At the crack of dawn the next day, Chu Qiao woke up and was still groggy when she heard a soft chuckle. She opened her eyes and saw Dantai Yunhan looking at her in a relaxed position, with his hand supporting his head.
What was he laughing at? Chu Qiao frowned at her confusion.
Dantai Yunhan kindly pointed at the corner of her mouth.
Chu Qiao was shocked, and immediately wiped off the trickle drooping from the corner of her mouth with her sleeve. She has every good quality in the world except that she looks terrible in her sleep and always drools. How embarrassing!
Dantai Yunhan got up, shaking his head: “Don’t you think you are a little bit too old for drooling?”
“And Your Highness still kicks off his quilt.” Chu Qiao retorted, playing with the second quilt on top of her first one and pretending to be indifferent, but the intriguing blush on her cheeks gave her embarrassment away.
Hearing Chu Qiao’s comment, Dantai Yunhan stumbled. He turned around and stared at Chu Qiao like a furious lion: “The reason that I kindly gave you another quilt was you kept mumbling that you felt cold.”
Chu Qiao snorted. I felt cold? Come on, why would I feel cold in summer? Dantai Yunhan should at least come up with a reasonable excuse.
Wait… Last night, she seems to have dreamed about things in her last life. What she cried was the name “Leng” of the man who shot her – Qin Leng (Lit. Cold).
Dantai Yunhan didn’t care at all. He stretched his arms out and said casually: “Come and help me get changed.”
Chu Qiao was distressed by everything in her previous life and was in no mood for arguing with Dantai Yunhan. So she picked up his royal gown as being told and put it on him.
He was over six feet tall, one head taller than Chu Qiao, so she had to stand on her tiptoes to tidy his collars.
Although surprised by Chu Qiao’s sudden obedience, Dantai Yunhan was happy to enjoy it, so he sat down and said, “Tie my hair up.”
When Chu Qiao came to her mind, she shook her head, “I don’t know how.”
That’s the very truth. In her previous lifetime, she clung to short hair, and as a result, she doesn’t know how to tie his.
“You don’t know how to tie your hair up, yet you still call yourself a woman?” Dantai Yunhan frowned again. He found that he had been frowning more frequently these days, and all this was because of her – Chu Qiao.
Wait, she was not a maid. Why should she tie his hair up? Chu Qiao finally figured it out and refuted calmly, “I’ll call in a servant girl for Your Highness.” Then she got up and was ready to leave.
“Never mind.” Dantai Yunhan stopped her and quickly tied his hair up neatly, then put on the jade crown and fastened it with a willow pin.
Chu Qiao looked back and got surprised. Although men’s hair binding is not as complicated as that of women, Dantai Yunhan was a noble Prince who should be used to a dignified and carefree life, so normally he was not expected to know how to tie up his hair.
Tantai Yunhan had a good look of Chu Qiao’s surprised expression and slightly smiled with pride.
Chu Qiao hesitated for a moment, but still couldn’t help asking out of curiosity: “How did you figure out how to do that?”
“My mother was a commoner and died a long time ago, so I was very independent since young, unlike you who was born with a silver spoon in mouth, living a rich and pampered life.” Dantai Yunhan looked calm when he said this, but Chu Qiao noticed his tightly clenched fists and piercing eyes.
How difficult it must have been for an overlooked Prince to climb up to the position of Prince Regent who was the most powerful one, only secondary to the Emperor, perhaps no one could really understand. Chu Qiao suddenly felt sympathetic for him. She slightly looked down and said, “I’m sorry.”
“I’m not so poor as to beg for your pity.” Dantai Yunhan responded in a very unpleasant tone, snorting and walking away.
I’m just wasting my pity for nothing. Chu Qiao rolled her eyes at him.
Soon after Dantai Yunhan left, Qing Luo came in with a small wooden tub. She boasted proudly as she combed Chu Qiao’s hair and washed her hands and face for her: “Your Highness finally can chin up and don’t have to be bullied by the kind of Madam Li and Madam Zheng! See who dares to come to Phoenix-Perching Palace to challenge us! ”
Bothered by Qing Luo’s unceasingly talk, Chu Qiao sighed and said, “OK, just stop.”
