Twelfth Chapter

tary Affairs Bureau with a look of disgust on his face. Hearing Yun Qianyue’s last sentence, he raised an eyebrow and said, "Of course! This year’s martial champion competition is full of experts. Whe...Volumn 1: Smiling at the Splendor Chapter Twelve

After leaving the Scenic Garden, Li Yun immediately spotted her personal maid Cai Lian waiting with her head lowered.

Cai Lian's forehead was already bandaged; colorful ribbons covered up the bruise so that it wasn't noticeable upon casual observation. Her face had been washed very clean and looked pale and fair. At this moment, she stood there anxiously peering around until she saw Li Yun emerge. She immediately brightened up and hurriedly stepped forward to examine her mistress from head to toe, choking back a sob as she softly called out, "Miss..."

She seemed about to say something when Night Qingran standing beside Li Yun caused her to stop mid-sentence and take a step back. She then bowed respectfully towards Night Qingran, saying, "Servant greets the Young Noble Prince!"

"Mm." Night Qingran nodded, glanced at Cai Lian, and chuckled as his gaze landed on her bandaged forehead.

Li Yun felt a warmth in her heart; Cai Lian must have been worried about her nearly getting thrown into the Ministry of Justice's prison! She nodded and softly asked, "I'm fine. Did you put medicine on your forehead"

Cai Lian was taken aback—when had Miss ever cared about her Immediately, she nodded with an expression that suggested she felt honored, replying, "Miss, the wound has been treated. I’m glad to hear you're unharmed." She paused and glanced at Night Qingran hesitantly before whispering, "Servant heard what happened in the Scenic Garden and was worried about Miss’s safety, so servant secretly sent word back to Cloud Prince Manor..."

"Hm! So she did send the message. No problem!" Li Yun nodded, thinking that it was only normal for this young girl to have sent a message back to Cloud王府for help given such a major incident; otherwise something would be wrong. It seemed her decision earlier to spare this girl's life from the Fourth Prince wasn't mistaken—she appeared to be someone who remembered favors done to her. She continued walking and said, "Let's go! Leave the palace!"

"Yes." Cai Lian stepped aside and followed behind Li Yun.

Li Yun's heart, which had just felt a bit more at ease, began to feel slightly tense and pressurized again. She had managed to bluff her way through within the palace, but she didn't know what kind of situation awaited when they returned to Cloud王府. Whether or not she could continue blurring reality with fiction there was still uncertain. After all, that place belonged to this body's original owner, and there would be people who knew her best.

Along the way, palace maids and eunuchs saw Ye Qingran walking alongside Li Yun and respectfully greeted them from a distance, each one trembling in fear compared to how they usually behaved when she walked with the Fourth Prince. Li Yun glanced at the person beside her, wondering what kind of evil deeds he had committed for everyone to be so afraid of him like mice seeing cats.

"It feels really good to have everyone scared of you, doesn't it Little Sister Moon" Ye Qingran suddenly turned his head and asked Li Yun with a smile.

Li Yun's lips twitched; she was somewhat speechless.

Ye Qingran remained silent but looked extremely pleased as he hummed his little tune even more joyfully.

Cailian followed behind the two of them, watching as they walked side by side. She thought to herself that it would be better if Miss Li did not have feelings for the Crown Prince. Although Young Nobleman Dye seemed like a little devil, he appeared to treat Miss Li quite well. But could Miss Li possibly not have feelings for the Crown Prince After all, Miss Li was destined to become an empress one day, and the Crown Prince would eventually ascend to the throne; who else could she possibly have feelings for besides him

Ye Qingran did not speak another word.

Lǐ Yún naturally had nothing more to say either. She casually observed the imperial palace, getting a fairly good grasp of its layout and scenery as well as its main roads after just one walk through it. She thought that the Heavenly Saint Dynasty must be quite wealthy, judging from how magnificent this imperial palace was.

The trio soon exited the palace gates.

Many carriages were parked at the palace gates, some luxurious and others elegant, with servants or guards dressed in fine clothing standing before each one. Each carriage had a sign bearing its owner’s family name, indicating that they belonged to various noble families. One black carriage stood out among them: it was pulled by black horses and guarded by only one guard also dressed in black attire. It did not have a sign hanging from the front like the others, making it impossible to tell whose carriage it was. However, compared to the other carriages and their attendants, this all-black carriage was quite conspicuous.

Though the surrounding carriages were crowded together, they all maintained a distance of one zhang (approximately 3.3 meters) from the black carriage. While this detail might seem minor, it was precisely such subtle details that revealed the truth. Lǐ Yún thought to herself that the owner of this carriage must hold an extraordinary position; otherwise, no one would show such respect to a single carriage.

"If you don’t want to see daylight, just stay hidden. It’s better than causing others discomfort." Ye Qingran also noticed the black carriage and muttered to himself, his eyebrows furrowing slightly.

