Inside Yinghua Palace, Juan'er, the head palace maid serving Consort Wan, was beaming with joy, circling around Consort Wan.
He kept clapping and talking.
"Your Majesty, this is wonderful! We're accompanying the Ninth Princess to the Wanfo Temple to pray for His Majesty's well-being. This is an immense honor!"
"Those snobbish lackeys who look down on us will never dare to look down on us again!"
Juan'er's smile stretched almost to the back of her ears.
"In winter, the charcoal the Imperial Household Department gives us always has a layer of good charcoal on top, but underneath is all black charcoal. What a bunch of black-hearted bastards!"
"But our palace is deserted and we are out of favor. Going to the Imperial Household Department to demand an explanation won't get us any benefit!"
"Who in this palace doesn't know that the Ninth Princess is His Majesty's most favored princess!"
"This servant needs to go and make proper preparations in a while, to prepare things that His Highness and the Ninth Princess will need on their journey."
Consort Wan looked at Juan'er, who was beaming with joy, and simply smiled at her without saying anything.
Consort Wan's clothes were not fancy at all; she wore only a plain-colored long dress, and her hair was simply tied up with a wooden hairpin, making her look very simple and plain.
However, it was a bit too plain for the ladies in the palace.
She didn't smell of perfume, and there was no incense burning in her bedchamber.
"Back then, the jade necklace that Her Majesty gave to the Ninth Princess was definitely not a waste!"
"I heard that it was the Ninth Princess who went to His Majesty, wanting to go with our Highness."
"The Ninth Princess is indeed beautiful inside and out. She still remembers us when it comes to such a good thing."
Juan'er kept talking, as if she would never get tired.
"When I gave her the bracelet, I didn't think so much," Consort Wan said calmly, looking out the window.
"I just simply like that child."
There was once a baby girl in Linhua Palace, and it was a lively place for a while. However, the child was unlucky and was sick from birth, so she did not survive.
"Your Majesty, have you remembered something else..."
Juan'er saw that Consort Wan was lost in thought and gently patted her shoulder.
Consort Wan shook her head: "It would be good to be able to leave the palace and get some fresh air."
"However, if Dong'er goes outside, I'm worried that people will laugh at his stutter."
[Especially the monks in the temples, and the eunuchs and maids in the palace, they're bound to gossip about Dong'er.]
"If anyone dares to laugh at our prince, this servant will grab a big stick and chase after him to beat him!"
Juan'er put her hands on her hips, her face showing a fierce expression.
"You..."
...
In the capital, on Chang'an Avenue, a notice was posted: the number of Imperial Guards has increased, the quantity of goods to be delivered has increased by one hundred, and the delivery period has been extended by half a month.
The manager of Jinxiu Silk Shop was overjoyed when he saw the notice. He hurried to the shop and happened to run into the person delivering the letter to Liao Ziwan.
Liao Ziwan also learned of this good news.
"Sister Ziwan, now we have plenty of time!"
"yes!"
Liao Ziwan breathed a sigh of relief. She was naturally unaware of the machinations between Yun Duoduo and Xiao Jinyu, and simply assumed that the increased number of palace guards had delayed the delivery time.
"Let's go, let's get the clothes we prepared ready first."
"Um!"
Liao Ziwan and the silk shop's managers and employees gradually arranged the clothes, began packing them into boxes, counting them, and moving them into the warehouse.
...
The Nanyang Imperial Palace was already in a flurry of activity. Ever since the news spread that the Ninth Princess was going out of the palace to pray for blessings, the eunuchs of the Imperial Household Department had been busy preparing sedan chairs, paper umbrellas, water jugs, food and other necessities.
With the Buddha's Birthday approaching, Yun Duoduo decided to stop wasting time and began packing.
“Aunt Xiang, put this dagger in your boot.”
Yun Duoduo handed a short blade to A Xiang, and bent down to insert a sharp silver dagger into her boot.
"By the way, where did you put the poison Zhuangzhuang made last time and the smoke powder I made?"
"Here."
As Ah Xiang spoke, she took out several small bags from under the bed and handed them to Yun Duoduo.
“Aunt Xiang, let’s both take some. This red bag contains a one-day poison. It won’t kill you, but it will make the poisoned person weak all over, collapse to the ground, and only recover the next day.”
"This blue bag contains smoke powder, which can blind the other party and temporarily prevent them from seeing us."
"If there are too many of them and we still can't beat them, we'll use this to escape first."
Ah Xiang nodded and stuffed several bags of medicinal powder into her bosom.
"Okay, hopefully we won't run into any ruthless bandits."
Although the imperial court has dealt with most of the bandits in various places, there are still some mountain bandits and ruthless bandits who occupy the mountains and are entrenched in the suburbs. Because they are elusive and familiar with the terrain, the local government can not find them and therefore cannot completely eliminate them.
Encountering bandits is manageable; they rob you of your money but not your virtue. But encountering ruthless bandits is troublesome; they rob you of your money and your virtue, and some even leave no survivors—they are incredibly vicious.
The Empress Dowager had always traveled on the official road to Wanfo Temple on previous occasions, accompanied by a group of imperial guards, and had not encountered any bandits.
Moreover, the Empress Dowager was highly skilled in martial arts and had a great reputation, so few dared to provoke her.
This time, in order to pray for good fortune before the Buddha's Birthday and Yun Beiye's birthday, Yun Duoduo decided to take a shortcut.
Before leaving, Yun Duoduo went to Shouchang Palace and bowed to the Empress Dowager, who was dressed in a royal blue silk gown and had a noble demeanor, to say goodbye.
After giving a few instructions, the Empress Dowager let Yun Duoduo go.
Yun Beiye was still attending the morning court session, so she didn't disturb him.
After everything was ready, Yun Duoduo arrived at the palace gate, got into the sedan chair, and prepared to depart.
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