V2: 31-36
CHAPTER 31: Just a convenient body to substitute
All the way back to Bin Manor in a carriage, Bin Tang was fuming in anger. Her hus-band, Xu Ming, was silent beside her, his mind already far away from reality.
Her father sat in the other carriage with Eunuch Lau Liu, trying his best to have the eunuch help him say some good words to the Emperor. This time they had stepped over the Emperor's bottom line by targeting his one and only daughter. Minister Bin had no time to even scold his eldest daughter for aiming at the gold when they had not dealt with the dragon beforehand.
Seeing how her husband ignored her, no doubt thinking about that slut, Bin Tang could not remain silent any longer. "When we return, you need to think of a way to send Bin Yi away before she is sent to Munzhu."
Hearing his wife's words, his mind returned to reality. His face turned grim as he turned to look at his wife of three years. "You want the Bin family to be punished for sending your sister away?"
Bin Tang sneered. "What can the Emperor punish us for? He will not dare to punish us heavily."
"Don't be stupid," Xu Ming said coldly. "The Emperor will kill the whole Bin family if we continue to provoke him."
"We are too powerful. He would not kill us and harm the kingdom," Bin Tang immediately disagreed. She could clearly see how influential her father was and the Emperor did not dare to make a move towards the Bin family.
"You are just a woman that stays inside the home and only gossips about insignificant matters. What do you know about politics?"
"You-"
The carriage stopped and a servant announced their arrival. Without waiting for a servant to open the carriage door, Xu Ming stepped out without saying another word to his wife. His wife had overestimated her father's capabilities and he found it to be a waste of time and patience to broaden her narrow-minded thoughts.
Bin Tang stepped out of the carriage with the help of her servant and walked into the manor while glaring at the back of her husband, who had strode into the manor with Eunuch Lau Liu and Minister Bin.
"Mama!" A bright-eyed two-year-old boy called out from the arms of a nanny, waving his short and plump arms, asking for his mother to carry him.
Bin Tang's anger eased seeing her adorable son. "Sorry, mother is busy. Later I will play with you, okay?"
After sending her son back to his room, Bin Tang hurried to the living room after asking a maid for her younger sister's whereabouts. Minister Bin had already brought Eunuch Lau Liu and the guards to meet the second young miss of Bin, who was dressed in thick clothes despite the unsuitable weather for the attire.
The second young miss, Bin Yi, was eighteen years old, but because her body was weak and a bit of an airhead, Minister Bin was picky about who her daughter would marry. But there were not many good choices of a husband that was willing to marry Bin Yi, because of her illness and the reputation she gained after she had loudly declared that she would only marry the King of Munzhu.
Bin Tang's heart dropped when she saw Bin Yi's eyes were star-struck; clearly happy with whatever Eunuch Lau Liu had told her. She even nodded her head eagerly to express her consent and tugged her father's sleeves to agree for her.
"The painter will arrive shortly. Second Miss Bin should dress up for the painting," Eunuch Lau Liu suggested with a kind smile.
Minister Bun could not stop his younger daughter, watching helplessly as she happily followed her maid to her room to dress up in her best attire.
Xu Ming quickly grabbed Bin Tang's wrist when she made a move to follow after Bin Yi. He pulled her out and away from the living room.
"Let me go!" Bin Tang tugged her hand, but the grip got tighter. She winced from the pain. "It hurts!"
Xu Ming ignored her pain and called for two strong-looking maids. "Send Madam Bin back to her room and make sure she does not leave."
"Yes, sir."
Bin Tang was born as a noble lady that had not worked before, so where would she have the strength to pull herself away from these two strong maids' grip?
"You can't do this to me!"
"Stay in your room and reflect on your mistake."
"What mistake? I had not done anything wrong!"
Xu Ming frowned at her loud outburst. "Bring her away."
The maids did not dare to slacken their grip on Bin Tang and stopped her escape.
All the way to her room, Bin Tang had threatened to sell them away but they did not loosen their grip.
"We apologize, Madam Bin, but we cannot disobey Master Xu Ming's orders." They quickly locked the door from the outside after releasing Bin Tang inside her room.
"You useless servants!" Bin Tang yelled in outrage and pulled the locked door. How can the servants obey Xu Ming but not her? She was the real Bin while Xu Ming was just a son-in-law!
Even if he will be the future master of the Bin family, she, Bin Tang, was still the real master!
No matter what she did, the door was still standing upright, locking her inside the room. Bin Tang vented her anger by smashing anything breakable in the room onto the floor. She had almost thrown everything to the floor when the door opened and Xu Ming entered.
The tall vase in her hand trembled from her shaking hold as she reined in her desire to throw it at her husband.
Xu Ming stared at the broken pieces of expensive treasures on the floor with apathetic eyes before informing a servant, "No need to call us for dinner."
Bin Tang trembled, knowing what would come as Xu Ming closed the door.
"Go change and get onto the bed," Xu Ming ordered as he began to untie his belt.
Bin Tang had fallen in love with Xu Ming when she was a naive and spoiled four-teen-year-old girl. She first met him when her father introduced a young, handsome man as his student. Since then, she often found excuses to drop by her father's study room just to glimpse at the quiet young man.
Xu Ming hardly paid attention to her, keeping an appropriate distance from his teacher's daughters. But Bin Tang was unhappy at his distance and tried harder to capture his attention.
This went on until Bin Tang finally reached a marriageable age and her father started to hunt for an appropriate husband for her. Bin Tang told her father that she only wanted to marry Xu Ming, but her father rejected her request, saying that she should marry a husband with great status unlike Xu Ming, whose background was too low.
It was unknown how the idea came from, but Bin Tang did not hesitate to do it. She drugged Xu Ming and let her father and guests catch them together in bed. Minister Bin had no choice but to have Xu Ming and Bin Tang get married to salvage his repu-tation, but Xu Ming would have to marry into the Bin's family to succeed as the next family patriarch, for there was no male descendant in the Bin family.
Minister Bin had originally hoped for his eldest daughter to marry a husband with equal status. He had already made plans to have a suitable male to marry his youngest daughter, Bin Yi and take over the family name, but his eldest daughter had upset his plans.
The young Bin Tang did not care about anything and only wanted Xu Ming as her husband. However, Xu Ming was especially cold to her, except during the nights in bed where he used her body to release his anger.
Bin Tang shakily stepped behind the screen divider and changed into a worn-out, smaller-sized peach-coloured dress. Due to the small size, it hugged tightly onto Bin Tang's figure, showing her matured chest and shapely hips, gained after her preg-nancy.
Next, she removed her hairpins and tied her hair into a single, thick braid just like that slut had styled her hair during her younger days. It took her a moment to calm down her nerves before stepping out of the screen.
Xu Ming was already naked and waiting on the bed. His eyes remained closed and did not move when Bin Tang climbed onto the bed on her hands and knee, facing away from her husband. She only released her breath when she heard her husband move behind her.
She stiffened before letting her body relax when something covered her face. Bin Tang noticed it was a mask over her face from the feel of it. A hand turned her body until her back touched the bed.
