only one she needed to be wary of among his siblings was the Crown Prince, but Chu Chu felt that they should keep an eye on the Third Prince as well.
The Third Prince turned to the Second Prince. "Third Imperial Brother wishes you well with Fifth Miss Liu."
The Second Prince nodded coolly as Liu Chu Chu thanked the Third Prince. Xiao Hua sneaked a few glances at the heroine. Liu Chu Chu's face was beautiful indeed, but it was exactly the same face as the two-timing beauty in her original world!
Le Xiao Ting could not remember her name, but she remembered that the majority of the university forum users agreed that she was the most beautiful woman in their campus and would even call her a 'Goddess'. She even won a few beauty contests that the university held and was also the girlfriend of a handsome and rich man from an affluent family.
Then the news of her being a two-timer spread all over the university's chat room when the sex video of her with a lecturer was leaked. In one day, her good reputation completely plummeted. Since then, most people called her 'two-timer' or 'whore' and her rich boyfriend quickly dumped her. At that time, the ex-goddess could not handle the bad-mouthing and dropped out of the university.
No one knew where she had gone.
So scary.. why would she see a familiar face from her original world? No such incidents occurred in the transmigrated novels she had read!
"It's a draw," the Empress announced. "The Emperor will give the final vote."
The Emperor glanced at the Grand Tutor from the corner of his eye, feeling con-flicted. He originally planned to embarrass Liu Chu Chu so that Miss Ping Shui's talent would shine. But Fifth Miss Liu had surprised him by displaying her talent that would help the Guilin Kingdom to grow.
"I- This prince- this Eighth son has not voted yet!"
A little boy dressed in dark green clothes stood up, staring at the Emperor with a serious look. But his attempt made the onlooker feel that he was cute instead, with his white fleshy, pinchable cheeks and round body that looked nice to hug.
"Oh? The eighth son knows what the voting is for?" The Emperor asked with a gentle tone. In regards to this youngest child of his, he did not have high hopes for him, and only wanted him to be a good prince and grow up healthily.
The Eighth Prince, Long Ming, was ten years old this year, but his mentality was the same as a three-year-old. The shock of seeing his mother brutally killed in front of his eyes had driven him mad.
"Yes! The eighth son knows!"
"Then Eighth Prince, would you vote for 'Yes' or 'No'?" The Empress asked warmly.
"Yes!"
The Emperor laughed heartily. "Then We will allow Fifth Miss Liu to be second son's Princess Consort!"
"This son thanks the Father Emperor," the Second Prince immediately bowed, followed by Liu Chu Chu.
The Emperor turned to the Grand Tutor, whose face was gloomy. "Grand Tutor, as an elder, we would wish for our children to marry for love. Second Prince has said he had no feelings for Miss Ping Shui and it would be good for Miss Ping Shui to choose another that will treat her well."
"Ping Shui, what do you think?" the Grand Tutor asked his granddaughter. This was his favourite granddaughter, who took care of him well and inherited his intel-ligence.
"Ping Shui will obey the Emperor's decision. But Ping Shui hopes that everyone will accept that this is a mutual separation between two parties."
"You can rest assured about it," the Emperor promised. "We will not slight you."
"Thank you, Your Majesty, but Ping Shui also has another request."
"Let Us hear it."
"Ping Shui wishes to marry General Tang Jiang."
The Second Prince's gaze turned sharp. If it could have been transformed into a blade, Ping Shui would have already died from it. General Tang was very loyal to the Second Prince and was one of his strongest soldiers. The Second Prince had even given him the power to command the soldiers if the prince was not available to command.
That was not a secret and everyone would know it if they asked around.
That meant Ping Shui purposely asked for marriage to General Tang Jiang to aim at the Second Prince!
"We grant it!"
The Second Prince did not make any form of objection. With Ping Shui married to his second in command, it could be considered as gaining a chess piece.
Did she think it would be so easy to take his loyal soldier away from him?
"Your Majesty, this old man would miss his only grandchild if she leaves my house. Why not have that Tang Jiang boy marry into my household instead?"
"Since Grand Tutor says so, we will have General Tang marry into the Ping family. Have General Tang here to receive a decree!"
"Father Emperor, General Tang entering the Ping household might not be appropriate," the Second Prince reminded.
Having Ping Shui enter the Tang household was one thing, but for Tang Jiang to enter the Ping household was another matter.
"Second Imperial Brother, surely you can't deny a grandfather's wish to have her granddaughter stay with him?" The Crown Prince asked. "You can't expect to have all the good things for yourself."
"General Tang is the only male heir. If he enters the Ping household, the Tang household will be no more. Father Emperor, please reconsider!"
The Emperor frowned. Minister Tang indeed only had one son and the rest were daughters. There was not even a male relative to pass down the position to in the future if General Tang entered into the Ping household.
"Grand Tutor only has one grandchild, which is Miss Ping Shui," the Crown Prince countered. However, the Ping household still had male relatives that the Grand Tutor could pass the patriarch seat to.
"Third brother heard that Minister Tang has an illegitimate son. I wonder if that hearsay might be true?" The Third Prince, intoxicated by the tea, kept on having Xiao Hua refilling the cup for him.
