Truyen3h.Co

Màu nền Màu tối Mặc định Xám nhạt Xanh nhạt Xanh đậm Vàng nhạt Màu sepia Vàng đậm Vàng ố

Font chữ: Palatino Linotype Bookerly Segoe UI Patrick Hand Times New Roman Verdana Tahoma Arial

Chiều cao dòng: 100 120 140 160 180 200

Kích cỡ chữ:

CHAPTER 21: Actually, both of our tastes are pretty similar

This time, Xiao Hua left the Eighth Prince and Eunuch Heng to talk privately at a far corner and continued eating her lunch that she no longer had the heart to enjoy. Her eyes could not help but keep glancing at them. They had stood far enough she could not read their lips or eavesdrop on their conversation.

Knowing that Xiao Hua was feeling bad, Duan Xi Ying said gently, "You did nothing wrong."

"I could have let their relationship slowly develop further," Xiao Hua mumbled as she stuffed rice into her mouth without thoroughly chewing them before swallowing.

"But Xiao Hua knows Eunuch Heng does not have that kind of feeling towards the Eighth Prince," Duan Xi Ying pointed out. "Xi Ying knows, too."

Xiao Hua, with surprising awe on her face, raised her head to look at Duan Xi Ying, who smiled in response. "Eunuch Heng only views the Eighth Prince as his master, or perhaps a younger brother.

Xiao Hua stared down at her half-eaten bowl of rice with a troubled look. She hastily placed down her bowl of rice and silver chopstick. "I need to stop him!"

"Xiao Hua?"

"I might have been too quick to conclude things! They are still young and there is still a chance for Eunuch Heng to love Heise!"

"Xi Ying always thought the Eighth Prince was looking at someone else when he looked at Eunuch Heng," Duan Xi Ying said solemnly. "Xiao Hua also noticed it too, right?"

Xiao Hua shivered, looking conflicted. "...I might be wrong." In fact, she was not even a love expert! She had confronted Heise with a righteous mindset, but was it right for her to do so?

"With two people seeing the same thing it should not be a mistake."

Feeling tight in her chest, Xiao Hua bit her lips to control her tears from appearing.

"I have destroyed Heise's dream."

"Xiao Hua did not destroy the Eighth Prince's dream but woke him up. If he still continues dreaming, he would hurt himself even deeper when he finally wakes up and notices that the reality is not the same as his dream. By then, it would be even harder for him to heal his heart."

Spotting the Eighth Prince coming back from the corner of her eyes, Xiao Hua quickly turned her head to scrutinize his expression. Anger and hurt coloured his eyes, but there was also a reluctant realization mixed in it.

"I won't thank you for it!" the Eighth Prince snapped as he took back his seat and

started shoving food into his mouth as if releasing his frustration on his food.

"Are you giving up?" Xiao Hua asked worriedly.

"No way am I giving up!" the Eighth Prince declared fiercely. "There is still a lot of time and he can't escape from me!"

"Good luck..?"

"I will look at him properly!" the Eighth Prince declared with a huff and continued stuffing food into his mouth.

When Xiao Hua finally understood what he meant, she smiled in a mixture of relief and joy. "That's good."

"I will let Duke Heng visit me," the Eighth Prince said between bites. "It would be better for him to be close to me since he's helping the Third Prince, right?"

Xiao Hua nodded. "Yup. Duke Heng is also very handsome," she reminded him without tact.

"Fine! I know! I will hug him!"

"You don't need to make it sound like a chore. I know you will enjoy touching a fine-looking man!"

The Eighth Prince snorted. "Your taste and my taste are different!"

Actually, both of our tastes are pretty similar. The men we love are both gentle and good looking that lean more to the feminine side.

Witnessing their interaction, Duan Xi Ying was amazed. Previously they were arguing and she had thought they would go as far as to exchange blows using their fists.

But Xiao Hua quickly felt remorse and wanted to amend things with the Eighth Prince even if it meant allowing the Eighth Prince to continue dreaming.

The most surprising thing was the Eighth Prince, who was obviously angry at Xiao Hua, would throw a peace offering rope at her to let her know he did not hate her, even if he was hurt by her words.

Not even the Third Prince and the princess's relationship was this harmonious despite being known for having the best sibling relationship that was almost idolized by everyone.

Duan Xi Ying had lived in this world for a long time and had seen many types of humans before. This was the first for her to see such a relationship that could undergo trials of fire and storms and still survive despite having no blood relation.

She was rather interested in their world that could have them grow up this way.

"Eighth Prince, while it is good to have Duke Heng to visit you, please do your best to discourage Duke Heng from meeting Xiao Hua." Duan Xi Ying smiled, asking the Eighth Prince a favour.

"To keep her tea brewing cheat a secret? No problem!"

"Xi Ying thank the Eighth Prince on my master's behalf for your kindness."

"It's nothing." The Eighth Prince waved the gratitude away before turning back to Xiao Hua.

"From what you said, it would seem that your tea could block the supporting male leads from feeling magnetic attraction towards the female lead." Xiao Hua blinked. "Why would you say that? There's no proof that my tea could stop them from blindly falling in love with the heroine. I just said that they seem to be addicted to my tea."

"There isn't solid proof but all the supporting male leads seem to like your tea quite a bit. You did get Duke Heng to come out of his cave to meet you."

"Even if that's true, we can't test it. Unless we drug the Second Prince and see what happens? He's the only one left."

"You want to send yourself to death?" the Eighth Prince asked flatly. "My son is a clever man. If any strange person infiltrates his house, he will immediately know and you will die!"

"It's time for you to disown that son of yours," Xiao Hua strongly suggested.

"Hey!"

"I won't succeed in drugging the Second Prince anyway since the heroine is guarding him like a dragon over her prince. Right! In your novel, did you write anything about the King of Munzhu liking the heroine?

"Yeah, I did." The Eighth Prince cleared his throat and spoke in a deep voice, "If I win, I will take your land, your treasures, and your woman!"

Xiao Hua stared at the Eighth Prince blankly when he seemed to be waiting for her reaction. Finally, Xiao Hua spoke. "Oh, that's King Munzhu's dialogue?"

The Eighth Prince sighed loudly in disappointment. "And you call yourself my fan?"

"I'm not your fan. I'm your black fan," Xiao Hua admitted honestly. It was rather fun to read the comments that scolded the brain dead author.

"You despicable person!"

"Pot calling kettle black! You are the one that got me into this world!"

"Not! It's your stupidity of grabbing a soaked wire that got you here!"

"You-"

Duan Xi Ying stuffed a salted egg yolk bun into each mouth easily thanks to their gaping mouths. Both of their voices muffled and they slowly halted their complaints as their nose twitched from the close-up scent of the bun, with their mouth already salivating.

"The salted egg buns had already cooled down so let's eat~" The duo happily ate the bun as suggested and their argument was forgotten.

"Is that during the scene where the Second Prince killed him in the battle as revenge for Long Lian's mistreatment?" Xiao Hua asked, slowly chewing the bun so that the melted egg yolk did not spill all over her hands.

The Eighth Prince made affirmative sounds instead of speaking as he had stuffed the whole bun inside his mouth, solving the problem of preventing the egg yolk from leaking.

Xiao Hua sneered. "That sounds noble, but I bet the truth was the Second Prince killed the king because he dared to ogle his wife."

That caused the Eighth Prince to choke and clutch his throat. Xiao Hua quickly gave him a lukewarm cup of tea for him to gulp down with the bun.

"Hey! What's with that slander?" he yelled as soon as he recovered.

"That could be the truth you know?"

"Hey hey! I wrote it, okay! I know what he's thinking! Stop trying to pick fights!

Wait a minute... you purposely did it!"

"Did what? I will take the last bun." Xiao Hua quickly took the last bun on the plate, a second quicker than the Eighth Prince's hand. Unfortunately for the foodies, there were only five of them so that they would not over-indulge themselves.

"Fine, take it but don't distract me! You are finding excuses to hate the Second Prince!"

"So what if I do?" Xiao Hua countered haughtily and ate the bun in a rough man-ner. "He and Liu Chu Chu are our enemies now."

"Hey...isn't that too extreme?"

"Extreme is when I run around the street and scream that the Second Prince is a fake prince. What I did is just preparing my mind for the future encounter that I will have with them."

The Eighth Prince kept silent because he knew that he needed to prepare his mind as well. In the future, he would need to fight against his son just to keep their small life.

Duan Xi Ying cleaned Xiao Hua's fingers with a wet towel before moving to clean the Eighth Prince's. Noticing Duan Xi Ying serving the Eighth Prince, Xiao Hua was suddenly reminded of something.

"Where is Eunuch Heng?"

The Eighth Prince turned gloomy. "I told him I didn't want to see him and he went to stand at the entrance."

"..Okay, Well, I'm going to visit Ping Shui later. She just woke up yesterday?"

"Ping Shui? As in the sexy wife that seduced and whipped her general husband?

That wife that tamed the fierce general?"

"Yeah....?" The description sounded wrong, but they were the truth.

"I will come along with you!"

"Why?"

"To ask for seduction tips of course!"

"...Oh."

CHAPTER 22: Your maid is crazy

After Grand Tutor Ping Pong agreed that it would be best for his granddaughter and grandson-in-law to stay at the Third Prince's manor until they fully recovered, he often visited them whenever he had the time. Fortunately, the Second Prince had not sent his soldiers to Ping's manor to cause trouble, but they still remained on guard in case the Second Prince changed his mind in the future.

Ping Shui and General Tang were given room to stay at the Pearl Courtyard. Long Lian, the second owner of the said courtyard, did not mind the guests and encouraged them to stay as long as they wanted to recuperate.

After knowing the truth about what happened to the couple, Princess Long Lian's impression on Liu Chu Chu grew even worse. She silently scolded her second brother for being a blind, lovesick fool. If her third brother had not stopped her, she would have marched over to her second brother's house to beat Liu Chu Chu into a bloody

Since the Pearl Courtyard was not available, Long Lian would hang out with Xiao Hua at Spring Courtyard, but she immediately sensed her third brother's silent displeasure of her stepping into his personal courtyard, hence the sudden decrease of visitation.

Duan Xi Ying and Da Bei followed Xiao Hua and the Eighth Prince silently as they headed to the Pearl Courtyard. Duan Xi Ying was spotted with a seductive smile and Da Bei with a blank expression on his half-covered face by a black skin-tight mask.

There were two male servants sweeping the floor and trimming plants in the garden of the Pearl Courtyard. Upon seeing their arrival, they quickly greeted them respectfully despite the fact that one was a silly prince and another was a silly maid. But they both had a higher position than them and should not be slighted.

Seeing the food baskets that Duan Xi Ying and Da Bei were holding, the male servants knew they were here to visit the recently arrived guests. They were shocked when Xiao Hua and the Eighth Prince gave them a smile before they walked further into the courtyard.

The reason for their shock was the similarity of their smile. No, they had a different face structure, but it was the feeling behind the smile that gave them a sense of similarity!

Perhaps they had just witnessed the legendary idiot smile?

Poor Xiao Hua and the Eighth Prince, they were trying to be nice by giving them an empty, polite smile that they often gave to unknown strangers in their world, but their smile was labeled as silly instead.

Duan Xi Ying slowed down her steps and silently slithered closer to the male servants with a threatening smile. "Continue your task."

"Y-Yes!"

The transmigrated duo continued walking before Xiao Hua finally realized something. She did not know which room Ping Shui was staying in.

"Hey Xiao Hua, do you know which room Ping Shui is staying in?" The Eighth

Prince stared at her doubtfully after seeing Xiao Hua's change of expression.

"Nope." Xiao Hua laughed. Feeling embarrassed, she turned to Da Bei and Duan Xi Ying. "Do any of you know?"

Da Bei shook his head, but replied positively, "I can track them."

When Da Bei led the small group using his sharp nose, Xiao Hua asked, "Da Bei, the reason you wear a mask is because of your strong sense of smell?"

"Like a dog?" The Eighth Prince added his two cents in, which earned a glare from Xiao Hua.

"No," Da Bei answered. Team Transmigrated did not probe on the mask issue any further since they felt Da Bei deserved his privacy and secrets.

"How will you track Ping Shui?" the Eighth Prince asked curiously. "Did she wear a specific kind of perfume?"

Duan Xi Ying answered for Da Bei. "Every person has their own smell and Da Bei used it to track Madam Ping."

Normal people wouldn't be able to smell it at such a far distance, no?!

"I found her," Da Bei notified, but his subtle frown went unnoticed by Team Transmigrated, as they were more eager to know where the location was.

"Two doors in front," Da Bei answered their expecting gaze. His sharp nose caught a certain scent and wondered if he should warn them about what the occupants were doing inside but at a glance towards Duan Xi Ying made him hold his tongue. She was smiling seductively as always, but her eyes were filled with anticipation of a good show.

Da Bei knew that Duan Xi Ying was as loyal to Xiao Hua just like him and would never risk her safety. Harmless fun would not harm Xiao Hua's safety and he could not defeat Duan Xi Ying, so he kept silent.

Stepping closer to the door that Da Bei had pointed out, Xiao Hua and the Eighth

Prince heard a rough, muffled groan and a feminine moan coming from inside.

