Chapter 64 I'll Eat You Up in One Bite

That day, Xie Mianmian unusually woke up early and didn't stay in bed.

His eyes were swollen like a wolf cub's, and he sat obediently as his nanny wiped his face with a warm handkerchief.

Xie Mingyi sensed something was amiss. "Why are you up so early today?"

A soft child's voice rang out, "Mianmian is going to school."

Xie Mingyi nodded, feeling deeply gratified. It seemed that her younger sister had finally started studying diligently under her influence.

The carriage carried the two sisters to Dengke Gallery, a place they hadn't visited in a long time.

Xie Mingyi handed her younger sister to the palace maid who came to greet her, patted the child's head, and left after saying "You are teachable".

Watching her second sister's departing figure, Xie Mianmian turned to the palace maid and said with a smile, "Sister, Mianmian left something in the animal garden. May I go and get it?"

The young palace maid had already heard about the young lady's deeds. The child had won the Northern Rong's beast taming for the Great Zhou, and the emperor valued her highly, even designating a large area as a beast park.

She bowed and said, "Please come with me, Miss."

Soon, Xie Mianmian followed the palace maid to the entrance of the animal garden, where she saw the young maid looking like she was waiting for her.

The child scratched her head. "Sister, you can go back now. Eunuch Li is waiting for Mianmian inside. He will take me back to Wenhua Hall later."

“But…” This might not be appropriate, the maid wanted to say something more.

But the child pushed her away, saying, "Sister, hurry back. The Dengke Hall is busy right now. It wouldn't be good to keep the study companions waiting."

Upon hearing this, the palace maid's face turned deathly pale. Those young men from noble families, though small, were very difficult to deal with. They were arrogant and prone to losing their temper and cursing. If the supervising nanny found out, it would be troublesome.

"Then this servant will take her leave first. Miss, please go in and find Eunuch Li."

After saying that, she lifted her skirt and quickly left.

Xie Mianmian watched her figure grow smaller and smaller. Seeing that no one was around, the child grinned and secretly smiled, thinking, "As expected of me."

But when she saw the gate of the animal park, she immediately withdrew her bared teeth.

Xie Mianmian gazed at the tightly closed courtyard gate for a long time, as if recalling something. The little girl sighed, a nostalgic smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, slightly bitter.

She finally lifted her foot and left, heading towards the Third Prince's palace based on her memory.

Xie Mianmian hid along the way. It was still early, and there weren't many palace servants on the palace road.

But the closer they got to the Third Prince's palace, the more palace servants came and went.

Xie Mianmian hid behind the palace wall and secretly peeked out. She saw two guards standing in front of the main gate, and through the open door, she could see a festive red scene inside.

The two guards seemed to have noticed the peeping eyes, and they looked sharply in the direction of the child.

Oh dear, Xie Mianmian quickly pulled her head back, patting her chest. That was close; she almost got caught.

The guards saw no suspicious persons and continued to stand as firm as rocks.

The child realized something was wrong; he couldn't go through the front door, or he'd get caught red-handed.

Xie Mianmian turned her toes and walked to the other side, wanting to find a side door.

But she couldn't find the side door. With her big, bright eyes, Xie Mianmian discovered a very hidden hole under the palace wall!

The child quickly squatted down and started rummaging through the weeds in front of the hole.

The hole was quite large, so Xie Mianmian knelt on all fours and crawled through it like a tortoise.

As the child climbed, he sniffed around and seemed to smell something like a black wolf.

Is the Third Prince really this poor? This hole is so big and he hasn't even repaired it, Xie Mianmian thought to herself.

After finally getting through the hole, the child stood up with a thud and found herself in a lush green garden.

Xie Mianmian crouched down behind a potted plant, observing her surroundings while gently brushing the grass clippings off her dress.

Faint voices could be heard coming from the pavilion not far away.

The child peeked over and saw two brightly dressed women.

"I heard that the Third Imperial Consort is a remarkable person; she works as a lady-in-waiting at the Imperial Observatory."

"Tsk, a bad match made of bad bricks and tiles. I hope His Highness will favor her and not come looking for us again..."

Another woman covered her mouth, saying, "Don't say anything, or the walls will hear you."

Xie Mianmian immediately squatted down, hugged her knees, curled up into a ball, and peered through the gaps in the branches and leaves, while secretly pricking up her ears.

"What are you afraid of? At worst, you'll die. He bullied you last night?"

"I'm fine..."

Xie Mianmian suddenly realized who these two people were. They were the concubines that the Seventh Prince had mentioned before, who were oblivious to the world and the heavens and earth, and who had been with the Third Prince day and night.

Hearing the footsteps of the two women leaving, the child stood up and carefully observed her surroundings. It seemed she had gone to the backyard.

Xie Mianmian was afraid of being discovered by passing palace servants, so the child could only wander through the grass and slowly make his way to the main hall.

Ah, the child touched the back of his head, silently crying out, having lost count of how many times his hair had been caught on the branches of the bushes.

"Ouch!" Xie Mianmian pouted, touching her slightly disheveled double buns and the stray strands of hair that had come out.

My second sister styled my hair today, and now it looks like a messy child's.

Xie Mianmian came to a window, looked around and found no one there, so she stood up from the grass, tiptoed and looked through the crack in the window.

It was dark inside, so it seemed this wasn't the place. The child then disappeared back into the bushes.

"Knock knock." A soft knocking sound came from inside.

Xie Mianmian was extremely curious and secretly stood up to look inside again.

Once the child's eyes adjusted to the light, he found the room strange. It contained many large vats, big enough to fit a person inside.

There was another clanging sound, as if it were coming from inside the vat, as if something was knocking inside.

What could it be?

Xie Mianmian suddenly felt goosebumps all over her body, finding it somewhat eerie and terrifying.

"I smelled an unfamiliar scent."

A hoarse voice came from the courtyard gate.

Startled, Xie Mianmian hid back in the bushes, trembling as she looked toward the source of the sound.

They turned out to be two large and robust Tibetan mastiffs. The child had thought the black wolf was already quite big, but the mastiffs were even bigger than the black wolf.

Its entire body was covered in shiny black fur, and its body was thick and sturdy, with its thick limbs about the same size as a child's waist.

Its fur is very fluffy, flowing, and long, almost covering its eyes, leaving only its brownish-yellow muzzle visible.

However, their tone was fierce and menacing.

"Really? I smell a really sweet aroma. I really want to eat it!" another gruff voice said.

"Hehehe, looks like a little mouse has sneaked into the yard."

"I haven't eaten anything all day, I'm starving, I'll catch this bastard!"

Xie Mianmian raised her hand and covered her mouth tightly, not daring to make a sound.