Chapter 8: Seeking an Audience with the Crown Prince

Chapter 8: Seeking an Audience with the Crown Prince

The tall horse blocked out the sunlight, and Liu Yun felt a shadow fall over her head as a rustling sound arose.

A pair of black brocade boots landed first, crushing the tender grass underfoot, stepping closer until they stopped at the edge of the girl's pink skirt.

"Are you hurt?"

Another shadow fell close by. Liu Yun, still hissing in pain, vaguely saw the Crown Prince crouch down and speak softly.

Xiao Hang pressed his lips together, a flicker of regret in his lowered eyes.

Before she could even mumble an "mm," she felt two long arms reach for her—one going for her shoulder, the other hooking under her knees, as if he meant to scoop her up completely.

Remembering who this man was, Liu Yun's mind was hit like a thunderbolt. The pain in her foot was forgotten, and all sense of propriety flew out the window. She immediately shoved the man about to embrace her with all her strength.

"No, no! You can't!"

In broad daylight, with so many people on the polo field—if the Crown Prince actually held her, what would people think?

She couldn't let her reputation be ruined, especially not by the Crown Prince.

Is the Crown Prince insane?

At the same time, Liu Yun thought, her heart pounding.

That shove had taken all her strength, but it only made the Crown Prince sway slightly—nothing more.

But maybe the Crown Prince had come to his senses, because he quietly let her go.

Seeing that some people had already noticed, Liu Yun didn't care about anything else. Leaning on Jin He, she struggled to her feet, left a hasty remark, and stumbled away.

"I'm fine—please don't follow me, Your Highness."

The mistress and her maid fled at lightning speed, leaving behind only the grim-faced Crown Prince Xiao Hang and the colorful ball that had rolled when her skirt brushed against it.

"Am I that terrifying to look at?"

Clenching his fist, he asked Su Lin, who stood behind him, with a gloomy look.

This question nearly made Su Lin break out in a sweat—he had no idea what to say.

At that moment, he wished he could disappear to the ends of the earth.

But as the Crown Prince's close attendant, Su Lin couldn't escape, so he had to pick his words carefully: "To answer Your Highness, Lady Liu is probably just timid by nature, and Your Highness's presence is so imposing that she can't handle it."

In truth, Su Lin knew Lady Liu's timidity wasn't the main issue. Her rejection of His Highness was probably because she truly had no designs on him. If she had any such intentions, she would have shyly agreed right away and waited for His Highness to give her a title.

Not only was His Highness confused, Su Lin couldn't understand it either.

Was there really a girl who didn't want to be connected to the Crown Prince?

But he didn't dare say that to His Highness, so he racked his brains for a plausible excuse.

His Highness probably didn't think Lady Liu would look down on him, so he naturally accepted the reasoning, and his expression brightened.

"It's fine—she'll get used to it eventually."

Watching Liu Yun's fleeing figure disappear, Xiao Hang spoke casually.

Su Lin forced a smile, about to agree, when His Highness said: "Go find a young monk—I have something to arrange."

Su Lin acknowledged the order, guessing it must be about Lady Liu.

...

In the meditation room at Ci'en Temple, Jin He helped Liu Yun sit on the couch, patiently waiting for the old doctor to examine her injured foot.

Liu Yun's mind started to wander, and she felt the Crown Prince might be her bad luck.

Why else would she run into trouble every time she met him?

Last time she got scolded by County Princess Rong'an, and this time she twisted her ankle—the more she thought about it, the weirder it seemed.

From now on, she should avoid the Crown Prince as much as possible.

"Don't worry, miss—the sprain is mild. Apply some medicinal oil, and with a day or two of rest, you'll be fine."

The old doctor's steady, firm voice put both mistress and maid at ease. They quickly expressed their thanks: "Thank you, doctor. Here's the consultation fee and the cost of the medicine."

The doctor had been called by the young monk, but they still had to pay for it themselves.