"Is Madam Ping Shui in pain?" Xiao Hua asked worriedly at the continuous low groan. She reached out a hand towards the door but the Eighth Prince quickly grabbed her wrist to stop her.

"She's not in pain," the Eighth Prince whispered quickly, immediately realizing what was going on inside the room.

"She isn't? How do you know?"

"Oh, come on! Those noises are not those in pain!" the Eighth Prince said bluntly, feeling a bit embarrassed.

Thankfully, Xiao Hua immediately caught on and blushed. "Oh!"

The Eighth Prince rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm, from the noise they make, it must be very good."

"Y-You... don't be crude!" Xiao Hua stammered in embarrassment as she darted a glance towards Da Bei and Duan Xi Ying.

Duan Xi Ying laughed sweetly as she cheerfully revealed, "Xi Ying knew what

Madam Ping Shui and General Tang are doing~"

"I-I see." Xiao Hua could not resist looking at Da Bei with a hint of awkwardness.

"I could smell what they are doing," Da Bei said as if the topic of the conversation was not an embarrassing thing to discuss!

"You can smell it?" the Eighth Prince asked Da Bei curiously, which Xiao Hua quickly smacked the back of his head.

"Stop it," Xiao Hua hissed. "He's just an eight-year-old boy!"

With a laugh, Duan Xi Ying answered for Da Bei, "Xiao Hua, Da Bei has a very sharp nose. He has smelt it often from his parents~"

Xiao Hua's mouth hung open in shock before remembering to close it after a few seconds. But what she heard was too shocking and her mouth gaped open again. It was not that she did not know how babies were created, but her image of pure An Jing having wild sex with Da Liu was a little difficult to digest.

Oh gosh, how is she supposed to face An Jing now that the idea is stuck inside her head?!

Xiao Hua nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw the Eighth Prince sneakily parted open a window to peek in.

Moving as silently as she could, she quickly dragged the Eighth Prince away from the window, but one of his hands was still holding onto the window, which parted wider from her pull. The creaking sound had the duo turned still, their ears straining to hear if the occupants inside the room had noticed them.

They must not have heard it as the masculine moans continued playing, with soft feminine giggles played a duet with it.

The duo sighed softly in relief and Xiao Hua once again tried to tug the Eighth Prince away from the window. During the process, her eyes accidentally fell into the room and her body paralyzed in shock and a bolt of lust travelled down her body.

The window just so happened to be facing the bed with the occupants on it. There was a naked male with tanned skin lying on the bed, vulnerable to the attention that the female straddling on his lap was showering him with.

Xiao Hua could see that the male's limbs were tied to the bedpost, spread open like a feast, unable to hide or move. Droplets of sweats decorated his muscular chest and his straining arms, with his long black hair scattered over the bed, strongly contrasting with the white sheets. He was blindfolded with a white long cloth and his mouth was wide open as he continuously gasped from the pleasure he was feeling.

Ping Shui was dressed in a thin inner robe as she used a napkin to tease her husband's twitching third leg. The man below her restrained his movement to avoid shoving his dearest wife off his lap but the teasing touches on his most sensitive part were slowly driving him insane. Her actions were slow and unhurried as if she was not affected by the sexy man writhing under her, but her eyes were hot and hungry, betraying her real thoughts.

"Please, my love." The strong, fierce and manly General Tang was reduced to a vulnerable and seductive man under his wife's ministration. "Touch me."

It was hot to see a powerful man that could easily use his strength to get out of his constraints to willingly allow his wife to dominate and blindfold him. He even begged her for his pleasure, trusting his wife to fulfil his primal needs.

It was the rocking motion that clued Xiao Hua that Ping Shui was rubbing herself on her husband's leg and she could see a large shiny and wet spot on his tanned, muscular leg.

Finally, her hips rocked in a faster speed as she grew impatient, her breath became harsher as she tossed the napkin to replace it with her delicate hand to pleasure her husband.

It was the Eighth Prince's soft 'wow' that broke Xiao Hua's daze. She quickly pushed the Eighth Prince away with a burst of strength and silently closed the window of sin.

"We should return." Xiao Hua gulped and fanned herself with a hand to reduce the heat that was gathering in her.

"I'm surprised she's that creative," the Eighth Prince said admiringly.

"You pervert!" Xiao Hua hissed. "Why did you peek on them?"

"Oh come on, I'm curious. I heard nothing but high praises of Madam Ping able to brainwash her husband using sex."

Xiao Hua choked on air. "B-Brainwash?"

"You don't know Ping Shui got her husband to betray the Second Prince?"

"He did not exactly betray the Second Prince, you know. And your words are crude! Anyway, let's return and not disturb them."

"There's no need, Xiao Hua~," Duan Xi Ying said. "It would be a waste to gain nothing on this trip."

But I gained the knowledge of Ping Shui and General Tang being a kinky couple.

Duan Xi Ying approached the door and spoke in a loud voice, "Greetings to Madam Ping and General Tang. My lady, Xiao Hua, and the Eighth Prince are here to pay a visit. We shall wait for you in the next room."

Xiao Hua stared at Duan Xi Ying in horror, as the moaning abruptly stopped and a loud bang could be heard.

"Your maid is crazy," the Eighth Prince said dazedly and the equally dazed Xiao Hua nodded in agreement.

CHAPTER 23: Killing others to protect her loved ones

By the time Madam Ping stepped into the room Duan Xi Ying had escorted them into, Xiao Hua had made up her mind to pretend she did not know what Ping Shui and her husband were doing in the room.

Xiao Hua stood up and curtsied. "Greetings to Madam Ping."

"Greetings to Sister Xiao Hua." Ping Shui returned the greeting politely. "Greetings to the Eighth Prince."

"Greetings, Madam Ping Shui." The Eighth Prince smiled but did not stand up to greet her as an attempt to show that his position was higher than hers.

If Ping Shui was surprised at how normal the Eighth Prince was, it was not revealed on her face. On the other hand, Xiao Hua cursed herself for not questioning the Eighth Prince more when he voiced his desire to follow her in visiting Ping Shui for the sake of questioning her arts of...seduction.

A person with the mental age of a child would have some difficulty in holding a normal conversation, much less asking about adult content! Her logical mind was curbed by her guilt of hurting the Eighth Prince.

Unless...the Eighth Prince did not mind Ping Shui knowing about him being normal because she was on their side? Xiao Hua snuck a glance at Duan Xi Ying, who immediately caught her eyes and gave her a brief nod.

It was pretty scary how Duan Xi Ying and herself could exchange messages with just a look after knowing each other for less than four months. She also knew that if Duan Xi Ying did not stop them from doing anything, that also meant the Third Prince would more or less allow it, or in a better case scenario, not be overly angry about it.

"I apologize for interrupting your rest." It took Xiao Hua a great effort to maintain an expression of normality when she said that. "Sister Tian Chi is currently busy so I offered to deliver your medicine on her behalf."

"Thank you for your kindness." Ping Shui smiled as she took a seat, which allowed Xiao Hua to return back to her seat. "I was told to remain in bed until I'm well, but it's rather tiring with nothing to do. Please, come and talk to me whenever you are free."

Nothing to do? I bet your husband would disagree with you.

"I will be happy to visit whenever I can," Xiao Hua promised with a wide smile that was almost painful. "How are your injuries? Sister Tian Chi had not said much about your injuries but she confirmed that she had healed them all."

Oh, that was not true, as Xiao Hua had managed to squeeze information out from Tian Zi that Ping Shui was tortured for information personally by the heroine, Liu Chu Chu. The list of injuries on Ping Shui shocked Xiao Hua and she was disturbed at how cruel the heroine was.

From the novel, she knew how far the heroine would go just to protect herself and her new family, even if she would need to stain her hands with blood and condemn her soul to hell.

To Liu Chu Chu, she never regretted killing others to protect her loved ones Le Xiao Ting truly admired her strong determination, even if she could not stomach most of her unnecessary cruelty.

Just like this incident where the unfortunate general was wrongly accused of purposely failing an important task. It was cruel for Liu Chu Chu to kidnap Ping Shui to interrogate her just because of her husband's failure in his task. Xiao Hua honestly thought that in this case, Liu Chu Chu should have interrogated and whipped General Tang instead! His mistakes should be carried by himself, not his innocent wife.

Ping Shui nodded, her eyes filled with warmth as she caressed her stomach protec-tively. "Tian Chi has indeed healed most of my injuries and now I only need to rest."

"Perhaps Madam Ping Shui is expecting a child?" Xiao Hua asked, immediately recognizing the gesture.

"You are right. Is it that obvious?" Ping Shui asked, glowing like an expecting mother that was happy about her child.

"It's a lucky guess," Xiao Hua lied with a smile. Ping Shui might find it weird if she says 'I saw you rubbing your stomach like a momma bear'. "May I ask how far along you are?"

"Not at all. I'm only approaching two months and fortunately, my child is strong." Xiao Hua's face darkened. Indeed, it was fortunate that the child was strong, or else the torture would have caused Ping Shui to miscarry.

She had never entertained the idea of hating the hero and heroine, but after she took the identity of Xiao Hua, she only disliked them and wished to stay far away from them. But now, she could not help but hate them.

Just because they were strong, that did not mean they could trample people that were weaker than them even in the name of protecting their loved ones.

"Congratulations on the good news and may your child be as strong as General

Tang and as intelligent as Madam Ping." Xiao Hua gave her genuine well wishes.

The Eighth Prince choked on his tea and fortunately for Xiao Hua, Ping Shui just laughed behind her sleeves, not at all offended by Xiao Hua's well-meant wishes. She could see Xiao Hua was not being malicious, but rather brutally honest about her be-lief. Her husband may be strong but Ping Shui was the smart one between the couple.

"Thank you. I sincerely hope so, too."

After that, the two ladies exchanged polite questions until the Eighth Prince got bored. In his original world, he had suffered these kinds of ordeal more than he wanted but that did not mean he learned patience from it.

"Madam Ping, why do you marry General Tang? Is it because of love that you marry him? Is it also because of love he chooses to side with my third brother?" The Eighth Prince shot out questions in the middle of the ladies' conversation.

Xiao Hua nearly bit her tongue from the sudden interruption. What's more, the

Eighth Prince's questions were quite a privacy invasion.

But for the Eighth Prince, he had already viewed Ping Shui as an ally, which was after he had confirmed with the Third Prince beforehand. To him, it would be best to keep things honest and open among allies, but not to the extent of exposing all of his secrets.

Letting Ping Shui know that he was mentally sane was a good move to reassure her and her husband that their side was not weak and unreliable. It would also show that he, the Eighth Prince, trusted them by revealing his secret that could get him killed.

This knowledge also served as a reward for Ping Shui after withstanding the torture that symbolized her firm standing in the Third Prince's camp.

It seemed that Madam Ping came to that conclusion too, for her previous polite smile towards the Eighth Prince turned sincere.

"To answer the Eighth prince's question, Ping Shui is the only one left to continue the Ping bloodline, and if I marry into the Second Prince's line, the Ping line will end." The Second Prince would never allow his son to take Ping's surname.

Grand Tutor Ping Pong only had two sons. Both were successful in their own careers but both died young. His eldest son gave him a filial daughter-in-law and an intelligent granddaughter, but his youngest son died before he got to enjoy married life.

Ping Shui smiled rather wickedly if someone asked Xiao Hua's opinion. "General Tang is a good husband and someone that I've admired for years. My grandfather and the Third Prince had discussed the matter and permitted me to choose General Tang once they were assured that the Tang line would not end once General Tang was married into the Ping household. Choosing General Tang as my husband benefited the Ping family and the Third Prince."

Grand Tutor Ping Pong knew that a man from a respectable family would never agree to marry into the Ping household, so once he heard about the plan to rope General Tang in, he did not think twice but jumped on the ship.

And their plan bore fruit. 

Ping Shui married a man she admired and now loved. Grand Tutor Ping no longer needed to worry about having the Ping line end with Ping Shui. The Third Prince had gotten General Tang onto his side after the latest incident. The Second Prince lost his most loyal and strong soldier due to his suspicions and distrust.

Xiao Hua silently sighed in pity for General Tang. Every side had benefited from the marriage between him and Ping Shui, yet he seemed to lose the most in this ar-rangement.

"How is General Tang fairing?" Xiao Hua asked, unable to conceal worry from her voice.

Ping Shui's eyes showed a hint of sadness before it was replaced with a determination a wife would have for her husband. "I will take care of him and stay by his side forever."

Her Lord husband had acted as if that incident did not hurt him and spent all his time taking care of her. He had yet to dwell on the matter but Ping Shui swore she would be with him when the pain finally caught up.

"If there is anything I can do, do not hesitate to tell me," Xiao Hua offered earnestly.

CHAPTER 24: Or I will unbend Heise

In the end, the Eighth Prince did not ask Ping Shui about bedroom tips as the situation was too sweet to be disturbed. Even if he thought the adult conversation could make the atmosphere become fun, he felt awkward to do it.

After thinking about it twice, Ping Shui was a stranger and having this sort of talk was weird so he decided not to ask. He also had to take into account his new body's age, which was too young to be interested in adult stuff. Plus, from what he had seen from the window, he had more or less been able to guess how Ping Shui managed to tame her husband.

The question of the day was, just where on earth did she learn about these? To his knowledge, no respectable noble ladies in this era would know about this kind of stuff.

