Chapter 4 It's fate that we meet again
"What does the emperor mean?" Liang Jiugong entered the palace when he was young and served Xuanye since he was very young. He always avoided the word "woman" as much as possible, and he would not have noticed that the person he was talking to his master this afternoon was actually a girl.
Xuanye raised his eyebrows, thinking that Liang Jiugong was indeed a man who was "out of touch with the world". He did not explain the situation to him, but simply ordered him to hang up the small portraits one after another.
Looking around at the portraits of this year's beauties, Xuanye finally stopped at Xiu Yu's. "There is a beauty in the north, peerless and independent. One glance from her could captivate a city, another could captivate a nation..." He murmured softly, then asked Liang Jiugong, "Do you think I and this... Xiu Yu, are we destined to be together?"
Liang Jiugong finally came to his senses. He looked at the small portrait the emperor was looking at, and recalled the handsome young man he had played handshake with that afternoon. He said, "So that's a girl. No wonder I thought 'her' was more beautiful than the average young man."
Xuanye also remembered Xiu Yu in men's clothing, and the smile on his face grew even wider: "This Xiu Yu of the Guoluo clan and I are destined to be together. Destined to be together."
Although Liang Jiugong knew nothing about women, he knew exactly how to please his master. "Since the emperor likes this princess, how about I ask around?"
Xuanye didn't say yes, but he didn't say no either. He only took down the small portrait of Xiu Yu and carefully rolled it up.
Liang Jiugong was quite good at guessing the emperor's intentions, and he immediately understood what the emperor meant. After all, there was still some time before the selection, and this princess had come to the capital early, probably wanting to wander around and have some fun. Since the emperor liked her, it was his duty as a servant to create some opportunities for the emperor and the princess.
In the inn, Xiu Yu had changed into her daughter's clothes. At this moment, she was re-arranging the chess pieces from the afternoon on the chessboard based on her memory.
"Let me?" Xiu Yu had vaguely felt in the afternoon that the opponent intended to give in when making the move, but this thought was only fleeting. In the end, the desire to win prevailed. Now reviewing the game, it was true.
"Princess, it's time to wash up." Lihua, the little girl beside Xiuyu, brought in a basin of water. "You didn't eat much for dinner. You were just thinking about this game of chess."
"Sixth Son told you everything?" Xiu Yu rubbed the chess piece in her hand, her attention still focused on the chessboard. She had originally thought she was considered a master of chess in the court. After all, she knew more than just memorized chess manuals; her vision and courage were unmatched by anyone in the court. But she hadn't expected to see even higher mountains upon arriving in the capital.
Lihua didn't care whether her princess's attention was still on the chessboard. She took the chessboard away and, grabbing Xiuyu's arm, dragged her over to the washbasin. "Princess, in my humble opinion, there's nothing wrong with you having fun and strolling around the capital. But it's best to avoid things like this, like playing hand-to-hand with a man. After all, you're going to the palace after the New Year. What if someone catches you with something..."
Although Xiu Yu knew that what Li Hua said made sense, she still insisted, "Your princess dressed up like that this afternoon. Is there anyone who can recognize her?"
"I recognize it anyway." Lihua glanced at the jade pendant on the dressing table and said, "Especially, you accept other people's things."
"This is your princess, I won with my own true ability." Xiu Yu finished washing up and sat at the dressing table, letting Lihua remove her makeup. Looking in the bronze mirror at the little girl she had grown up with, Xiu Yu bent her right arm, took Lihua's hand, and said, "After the New Year, when I enter the palace, you and Liuzi will go home. I've already told my mother that I'm going to marry you to Liuzi."
"Princess." Lihua suddenly knelt on the ground, her eyes red. "Lihua wants to follow Princess. Wherever Princess goes, Lihua will go."
Xiu Yu's eyes were a little sore, but she still smiled and helped Lihua up, saying, "Silly girl, how could the Forbidden City let us bring our own maids in? Besides, even if I, your princess, passed the layers of selection and entered the deep palace, there's no telling who will be assigned to be a maid. You should go back to the outside of the Great Wall and live a good life with Liuzi. Once you enter that palace with red walls and green tiles, you'll be trapped for life. I, your princess, am destined to be unable to escape, so do you have to sacrifice me for it?"
Lihua cried even harder, tears streaming down her face. "Princess, if I leave too, you'll be the only one left. The master mentioned that you wouldn't enter the palace, so why didn't you agree?"
Xiu Yu wiped the tears from Li Hua's cheeks with her handkerchief. To her, the Forbidden City was an unknown place. People instinctively fear the unknown, but also feel a sense of curiosity. The original owner of this body had once been the most favored in the harem. What would happen if it were her now? To say she wasn't curious would be a lie.