Xiao Hua stared at the Third Prince doubtfully. Don't you need a bathroom break if you continue drinking this much?
"I have heard the same too," The Fourth Prince echoed after seeing his third brother had spilled the beans.
Eunuch Xiang bowed. "If this servant is allowed to speak."
"Say it," The Emperor granted impatiently.
"The hearsay that both princes have heard is indeed the truth. The illegitimate son is working as a waiter at a well-known restaurant."
The Crown Prince laughed. "If Minister Tang has another son, then it's not a prob-lem! Don't worry, Grand Tutor! Father Emperor is a man that keeps his word!"
"General Tang Jiang arrives!" A guard announced at the entrance.
A tall and robust man marched into the place, his armor made sharp clinking sounds as he walked. He saluted with a movement that could only be considered as energetic but proper. "This subject greets the Emperor and Empress!"
"Tang Jiang, receive a decree from the Emperor for a reward!" Eunuch Xiang held up a yellow scroll and Tang Jiang knelt down to accept it.
"Tang Jiang, for your huge contribution to the Guilin Kingdom, the Emperor decides to reward you! Tang Jiang will marry Miss Ping Shui and enter the Ping household before the year ends! End of the decree!"
Tang Jiang immediately raised his head in shock. "Your Majesty?"
Eunuch Xiang was quick to return to the Emperor's side before Tang Jiang could shove the hot potato back to him.
Xiao Hua stared at Tang Jiang in pity. That's why, classmate Tang Jiang, you should not receive the decree scroll before listening to the decree first.
But then, this Eunuch Xiang was sly by telling the general that the decree was a reward and using that opportunity to give him the scroll.
The royal family and their servants sure love to use sly tricks.
"General Tang, the illegitimate son of your father will be the next Tang family head. Remember to tell Minister Tang about this," the Emperor kindly' advised Tang Jiang, who had not even gotten over the first shock.
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Tang Jiang was not aware of the existence of the illegitimate son of his father. He would need to quickly return and ask his father about it, with some fist talking too! The news of his marriage was already pushed aside in his mind.
"What a lucky day! To have two joyous bits of news in a day! Father Emperor, this deserves a celebration!" the Crown Prince said happily.
The air around the Second Prince was cold and his table was covered with a thin layer of ice. Liu Chu Chu did not seem to be affected by the sudden cold temperature and even caressed the ice like a lover.
Everyone pretended not to notice it. Xiao Hua wondered if they were able to ignore it because this was not the first occurrence of the Second Prince's ice outbreak.
Grand Tutor and his granddaughter stood up. "Your Majesty, please excuse us. We had sneaked out without informing anyone. My daughter must be looking for us everywhere."
Xiao Hua blinked. What an honest and funny grandpa!
"We won't hold you back then."
The Second Prince and Liu Chu Chu gave random excuses and left as well. The Emperor did not stop them and let them leave because he wanted to leave too.
"Long Zhu, We have something to discuss. Follow Us to the study!" The Emperor did not wait for the Third Prince's reply and walked away.
"Serve the meal," the Empress ordered the maids. She did not bother waiting for the Emperor to return as there would be another set of meals waiting for the Emperor and Third Prince in the study room.
The Third Prince turned to Xiao Hua. "When the food arrives, eat it for this prince." Ignoring the shocked Xiao Hua and the disapproving An Wan, he walked to where the Emperor had disappeared to.
"Third brother, let's go together. I have something to discuss with the Father Emperor as well." The Fourth Prince quickly followed.
"Alright."
"Third brother."
"Eldest brother's discussion could wait till tomorrow. It would be rude to leave Mother Empress alone."
The Crown Prince looked dissatisfied as he watched them leave. Then he turned to look at the little maid that belonged to his Third brother.
If I can't join their conversation, I can ask the other source!
CHAPTER 31: Leader of Cannon fodder
When the dishes were served to each table, everyone waited until the Empress took a bite of her food before everyone started to eat theirs.
Long Lian paid no attention to etiquette and had the new maid assigned to her arrange her table beside the Third Prince's. Long Lian happily had her chair placed right beside Xiao Hua.
An Wan wanted to stop the princess but she knew it was already too late to cover up. Her master did not hide that Xiao Hua was more than a favorite maid, and the princess had even spoken about giving Xiao Hua a pill earlier. Pretending otherwise after the shocking display was meaningless.
"Sister A Wan, come and eat too." Xiao Hua wondered how to get another chair for An Wan when the elder maid declined.
"The prince's order is for Elder Sister Hua to eat the meal. Elder Sister Hua does not need to worry. A Wan had already eaten earlier."
An Wan did not dare to eat those dishes that were prepared for royalty. Not to mention eating with Princess Long Lian was a breach of etiquette. Although An Wan and Xiao Hua both were servants, the latter's position was different from a normal servant.
"Fifth Sister is dining with a servant?" An unexpected voice asked.
An Wan's body turned stiff, instantly preparing herself for any attacks. Long Lian's beautiful face was already frowning at the arrival of the newcomer. With her enhanced eyesight, Xiao Hua was admiring Long Lian's beauty when it was interrupted by the princess' frown.
"Eldest Imperial Brother," Long Lian greeted and did not bother to erase the frown on her face. "There's no wine and dancing girls here."
