"Miss Aran, hurry and prepare the hot water, the Prince wants to bathe. You'll need to enter the Palace for an audience with the Emperor shortly, so don't just stand there like a wooden post!" Grand Eunuch Bai glared at Gu Ranran.
"Please, Grand Eunuch, could you send a different servant instead? I'm not feeling well today, and I'm afraid I might accidentally incur the Prince's wrath!" Gu Ranran was a ten-thousand times reluctant to go anywhere near Chu Hengyuan.
"Very well, very well, you should rest properly then, lest you pass your illness on to the Prince." Grand Eunuch Bai looked around. "An Chang, you go. Be light-footed, the Prince prefers quiet!" With that, he went off to attend to other matters.
An Chang led a few junior eunuchs to pour the hot water into the Ganlu Pool. Chu Hengyuan swept his unfocused gaze over the busy servants, looking slightly displeased. "Where is Gu Ranran?"
"Replying to the Prince, Miss Ran was feeling unwell, so Grand Eunuch Bai told the few of us to wait upon the Prince for his bath!" An Chang immediately dropped what he was holding and fell to his knees.
"Get up and get out. Wait, have the estate physician go and examine her." Chu Hengyuan waved his hand to signal An Chang and the others to withdraw.
*Aran, Aran, Aran!* Chu Hengyuan pressed a hand to his chest; his still-beating heart felt as though it had been brutally carved out by a sharp blade!
Shortly after Chu Hengyuan entered the Palace, a carriage hung with eight-treasures glazed lanterns stopped outside the gates. A maid in green lifted the carriage door curtain, and a woman dressed in white cloud-gauze, gentle as water, with willow-leaf eyebrows and cherry-colored lips, took the maid's hand and slowly stepped down from the carriage, walking into Xuan Manor.
It was her—Murong Qingyan, the legitimate daughter of Murong Xun, Left Clan Master of the Imperial Clan Court and a top-ranking court official, and the foremost talented woman in the Capital! In his past life, she was the woman Chu Hengyuan had honored and protected through a grand wedding procession stretching ten miles, the woman who stood beside him when he finally ascended the throne as the Son of Heaven!
*In the north there is a beauty, her wrists like frost and snow, smiling as bright as Chuntao!* Everywhere in the Capital sang the praises of this woman, whose appearance matched her name—Qingyan, stunning enough to overturn cities.
After Gu Ranran had met Leng Feng and Leng Yilin—the fourth and fifth brothers who had accompanied Chu Hengyuan on his southern inspection tour—she had been pondering her plan to leave Xuan Manor, only to carelessly run into the very woman who had stepped over her to climb to the top in her previous life!
"Stop right there! You, did you not hear me?" Gu Ranran was violently yanked back by the green-robed maid! "Are you deaf? Our young miss is asking where the Prince went!" This maid of Murong Qingyan's was named Chuntao.
"The Prince has already entered the Palace. If Miss Murong wishes to see him, she may proceed to the floral hall." Gu Ranran's gaze bypassed Chuntao and landed on Murong Qingyan's face. It was this face—appearing harmless to humans and animals on the surface, yet secretly framing her countless times. No matter how she explained herself to Chu Hengyuan, she was always the one who ended up punished!
"Audacious! My young miss is the future mistress of Xuan Manor. It's one thing for a lowly maid like you not to kneel upon seeing her, but it is not your place as a servant to point fingers and dictate where the mistress goes! Such utter lack of upbringing. Quick, come and pay respects to my young miss!" Chuntao said while supporting Murong Qingyan!
"This is Xuan Manor. Until Miss Murong marries the Prince, she is merely a guest. You act as though you are the mistress of the house—is *this* the upbringing your young miss taught you? Your young miss hasn't said a word, yet you, a mere maid, put on the airs of a master—is *that* considered good breeding?" Gu Ranran retorted.
"Such a sharp-tongued slave! Not to mention that the Prince and I are soon to be betrothed, my father is a top-ranking imperial official, and you should be kneeling in kowtow just seeing me—moreover, the Prince promised me that upon his return from this southern tour, he would request an imperial decree to betroth us. No doubt the Prince has already secured that decree in the Palace today. For Xuan Manor to harbor a maid like you brings shame upon the Prince's face; the household discipline of this manor truly needs cleaning up! Kneel right here and reflect on yourself for a full twelve hours!" With that, she led Chuntao out of the courtyard!