Chapter 7 The Wasteland

Xie Mianmian was angry. "Does the little bird know who did this?" Who would dare to steal such delicious pastries! That's so mean.

A plump little bird perched on the table, its vermilion beak pecking at its feathers.

"It's the child who wanted the cotton hairpin." The chubby bird shook its wings, and its silky blue feathers shimmered in the sunlight.

"It was she who overturned Mianmian's inkstone, squeak squeak."

Oh, that's terrible! That child tried to steal her hairpin, dirty the Sixth Princess's clothes, and poison her delicious pastries.

She frowned and counted the man's crimes on her fingers. Xie Mianmian concluded that he was a bad kid who was very wasteful!

Xie Mianmian decided to teach her a lesson. She put her little hands together and whispered in her childish voice, "Little fat bird, busy pecking your feathers, help Mianmian teach the bad guy a lesson, and take the hairpin from the bad kid's head!"

The little bird seemed a bit unhappy that Xie Mianmian said it was fat. It flapped its wings a few times, slapping Xie Mianmian's face, and then flew towards Lin Leran, who was hiding behind the crowd.

Lin Leran felt a sudden tightness on her scalp, as if something had caught in her hair. "Ouch, that hurts!"

She waved her hand, looked up, and saw a small blue bird. Seeing the bird swoop down towards her head, Lin Leran covered her head, screamed, and ran into the crowd, covering her head.

The children from noble families around her were frightened by her voice and ran away, while the palace servants led the princes and princesses away from this strange incident.

In an instant, a space was cleared up around Lin Leran.

The chubby bird pounced on the hairpin in her hair several times, but failed to snatch it away. Instead, its sharp claws hooked out several strands of hair from her neat double buns, and the strong wind from its flapping wings made her hair a mess, like a fluffy dandelion.

"Ah! Someone help me!" She dodged and hid, but accidentally fell to the ground.

The chubby bird finally managed to snatch the hairpin and fly away.

"Return the dead bird quickly, this is my hairpin!" This was the hairpin she had "taken" from her cousin, and she wanted to return it.

She started chasing the chubby bird again, cursing as she ran, completely oblivious to her disheveled appearance, until she heard the children around her whispering and she finally snapped out of it.

She actually went so far as to shout and curse in the Imperial Garden of the palace, in front of all the royal relatives and noblemen!

Lin Leran felt like the sky had fallen. Most of the people present were her peers, and if nothing unexpected happened, they would be hanging out in the same circle in the future. This would become her embarrassing history, and she might still be teased about it even after she got married and had children.

A stern-faced old woman approached her, her tone very serious, "Miss Lin, this is extremely rude of you. Please come with me." Lin Leran covered her face as she was led away.

Seeing that the naughty child was gone, Xie Mianmian breathed a sigh of relief. She stopped eating the pastries and hid in a corner of the artificial hill where no one paid attention.

Xie Mianmian was counting ants with her head down when a pair of jade-inlaid brocade boots suddenly stopped in front of her, and the child looked up at them.

He was a young man dressed in a magnificent brocade robe, a bit older than Xie Huaijin, with striking and handsome features, and his face resembled that of the Sixth Princess.

The newcomer put his index finger to his lips and whispered, "Shh, I am the Third Prince. Don't let anyone know I'm here."

Xie Mianmian nodded.

The Third Prince chuckled, "Are you Xie Mianmian?"

“That’s right,” the child said honestly.

The Third Prince took out a letter from his pocket. "Mianmian, give this letter to your second sister."

Xie Mianmian was a little wary and tilted her head. He was the Third Prince and knew her Second Sister, so he probably wasn't a bad person.

"Alright, Mianmian's become a carrier pigeon." The child covered his mouth and laughed.

A boy's voice came from outside the artificial hill, "I saw her coming this way! Where is she?"

