One day, Su Rong and Fen Ling arrived in the Capital City with ten days still remaining until the examination.
Fen Ling asked quietly, "Master, should we find a place to stay first? Or should we visit the Young Master at his residence?"
Glancing up at the evening sky, Su Rong felt her stomach growl with hunger. "Let’s go and eat first!"
Fen Ling nodded, "Shall we just opt for a random place?"
"Hmm," Su Rong hummed, tapping her horse into a trot for a few paces, then suddenly spoke, "No, let’s go to the Eastern Palace. They should have decent food there, and we won’t need to spend any silver."
Fen Ling: "..."
Is saving silver really the goal here?
Su Rong didn’t care. In terms of comfort, no place in Capital City could possibly compare to the Imperial Palace and the Eastern Palace. She wanted to enjoy a satisfying meal and find a place where she could take a petal bath and sleep quite comfortably.
They ventured further into the Capital City, past the City Gate, and Su Rong estimated the location of the Imperial City. She guided them towards the Eastern Palace in the direction indicated.
Fen Ling suppressed his concerns for a while before warning, "Master, shouldn’t we clean ourselves off and change our clothes before we visit the Eastern Palace? Should we visit them in such a dirty state?"
He wasn’t being critical of themselves, but they had gathered so much dust on their clothes that they were unrecognizable. Going directly to the Eastern Palace would surely dirty the Crown Prince’s place, wouldn’t it?
The Eastern Palace must be spotless, right?
Su Rong, dismissed it. "When I saved the crown prince behind the City God Temple in Jiangning County a few months ago, he was in a miserable state. I didn’t mind and still helped him."
Indirectly saying, being noble and cultured as he is, he wouldn’t mind her, would he?
Fen Ling was persuaded, "Alright then!"
You are the master! Your word is final!
Thus, without further delay, they started to make their way to the Eastern Palace.
The gates, both front and back, of the Eastern Palace were heavily guarded.
After pondering for a while, Su Rong decided to approach the back gate. She told the gatekeeper, "Please notify the Crown Prince. Someone from Jiangzhou wishes to meet him."
The gatekeeper stared at Su Rong, his eyes full of doubt. However, he didn’t reveal any signs of disgust. As part of his routine check, he asked, "Why didn’t you come through the front gate?"
"Isn’t it inconvenient?" Su Rong blinked.
The gatekeeper paused, then asked, "So, do you have a token?"
"No!"
The gatekeeper hesitated, wanting to dismiss them. But he worried about being punished for not letting in someone significant to the Crown Prince, and after saying "Please wait a moment", he went to inform the Crown Prince.
Leaning towards Su Rong, Fen Ling whispered, "The gatekeeper isn’t looking down on us, it seems the Crown Prince keeps good order here."
Su Rong only hummed in response.
Many gatekeepers in large estates are often guilty of judging visitors on their appearance. After all, Su Rong and Fen Ling certainly did not look like distinguished guests. Dust covered them from head to toe as they appeared weary and battered, completely lacking any form of elegance.
As Yan Huisheng, the Crown Prince, emerged from his bookroom, he was informed that a man and a woman were at the back gate requesting to see him, having travelled from Jiangzhou. He was asked for his instructions.
Yan Huisheng’s steps faltered noticeably. "Did you ask for their names?"
The servant changed his color and quickly apologized, "Please forgive me, I failed to ask for their names because they were covered in dust, looking weary and battered ... I only asked if they had a token, and they said they didn’t. I completely forgot to ask for their names ...."
The servant immediately turned around, "Allow me to ask them now."
Yan Huisheng stopped him, "Nevermind, I’ll go myself!"
The servant was shocked. He let the Crown Prince pass, relieved that he didn’t carelessly send away the visitors. Earlier, the Crown Prince had never personally received anyone bar the king. Even when the queen made a visit to the Eastern Palace, the Crown Prince only greeted her outside of his bookroom or sleeping hall.
The Crown Prince walked towards the back gate. His steps weren’t large, but he walked quickly. The gatekeeper had to jog lightly to keep pace.
While on the way, they ran into the housekeeper of the Eastern Palace, Zheng Xi. Seeing the Crown Prince rushing, he asked, "Your Highness, are you leaving the palace?"
"No."
Confused, Zheng Xi wanted to ask "Then where are you going?" but the Crown Prince was already far away. He quickly grasped the arm of the gatekeeper trailing behind Crown Prince and asked in a low voice, "What’s the matter? Where is the Prince going?"
"Visitors from Jiangzhou have arrived. His Highness said he’d greet them at the gate in person." The guard quickly informed him.
Startled, Zheng Xi did not dwell on the matter and quickly caught up with the Crown Prince.
Initially, Su Rong thought they would have to wait at least half an hour. After all, the Eastern Palace was massive, and to pass the message through each layer until it reached Yan Huisheng would certainly take a while. However, surprisingly enough, the gatekeeper, after failing to find the housekeeper, directly entered Yan Huisheng’s study room to relay the message. It only took the time for two or three pots of tea to be brewed before the back door swung open, revealing a majestically noble man.