The Eighth Prince ignored the intrusive questioning stares that Xiao Hua kept on giving him, as if expecting him to open his mouth and start blabbing out embarrassing questions.

Both of them did not dare to linger longer than necessary and made excuses to leave, as General Tang had not hidden his dissatisfaction of their presence emitting from his piercing eyes, which could be seen from the slight gap of the door.

Thankfully it was the bright daylight that saved Xiao Hua from screaming 'ghost' upon seeing the pair of eyes. It was also because it was not the first time she had become the target of the pair of eyes filled with the urge to impart pain. General Tang had done the same thing when Xiao Hua visited Ping Shui at their house for the first time.

The Eighth Prince saw it too, but Xiao Hua's lack of reaction and a brief shake of her head had him hold his tongue until they left Ping Shui's room. General Tang had wisely hidden somewhere so that his wife would not suspect his foul play in kicking their host out. Instead, they met the missing maid of Ping Shui once they stepped out of the room, who quickly apologized to them for not warning them.

Ping Shui's maid had ordered all servants to stay away from her mistress' room after knowing what they were up to. But what she had not expected was her negligence in informing other servants to forbid guests from visiting their masters.

Walking out of Pearl Courtyard, Xiao Hua explained to the curious Eighth Prince about the pair of eyes, giving the Eighth Prince something to laugh about. Xiao Hua was about to lead them to Spring Courtyard but the Eighth Prince refused. "It's time for me to return home."

With a nod, Xiao Hua accompanied the Eighth Prince to the gates. "Are you alright?" Xiao Hua asked hesitantly. "About Eunuch Heng.."

"You.." The Eighth Prince sighed in half exasperation, half acceptance. "I'm still angry with you, even if I know you have said it for my own good. I realize I'm too hasty and rushing for Heng Xin to look at me as a man. This body of mine is still young and I still have time to get him to love me.

Xiao Hua lowered her eyes, hiding her worry. She felt guilty to have no confidence in Heise to change Eunuch Heng's view of him from master to lover. She was also worried if Heise had misplaced the lingering affections of his ex-girlfriend onto Eunuch Heng.

Did he really love Eunuch Heng for himself, or did he only see his face that resembled his ex-lover?

The Eighth Prince had not mentioned the matter of him replacing Eunuch Heng with his ex-girlfriend, and Xiao Hua did not want to repeat her question again. Today she had opened his can of worms, and despite pushing the problem away, it will still be in his mind, nagging him. One day, he will have no choice but to confront it, and no matter the outcome, Xiao Hua will be there to support him.

"Sorry, but I won't be coming these days. If there's anything important just send a letter to me."

"Okay. Remember to take care of yourself." Xiao Hua watched the Eighth Prince's carriage drive towards the direction heading to the palace with mixed feelings.

"The Eighth Prince is still young, with time to experience failure and learn from them," Duan Xi Ying said.

Xiao Hua frowned. "You said it as if they would never end up together as a couple."

"Humans have their own rules and beliefs. It would be difficult for Eunuch Heng to love the Eighth Prince as a lover does~" Seeing how agitated Xiao Hua became, Duan Xi Ying said gently, "If Eunuch Heng truly loves the Eighth Prince, perhaps he could allow himself to accept the Eighth Prince's love in his own pace."

"Or I will unbend Heise," Xiao Hua whispered, almost like a threat, before throwing the worry to the back of her mind before making a promise. "I will not meddle into their relationship again unless he asks for my help."

Just as the Eighth Prince said, he had not visited Xiao Hua for a week now, much to

Long Lian's joy but worry and remorse for Xiao Hua.

But Long Lian, who visited with the intention to relax from her hectic study sched-ule, did not like it when Xiao Hua spent most of her time training instead of playing with her. As a princess, even if she will only be married to another country's prince or king as a political relation, she was still required to study least she embarrass Guilin's royalty.

"I need to be strong enough to protect myself and my loved ones," Xiao Hua an-swered, straight to the point when Long Lian kept on dropping hints of dissatisfaction about her training.

"There's no need for you to do that. My third brother is strong and so are his shadow guards."

"They are indeed strong, but I want to protect myself instead of relying on them most of the time. I do not wish to be a burden to them."

"You are not a burden! For the shadow guards to protect you are their duty, their responsibility," Long Lian exclaimed vehemently.

Xiao Hua smiled bitterly. She did not want to argue with Long Lian about this mat-ter, fearing it might burst her bubble of innocence. But if Long Lian did not understand and refused to put effort into her training, she feared what would happen to this sweet girl when the war between humans and demons broke out.

"Ah Lian." Xiao Hua gently reached out to touch Long Lian's hand but the hand was quickly moved out of reach.

Seeing the surprised expression on Xiao Hua, Long Lian frowned unhappily.

"Whenever you want to change my mind about a matter, you would always be gentle and touch my hand. I won't listen to you talking like Mother Empress!"

"Talking like... the Empress?" This young lady felt that this was quite a great honour?

"She always nags at me to study and train! I'm tired of them! Since I was young, I was told I would be married to a prince or King from another country. I only need to learn how to manage the harem and make my husband happy! I know, Mother Empress told me I need to support my husband with the knowledge that I've learned, but Father Emperor never listened to Mother Empress anyway. Females were told to keep their hands off the court matters and only mind about clothes and children. If so, why do I still need to make an effort in cultivating and studying?"

Xiao Hua stared at the silently crying Long Lian with a heavy sense of helplessness and guilt. She had underestimated Long Lian's maturity. Long Lian could see how this world works, but as a female, she was unable to do what she wanted and her life was decided by men against her will.

There was no comfort she could give Long Lian, for she was not born in this world originally, nor did she truly understand the custom that females had to follow in this era. Xiao Hua was truly fortunate that she belonged to the Third Prince that was not like most males in this world that had viewed females to be beneath them that was only useful for pleasure and providing them children.

Reaching out, Xiao Hua grabbed Long Lian's hands, refusing to be deterred by her protest. "Ah Lian, I'm sorry for being a pig head."

Long Lian's head snapped up as her beautiful lips parted, wishing to protest, but Xiao Hua shook her head fiercely until her hair swayed left and right like her own personal excited tail.

"I am," Xiao Hua insisted firmly. "I'm stupid, for thinking only for myself but not for you. I'm stupid for assuming you don't know anything when you do. I'm sorry for thinking badly of you. I'm a terrible person and a bad friend."

"Ah Hua..."

"If I could save you, I will. But I'm powerless, with no power, no skill, and no intelligence. I could not change the old traditions to set you free from it."

Long Lian's fury slowly ebbed from Xiao Hua's earnest apology and her trembling hands.

"But I promise I will stay with you forever. If you need hugs and a pair of ears to talk to, I'm here."

Smiling weakly with trembling lips, Long Lian said, "Ah Hua, I'm happy to meet you."

When the Third Prince was finally free to accompany Xiao Hua, he was shocked to find two girls crying while hugging each other tightly as if someone had told them that they could not see each other again.

CHAPTER 25: Some entity wants her to snoop around

After the 'broke down' day, Xiao Hua thought of games that could be fun and could be served as training at the same time.

Hence, the Third Prince's manor would be filled with sounds of feminine giggles with wet spots on the training grounds and sharp piercing shrieks at a certain period of time in the afternoon. Servants, especially male ones, were forbidden to approach the training ground to avoid them from witnessing Xiao Hua and Long Lian's soaked appearance.

This idea was brought to life thanks to the red haired beauty Feng Jiu, who had stayed over at Autumn Courtyard for few days to consult on important matters with the Third Prince. She had accepted Xiao Hua's idea open-mindedly and helpfully created small pouches that were durable and made of stretchable material. The small pouches had small holes all over it but it could contain water without leaking out once the pouch was surrounded by a thin layer of inner energy.

It was made that way to ensure when the pouch hit something hard, the layer of energy would automatically disappear and the water would burst out from the holes.

Xiao Hua had thought of the paintball fight concept where she could train her dodging skill, sensing other people's presence as well as sneaking. She originally wanted to use something with colour, but it would be extremely wasteful to use ink or colour dye so she would have to do it with plain water.

The one that ends up with more water on them will be the loser and the punishment would be drinking a cup of extra spicy ginger soup. Both ladies could not stand drinking the extreme ginger soup and viewed it as acceptable punishment.

Full of confidence, Long Lian assumed she would win the game, but on the first day Xiao Hua managed to hit her with three water balls while none had landed on her. It was then the princess realized that Xiao Hua could not be underestimated.

Much to the princess' frustration, she had lost the game ten times after the tenth time. As a consequence of running around with soaked clothes for days, Long Lian was down with a fever, much to Xiao Hua's guilt.

This young lady will have to think up a new training! _(:3 J <)_ When the Third Prince heard of the new training method, along with the news of Long Lian's fever, he told Xiao Hua without an ounce of worry in him. "That should motivate her to cultivate seriously."

Xiao Hua was currently at the late stage of first rank cultivation and the same goes for Long Lian. But their difference was how long they had been at that level. Long Lian was stuck in that stage for nearly a year and was not bothered by it as the fear she had been burdened from being kidnapped was long disregarded.

With the sick Long Lian and the absent Eighth Prince, Duan Xi Ying had more time to train Xiao Hua and she finally reached a breakthrough to the second rank.

One day, it was in the middle of training when An Jing suddenly dropped by to inform her that the Third Prince was asking her to meet him in his study room.

Surprisingly, the Third Prince was not in his study when she arrived.

"Master had stepped out just a moment to receive a fast letter from the 19th Emperor."

"19th Emperor?"

An Jing smiled patiently as she explained. "That is Guilin's previous Emperor. The current Emperor is the 20th Emperor."

Nodding in understanding, Xiao Hua thanked An Jing before she was left alone in the Third Prince's study room. Not even Duan Xi Ying was allowed to accompany her inside.

Not that Xiao Hua was not happy to be trusted being left alone with important documents and stuff, but one does have to fear the possibility of being an innocent passer-by that got wrongly accused when something in the room disappeared.

With a heavy sigh, she banished the dark thoughts away and took a seat at the wide couch to wait for the Third Prince's return. However, it would be a long wait as she almost fell asleep while waiting.

Where is he? Yawns~ 9(0**)s

Rubbing her eyes to clear the sleepiness, she decided to look around to kill time.

Since the Third Prince allowed her to wait for him inside his study, that meant he would not mind her snooping around. Certainly, he did not believe she would be a good girl and keep her hands on her sides, right?

If she gets caught, she can test how well her charm would work on him!

...She was actually quite serious about the charm thing. (→_→)

First, she eyed the table, which was surprisingly empty of any papers or documents. Usually, whenever she stepped into the study, there was always paperwork waiting for the Third Prince to deal with. Perhaps today he had finished them all early.

She spent a long time examining the brush, ink stone, and the dragon carvings on

the table, and yet the Third Prince still has not returned.

...Could it be some entity wants her to snoop around? (o'u'),

And so Xiao Hua willingly allowed her legs to approach the shelves at the other end of the room. There were plenty of tall shelves, but they seem to be separated into two categories: books and scrolls.

She was planning to avoid the scrolls as they tended to contain important matters

when she saw something blue beneath a pile of scrolls at the lowest level.

Kneeling down in interest, she gently lifted the stack of scrolls to pull out the hidden blue book. The cover was blank and the paper still white, indicating that it was a new book, but the worn-out edges told her that it was often being read.

Xiao Hua immediately brightens. Perhaps this was something the Third Prince liked to read?

Without hesitation, she turned to the first page and her smile became even wider when she recognized the handwriting that belonged to the Eighth Prince.

'Happy Birthday, third brother! You are now an adult and should know more about adult matters! I wrote this book to teach you how to make Xiao Hua love you even more!'

"Birthday present, huh?"

Something was nagging in her head as her smile slowly became smaller. Her fingers twitched before slowly turning to the next page. The book would have slipped from her hand if she had not been paralyzed in shock. Her eyes widened as she took in the realistic drawing of her and the Third Prince kissing!

Right below the picture, the Eighth Prince wrote, 'How to kiss her until she says yes to everything you ask!'

Xiao Hua was not aware of how terrifying her face looked like right now. Her eyes were narrowed into slits, just like a cat that was offended and ready to use her sharp claws to scratch the offender. Her mouth curled into a sneer as she flipped the pages until a crude drawing of the Third Prince kissing an eerily look alike Xiao Hua's neck with one of his hands touching Xiao Hua's chest.

.....Yes, this was exactly the same thing the Third Prince had done to this young lady!

Her anger flared when she read, 'Remember to kiss her neck first before sucking her skin gently! Finally, lick the same spot to soothe the sting and she will literally purr like a cat!'

Purr like a cat? Wait for me Heise, you will get to experience my sharp nails when I scratch you like a cat! (# m )=0#(#)3)

Feeling humiliated, she snapped the book shut as one of her hands rubbed the spot the Third Prince had nibbled on her neck days ago. Did Heise not know how humiliating it was to let the Third Prince know how to please a woman and trick her to agree with him by doing those seductive moves on her?

Fortunately, the Third Prince had not made her agree to anything by using those moves before, which saved him from her anger.

She stared down at the blue book in her hands as she calmed down her mind to list out the pros of allowing the Third Prince to keep this book. After a few minutes of con-templating, she flipped the pages until the very end and found the picture of the Third Prince and her on the bed, clothes loose and scattered over the bed.

