Proofreader: Prof. Zhu Yuan

The assassination attempt in the Yun Palace had caused quite a stir in the capital. People living in the capital were pretty anxious, since it was hard for them to accept the fact that such a noble prince like Beiming Xuan was attacked by the assassin. There had been much debate in the imperial court, with all the parties representing different spheres of influence sending letters to the Emperor.

In sharp contrast to the commotion in the capital, the Yun Palace, where the assassination took place, enjoyed peace and quiet.

Ruan Jiujiu led an untroubled life here in the Yun Palace.

Nobody told her what happened outside the Yun Palace, so she chose to set her mind at ease. Besides, she decided to ride on Beiming Xuan’s coattails for the time being, so there was no need for her to worry about other things. Now, her top priority was to enjoy her sound sleep and leisurely meal, and stay in good health.

Now she had eaten and slept to her heart’s content, regaining her high-spiritedness. Noticing that Zou Meng kept making his presence felt in front of her, Ruan Jiujiu asked: “What happened?”

It seemed that he was holding back words which had sprung to his lips. What happened to Beiming Xuan?

Zou Meng hesitated for a moment before he spoke to Ruan Jiujiu bashfully: “Miss Ruan, the lord wants you to greet a guest.”

“Greet a guest?”Ruan Jiujiu raised her brows: “Are you sure he wants me to greet a guest? Not to entertain a male patron?”

Zou Meng was confused. Miss Ruan was so reckless. Besides, Beiming Xuan was no bad guy.

“Well, I’m just joking.”Ruan Jiujiu smiled cunningly as she raised her brows: “Who is that guest?”

“Miss Ruan, you..”Zou Meng choked up. Finally, he gave a full account, leaving nothing out: “I don’t know the specifics. The lord just sent me to tell you. He wanted you to make some preparations and greet the guest in the front chamber. He also said that you can greet that guest in your own way. Follow your own inclinations.”

In her own way? Following her own inclinations?

What did he mean?

She stared at Zou Meng frostily. Zou Meng’s heart jolted. He thought he had better take to his heels.

He squeezed a smile, waved his hand and took a step back: “Miss Ruan, I have sent his message. Now I have to go. I still have some business to deal with.”

“Hey! Don’t go! Make it clear!”Ruan Jiujiu shouted. Zou Meng, however, disappeared without a trace.

At the moment, a bunch of people were on the verge of mental collapse in the courtyard of the front chamber.

Originally, Princess Changle was indulging herself in the sheer joy of being able to meet Beiming Xuan. To her surprise, there was a huge gap between what she had imagined and what she actually encountered.

After she got into the front chamber of the Yun Palace, she found it hard to orient herself. They could find neither the way to move in nor the way to get back. It seemed that they were obstructed by some intangible walls. Having walked hours and hours, they finally returned to where they started.

She was starving, thirsty and exhausted. The powder she applied to conceal her wound was moistened by her sweat, stinging her wound on the face.

Now she entertained no high hopes for meeting Beiming Xuan. She would thank heaven with utmost sincerity if someone could give her a steamed bun and a bowl of water.

Unfortunately, no one came to help her.

“Your Highness, you can sit right here. I will fan your face with a leaf. Have a rest.”

Liu Er, her maidservant, also looked pale, but she still managed to find some leaves and placed them above Princess Changle’s head.

“Oh well,”Princess Changle sighed listlessly. In order to meet Beiming Xuan earlier, she set out before dawn, not even having her breakfast.

Now she believed she could eat anything in front of her eyes.

“She turns out to be my guest!”Ruan Jiujiu was squatting on a rockery, biting into a ripe juicy apple. Noticing what was happening to Princess Changle and her attendants, she spat out the kernel and raised her brows: “I’m ready to serve you.”

She stood up and left the rockery immediately.

“Your Highness, what should we do? The night is about to fall.”Seeing the sunlight gradually fading out, Liu Er couldn’t help but cry as she managed to fan Changle’s face with the leaf.

Princess Changle felt like crying with rage. She came here to see Beiming Xuan.

However, she never met a single attendant who served in the Yun Palace since she came here, let alone Beiming Xuan and his guards.

“Liu Er, are you sure we are in the Yun Palace? Did we get into a wrong place? I have been to the Yun Palace before. It would be impossible for me to get lost in the Yun Palace.”Princess Changle felt she was crazy with fright.

“Your Highness, we came here at early dawn. Chances are that we got into the wrong place.”Liu Er got frightened upon hearing Princess Changle’s words. She was starving and exhausted, completely possessed by wild flight of fancy: “I heard that when someone gets out at night, he is likely to fall into the ghost screen. Then he would be trapped within some intangible walls, completely disoriented.”

“Ghost? Screen!”Princess Changle screamed out in terror. All her attendants also looked at her in horror. Suddenly, someone cried: “It is the ghost screen, indeed! We came to the Ghost Palace! We are not in the Yun Palace!”

All of them started shivering with fear upon hearing the scream. They couldn’t help but keep shouting “The Ghost Palace,”driving Changle into mental breakdown. Ruan Jiujiu, however, had her heart swelling with joy. Disguising herself on the other side, she narrowed her eyes into a smile.

“A bunch of underlings! How dare you barge into my Ghost Palace?”

Everyone was a bundle of nerves. All of a sudden, a cold voice reached their ears. They shivered with fear and started to find where the voice was from.

With her back to the light, a slim figure breezed along and appeared in front of them in an instant.

“Bah!”

Ruan Jiujiu sneered. The cold smile at the corner of her mouth stroke their eyes. When they looked up, they saw a pale and stiff face, with no countenance. It seemed to glow in the dim light. How weird!

“A ghost!”

Somebody screamed, driving all of them mad. Princess Changle stared at the “ghost” in horror, her face working. She stammered so much that she couldn’t express herself, her voice trembling.

“How dare you break into my Ghost Palace? You are courting your death by being so impudent!”

“Mr., Mr. Ghost, I regret any inconvenience which I may have inadvertently caused. My barging in was unintentional. A broad-minded man like you would not bear grudges against small men like us. Please forgive me. I promise to offer the best sacrifices to you.”Princess Changle was frightened out of her wits, and even started to kowtow repeatedly, uttering some incoherent words.

Seeing their Princess kowtow repeatedly, those who escorted her also started to kowtow again and again, begging to be spared. Ruan Jiujiu was on the verge of laughing out loud.

She was just wearing a mask made of white jade. It turned out to be so effective. She doubted whether Princess Changle was as thick-skulled as a pig.

Actually Princess Changle was not as stupid as Ruan Jiujiu had imagined. She was on the verge of cracking up after exerting all her efforts to navigate herself through this labyrinthine place. Ruan Jiujiu’s presence was like the last straw that broke a camel’s back.

They were pretty “sure” that they broke into the Ghost Palace instead of the Yun Palace. Feeling faint with hunger, they could not possibly figure out that was Ruan Jiujiu in the dim light of dusk. Nor did they dare to look Ruan Jiujiu straight in the eye. So they assumed that what stood in front of them was a ghost, rather than a person.