The same familiar pair of hands groped her breasts rather gently. The hands tested its weight and his fingers teased the nipples, rubbing and pinching until they turned so stiff it was almost painful for her to bear.
Biting down her lips to stop any embarrassing sound from escaping from her mouth, she endured the painful pleasure. Even if it was humiliating, she loved his touch too much to stop him.
The hands gently removed the belt that was holding the worn-out dress together and she could not stop herself from trembling at the feeling of the rough and warm hands on her naked skin. They caressed her so gently as if she was his greatest treasure.
"Long Lian." Xu Ming's voice was no longer indifferent. Instead, it was filled with intense longing and affection. "You are even more beautiful now. Look, your breast filled my whole hand."
That name chilled Bin Tang's arousal, but she had been subjected to this humiliation for three years. Thus, without much difficulty, she pushed that stinging pain away. She concentrated on the pleasurable sensations evoked from her husband's touch, blocking every sound reaching her ears.
Xu Ming was no longer satisfied with just caressing the silky skin underneath him and parted the robe until her body was completely exposed. He parted her legs wide and his fingers entered her feminine fold, teasing more liquid to leak out.
"Long Lian, you are so wet." Bin Tang eagerly moved her hips, wanting more pleasure from the talented long, thick fingers.
Xu Ming chuckled at how responsive she reacted towards his touch. "Long Lian, we need to get you wetter to avoid hurting you. Elder Brother Ming will help you."
The room was filled with wet sounds as his fingers relentlessly teased the warm cave, driving Bin Tang crazy. Finally satisfied with the amount of liquid, he impatiently thrust a part of his body that was hard and aching into the welcoming hot folds that greedily sucked him in.
Bin Tang could not help but moan from the familiar pleasure as her husband continuously rubbed her insides, kindling her arousal higher and higher. Even though both of them were participating in the same activity, both of their minds were far away from each other.
The husband was lost in his imagination with his one and only love.
The wife was lost in her imagination with a husband that called her name lovingly.
They finally reached the completion and the bed sheet was soaked with their sweat and the liquid they produced generously from their joining place.
Bin Tang thought that Xu Ming would leave like he always did, but surprisingly, his body was not yet satisfied. His penis was still hard and leaking, ready for another round. Like a hungry wolf, he continued eating 'Long Lian', his mind filled with how beautiful she looked today, how much he wanted to hold her in his arms and devour her. She was getting more beautiful each year and his desire for her grew even more but she was also getting further away from his reach.
Bin Tang tried to endure her husband's attention but in the end, she fainted from the unending assault. She should have known that her husband would be more demanding tonight after seeing Long Lian today.
When she finally woke up the next morning, her lower parts ached more than usual. Her husband was gone and the broken treasures on the floor were nowhere to be seen.
"Madam, you are awake!" Her personal maid entered the room once Bin Tang called her name hoarsely. "I will prepare the bath for you."
Bin Tang's face was a perfect picture of calmness as she dismissed her servants before stepping into the bathtub, not at all hindered by her trembling legs. She had long gotten used to it.
She knew that her husband's servant would pick up the peach coloured dress and clean it carefully, before soaking it with flower water.
Xu Ming would continue doing his daily routine, acting as if nothing out of the ordinary happened last night.
Like every morning after those nights, Bin Tang would bathe on her own and silently cry, feeling used as her hatred towards that slut grew. To her husband, she was just a convenient body to substitute as Long Lian in his mind.
CHAPTER 32: Just milk this cow
Xiao Hua concentrated two hundred percent on her task to avoid making any more mistakes. This was already her third attempt and time was running out! Only when the goods were safely transferred into a large china round bowl did she finally breathe in relief.
The kitchen was large but its airflow was pretty bad as she felt stuffy after spending a whole afternoon inside. There were two windows installed but it was not enough to clear the smoke and hot air out of the room as the kitchen's location has less wind drift compared to the other areas inside the Third Prince's residence.
"You did it, Xiao Hua-" Duan Xi Ying had originally offered to help her make the dish, but Xiao Hua refused. It was a part of Long Lian's gift and she want to make it herself as a sign of sincerity.
It was pretty hard to cook as she did not know how to adjust the fire, but fortu-nately, Duan Xi Ying helped her to start the fire and constantly added in wooden logs to keep the fire going.
"What dish is this?" Tian Chi asked curiously, her round eyes glued onto Xiao Hua's handmade dish. She had kept silent and focused on doing her task but her eyes kept on trailing over to the corner where Xiao Hua was focused on cooking. When she saw Xiao Hua had finished cooking, she quickly stepped closer to inquire about the dish.
"This is fried rice."
"Fried rice? But the colour of this rice is much lighter than the fried rice I've seen.
There are also different ingredients added in."
"I added lesser oil and sauce. It won't be as greasy as normal fried rice. I've also added Long Lian's favourite prawns, as well as carrots, potatoes, and chicken cubes.
Scrambled eggs are also added into it."
Xiao Hua scooped a spoonful of rice and handed it to Tian Chi, whose eyes could not hide her desire to taste the food. "Here, you can try it."
"I can't do that! I cannot eat Princess' food!" Tian Chi quickly denied but her eyes had not left from the spoonful of rice.
"Don't worry, I've made more than enough to give some to you." Xiao Hua pushed the spoon closer to Tian Chi. "I would appreciate hearing your opinion about my fried rice."
Tian Chi succumbed rather easily and took the spoon from Xiao Hua's hands.
"Won't it be tastier if you cook it longer?" Tian Chi noticed that the fried rice was not dry as she was used to taste.
"That depends on personal preference. I prefer slight moisture to the rice so that I won't end up with a dry throat after eating it." Xiao Hua sighed. "But it would have been better if the rice was yesterday's."
"It's for Princess Long Lian. The leftover rice made Princess Long Lian fall ill!" Tian Chi said with a voice containing disbelief as Duan Xi Ying laughed.
Xiao Hua laughed dryly but did not insist on the matter even if Le Xiao Ting had no problem with overnight food. Perhaps the body of a precious royalty was more deli-ate compared to a normal person:
'It's certainly a different flavour." Tian Chi reviewed it after tasting it. "I could no decide which fried rice I like more."
Si Si suddenly rushed into the kitchen with flushed cheeks from running. "Elder Sister Hua, a messenger informed that His Highness and Princess are on their way!"
"Thank you, Si Si. Luckily we just finished cooking!" Xiao Hua laughed, trying to sound as natural as possible.
Since the day Si Si was 'fired', Xiao Hua thought she would not see her again. But who would have thought the other girl often dropped by to greet her, giving excuses that she missed Xiao Hua and checked to see if Duan Xi Ying had served her well. Si Si always put on a gentle and innocent facade whenever she was around Xiao Hua and it successfully made Xiao Hua feel a little guilty.
Xiao Hua would have believed that Si Si had finally changed for the better, but Duan Xi Ying told her to be careful, pointing out that Si Si was not the type to easily admit defeat. That warning reminded Xiao Hua that this was not her original world where people usually have more common sense in not fighting against a losing bat-tle... except for irrational love and insatiable greed.
