Blood of Deception [ON HOLD]

Chapter Eight

Meiyue woke early to compose a letter to Miss Huian. Apparently, her tutor had not returned from her assigned mission which Meiyue afterward learned that she too was in the south. Meiyue hoped they somehow would encounter, and her letter was for the lesser chance that they would not.

Later, the princess stepped out of her warm bath with a heavy heart. She tried not to let her previous discussion with Yuzhe cloud the excitement of the forthcoming journey, but it had been stuck in her chest for the whole night. How was she going to face him later on when the thought of apologizing, if anything, only made it worse?

Meiyue sighed.

Xiaonu seemed to note that as a bad omen. "Princess! You ought to look more enthusiastic or else our long-awaited journey will be as gloomy!"

Xiaonu was combing her dark locks while Meiyue sat beholding her reflection in the vanity silver mirror. There were faint shadows below her eyes and her lips ridden of their usual color.

The princess sighed again. This wasn't a mood she expected to carry on a day like this. It should be filled with exhilaration and nervousness rolling in her stomach. Meiyue decided then, that she would make up with Yuzhe and have a pleasant trip.

"Xiaonu, would you fix my face to make it presentable too?" It was the nearest thing to say that she wanted make-up. She usually did not favor to have her entire features thickened with powders and fake colors unless the occasion called for it.

"It's about time you start dressing up your part, princess," Xiaonu commented. Meiyue saw through the mirror her deft hands arranging and pinning her hair fashionably in place. As a result, it was secured into a chignon by some hair sticks and a few locks were deliberately left loose.

When they completed their preparation, Meiyue smiled at the image of herself in her mirror. She had chosen a midnight blue cross-collar hanfu with a long matching coat of flowerless ferns embroidered in gold. An ornamental scarf of white gauze hugged her slender shoulders and dangled down her arms. She wore no jewelry.

Meiyue advanced out of her quarters. Having being rejected by her maid for wanting to assist her in holding the luggage, she wrestled some from Xiaonu anyway.

A couple of soldiers were standing by the garden, most likely waiting for her. A handsome black stallion stood nearby, flapping his tail and munching on the grass. And near them, Meiyue saw, was her most dreadful nightmare.

A palanquin.

The guards saw the princess descending the stairs and quickly rushed to take her holding which was a bundle of clothes. Xiaonu unburdened more luggage on them next.

"Why is this here?" Meiyue asked them, indicating to the red and gold two-wheel litter. The curtains were drawn and her head spun at the perception of being inside a hot stuffed doll cage.

One of the soldiers, tall and thin shaped, answered with a bowed head. "Lord Junqian proposed we escort Your Highness from here, Your Grace."

Meiyue looked from him to the tilted palanquin. Then she turned to whisper to her maid. "I think he's trying to pay me back for what I made him do yesterday. Karma they say."

Xiaonu snorted and quickly covered her mouth. "Princess!"

"Meiyue, I hear that you are going somewhere." The princess turned to the voice, and heard the clang of metal armors as the guards bowed low to the ground.

Approaching them was the eldest daughter of the royal family, the crown princess. "Dajie," Meiyue greeted in surprise and curtsied. It wasn't usual to see her strolling the gardens in the morning.