Chapter 91 - 90: The idiotic princess.

Chapter 91: Chapter 90: The idiotic princess.

"Have you heard? The Second Princess is still confined to her residence."

The two servants spoke in hushed voices as they swept the stone path beside the courtyard, their brooms moving slowly over the scattered leaves.

"Keep your voice down. It’s not a confinement. His Majesty only told her to stay inside for a while."

"Then why has she been forbidden from going out? I heard even the honourable imperial envoy, Zhao Lianyu was assigned to watch the princess. Whatever happened, it must be serious."

"Who knows? Perhaps she offended someone, or perhaps His Majesty is hiding something from her."

"Don’t speak nonsense. She’s a princess."

"That doesn’t mean."

"What doesn’t it mean?"

The sharp question came from behind them.

Both servants stiffened and turned around.

A young woman stood a short distance away, her expression cold as she looked at them.

She wore a pale blue dress embroidered with delicate silver patterns, and her long black hair was arranged neatly with a jade hairpin.

She possessed a striking beauty that leaned toward sharpness rather than softness.

Her slender, slightly arched eyebrows framed a pair of clear eyes, while the straight bridge of her nose, defined jawline, and firm lips lent her features of exquisite beauty,

Zhao Xinya, the First Princess of the Great Yan Kingdom.

Seeing her, the two servants immediately dropped their brooms and bowed in panic.

"Your Highness! We beg your forgiveness!"

"How dare you gossip about your own princess while standing within the palace grounds?" Zhao Xinya demanded. "Do you have so little respect for the royal family that you think such talk is acceptable?"

Neither servant dared to answer.

They repeatedly apologized, their heads lowered, before hurriedly collecting their brooms and retreating down the path.

Zhao Xinya watched them leave with a displeased expression, then turned toward the inner residence.

She had already heard that her younger sister was being kept indoors, though she had not yet visited her.

Her father had given little explanation beyond saying that the situation outside was uncertain, and Xinya knew better than to question his judgment without reason.

She crossed the courtyard and entered the residence, greeting the servants who bowed as she passed.

The familiar corridors were quiet at this hour, illuminated by the soft glow of wall lamps.

After turning through two passages, she arrived at Zhao Linger’s residence.

She raised her hand and knocked.

"Linger? It’s me. Are you awake?"

There was no response.

Zhao Xinya waited a moment before knocking again.

Before she could call out a third time, the door opened, and Zhao Lianyu appeared on the other side.

"Your Highness." Zhao Lianyu bowed. "My apologies. The Second Princess is still asleep."

Zhao Xinya blinked.

"Asleep?"

"Yes."

She glanced toward the window, then back at Zhao Lianyu. "At this hour?"

Zhao Lianyu hesitated. It was only a brief pause, but Zhao Xinya noticed it immediately.

The Imperial Envoy looked as though she wanted to say something, reconsidered, and eventually settled for a polite nod.

"She appears to be sleeping rather soundly."

Zhao Xinya stared at her.

That was not an explanation. It was barely even a description. With a faint sigh, she gestured toward the room.

"Take me to her. I want to see what could possibly be so important that she cannot even wake up to greet her own sister."

"Of course, Your Highness."

Zhao Lianyu guided her through the small reception room and along the inner corridors before finally bringing her to the bedroom.

The residence was unusually quiet, and Zhao Xinya couldn’t help wondering what her younger sister had been doing all evening.

Then Zhao Lianyu opened the door.

Zhao Xinya stopped dead in her tracks. For a moment, she wondered whether she had entered the wrong room.

Zhao Linger was lying diagonally across the bed, her head nowhere near the pillow, one leg sticking out from beneath the blanket while the other had somehow become entangled in it.

One arm dangled over the side, and her hair was scattered across the sheets.

"Mmm... no, no..."

Zhao Linger turned her face into the mattress and hugged the blanket against her chest.

"That one’s mine..."

Zhao Xinya’s eyebrows twitched.

"...Give me another one..."

A brief silence followed and then Zhao Linger smacked her lips.

"More meat..."

Zhao Xinya slowly turned her head toward Zhao Lianyu. The Imperial Envoy stood beside the door, her expression still as water.

However, when she noticed the First Princess looking at her, her eyes shifted ever so slightly toward the ceiling.

"Lianyu."

"Yes, Your Highness?"

"Has she been like this all evening?"

Zhao Lianyu hesitated again. "More or less."

"More or less?"

"She has been sleeping peacefully."

Zhao Linger suddenly raised one hand into the air.

"Chef... I want the big one..."

Her fingers closed into a fist, as though she had successfully seized the world’s greatest delicacy, before her hand descended onto her own face.

A muffled sound came from beneath her palm.

"Ow..."

She removed her hand and rolled onto her side.

Zhao Xinya stood motionless.

She had come here because she was worried about her younger sister.

Meanwhile, the person at the center of all this concern was apparently having a wonderful time eating imaginary meat.

She turned toward Zhao Lianyu once more, her disbelief written plainly across her face.

"Are you telling me that while the entire palace is worrying about the current situation, my little sister is dreaming about food?"

Zhao Lianyu opened her mouth, then closed it. After a moment, she answered with the solemnity of someone reporting an important matter to the Imperial Court.

"...The Second Princess has always had a healthy appetite, Your Highness. Look at her, she’s plump and well-fed."