Le Xiao Ting had witnessed plenty of crazy antics in the name of love, with her boss as the unwilling male lead!
"Alright! Everyone remembers their task?" Tian Chi asked with a loud and confident voice, easily getting everyone's attention on her.
"Yes, Elder Sister Tian Chi!"
"Have the dishes carefully sent to the Summer Courtyard!"
Everyone in the kitchen knew their task beforehand and were able to move in an orderly manner, saving time and increasing productivity. She truly admired how disciplined and experienced the staffs were in handling their task.
"Elder Sister Hua, let me help you carry them." Si Si offered after Xiao Hua placed two large bowls of fried rice into a tall basket for easy carry.
"It's fine~" Duan Xi Ying grabbed the basket before Si Si's eager hands could touch them. "Xi Ying is Xiao Hua's personal maid, so this is Xi Ying's job!"
Tian Chi frowned at Si Si. "Si Si, return to your task."
Si Si's face turned red from Tian Chi's rebuke before she nodded, looking as if she was wronged. "En, Si Si will return. Elder Sister Hua, I will visit you again."
"Okay." Xiao Hua plastered a polite smile and watched Si Si walk away. The smile immediately dropped as soon as Si Si was no longer in sight.
Duan Xi Ying smiled down at Xiao Hua, who was a head and a half shorter than her. "Xi Ying is right, isn't she?"
Xiao Hua smiled helplessly. "Yes, Xi Ying is right."
Si Si currently worked in the clothing department that was in charge of washing and fixing clothes for everyone in the Third Prince's residence, except for the Third Prince. The Third Prince's clothes were handled by An Jing and An Wan.
So how was a servant from the clothing department able to find out about the message and able to accept the task to inform the kitchen staff? It all led down to her trying to find an opportunity to get close for the Third Prince to notice her, was not it?
Si Si had not given up.
Xiao Hua ended up with empty hands, with the fried rice carried by Duan Xi Ying as Tian Chi was afraid to have Xiao Hua end up dropping it. Except for the teapot she had dropped during the first encounter with the Third Prince, she had not dropped anything since then. It was her small body and the dreamy expression on her face that gave people the impression of her being clumsy and weak. Xiao Hua did not bother to clarify, using that opportunity to escape from work.
The Summer Courtyard was decorated in a festive way with small paper lanterns hanging on the tree branches to lighten up the whole courtyard. Actually, Xiao Hua had wanted to make a large sky lantern for Long Lian to write down her wish before letting it fly up the sky, treating it as a substitute for blowing the candles on a birthday cake after making a wish.
But Tian Zi immediately shot down that idea.
"That lantern will be shot down by a guard for they would immediately assume it is a hidden message to our enemy from a spy. It would be bad if Elder Sister Xiao Hua is misunderstood as a traitor."
In the end, Xiao Hua decided to cook fried rice for Long Lian, as it was the only dish she was confident in while using the old cooking method. Despite already having a present ready for Long Lian, Xiao Hua felt that it was not enough and wanted to do more.
Xiao Hua stared at the large number of food boxes on the table under the pavilion, each filled with prawns made from different cooking methods. The dishes were kept warm inside the container so that when Long Lian and the Third Prince returned, they would get to eat warm food.
Xiao Hua wondered if after tonight's feast, will Long Lian still claim prawns as her favourite food?
"They are here!" Duan Xi Ying announced after picking up the sounds of footsteps entering the Summer Courtyard.
They were curious about why they could hear the sound of bells, destroying the peaceful evening and getting louder with every second passed. Xiao Hua's eyes widened when the owners of the footsteps came into view. Her eyes were glued onto the figure of the Eighth Prince pulling a black and white cow towards her.
"Surprise! This is my birthday present to you!" the Eighth Prince announced as he laughed maniacally. His eyes were blazing with savage pleasure, eagerly anticipating how Xiao Hua would react to his gift.
When Xiao Hua said she wanted to drink milk, a cow was the first thing that popped into his mind. He originally thought it would be an easy thing to buy a cow, but who would have known that the capital does not have a cow? But luck was still on his side, as Eunuch Heng managed to find a cow from a nearby village and have it delivered on time.
"I did say I wanted milk...but I never thought you would find a cow for me!" Xiao
Hua exclaimed in disbelief.
"I had to search for it outside the capital. Now when you want to drink, just milk this cow."
"I have never milked a cow before!"
"I will teach you. It's easy."
Xiao Hua shook her head fiercely. "Don't want!" She also wanted to ask that as a rich second generation, would he really know how to milk a cow?
Long Lian felt a bit left out from how close Xiao Hua was towards her eighth brother and decided to cut in by hugging Xiao Hua. "I have presents for you too, Xiao Hua!" Xiao Hua giggled and returned the hug. "I have a present for you too! I hope you will like it."
"Of course I will love it!" Long Lian exclaimed even although she did not know what it would be. Her heart felt warm just from the thought of receiving a present from Xiao Hua.
"We can exchange presents after dinner," the Third Prince interrupted. "Eighth brother, hand the cow over to Xiao Liu. You can teach him how to milk the cow later." Xiao Liu did not know what 'milk the cow' meant, but seeing how even the silly Elder Sister Hua refused to learn it, it must not be good.
But he still took the rein of the beast called 'cow' and pulled it to where the horses stayed. Xiao Liu was not born in a village; hence he had never seen a cow before.
CHAPTER 33: Third brother, do you not dislike rice?
The Third Prince was quick to have Xiao Hua sit beside him before his younger siblings could rob her away. Long Lian quickly took the other seat, leaving the Eighth Prince to take the remaining seat opposite of Xiao Hua.
The Eighth Prince did not bother putting up any pretences in front of Long Lian because she already knew he was pretending to be silly. As for Long Lian, she assumed he did it to keep himself safe from the fight among siblings for the throne and respect his wish.
As for the Third Prince's servants, the Third Prince had personally told him to be himself inside the Summer Courtyard or Spring Courtyard, as only the Third Prince's inner maids and shadow guards were allowed to enter.
There were actually three divisions in the palace. The first division consisted of those that were involved with the fight for the throne, where the Crown Prince and Second Prince had signed up to be long-term members.
The second division was the 'neutral' club, with the Fourth Prince as their team mascot, where they wait and see who would win. When the result was out, they would support the winner.
The third division was the 'not my business' club, where the Third Prince, Princess Long Lian, and the Eighth Prince were the ringleaders. To them, fighting for the throne was childish behaviour and a waste of their time when they had better things to do.
If the 'fight for the throne' division knew that the better things to do for the 'not my business' division were actually 'worried about his gay life', 'making plans to be closer to his maid' and 'thinking of ways to steal a girl away from her brother', the doctors in the Guilin Kingdom would be very busy giving treatment to the influential people that suddenly vomited blood from anger!
"Prawns!" Long Lian squealed in joy as she saw the displayed dishes.