The Third Prince stuffed the letter into Xie Mianmian's clothes, hiding it carefully, and said urgently, "I want to give it to her personally." He then hurriedly left, afraid that others would see it.

What are you doing here?

Lin Yueji ran over, grabbed Xie Mianmian's hand, and tried to pull her outside, "Hurry up, the Sixth Princess is looking for you!"

Xie Mianmian stopped struggling. Was the Sixth Princess looking for her or was she here to spank her? *sobs*

Lin Yueji pulled Xie Mianmian to a side path, "Just keep walking along this path and you'll get there. The Sixth Princess is waiting for you there."

Xie Mianmian hesitated for a moment as she looked at the deserted path.

"Hurry up and go, or the Sixth Princess will be even angrier!" Lin Yueji urged, pushing the child towards the path.

Xie Mianmian was afraid of the Sixth Princess's anger and outburst, and even more afraid that she would blame the Xie family.

The child should be brave and move forward headlong, taking responsibility for her actions. If you hit her, you can't hit her older brother or sister.

Lin Yueji watched Xie Mianmian's retreating figure, a sinister smile spreading across his childlike face. His aunt, Lin Ruoxue, had told him that the Xie and Lin families were mutually antagonistic, and only one of him and Xie Mianmian could survive!

He's not that useless Lin Yueran, who only knows how to cause minor trouble. Lin Yueji has already inquired and found out that a crazy former concubine is imprisoned in the Cold Palace at the end of the path.

Anyone who enters the courtyard will be wildly hacked at by her with a kitchen knife. I wonder how many blows Xie Mianmian, with her small frame, can withstand.

Xie Mianmian walked along a narrow path lined with palace walls on both sides, crossed a palace gate, and the road ahead widened, becoming even more... desolate.

Xie Mianmian looked up and felt that the vermilion palace walls on both sides were higher than the sky.

Tall and solemn, gloomy and dark, the sunlight couldn't penetrate, and the surroundings became very quiet, a stark contrast to the lively and bright Imperial Garden just moments before. Only when Xie Mianmian looked up at the sliver of blue sky could she be sure that she was still in the human world.

After passing through several palace gates and turning several corners, Xie Mianmian arrived at a palace courtyard.

The bluestone paving stones in front of the courtyard gate were broken and dilapidated, and a kind of flower was blooming there. It had no branches or leaves, and it grew out abruptly from the gaps between the bluestone paving stones, with its blood-red petals blooming brilliantly.

There was a rustling sound coming from the courtyard. Xie Mianmian was afraid that the Sixth Princess would get impatient, so she reached out to push open the door.

A small, smoky blue bird landed on the ground not far away, tilted its head, and suddenly called out, "Mianmian, what are you doing here?"

Xie Mianmian was startled. She looked down and saw that it was the same chubby little bird from before.

"I'm looking for the Sixth Princess."

“But this is the Cold Palace, the Sixth Princess doesn’t live here.” The chubby bird hopped and skipped on the blue bricks.

The Cold Palace...!

"It's a very, very scary place inside! I almost died in there once, chirp chirp chirp." The little fat bird was very scared.

Xie Mianmian said in a trembling voice, "Little Fatty Bird, can you take me back to the Imperial Garden?" The child's voice was very soft, as if she was afraid of disturbing something scary.

"I'll take you away, Mianmian. And that hairpin? It's so sparkly, I love it!" Thinking of something she liked, the little chubby bird immediately changed her mood and happily hopped around.

"Yes, little bird, I'll get it for you when I get back, okay?" Xie Mianmian tiptoed away from the courtyard.

"Chirp chirp chirp, go to the left, I'll wait for you at the crooked-necked tree." The little fat bird flapped its wings and flew away, hurrying to the crooked-necked tree to catch insects to eat.

Upon hearing this, Xie Mianmian quickly ran to the left. After only a few steps, she stepped on a dry branch with a "crack." The area behind the courtyard gate became quiet, followed by the sound of footsteps.