In other words, go and leave them alone!
Xiao Hua did not know if it was a good thing for Long Lian to talk in this manner to her elder brother. It was not overly frowned upon in her original world, but in this era, they emphasized seniority and respect.
What if the Crown Prince decides to retaliate?
"It's not the time for this while the Mother Empress and Eighth brother are still here," the Crown Prince answered honestly before looking aggrieved. "Elder brother misses his younger sister so this brother came to have a little chat. But it seems that my little sister no longer likes elder brother?"
Xiao Hua stared at the Crown Prince in amazement. Who would have thought the
Crown Prince would act this way around his half-blooded sister?
Actually, in the novel, there was not even a scene between Long Lian and the Crown Prince. They did not even get to meet with each other! The Crown Prince would only appear to antagonize the Second Prince as well as doing the job that a 'Leader of Cannon fodder' needed to do. Every encounter the Crown Prince had with the hero and heroine always ended up with the eldest prince suffering embarrassment and inner injury.
Despite that, he still persistently threw himself onto the Second Prince to suffer more!
Thanks to her restored eyesight, Xiao Hua no longer felt as if there was a veil separating her from reality. The clear vision had smacked her out of the daydream land, telling her this was reality and stopped her from getting pushed around by the flow.
Her hope of going home one day would not happen if she did not make a move to seek a way.
If there was no way to return, she had to learn to accept her new reality.
"This younger sister misses the eldest brother, but I'm sure Mother Concubine Ling misses the eldest brother more," Long Lian said as her eyes fell on the pregnant concu-bine.
The Crown Prince followed Long Lian's line of sight. Seeing his birth mother happily eating a chicken drumstick, he let out a helpless sigh but his eyes could not hide his fondness for his birth mother. "Mother Concubine is busy eating. She will be angry if this brother diverts her attention from her food."
Concubine Ling was actually a simple-minded beauty, picked to be one of the Emperor's concubines. For her to survive and bear the first prince for the Emperor could be that she had luck, as well as a survival instinct to avoid falling into other concubines' traps.
The Crown Prince removed his gaze and locked on his intended target. "This prince can see that the third brother favors his new maid very much." His eyes lingered on the chopstick in Xiao Hua's hand before trailing over the dishes on the table meaning-fully.
"This servant greets the Crown Prince." Xiao Hua stood up and greeted him with a low dip of her head.
Long Lian pulled Xiao Hua to sit back down and stared at her eldest brother in disbelief. "Eldest brother, the food that was served on your table is much better than ours yet you still come over to ask for our food?" The Crown Prince was caught unprepared when his Imperial younger sister kicked his bait off to the other side of the river just to protect the little fish. He was even confident that the maid was not an ordinary person because his younger sister, who was usually loveable and obedient, would not talk to him this way.
The elder brother that had always thought of his younger sister as cute and obedient, wish you luck~
"Eldest brother is only concerned about the third brother. Younger sister might not hear it but recently one of the ministers got into a fight with his wife because of a maid. The wife is angry because her husband treats the maid better than her."
"Third brother does not have a wife yet, eldest brother. So how does that relate to the third brother?" Long Lian asked as her phoenix-shaped eyes blinked innocently.
The poor elder brother did not realize his adorable little sister was pretending to be gullible and decided to enlighten her. "Let your eldest brother be direct with his words. Sooner or later, third brother will have a principal wife. Your future third sister-in-law will not like it if the third brother favors his maid over her, do you under-stand?"
Long Lian tilted her head to the side, her hairpin swaying slightly and increasing her charm. "But eldest brother, this problem won't happen if my third sister-in-law and his favorite maid are the same person, right?"
The Crown Prince gaped and it took him a while to finally be able to talk. "W-What-"
"Crown Prince," The Empress called out with a strong and clear voice, successfully capturing everyone's attention. "It would be better not to have an empty stomach when you indulge in wine later."
The Empress' expression showed nothing but concern, but her stern eyes were demanding the Crown Prince to stop causing trouble and eat his dinner.
The Crown Prince was a very arrogant child when he was younger. His birth mother was not one that knew how to raise a child, much less in the aspect of discipline.
His behavior became worse when the Emperor did not reprimand his firstborn, letting him do as he pleased.
But one day, the Crown Prince had nearly killed another country's prince and angered the other country's Emperor. The Empress decided that enough was enough and personally disciplined him. In just a few months, everyone could see the great changes in the Crown Prince.
Everyone's thought at that time was, 'no wonder she's the Empress!' The previous Emperor was a wise man and made a great choice to choose the current Empress as his son's principal wife. At that time, the current Emperor had forcefully taken Concubine He as his concubine who had coldly ignored him, so he shifted his attention to coax her. He was disinterested in who would be his Empress but did not stop his Father Emperor from choosing one for him.
"Thank Mother Empress for the reminder." The Crown Prince said, like a puppy that was scolded by its mother. Xiao Hua formed an image in her mind of a puppy with drooping ears and a tail hiding between its legs as he walked back to his table.
Was this the same Crown Prince that the author had described as a greedy prince with a short temper, tiny brains, and the hobby of bullying the weak? Xiao Hua thought that this Crown Prince was rather cute. A body of an adult but was spiritually a child inside.