"Princess, Elder Sister Hua had cooked fried rice just for you," Tian Zi pointed out, exchanging smiles with Tian Chi, as both of them could not wait to see what would happen to the two large bowls of fried rice.
They were not disappointed because once Long Lian heard that the seemingly plain fried rice was actually made by Xiao Hua, she quickly grabbed a bowl. She was about to grab the other one as well, but surprisingly, the Third Prince had pulled the bowl right in front of him and had already started eating it.
"Third brother, do you not dislike rice?" Long Lian asked casually, but her phoenix-shaped eyes were filled with provocation. "Do not hurt your body by forcing yourself to eat it."
"Younger sister, this brother worries about your memory. I will personally accompany you back to the palace later and inform Mother Empress to summon the imperial physician to take a look at you," the Third Prince said without an ounce of shame visible on his face as he continued to eat.
Long Lian glared at her shameless brother. Everyone knew about his dislike towards rice, and now he brazenly declared that she has problems in her memory for remembering his dislike towards rice.
Xiao Hua stared worriedly at the Third Prince that ate her fried rice without complaint.
"Third Prince, you do not have to force yourself to eat it if you dislike it." The Third Prince gave her a smile. "This is the most delicious rice I've tasted." Xiao Hua had never eaten any fried rice since coming to this world before, but it must have tasted terrible if the Third Prince said her plain fried rice was the best he ever had. Feeling pity, she promised, "If Third Prince wants to eat it, just tell me. I will make it!"
The Eighth Prince snorted as he munched on the fried rice he managed to sneak a spoonful from Long Lian. Honestly, will they stop feeding him dog food every time he visited them?
His single heart ached!
"That's mine!" Long Lian sulked when she noticed the Eighth Prince had stolen the fried rice from her. She pulled the bowl closer to her and even used her arms to form a barrier, covering the bowl inside her arms.
"If Ah Lian wants, I can cook more for you," Xiao Hua offered.
"You promised!" Long Lian insisted before finally willing to share some with her eighth brother.
"It's fine, you can eat it, sister. I prefer eating meat." Heise preferred western food over traditional Chinese food, and so it was rather difficult for him to adjust his diet since the day he transmigrated here.
Eunuch Heng stepped forward and placed a plate filled with grilled meat, successfully attracting Xiao Hua's attention, another transmigrated person that was used to be given the choice of eating different food from different cultures in her original world She did not dislike Chinese food, but after spending more than half a year eating the same type of food, it did make her yearn for other cultures' food. Xiao Hua sniffed and was able to smell the mint sauce that covered the top of the grilled meat for a single person's portion. "Is that lamb?"
"Nope. This is a deer we caught during our journey back from picking up your cow."
Eunuch Heng had never planned to share the prey they had caught with Xiao Hua, but the Eighth Prince had already opened his mouth and told him to share some meat with her. He generously supplied Xiao Hua with an unlimited amount of resentment, using his gaze alone, for making his master share his beloved meat with her.
However, a glance from the Third Prince was enough to pour cold water over his burning resentment.
"Da Liu, go hunt for a deer," the Third Prince ordered. "We will not deprive my eighth brother of his treasured meat."
Eighth Prince: "..." He had willingly offered some to Xiao Hua ah! Which part of him showed unwillingness?! (I' #)
Long Lian, who had happily stuffed herself with the fried rice, called out to Tang Mei.
"Bring out the presents I bought for Xiao Hua."
Xiao Hua's eyes lit up upon hearing the word 'present', which enhanced Long Lian's good mood.
Long Lian stood up and eagerly began the introductions when Tang Mei brought out the gifts. "This is a light pearl. It will glow if placed in a dark place. It's truly useful during night time so you won't need to be afraid anymore!"
"Ah Lian, you are so considerate! Thank you for your present."
Long Lian's smile grew wider as she moved on to the next present. "This hairpin reminds me of you. It also matches your clothes well." Xiao Hua only dressed in blue, which was actually her uniform colour. In the small box, there was a glittering dark blue hairpin that resembled the stars in the vast sky visible to humans' eyes under the moonlight.
"It's so beautiful! But I don't think I'm allowed to use this beautiful hairpin," Xiao Hua lamented, feeling slightly sad that since she was a maid, she was not allowed to wear hairpins. Like any other woman, she loved pretty things.
The Third Prince, who was sipping the tea brewed by Xiao Hua, halted his movement momentarily. His little maid had previously mentioned that those noble ladies' hair filled with hairpins must have shoulder pain often. He had deduced from that statement that Xiao Hua disliked hairpins.
But it seems that he had misunderstood?
"You can wear it because you are third brother's personal maid," Long Lian informed. "That's a way to differentiate you from lower-ranked servants."
"Princess Long Lian is right," An Jing added. "We, the inner maids, are allowed to wear lower value hair accessories. But we choose not to as we prefer ribbons for convenience purposes. This hairpin would look beautiful on you, Elder Sister Hua." The four inner maids of the Third Prince chose not to wear any hairpins because they might need to move under the radar and having expensive-looking hairpins would not help with their intentions of being unnoticed.
Even if hairpins were useful weapons for self-defence or assassination.
"This is only one hairpin, so it won't be heavy at all." Long Lian teased. She had heard what Xiao Hua said about hairpins as well, but unlike her third brother, she concluded that Xiao Hua liked hairpins as much as another female, but was just afraid of the weight of the hairpin hurting her neck and shoulders.
"I will wear it," Xiao Hua promised, already thinking about how to change her current hairstyle to accommodate the hairpin.
Long Lian moved on to the last present. "Isn't this baby dragon cute? It's made of warming jade, so whenever you feel cold, just hold onto it."
The cute baby azure dragon waist accessory was personally tied onto Xiao Hua's belt by Long Lian. Xiao Hua touched the jade and found that it immediately heated up under her palm. It felt comfortable and relaxing.
"Thank you, Ah Lian. I love them!"
"That's great!" Long Lian cheered, and the Third Prince decided to let his sister continue her lie. He will just have to order Da Bei to avoid Xiao Hua from encountering those families that had gifted these three presents to Long Lian. If she was not able to avoid them, Da Bei will be able to handle it properly.
"This is my present for you." Xiao Hua held out a red pouch with a white cat silhouette embroidered onto it. The red cloth was from Long Lian's old dress given to Xiao Hua as a sewing practice material. "I could not make any flowers yet, so I can only stitch a cat. I... I hope you don't mind it."
This cat was already the best Xiao Hua could do! She did not really love cats as they tended to give her a look as if they were looking down at her with their high and mighty posture. She only loved cats from anime, just like the cute adorable ones from
'Nukoduke' Japanese manga, where they were species with a mixture of human and cat traits.
She could have given Long Lian a more expensive present like a hairpin or other stuff, but Xiao Hua had zero coins on her.
Long Lian, with slightly trembling hands, reached out to receive the pouch, handling it as if it was a priceless treasure. "I love it! Anything Xiao Hua gives me, I will treasure it!"
CHAPTER 34: Are you a Shou or Gong?
Xiao Hua grinned. "What did you get from the Eighth Prince?"