The Third Prince was on top of the delicate-looking female, whose legs had parted wide open to allow him to rest in between the space. Her arms were around his naked shoulders, like a flower clinging onto sunlight, wanting more of his dew to help her bloom. Every important bit was hidden or covered with the loose clothing and there was a transparent curtain drawn over the bed, giving the viewer the feeling of peacefulness and love from the drawing.

With a strong blush assaulting her cheeks, she quickly closed the book and hid it back under the pile of scrolls.

She had decided not to burn this...this perverted book!

Embarrassed, she silently admitted that she liked it when the Third Prince kissed her and not at all minded if he learned more from the book if she would be the only person he experimented with.

But she will have to deny his wandering hands from exploring below her neck. He will only be allowed to kiss and hug her until they were married!

CHAPTER 26: I won't want my little flower to curse anyone

The Third Prince finally returned to his study room and found a pouting Xiao Hua seated on the wide-seated wooden couch with faint redness on her cheeks. The room was filled with a thick scent of orange.

The scent came from a small potted orange plant that Xiao Hua was poking with her finger. The small potted orange plant was the one he had saved from being bullied by the surrounding plants in his garden when he came back from the Xuanwu King-dom.

He originally planted the seeds to replace the previous orange tree he had accidentally destroyed. But the young seedling could not grow well as the other taller plants had blocked sunlight from reaching it so he dug it out and planted it in a pot until it became larger.

He had placed it in his study, right next to the window so it could receive sunlight directly. The other resident, which was the plant that had kindly lifted the basket and milk for Xiao Hua some time ago, was forced to share its space with another pot of plant. Naturally, it was not happy about its new bedmate and showed its protest by drooping its leaves.

The older plant was coaxed back to its happy state as Long Zhu had paid more attention to it, but it was currently sulking as the younger plant was chosen by Xiao Hua to shower her attention on, even going as far as taking the orange pot to accompany her on the couch. But once it noticed his presence, it cheered up and shook its leaves in greeting.

His face unconsciously softened, eyes warm with affection as Xiao Hua turned her head to look at him. Her gaze was timid and shy, her soft blush darkened as she called out softly, "Third- Long Zhu."

His legs took big steps as he crossed to Xiao Hua's side. "T've made you wait." He rubbed a hand on her soft cheeks. "I had to receive an important letter and make preparations for my coming journey."

"You are going somewhere?"

Long Zhu nodded, sharing the same reluctance as Xiao Hua felt, which he had seen from her expressive eyes.

"Tang Guan soldiers tested South Guilin Village's strength yesterday. Unfortunately, many of our men died under the attack, leaving others severely injured. I had to go there to stabilize the situation and bring more soldiers to help replace the fallen sol-diers."

"Am I going too?"

"No. It's too dangerous for your current cultivation level. If I'm not able to stabilize the situation, there might be a war."

Xiao Hua's heart gripped in panic and fear. "It will be dangerous for you too!"

"I will be fine. Fourth brother will be coming with me as well. An Jing and A Wan will be following me but I will be leaving Da Bei and Da An to protect you." She shook her head fiercely. "Please don't! I will only be staying inside the house so there's no need for them to protect me. Xi Ying is enough to protect me."

"I will need Duan Xi Ying to handle the matter of sending a letter to my teacher." Long Zhu had wanted to send An Jing instead, but Duan Xi Ying was better at blending in and being sociable with strangers, after having years of experience in travelling to different places.

"Letter?"

"I received a reply from my Imperial Grandfather earlier. He managed to find the teacher and informed me of where he currently is. Imperial Grandfather does not wish to stay with the teacher for more than three days before resuming his travel." Long Zhu laughed softly as he remembered what his Imperial Grandfather had written in his letter. He might be curious about what help his favourite grandson wanted to ask from Doctor Bai, but his desire to save the small village from bandits overtook it. Hence he wrote to urge Long Zhu to quickly solve the problem so that he can leave to defeat the bandits.

"I don't understand. Is your grandfather forcing your teacher to stay at one spot until you finish asking what you need?"

"Asking to adopt you," the Third Prince corrected. "No, my Imperial Grandfather needs to stay in order for me to send a letter to the teacher through him with a hunting eagle. Teacher's house has an array formation drawn on the land to keep his privacy and location a secret."

"Then how did your grandfather able to find him?"

"Imperial Grandfather's cultivation is high enough that the array formations pose no restriction to him. Finding teacher is an easy task for my Imperial Grandfather."

"Your teacher did not give you any means to contact him?" Xiao Hua asked timidly.

The Third Prince was Doctor Bai's student, but perhaps they do not have a close rela-tionship?

"It was my own choice not to have one. I do not have the confidence to protect it from those people that desire to find Teacher if they found out I'm his student."

"You are strong, but there will always be someone that is stronger," Xiao Hua admitted. "Your desire to protect your teacher is admirable." He had thought logically instead of being prideful of his strength and did not heed to the risk of potential dan-gers.

The Third Prince smiled and gathered the only person in this world that could make him this happy in his life into his arms. Xiao Hua tensed when she was suddenly in his arms, but slowly relaxed when he did nothing further.

The baby orange tree's leaves shook in protest at the sudden loss of Xiao Hua's touch but after a few seconds, it stopped. Just as it liked Xiao Hua, it liked Long Zhu more.

"Thank you." He spoke so softly as if only wanting Xiao Hua to hear despite them

being the only ones in the room.

"Um, you are welcome?»

Long Zhu chuckled as he could hear the question mark from her reply. But he did not explain and only settled down better in his chair to hug her even closer to him. "I will be leaving tomorrow morning."

"That soon?" Xiao Hua frowned. She does understand that she was too weak to fight alongside him, but that did not mean she liked staying back and worrying about his safety.

"Um."

Xiao Hua's mouth smiled slightly upon hearing that adorable reply. "When will you return?"

"I will try to return within a month's time."

This time, Xiao Hua was the one that made the first move, wrapping her arms around his waist tightly as she pressed her face onto his chest to hide her fresh tears.

She could feel his warm lips on top of her head, as well as the movement of his lips when he whispered, "Don't cry. I will return as soon as I can." A small voice asked, mostly concealed by his chest. "Promise?"

"I promise."

"You will stay safe?"

"I will."

With a loud sniffle, Xiao Hua removed her face from his chest, aware that her tears had stained his clothes. "I want you to run if things get too difficult for you to handle," Xiao Hua said solemnly as she stared straight into his eyes.

"Xiao Hua?»

"I know that you are a prince and you care for your people. But you are my most important person in this world. I want you to live, even if they all died." It hurt to see the strong disbelief in his eyes, but what she said was the truth. "I'm sorry if I sound cruel, but I'm selfish. I only want you to stay with me forever."

To her disbelief and hope, the disapproval in his eyes disappeared as his face lifted into a very happy smile. Without wasting any time, he leaned down and used his strong arms to press her closer so that he can kiss her without any distance between them.

Their kiss was filled with love, desperation, and promise.

"I will come back alive," the Third Prince promised, his eyes burning with a flame of determination. "I won't want my little flower to curse anyone if I don't make it out alive."

He stopped her denials by showering her with attention and love. The remaining of the day was spent by hugging and kissing each other, memorizing each other before they were forced to part. It was just one month, but it was the first time they had to part from each other since being a couple.

Without words, Xiao Hua allowed the Third Prince to pull her to his bedchamber, knowing that he wanted her to sleep next to him. To be honest, that was what she wanted too.

They slept with both hugging each other, without lust in their touch, only craving for warmth and affection. Both preferred the innocent loving touch but that did not mean they did not enjoy the pleasure of flesh. They were still young and their lust can wait to be explored after their marriage.

The Third Prince was already up before the sunrise but his careful movement to avoid waking Xiao Hua up failed. She refused to head back to sleep and insisted on sending him out. She helped him to dress up, combed his hair, and watched as he ate his breakfast.

She walked beside him as they made their way towards the carriage and watched until the carriage disappeared from sight, the feeling of loneliness quickly taking its place in her heart.

"Xiao Hua, the morning is cold. Master will not want Xiao Hua to be sick," Duan Xi Ying persuaded gently.

Xiao Hua nodded slowly and followed Duan and the sound of the gate closing behind her echoed in her heart.

CHAPTER 27: I'm still your friend

When the Empress received a letter from someone that had not spoken to her for years, she was stunned. It took her a long time before she controlled her fingers to open the letter.

After rereading the content for the third time to make sure her eyes were not playing tricks on her, she placed down the letter on the table with mixed feelings.

She had allowed it when Duke Heng sent presents to the Eighth Prince since the Lunar New Year festivals. There was nothing wrong for him to send gifts to his nephew so there was no reason for her to stop it. It was not out of her expectation that Duke Heng would soon request to meet Long Ming but it still surprised her when it happened.

"Xin Lin." Schooling her face to erase her feelings from being shown, she shifted in her seat to face her personal maid directly. "Pass a word to Eunuch Heng that Duke Heng will visit the Eighth Prince in two days."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The Empress was left alone in her room, her fingers tracing the familiar elegant, and graceful characters written on the letter, lost in her thoughts.

When that appointed day arrived, Duke Heng promptly entered the palace early in the morning. Fortunately, he had not arrived too early or else the Eighth Prince would still be sleeping.

The Empress was already waiting with the Eighth Prince, dressed grandly in gold and red robes, face covered with makeup that enhanced her beauty along with her hair filled with luxurious hairpins. Her wrists were filled with tasteful trinkets as well, but they were covered from view by her long, thick sleeves.

Duke Heng was not surprised to see her and gave her a respectful salute. "Greeting to the Empress and the Eighth Prince."

The Empress did not bother reminding him that he used to call his nephew by his name, for she was still wary of his intention to meet Long Ming.

The poor boy was confused and miserable when his uncle one day stopped visiting him and replaced his presence with a young, unknown eunuch to keep Long Ming safe. The Empress did not wish for the boy to experience the same feeling again if Duke Heng once again decided to leave.

The Empress gave him a polite smile and invited him to take a seat. She did not ask if Long Ming remembered his uncle and introduced Duke Heng as his Mother Concubine's elder brother. Asking Long Ming to call Duke Heng as 'uncle' was not spoken.

Perhaps she had underestimated Long Ming's intelligence, for the adorable boy gave Duke Heng a wide grin with eyes filled with innocence as he called out sweetly,

"Uncle!"

Realizing that Duke Heng was nervous from the way his tense shoulder loosened, the worry in her heart eased slightly. Encouraged by Long Ming's silly chatter of random topics, Duke Heng slowly opened up more to his nephew.

Seeing Long Ming feeding Duke Heng a slice of apple was heart-warming yet amus-ing. After Duke Heng had eaten the first slice, Long Ming fed him another. Since Duke Heng did not stop him, Long Ming kept on feeding him until all the apples were gone from the plate.

"Uncle wants more apples?" Long Ming asked innocently.

A chuckle escaped from the Empress' lips which got Duke Heng to look at her. That was the first time their eyes met each other. Unlike how she used to react, the Empress broke their eye contact first.

The rest of the visit was spent with the Eighth Prince chattering and Duke Heng humoring him. The Empress sat at the side-lines, watching over them silently without disturbing them.

It actually surprised her that Duke Heng only needed five more visits before he requested to speak to her privately. She had thought he would need more time to gather his courage.

Leaving Long Ming to play around the garden with Eunuch Heng keeping an eye on him, the two adults stayed under the pavilion, their gaze glued onto the little boy running around Eunuch Heng, laughing playfully.

"How are you doing, Your Majesty?" Duke Heng started the conversation as the Empress does not seem to have the intention to do so.

"Very well," she replied briefly.

"Congratulations on expecting a child again. I can tell the Emperor is very pleased with the news. The gifts I've received are even better than those I've received when other princes and princess were expecting to enter this world."

"Thank you."

"Thank you for taking care of Long Ming."

The Empress' eyes twitched. "He is like my own son. Long Ming is upset when you abruptly cut yourself out of his life and I had to put in a lot of effort to calm him down and told him you do not hate him. Why did you suddenly change your mind and come back?"

Duke Heng nursed his cup of tea before carefully replying, "I am not proud of what I did to Long Ming. He looks a lot like Heng Ling and I always remember her when I look at him."

"Long Ming lost his mother as well," the Empress said curtly, not at all sympathetic to him. "He needs comfort and love from you, his uncle that he adored. But you left him with a stranger that you sent to look after him."

"He has you and his father."

"Wrong," the Empress said frostily. "The Emperor is busy dealing with the kingdom's affairs and hardly has the time to care for Long Ming. I, the Empress, was busy dealing with the harem and Concubine He's antics. But yes, I cared for Long Ming as best as I could, but it would not be enough. I could never care for him as much as you can, who shared half of your blood with him."

The Empress turned her head to look at Duke Heng with a stern gaze mixed with the protectiveness that a mother has for their child. "So tell this Empress, what are you planning when you decide to approach the Eighth Prince?"

Duke Heng was not pressured by the Empress. "I intend to fix our relationship."

"Will you give your word that you would never leave Long Ming again?"

"Yes." Duke Heng stared at her solemnly. "And I would not leave you again."

The Empress' heart tightens. "Do not speak nonsense, Duke Heng. Be careful when you speak, lest you invite the Emperor's anger."