Zhao Xinya shut her eyes and took a slow breath.

Then, her patience ran out as her voice rang through the residence.

"ZHAO LINGER, WAKE UP!"

BAM!

The sudden commotion startled the guards stationed outside, several of them instinctively turning toward the bedroom.

Somewhere in the room, the bed gave a heavy thump as Zhao Linger jolted awake, only to knock her forehead against the wooden headboard.

"OWWW!"

She clutched her forehead, her eyes flying open as she struggled to make sense of what had just happened.

Her head throbbed, and a noticeable bump was already rising above her eyebrows.

Tears welled in her eyes as she sat up, still half-asleep.

"WOooo! Who hit me?!"

She looked around frantically, searching for the culprit. Then she turned her head and saw a familiar face standing beside the bed.

Zhao Xinya.

The color drained from Zhao Linger’s face.

"WOooo... Why is the big tiger here?!"

She stared at her elder sister in disbelief, then hurriedly glanced around the room as if hoping to find some explanation for this terrible turn of events.

"Wait... am I dreaming?"

BAM!

"OWWW!"

A second smack landed on her forehead before she could finish the thought.

Zhao Linger immediately clutched her head with both hands and squatted on the bed, tears streaming down her cheeks as she looked up at Zhao Xinya with genuine grievance.

"Waaaah! It hurts! Why did you hit me twice?!"

Zhao Xinya folded her arms, and Zhao Linger instinctively flinched, "Good. Since you’re finally awake, go get ready. We’re going out."

Zhao Linger stopped rubbing her forehead.

"Eh?"

She blinked at her elder sister, the tears still hanging in the corners of her eyes.

"I can go out?"

"Yes. Father gave me permission to take you out." Zhao Xinya glanced at the disheveled bedding before looking back at her sister. "He’s worried you might suffocate in the palace if you stay here any longer and become an even bigger idiot."

"After all, we can’t risk the second princess to die out of idiocy rather than a honourable death, no?"

Zhao Linger stared at her. Then, as though she had suddenly forgotten the two painful knocks to her forehead, her expression brightened.

"Really?!"

"Do I look like I’m joking?"

"No!"

Zhao Linger scrambled off the bed, nearly tripping over the blanket in her haste.

She hurried toward the wardrobe, already trying to decide what to wear, while Zhao Xinya watched her with a mixture of disbelief and resignation.

A moment ago, the girl had been crying as though the world had ended. Now she was practically dancing around the room.

Zhao Xinya rubbed her forehead.

After awhile, Zhao Linger emerged from her bedroom in a light blue dress embroidered with delicate white patterns, a pale pink ribbon tying back her hair.

The small bump on her forehead remained, but she seemed to have forgotten it entirely.

Zhao Xinya gave her a brief once-over before turning to Zhao Lianyu, who was waiting near the doorway.

"Let’s go."

As they stepped outside, two servants approached with a tray of lanterns. They bowed and offered one to each princess, while Zhao Lianyu took a third for herself.

Zhao Linger accepted hers eagerly, holding it up to admire the patterns on its thin, glowing screen.

"Be careful where you walk," Zhao Lianyu reminded her from the side.

"I know, I’m not a child anymore."

"You’re always a child to me, Princess."

"I deny that!"

Zhao Xinya continued walking before the exchange could go any further. The other two followed, leaving the bedroom wing and crossing the residence’s inner courtyard.

Lantern light moved over the stone paving as a cool breeze stirred the trees and carried the faint fragrance of flowers through the quiet grounds.

The few servants still working at this hour paused to bow as the princesses passed, then returned to their duties once the group had gone by.

For Zhao Linger, even this familiar walk felt refreshing after several days indoors.

She looked around with interest, occasionally letting her lantern swing at her side, until Zhao Lianyu gave her a pointed glance and she reluctantly held it still.

They soon reached the residence’s outer courtyard, where the path widened and joined one of the main routes through the Imperial Palace.

A guard stood beneath the eaves nearby, his sword resting at his waist.

Zhao Xinya slowed and called to him.

"Chen Rui, come with us."

The guard approached and bowed. He wore dark blue robes beneath a fitted leather vest, his black hair tied behind his head.

A narrow scar crossed his right cheek.

"Your Highness."

"We’re going into the city for a while," Zhao Xinya told him. "Stay close."

"Understood."

Chen Rui took his place behind the princesses without further questions.

Zhao Lianyu acknowledged him with a brief glance, then resumed walking. With another guard accompanying them, their small party continued along the broad palace road toward the main gate.

The grounds grew busier as they approached the outer sections of the palace.

Guards moved between their posts, servants hurried along connecting corridors, and the occasional carriage waited near a side entrance.

Ahead, the main gate stood beneath rows of red lanterns, its tall doors open to reveal the distant lights of the Imperial City.

Zhao Linger’s steps quickened when she saw the streets beyond the walls.

"I wonder what’s still open."

Zhao Xinya glanced at her. "We haven’t even left yet, and you’re thinking about food?"

"What else is there to think about?"

"Perhaps behaving like a proper princess."

"I can do both."

Zhao Xinya let out a quiet sigh.

The four passed through the main gate and entered the Imperial City, where the glow of shop signs and street lanterns stretched into the distance.

Zhao Linger looked around with excitement, while Zhao Lianyu and Chen Rui followed a few steps behind, keeping a watchful eye on their surroundings.