Night King

However, I wasn’t particularly concerned whether Yun Heng and Wan Chun were deeply in love or completely indifferent to each other; what truly troubled me was the prospect of going to the Crown Prince’s residence. A friendly reminder—if you want the first update of this book, just search on Baidu. I had no idea how different the rituals of the Yuehua Kingdom and the Lingyun Kingdom might be. If I were to make a mistake, what should I do then?

Damn Yun Heng, always dragging me into trouble.

Regardless of how unnecessary it was for me, the carriage destined for the Crown Prince’s residence still stopped right in front of me, and I stood by its side, utterly dejected.

After all, I was just a maid; of course, I should be walking.

What puzzled me was why Yun Heng wasn’t riding a horse. As a general, his equestrian skills should be outstanding—why was he choosing to sit in a rattling carriage?

“So, are you going to walk, or are you coming up here to accompany your master in the carriage?”

A teasing voice sounded by my ear, and my first thought was: I want to ride in the carriage.

I scrambled up without hesitation, completely forgetting about Yun Heng, my so-called master.

Inside, I sat properly, not daring to move recklessly. His gaze lingered on me the entire time, making me feel extremely uneasy.

“General, why do you keep looking at this servant?” I finally managed to force out the words, but it had been stifling me.

“It’s nothing.”

Another faint smile. His slender fingers lifted the carriage window, and his gaze shifted to the scenery outside.

He left me with only his profile—I often saw that side of his face, yet rarely his full countenance.

The journey was spent in silence, my thoughts drifting out the window.

Back in the days of Lingyun Kingdom, my younger brother and I would often disguise ourselves as commoners and sneak out to play among the people. Whenever our father, the Emperor, interrogated us, my brother would always tilt his little head and claim it was for the sake of understanding the people’s needs.

This would anger Father so much that he’d raise his hand as if to strike, only to be stopped by Mother. Consort Lan had managed to attract Father’s attention thanks in part to my brother and me encouraging her.

Father wasn’t truly angry about our sneaking out, but rather that we did so without learning our lessons well enough. We were neither scholarly nor martial, always thinking Father would take care of us for life, so we never really applied ourselves. The little we did know, I doubted it would ever amount to much.

Lost in my reverie, we soon arrived at the Crown Prince’s residence.

At the General’s estate, it was easy to muddle through, but here, a maid was nothing but a maid.

I hurried to humble myself and got off the carriage first, then obsequiously helped Yun Heng down. I had to admit, I played the part convincingly.

Yun Heng glanced at me with deliberate amusement.

Damn this man.

Grumbling inwardly, I followed behind him, not daring to lift my head too high, yet I still caught sight of a familiar figure in the distance.

Dressed in a rich crimson robe, he wore a slightly wicked smile.

If Yun Heng was fresh and refined, Li Yexuan was dignified and imposing, alluring but never effeminate.

He walked toward us, but only nodded at Yun Heng in greeting, who nodded in return.

“Miss Mu, we meet again.”

“Master Li, Mu Fan is merely a humble servant. You may simply call me Mu Fan.”

“Mu Fan.”

He was clearly a member of the nobility—how had he ended up here at the Crown Prince’s residence… outside the gates, no less?

“Mu Fan, how can you be so disrespectful? This is Prince Ye,” Yun Heng interjected, tossing a bombshell my way.

What? He was actually Prince Ye—the late emperor’s seventeenth son, the current emperor’s own brother, and the Crown Prince’s royal uncle…

He probably wasn’t much older than I was, yet already an uncle—how amusing…

While I was sighing inwardly, I made sure my outward appearance was properly timid: “This servant pays her respects to Prince Ye.”

Of course, I was only pretending.

“No offense taken if you didn’t know. Stand up.”

I wasn’t even sure how I managed to follow Yun Heng and Li Yexuan into the Crown Prince’s residence.

Suddenly, it dawned on me—Li was the surname of the royal family of the Yuehua Kingdom.