Housekeeper of the Hundred Blossom Palace

The crown prince and Libin were already there. Libin also changed his outfit, and he wore a sword at his waist.

They were wearing plain clothes, looking like the sons of some merchant family.

She was curious why they were donned as such, but she had to apologize first for making them wait.

“I apologize for the wait.”

Yui Mei bowed deeply, and the crown prince smiled in return.

“No need to worry, I’m  the one who summoned you suddenly, after all.”

That was absolutely true, but the crown prince didn’t seem to bring any other maid with him.

“Pardon me, may I ask for what reason did the Crown Prince summon me? Where are the ladies-in-waiting?”

The crown prince answered her.

“I don’t want to move the maids and court ladies I trust from the palace as much as possible. People with ill-intentions abound.”

It meant that the crown prince saw Yui Mei as a potential substitute for the people he trusted.

In other words, Yui Mei was not considered as a malicious person.

“Ahm, how about the other people?”

“None, we’re travelling incognito.”

It was the first time Yui Mei heard that this excursion would be done covertly.

No, that explained the crown prince’s outfit.

However, guards were necessary, but only the eunuch Libin was here.

“Ah, how about the Imperial Guards?”

The crown prince chuckled at this question.

“Li Yong is more than enough.”

‘Li Yong? Not Libin?

So this man with the sword was not Libin?

“Li Yong, perhaps you have a twin?”

Li Yong slightly raised his brow.

“Let’s leave it at that.”

It was not even a ‘yes’ nor a ‘no’ – Yui Mei did a poker face, but she was scowling fiercely inwardly.

‘What an absolutely troublesome guy!’

Would it be alright to escape now?

Of course, there was no way she could do that.

Thus, it was decided that Yui Mei would accompany the crown prince in travelling incognito alongside this extremely fishy guy…. Supposedly.

“What’s that!?”

“Oh, how rare…”

“So fascinating…”

Currently, Yui Mei was wandering around on her own among the street stalls along the highway.

Meanwhile, the crown prince and Libin – no, Li Yong were idly standing at the side, waiting for her.

It was not clear who was the attendant of whom in this situation.

The crown prince was supposed to ride a carriage to leave the city of Kyo.

However, for the sake of Yui Mei who had never left the Inner Palace before, he decided to walk through the main street stretching from the entrance of the Inner Palace  to the gates of the Outer Palace.

She had been worried about the crown prince walking on foot through the mainstreet.

The crown prince seemed accustomed being in the city though, as he blended well with the people walking down the road.

And the one who completely didn’t blend in was Yui Mei.

No, initially, Yui Mei also thought she’d obediently follow behind the crown prince.

It was not like she could get convenient tools like the ones in Japan, and she didn’t think she was longing for the open air.

Yui Mei was already posed beside them, however, she wanted to take back what she said.

‘Sorry for trying to be tough, didn’t think the outside world would be so fun!’

She unwittingly stopped when something fascinating caught her eye.

When she came to her senses, the crown prince and Li Yong were waiting for her a few steps away.

This was repeated several times.

“It’s alright, go ahead and look around until you’re satisfied.”

The crown prince gave his permission, so she started to go around with more vigor.

“Seeing her like that makes her seem like an ordinary girl, right.”

“There’s no end to it if you wait, women take forever to shop.”

The crown prince was beaming, chuckling as he said that while he watched Yui Mei absorbed in wandering around the street stalls. Li Yong then replied sagely.

Yui Mei must have heard their exchange, but she was too preoccupied staring at the thing in front of her.

She might never have the opportunity to go around the street stalls with the permission of the crown prince.

The city of Kyo was near the harbor, so there were also imported goods. While plenty of the items were new to Yui Mei, there were also products that were similar to modern Japan’s convenient things.

She was particularly interested in the iron plate that had animals and flower patterns engraved on it.

It was roughly the size of a small hotplate, and she could make cute fried eggs on it.

Maybe she could ask Mei Na to make pretty snacks with it.

Yui Mei stared at the iron plate raptly.

“Do you want it?”

The crown prince called out to her from behind.

“Hmm, rather than saying I want it, it’s like it’s something rare, ah but I’m thinking if I really do want it, or something like that…”

Since she was already an adult, she thought she could suppress her desires, but in the end, her desire won.

“…Storekeeper, how much is it?”

And so, Li Yong paid for it.

Apparently, they would buy anything she fancied.

This iron plate was to be delivered to Yui Mei’s room. She returned to the crown prince’s side, finally satisfied after wandering around the stalls.

After a while, they reached the gate, and the coachman was sitting on the horse-drawn carriage, waiting for them.

‘Whoa, it’s the first time I’ll ride a horse carriage!’

Yui Mei became excited as she stood in front of it.

Commoners rode in carts with no walls nor roofs, and the journey from the borderland had been difficult.

However, only the crown prince and Yui Mei was to ride in the carriage. Li Yong was to ride a horse as the Imperial Guard.

Yui Mei became conscious about it, so she inched closer to Li Yong.

“Ahm, I know we’re going incognito, but it’s the crown prince, after all, so would it really be alright?”

Li Yong raised a brow at Yui Mei’s question.

“You just can’t see them, but there are outriders, too.”

So that’s how it was, shadow guards were also present.

––––––

T/L Thoughts: The crown prince really doted on Yui Mei, what a caring brother ~ ? I doubt he’d allow Yui Mei’s actions if she was somebody else. He indulged Yui Mei precisely because of who she is. And Yui Mei’s tourist mode was switched on! ?

Hi everyone, Hanazakura here, thanks for reading, I’m grateful to you guys! Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Housekeeper of the Hundred Blossom Palace schedule of release is every Mon, Wed and Fri. 

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