"This is what my eighth brother gave me as my present." Long Lian showed off the rainbow-colored jade pendant that was hanging around her fair neck. She was glad that the Eighth Prince did not give her a cow.
On the way to the Third Prince's manor, the Eighth Prince had enthusiastically explained about the cow. The more detailed he went, the more Long Lian felt bad for Xiao Hua. But the Eighth Prince had said Xiao Hua wanted to drink milk, and a cow can produce it.
She had contemplated whether she should accidentally 'lose' the cow somewhere.
Xiao Hua should not randomly drink milk from an unknown beast. But after seeing her third brother's expression, she decided to leave the matter to him.
"It's pretty," Xiao Hua complimented. "The Eighth Prince has excellent taste." The rainbow-colored mist inside the pendant moved around slowly, just like the clouds moving in the sky.
Long Lian excitedly cradled a white furry round ball from Tang Mei in her palms, fitting just right. "This is Saint Rabbit that the fourth brother gave me!"
Two long and pointy ears flipped upwards, showing its soft pink undersides. It twitched from Long Lian's voice. The rabbit hid its face using its paws, but its black beady eyes peered around with fear and curiosity. "Third brother, can you help me to form a contract with Saint Rabbit?"
"I will help you with that later. But my dear sister does not want her present from me?" the Third Prince asked sadly, his downcast eyes evoking pity from others.
Passing the Saint Rabbit onto Xiao Hua's hands, Long Lian hurried towards the Third Prince and wrapped an arm around his. In a spoiled voice, she coaxed the Third
Prince. "Of course I'm going to ask for my present from my favourite brother! In fact, I'm saving yours for the end because I know the third brother will give me the best present. If I accept your present first, everyone would think I dislike their present when I failed to express the same degree of happiness as I received yours."
The Third Prince chuckled and pinched Long Lian's nose in good humor. "You got even better in pleasing people."
"I learned it from a master," Long Lian said sweetly and did not deny her brother's statement.
An Jing carried a large empty name board and presented it to Long Lian. An Wan was holding onto a tray filled with a brush with ink stone that was already filled with ink.
The Third Prince picked up the brush with his right hand, using his left hand to hold up his right sleeves. "Long Lian, come and give a proper name for this court-yard."
Long Lian was rendered speechless in shock and disbelief. It took a few seconds for her to recover. "You.you..... don't tease me, third brother!"
The Third Prince smiled gently. "How could I tease my favourite sister?"
"I will name it 'Zhenzhu!" Long Lian quickly said before her third brother changed
his mind. She did not bother pointing out that she was his only sister.
"....Why that name?"
Long Lian gave him a cute smile. "Because Long Lian loves the third brother the most!" The Third Prince's given name was Long Zhu, which means the Dragon's pearl.
The name 'Zhenzhu' means pearl, so it was a part of the Third Prince's name.
"Now, this is what I don't mind seeing. Pure love between siblings is soothing to my eyes." The Eighth Prince mumbled approvingly, munching on a large prawn that cooked with sweet and sour sauce.
"Then, this courtyard will be named as 'Zhenzhu' from today onwards." The Third Prince's movement was gentle and elegant as he wrote on the empty name board, the letters large and neat.
"Thank you, third brother! I will stay here forever!"
"Father Emperor and Mother Empress would not agree to it."
Long Lian was their only princess and naturally, the Emperor and Empress doted on her. She was even allowed to stay at the palace even after the age where she was supposed to be sent out of the palace to live in her own residence. This was a custom in the Guilin Kingdom, but the current Emperor decided to exempt Long Lian from the custom and allowed her to stay in the palace.
"Then I will stay here as long as I can. Xiao Hua, you can share a room with me!"
"Xiao Hua has her own room in the Spring Courtyard," the Third Prince rejected the idea immediately.
Reminded that Xiao Hua was staying at the room beside her third brother, Long Lian no longer asked Xiao Hua to stay with her. There would be plenty of opportunities to have a sleepover with Xiao Hua after her third brother married Xiao Hua. For now, it would be better to let them have more time to cultivate their feelings for each other.
The Third Prince waved his sleeve and a green, thin bow appeared before him.
"This is a present for you."
Long Lian did not reach out to take it. "Isn't my present this courtyard?"
"Is there a rule that says I can't give you more than one present?"
"They are too valuable, third brother!" The Summer Courtyard, now known as Pearl Courtyard, was still inside the Third Prince's residence, yet he gave it to Long Lian. The second gift, which was the green bow, would not be a simple weapon, for her third brother never gave her cheap presents.
"You do not need to worry. Your brother is capable of giving you more valuable presents."
Xiao Hua: '..' Spoken just like a tycoon!
Long Lian received the bow and said cheekily, "Then third brother, Long Lian will wait for more treasures from you."
"This bow does not use normal arrows. It uses your inner energy to form an arrow."
"How special!" Long Lian exclaimed and began examining her second present as her fingers stroked it carefully.
"Carry it with you everywhere in case you encountered danger."
"Third brother, this bow is too noticeable. Everyone will be staring at me!" The green bow might be thin, but it was as long as the height of her torso.
"Everyone will be staring at you when you are holding onto a sword as well."
"Holding a sword is a normal sight."
"You can store it inside your space dimensional item."
"My space dimensional ring would not be able to store the bow." Long Lian complained in an exasperated tone.
"Father Emperor had not given you a present yet, right?"
"Father Emperor did not present anything to me, so I will take it as he had not."
"Then ask for a higher grade space dimensional ring. You want a better one, right?
So it's a win-win," the Third Prince suggested.
Spatial dimensional was space outside of the realm, allowing people to access a small portion of it through items that acted as a bridge. Spatial dimensional storage had different grades. The higher the grade, the more space it would have. But the items stored must be of the same grade or lower to avoid causing the imbalance that would destroy the bridge between the two dimensions.
"I want to test it out!"
"An Wan, bring her to the training ground."
"Yes, Your Highness. Princess Long Lian, please follow me."
The Eighth Prince whistled in appreciation. "Wow, the bow is made of good material."
"You seem to know much about it," Xiao Hua noted as her hand gently stroked the sleeping Saint Rabbit on her palm. It had finally stopped trembled in fear and rubbed its tiny head against her warm hands.
"I played archery before but I prefer spear throwing."
This 'Tsundere' is pretty dangerous!
"Don't look at me like that. I like sports but my parents forbid me to go mountain climbing and stuff, so I joined a club that focuses on martial arts and weapon train-ing."
Perhaps his claim of him being tall and muscular was not a lie?
"You still like males, right?" Xiao Hua asked.
"Yeah...why?"
"Are you a Shou [16] or Gong [17]?"
"Gong."
I can't accept it! Having this adorable little boy becoming anything but a Shou will be a waste!
"What is 'shou' and 'gong?" The Third Prince suddenly asked, reminding them of his presence. Xiao Hua went deathly pale as once again the Third Prince heard something that she did not want to explain. On the other hand, the Eighth Prince looked as if he had found a good buddy to talk about his love life problem.
"Let me explain what they-Argh!"
