That day, the morning at Yishu Palace was bright and sunny. It had rained heavily last night, and this morning, only puddles remained on the streets. Princess Lian Hua lived in Lian Hua Palace, a palace specially built for her birth and named after her. Hearing this, the people became even more envious of all the good fortune surrounding Princess Lian Hua.
Princess Lian Hua emerged from Lian Hua Palace wearing a fox fur coat—once again, custom-made for her. The Crown Prince had gone hunting to make a special coat for his beloved sister from the finest fur. Wearing pink under her fur coat, Princess Lian Hua was about to climb onto the palanquin that would carry her to the palace hall. When her feet stopped and her eyes caught something that disturbed her, that's when trouble would arise.
"You..." she glared at one of the palace ladies standing next to her, her head bowed. Without being told, Lady Chang reached for the girl's face, showing it to Princess Lian Hua. "Are you wearing makeup?" the princess asked angrily.
The palace maid immediately prostrated herself, "No, Your Highness. I am not wearing any makeup."
Lian Hua snorted. "Even if you don't wear makeup, you still can't look more striking than me." Lian Hua didn't care that the maid was already shivering and crying. "You have to paint your lips with charcoal if they're red, you have to smear your face with mud if they're too clean. Do you want to compete with me? Do you also want to wear the same clothes as me? Who are you trying to get close to? The First Prince? The Second Prince? Or my father?" Lian Hua asked, raising her voice.
"No, Your Highness. I didn't mean anything!" The girl began to sob, no one could help her, no one as long as the princess herself didn't want to help her. "Lady Chang, move this woman to the back palace! From today on, she will help the servants there. Remember today's events well, this also applies to everyone!" Ignoring the sobs and calls of the palace maid, Lian Hua climbed onto her palanquin that was ready to carry her to the palace hall.
The palace ladies who followed her swallowed hard. Every day, someone had to be punished or moved by their princess. Serving the youngest member of the royal family was even more difficult than serving the queen—no, even the king wasn't this difficult.
Princess Lian Hua hated the palace maids looking more beautiful than her, especially since today was the day she was going to meet her fiancé. This didn't mean that Princess Lian Hua was ugly, no. In fact, Princess Lian Hua had a very beautiful face. She didn't look like her father, mother, or older siblings because her beauty was more than theirs. Her round face, small lips, a nose that fit her round face, her eyebrows, her eyes—all looked so perfect. But all that beauty was buried by her terrifying nature, like an evil witch.
She's always angry, always shouting, always frowning, always unhappy and paranoid, and let's not forget that the princess is also very spoiled. What is beauty? Those who already know her true nature will never see a hint of beauty in that face.
Sitting in her palanquin with her chin raised, Princess Lian Hua was followed by a busy procession. She loved luxury, she had power, and she loved to flaunt her power. "Lady Chang, do you think the prince still remembers me?" the princess asked her lady-in-waiting.
Lady Chang spoke very calmly, like the calm waters of Yinshu Lake, "Of course, Prince Wang Zifei will not be able to forget you, Your Highness." Lian Hua smiled happily. The prince's face was still engraved in her mind after all these years. There was no way he would forget her, right?
The palanquin she was riding in stopped, and her palace maid shouted, "What's wrong?" Lian Hua asked, looking ahead. "Your Majesty, there's Young Master Chen in front." Young Master Chen? Why was her brother's friend here? Lian Hua got off the palanquin after being helped by her maid. She approached and was shocked to see the scene before her.
Chen Lei, the third prince's friend, was lying on the ground, his clothes dirty and the corner of his mouth bleeding. The guard who had arrived with Lian Hua immediately helped Young Master Chen up. "Yo-you! How could you hit me just because of a palace maid?" The princess also saw a man with his back to her. The man was dressed in black and had a sword sheathed at his waist. From her position, she couldn't see the man's face, but she could see a woman in the man's arms. A palace maid.
