Volume 1: Laughing at the Splendor Chapter 3

  Li Yun had no choice but to follow the Fourth Prince out of the pavilion with a gloomy face.

  Rong Jing? Qing Ran? She silently recited the two names she had just heard for the second time. As a newcomer, the most she had heard besides "Crown Prince" was these two names. It seemed that today's protagonists were these two people. As long as she was careful and didn't make any big mistakes, it shouldn't be discovered that she wasn't the original person anymore.

  With this in mind, Li Yun's originally tense and flustered heart stabilized a bit.

  After walking a few steps, the Fourth Prince turned his head and glanced at Li Yun, seeing that she no longer opposed him holding her hand, the corners of his mouth slightly curled up. A certain something flashed in his phoenix-like eyes, and his smile seemed to deepen.

  With years of keen intuition, Li Yun's eyes caught the subtle smile at the corner of the Fourth Prince's mouth. Whether it was a mule or a horse, whether he was a good person or a bad one, she had to bring him out for a walk to find out. Although going to Yuanying Garden today without any preparation and in a state of complete confusion was dangerous, wasn't it also an opportunity for her to quickly understand the current situation?

  "Such a disobedient maid, it's better to just beat her to death, why bother making you feel annoyed?" As he walked past the maid, looking at the bloodstains on her forehead and face, the Fourth Prince turned his head away in disgust.

  The maid was frightened by the words and "thudded" to the ground again, her small face pale, her whole body trembling, but she didn't beg for mercy.

  Li Yun also glanced at the girl, it seems that this girl is the personal maid of this body, otherwise why would she wake up with no one else around her but only this girl serving her? Since she was a personal maid, she would naturally be most familiar with this body. If there were even slight changes in her, they might be discovered, and the consequences would be unthinkable...

  If this girl dies, there will be one less danger...

  Li Yun stared at the girl, that thin and weak figure was now kneeling on the ground in a state of terrified silence. Where had her calmness and vitality gone when she woke up just now? She was only twelve or thirteen years old, in the prime of youth, yet she moved her eyes away and said indifferently: "She can still serve me, let's keep her."

  The girl seemed to have never thought that Li Yun would bypass her, and suddenly raised her head, looking at Li Yun in disbelief, with a glimmer of light breaking through her usually dull gaze.

  "It's just a lowly maid, after all. There are plenty of good ones that won't be any worse than this one. I can pick out ten or eight from my own household for you, guaranteed to listen to your every word and not dare disobey. It's better if the servant is obedient, lest trouble comes from their mouth." The Fourth Prince's voice was equally nonchalant.

  Li Yun thought to herself, it seems that this person has been here all along, hiding behind the fake mountain. Otherwise, how could he say those four words "disaster from the mouth"? Didn't he obviously hear what the maid said? A small maid plotting against the crown prince, isn't that a disaster from the mouth?

  The girl was suddenly frightened and hung her head down, constantly knocking her head, and never dared to lift it up again.

  "Alright, stop pretending, if you're exposed, how can I take you out in public again? Get up! Find a place to bandage yourself, and then go to the scenic garden to find me." Li Yun ignored the Fourth Prince's words, waving her hand. She spared this girl's life, hoping she would be more sensible in the future, even if she discovered that she wasn't the original young lady, she could still help her, and even if she didn't help, she wouldn't expose her.

  "Thank you, Miss Xie, for sparing me this time. I won't dare to do it again." The maid stopped kowtowing but didn't dare get up immediately, clearly afraid of the Fourth Prince.

  "When did you become so soft-hearted, little sister? You've changed maids one after another, what's special about this one?" The Fourth Prince stopped in his tracks and turned around to look at Li Yun with an inquiring gaze.

  "How can you be so talkative? Are you annoying or not? You're just a slave, my people I want to kill or spare as I please, what business is it of yours? Are you going to the scenic garden or not? If not, I'll head back to the mansion. It's better that way, so my slaves won't be an eyesore to you." Li Yun seized the opportunity and irritably shouted at the Fourth Prince.

  She was originally a clever person, from the conversation between this maid and the fourth prince, it seemed that the master of this body was very arrogant, no one looked at her in the eye, rarely suffered bullying by others, otherwise the maid would not have been indignant because she was pushed. And the fourth prince, regardless of his purpose, also repeatedly said that whoever dared to bully her, she decided to take a gamble. A prince was loudly scolded by her, let's see how he reacted.

  "I thought you had changed your ways! But it turns out you're still so arrogant, fine, I won't bother, after all, you're just a servant. Do you think I have nothing better to do? It's just that I'm afraid you'll get entangled with a maid because of me." The Fourth Prince's loud scolding didn't faze Li Yun at all, the smile at the corner of his mouth grew a few degrees, as if he was used to it.

  Being scolded also makes her happy? How despicable! Li Yun cursed silently in her heart while also feeling relieved, it seemed she had gambled correctly. She glanced at the little maid, and the little maid immediately stood up briskly, respectfully letting the two pass by.

  The fourth prince didn't say a word, and pulled Li Yun slowly around the fake mountain. In front of them were several crisscrossing jade stone roads. He pulled Li Yun towards the small path on the far right.

  Li Yun didn't dare speak easily and naturally didn't say a word, she just put on a straight face and pretended to look very unwell. Since he thought this was the normal her, then she would cooperate.

  The two walked for a while, and suddenly saw an old woman dressed in ancient attire, dressed as a maid, rushing over from the opposite side. When she saw her, she was delighted, but when she saw the fourth prince's face stiffen, she quickly covered up her emotions and hurried over to pay respects to the two of them. "This old slave greets Your Highness the Fourth Prince and Miss Shallow Moon. Her Majesty the Empress saw that Miss Shallow Moon has not yet arrived at the Viewing Garden, so she sent this old slave to come find you."