Qing Luo pouted her mouth and mumbled with an innocent look: “I’m just feeling happy for Your Highness. This golden hairpin is the prince’s gift for you.” She took out the gilded gold hairpin with a couple of butterflies landing on a flower and put it on for Chu Qiao. She said with a smile, “Your Highness looks so beautiful, far more than other Madams in the Prince Palace. The Prince will surely be delighted when he sees you. ”
Chu Qiao said dismissively, “What is it to be happy about being liked by the Prince? But this golden hairpin… ” She took off the hairpin and turned it around her fingers as she looked back at Qing Luo, “How much is it worth?”
“At least three hundred silver coins…” Qing Luo tilted her head and thought for a while. Suddenly, she turned pale and said, “This is a gift from the Prince. Your Highness shouldn’t even think about pawning it! It’s not easy to win the favor of the Prince. If you sell this gold hairpin, you will get into trouble if the Prince knows.”
“Alright, alright, I know what I am doing!” Chu Qiao couldn’t stand Qin Luo’s nagging, impatiently waved her hand and put the golden hairpin back into her hair.
Seeing that Chu Qiao had dismissed the idea for now, Qing Luo shut her mouth obediently and left Chu Qiao in peace.
But that didn’t last for a long time. A young maid came in and said, “Your Highness, the Attendant Consort and Madam Li request to meet you.”
Chu Qiao said without raising her head, “Decline.”
The maid looked uneasy and stuttered: “But…”
Qing Luo glared at the maid and said: “But what? The Princess says she doesn’t want to meet them. Now the situation is different from the past, and in Phoenix-Resting Palace, everything has to go as the Princess says. Liu Ying (Lit. Firefly), why are you so muddleheaded! ”
Liu Ying hurriedly curtsied and said, “Forgive me, Your Highness.” Seeing Chu Qiao nodding slightly, she felt relieved and then left.
The Palace became quiet again.
However, not before long came in noises from outside.
Chu Qiao walked lightly and quietly out of the inner hall, standing at the door and looking at Chu Jiao and Li Chenxiang from the distance through the hanging curtain.
Something interesting was going to happen. Chu Qiao smiled and gestured Qing Luo to keep quiet.
Still wearing a veil, Li Chenxiang pointed at the doorkeeper maid and swore with her wide-opened almond eyes: “You unworthy bitches! How dare you stop the Attendant Consort and me!”
Li Chenxiang had always been an arrogant vixen. Because of her powerful family origin, plus the Prince’s favor and her amicable relation with Chu Jiao established on flattery, she was used to acting in such a tyrannous manner that all the servants prefered to avoid her.
In the past, Chu Qiao was such a coward Princess that the maids in Phoenix-Perching Palace also suffered a lot of rolling eyes and bullying, so how dare they say no to Li Chenxiang? But now things are different, for Chu Qiao just won the favor of the Prince. If someone still breaks into Phoenix-Resting Palace freely, the shame would be on the Phoenix-Resting Palace.
Seeing this, Qing Luo felt irritated and was about to stand out to confront Li Chenxiang but she was stopped by Chu Qiao.
Chu Qiao shook her head, suggesting Qing Luo not to act rashly. She wanted to take this opportunity to figure out how many people in Phoenix-Perching Palace know what they should do.
Insulted by Li Chenxiang, Liu Ying didn’t even dare to fight back but only replied timidly: “But…but the Princess said she doesn’t want to meet you… ”
Li Chenxiang snorted and shouted loudly as if she feared that Chu Qiao could not hear her, “She can do whatever she wants to now, huh? She really thinks that just one night…”
“Chenxiang!” Chu Jiao interrupted Li Chenxiang timely in a mild reprimanding tone. She frowned slightly, seemingly disapproved of Li Chenxiang’s behavior, “We came to visit the Princess, not to look for trouble.”
This was a brilliant tactic of Chu Jiao. Liu Ying looked at her gratefully, and couldn’t help but pay more respect to this Attendant Consort.