Heaven's Daughter

Chapter 5 - First Lady of Lan Manor

"So you are the one I've been looking for," Zhang Sheng crooned. Hiding nearby he watched her in amusement. He was enthralled by the young girl he had just met, he couldn't bear to leave but it wasn't just because of her outspoken personality. It was the transparent mark on her forehead that had kept him from leaving. He was sure that mark was none other than the mark of the Goddess of Eden. He had found the girl of destiny.

"I'm supposed to fall in love with this little girl? Quite unlikely," he thought to himself and laughed. Something about her did strike her familiar as if he had seen her before but he couldn't remember where. He shrugged off the thought and continued watching her.

He chuckled at her sudden action. She dared to rip out the hairpin and shove it into her bag with disdain. Not long after, a gentleman in dressed in dark green robes had approached her. He recognized the gentleman.

Zhang Sheng couldn't help but frown at the scene that had unfolded before him. That cute young girl really did have good taste in men. The man who bought her a gift was a complete gentleman and nothing like the womanizer he was. It irked him that she sneered at the hairpin that he had given her yet stared affectionately at the plain ribbon that she had received from her Shifu. No woman has ever treated him like that before. It was almost refreshing and irritating at the same time.

He watched until the two of them disappeared into the crowd and finally decided to finish what he had originally came to do.

Zhang Sheng couldn't help but chuckle at the young girl he just met after he left the market. He had initially wanted to buy the jade hairpin for Feng Jiu, the General's daughter but seeing the cute reaction from the young girl, he couldn't help but give her the hairpin. It seemed like she really was intent on buying the jade hairpin and besides, it looked quite nice on her. As he thought more and more of the young girl, he couldn't help but wish she were older. She was quite pretty for her age and given time she was sure to grow into a beautiful woman. He sighed as the duo walked away. He didn't have time to follow them. No matter, he thought. He had already marked the hairpin. He was surprised to find such a rare type of jade in this town. The hairpin was made out of a type of jade that can connect two souls together. When he placed the hairpin into the girl's hair, he had already merged his energy into the hairpin. The moment the girl touched the hairpin, both their souls had already been connected. No matter where she was, he could pin point her exact location. All he needed was to find another the same type of jade and he would even be able to communicate with her.

He strolled back to the high end inn where he had been staying the night before. In front of it was Chen Ling, who paced back in forth. He had been waiting impatiently for him.

"Your highness, you're going to be late to meet with Madam Feng and Miss Jiu. Did you even find a suitable gift for Miss Jiu?" Chen Ling asked when he finally noticed him.

"Ah... the gift. I did find one." Zhang Sheng's thoughts drifted back to the cute young girl and he chuckled. Chen Ling's brows furrowed and cocked his head to the side. He wondered if his young master had gone crazy.

"I heard a fun rumor while I was in the market," Zhang Sheng told him. His bodyguard frowned. Whenever he heard his young master use the word 'fun' it always meant trouble for him. Chen Ling was about to speak up when he noticed his young master was smiling more than normal.

"Did something happen else also happen when you were in the market?" he asked suspiciously. Zhang Sheng grinned and raised a perfect brow.

"That is my secret to keep," he simply said and darted off into the inn to change into appropriate attire of a prince.

Zhang Sheng dreaded the thought of going to visit Feng Jiu. She was about the same age as him but she was extremely childish and spoiled. He had seen off hand what Feng Jiu was capable of as a person. She treated servants as nothing more than dirt beneath her feet. Having been born a son from humble beginnings, he despised women like her. She had become his fiancée when the First Lady, the daughter of the first wife of the Lan Manor had suddenly died of an illness. He didn't care too much for his dead fiancée either because he had only met her once. The girl was eight years his junior. She was only seven years old when he had been betrothed to her. Honestly, he had already read many erotic novels and even experimented with several girls from the Flower House by then. There was no way he was going to tie himself down with a child but when he heard that his sudden engagement was switched to the second miss instead, he suddenly wished the first miss hadn't died. He could at least wait until the first miss was of age and then he could do whatever he wanted with her.