But the old doctor waved his hand and chuckled: "Miss, you may not know this, but someone already paid. I wouldn't take a second payment."

The two of them wanted to ask more, but the old doctor walked away with a smile, giving them no chance.

"Young lady, could it be..."

Jin He's expression was odd as she started to speak, but Liu Yun cut her off.

"It shouldn't be—what kind of person is he?"

Was he someone who would be so kind?

Jin He said no more, seeming to agree.

In the meditation room, after Jin He had applied the medicinal oil to her mistress's foot, another young monk entered.

"Benefactor, someone has entrusted me to deliver an item to you, along with a few words."

"What?"

One thing after another today—Liu Yun was caught completely off guard.

The young monk produced an object from his robes and said solemnly: "That person said today's fault was his own, and he ought to make amends. If you ever encounter difficulties in the future, you may bring this item to Tianqin Tower to find him."

At first, Liu Yun was still confused, but the moment she saw what was in the young monk's hand, her pupils immediately dilated.

That damned white jade dragon pendant!

How had it come back again?

"I—I don't want this. I won't have any difficulties in the future either. Little master, you—you should return it."

Clearly, this person was the Crown Prince.

That shadow of dread rose again, and Liu Yun's teeth started to chatter. She pushed the jade pendant away as if it were a flood of beasts.

But this clearly put the young monk in a difficult position, and he insisted on pressing the jade pendant into Liu Yun's hands.

"Please take it, benefactor. Otherwise, I won't be able to report back properly."

"At least have some pity on me."

Remembering the nobleman's cold, stern words, the young monk felt nervous.

The nobleman didn't finish his sentence, but the novice could feel the weight behind his words.

Liu Yun saw the fear in the young monk's eyes and felt a pang of sympathy.

He was only eleven or twelve—she couldn't bear to get him in trouble.

So Liu Yun steeled herself and kept the jade pendant.

"So annoying!"

She should've never come to the Bathing Buddha Festival.

Liu Yun wanted to cry but couldn't, and secretly whacked the white jade dragon pendant in frustration.

Jin He watched from the sidelines, looking like she wanted to say something.

She thought the Crown Prince seemed a bit off, but she didn't dare think along those lines.

After all, he wasn't just any man—it didn't seem possible no matter how she looked at it.

...

After getting back from the festival, Liu Yun rested at home for a few days, and her foot healed up completely.

It wasn't a serious injury anyway.

But when her parents found out what had happened after she got back, they went quiet for a bit and exchanged looks.

Liu Yun had pushed for more details, but her parents both said it was nothing and brushed her off with cherry pies.

Liu Yun was easygoing and didn't think much of it. Besides, her birthday was just a few days away, and she was full of excitement.

She couldn't wait to see what gifts her parents and little brother would give her at this year's birthday feast.

She really wanted the Flower God doll from Tianqiao Studio and a new dress made of jade silk...

Unlike the imperial relatives and nobles who got the best of everything, Liu Yun never went hungry or lacked clothes, but she rarely got to enjoy the finest things Yanjing had to offer.

While the daughters of royalty and top officials could wear the emperor's gifted gossamer brocade on spring outings, she'd be thrilled just to have a pretty jade-silk dress.

Time passed as Liu Yun waited, and then suddenly rain poured down over Yanjing—and it came down hard.

Rainy days were already a pain—everything got damp and musty, and going out meant your shoes would get soaked.

Liu Yun hated rainy days, so she stayed holed up in her room for days, making little trinkets she liked.

Unlike the talented young ladies of Yanjing who were praised for their skills in elegant arts like music, chess, calligraphy, painting, flower arranging, tea brewing, and incense blending...

Liu Yun could only make little trinkets—things outsiders might look down on.

Besides the storybooks she couldn't talk about, there were other things.

Like making lip balm, rose water, pastries, and sewing plush dolls.

These weren't things a proper, talented lady should be good at, but Liu Yun just loved them.

