Bai Zhi was stopped before she reached the study door.
Two unfamiliar eunuchs stood in front of her. They were tall and had straight backs, without any of the shyness that eunuchs usually showed.
"His Highness has ordered that no one outside the study be allowed to approach. Please return, young lady."
Bai Zhi bit her lip unwillingly. Xiao Yun had clearly entered the study yesterday. There were laughter and chatter coming from the study. She didn't know whether he was reading or doing something shameful.
"In that case, I will wait for Your Highness here. I will not return until I see Your Highness."
An unknown amount of time had passed, the sun had already set, and Bai Zhi's legs were sore from standing. Finally, the door of the study opened from the inside, and Xiao Yan came out.
Bai Zhi immediately went to greet him, "Your Highness, you are finally out. This servant has something very important to tell you."
Xiao Yan was in a hurry to find Xiao Yun, and he didn't even stop. "I'm busy. If you have anything, go find Xia Yang."
Bai Zhi shouted anxiously: "Your Highness, this is about Xiaoyun, don't you really want to listen?"
Xiao Yan really stopped and said coldly, "Follow me."
Bai Zhi finally stepped into the study of the Grand Prince. She could hardly wait to look around.
The study was simply decorated, with tall bookshelves piled high with classics. There were no unnecessary decorations, only a table and a chair.
There are calligraphy and paintings of His Highness hanging on the wall. In the center is a picture of a lady that is particularly eye-catching. The woman in the painting is so beautiful that she does not look like an ordinary person. She exudes a halo around her, like a goddess descending to the earth.
Looking at her eyebrows and eyes, she clearly looks like Xiaoyun, but she is more ethereal and graceful than the real person, as if floating away on the wind, making the whole study look elegant and refined.
There was also a picture of a lady on the table. It still depicted Xiaoyun, but her clothes had changed. She was wearing a bright red wedding dress!
Bai Zhi seemed to be blinded by the red, and took two steps back in shock. "Your Highness, you actually want to marry Xiao Yun as your principal wife? She's just a convict, how can she be your imperial consort?"
Xiao Yan put away the scroll on the table and placed it in the wooden box next to it. There were already many scrolls inside, all of which were painted with Xiaoyun.
"This is not your business. Tell me, what is going on?"
Bai Zhi fell to her knees with a plop, banging her head on the ground. She shouted, "Your Highness, please reconsider! Throughout history, no prince has ever married a convicted slave. Your Highness has been bewitched by her and has lost his mind. If the late Queen were still alive, she would never allow this woman to bewitch Your Highness!"
"I know Your Highness doesn't like to hear this, but honest advice hurts. Even for the sake of the late Queen, I have to say this. Your Highness is deeply in love with her, but she has long been having an affair with that imperial physician. They've been flirting with each other all day long, and the imperial physician even said he wanted to elope with her!"
"Today, someone saw Xiaoyun giving the imperial physician a bundle, saying it was a personal item. This shows that the two had already had physical contact..."
Xiao Yan slammed the table and shouted angrily, "Shut up! How dare you! How outrageous!"
Bai Zhi thought the Highness had listened to her advice, hence his rage. She looked up at Xiao Yan and continued, "I know Xiao Yun is pregnant, but whose child is it? Didn't Your Highness have any suspicions?"
An inkstone fell in front of Baizhi, creating a hole in the bluestone floor and splashing black ink all over Baizhi's face.
"How dare you! I told you to shut up! Who gave you the guts to sow discord in front of the master?"
"Xiaoyun is grateful and willing to repay you for every bit of good you have done her. How many of the precious jewels I gave her have actually ended up in your house? I don't care about such trivial matters; they are just my possessions after all."
"Do you know what you're saying today? If this gets out, how will Xiaoyun survive in the future? A woman's reputation is so important. As a woman, don't you understand this?"
Xiao Yan's voice was low, but his words were full of authority. Bai Zhi couldn't help but tremble. She forced herself to hold on and shouted, "If Your Highness doesn't believe me, you can check it out for yourself! Imperial Physician Ye left today with a bundle. We'll know the answer once we check!"
Xiao Yan stood up and sneered, "Ye Jueming is a woman. Tell me how the two women eloped and how Xiaoyun could possibly be pregnant with Ye Jueming's child."
Bai Zhi was stunned. "How is this possible? How could the imperial physician be a woman? Your Highness is indeed bewitched by Xiaoyun. To protect her, he can even make up such a lie. I don't believe it! I don't believe it!"
"I don't want to waste any more words with you. I thought you were a loyal and kind person, but I was wrong. People's hearts are fickle. Fortunately, the matter hasn't become a big deal yet. Considering that you once helped Xiaoyun, I will not kill you. You can leave the palace."
Bai Zhi slowly stood up, tears silently falling, washing away the ink on her face, like a hideous mask. She murmured with a mixture of sadness and joy:
"I began serving the Empress at the age of thirteen. Your Highness was still young at the time and loved the grasshoppers I wove. When the Empress discovered it, Your Highness would rather be punished than betray me."
"I watched His Highness grow up, and I am willing to serve His Highness for the rest of my life! I endured humiliation in the slave camp for three years for His Highness. If it had been me who came to the East Palace to serve His Highness, would everything have been different? The favor His Highness shows Xiaoyun now should have belonged to me!"
Xiao Yan was almost laughing out of anger. "There are no ifs! Xiaoyun is Xiaoyun, no one can replace her. You are wishful thinking, always wanting things that don't belong to you. This is all I have to say. Get lost!"
A look of determination flashed in Bai Zhi's eyes, and she slammed hard into the pillar in the corner!
Bright red blood gushed out, and Bai Zhi collapsed to the ground, reaching out to Xiao Yan, "Your Highness is really so cruel, I don't want to live anymore."
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