Although his voice was soft, Li Yun still heard it clearly. She also didn’t dare ask too many questions to avoid revealing her ignorance; it would be strange for everyone to know something that she didn't. Anyway, sooner or later, she would find out. She shifted her gaze away from the carriage and looked for the Cloud Prince’s Manor carriage. After circling around and not seeing any carriages with the Cloud Prince’s Manor emblem, she turned back to look at Cai Lian.

“Miss, your horse is over there!” Cai Lian immediately stepped forward and pointed to a chestnut horse not far away.

Li Yun looked in the direction that Cai Lian was pointing. She saw a glossy, shiny chestnut horse tied to a wooden post; the horse looked spirited, with an entirely gold saddle glistening under the sunlight. A bell and ribbons were hanging from its head, along with various small ornaments.

She thought no wonder she couldn’t find her own carriage—she had come on horseback. However, wasn’t it tiring for this horse to be hung with so many things She really didn't appreciate the aesthetic sense of the body's owner. This horse was just too pitiful.

She glanced out of the corner of her eye at the mocking looks from the wives and concubines of various manors, thinking no wonder this body wasn’t accepted by society! The daughters of prominent families all covered their faces when they went out and traveled in carriages. They abided strictly by the etiquette expected of women. However, she, as the owner of this body, rode a horse without covering her face—this was too brash and unconventional.

But she quite liked it! Especially after seeing this chestnut horse; she loved it even more. Being reserved wasn’t really her style at all.

Li Yun’s lips curled slightly as she turned to look at Ye Qingran, also not spotting the carriage of the Prince De Manor.

"My horse is there too!" Ye Qingran pointed with her hand.

Lǐ Yún followed the direction of Ye Qingran's finger and saw a tall, black stallion tied up not far from her chestnut mare. Unlike Lǐ Yún’s horse which was adorned with expensive saddle and various decorations on its head, this horse had nothing but the saddle on it. She couldn’t help but admire how light and simple it looked; this was what a riding horse should be!

"Looks like Little Sister Moon likes my horse. Why don't we swap" Ye Qingran smiled as she asked when she saw Lǐ Yún’s eyes lingering.

Lǐ Yún shook her head, "A gentleman does not take what others fancy. No need."

"How eloquently put! 'A gentleman does not take what others fancy.' When spoken by Little Sister Moon and heard by me, how intriguing it sounds! Haha..." Ye Qingran was momentarily stunned before bursting into laughter.

A chill ran down Lǐ Yún’s spine. The owner of this body, Yun Qianyue, and the Prince Xiao Wang beside her were certainly not people who would adhere to such a principle; their previous actions alone could attest to that. Upon seeing Ye Qingran laughing, Lǐ Yún briefly flashed an embarrassed expression before she sternly suggested with a straight face: "Laughing too much isn’t good for one’s health, it can make you age prematurely."

Ye Qingran's voice immediately cut off, her mouth open wide as if she didn't know whether to laugh or not.

Lǐ Yún saw that he was eating and this time she was satisfied. She smiled at him and said, "You go ahead first! Since Imperial Prince Jǐng sent Grand Eunuch Lù to convey the message, the Emperor knows about it too. How can I not wait for him Wouldn’t that be disobeying the imperial edict I’ll just wait here for a moment before leaving together with him."

Yè Qīngyǎn closed his mouth and thought that he seemed to lose face, but he couldn’t laugh again either. His mouth opened and closed several times before he saw Lǐ Yún’s amused look at him and suddenly got annoyed. He rapped her on the head and said with a smile, "You little brat, how come I didn't notice you becoming even more mischievous after seven years Does laughing too much make one age prematurely Why haven’t I ever heard of such a thing"

Lǐ Yún did not dodge and was actually hit on the head. Although it wasn’t painful, she had never been treated as a child before and couldn't help blushing, "Are you saying that no one else grows up either Why do you have to be so rough Laughing too much does make people age prematurely."

Her last sentence was said seriously. The more one laughs, the more wrinkles appear on their face. With more wrinkles, how can it not look old She wasn’t wrong after all. However, discussing such things with ancient people would be like playing music to a cow. She sighed and felt a headache again; this place is still in ancient times after all.

"Alright, you’re right. Let’s go then, why wait for that guy Uncle Emperor won’t blame you if he knows I’ve taken you away. Besides, how many things have you done that could get Uncle Emperor to blame you If everything was blamed on you, you would have died so many times already." Yè Qīngyǎn stretched out his hand and pulled Lǐ Yún towards the two horses tied up at the wooden post.

Lǐ Yún thought that it made sense too. She decided not to wait then. Anyway, as long as someone was accompanying her back to the Cloud Prince’s Manor, she would feel more secure. Whether it was Imperial Prince Jǐng or Little Wangyé Rǎn who accompanied her, they were both like two big Buddhas anyway.ht to herself that ancient people were very honest in their intentions when it came to giving sachets as gifts!"Water…" Róng Jǐng’s voice suddenly echoed from inside the room.Yun Qianyue immediately p...