Every day in her free time, staying in her room making these little things made Liu Yun incredibly happy.

If others didn't get it, fine; if they thought she was tacky, let them. She was never some noble lady from a big-name family anyway.

She was just a regular daughter of a low-ranking fifth-grade official.

As long as she could live happily like this, that was all that mattered.

It rained for two days and one night, and Liu Yun spent that time in her room making plush dolls—two of them.

One was a bunny, the other a kitten.

She'd planned to go see Zhen Zhen as soon as the weather cleared and let her pick one.

But instead, news came that her father had been thrown into the Dali Temple prison.

The servant who'd gone with him came rushing back, out of breath and panicked, and though he stammered in his hurry, he managed to get the gist across.

The cause was the collapse of the Wanshou Pavilion, which the Ministry of Works had built six months earlier, and it had enraged the emperor.

Wanshou Pavilion, as the name implied, was built to pray for longevity and blessings—the emperor had commissioned it for the Empress Dowager to show the world his filial devotion.

But it suddenly collapsed. An investigation found that the builders had cut corners and used shoddy materials, so it couldn't hold up to a few days of rain and eventually rotted and fell apart.

The Ministry of Works threw Liu Yun's father—a director in its construction division—under the bus, claiming the Wanshou Pavilion disaster was his fault.

Sure, the construction division was in charge of building projects, and as its head, her father was technically responsible.

But in reality, he hadn't been the one running the project.

The Liu family had no real pull in Yanjing, and her father's fifth-rank post was a mix of hard work and luck.

Building a pavilion for the emperor was a cushy, glory-bringing gig, so it naturally drew envy.

Her father's subordinate, the vice director of the construction division, shared the surname Chen with the Vice Minister of Works—they were uncle and nephew.

With one word from Vice Minister Chen, the job was taken from her father and handed to his nephew.

So from start to finish, her father never got a say—the Vice Minister's nephew grabbed the whole thing.

Now that trouble hit, they suddenly remembered the job was supposed to be her father's?

With her birthday still three days away, how could Liu Yun possibly look forward to it after such a disaster hit her family?

She set aside the plush dolls she'd sewn and, like her mother, desperately racked her brains and ran around asking for help.

Her little brother was busy with his studies, and the mother and daughter had tried to keep it from him, but he found out at the Imperial Academy and went to beg the officials there, but got no straight answers.

The mother and daughter didn't fare any better—some people couldn't help, others didn't want to offend the Chens for the Lius' sake.

After all, the Chens had an old man who was a Hanlin Academy scholar.

The rain stopped for a day and a night, but Liu Yun couldn't find any joy anymore.

Even though her mother kept comforting her, the furrowed brow on her mother's face told Liu Yun there was more to it than that.

Liu Yun knew she had to act, or her father would really be in deep trouble.

Even though Minister Wei and Vice Minister Chen of the Ministry of Works weren't family, they'd worked together for years and were tight. As long as he held firm, the whole Ministry of Works would sing the same tune.

And since the Emperor didn't know the truth, there was a real chance he'd come down hard on him.

Or even lose his post altogether.

Years of hard work would go down the drain, just like that.

Liu Yun lay awake half the night, got maybe two hours of fitful sleep, then gritted her teeth and made a bold call.

After a quick wash, she had Jin He put some powder on her face to hide how worn out she looked, changed into a decent outfit, and carefully took out the white jade dragon pendant to wear.

Her mom wasn't home—probably out again fighting her dad's corner—so no one questioned Liu Yun when she suddenly headed out.

"To Tianqin Tower."

The coachman said nothing more and drove toward the largest restaurant in the eastern part of the city.

Author's note:

Update

Next chapter on Wednesday

By the way, Shanbao's knack for making comfort dolls will lead to a fun storyline—like the male lead begging his wife to make one for him too. Dear readers, what animal do you think the male lead is like? We can arrange an animal comfort doll for him then.