Sorry, but you must not corrupt this young lady's straight man!
"It's nothing important, Your Highness," Xiao Hua said sweetly. "Your Highness, do you have a present for me?" She has no choice but to be shameless to distract the Third Prince's attention!
Her large, pleading eyes attracted something primal inside the Third Prince. It took him a moment to restrain that unfamiliar urge.
"Raise both of your hands," the Third Prince said.
Since she was sitting, she could place the dozing Saint Rabbit on her lap. Only then did she raise her hands obediently.
In a speed that Xiao Hua's eyes had yet able to keep up with, the Third Prince had slipped something onto her wrists. They were silver bracelets with strange carvings that resembled letters. But, she was hardly paying attention to the bracelets. Her heart shook, and could still feel his touch even after he had pulled his hands away.
"Congratulations on being fourteen years old, Xiao Hua."
"Thank...thank you!" Xiao Hua blushed as her fingers caressed the silver bracelets.
They looked stylish on her thin wrists. "It's so beautiful!"
"Oh... you ask me... to make... them for... her?"
A man unknowingly appeared silently right in front of Xiao Hua. He was dressed in white from head to toe and his hair was the same shade of white. His face was close to her face, and in her eyes, it was alike to an enlarged image of his porcelain face.
Xiao Hua could not resist screaming in terror. "G-Ghost!"
CHAPTER 35: Spatial dimension storage
Le Xiao Ting had never encountered a ghost before and wanted to stay in that status.
Who would have thought her luck failed her after twenty-seven years and allowed her to meet a ghost?
If that ghost was a cute guy or a pretty lady, it would not be that scary. But this ghost just had to have a face that terrified her! It was thanks to her boss that played a prank on her that traumatized her greatly.
It was An Jing's first experience to feel helpless under her master's accusatory gaze.
Elder Sister Hua was the one that hid behind her; it was not her that made Elder Sister Hua do so. Even if Xiao Hua wanted to hide behind the Third Prince, she would need to pass by the 'ghost' who was standing in between Xiao Hua and the Third Prince.
An Jing could be considered gotten half of it right.
Xiao Hua's body had automatically hidden behind An Jing because she viewed her to be the strongest among them all. Tian Zi might have said the Third Prince was the strongest, but Xiao Hua had never seen him fight before, except for the knife throwing tutorial.
She had seen An Jing and An Wan sparing most of the time and with that, she eas- ily decided that An Jing was the strongest.
"Jing Ke, what are you doing here?" If the Third Prince possessed the same ability as the Second Prince, he would have frozen the 'ghost' with how cold his tone was.
"Jing Ke is obviously curious or else he won't come here!" A boy dressed in a shortsleeved bright green top with a layer of white, long-sleeved skin-hugging shirt that covered half of his palm popped out behind the masked man. He was a head shorter than the masked man. The boy still had baby fat on his face, with side bangs framing his soft cheeks.
"Yang Ling, bring Jing Ke and yourself out."
"That's just mean!" Yang Ling skipped towards the Third Prince, his short hair that was tied into a high ponytail bobbed as he moved, tempting one to pull it.
"Jing Ke wants to see who's the one that makes you, the great Third Prince, to have him return your favour with those large amounts of lightweight knives. You could ask Jing Ke to do anything to return your favour but you asked him to make these cheap weapons. That's such a waste!" Yang Ling spoke at a fast-paced speed without mid breaks. He was not even breathless from it, which showed that he was used to talking this way.
"Elder Sister Hua, no need to fear. That is Lord Jing Ke and Lord Yang Ling, acquaintances of the Third Prince," An Jing said soothingly, trying to calm down the trembling Xiao Hua that was holding onto An Jing's dress in a death grip until her hands turned white.
"He...he's not a ghost?" Xiao Hua had practically plastered her face at the back of An Jing to avoid looking at the 'ghost'. Xiao Hua's curiosity beat her fear away and she slowly inches her head out from her hiding place and saw the gentle Third Prince was replaced with an intimidating, cold Third Prince. She blinked in surprise at how he could pass off as her boss with that cold persona of his.
"First time... someone scared..... of my mask..... this much." The 'ghost' with the name of Jing Ke, spoke slowly with a hoarse voice, resembling someone that had screamed for a long time and lost his original voice. Even the act of breathing was difficult, judging how inflated his chest looked when he breathed.
This man reminded Xiao Hua of a survivor of a great war. One that won the war, yet lost the most.
"Get out of here, Jing Ke," the Third Prince ordered impolitely.
"Just because Jing Ke's mask scared your little maid you want to kick us out?" Yang Ling sighed in disappointment. "So you are surprisingly the type of person to abandon your friend once you found your lady. Do your parents know you are having a relationship with your personal maid? Are you following the Fourth Prince's taste in women?"
"None of your business."
Hearing their conversation helps to calm Xiao Hua's frantic heartbeat down. She gathered her courage and eyed Jing Ke's mask. But once her eyes saw the terrifying porcelain mask with the unchanging creepy smile carved on it, her heart was gripped in fear again.
Suddenly, a pair of eyes, the only thing that could move on Jing Ke's face, turned to meet her eyes when he sensed the peeking Xiao Hua. Terrified, Xiao Hua once again hid behind An Jing, and her trembling became fiercer. Those eyes were strangely empty like a doll.
Jing Ke stepped forward in Xiao Hua's direction. "I'm not...dangerous...prince?
What..... are you doing?"
The Third Prince wrapped his outer robe to cover Jing Ke's whole head, except for
his eyes. "Wear this if you want to stay!"
"...Aren't you too protective?" Yang Ling said in disbelief but Jing Ke did not make a move to remove it, aware that his mask scared the little maid. "That's too much! Jing Ke needs to breathe behind that mask and you wrap your robe over him. What happens if he faints?"
"Then leave before he faints," the Third Prince replied uncaringly.
Xiao Hua guessed that the face under the mask must either be one that could bewitch everyone or a face with severe injury. Matched with his hoarse voice, the latter seemed to be the case.
The Third Prince's mood slowly turned better when he noticed the most of Xiao Hua's fear was gone, replacing it with naked curiosity. "Jing Ke wants to examine the bracelets. If you don't want, I will tell him to leave."
But Xiao Hua agreed and let Jing Ke approach her. He moved slowly so that she could see him coming. His carefulness lower down her fear and she even raised her arms so that he could examine the silver bracelets.
They stood pretty close to each other, allowing Xiao Hua to catch the smell of smoke coming from Jing Ke. A thought popped up in her mind and her eyes subtly went to the man's pair of hands. The hands were normal, not burned as she had guessed, so her eyes went back up to his face. His neck was covered with a high neck inner robe, and Xiao Hua could not stop her mind from matching Jing Ke with 'Shishio Makoto', a character from 'Samurai X' anime.
Xiao Hua cried out in pain when she felt something sharp cut her finger and her blood dripped onto her bracelets, flowing around it to fill the carving lines.
"What are you-"
The Third Prince quickly reached out with his own bleeding finger and smeared his blood over both of her bracelets.