He shook his head. "I left you alone to deal with the inner harem without my support and leaving you to take care of Long Ming on top of that. I apologize for leaving you to fend for yourself."

"The 19th Emperor supported me," the Empress said coldly. "The current Emperor, my husband, had also supported me, strengthening my position. There is no need for you to help me."

"I'm your friend," Duke Heng said strongly. "No matter what happens, I'm still your friend. I will never sit aside and look on when you are in danger."

"A friend in name, since you rather easily believed that I'm the one that murdered your sister," the Empress said indifferently, sweeping her eyes away from Duke Heng, her long eyelashes lowered, hiding most of her eyes from view. "I treated your sister like my own."

"I could do nothing but apologize for thinking lowly of you. My anger and my prejudice of the royal family had tainted my memory of the true you."

"I can't blame you too, as I'm not exactly proud of what I did to secure the Empress' seat," the Empress said lightly. "You have the right to think I killed your sister in jeal-ousy, who was slowly gaining the Emperor's favour."

She knew she had done unforgivable things to keep herself safe. Nightmares often were her sleeping companion. Bribery, threats and her famous way of permanently silencing people, poison. She had done it all.

"No. I should have investigated the matter properly. Ling Yi..."

The Empress jolted upon hearing her name. No one, not even the Emperor, had called her by her name anymore. Her parents had passed away in sickness after happily witnessing only child marriage to the Emperor and took on the Empress' position for two years.

"I apologize. I should not have called you-"

"It's fine," the Empress cut in. "My name...I miss hearing it."

"If you don't mind, I will call you by your name when we are alone."

The Empress mocked. "Are you not afraid that my husband would get jealous of your familiarity? He might chase after you with his big sword."

"If he could get jealous for the right reason, I will be relieved," Duke Heng admitted.

The Empress smiled softly. Her husband may love her, but after seventeen years of marriage, their feelings could slowly fade. He might get jealous, but it would be more of possessiveness instead of love. "Me too. But if he makes a fuss, I will rein him in."

Duke Heng raised an eyebrow at her, which she returned and added with a cocky grin that was so much like the younger girl in his memory.

Just like that, their friendship slowly rekindled again and not even the Emperor could raise a fuss when he found them sitting together, very much like how they did years ago.

CHAPTER 28: I will dumb myself down for you

As their friendship slowly mended, Duke Heng finally got his courage to talk about an important matter. Long Ming was once again in the garden, playing with a wooden fake horse, which was a new gift from Duke Heng. Riding the wooden horse with small wheels, Long Ming stepped on the pedals and chased after Eunuch Heng, who allowed himself to be the target to entertain his master.

The Empress' heart hurt when she saw the wheels run over her beautiful flowers planted on the ground. She prayed that Long Ming would not crash onto a pot and destroy her precious plant as well as keeping himself safe from any injuries.

"I've met your son's personal maid once," Duke Heng said out of the blue, catching the Empress off guard and away from the worry towards her plants. Her surprise was very subtle, with the only sign shown was the shaking tea in her hands.

Finding it unnecessary to cover her dislike towards her son's personal maid, she placed down the cup and spoke what she thought. "She's inadequate to be Long Zhu's personal maid."

"I share the same belief," Duke Heng agreed lightly. "It was inadequate of a maid to cause trouble for her master."

"Oh?" The Empress' interest piqued. "Did my son complain to you about her mis-takes?"

"On the contrary, I had to poke the bee's nest before gaining honey from it." The Empress stared at her old friend with a deep frown. "I prefer straightforwardness from my trustworthy friend when we are alone, not subtle hint and idiotic poetry that I would expect from ministers' wives and the Imperial concubines."

"I apologize. It's a habit of mine."

"A habit that should be newly acquired," the Empress noted. When they were younger, Duke Heng was much more of a quiet person that treasured his words like gold. When she entered the palace, he had just started his career into politics and was still learning the ropes from his mentor.

"Are you going to tell me?" the Empress demanded with impatience colouring her tone.

Duke Heng laughed lightly. "I have half a mind to let you figure it out yourself, but since I'm a nice friend, I will dumb myself down for you."

"You-"

"I found him wallowing in alcohol because his personal maid rejected his marriage proposal."

Duke Heng fanned himself with his paper fan patiently, waiting for the gaping Empress to finally get over her shock and fix her unsightly expression that would have damaged the public's image of their Empress of being graceful and elegant. He had just finished half of his tea when the Empress finally recovered herself.

"Is that true?" the Empress asked in disbelief.

"I have witnessed it with my own eyes," Duke Heng admitted seriously. "He had drunk more than five jars of wine, agonized that she refused to marry him because she's his maid."

The Third Prince had not said that to Duke Heng but it was just a little something he heard from Sir Lau Liu. Letting the Empress know about it would not hurt much, and hopefully, improve her view on the little maid.

"How could she refuse him?" the Empress demanded, outraged on behalf of her precious son.

"He's the best man that all ladies wish to marry! Just what qualification does she have that gave her the confidence to reject my son?"

Or not.

Carefully hiding his amused expression, he asked in a casual manner, "I had originally thought you would be happy to hear it. Strange, did you not dislike her?" The Empress glared at Duke Heng. "You know that I do, but I want my son to reject her, not the way around! That stinky maid is not worthy of even a single strand of my son's hair."

"Stinky?" Duke Heng mused thoughtfully as if remembering something. "I remember she's pretty small-sized, with fair skin that rivals a noble lady's and smells just like flowers. There was no stinky smell coming from her."

"What is this, Heng Zhen Gan," the Empress drawled mockingly. "Are you admitting that you are interested in that girl? Perhaps you can do me a favour and seduce her away from my son."

"And risk your son's wrath? I have to sincerely decline your honourable favour for the sake of my health. I'm not that young anymore to play such games with a man half my age."

The Empress huffed in disappointment but did not press the issue as Duke Heng had not shown interest to any ladies during those years she had known him. Perhaps she should introduce some good ladies to him in future banquets instead of encouraging him to woo that stinky maid away from her son.

"I've seen nothing but his usual self, so I suppose he had not given up in his silly notions to marry that maid?"

"I merely suggested that she be adopted into a high-ranking family." Duke Heng admitted his involvement in helping the Third Prince recover his usual self.

The Empress did not know if she should be angry or amused. "You are aware that no noble family would adopt a commoner maid, don't you? Why would you suggest such a silly thing to Long Zhu? It would be better if you dissuaded his mindless idea. "

Duke Heng smiled as if he knew something she did not. "Why are you so sure that no one would adopt her?"

The Empress' pressed her lips in irritation. "That is common sense and how things work in society. There's no benefit in adopting her."

"Adopting the Third Prince's future Princess Consort has plenty of benefits," Duke Heng pointed out.

The Empress' beautiful lips curled into a sneer that easily intimidated a lesser per-son. "She will not be Long Zhu's princess consort, much less a concubine. Everyone with proper information would know that the Emperor and I disagree with his harmful interest towards his lowly maid."

Duke Heng sighed. "Are you going to hold onto that decision till the end? Will you continue to disapprove of your son marrying for love, even going as far as destroying your relationship with your son? Are you betting on your newborn to be a son so that he can replace your eldest son?"

"What are you trying to say?" the Empress demanded sharply. "It's either to approve of his relationship with that maid or I will lose my son?"

"You are forcing him to choose between his mother and the one he wishes to marry. He isn't a child that's blinded by short-term pleasure or else I would not have offered my help to him."

The Empress' eyes widened in surprise. "You are... helping him?"

Duke Heng stared at her as if she was being slow. "If not, why would I suggest her adoption? If you continue pushing him, you will gain nothing from either choice he made. If he chooses you, you gain a broken-hearted son that would marry a lady you choose for him unwillingly, living the rest of his life as an unhappy man. If he chooses his maid, you will lose a son if you continue to go against him."

"He can learn to love again," the Empress insisted.

"You can't see the future," Duke Heng pointed out. "Do you want to bet on your son's heart just for your jealousy and pride? Don't forget your own origin before you are the Empress today."

"I did not forget," the Empress snapped.

"Then stop using the excuse of her being a commoner to dissuade your son. You sound like an ungrateful fool that mocks your own heritage after gaining wealth and status."

The Empress' eyebrow twitched in annoyance but she had no way to counter his truthful words. Her heart had wavered but she refused to admit defeat so easily. "You are aware the Emperor disapproves of it as well."

"There are so many things he disapproves of, what's one more?" Duke Heng waved her concern away dismissively.

"Zhen Gan!" the Empress hissed fearfully. "Badmouthing the Emperor is a capital offense!"

Duke Heng wisely kept to himself what he thought of that. "Do you want to cut off from your son? Yes or no?"

"You know I don't want to."

"Then view the matter in a positive light, Ling Yi," Duke Heng drawled. "Surely you knew your son would not fall in love with an idiot, useless girl. There must be something in her that he likes and agrees with."

"I met her and I found her to be stupidly unafraid of authority. I doubt Long Zhu finds that adorable," the Empress said darkly.

Duke Heng perked in interest. "Do elaborate on the 'unafraid of authority' part."

The Empress answered reluctantly. "She angered me by flaunting Long Zhu's favoritism towards her."

"Is that why you fainted?"

"I fainted due to my delicate state," the Empress corrected with a haughty sniff.

"But yes, she angered me in my weak condition and that's why I fainted."

Duke Heng laughed quietly. "A tiny chili."

Noticing the Empress' questioning stare, he explained, "She was able to brew the best tea that I've ever tasted. That might be one of the reasons why the Third Prince had his eye on her. Since you could not understand why your son would love her, then you should spend more time getting to know her better. Perhaps you will be surprised by what you find underneath the 'unafraid of authority' facade."

The Empress very much wanted to reject her friend's suggestion, but another part of her was tired of fighting against her son who was surprisingly very stubborn and insistent to marry his maid.

"I will think about it."

CHAPTER 29: Some men like the stinging pain

The first day after the Third Prince set out to South Guilin Village, Duan Xi Ying accompanied Xiao Hua, trying her best to cheer up the younger girl. On the second day, she had to leave for a trip to Doctor Bai's house to send the letter, but before she left, she gave Xiao Hua a dark purple whip that was at least five-meters long.

When Xiao Hua blankly stared down at the whip that was placed on her hand, Duan Xi Ying cheekily explained. "Perhaps Master will like it~ some men like the stinging pain~"

Immediately understanding what she meant, Xiao Hua's face turned bright red. "Xi Ying!"

Duan Xi Ying giggled and gave her a saucy wink. "Regardless, it would be good for

Xiao Hua to have another type of weapon~"

Gripping the leather whip tightly, Xiao Hua expressed her thanks at Duan Xi Ying's

thoughtfulness. "I will train hard!"

And so Duan Xi Ying left, leaving Xiao Hua in the care of Tian Zi, Da Bei, and Da An.

Tian Chi had followed the Third Prince to South Guilin Village to help to heal the injured soldiers.

Tian Zi wanted to follow as well, but she understood that it would not be a good idea to leave Xiao Hua without a maidservant despite having the twins guarding her.

Da Bei would not stop Xiao Hua if she did something crazy or when she over trained herself.

Da Bei had been brainwashed- cough - used to shadow Xiao Hua every day, so he had no protest about being left behind to protect Xiao Hua. But that was not the case for Da An.

The usually cheerful, happy-going twin was angry that he could not follow along to participate in the war. He wanted to follow his parents and uncle to the battlefield as well, but he was told to babysit Xiao Hua instead.

Fully aware of his twin's feelings, Da Bei decided to say something to cheer him up.

"Elder Sister Hua is important to Master. With us protecting her, Master would be re-lieved. He can deal with Tang Guan soldiers without worries."

It could be said, for Da Bei to talk this much was an honour to the recipient. Of course, as Da Bei's twin, he had heard Da Bei talk more than a sentence before so he was not feeling delighted.

Instead, he got even more annoyed!

In Da An's point of view, his twin had betrayed him and his dignity as their master's elite shadow guards by slaving himself to a girl. It was a relief for Da Bei that Da An did not outright antagonize Xiao Hua and chose to just glare at the back of her head, which she did not notice due to her cloudy mood.

On the third day, Xiao Hua spent the whole day trying to use the whip and ended up being her own whip's target. Tian Zi had to apply for medicine over her accidental self-inflicted wounds.

On the fourth day, the spot on her skin where the whip had landed stings and she remembered there was a certain transmigrator that deserved her scolding... just to release her frustration.

Since Da Bei and Tian Zi refused to leave her side to deliver the letter, that task was given to Er Yen, who happened to be on an errand by Steward Lau Zheng. He had to enter the palace to pass the Third Prince's gift to the Fourth Princess Consort that had given birth safely a month ago. Er Yen will be accepting the red eggs and pickled red ginger on behalf of the Third Prince from the princess consort to celebrate for the baby princess that had passed the first month of her life safely.

As the Fourth Prince had followed the Third Prince to South Guilin Village, the Empress invited the Fourth Prince's princess consort to stay in the palace. This will also allow the grandparents to spend more time with their first grandchild.

Fortunately, the letter delivery went well and reached the Eighth Prince's hand. He had kept his word to not visit Xiao Hua until his anger cooled down and this was the first letter she had sent to him. When the Eighth Prince accepted her letter, he was worried that something might happen to her so he quickly opened the letter and his confusion slowly rose.

