Chapter 14 | Ink East

Lin Shan followed the direction of the crowd, all the way to the main hall. She was instantly shocked by what she saw.

Wow. What was so special about the Crown Prince? Regardless of ranking, all the government officials appeared to be extremely emotional and overjoyed to see him. Their eyes were filled with respect. In fact, they were so impressed that they almost failed to greet the Crown Prince in unison.

Lin Shan looked around and saw that the Emperor, the Empress, and the Princes had all arrived. All the large government officials who could come were already here as well. Such a fancy occasion was honestly not very appropriate for someone low key like herself. Thus, Lin Shan found a spot somewhere further away so she wouldn't be seen; she mixed herself in with a bunch of people.

Since she was quite new to the Palace, no one seemed to take any notice of her as she stood around. In fact, she was being shoved all over the place. She tried to push her way forward, and felt like she was in a World Expo. All she could see were the heads of others, and not the Crown Prince.

What the heck? Is the Crown Prince really that charming? Lin Shan's level of curiosity had reached its limit. She stood on her tiptoes, and tried to squeeze through the people just to see something.

At that moment, a faraway eunuch's voice could be heard: "The Crown Prince is about to enter!"

The crowd cried out in surprise and started to push forward. Lin Shan lost the spot that she had gotten with great difficulty. Now, all she could see were heads swaying. By the time the uproar was over, she could only see the backside of a person who was in armour from head to toe. From where she was, she couldn't even tell if it was a man or a woman - let alone the face.

"The Crown Prince is truly brilliant and godly!"

"Young and promising!"

"A young hero!"

"His presence is out of the ordinary!"

"Worthy of a general style!'

An excessive amount of praise came out of those people and Lin Shan was annoyed.

Are you kidding me? You can see this much inner potential from looking at his back? What's going to happen if you saw his front? If I were the Crown Prince, my testicles would hurt!

Suddenly, Du Hao sneezed in the main hall.

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Since Du Hao arrived back to the Palace two days ahead of schedule, the Palace could not prepare the welcome reception in time. Therefore, after greeting the Emperor and reporting his battle news (what he has accomplished), the Crown Prince received his rewards and the simple welcome ceremony was over. Du Hao and his high ranking military officers departed from the scene, and everyone else that was originally surrounding to watch started to leave as well. Lin Shan was left by herself to mourn. After all this, she didn't even get a glimpse of the Crown Prince's face. He was supposedly one of the most gorgeous man in the country! I wonder if he was as hot as Lian Feng?

Speaking of Lian Feng, what's wrong with that guy? He's so hot yet he wears a mask. What a waste of God's gift! But then again, maybe there are lots of hidden secrets when working for theEmperor. Maybe he's like a Tiger squad leader and works better undercover!

As Lin Shan thought about it, she felt relieved. She decided to stroll around the Palace before heading back to eat.

As she was strolling, she recognized a familiar figure from faraway. That figure was with a bunch of people, and they were walking across the path ahead of her. Lin Shan froze.

Huh? Isn't...isn't that Lian Feng? How did he heal so quickly? He looked so energized as he spoke with his companions. Wait!! Something doesn't seem right... she thought about it and quickly realized that Lian Feng wasn't wearing his mask!

Oh my goodness. I just put him as a Tiger squad leader. How come the moment I turned around, his underground organization turned to above ground? She was strikingly curious and rushed forward, about to call him.

All of a sudden, she felt a hand on her arm. When she turned around, she saw a sullen Xiao Lu grumbling: "Prince Consort, where were you the entire day? Please save this servant. If you don't come back with this servant now, the Princess is going to sell this servant to the Leaning Vermilion House!! But this servant is innocent...."

Why is it Du Ming Yue again? Lin Shan crinkled her brows, implying that she's annoyed. Then to Xiao Lu, she said: "Why are you so worried? You think it is easy to get into Leaning Vermilion House? They want girls who are well rounded in musical instrument, chess, literature, and art. Not to mention, their face and body must be top notched. Even if you were to go, you would be immediately eliminated. Perhaps they'll take you in to do some sweeping. Definitely not for anything else!"