The Empress gave her daughter a reprimanding look that successfully made Long Lian feel guilty for speaking about things that would bring trouble to her third broth-er. Xiao Hua being her sister-in-law was something Long Lian wanted, but she was not sure if her third brother even felt that way towards Xiao Hua. Just because her third brother treated Xiao Hua well did not mean he was romantically interested in her.
"This Empress will retire with the concubines. Eunuch Heng, after the Eighth Prince finishes eating, have him walk around the garden for digestion."
Eunuch Heng, who was the Eighth Prince's personal eunuch, immediately saluted and humbly replied, "Yes, Empress. This servant obeys."
The Eighth Prince, with a silly expression on his face, hurriedly stood up when the others stood up to bid the Empress farewell. His cheek had some rice on it and Eunuch Heng gently wiped it away. Xiao Hua could see Eunuch Heng, who looked to be in his late teens, truly cared for the Eighth Prince.
"Eighth brother is pitiful," Long Lian said when she saw Xiao Hua looking at the Eighth Prince. She continued with a soft voice. "He had lost his mind after seeing his mother's dead body. I heard he was the first to discover her body." Long Lian stopped and looked around. "Mother Concubine Heng was killed by an assassin. Father Emperor says that the assassins were sent by the Munzhu Country, but my third brother told me they weren't. Xiao Hua, who do you think is right?"
Xiao Hua smiled bitterly. Princess, why are you asking me this? Does it really matter which one is the truth?
CHAPTER 32: What a cute and silly-looking kid
Xiao Hua was saved from answering when a group of scantily dressed females made their dazzling entrance. They stood in the middle of the empty space and started dancing seductively, their body following the tempo of the music that was played by another group of females at the side.
A side glance confirmed that the Eighth Prince's table was empty. No wonder the dancing women were allowed to enter and start the PG-18 dance performance. Even the Crown Prince no longer cared about appearance and was already drinking wine as if it was water, refilling his cup without stopping.
The dancing ladies were dressed in layers of thin red robes, and would slowly remove layer after layer, tempting the Crown Prince, who was the only man there.
Sadly, the eunuchs could not be considered men.
"Elder Sister Hua, we will need to meet up with the Third Prince soon." An Wan informed Xiao Hua because she and Princess Long Lian had not touched their food but spent their time talking instead.
"So soon?" Long Lian pouted. "We haven't even started to eat yet!"
"Let's quickly eat then." Xiao Hua laughed softly and removed her eyes from the distracting dancers. She dropped different types of dishes onto Long Lian's plate.
"Ah, Xiao Hua, do you want rice?" Long Lian asked when she noticed she was the only one with a bowl of rice. "Third brother does not really like rice so the kitchen did not prepare a bowl for him."
Hearing that, Xiao Hua felt weird. How could the Third Prince not like rice? Rice, to most Chinese people, was almost a necessity for their meal. It was mostly poor people that could not afford to eat rice in this era. Only modern people like Le Xiao Ting could choose to eat noodles or other cultures' food and did not view rice as a main dish in their meal.
"Then what does the Third Prince usually eat?" Xiao Hua asked curiously and declined the offer for a bowl of rice. The number of dishes on the table was not more than five, but the volume of them was enough to feed two people.
"Third brother loves to drink soup the most, especially ginseng chicken soup. Every meal, he will drink a bowl of soup without fail."
Soup was indeed delicious but... "Is he even full with that?"
"His Highness might not eat rice most of the time, but he eats plenty of dishes," An Wan explained, which then explained the double portion of dishes on the table.
"An Wan, pack some dishes for the third brother to eat later, or else he will skip his meal again," Long Lian ordered in a tone filled with disapproval.
"Third Prince skips meals?" Xiao Hua asked in disbelief. Somehow Xiao Hua had the perception that wealthy people enjoy eating and never miss a meal. Not to mention that earlier today, she had seen how much the Third Prince could eat.
... Was it because she had tested the food to be edible?
Long Lian noticed that Xiao Hua seemed to be asking more questions today. Usu-ally, the small-sized girl hardly talked, even if she did not know anything she did not even bother to ask, as if it was a difficult task to open her mouth to speak even a word.
Long Lian's eyes brightened as if she had been enlightened.
Xiao Hua asked more questions because it was about her third brother.
Happy about Xiao Hua's change of attitude, Long Lian tried her best to tell Xiao Hua what her third brother liked to eat and what he did not like to eat, totally forgetting to eat herself.
Xiao Hua felt that it was rude to eat while Long Lian was talking so she did not eat either.
When An Wan saw that the dancing ladies were becoming even bolder, flashing even more of their skin, she decided it was time to leave.
"Princess Long Lian, it is time for this servant and Elder Sister Hua to join the Third Prince. It would not be good if the Third Prince had to wait for us."
"Oh no!" It was only then that Long Lian remembered the food.
Seeing that the princess was staring at the table filled with food with a helpless ex-pression, An Wan suggested, "Princess Long Lian, how about we pack these foods into meal boxes? When the Princess returns to her residence, please have a servant to reheat it before consuming it."
"Alright, do it."
An Wan and Long Lian's new maid packed the food into the prepared food boxes when Eunuch Sun, the Empress' head eunuch, appeared.