"What the heck?" the Eighth Prince mumbled. This letter does not make sense!

He learned the English language since high school and he was pretty confident he excelled in it. But right now he wondered if that was just because he was not good at reading double meanings behind a sentence.

'When you come back, I will scratch your face! Like a cat, huh? Feel my sharp claws then!'

That was the only thing written on the letter. When he still could not understand after the nth attempt of rereading, he decided that Xiao Hua had gone nuts in lone-liness. Perhaps he should visit her soon. It was not that he was still angry with her, but more to him sulking and wanting her to feel guilty.

Eunuch Heng slowly approached the Eighth Prince, hesitating to interrupt him while he was reading the letter. "Your Highness, Duke Heng, and the Empress have ar-rived."

The Eighth Prince scowled in annoyance. It was tiring to act bubbly and affectionate towards Duke Heng, but when the Empress heard that her long-time friend started to visit his nephew again, she eagerly joined to find an inkling as to why he would visit Long Ming after all these years.

Heise was getting tired of those two's interactions even if the Empress' presence had saved his disguise from being discovered by Duke Heng.

On the eighth day, Xiao Hua wondered when Duan Xi Ying would return. She had managed to control the whip not to hit her and soon grew to like it when she did not need to run around picking it up like how she needed to pick up the knives when she trained knife throwing.

Feeling more appreciative of her gift, she took the time to admire and take in the detail of the whip. "Hmm, this whip is pretty well made. But it looks like snake scales.

Or maybe fish scales?"

"It's made using a snake's skin," Da Bei answered from the top of the tree, the same one where Xiao Hua practiced wrapping her whip around a branch on.

It was a pure reflex that Xiao Hua dropped the whip as she felt something was crawling all over her skin.

Is it too late to return the whip back to Xi Ying? \(°0°|||)/ Her dilemma was interrupted when Tian Zi hurried to the clearing where Xiao Hua had trained privately with panic written all over her face.

"Elder Sister Hua, bad news!"

Xiao Hua felt her heart drop down to her stomach as bloody and gore scenes of the injured Third Prince appeared in her mind.

 "The Empress is here!"

Her breath exhaled in relief, banishing the horrifying images from her mind. "Oh, that's not bad."

"It's bad!" Tian Zi hissed like a cat whose tail was stepped on. "The Empress is here to make trouble and master isn't here. You will be in danger!"

"...Okay, that's quite bad. Ah! Should I hide?!"

"If you hide, the Empress will be angry. Not even the news of you being sick would keep the Empress away."

Da Bei jumped down from the tree lightly. "I will stop her."

"No!" Tian Zi exclaimed in horror. She could just imagine Da Bei seriously stopped the Empress, which would lead to bloodshed.

"Did she say why she's coming? Did she not know the Third Prince isn't at home right now?" Xiao Hua asked hurriedly.

"Her messenger arrived earlier to announce her arrival. The Empress and the Fourth Princess consort will arrive soon, but there isn't a word given on who she wanted to see. But she knows that the Master isn't at home."

Xiao Hua inhaled shakily. So, there is a high possibility that the Empress wanted to see her.

"Okay, I will follow you to greet the Empress and Fourth Princess Consort." They headed to the Pearl Courtyard, where there was an entrance installed other than the back door and the front entrance. This entrance was big enough to allow a carriage to enter, as well as to avoid being noticed by the public.

The lower-ranked servants were not allowed to welcome the Empress, which was why only second-rank servants and above were gathered in a straight line. The third rank and below servants were tasked to clean the courtyard to prepare for the Em-press' arrival. Fortunately, the servants always kept Pearl Courtyard clean as it was often used by Princess Long Lian and guests so the time to do a quick cleaning was short.

Steward Lau Zheng was there in the greeting line as well and greeted Xiao Hua with a bow when they made eye contact. There was no time to exchange pleasantries as the Empress' carriage quickly arrived.

The first carriage was extravagant and large while the second one was rather dull in appearance and size. There were four maidservants dressed in light pink uniforms walking beside the first carriage, with a group of fully armed soldiers escorting them.

Everyone had their head lowered respectfully with their eyes on the ground, as etiquette forbids them to look at the Empress, even if they wanted to gaze at the beauty.

Xiao Hua silently wondered if the Empress was silently snubbing the Fourth

Princess Consort by having her ride a normal-looking carriage.

"Greetings to the Empress! Greetings to the Fourth Princess Consort!" Everyone greeted in unison with a low curtsy. Xin Lin, one of the Empress' inner maids, opened the carriage door and held out an arm for the Empress to hold onto when she stepped out of the carriage.

After the Empress, in her regal and outstanding attire, stepped out of the carriage, a lady in green with tanned skin stepped out of the same carriage with a baby bundle in her arms. She was immediately able to identify her identity as Long Lian was not shy in telling the noticeable characteristics of the Fourth Princess Consort, despite being the first time meeting the Fourth Prince's wife.

Okay, so the stepmother-in-law did not snub the stepdaughter-in-law. So who was inside the second carriage?

"Rise," the Empress permitted, her phoenix-shaped gold hairpin swaying from her slow steps as she made her way closer to Xiao Hua.

An elderly man stepped out of the second carriage, wearing a physician uniform as his female assistant carried his medical bag for him.

Xin Lin stepped forward, giving Xiao Hua a polite bow. "Her Majesty had heard that the Third Prince and Elder Sister Hua went to play at the Xuanwu Kingdom. The Xuanwu Kingdom is a cold place, with completely different weather from the Guilin Kingdom. Fearing for the Third Prince's health, Her Majesty had the royal physician check his health. However, Elder Sister Hua has not been checked by any physician and it would be bad if Elder Sister Hua caught ill and worried the Third Prince." If I took your kindness at face value, I would have died!

CHAPTER 30: Proper diet? Need frequent exercise? You crook!

When it came to who Xiao Hua was closer to between An Jing and Duan Xi Ying, she would have picked the latter. Despite viewing An Jing as a respectable and powerful individual, that admiration had acted as a wall, preventing Xiao Hua from getting familiar with her.

On the other hand, Duan Xi Ying was someone Xiao Hua viewed as her close friend.

She knew about her soul being transmigrated, saw all her clumsy and embarrassing moments, and slowly became her greatest ally. It was only natural that Xiao Hua would talk more to Duan Xi Ying and acted more like Le Xiao Ting around the alluring lady.

"Cultivators could get sick too." Duan Xi Ying had once explained about what cultivation does to a person. "Cultivators may be healthier and stronger, but they are still susceptible to disease. They may recover their health faster but it was proven that even the strongest cultivator can die from a serious illness."

So no, Xiao Hua could not use the excuse of being a cultivator to avoid being checked by the doctor.

But it had been weeks since her return from Xuanwu Kingdom and even if she truly got sick, it would have already revealed itself. However, Xiao Hua knew that the Empress would find any excuse to have her get checked by the doctor.

Le Xiao Ting was taught better in humoring a pregnant lady and not make her angry or else the baby will be scared to non-existence. And making an Empress lose her baby would be equal to getting herself killed.

So Xiao Hua's polite smile came into play as she guided the guests into a room prepared to receive guests.

Tian Zi had ordered the best tea leaves to be brewed to serve the Empress, along with some dry snacks Tian Chi had made before leaving to South Guilin Village with the Third Prince.

Once the Empress and Chen Miao had taken a seat, with a nanny standing behind her while cradling the newborn baby, Xin Lin stepped forward to speak to Xiao Hua.

"Sister Xiao Hua, please have a seat for the royal physician to check your pulse." Xiao Hua glanced sideways at Tian Zi, who gave her a nod before stepping forward to take a seat. "Then, please pardon this servant's rudeness."

Xin Lin turned to the elderly doctor. "Royal Physician, please check Sister Xiao Hua's health."

Xiao Hua may not be able to figure out why the Empress wanted her health to be checked but that did not mean she would not cause a bit of difficulty for them. Plus, they would be a good training partner to improve her acting skills. The risk of getting punished after getting caught for acting would be enough incentive to force her to do well.

"May this servant ask a question?" Xiao Hua asked with a low voice, slightly hesitating as if fear of getting scolded.

The Empress made eye contact with Xin Lin, giving Xin Lin permission to reply.

"Please ask, Sister Xiao Hua."

Purposely sneaking a very exaggerated side glance towards the elderly physician so that everyone noticed it, Xiao Hua voiced out her concern. "Would this servant need to undress to have my health checked?"

"Unless the royal physician detects any serious illness, you do not need to undress.

He will only need to touch your wrist to listen to your pulse."

Xiao Hua sighed in relief loudly. "Then this servant is relieved! The Third Prince would be unhappy if I reveal my skin to other men." Not exactly a lie, as judging from her little knowledge of her boyfriend, he would definitely be angry if any men saw her skin below her neck, above her palms, and above her ankles.

To Xiao Hua's surprise, the Empress did not jump out to take her bait.

"Please proceed, Imperial physician," Xin Lin invited and the female assistant helped her mentor to prepare the necessary items.

Xiao Hua's eyes nearly popped out of her socket when the assistant spread out a brown cloth filled with different types of needles, from the longest and thickest to the shortest and thinnest.

Fudge [11]! Don't tell this young lady that the doctor was going to use them on her?!

Unconsciously, Xiao Hua's back straightened as her sharp eyes pinned the doctor with a challenging gaze, daring him to use the needles on her. It was not that she feared needles, but as a healthy person, there was no need to use them on her.

If the Empress demanded the doctor to use the needles on her for her sick amuse-ment, she would jump out of the window and count on Da Bei and Tian Zi to help her escape.

"Please place your right hand on the pillow," the elderly doctor instructed politely with a slight bow. Slowly, Xiao Hua lifted her right sleeve but never once did she retract her challenging gaze. Her limbs were tense, preparing to make a run for it if the needles came into play.

If the doctor was uncomfortable under her gaze, he never showed it. He used two fingers to press on her pulse and the wrinkles on his face grew even more prominent as he concentrated on his task.

Fortunately, the Empress and Chen Miao's attention was on the doctor so Xiao Hua's fierce gaze was overlooked. They seem to be anticipating the result, the former with anxiousness while the latter with innocent curiosity.

To Xiao Hua, the doctor had been listening to her pulse for a rather long time. She had visited a Chinese traditional doctor before, and that doctor did not need to take this long to check her pulse. Or does that mean the traditional doctor in her world was much more experienced than this elderly doctor?

Perhaps he was a crook doctor? The heroines in the novels often rip off those old geezers' facades that pretended to be a genius doctor and proceed to kick them down, but Xiao Hua was not knowledgeable in medicine, much less bullshitting to pretend she knew something.

Finally, the elderly doctor removed his hand, nodding to himself before turning to the Empress. "Your Highness, this young lady has no illness. She is healthy but I would advise eating less for this young maid's circulation is not as fast as an average person.

It could be solved with a proper diet and frequent exercise."

Proper diet? Need frequent exercise? You crook! 

She had undergone training every day! So what if she took a lot of breaks in be-

tween? It was still considered that she had exercised!

The Empress' beautifully shaped bright red mouth twitched in glee before schooling her face into a polite facade. "Is she expecting?"

"No, Your Highness." Expecting?

Could it be the Empress thought the Third Prince only treated her well because she was pregnant? Was that the whole reason why she would suddenly visit her and even brought along a doctor and her daughter-in-law as eye witness?

"Imperial Mother," Chen Miao spoke up softly. "The Imperial physician is a busy person. It would be improper to delay the good doctor in treating the waiting pa-tients."

Realizing that her fourth daughter-in-law meant that she should not air the family laundry to outsiders, the Empress composed herself. "As a princess consort, you are still inexperienced in many matters. The Imperial Physician is to stay at the palace and only treat the Imperial family. But you are also right. This Empress isn't the only Imperial family member. Physician Guan, today's event must not be known by any-one."

The doctor quickly kneeled down, flustered as his assistant quickly followed along.

"This servant will obey!"

"Xin Ren, sent Physician Guan out."

A maid with adorable puffy eyes stepped forward. "Yes, Your Majesty."

"Serve the dishes that were prescribed by the Imperial physician to my third son's personal maid."

Chen Miao's eyes darted towards the Empress in surprise. She had actually felt bad that her Imperial mother-in-law was targeting Xiao Hua just because the Third Prince adored her. If Xiao Hua was truly pregnant with the Third Prince's child, the Empress would want the mother and the baby gone. She had thought since Xiao Hua was not pregnant, the dishes would no longer be necessary.

"Fortunately I had the physician prepare a list of dishes that would improve your health and have written down how much food intake a person should consume daily.

It would embarrass Zhu' Er if his personal servant eats more than him, the Master." Xiao Hua endured the Empress' insult silently, as she was still sore from the doctor's jab on her weight. It would not be good if her boyfriend ran away from her fats.

It would also not be good if a good looking guy had a high possibility of getting squashed one day by his big-sized girlfriend.

Wuwuwu... This young lady had yet to taste all the desserts in this world! (TunT)

Xin Ren escorted the doctor and his female assistant out while Xin Lin went to retrieve the dishes from the carriage with the two other inner maids.