"Lihua, you have seen your princess's ability of 'fighting with all odds, meeting the enemy with troops and covering the water with earth'. I will never be afraid of the unknown. You live a good life outside the Great Wall, and my life may not be as difficult as you imagined." Xiu Yu took a deep breath. In fact, she was ready as early as the moment she rode into Beijing. Even if there were thorns on the road ahead, she would trample them under her horse.
Of course, the inseparable night between master and servant had consequences, and the consequence was Lihua's swollen eyes early the next morning.
Xiu Yu had to sit in front of the bronze mirror and put on makeup while trying to hold back her smile, which was very difficult.
Lihua pouted and said, "Princess, just laugh at me. No wonder Master said that Princess is sometimes heartless."
"I, your princess, am not heartless. I see through everything." Xiu Yu picked up a hairpin from the jewelry box, hesitated for a moment, and put it back. "You should wear the men's clothes you wore yesterday. It will be convenient for going out to play."
Lihua nodded and, while changing her daughter's clothes, she continued, "Just do as you please. If someone catches you with something, you might not be able to return to the border even if you don't want to."
Before Lihua finished her words, someone knocked on Xiu Yu's door. The person knocking was Liang Jiugong.
Xiu Yuyuan was a quick-thinking science student with a good memory. She looked at Liang Jiugong and said with a smile, "Is your master itching to play chess again?"
Liang Jiugong didn't answer Xiu Yu's question, but just showed her something, and then said in a voice that only Xiu Yu could hear: "Yu Gege, my master invites you."
That bright yellow object indicated the identity of the master of Liang Jiugong's household. Xiu Yu thought to herself, "What a coincidence! I just arrived in Beijing and I've already met the Emperor? And I've even won something from him?"
"Please wait a moment." True to form, the soldiers arrived so quickly. Xiu Yu whispered a few words to Lihua, and before Lihua could react, she and Liang Jiugong left the inn.
A carriage had been prepared outside the inn. Liang Jiugong helped Xiu Yu get on board and said, "I drove fast, please don't blame me, Princess."
Xiu Yu Yanran said: "I am a Manchu princess who grew up on horseback. In my eyes, only faster is better."
Liang Jiugong lowered his head slightly. He admitted that he was a little hesitant to look at this princess from the Guo Luoluo family. Even though he had long since mastered the skill of "treating women as nothing", Princess Xiu Yu's face was indeed too beautiful.
After Xiu Yu sat down in the carriage, Liang Jiugong raised his whip and hit the horse's buttocks, and the horse pulled the carriage towards the northwest.
When Xiu Yu got out of the car, she saw a garden covered in dead trees that looked dilapidated. She looked around and decided that this would be Emperor Kangxi's favorite Changchun Garden.
"Please follow me, Princess." Liang Jiugong extended his hand in invitation, and then led the way.
Xiu Yu followed Liang Jiugong with his hands behind his back, feeling the desolation before Changchun Garden prospers again.
A smaller dragon boat was parked on the lake that had long been frozen. Xiu Yu was brought onto the boat by Liang Jiugong. In the cabin, Xuanye was sitting behind a sandalwood snack table carved with dragons and phoenixes. When he saw Xiu Yu coming, a smile unconsciously appeared on his face.
Xiu Yu already knew that this person was the current emperor. She knelt on one knee and saluted, saying, "Guo Luoluo Xiu Yu pays her respects to the emperor. Yu'er did not know you were the emperor before, so I apologize for any offense. I beg your forgiveness."
"Ignorance is not a crime. Princess Xiu Yu, please stand up." Xuanye still wanted to help Xiu Yu up himself, but he could not ignore his dignity as the emperor, so he signaled Liang Jiugong to help Xiu Yu up.
The situation was quite awkward at the time. Xiu Yu lowered her head slightly and for a moment she didn't know what topic to start.
"Your chess skills..."
“Your chess skills…”
The two people blurted out the words almost at the same time, and then laughed at the same time.
Xuanye said, "I have only recently discovered this garden. Apart from you, me, and Liang Jiugong, there is no one else here. There is no need to be formal. Please take a seat."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Xiu Yu was not a shy person. She had always been neither humble nor arrogant in front of her superiors. Facing the emperor, a bigger "leader", there was naturally no need for her to be submissive.
Xuanye waved Liang Jiugong away, picked up the wine pot on the dining table, and wanted to add more wine to Xiu Yu.
Xiu Yu naturally said "I dare not", and after taking the wine pot into his own hand, he filled the wine cup next to Xuanye first.
"Actually, I feel a little abrupt in calling you here so soon." Xuanye looked at Xiuyu's profile and felt more and more that Sanguan Bao had given birth to a very beautiful daughter. "But to be honest, I'd like to see you."
Does this mean… you're confessing your feelings after just two meetings? Xiu Yu secretly sneered. If someone else had said this, Xiu Yu would have rolled her eyes and stayed away from them from then on. But the one saying this was the Emperor, the man she would be clinging to for the next few decades. Even if it was just for her livelihood, shouldn't she have answered properly?
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