"Princess Long Lian, the Empress would like to invite the Princess to share desserts with her," Eunuch Sun said after the greetings were passed around. His sharp eyes noticed the food box and waved a hand towards a younger eunuch by his side. "This servant shall reheat the food for the Princess."
Long Lian knew that she was in for a lecture from her mother soon, so she was not in a hurry to leave. She wanted to follow Xiao Hua and An Wan to the Emperor's study, but Eunuch Sun, with an unyielding smile, directed the Princess to where the Empress was waiting.
The sky was slowly getting dark so An Wan lit a small lantern so that they could see their path. Xiao Hua happily admired the vast sky, it's beauty endlessly tugging at her heartstrings, making her feel nostalgic.
How long has it been since Le Xiao Ting took the time to stare at the sky? Her life was filled with her fast-paced work on weekdays and on weekends, she would have brief visits to her hometown where her mother stayed.
Le Xiao Ting always asked her mother to move to the city to stay with her so that she could take care of her. But her mother was a simple woman and had no desire to part with her house that was filled with memories. Her father had died young, leaving her mother alone with a young daughter, working hard to support them both.
Now that Le Xiao Ting had transmigrated into Xiao Hua's body, she was very worried about her mother. Did she know her daughter was gone? Was she depressed and crying every day? Did she eat and sleep well?
Unfortunately, her worries would never disappear unless she found a way to return back to her original world. But the chances of doing so did not look positive.
An Wan noticed the younger girl seemed to be despondent. She did not know what caused her to be this way, but An Wan had no desire to talk to Xiao Hua. Her heart was still in conflict even if her head was clear. It was hard to fight against her own feelings.
"Sister A Wan, what is that?" Xiao Hua suddenly asked and pointed at the trimmed neat bushes that were as tall as her knees.
An Wan carelessly glanced at where Xiao Hua pointed and her heart missed a beat.
She prided herself on having high sensitivity and alertness, but she had not noticed what Xiao Hua, a non-cultivator, did!
"Isn't that the Eighth Prince?" Xiao Hua guessed since she could only see the back of the small kid, curled up into a ball. His dark green clothes blended in with the bushes well, but it was the light green hair crown on the black, lustre hair that caught Xiao Hua's eyes.
An Wan's eyes narrowed when she saw the Eighth Prince was holding onto something that should not be in the hands of a child. She quickly approached the bushes, leaving Xiao Hua with no choice but to follow.
"Eighth Prince, why are you here alone without Eunuch Heng?" An Wan appeared in front of the Eighth Prince, surprising him so that he dropped the long wooden smoking pipe onto the ground.
The Eighth Prince stared at the two maids in fear. His large eyes were already
teary, expecting to be scolded. "D-Don't tell anyone!"
An Wan gave the Eighth Prince a warm smile as she knelt down before him while she picked up the dropped pipe. "Eighth Prince, may this servant ask where you got this?"
The Eighth Prince pressed his lips together, and shook his tiny head fiercely, refusing to answer. But his large, round eyes did not hide how scared he was.
An Wan would prefer to carry the Eighth Prince over to the Emperor to deal with him, but she was a servant, and touching a prince was not allowed. Besides, forcing a prince to do something was not something a maid was allowed to do.
The only proper choice was to find Eunuch Heng. An Wan stared at Xiao Hua, con-flicted, before making the final decision.
"Elder Sister Hua, please look after the Eighth Prince until I return with Eunuch Heng."
Xiao Hua nodded. "I will, Sister An Wan."
"Eighth Prince, Eunuch Heng must be worried and looking for you everywhere. Please wait here for An Wan to bring Eunuch Heng over," An Wan informed the Eighth Prince with a reassuring tone. Her gentle smile, bright eyes, and submissive vibe made one trust her not to lie to them.
The Eighth Prince finally nodded rigidly. An Wan gave Xiao Hua another worried glance before she disappeared quickly.
Xiao Hua, holding onto the lantern that was passed to her by An Wan, stared at the Eighth Prince, who in return stared back at her.
Unknowingly, both were thinking the same thing. 'What a cute and silly-looking kid.'
CHAPTER 33: Performing a show just for her
"You are the Third Imperial brother's maid?" The Eighth Prince suddenly asked.
"Yes, Eighth Prince," Xiao Hua answered. Long Lian had told her that this prince had turned silly, but what kind of 'silly' did she mean?
The Eighth Prince could still recognize people and respond according to the situ-ation, so Xiao Hua was rather puzzled about what kind of 'silly' the Eighth Prince was suffering from.
"But my fifth sister wants you." The Eighth Prince's little white face frowning adorably.
"Want me?" Xiao Hua tried to guess what he meant. "As her maid?"
Xiao Hua did not know why but after hearing her answer, the Eighth Prince's eyes flashed with something that made her grow alert.
The Eighth Prince's small white face suddenly had a really pitiful expression, as tears started to flow out of his eyes. His large, round eyes showed confusion.
"T-That long wooden stick, is it bad?"
Although Xiao Hua was rather suspicious of how the Eighth Prince suddenly changed his attitude, she still decided to answer him. "Yes, it's bad for your health."
"B-But brother said it's fun!"