  Li Yun didn't know what to say, so she remained silent.

  The fourth prince changed his expression to a gentle smile and said, "It seems that I, as the son, have not yet won Mother's heart like my niece has. To have sent Granny Sun to find Eldest Miss, Mother is indeed increasingly doting on Eldest Miss. Hasn't Mother noticed that I didn't go either? Why didn't she send someone to look for me?"

  "Your Highness, you are wrong. The Empress Dowager sent someone to look for you early on, but we couldn't find you anywhere. When the Empress heard that Miss Shallow Moon had entered the palace, she didn't see her go to the Viewing Garden, so she sent me to look for you, fearing something might have happened." Sun Mama stood up straight and said with a calm demeanor.

  "It turned out to be the case, that was the unfilial son misunderstanding the empress dowager. Coincidentally, I just met Moon sister, let's go to Yuanyingyuan now. You go ahead and inform the empress dowager first." The fourth prince instructed Sun mama.

  "Yes!" The old lady looked at Li Yun again and turned around to quickly return along the original path.

  The fourth prince seemed unaware of the urgency and continued to stroll slowly with Li Yun.

  Li Yun digested the news she had just received, thinking that her body was actually the niece of the empress. Due to Sun's expression, she tried to pull out her hand from the fourth prince's grasp. The fourth prince's hand tightened his grip, not letting go. Li Yun glared at him, but he seemed oblivious. She gave up, anyway, what needed to be seen had already been seen, and it was too late for damage control.

  After passing through two corridors, the number of palace maids and eunuchs dressed up gradually increased. They held melons, fruits, and water trays in their hands, shuttling back and forth. Seeing that the two were holding hands together, they all showed surprise and disbelief on their faces, one by one, with strange expressions, asking for peace.

  Li Yun couldn't help but ignore the strange looks from those people, her mind focused on what was in front of her. She saw a lake not far away, which was more than twice as large as the one she woke up to earlier. The previous one could only be considered a pond.

  From a distance, the pavilions and towers in the center of the lake can be seen standing tall, with dozens of people standing, sitting or lying down inside. The flowers are red and the willows are green, with both men and women present, but their faces cannot be clearly seen, however everyone's clothes are bright and beautiful. It seems that this is the scenic garden poetry appreciation gathering being talked about today.

  Just as she was sizing him up, the Fourth Prince suddenly reached out and wrapped his arm around her waist. Before Li Yun could react, her body had already followed the Fourth Prince into the air, not even touching the jade bridge's surface, but instead stepping on the rippling waves of the lake like a dragonfly skimming the water, flying towards the viewing platform.

  Li Yun was suddenly startled, her head hadn't even had time to spin, and her feet were already on the ground. The dazzling scene was right in front of her eyes, she was dazed by it, and involuntarily closed her eyes, then opened them again instantly. Without turning back to look at the lake surface that had just passed by, she could clearly tell that this was indeed the legendary lightness kung fu that left no trace on water. It turned out that such a skill really existed in the world...

  She composed herself, turned around and glared at the Fourth Prince with a scowl, "You didn't even say a word, do you want to scare me to death?"

  The fourth prince smiled mischievously, his expression full of pride. "How could you be scared of Little Sister Yue? Your lightness skills are no worse than mine! It's just that I've just mastered the Water Treading Style and wanted you to experience it."

  Li Yun heard that she could also do qinggong, and her heart couldn't help but feel a little happy, but her face didn't move, and she coldly snorted, "Who knows what kind of trick you're playing on me again."

  "What a great injustice, I'm just teasing someone, how dare I tease my sister Yueliang?" The Fourth Prince immediately apologized. But he didn't let go of his hand around Li Yun's waist. Such an intimate gesture, he did it naturally and effortlessly.

  Li Yun imperceptibly furrowed her brow, she had already felt dozens of gazes falling on her and the Fourth Prince, becoming increasingly calm and not daring to move again, the irritation on her face was also increasingly apparent. Logically speaking, this body of Yunying was unmarried in ancient times, being intimate with a man like this was improper, especially when so many people were present, the Fourth Prince naturally knew this point, but he still didn't let go of her, seemingly having ulterior motives. She wanted to see what his intentions were?

  As expected, the Fourth Prince's words were met with a gentle cough, followed by a warm and thick female voice scolding him, "Yu'er, how come you're getting more and more mischievous? Don't open your eyes and look at your sister, see how scared she is."

  "Empress, you're not unaware that Moon's courage is as vast as the sky. Who could scare her away? You're biased and don't speak for yourself, yet blame your son." The Fourth Prince chuckled and slowly released his grip on Li Yun's hand and waist. As he spoke, he glanced meaningfully at the yellow-robed figure sitting to the Empress's left, implying: "However, today Moon was indeed frightened... I've never seen her being bullied to the point of hiding in the small pavilion by the Swan Pond, crying alone without daring to come to this garden..."

  Li Yun's mind moved and she followed the gaze of the fourth prince.

  All she saw was a young man in his early twenties sitting on the left side of the queen, and apart from the queen's bright red clothes, it was that yellow color that caught her eye. She only took one glance before shifting her gaze away, thinking to herself that this must be the owner of those four words she had heard countless times today - "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince".

  Digression

  I saw many relatives leave messages and collect support, I am deeply moved, thank you for believing in me, I will definitely work hard to code words! Group Momo O (∩＿∩) O ~