"Woah! Dual ownership? Isn't that something only a parent would do with their kid's spiritual beast?" Yang Ling came over and admired how their red blood-colored the letter carvings on the surface of the silver bracelets. The blood seemed to stay on the bracelets, and no matter how Xiao Hua swipe over them, they did not come off.
They looked cooler now, with the dark red cravings over the silver bracelets, but it was pretty creepy to know that the red paint was actually their blood.
An Jing held up Xiao Hua's injured hand and used a cotton soaked with alcohol to swipe over the wound. Xiao Hua hissed from the pain but did not pull her hands away, allowing An Jing to clean up her wound.
An Wan was doing the same for the Third Prince, but his wound was quick to stop bleeding.
"Is this bracelet special? Is it spatial dimension storage?" Xiao Hua had read from novels about the spatial dimensions. Earlier, the royal siblings had talked about it so she knew it existed.
The heroines in the novel usually need to bleed over their golden finger [18], which was usually a spatial dimension gadget, to claim ownership. The original Liu Chu Chu had died when she got stabbed by an assassin and bleed over her jade bracelet. The heroine's soul was then transmigrated into Liu Chu Chu's body and conveniently became the owner in the original soul's place.
"There's more than enough knives for you to use stored inside. When it's running low, I will get Jing Ke to make more," the Third Prince explained.
"Third Prince, Jing Ke had not even agreed.." Yang Ling sighed when he saw Jing Ke nodding beside him. "Fine, Jing Ke will. But Jing Ke, don't always listen to his words! Don't kill yourself when he tells you to!"
"No. harm."
Yang Ling sighed in acceptance, giving Jing Ke a light pat on his shoulder. "Well, you are already hopeless."
"You made these bracelets?" Xiao Hua asked Jing Ke curiously.
Jing Ke shook his head. "I made..knives.....bracelets.from the Third Prince try...pull out...knives."
"How? Come out-" Xiao Hua could easily imagine a knife popping out of existence before her palm in her mind, but there was no way would it be that easy. However, reality proved her wrong because something did pop out. It was a knife made of a crystal-like material that was as thin as paper.
The knives had popped out a small distance away from her right hand without anything to hold it up, and as gravity demanded, it began descending to the ground.
Before it could fall to the ground, she quickly reached out to grab it.
"No, Elder Sister Hua!" An Jing called out but her warning came too late.
The Third Prince was not quick enough either as it happened so suddenly and Xiao
Hua had already grabbed onto the sharp blade with bare hands.
"Paaaaaaaaain!" Xiao Hua screamed as she bled for the second time during her first birthday in this world.
CHAPTER 36: Are you here to do a hair advertisement?
After eating another unknown pill from the Third Prince, the long cut on her hand healed in a speed visible to naked eyes. In just two hours, the pain had long disap-peared, leaving only a scar with the appearance of a few weeks old.
If this pill was sold in her original world, everyone would fight to buy it.
Bored after examining her new bracelets to distract herself from the pain, her wandering eye caught the figure of the silent Eighth Prince. It was not unusual for him to be silent when he was around people, but his guarded look when he stared at Yang Ling let her know that Yang Ling was not a passer-by character.
His eyes were busy eyeing Yang Ling, just as his hands were busy stroking the Saint Rabbit that he had rescued when Xiao Hua had jumped out of her seat in fright.
Yet Yang Ling was able to ignore his obvious gaze.
As a person that could hardly remember a person's Chinese name, Yang Ling's name had not triggered anything from her memory bank. Xiao Hua wanted to ask the Eighth Prince but with the crowd around them, she had to hold back her curiosity.
"Are you going to sign up for next year's competition? The enrolment will start tomorrow!" Yang Ling asked the Third Prince excitedly, bounced up and down on his seat beside the Third Prince. His short ponytail bounced around behind his head and it was a distracting sight.
Are you here to do a hair advertisement?
With his smooth and glossy black hair, she did have half the intention to ask what shampoo he used. Le Xiao Ting usually had her hair tied up into a ponytail, but her little tail never looked as nice as his.
"It's still half a year to go," the Third Prince said.
The seating arrangement had not changed much, with Xiao Hua sitting between
Long Lian and the Third Prince. The Eighth Prince occupied the seat at the other side of Long Lian. Yang Ling was quick to secure the chair on the other side of the Third Prince.
The Eighth Prince moved his guarded stare away from Yang Ling to Jing Ke that was seated beside him. He blatantly scrutinizes Jing Ke's mask, trying to figure out who he was.
"I'm going to join the archery competition, so you must join too!"
"I'm not good with archery," the Third Prince declined.
Yang Ling rolled his eyes. "Since when you are not good with archery?"
"Long Lian had learned archery recently. Have you thought of entering the archery
contest?" the Third Prince shifted the attention to Long Lian.
"That's too soon for me. If I join, I would only embarrass myself before everyone."
Yang... archery...
Xiao Hua's eyes widened and turned her head sharply to the Eighth Prince, who just so happened to meet her eyes as well. She dramatically widened her eyes and discreetly point at Yang Ling. The Eighth Prince nodded and raised three fingers, before making a heart shape with his hands.
Three. Love.
The third supporting male lead, the son of the Emperor's advisor. Also known as the spoilt son by the readers!
In the novel, Yang Ling, who had joined the archery competition, had been unexpectedly defeated by a beautiful female. Yes, that female was the talented heroine, Liu Chu Chu!
He was a sunny, outgoing, and energetic boy with a long line of ladies that flocked around him. He was very proud of his archery skills as no one had defeated him until the heroine did so. To have a beautiful girl to be better than him in archery and did not even pay him any attention, his virgin heart was instantly seized by the unique fe-male.
For the Eighth Prince to be wary of Yang Ling was a good choice. The crazy author that was also the one that had occupied the Eighth Prince's body was the one that made Yang Ling became crazily infatuated with Liu Chu Chu. Yang Ling kept on pestering her to teach him archery but got rejected a dozen times. In the end, he even went too far by pushing his own father onto a land mine just to help Liu Chu Chu get out of trouble.
Yang Ling justified it by claiming it was a strategic move to force Liu Chu Chu to repay his favor by teaching him archery.
Originally, Le Xiao Ting felt nothing at the introduction of Yang Ling in the novel and immediately put him under the category of 'supporting male lead'.
But as the novel went on, Le Xiao Ting gave him a 'foolish lovesick puppy' tag. She was angry at how Yang Ling treated his father who had loved him and given him the best of everything. After that, she outright erased any good points she had for him and gave him the 'biting the hand that feeds him' tag!
It was because Yang Ling had discovered the hero and heroine's plan to kill the Emperor but instead of reporting the truth to his father, who was extremely loyal to the Emperor, Yang Ling had fed his father lies to harm the Emperor.
The advisor adored his son so much that he believed him when Yang Ling said he recommended a group of reliable soldiers to help guard the palace temporarily to solve the shortage of soldiers' problems. Most of the soldiers had been deployed to fight a war with another country.
But the group of reliable soldiers that Yang Ling had introduced was actually the Second Prince's men!