Xiao Hua narrowed her eyes at his pitiful act. There were too many signs of him lying. Adding onto the previous abrupt change of attitude, he was just screaming 'Look at me, I'm acting'!
The Eighth Prince also earnestly made eye contact with Xiao Hua and hardly blinked. He was doing his best to manipulate her to believe his act.
Xiao Hua forced her face to relax, showing none of her suspicions. "May this servant be bold as to ask which prince gave Your Highness that stick?"
Already being attentive, she did not miss the glee from the Eighth Prince's eyes before it was quickly concealed away. Xiao Hua suddenly felt her scalp go cold. This prince was not as silly as everyone thought he was.
And she was currently alone with a dangerous kid!
"Y-You promise you won't tell Father Emperor? A-And Mother Empress?" The
Eighth Prince tearfully asked, his large eyes begging for her to agree.
Could it be that she had over-thought things and he was actually simple-minded, only worrying about his parent's anger? Or was he purposely leaving a loophole for Xiao Hua to fall into?
Ugh, she hates mind games the most!
Back in the days where Le Xiao Ting had just graduated from university, she was looking forward to working at a small firm with a lighter workload. But like a tornado, her boss re-entered her life and offered her a job in his newly built company.
After much thought and consideration, Le Xiao Ting agreed to work in her boss' newly built small firm. She was happy because it was not a stressful environment and she could go home right on time. But her scary boss happily destroyed her safety net and in three years, he successfully made their company climb upward until it became a large corporation.
Since then, Le Xiao Ting had heard lots of office gossip that was half-true and half-false that was damaging to one's reputation. Everyone had friendly faces but behind them were sharp knives ready to dig into another's weakness once it was revealed.
That was the main reason why she did not interact with her co-workers unless need-ed.
She was also fortunate because she was hugging her boss' golden thigh and no one dared to aim at her.
If Xiao Hua's eyes had not recovered, she would not have noticed the Eighth Prince's strange behavior. She did not know why, but her eyes seem to spot small details rather easily now.
Could it be that she had superpowers now?
Xiao Hua nodded with a serious yet earnest expression as if the Eighth Prince was going to tell her a special secret. "Xiao Hua will not tell the Emperor and Empress." Seeing that silly and trusting expression of the maid, the Eighth Prince was glad that things were going according to his plan.
The Eighth Prince revealed a happy and relieved expression. "It's my eldest broth-er. He gave me the stick and taught me how to use it! Just like my eldest brother says, it's fun! But I must not let anyone know or else he won't give me things to play with again."
Now, all this silly maid needs to do is to tell the princess what he just told her!
Xiao Hua suddenly felt the urge to laugh. The Eighth Prince was performing a show just for her and did not ask if she wanted to watch it or not. Now that the show was over, he outright demanded a viewing fee from her!
She looked at his large eyes. They were staring at her, impolitely demanding her to do what he wanted. If they got larger, they would resemble a goldfish.
Unfortunately for the Eighth Prince, Xiao Hua did not really like kids like him, making trouble for other people. But what was he trying to do? Get someone into trouble?
Xiao Hua, with a curious mind and a playful heart, decided to play along. Her initial judgment of the Eighth Prince being dangerous was already forgotten.
So Xiao Hua pretended to be stupid and nodded exaggeratedly. "Xiao Hua will not let anyone know, not even a soul! This servant will also take back the pipe from Sister An Wan for Your Highness!"
The Eighth Prince looked at Xiao Hua with fake concern. "But... it won't be easy."
"No problem! Xiao Hua will take it when Sister An Wan is not looking" Xiao Hua abruptly stopped when she noticed An Wan and Eunuch Heng had arrived. But the look on their faces told her they were not pleased.
Could it be... they heard their conversation? Impossible, they were still far away from the hearing range!
Eunuch Heng's figure suddenly disappeared and appeared right beside the Eighth Prince the next second. "Your Highness! This servant is worried when Your Highness suddenly went missing! It's this servant's fault for not being attentive enough!"
The Eighth Prince was not happy to be interrupted just when he was going to successfully steer the idiotic maid to do what he wanted.
He was about to tell Xiao Hua to get Princess Long Lian to help out with her plan to take back the pipe, giving a shameless excuse so that the princess would definitely help him because she liked him the most. With the princess' personality, she would immediately get angry and demand answers from the Crown Prince. She would not bother asking him privately and it would be loud, allowing everyone to know about it at the same time.
But his plan was destroyed by his own eunuch!
"Your Highness," Eunuch Heng said with a grave tone. "Elder Sister An Wan has told me about the pipe. Please do not play with it again or this servant will be sad if Your Highness gets sick!"
"Eunuch Heng," An Wan cut in. "We will let the Third Prince settle this matter."
Eunuch Heng knew the Third Prince would be involved because An Wan was the Third Prince's inner maid. He might already have known about the Eighth Prince's smoking pipe by now.
Xiao Hua spotted a black blur in the corner of her eye before it stopped beside An Wan. That was one of the mini shadow guards of the Third Prince.
"Aunt Wan, Master is waiting. I will lead the way."
Aunt...Wan? (o_o)
But An Wan did not react when she was called 'aunt', and nodded in response.