Xiao Lu: "......"

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Lin Shan decided to drop the Lian Feng incident and headed to Ming Yue's. From faraway, she could already hear shattering sounds and screaming. A bunch of servants were pulling back like quails from outside the doorway. Everyone was shivering like they had been electrocuted.

Lin Shan felt a headache coming and used her fingers to rub in between her brows. She pushed the door open and saw an antique vase flying towards her. Fortunately, her reflexes were good and she managed to avoid being hit. But a shattering sound immediately followed.

Lin Shan felt like her heart was bleeding. My sister, out of all things, you shattered an antique! That is money!!! As she grieved, one after another, items flew to her. Lin Shan was quick and managed to catch everything flawlessly. She would look at the items right after she caught it, and then rubbed them with her sleeves and stuffed them in her pockets.

Du Ming Yue was venting on all the items in the room. The moment Song Luo returned, she was even angrier. Seeing how he didn't give her face and caught everything she was throwing, she raged even harder. She began to throw anything within her sight. The garnet that the Western Regions had offered as a tribute...a palm sized jade mythical animal.....After she threw everything around her, she started to throw the things she had on her. She threw out the jade pendant from her waist.

Lin Shan wanted to cry. Sister, if I knew you were going to throw me so many expensive items. I wouldn't have bothered going to see the Crown Prince. I would just stand here daily...wow! Is that a big piece of jade? The colour looks great! Lin Shan's eyes shone brightly.

At that moment, Du Ming Yue seemed to have snapped out of her anger. She realized she just threw out the jade pendant that the Emperor had granted her. Her body was immediately drenched in cold sweat. That jade pendant was something the Emperor granted only to the eldest Prince and Princess. It was an object that represented dignified royal family. Those who saw the jade pendant would have to bow down as if they saw the Emperor. If she lost it or broke it, it was serious business. Luckily, she noticed that Lin Shan caught it with her speedy hands. She sighed a breath of relief and wasn't angry anymore. Instead, she struck out her hand.

"Give it back to me."

Woah! You threw it away and expect me to return it? Are you kidding? Lin Shan had already stuffed the jade pendant behind her belt: "Anything you threw to me is mines! I'm not giving it back!"

"Hey!" Du Ming Yue was freaking out, "You can take whatever, but give me back the jade pendant!"

You didn't mind throwing all those treasures, but you want this jade pendant? Even an idiot would know this jade pendant's worth! It's expensive and easy to carry around. I would be a fool if I gave it back to you!

Lin Shan pretended to be stupid: "What? The Princess must have mistaken. What jade pendant?"

"Song Luo, you!" Du Ming Yue was panicking and decided to head over to grab it herself. But unexpectedly, Lin Shan reacted faster than her, and managed to scuttle away. Since Du Ming Yue missed, she flew in a rage out of humiliation. She revealed her fangs and claws and was about to pounce once more. However, she slipped on the shattered pieces of the vase. From the looks of it, she was about to land on the shattered porcelain!

Lin Shan knew it was a bad sign. Playing with the Princess was alright, but if she got hurt, it would be her responsibility. Thus, she quickly dropped all the other items she was holding to catch Du Ming Yue.

The two of them rolled around the ground twice. By the time Lin Shan knew what was going on, she had been slapped.

"You are such a scoundrel!" Du Ming Yue struggled to get up from Lin Shan's embrace. Her face was flushed red as she quickly ran off, leaving poor Lin Shan on the ground by herself as her cheek stung.

What the hell. I tried to do a good deed and this is what I get? Suddenly, she noticed that there was another part of her that stung more than her face. She lifted her hand and noticed that her hand had been cut by the shattered pieces; fresh blood was oozing out.

"Oh my goodness! Are you alright, Prince Consort?" Xiao Lu ran towards her, her eyes had already turned red.

"Don't worry. Don't worry." Lin Shan shook her head. With her uninjured hand, she took out the jade pendant from behind her belt and blew twice on it. She comforted it and said: "I'm so glad you weren't hurt..."

Xiao Lu: "......"

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