"Young Master Chen, what are you doing here?" Chen Lei had also seen Princess Lian Hua's arrival from afar, but the blow to his body was no joke. He grimaced with a split lip. "Your Highness, he hit me just because of a servant!"
The man was about to hit Chen Lei again, but the maid in his arms stopped him. "If you say anything more, I'll hit you harder. It doesn't matter if you're a prince." The man's voice didn't sound like her older brothers, Or the voices of the noble children who frequented the palace. He also didn't look like a guard, a soldier, or someone from the security forces. Lian Hua decided to approach, looking at the faces of the strange woman and man.
Her lips parted in disbelief as she looked at the maid. From head to toe, the palace maid looked utterly disheveled. From her torn and dirty clothes to her smooth shoulders, her skirt was also torn. The maid's beautiful face was wet with tears and dust. Her body trembled in the stranger's embrace, and she hugged the man who had helped her even tighter.
Lian Hua seemed to know what was going on. Chen Lei looked at the beautiful maid in front of him and unable to resist the temptation, intended to sleep with her. However, she refused, and this mysterious man came to his aid. A dark cloud appeared on Lian Hua's face. Her journey to her beloved was interrupted just because of a lowly maid?
The princess folded her arms across her chest, "Young Master Chen, the palace maids belong to the king. Do you want to be beheaded for daring to touch His Majesty's property?" Lian Hua said coldly and cruelly. Chen Lei knew Lian Hua's character well; she looked very gentle and kind, but she never played around with her words. Chen Lei's face paled.
"Princess Lian Hua, please forgive me." Young Master Chen prostrated himself before her. Lian Hua chuckled. She had no intention of saving anyone, and it was none of her business whether Chen Lei was punished. However, today she will meeting her fiancé, and Chen Lei was her third brother's close friend. She didn't want to upset her brother, so she said, "Okay, I won't report anything to father. If anything happens, let me speak to His Majesty."
"Thank you, Princess Lian Hua."
Lian Hua thought again, "If you want, I will ask my father to give this servant to you. There is no need to cause trouble in the palace." If Chen Lei turned bright, then the servant girl gave her a terrified look. She released herself from the man who had helped her, and knelt before the princess. "Your Highness, please don't do that. I... would rather be a servant in this palace forever than you give me to young master Chen!" The girl who was about the same age as Lian Hua crawled to grab the princess's feet.
She didn't want to be a gift to Young Master Chen; she preferred to work in this palace as a servant until she was old. She was terrified and cried, sobbing until her tears fell to the ground. Instead of sympathizing, Lian Hua pushed the girl with her foot, "Ais, you've soiled my clothes!" She screamed, and the palace maids immediately cleaned the hem of her clothes, which weren't even dirty.
"Young Master Chen likes you, why refuse? Oh, with such a beautiful face, your goal in entering this palace must be to attract the attention of His Majesty the King or the Crown Prince." Lian Hua sneered. Every servant or lady-in-waiting in this palace would want to gain the attention of the royal family. If one of the princes took a fancy to a palace maid, her father would not hesitate to let his son make her a concubine.
Not except with this woman.
The servant's cries grew louder, her body trembling. "Your Highness, I never thought that way..." she whispered. Lian Hua didn't care.
"Then, can you all get out of here? I have to go soon." She was already late, and Prince Wang Zifei had probably arrived a long time ago.
"Your Highness, you're here!" A group of people led by the Crown Prince came over to them. "Lian Hua, you're here too!"
"Big brother," Lian Hua greeted briefly. But her brother wasn't looking at her, but at the mysterious man whose face she didn't yet know.
"I've been looking for you everywhere, Prince Wang Zifei."
"Prince Wang Zifei?" Busy with the commotion made by a palace maid and Chen Lei, Lian Hua thought the mysterious young man was just a guard who accidentally passed by, who would have thought she was very wrong.
Lian Hua turned her body, so that now she could see the man's face clearly.