The Badass Princess of China

Chapter 9 - China's Landmarks

Marinette's Pov:

I ran to my room and got into the shower, washed my hair, curled it  and put it up in a high ponytail. I then walked into my closet and took out a comfortable off the shoulder jumpsuit with some beige platform strappy heels.

When I got downstairs everyone was waiting. I made a quick call and in a few minutes my limo had arrived to take us to the first of many destinations I had planned for this day. The first stop we went to was called 'The Temple of the Sun' which was a beautiful Temple but what I loved most about it was the park and gardens around the Temple. The temple was built in 1530 during the late Ming Dynasty. We took a tour around the Temple learning about its culture. I added some different facts about it which the tour guide left out.

"How do you know all this stuff about this place?" Sabrina asked curiously.

Oh no, the reason I know all this is because the royal family needs to know everything about China, it's History and Culture!

"Oh, I did a research project on it when I use to live here. I only remember everything about it because I'm actually here. I would never know this stuff if you asked me about it before," I lied.
"Oh, that makes sense," Sabrina replied as we continued on.

 After the tour which went for an hour I took them around the surrounding park and gardens for half an hour before heading off to the next place. We then arrived at the 'Marble Boat' also known as the Boat of Purity and Ease. It is a lakeside pavilion on the grounds of the Summer Palace in Beijing. It was built in 1755 during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor.

After a short walk around the 'boat' we went and had a tour of the Summer Palace.

"This is where some of the previous Emperors and Empress' use to stay when they needed a break from the palace. The Summer Palace was built in 1750 so every once in a while when  anyone from the Royal Family would need to get away from the royal life they would take a retreat here. It's kind of like their holiday house. Anyway, with modern day transport it wasn't really used anymore as you can come down here and be back at the palace within an hour. So the royal family's extended family lives here now. Or they stay here while they visit. The only extended family members that don't stay here are the King's younger half-sister, her husband and their son when he visits. They live in the palace since they are the Lady and Lord in Waiting and their son is the Empress' future Lord in Waiting. So they need to be at the palace to help out. Anyway, but the palace is more in land so the extend family stays here where there are more activities to keep them occupied and it uses the space of this palace. If the royal family didn't use it parliament said they would knock it down to build a shopping centre or something," I said as we walked through the palace. Suddenly I saw my Aunt and Uncle (Sabine and Tom) walking through the hall.

Shit, nobody can know they're staying here or I'm busted.

Luckily Nino had already seen them and started talking about a famous statue. I quickly texted them and told them to go to their rooms, they looked up and saw me with my class and were able to get away before anyone saw them.

Phew

We continued on the tour and I explained about all the historical factors of some of the monuments. I was surprised nobody was disinterested. I could see Chloe pretending she was listening when the class was looking at her but when their backs were turned to face me all she was doing was trying to make me laugh from the back of the group. After a while we finished up to head out to get some lunch.

We walked outside and went to a nearby restaurant. We had some traditional Chinese cuisines that everyone enjoyed. Except for Lila who refused to eat any of it since she thought it smelt weird and didn't want to try something that could be disgusting. She ended up getting a bowl of rice. She later ended up being very hungry. 

After walking around the city a bit we decided to call it a day and head back to the mansion. We continued to just talk about everything we had seen and done throughout the day in the limo. When we got back everyone else went to their rooms to get into their pjs. Nino then led the group to my indoor cinema while I went to the kitchen and asked for some popcorn and soft drinks to be brought to the cinema room in half an hour. I went back to my room got in my pjs and went into my secret lift.

Adrien's Pov:

Once we got back to Marinette's Mansion we all went to our rooms and got into our pjs. I got into some grey tracksuit pants and a black singlet and went out to see everyone coming out of their rooms.

"Okay, come on guys, this way," Nino said, how does he know where he's going?
"And why should we follow you? You don't know your way around the house just as much as we do," Lila said flipping her ponytail. I seriously hate that girl.
"Actually, I lived here as well. Me and Mari are like house mates," Nino said and everyone including me dropped their mouths open.
"What do you mean YOU lived here. If anyone should live with Mari it should be ME. Plus, aren't you with Alya. Don't tell me you've dated Mari before, and..."
"ADRIEN!" Everyone shouted at me making me stop rambling.
"Sorry, but, what do you mean you lived here before?" I asked. Everyone then looked at Nino agreeing with me.
"Firstly, I've never dated Mari. She's like a sister to me. And secondly, before me and Marinette moved to Paris we use to live here. But when we were round 8 we decided to move to Paris but still visit here often. We stopped visiting about 3 years ago due to studying for exams and getting ready for our senior years. But now we're back so everything will hopefully go back to the way it was, maybe," He explained.

Back to the way it was???? What does he mean by that????

"We'll talk more when we get to the movie room," He said turning a corner. I hadn't even realised we had all been walking. When we got to the movie room everyone's mouths dropped open again. 

HOLY SHIT