Chapter 7 – A Giant Among Men The Heavenly Empire’s Crown Prince
“What good news?”
Ying Er swiveled her head back to check the surroundings. There was only the two of us in the inner storehouse and no one else but she still lowered her voice. “In a few months, it’s going to be the day of bestowing amnesty. Qing Ying, I heard that in this year’s name register for court maids leaving the palace, our names were written there.”
“Really?!”
A sudden pleasant surprise revealed itself in front of me that I’ve forgotten everything in a poof. I hastily took her hands.
“You’re not kidding me, are you? Were our names really there?”
“Why would I lie to you?” Yu Er laughed. “Unless.. Unless you really want to marry that prince and not leave the palace.”
“Nonsense!” My heart sank at the thought.
Yu Er didn’t realize however, and just continued joking. “I know, I know. Qing Ying, in reality, when we entered the palace as court maids together, aside from Ning Yan, you’d be counted as the prettiest. If only Yao Ying Xue didn’t purposely bully you and put you in charge at this inner storehouse that even birds won’t even s.h.i.+t on, you definitely would’ve had the opportunity to fly and become a phoenix [1]. Any one of our Heavenly Empire’s princes could definitely beat the heaven’s G.o.ds in terms of looks.”
In reality, she actually used the phrase “fly and become a phoenix” a ton of times. In the beginning, I would’ve blushed at that. Now, I’ve become apathetic to it and could only smile in response.
Moreover, even if she said that I was pretty, but I know for a fact that I’m just considered as delicate and could never think of being compared to Liu Ning Yan, and even Yao Ying Xue, the difference between me and those people born with great wealth and high positions is far too big.
But today, my heart was pierced by sadness with just the mention of the prince.
“Of course, it’s needless to say that our crown prince Pei Yuan Xiu isn’t only handsome, but was born with a good temperament and is full of wit. He’d definitely become a good king in the future. It’s a pity that he took in a wife yesterday.”
“Fifth Prince Pei Yuan Feng isn’t bad as well. He’s an impressive general and many court maids in the palace are secretly crus.h.i.+ng on him, but he’s younger than you by a few years so I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
“Oh right, we also have the Third Prince Pei Yuan Hao.” Yu Er clasped her hands. “Mm! He’s moody, has a bad temper and n.o.body can guess what he’s thinking. If you become his woman…”
Feeling my heart quivering, I interrupted her words. “Yu Er. Don’t talk about it anymore.”
Yu Er looked at me puzzledly. “Qing Ying, what’s wrong？”
I was afraid that she’d worry, so I forced a smile. “It’s nothing. Just thinking about what happened to Ning Yan makes me not want to continue thinking about this stuff anymore.”
In the beginning when Ning Yan was favoured, everyone inside and outside the palace fawned over her, but now, even the maids in the Cold Palace would dare bully her. Just thinking about her difficult situation, my heart turned bitter.
“Hmm. True.” Yu Er said. “It feels like none of the men in this palace can be relied on.”
Only she has the guts to say these kind of reckless words. Thankfully, we were in the inner storehouse where “birds won’t even s.h.i.+t on” , or else, cutting off ten heads wouldn’t be enough.
This thought made me glad. The next moment, the door suddenly opened.
Rays of sunlight outside illuminated the gloomy room startling me and Yu Er as we squinted our eyes. In a split second, I saw a very familiar figure standing at the doorway.
[1] fly and become a phoenix （飞上枝头变凤凰) – Its intended meaning is that an ordinary bird can, through its own effort, achieve meteoric success