"Eighth Prince, Eunuch Heng, please follow this servant to meet the Third Prince." The Eighth Prince hesitated before nodding, his body language revealed his nervousness. His eyes darted to Eunuch Heng as if wishing to hide behind him.
Eunuch Heng's anger at the Eighth Prince using the smoking pipe was immediately extinguished at the pitiful appearance of his master. The Eighth Prince must have been lied to by someone. Eunuch Heng was the one that was most familiar with his master, who was innocent and obedient, not even a single hair of his was mis-chievous!
Da Bei led the way, followed by the Eighth Prince and Eunuch Heng, and ended with Xiao Hua and An Wan.
An Wan did not say anything along the way but Xiao Hua was panicking. She did not know why but she had a feeling that An Wan had heard what she had said earlier.
Xiao Hua wanted to say something yet she did not know what to say.
That she was only playing along with the Eighth Prince's scheme so please don't misunderstand?
That was just asking for a beating! Everyone seemed to believe the Eighth Prince was 'silly' so how could they believe a silly person could scheme without them know-ing?
Without them.....knowing? Really? How could it be? Something like this could not possibly escape from the Third Prince's eyes.
Xiao Hua did not know when she had changed her view of the Third Prince. He was no longer a gentle and feeble prince, but a prince with backbone and unidentified strength. She knew that the early reveal of the heroine's ability was done by the Third Prince, which was pointed out during the conversation between the Third Prince and Da Liu from earlier.
They arrived at a smaller courtyard where there were a few candles that had been Lit up to brighten the place.
The hot pink figure did not lessen its eye scorching brightness even under the dark sky. Noticing their arrival, the Third Prince revealed a bright smile but his eyes were dark, giving off a foreboding feeling.
The Eighth Prince and Xiao Hua shivered from the sudden cold that only they could feel because they felt guilty about doing something bad.
So scary! (*TWT)
CHAPTER 34: Let's go home
"Eighth brother, let Physician Li take a look at you," the Third Prince said before the Eighth Prince could say anything in his defense.
The Eighth Prince secretly cursed the Third Prince, but only nodded, not knowing that his dissatisfaction could be seen by those that were experienced with reading people's moods and expressions.
Even the noob Xiao Hua could spot it.
Physician Li greeted the Eighth Prince respectfully before he thoroughly examined him. "Third Prince, the Eighth Prince is healthy but it would be best to eat some supplements to maintain his good health," Physician Li advised.
He did not dare to say the Eighth Prince had only started smoking recently so he was still fine and his health would not have been affected much. The news of the Eighth Prince smoking a pipe was quickly covered up and the sharp-minded physician wisely did not mention anything that was related to it.
"An Wan, send Physician Li off and get the list of supplements needed."
When the two left, the Third Prince gestured to Xiao Hua to come over. With a nervous gulp, she shakily stepped towards the Third Prince. She did not need to see to know that he was angry!
"Pour the tea for this Prince."
"Y-Yes, Your Highness."
Xiao Hua forced her nerves to calm down before she made a mistake that would give her more punishment. She picked up the small teapot and carefully refilled the Third Prince's empty cup.
"It seems that your third brother has not noticed how talented my eighth brother is. Please accept this brother's apology."
"T-That..." The Eighth Prince did not know what to say. But judging from his expres-sion, he seemed to agree with what the Third Prince had said about him being un-derestimated.
"Father Emperor will be happy to hear that our eighth brother is capable and our Mother Empress can finally ease her worries."
The Eighth Prince's small and chubby face lost some color. "T-Third brother! Y-You are going to tell them that I've played with the pipe?"
The Third Prince picked up the refilled cup and drank it, expressing the same intoxicated expression that was on his face during the gathering earlier. The cup was quick to be emptied and Xiao Hua refilled it again.
"This small matter does not need to make them worry. Eunuch Heng, make sure there will be no more dangerous toys for my eighth brother to play with."
"This servant will obey or else this servant will offer his life as punishment!"
Xiao Hua gulped, feeling cold sweat dripping down her back. Offer his life as pun-ishment? Is this another example of being a loyal servant? Sorry, this young lady was taught about human rights and not willing to follow your example!
Willingness to become the Third Prince's loyal maid did not mean she did not cherish her life!
"Eighth brother, I will send a knowledgeable tutor for you to learn from so that there won't be any more dangerous incidents like today happening again."
"Tutor? I don't want a tutor.." The Eighth Prince said with unconcealed reluctance.
"You are at the age where you need a tutor." The Third Prince's firm tone forced the Eighth Prince to accept it. The Third Prince let out a helpless sigh. "Eighth brother will still have to be punished for today's mistake."
The Eighth prince stared blankly at the Third Prince. "T-Third brother-"
"Eighth brother, if you are not punished, you will not truly learn from your mis-takes. Even your third brother is punished when I've done something wrong."
Knowing that he could not escape, he could only swallow his grievance. "Third brother is smart. Eighth brother will listen to the third brother."
"Good. It's getting late now. Eunuch Heng, do take good care of the Eighth Prince. He is a precious bundle to us."
The Eighth Prince finally left with Eunuch Heng, feeling bitter that his plan had failed and even got him into trouble. His eyes flashed with hostility. It was a good thing he was flexible and not discouraged from this failure.