He wore a dark-colored brocade robe, the patterns traced with golden lines. Tall and slender, his seemingly jade-like face exuded an air of nobility and elegance.
He saw a man standing against the wall and a woman crouched against it, looking utterly bored. Both looked as haggard as the gatekeeper had described, with features obscured by the dust. He was taken aback for a moment.
"Master, get up, His Highness the Crown Prince is here." Fen Ling recognized the four-clawed python robe on Yan Huisheng and was startled. ’Is this the Crown Prince? Is he so approachable? Not only did he not send someone to escort us into the palace, but he came personally?’
Su Rong had also spotted the man. She leisurely stood up, detached herself from the wall, and stopped a few steps away from Yan Huisheng. She greeted him with a wave, "Hello, your Highness, the Crown Prince. I am Su Rong."
Yan Huisheng was dumbfounded at the sight of Su Rong. He tried to align the image in his memory with the person who had saved his life by the river, but it was futile. He managed a friendly laugh, "Have you just... arrived in the Capital City?"
"Yes, I have come to join you," Su Rong replied without daring to pat the dust off herself, fearing it might annoy Yan Huisheng. "I fought my way here and I am exhausted. I didn’t want to bother my older brother with his studies. I couldn’t be bothered to find a place for myself and deal with the hassle of settling down, so I came directly to you."
The underlying meaning of her words was ‒ she was planning to eat, drink, and stay at his place, saving herself the trouble of managing everything.
Yan Huisheng laughed, covering his mouth to cough a little, and with a smile, he nodded, "You’re most welcome."
After saying that, he looked towards Fen Ling, "And who might this be?"
"My guard."
Stepping forward yet always half a step behind Su Rong, Fen Ling respectfully introduced himself, "I am Fen Ling, at your service, your Highness."
Yan Huisheng nodded, his expression returning to its initial calm state. He then turned to the housekeeper and ordered, "Prepare the Yuzhen Pavilion, the one closest to my sleeping palace. "
Wide-eyed, Zheng Xi hurriedly agreed, "I’m on it."
After saying this, he inquired tentatively, "Should the two of you follow me?"
Yan Huisheng gestured for him to proceed, "You go ahead and prepare. I will personally escort them there."
The housekeeper was even more taken aback. He kept nodding and rushed off.
Yan Huisheng gestured for Su Rong to proceed. Su Rong stepped up to follow him. Fen Ling, amazed at the face their Master’s savior had made, followed them into the Eastern Palace.
With the two of them entering, the back gate of the Eastern Palace was shut again. The gatekeeper admonished himself to guard the gate more diligently in the future and to deal cautiously with all visitors.
As he was considering this, he saw Yan Huisheng turn around and say to him, "Good job. Go to the accounting department later for your reward."
The man, overjoyed, knelt to express his gratitude, "Thank you, your Highness!"
Yan Huisheng turned his head back and asked Su Rong, "Healed yet?"
"Yes."
"When did you leave Jiangzhou?"
"Ten days ago."
"Did it take so long because the journey was fraught with danger?" Yan Huisheng frowned, "When you said you fought your way here, did you get hurt?"
"I was poisoned once." Su Rong spoke casually, "Thankfully, I foresaw such a situation and brought a lot of antidotes with me. Otherwise, I might not have reached the Capital City unscathed."
Yan Huisheng pursed his lips, "Was it the Nanchu assassins again?"
"Yes, five groups of them." Su Rong said, "It seems like not only the Nanchu Queen wants to kill me, these five groups had different modus operandi. It’s clear they weren’t commanded by the same person."
The last time she had left the city, it was the Nanchu Queen who had sent her people. After that, however, it wasn’t.
"Did you retaliate?" Yan Huisheng thought about how if she had let any of them escape, Nanchu would soon be aware of her arrival in the Capital City.
"I didn’t let anyone escape." Su Rong didn’t hide anything from Yan Huisheng. After all, honesty is important when working together.
Yan Huisheng stopped in his tracks and praised, "Impressive."
Su Rong waved a hand, feigning modesty, "Just so-so!"
Yan Huisheng laughed.
Su Rong noticed that the Crown Prince loved to laugh, and because he was good-looking, his laughter was pleasant. She thought to herself, ’No wonder he’s so popular. He’s so down to earth.’
When they arrived at the Yuzhen Pavilion, Zheng Xi was seen bustling around with his staff. When he saw Yan Huisheng arriving with guests, Zheng Xi hurriedly said, "Warm water has been sent from the kitchen. Our esteemed guests can refresh themselves first and then have dinner. As soon as we are done tidying up, we will arrange the place appropriately."
Yan Huisheng nodded, and said to Su Rong in a soft voice, "Go freshen up."
Su Rong nodded, followed a palace maid for a few steps, then suddenly asked, "Is it a flower petal bath?"
The housekeeper hurriedly said, "Yes, yes." 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮
Su Rong felt reassured.
Fen Ling muttered, "I don’t want flower petals."
The housekeeper quickly said, "You won’t have any."
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