Housekeeper of the Hundred Blossom Palace

In the empress’s case, the adulterer man got caught, so they had to solve the problem that arose.

The empress dowager declared that it was not the empress who summoned him, but a particular woman with the status of a beauty, and her testimony became the truth.

That beauty also conceived around the same time as the empress, and this became her misfortune.

She bore the brunt of it and was driven away from the Inner Palace, and the allegations against the empress’s adultery subsided on the surface.

‘Somehow, I feel I heard this story already, though.’

Yui Mei’s expression was complicated at this point as she listened.

She knew the details of this familiar story.

Was this a coincidence, perhaps?

The crown prince stared at her puckered face as he stated his next words.

“The beauty who was chased out of the Inner Palace was a person called Lady Zhang.”

‘I knew it!’

Yui Mei almost screamed out, but she caught herself in time and tried to refrain from doing so.

It was exactly as the nuns had said, so logically, she already heard about this before.

For Yui Mei, her mother losing against the empress was a no-brainer.

She did not have a backing, yet she fought with the woman who had the second highest status in the Inner Palace- of course she did not stand a chance.

The crown prince continued on, indifferent to Yui Mei’s inward turmoil.

“Lady Zhang was pitiful for having to leave the Inner Palace, but the imperial prince who was left behind was also in a pathetic state. On the surface, misgivings about his birth ceased, but a rumor remains forever.”

‘Well, that’s also true.’

They wouldn’t say it to his face, but it was only natural that people would talk about him behind closed doors.

For women, it was a good material for gossip after all.

Without anyone knowing how it started, Imperial Prince Dawei became twisted after bearing the reputation of ‘bastard imperial prince’ for so long.

Indeed, that kind of environment was not suitable for a child.

Between him and Yui Mei, who grew up surrounded by nature while being protected by the nuns despite being poor, who had a fortunate childhood?

At the very least, Yui Mei despised that kind of environment.

“Although he did become a little bit twisted, we all thought that Dawei still grew up normally. Then a problem manifested itself when he became an adult. He became extremely obsessed with bluish hair.”

“…Do tell me, I pray, does that mean he prefers maidens with bluish hair?”

Sympathy started to sprout within Yui Mei’s heart, but when she recalled how Imperial Prince Dawei rubbed her hair on his cheeks, goosebumps rose all over her skin as she asked.

“If only that was it, then it would have been cute. However, he would cut the hair of women whose hair had a bluish hue under the light. During those days, he would ambush them in dark places and cut their hair, much like a random attacker, causing a lot of damage. It became a huge  problem when they discovered that it was Dawei’s doing.”

‘What’s with that malicious ‘cutting’ crime!?’

Was Imperial Prince Dawei collecting blue-tinged hair?

It would be horrendous if he kept that in a room.

But it would be more terrifying if her hair was also mixed in there.

“Dawei did not stop despite being rebuked by His Majesty the Emperor and Her Majesty the Empress Dowager. He was nearly under house-arrest at the palace of the Empress, and he was sent out of the Inner Palace the moment he came of age. To be honest, the court ladies and the maids were relieved, so they said.”

‘I see, in short, he was an awfully problematic child.’

Then, perhaps the reason he did not become the crown prince was due to the impact of that peculiar taste of his rather than the suspicions regarding his birth.

No government official would dare send his daughter as a concubine to such a dangerous guy.

It would be a different story if the emperor only had Dawei as his son; however, there were others.

She also understood why not a single court lady gossiped about Imperial Prince Dawei. They did not want to draw the ire of the empress dowager.

He was wandering alone, perhaps to avoid being stopped during his hair collection excursion.

Maybe he even shook his attendant off, that’s why he was here.

At that time, Imperial Prince Dawei said ‘bluish hair according to the rumors.

Was Yui Mei being excessively self-conscious for thinking that he purposely attended the Cherry Blossom Viewing Banquet because he heard from someone about the court lady with the blue hair.

She was hoping his obsession with azure hair wasn’t because of her mother, though.

It was not surprising if Imperial Prince Dawei held interest regarding Lady Zhang after hearing the messy stories about his birth.

Counting his age, he had just been born when her mother was kicked out of the Inner Palace.

He did not see her with his own eyes, but the rumors he heard must’ve left a deep impression on him.

Well, there was nothing she could do even if that was the case.

“Anyway, Dawei will leave once the Cherry Blossom Viewing Banquet is over, so until then, be more careful, alright?”

“Yes, understood.”

Yui Mei frankly nodded after hearing the crown prince’s warning.

The long story was over, so she moistened her throat with the tea that had long grown cold.

“Here, have some mushipan.”

The crown prince urged her, so she did not hesitate to bite the mushipan.

After munching for a short while, she heard the crown prince’s whisper.

“Xiuling’s late.”

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