On top of the tree, Da An refused to act like Da Bei, who only had his eyes on Xiao Hua to ensure that not even a tiny fly would approach her, but he could not go any-where. He looked around with boredom and his lazy eyes caught the flash of panic from the female assistant's face as her eyes trailing after the three inner maids. But just as quickly, the panic fled from her face and forced her eyes to move away from the three maids.

Eager to finally escape from the boring guarding duty, Da An whispered to Da Bei,

"I'm going to follow the royal physician. There's something suspicious about that fe-male."

Fully expecting that Da Bei would make a sound of an agreement without peeling his eyes away from Xiao Hua, it surprised Da An when his twin turned to face him with slight worry in his eyes.

"Be careful. Send the signal if it's dangerous."

The irritation in his heart was quickly swept away. Da An gave his identical twin a wide, cute grin that was sadly concealed by his black mask. "Got it!"

CHAPTER 31: To check if Xiao Hua was pregnant or not

The four maids quickly returned with meal boxes,

saving Xiao Hua from the tense situation.

One by one, the inner maids transferred the dishes from the meal boxes onto the table, their actions careful lest they spill them. They refused Tian Zi and the other Third Prince's servants from helping, preferring to handle it themselves.

Xin Ren stepped forward after getting meaningful eye contact from Xin Lin. Using her sleeves to point at the baby-sized chicken dish, she carefully explained, "This is ginseng chicken soup with Dong Quai. It was boiled for half a day to ensure the meat would be soft and tender, filled with the herb's taste. It will taste better if you drink this while it's still warm, which helps to improve your body temperature."

But I can predict that your length of talking is going to make it cold.

Unaware of Xiao Hua's inner thoughts, Xin Ren continued on to the next dish, a plate with a whole fish that was fried into dark golden perfection. "The royal chef had used the best pan fish, deep fried with parsley and garlic to bring out more of its taste.

The skin is crispy and the meat cooked just right, a method mastered by the royal chef."

Yes, it does look yummy, but the amount of parsley and garlic seems to be way too much. This plate looks like the poor fish's burial place instead!

Xin Ren pointed at the last dish. "This is wild meat with rosemary that was personally hunted by the Crown Prince. Its liver and kidney are cooked with ginger, which would be good for Sister Xiao Hua to nurture your body."

...I will not be asked to finish all of this food myself, right?

"Elder Sister Xin Lin also personally brewed a pot of jasmine tea to moisturize your throat. For dessert, it will be peach slices that's just plucked this morning from Her Majesty's blooming garden."

As soon as she finished her introduction, Xin Ren stepped back respectfully and the Empress stared at Xiao Hua with a small smile, seemingly waiting for her reply.

Xiao Hua curtsied, not wanting to disappoint the Empress. "This humble servant feels gratitude for the Empress' kindness for willing to share some of your lunch with this lowly servant."

Tian Zi with a sweet smile on her face takes a step forward. "Your Majesty, would you be willing to partake lunch that the kitchen had prepared?"

It took Xiao Hua three times to rewind what Tian Zi said before understanding that she had just offered the Empress a lunch meal, food which was prepared by the Third Prince's chef.

Xiao Hua stared at the table filled with dishes with the urge to cry. But why? Look at the table, there's so much food! Who's going to finish it?

However, Xiao Hua did not dare to voice out her grievances. Not because she feared to offend the Empress, but because Tian Zi was the one that offered it. Tian Zi knew that Xiao Hua would not be able to finish the dishes by herself, so there must be a reason why Tian Zi would offer a separate lunch for the Empress.

Xiao Hua smiled innocently as she said, "Empress and Fourth Princess Consort, please wait a moment while this servant and Sister Tian Zi head to the kitchen to bring in the lunch."

"Just one of you is enough for the task," the Empress smoothly injected, destroying Xiao Hua's plan to talk to Tian Zi privately. "This Empress and Fourth Princess Consort are here to visit you, Xiao Hua."

Xiao Hua's smile on her face was extremely strained and she did not bother concealing its fakeness. Since the Empress was here to visit her, then she should know how Xiao Hua felt about it.

"This lowly servant is extremely fortunate to have the Empress and Fourth Princess Consort to visit."

Tian Zi was even more worried now that she had to leave Xiao Hua alone with the Empress. She could not secretly send a message to Xiao Hua. With no other choice, Tian Zi had to bluntly inform Xiao Hua and try not to offend the Empress in the process.

"Elder Sister Hua, these dishes are specially made for you so it would be inad-visable for the Empress and Fourth Princess Consort to partake on them."

... Made for me? Shit, poison?! But it should not be unlikely, as the Empress would not kill her and risk her son's wrath!

Xiao Hua nodded with a smile despite her inner world in a turmoil, remaking a scene in a movie of a great tsunami! "Don't worry, Sister Tian Zi, I will not reject the Empress' goodwill and will accept the dishes." Okay, Xiao Hua, time to think!_4(.)

Question: Why did the Empress come over in the first place?

Answer: To check if Xiao Hua was pregnant or not.

The dishes were already prepared beforehand from the advice of the doctor so it

should be related to the matter of pregnancy!

Fudge! Abortion?! { (0_0;)

This time Xiao Hua scanned the dishes as if dissecting them. She only knew that Dong Quai should not be eaten by a pregnant woman, so the other dishes must have the same effect as well. The overwhelming amount of supplementary seasoning was indeed suspicious.

No wonder Tian Zi told her not to let the Empress eat the dishes. The Empress would have a high risk of an abortion if she ate those.

..Surely she would not purposely eat them just to drag Xiao Hua into the boiling

water? She wants her baby to stay alive...right? (• _* ;)

"Please have a seat, Sister Xiao Hua," Xin Lin invited with a short curtsy.

Xiao Hua's automatic response was to decline it, but if she does, she will have indirectly allowed the Empress to have power over this visit. And so, with a sweet smile taking over her face, Xiao Hua gracefully took a seat. She had to restrain her surprise from showing when a bowl of purple rice was placed in front of her.

"This is specially made yam rice. Please enjoy," Xin Ren explained and even prepared a wooden chopstick for her.

Another abortion risky food?! m (g"m)

With another exaggerated fake smile, Xiao Hua thanked her but made no move to pick up the chopstick.

The Empress raised a beautifully drawn eyebrow as she asked lightly, "Are you not going to eat? Do you fear that this Empress had poisoned them?"

B.I.N.G.O.

"It's highly unlikely that Your Majesty would poison this lowly servant. To do so, the Empress must have gotten benefit from this unimportant servant's death, which was absurd as this lowly servant was no one important."

"Then why are you not eating?" the Empress questioned with a gentle smile but her eyes were firm. Unimportant? My son seems to think you are more important than his own mother!

"It would be rude to eat before you, Your Majesty," Xiao Hua answered.

Seeing that her mother-in-law and Xiao Hua were clashing, Chen Miao decided to halt it by motioning the nanny closer.

"Xiao Hua, come and meet my new-born daughter," Chen Miao invited in a friendly manner. She does not dislike Xiao Hua, even if the younger girl had not fallen all over herself to impress the Empress and even dared to openly show her dislike of their visit.

To her, Xiao Hua was a fellow maid that shared the same fate as her. But whether Xiao Hua could marry the Third Prince would depend on the Emperor and Empress.

Not to mention, the Third Prince was the favourite son of the majestic couple despite most believing that their favourite son was the Second Prince. It would be extremely hard for the dragon and phoenix couples to change their mind. Chen Miao felt a little pity for this young girl.

Slipping out of her seat, Xiao Hua approached not too closely and peered underneath the bundle wrapped with a red blanket in the nanny's arms.

Xiao Hua could not claim that she remembered how the Fourth Prince looked as she had only met him once, which was the day when she had been volunteered to test the heroine's goods, so she could not judge if the baby looked like him. But her soft, snow-white skin mixed with pinkish taint had brought out her large shiny black eyes, tiny nose, and small red lips.

"The little princess is truly adorable," Xiao Hua praised softly. The little princess gurgled softly as she stared at Xiao Hua with unblinking eyes, deeming Xiao Hua to be an interesting object to look at.

"Her name is Long Xi Yue."

"That's a beautiful name."

Chen Miao smiled maternally. "Would you like to hold her?"

Xiao Hua and the Empress reacted negatively at the shocking offer. The former recoiled as if Chen Miao wanted her to hold a crocodile while the latter coughed violently.

Quickly recovering, the Empress said, "Fourth daughter, I would not advise you to do that. This maid has no proper training to hold a baby, much less is allowed to touch any royal members."

"The Empress is right, please reconsider, Fourth Princess Consort," Xiao Hua agreed quickly.

Realizing that it might not be proper despite what Chen Miao wished for, she let it go. "Perhaps another time," she said politely.

Tian Zi finally returned with meal boxes carried by kitchen servants behind her.

With a curtsy, Tian Zi said, "Empress, Fourth Princess Consort, please pardon us for being unable to serve the best dishes with the limited choices of ingredients in hand.

We had used up all the best ingredients for the Third Prince's meal to be packed with him for his long journey."

The Empress hummed in approval. It would only be right that the best dishes were reserved for her son, leaving the average dishes for the servants to fill their stomachs.

"This Empress understands, for I had arrived without early notice. Serve the meal."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

When Xiao Hua saw the new dishes filling up the rest of the space on the table, the polite smile on her face nearly cracked

Isn't that her original supposed lunch-to-be? 

CHAPTER 32: We both love the Third Prince

The dishes that Tian Zi had served for the guests were roasted fried duck, Szechuan style dry-fried green beans with roasted pork, and honey sesame bean curd. These dishes were delicious to Xiao Hua and Tian Zi but compared to what the Empress would usually eat, these dishes could be compared to a commoner's food.

Tian Zi and Xiao Hua discreetly spied on the Empress' expression, but to their re-lief, she was not angry or disgusted with the dishes. Chen Miao, who was used to eating simple dishes before being a princess consort, was also relieved that the Empress was not unhappy with the dishes.

Funny enough, no one seemed to remember the Empress was not born with a golden spoon but a commoner just like them.

Now that everyone's meal was fully in attendance, they were finally allowed to eat.

Xin Ren stepped forward, using a spare silver chopstick, and placed a little of each dish onto the Empress' bowl.

Again, everyone stared at the Empress who used her chopstick to pick a piece of duck. Only when the Empress tasted the duck without any hint of dislikes on her face did they release their breath they had unconsciously held in.

It was because Xiao Hua was at the moment full of relief that she would scream loudly when a loud bang came from behind her, which was where the door had in-stalled. The door was kicked apart and crushed into pieces that scattered all over the floor and some part of the wall had been damaged as well.

The four inner maids quickly surrounded the Empress and Chen Miao protectively, weapons drawn as Da An quickly stepped into the room with two tied up familiar forms dragged along beside him.

Da An and Da Bei were truly identical twins. Even their entrance is the same!

Da Bei quickly darted into the room and got Xiao Hua far away from the Empress.

"Da An?" Tian Zi followed their lead and stood in front of Xiao Hua to help to guard her. She knew that Da An had gone to find out about something but Da Bei had not told her what it was about.

"What is this?" The Empress' voice filled with displeasure echoed in the room.

Da An tossed the doctor and female assistant onto the floor, and for the first time, Xiao Hua noticed both of them had signs of being tortured. The female assistant whimpered like a frightened animal when a long, thin sword pressed against her neck.

"She poisoned the dishes prepared for Elder Sister Hua," Da An informed everyone.

"P-Poison?" Xiao Hua felt her heart freeze and turned her head to stare at the Empress in horror.

"Those are not poison," the Empress said frostily.

Xin Lin spoke up to explain for her master's innocence. "The dishes are cooked with herbs that could induce abortion, not poison. As Sister Xiao Hua is not pregnant, these dishes will not harm you, but benefit your health."

It could be said this was the Empress' final attempt to get rid of Xiao Hua. If Xiao Hua did happen to be pregnant, she would have her give birth to the child before being sent off to a place far away so that she would not be able to manipulate her son with the baby anymore, if that was what made her son so protective of this little maid.

But if she was not pregnant, she would be 'encouraged' to eat these dishes just to scare Xiao Hua and have her think more than a hundred times before she even thought of bedding the prince.

"That's not it. Tell them what you did," Da An ordered threateningly, his sword pressing harder onto the female assistant's neck until it slowly turned red, so close to cutting open the skin.

"She forced me to do it!" the female assistant desperately explained. "She will kill my father if I don't do it!"

"Who and what did she tell you to do?" Xin Lin asked grimly on behalf of the Em-press.

When the female assistant opened her mouth to answer, a needle as long as a pencil headed straight towards her with the intention to kill. With a speed that could not be seen with naked eyes, Da An easily blocked the incoming long needle with his thin sword and the long needle suddenly scattered into short and thin needles, flying at every angle.

Xiao Hua could just imagine the pain when the needles hit her. The needles were smaller than ordinary needles, with an uncountable amount that not even her knives could block them all.

When Da An flashed to stand right in front of them, including the female assistant and doctor, Xiao Hua wanted to scream at him to move away.

The black mask was pushed downward, revealing an immature face with baby fat and dimples. He parted his mouth wide, showing sharp canine teeth that usually belonged to animals that could easily rip flesh apart, and released an ear-deafening roar that nearly had Xiao Hua go deaf.

The needle attack and Da An's roar happened in just a few seconds yet Xiao Hua could catch it all with her eyes clearly.

