In a side courtyard of the East Palace, Wang Yuan was drawing her eyebrows in front of the mirror. Her makeup skills were undoubtedly superb. Before long, the face in the mirror was made to look exactly like Ning Yin's.
The old nanny behind her couldn't help but open her mouth wide, looking incredulous. If she didn't know that the person in front of her was just a lowly servant, she probably would have thought that this was the real Crown Princess.
Wang Yuan saw Guan Mama's astonishment in the mirror, and felt even more smug. After completing the last step, she turned around and smiled at Guan Mama.
"Granny Guan, look at me, don't I look like the Crown Princess?"
Granny Guan nodded, sighing inwardly. It did look similar, but it was all in vain. It seemed His Highness wanted this lowly maid to deceive him and do some dangerous things.
She pondered, a barely perceptible hint of mockery appearing in her eyes. After all, she was an old hand in the palace, and she was bound to hear some rumors. She figured this lowly maid was probably in grave danger.
Seeing that Granny Guan only nodded, Wang Yuan continued.
"Granny, when will His Highness come to see me? And did you give him the sachet I gave him last time? Did he like it?"
Her eyes were filled with anticipation. As for the embroidery skills, the sachet she made was much better than the one she had seen last time. Although that one was not bad, it was far inferior to her own.
When Granny Guan recalled the Crown Prince's utterly disgusted expression and chilling voice when he saw the sachet last time, a lump formed in her throat.
"Hmph, is your sachet even presentable? I've already thrown it away..."
"Throw it away, Granny Guan! I spent several sleepless nights embroidering that. You just throw it away like that? Do you know how powerful I will be in the future? Crushing you will be as easy as crushing an ant for me!"
Wang Yuan was furious and slammed her fist on the table with a ferocious expression. Only now did Granny Guan realize the difference between Wang Yuan and the Crown Princess.
The Crown Princess is gentle and kind, and always has a bright smile on her face, which this lowly maid can hardly imitate.
Looking at Wang Yuan's bloodshot eyes, Granny Guan sneered, "So what if I threw her away? What, do I have to report to you? You worthless wretch, you're not even a concubine, what are you pretending for?"
"You—slap, slap, slap..."
Just as Wang Yuan was about to get up, she was slapped several times across the face. Granny Guan's slaps were extremely strong, and she was left dizzy and disoriented.
The fingerprints were quickly left on Wang Yuan's face, clear and terrifying.
"You, you dare to hit me!"
Wang Yuan was furious and covered her face, glaring at Granny Guan with tears in her eyes. Just then, the chief eunuch Chen Dechang came over and happened to see the scene.
Last night, upon learning that Ning Yin had been kidnapped by thieves, Xiao Xuan immediately sealed off all the checkpoints and mobilized all the Qingyu Guards to search house to house in the capital. He himself led two teams of secret guards to the manor on the outskirts of the capital to look for her.
Before leaving, he instructed Chen Dechang to keep the news under wraps and to announce to the outside world that the whereabouts of the imperial criminal had been discovered.
He couldn't let this scheme of luring the snake out of its hole fail at the last minute, nor could he allow his Aning to be in the slightest danger.
That day, he promised the emperor that as long as Xiao Ling was handed over to him, he would hand over Ning Yin to be sacrificed to heaven.
The emperor believed it to be true and knew of Xiao Ling's ambition, so he actually found an excuse to trick Xiao Ling into coming back.
Therefore, Chen Dechang came today to check on Wang Yuan's studies in order to prepare for the sacrificial ceremony three days later.
Wang Yuan's chances of survival are indeed slim, but even if she doesn't die on the day of the sacrificial ceremony, Xiao Xuan will not let her off easily after she returns.
Chen Dechang glanced meaningfully at the woman in front of him. She was dressed in a magnificent palace gown, with a fine kingfisher feather hairpin in her hair. Her makeup and features were very similar to those of a woman, but suddenly several fingerprints were added, ruining the beauty of her appearance.
He frowned and quickly stepped forward. "What happened? Did you slap me?"
Granny Guan sensed the anger in Chen Dechang's tone and hurriedly knelt down. "Your Excellency, Miss Yunzhu is not studying properly. I acted impulsively and hit her by mistake."
"I didn't study properly. You were the one who lost the sachet I gave to His Highness. I said a few words to you, and you hit me and even called me a concubine. Eunuch Chen, you must stand up for me!"
Wang Yuan wiped away her tears, looking at Chen Dechang with a wronged expression.
Chen Dechang sneered, his eyes narrowed slightly, and then he kicked Granny Guan hard in the stomach.
"Who gave you permission to hit her? How dare you! You've ruined a perfectly good face like this! Guards, drag Granny Guan out and beat her to death!"
Granny Guan never expected that Chen Dechang would beat her to death just because she slapped this lowly maid a few times, so she hurriedly grabbed Chen Dechang's leg tightly.
"Eunuch Chen, this old servant didn't mean it! Please spare my life!"
"Hmph, I'll spare you, but you've ruined His Highness's grand plan. You deserve to die a thousand deaths. Now, drag him away!"
Chen Dechang angrily flicked the duster and turned to check Wang Yuan's injuries. "Quickly summon the imperial physician, and bring the Snow Skin Cream as well!"
Seeing Chen Dechang's anxiety, Wang Yuan finally felt relieved and said that she held a very high position in His Highness's heart.
See how worried His Highness's head steward is about him? That old nanny, she's been fed up with her for a long time, and she deserved to be beaten to death today. Who told her to be so tactless and dare to offend him?
"Miss Junzhu, you must take good care of your face. It's okay if you get hit anywhere else, but if your face is ruined, we won't be able to save you."
Chen Dechang ordered the imperial physician to apply a skin-whitening cream to her, while he stood beside her, carefully examining Wang Yuan's entire face.
Thankfully, my cheeks were a little red. This skin-brightening cream is really effective; the redness and swelling subsided almost completely shortly after I applied it.
This is the last bottle of Snow Skin Cream in the Eastern Palace. I wonder if His Highness has found the Empress.
Chen Dechang pondered to himself, then gave Wang Yuan a few more instructions before leaving.
Over here, Xiao Xuan rode his fast horse from village to village, carefully searching house to house. He had considered that Ning Yin's disappearance was very likely the work of Shen Yun.
Therefore, he ordered Qingying to search through all the residences of officials who had connections with Shen Yun.
However, Shen Yun is now a wanted criminal of the court, and those who are afraid of death probably wouldn't dare to take him in. But now he has no other choice but to conduct a thorough search, leaving no stone unturned in looking for any place where Shen Yun might be hiding.
But after searching for a whole day, the message Qingying sent him still yielded no clues whatsoever.
Even those officials clearly stated that they had never seen Shen Yun.
With the sun about to set, he worried that Shen Yun would take advantage of the darkness to move his position, making it even harder to find him the next day.
"Search thoroughly, don't miss a single corner!"
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