Princess In The Palace

22. Her Beautiful Departure

Chapter 22.

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recap: in the previous chapter, Ān Yù agreed that Yì Rán should be adopted by Rù Yáo. Yì Rán was finally adopted by the latter. The girl began training and learning, but she was not able to master it immediately. After two months of not meeting her aunt and sister, she was finally allowed to meet them on the fifth day of new year. On her way to the hut she used to live in, she met Second Prince who knew about her adoption and called her his aunt. He then pulled her along to accompany him in the city, something that he always did with his eunuch.

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The night had fallen and the world had darkened. Stars were scattered on the clear sky that night and the moon shone brightly, illuminating the earth with its dim light. However, uneasiness filled Pī Yáng's heart, as her little sister had yet to arrive that day. She had been waiting outside their hut, pacing back and forth, sticking out her neck to look at all possible directions she could come from and holding both her hands together, praying for her safety. When she heard the sound of rustling from afar and noticed two figures walking towards her, she squinted her eyes hard and recognised the girl in front as her little sister.

"Sister!" The girl called out. Pī Yáng hurriedly ran towards her, heaving a sigh of relief that nothing bad had happened to her.

"Why are you so late?" She asked. The girl was scared of telling the truth and hence just conjured up some lies on the spot.

"I met an old woman who seemed to be in trouble and helped her first."

"Alright. Come, come. Your aunt cannot wait to see you." Pī Yáng swung her hand around the girl's shoulders, leading her back into the hut before she noticed another figure standing nearby, watching both of them.

"This young man is...?"

"He is-"

"I was just helping to send this young girl back home. It is too late already and I think it is not good to let her walk home alone." Second Prince instantly voiced up, covering his real identity with a white lie and a grin. Seeing that the sky was turning dark, he nodded his head and excused himself from both of them.

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"What is that?" She held her face up high proudly, stretching out her slender arm, caressing her fluffy cat which sat just right beside her. She did not bother looking at her servant who was talking to her and just paid attention to the mirror, admiring herself.

"This is what Your Servant received from Xiǎo Wěi from First Prince's belongings. First Prince had been secretly painting several copies of this." Upon the mention of her son, she immediately turned around and her fingers reached out for the roll of painting on her servant's hands. She spread the painting, instantly able to recognise the face on it. It was a girl dressed in white, wearing a bamboo hat and had a veil draped over the hat with the front part lifted up. In the girl's hand was a basket filled with herbs and snuggling up to the girl's feet was a white cat with a black patch of fur on its body. Her fingers found its way to the painting, caressing over the surface.

"My Hóng Er surely is extremely talented," she commented. "Sadly he is wasting it on an irrelevant girl," she continued, scrunching up the painting in her tight grasp. She opened up her fist, letting the scrunched up ball of painting roll down and away from her. She continued looking into the mirror, her fingers brushed past her hair carefully.

"I heard she is now adopted by Minister Yú."

"Yes, Your Highness." Empress chuckled as she looked away from the mirror, pushing her body up, heading towards the low table located up on the platform of her bedchamber and sat down on a cushion.