Xiao Hua realized that one of the benefits her eyes had gotten from the heroine's healing water was seeing things in slow motion when her senses went high alert. She was still unable to use it according to her will and after that effect died down, her eyes would get tired.

The roar that produced a cold blast of wind successfully blew the needles away from them just as Xin Lin subdued the attacker with just a touch of her palm. Her palm glowed with her inner energy and it turned into a sticky liquid. The liquid was released at a rapid rate and was so large in volume that Xin Ren could not escape in time. Xin Ren ended up sticking to the floor, unable to pull herself away despite her earnest struggle.

The glue was sticking onto Xin Ren and the floor, and everyone could hear the sound of ripping as she struggled.

If she keeps on struggling, they will get a free strip show ah! (*/V \*)

Using the distraction, Da An quickly covered his face back just as Xin Ren finally stopped struggling, knowing that she would not be able to escape. Her skin felt as if it could rip off if she continued pulling away from the glue. Xin Ren knew that she would be tortured in order to get information from her. After getting everything, they would kill her.

"She's going to bite her tongue!" Xiao Hua called out in a hurry.

Luckily Xin Lin was near Xin Ren and quickly grabbed her jaw to dislocate it with a loud crack.

The Empress' face was as dark as a cloud with a belly full of water, very eager to release them all onto a poor victim. "Xin San, Xin Mei, I want all the information that this traitor knows. If she dies before spilling everything, do not blame this Empress for being merciless."

"Yes, Majesty!"

The Empress swept her phoenix shaped eyes past the doctor and his female assistant. "Have these two questioned thoroughly as well."

"Your Majesty!" the doctor cried out pitifully. "This servant does not know anything! This is all my foolish student's fault!"

The Empress ignored him and peered at her son's inner maid. "Your name... Tian Zi, is it?"

Tian Zi stepped forward with a curtsy. "Do you have any orders, Your Majesty?"

"Prepare a secure room for my maidservants to use. My guards will keep an eye on them."

"Of course, Your Majesty. These sisters, please follow me."

Most people in the room had eyes of satisfaction as they watched Xin San and Xin Mei, the other two inner maids of the Empress, approach Xin Ren and roughly pluck her out of the glue made of spiritual energy. Naturally, most of her dress was torn apart from the rough treatment, and not even her three-layer dress could stop revealing most of her skin.

Xin Lin did not retract her inner energy until most of Xin Ren's skin was bright red from being forcefully ripped free. Xiao Hua swore she saw a part of her skin was missing.

Tian Zi gave Da Bei and Da An a meaningful gaze before leading the maidservants and the prisoners out of the room.

"Fourth daughter, you should return to the palace first."

"Mother Empress? Are you not following this daughter back?" Chen Miao asked, holding onto her new-born daughter protectively.

"I will return once my maidservants finish the questioning. It would be late by the time they are done and your body is still recovering. I will send some of the guards to bring you back."

Chen Miao curtsied. "This daughter will return first and wait for your return, Mother Empress. Please do not forget to rest."

The little princess looked around with her shiny black eyes, her tiny fist's movement was stopped by the blanket that had wrapped around her like a big cocoon. She let out a soft coo for her grandmother before leaving with her mother and nanny, escorted securely by few guards and Da An.

Left alone with the Empress, Xin Lin, and Da Bei, Xiao Hua decided to screw for- malities if she wanted answers.

"I apologize in advance for not speaking deferingly to you, Your Majesty, but I'm just a lowly commoner that would piss you off one way or another, so I might as well just be blunt about it. Besides, I want to trust you instead of having to watch my back around you and it's tiring to do so. We both love the Third Prince, which means we are on the same side. There is no benefit in harming people on the same side when it would just harm the Third Prince. So now that issue is out of the way, I would like to know if the other two maids of yours could be trusted not to be involved with the poisoning attempt?"

The Empress' mouth twitched but restrained her anger as the most important thing right now was finding out the truth. It also helped that the younger girl had a dark fury in the depth of her eyes and her words were sound so the Empress decided to hu-mour her.

"Should you not ask if I'm involved with the poison attempt?"

"Why would I when I know you are not involved?"

Raising an eyebrow, the Empress asked mockingly, "So trusting?"

"I know you will not do anything that would destroy your relationship with the Third Prince, and in such an obvious manner too. Empress, it is a serious matter to have your inner maid attempt to pin a possible crime on you."

Red lips curling in distaste, the Empress said, "I've done a massive house cleaning almost a year ago. The choices of replacements are very much to my dissatisfaction but there's not much choice as I'm trying to rattle some snakes as well. Seems like I have taken more than I can handle."

"The blame is on me as well, Your Majesty," Xin Lin spoke apologetically. "I had not kept an eye on them properly as you told me to."

"I had been overburdening you," the Empress said, her eyes dulled. "Unfortunately, you are the only one that I can trust by my side." That is a rather sad thing to hear.

"Are you saying you had removed all your trusted aides?" Xiao Hua asked with a frown. "Did they betray you?"

"They were nothing but loyal to me. I nurtured them for years and I trust them with my life." The Empress defended them fiercely as blood flowed down her palm, courtesy of the sharp nail accessory when she clenched her fist tightly.

When the Empress did not explain further, Da Bei continued helpfully, "They all died by the Empress' personally made poison." Xiao Hua: (0_0)

The expression on Xiao Hua's face when she stared at the Empress irked the older woman. "They were killed using the poison that was stolen from me."

Although it sounded like juicy news, Xiao Hua would have to contain her curiosity until later to ask Da Bei, for the Empress was not at all happy about that memory.

"Xin Ren was given to you by someone?" Xiao Hua changed the topic.

"She is among the choices for me to choose." The Empress allowed the topic to shift. "It's an expected thing to send a spy to other people's households."

"If we found out who was the one that sent her to you, we will know who is the one that wanted to make trouble for you. Let's hope your other maids do not betray you at this moment."

"They won't dare to," the Empress said confidently, her eyes filled with deadly promise. If she guessed correctly who was the person that sent Xin Mei and Xin San to her, that person wished her no harm.

CHAPTER 33: Acting like a damsel in extra distress

With a well-fed stomach from her original dinner, as the healthy dishes were poi-soned, plus the silent atmosphere, Xiao Hua was at the risk of falling asleep. She had nearly dozed off a few times.

The Empress was in a much better state. It was a wonder how she still looked clean and tidy despite it being past midnight.

Xin Lin kept on refilling her cup with fresh warm tea when Xiao Hua continuously drank it to keep herself awake, but she was getting tired of rushing to the washroom.

She could have chosen to spend her time eating instead, but Tian Zi forbade her from eating any snacks as it was not a good thing to eat too much right before sleeping.

Le Xiao Ting was used to being a night owl that slept past one a.m. even on working days but Xiao Hua could not even stay awake past eleven p.m. thanks to the lack of entertainment and the proper sleeping schedule in this world.

For an older pregnant woman to have the energy to remain awake compared to a younger and healthy girl was pretty embarrassing.

During Xiao Hua's struggle to stay awake, the Empress used the opportunity to observe her, trying to see what her son liked in this little maid. With her emotions placed aside, she was honestly surprised that Xiao Hua's face was so easy to read. Her bore-dom, her desire to sleep, and her irritation were expressed clearly on her face.

The Empress was forced to admit that this young maid was capable of patience and knowledge of her own position to not harass the maids to hurry up the ques-tioning. The Empress was not as patient during her younger days and it was only after years of training did she manage to curb her impatience.

Much to everyone's relief, Da An returned with the Empress' inner maids, which meant that they had completed the interrogation and left the guards to look after the prisoners. The inner maids looked exhausted but nevertheless, they dutifully reported their findings.

"Your Majesty, Xin Ren was actually sent by the Second Prince. The female assistant was blackmailed to obey Xin Ren's orders and the doctor himself had no knowledge about the plan."

Xiao Hua gulped when she felt the room's temperature quickly rise as if she were inside a sauna room. She had a feeling this happened due to the Empress because her face was the darkest among them all.

The brave inner maid continued with her report. "She was only supposed to keep an eye on Your Majesty and send important information back to the Second Prince.

She received the order to pin Your Majesty for the crime of poisoning Sister Xiao Hua with that poison after knowing Your Majesty's plan to visit the Third Prince's manor."

Oh yes, the room was positively boiling now!

This time, it was not only the Empress spotted with a dark face. Even Xiao Hua's face was dark with justified fury.

"What?" Xiao Hua exclaimed. "The hell is that Second Prince thinking? Killing me, an innocent party, just to paint the Empress' reputation to black? I just met that... that shit head twice and already I'm so memorable in his mind that he wants to off me?" The Empress' fury cooled down considerably upon seeing Xiao Hua's face that was filled with confusion and anger that someone would want to kill her even without knowing her. Her peach shaped eyes were misty with unshed tears as she worried her lips with her teeth to hold the tears in.

"Perhaps the Second Prince wishes to sever the Empress and the Third Prince's harmonious ties by killing Elder Sister Hua, who is favored by the Third Prince," Tian Zi analysed as she stared at Xiao Hua worriedly.

This was honestly the first time she had seen Xiao Hua in such a state, even going as far as insulting the Second Prince. Fortunately, the Empress had no love for the Second Prince or else Xiao Hua would be punished for disrespecting the royal family.

On second thought, Elder Sister Hua already showed disrespect towards the royal family, and that person is right in front of them! (= ;)

Letting out a small shaky sigh, Tian Zi had to applaud at how fortunate Elder Sister Hua was for being their master's favorite and being protected by it.

"How did that traitor get her dirty hands onto my poison?" the Empress questioned in displeasure.

"She had gotten the poison from Miss Liu Chu Chu but it was unknown how that lady got it"

The Empress frowned, her eyes shadowed with worry. "A healer also knows how to kill. Replicating my poison is not an impossible task for a knowledgeable doctor." Only Xiao Hua knew that the Empress had guessed right. Poison was one of the key areas that the heroine specialized in.

The Empress let out a dark chuckle. "That bitch must have had red eyes when she heard about my pregnancy and must have urged her son to target me and my unborn child."

"Who is the bitch?" Xiao Hua placed her anger aside to satisfy her curiosity.

Letting out an amused chuckle, the Empress answered her humorously, "Concu-bine He, the Second Prince's biological mother."

Xiao Hua nodded in realization. "Oh, that bitch." She had no objections to that name-calling since Concubine He could be called a bitch for acting like a damsel in extra distress, emotionally blackmailing her son to hate the Long family even more.

Everyone was honestly shocked when the Empress laughed. It was nothing but pure humour in her hearty laughter. Once she controlled her mirth, she composed her face to one of seriousness. "I do not know if Long Shan will continue to target you, but it would be safer if you stayed at the palace with me."

"...Eh?"

"I'm aware that my son had brought most of his guards with him to South Guilin Village and left some to guard you. Despite this, it would not be enough to protect you if Long Shan truly wishes for your death."

Xiao Hua turned to look at Tian Zi, knowing that it would not be herself to make the decision.

The Empress' impression improved a little when she saw Xiao Hua looking at Tian Zi for decision making. Normally she would mock that a personal maid should take charge and decide for other servants, but Xiao Hua was not an experienced maid.

To remain humble and admit one's own weakness despite occupying a high position was a difficult thing to do.

"I gave my word that I will not harm you or cause trouble for you during your stay at my courtyard," the Empress promised solemnly when Tian Zi looked conflicted.

Xiao Hua and Tian Zi were spotted with an awkward expression, as that was exactly what they were worried about.

Tian Zi schooled her face to politeness and curtsied to the Empress. "As Your Majesty had graciously offered a safe place for Elder Sister Hua, we will gratefully accept it."

Quickly stood up from her seat, Xiao Hua followed along and curtsied as best as she could with her numb leg after sitting for so long. Even plenty of bathroom breaks failed to stop her legs from experiencing pins and needles.

The Empress smiled beautifully. "Excellent. We will use the time to get to know each other better."

"Of course." Xiao Hua nodded, feeling awkward at the suddenly genuinely friendly Empress.

"Now then, let's discuss what to do with our little traitor."

"Discuss? With me?" Xiao Hua gaped in shock.

"You would have lost your life if your little guard did not stop you from eating the dishes in time. That earned you a right to decide the traitor's fate."

Xiao Hua slowly nodded as she gathered her scattered mind. "Alright. Can you tell me about your plan? Between the two of us, you are the better schemer. I will make a suggestion if I can think of something."

With a pleased smile, the Empress nodded approvingly.

~~~

In an unknown room, there was a tall, slender man dressed entirely in white from head to toe, seemingly wishing to live up to his name. If one could see his face, they would swoon at his delicate yet strong features that even the most beautiful man in the Guilin Kingdom, Long Zhu, would pale in comparison.

His long, slender fingers with clean-cut nails were holding onto a letter. His heaven-defying charisma did not even diminish despite he was currently sporting a gloomy expression.

"System, if I remember correctly this is not in the world's script." The good looking man possessed a charming voice that suited his appearance well. His voice was even gentler than Long Zhu's even when it was currently shaded with worry.

"You are right, host. This isn't in the script," a digital-like voice replied. A white

Rubik's cube with two round black circles symbolized as its eyes blinked as a black circle acting as a mouth moved around as it spoke. "Host, what are you going to do?"

"Stop them from getting married just as we originally planned."