He still had a chance! So what if his disguise was already discovered by the Third Prince? He did not have the guts to tell the truth to Father Emperor and Mother Em-press.
The Third Prince happily continued on drinking the tea and Xiao Hua kept on refilling it. When the teapot was finally empty, she was relieved but the Third Prince looked as if his joy was taken away.
Could it be the Third Prince... is a tea maniac?
"Xiao Hua."
She nearly jumped out of her skin. Is this the time for her punishment?
"Do you know what you have done wrong?"
What's with this question? How do you expect her to answer? Yes, and she gets pun-ished. No, and she would still get punished too!
"Y-Yes?" Xiao Hua answered but it sounded more like a question.
"Da Bei."
Da Bei suddenly appeared in front of them and started speaking...
"Y-You promise you won't tell Father Emperor? A-And Mother Empress?"
"Xiao Hua will not tell the Emperor and Empress."
"Xiao Hua will not let anyone know, not even a soul! This servant will also take back the pipe from Sister An Wan for Your Highness!"
If only a hole suddenly appeared, Xiao Hua would gladly throw herself into it! Da Bei had heard the whole conversation, remembered them word for word! If Da Bei had not said them using his own voice, she would have thought that it was recorded by a voice recorder!
"Y-Your H-Highness, I...I... I'm sorry!"
Screw pain and dignity! Right now she had to beg herself out of this mess!
She abruptly kneeled down and would have banged her forehead on the hard ground if someone had not grabbed onto her upper arm, stopping her. It was Da Bei that stopped her and tugged her to stand back upright.
"Does Xiao Hua even know what you are apologizing for?"
Her mind blanked and her mouth decided it was the time to sprout out nonsense.
"Xiao Hua apologizes because the Third Prince is angry. The Third Prince is not happy so Xiao Hua needs to apologizes."
There was something long and thin wrapped around her wrist and with a powerful tug, Xiao Hua was sent flying right into the Third Prince's arms.
"Eeeeek!"
Soft pats on her head slowly calmed down her racing heart and her nose greedily inhaled the unique smell coming from the Third Prince's body. It reminded her of the forest and sun, working well as a calming drug.
Feeling a hard chair under her butt, Xiao Hua suddenly felt the cold wind caressing her legs and was too late to stop the Third Prince from lifting up her skirt!
D-Déjà vu?
"Y-Your Highness!"
Was she going to be eaten?! But to her brief disappointment, the Third Prince only wanted to check her abused knees.
This beautiful prince, please don't tease this pure maiden! This fragile lady cannot withstand this emotional roller coaster ride!
She could see her knees were bruised and it was only when she saw the bleeding scratches made from pebbles and stones did she notice the painful stings. Her uniform was torn from the kneeling and unable to protect her knees. She could not resist moving her legs, as if it could lessen the pain, and the Third Prince had to grab her legs to stop her movement.
"Be good." Xiao Hua automatically obeyed. "Bring over warm water and a clean towel."
Da Bei's twin, Da An, appeared with a basin of water and a white towel, placing them on the table.
The Third Prince lifted one of her legs and placed it on his lap so that it would be easier for him to clean her bruises. Xiao Hua tried to pull back her leg, but the Third Prince's grip on her leg was like a shackle.
"Don't move or you will make it bleed even more."
When the Third Prince was going to dip the towel into the water, she quickly tried to stop him. "Third Prince, this servant can do it herself!"
The Third Prince gave her a look that commanded her to be quiet. Xiao Hua gulped and shrunk back. "S-Sorry."
The Third Prince was very gentle as he cleaned the dirt and blood from her bruises thoroughly. Seeing his concentrating face, Xiao Hua's heart felt as if it was tickled with a feather.
"You only need to listen to me. Even if the Emperor or Empress tells you to do something, ask me first."
Xiao Hua stared at the Third Prince with dazed eyes. Could it be he was not happy when she agreed to help the Eighth Prince to keep his secret? But the truth was she only wanted to trick the Eighth Prince off guard.
Feeling something untangled inside her heart, she opened her mouth to ask, "Third Prince, why...why are you being so nice to Xiao Hua?"
"Don't leave my side and this prince will continue being nice to you."
Is he threatening her?
But Xiao Hua saw nothing threatening from him, only his resolve to fulfil the promise to be nice to her if she continued to stay by his side. Why did she suddenly find that this scene was similar to one being confessed? She quickly smacked her silly fantasies away.
"Sister An Jing and Sister An Wan stay with the Third Prince because the Third Prince treats them nice too?" Xiao Hua asked.
"They stay at this prince's side because they are my servants."
...I'm your servant too! Why the difference?!
"Do not leave my side, understand?" The Third Prince said.
Xiao Hua nodded. "This servant understands."
It was only after Xiao Hua gave her word that the Third Prince continued cleaning her bruises. After bandaging her knees with his experienced hands, he gave her the gentlest smile Xiao Hua had ever seen. "Let us return."
Let's go home.
His smile seemed to slowly win against the depression inside her, giving her hope and a new place to belong in. With a blooming smile, Xiao Hua stood up and straightened her skirt. "Yes, Master."
From now on, you are my master. So please help us change our fate, Third Prince of the Guilin Kingdom, Long Zhu.
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