With the Second Prince's men infiltrating the palace, it was easy for them to kill the
Emperor and fake the decree to give the Emperor's position to the Second Prince.
However, that plan had too many loopholes but the hero chose to disregard them for there would not be a chance that was as this advantageous in the future. Yang Ling knew that if the plan failed, the first person the Emperor would think of was his advisor that had proposed to hire those men, yet he still do it.
Sometimes a father should not love and pamper his child too much. Their child would either be the one to lead them to a better life or the one to ruin his life.
Needless to say, the plan had failed and all the blame was placed on Yang Ling's fa-ther, sentencing him to death. Even till the end, he had not blamed his son for his demise, and the last word he said to Yang Ling was telling him to be happy.
What kind of bullshit plotline is that?! ((rA)
Thankfully, Le Xiao Ting had used her laptop to read that chapter and not her mobile phone, or else she would have flipped and thrown her phone in the moment of outrage.
Da Liu returned with a large plate filled with lamb meat that had been grilled to perfection and it immediately captured Xiao Hua's attention. She had eaten a small portion of food since she transmigrated here due to the new environment, but her appetite slowly returned as her mood stabilized. She also forced herself to eat more because after eating the Nutrient pill, she had lost too much weight after it purges out toxins from her body, which was a lot.
She also needs to eat more to grow up well!
Yang Ling dropped a few slices of meat onto the Third Prince's plate, trying to coax him to join the annual competition for archery.
"You do remember that all princes are not allowed to join?" The Third Prince poured cold water onto Yang Ling. He could have said it earlier to stop the other boy, but he let Yang Ling go on, even suggesting that Long Lian join in on the archery, raising Yang Ling's enthusiasm even more before dragging him back down to earth.
Yang Ling's cheerful look disappeared. "If you are not joining, then I don't want to join either!"
Xiao Hua stared at Yang Ling curiously before focusing on the Third Prince who was cutting the meat into small slices before transferring them onto her plate. The meat was already cut into small size by Da Liu, but the Third Prince chose to cut it even smaller for her.
Did he think she will swallow them without chewing or something?
"Don't you want to eat them?" The Third Prince asked when Xiao Hua stared at his actions blankly.
"I want!" Xiao Hua quickly picked up her chopsticks and started eating; all the while humming in bliss at the delicious taste that quickly dominated her taste buds.
The Eighth Prince wanted to say something but because he was supposed to be the idiot prince, he kept silent. So his only chance was to wink at Xiao Hua, trying to communicate with her.
Xiao Hua noticed his weird winks but she continues chewing on her meat while staring at him blankly. The Eighth Prince was going to throw something on that stupid face when Xiao Hua swallowed her meat and asked the Third Prince a question.
"Your Highness, are you the strongest archer? Is that why Lord Yang Ling is eager to have a friendly competition with you?"
Why would Yang Ling be so eager to compete in archery? That was what bugged the Eighth Prince. Yang Ling was the strongest archer in the Guilin Kingdom, aside from the full of talent heroine and the martial arts fanatic hero.
Before the Third Prince could answer, Yang Ling returned to his sunny personality and excitedly chattered. "Of course! The Third Prince is the strongest archer I've ever know! He had broken the previous record of the longest distance that no one could break for decades! His arrow could move anywhere he wants, no matter how many obstacles there are between the target and him!"
Team Transmigrated did not know if Yang Ling was just polishing the Third Prince's shoes or he was suffering from an eye disease. Heise and Le Xiao Ting's view on the Third Prince might have improved after knowing he was different from the novel's Third Prince but what Yang Ling had said was too exaggerated. Add it with his blind infatuation that led to his father's death, his judgment could not be trusted!
"Is that the time when Moonlight Lake Pavilion did their best to invite the third brother to become their first-grade member?" Long Lian asked, not at all doubting the validity of Yang Ling's words.
"That's the one! Moonlight Lake Pavilion only allows talented people to join them.
It's a great honour to be invited by them! Yet the Third Prince declined them again and again before finally joining them reluctantly! Do you know I had to do many things before they even agree to let me be a member of the second grade?"
Even if Xiao Hua did not know what the Moonlight Lake Pavilion was, it must be impressive judging from Yang Ling's reaction. Xiao Hua stared at the Third Prince who had very reluctantly joined the impressive club.
The Third Prince caught her looking at him and smiled. "Wait for a while. You can eat more soon."
The Third Prince had been dedicated in cutting the meat into small pieces all the while they chatted and refilled Xiao Hua's rapidly declining portion.
"Third Prince, if I don't know better, I would assume you to be a servant and your maid as your master," Yang Ling pointed out with a frown.
"Someone...coming," Jing Ke suddenly spoke up. He had been sitting there silently, not eating or drinking since his whole head was covered.
It was An Jing that had approached them with the news. "The Empress sends a messenger to ask Princess Long Lian and Eighth Prince to return to the palace and for the Third Prince to enter the palace as well."
Long Lian stared at her third brother worriedly with a mixture of frustration. She already knew why her brother was summoned to enter the palace. Their parents wanted to question more about Xiao Hua.
Earlier, the Third Prince had quickly made an escape before the Emperor and Empress managed to hold him back, bringing Long Lian and the Eighth Prince along with him back to his residence.
"Then it's time for us to leave!" Yang Ling and Jing Ke stood up and with a quick goodbye, both left the Third Prince's residence. Like thieves, they jumped up onto the roof and disappeared into the night.
One day, Xiao Hua hope she could do that movement too!
Everyone had seen Yang Ling and the Third Prince talk to each other before, but no one knew about Jing Ke's existence and they wanted to keep it that way.
The Third Prince lingered behind as the Eighth Prince and Long Lian already began making their way out of the Pearl Courtyard. Xiao Hua decided to take this opportunity to give the appreciation that was due.
"Your Highness, thank you so much for the gift. It's too precious for a mere ser-vant."
"I won't take it back."
Xiao Hua grinned and touched the bracelets with a hint of possessiveness. "I could not bear to return them back to you either."
The Third Prince's surprised expression earned a small giggle from her. It was rare to see such a reaction from the Third Prince. Long Zhu was actually shocked to hear her cheeky response, but he did not dislike it. It was good that his little flower was slowly opening up to him.
"In return, I will train hard so that I can protect you!"
Her earnest feelings shone through her eyes and it was hard for Long Zhu to burst her bubble. Judging from her talent, she might not be able to cultivate far.
The Third Prince rubbed Xiao Hua's head and said gently, "Go to sleep after your walk for digestion. I will not return early."
"Yes!"
Xiao Hua tagged along until they reached the gates and watched them leave towards the palace with a mixed heart. She loved the daily routine of helping the Third Prince with small tasks and being pampered in return. She did not wish for it to end.
But time waits for no one, as the hero and heroine would get married next year and would start to gather more forces to help them overthrow the Crown Prince and the Emperor. Xiao Hua knew that the Third Prince would not stand aside when his eldest brother and father were in danger.
She would need to get stronger. Tomorrow morning, she will start mastering her new spatial dimension bracelets!
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