Prince Jin had been watching off to the side the entire time. The corner of his lips twitched. After bearing with it for a long moment, he gave in and spoke up. “This prince will send some men to escort you back to Prince Wei’s estate.”
It was only then that Royal Princess Duanjia turned around and noticed Prince Jin there. She wiped away the tears in her eyes before asking, “Fourth Brother, are you alright?”
“Just some minor wounds, they’ll heal soon. This prince has to continue investigating with the city guards, so Longcheng will escort you back with some men.”
“Mm, Fourth Imperial Brother, please be careful.”
The maidservants waiting at the side brought over a cloak and covered Royal Princess Duanjia with it. With Chu Lian supporting her, the two of them boarded a carriage driven by one of Prince Jin’s bodyguards.
The carriage went all the way into the main entrance of Prince Wei’s estate and even passed the screen at the entrance. There, it stopped.
Chu Lian alighted before Royal Princess Duanjia, so she was the first to notice the middle-aged woman anxiously waiting next to the carriage with a group of maidservants and senior servants. The moment Royal Princess Duanjia got off the carriage, she charged right into the arms of the noble lady.
“Mother!”
“My good child! You’ve scared Mother to death today!”
The group of servants flew into a flurry of activity when the princess alighted from the carriage. Some of them brought clothes, while others brought over warm braziers. In this panic, Chu Lian didn’t forget her manners. Although she couldn’t move forward, she made a perfect bow to Princess Wei.
Although Princess Wei was concerned with her daughter’s condition, she still kept an eye on Chu Lian from the corner of her eye. Noting that Chu Lian hadn’t shown a single shred of panic or fear, she inwardly gave a nod of approval.
After a moment, when Royal Princess Duanjia was warmed up again, she remembered that Chu Lian was still waiting at the side. She quickly pushed aside the servants surrounding her and tugged Chu Lian closer. “Mother, the only reason I’m still standing before you today is all thanks to Chu Liu.”
Princess Wei raised an elegant eyebrow. “Oh?”
One of Princess Wei’s most trusted servants saw that Royal Princess Duanjia was about to continue speaking, so she hurriedly spoke up and suggested, “Royal Princess and House Jing’an’s Third Young Madam have just narrowly escaped calamity. Why not drive away the bad luck first by stepping over these braziers? If there are things to say, surely it can wait until later in Princess Wei’s room, after a nice warm bath? “
Princess Wei nodded and called someone to bring a small brazier in front of the two young ladies. Royal Princess Duanjia insisted on holding Chu Lian’s hand as they stepped over the braziers together, so Chu Lian had no other choice but to follow. After that, the two of them were sent to the bath in Princess Wei’s courtyard.
Princess Wei sent a handmaid over to serve Chu Lian. The handmaid thought ahead and prepared a set of clothing for her to change into after her bath.
When the two young ladies had changed into a fresh set of clothes, they came out from behind the changing screens supported by some maidservants. They took one look at each other and burst out into laughter.
The servants wiped their hair dry as they sat together in front of the dressing table. Royal Princess Duanjia turned to look at Chu Lian, then at herself, before pointing at a set of accessories on the table. “This, this, and this. Put them on this princess and Chu Liu.”
Chu Lian glanced at the accessories and quickly tried to put a stop to it. “Princess, I can’t do that. That’s a phoenix tail hairpin.”
Royal Princess Duanjia wasn’t happy. “Why can’t you wear that? It’s not like it’s a special five-tailed phoenix hairpin. Even a titled noble wife can wear one.”
The corner of Chu Lian’s lips twitched. She didn’t even have a noble title, so how could she wear that hairpin!
Royal Princess Duanjia harrumphed. “That He Sanlang is really useless. What good is he other than being a little handsome? He’s like an embroidered pillow. He couldn’t even get a noble title for his wife. How were you so blind as to choose him? Don’t worry, Chu Liu. Just put this hairpin on first. This princess will get you a noble title later on!”
This sounded really strange, regardless of the context. For one, the people here believed in having their parents choose their marriage partners, so she hardly had a choice in who to marry. If she had known earlier that He Sanlang had such a crazy personality, she wouldn’t have wanted to marry him!
Chu Lian was helpless. She couldn’t win over Royal Princess Duanjia, since the princess had a much higher status. Not to mention, she was the guest here! In the end, Chu Lian couldn’t say anything.
