Princess In The Palace

10. Her Sad Star

Chapter 10.

Sorry for the wait, but here is chapter 10! :)

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Recap: In the previous chapter, Yì Rán finally entered the palace and she learned the rules and duties from Jǐng Er, Empress Dowager's lady-in-waiting. Empress Dowager told Jǐng Er that she took Yì Rán as her servant because she did not want to see someone with the same face as her suffer and die by Empress' cruel ways. It seemed that her wishes were genuine as she allowed leniency on Yì Rán and chatted with her like a mother and daughter. When both First Prince and Second Prince coincidentally visited Empress Dowager on the same day, Second Prince had a gift for Empress Dowager and the latter asked her new servant to fetch it.

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So, if I turn left there, I will reach the Empress' palace. If I turn right, it is the Jade Garden, but if I turn right and left before I walk straight, it is the Autumn Leaves Pavilion. If I walk straight, it is the Imperial Jade Kitchen.

As days went by, the little girl began learning the pathways of the palace, the shortcuts, the longways and the sheltered ways. It was unusual for the Empress Dowager to send a new servant out to collect her necessities or supplies, but seeing how her eyes beamed the moment she was let to explore the palace, the mother of the Emperor allowed her to collect her palace's supplies which at the same time, allowed her to memorise the pathways in this huge palace. Of course she could not memorise all of it, she could only remember the ones she had and could pass by.

She was rarely able to leave the inner palace, it was this such moment when she needed to collect Empress Dowager's medicinal herbs that she was able to leave the inner palace.

She walked around the snaked pathways of the palace and left the gates of the inner palace, to the even more heavily-guarded part of the palace, the premises of the Emperor's palace. Then she turned left, further away from the Heaven's Son's palace and reached the sheltered pathways, walking along it to enter the Department of Medicine.

Some of the physicians had heard about the little girl who was taken in by the Empress Dowager, but not all had the chance to see her. Now, it was definitely their luck as the person who was frequently-gossiped about entered the Department of Justice premises itself.

"Your Highness Empress Dowager?"

"No, it is the servant who looked like Her Highness!"

She returned the Imperial Physicians' excitement with a forced smile, for she felt uncomfortable being surrounded by men who were awed by her similarity to the Empress Dowager.

"Your servant is here to collect Empress Dowager's medicinal herbs...um..."

"Her Highness' herbs? You should find Physician Lǐ. Now he is the one in charge of taking care of Her Highness. He should be inside that room." One of the younger physicians pointed towards the enclosed wooden doors right beside a potted plant. Before leaving, Yì Rán bowed in their directions. She strolled slowly towards the enclosed doors and stopped before it, hearing a faint sound of conversation coming from inside.

"Excuse me, Physician Lǐ, your servant from Empress Dowager's palace is here to collect Her Highness' medicinal herbs," she raised her voice slightly then noticed the conversation inside died down. Few moments later, the doors were opened from the inside and she saw an old man dressed in Imperial Physician robes standing right in front of him and another younger one wearing weirdly colourful robes sitting on a cushion before the low table in the room.

"You must be the new servant," Physician Lǐ said while turning around, never batting an eyelash at the girl who seemed anxious about entering the room. However, she ended up daring herself to enter the dark chamber and saw the man in colourful robes staring so intently at her that it made her conscious and uncomfortable.