Housekeeper of the Hundred Blossom Palace

“Gaining weight would depend on the amount you are eating, as well as your exercise. If you exercise more than you eat, then you’ll get thinner. On the other hand, if you eat more than you exercise, you’ll get fatter.”

Princess Pan blankly stared when she heard the word ‘exercise’.

“Shall I swing the sword like the gentlemen? Or perhaps train in martial arts?”

 For people in this world, exercise was referring to the training that soldiers do, apparently.

Yui Mei shook her head.

“No, taking a stroll is fine. That is also a good exercise. However, right now, Princess Pan doesn’t have muscles in your legs and arms. You do get tired just walking normally, right?”

“…Indeed, that’s why I also find going out troublesome.”

So she really did her best just to welcome the crown prince.

“Let’s build your body so that you can go around the mansion for even just one round.”

“Yes, I’m already making Lord Li Min worry too much, I’ll do my best.”

Princess Pan’s truly motivated now with Yui Mei’s help.

With this, the instructions for the princess meals had been explained, their initial goal was also decided, and the reason why she wanted to lose weight had also been asked.

She was fine when she was in the Inner Palace, so why did she suddenly want to lose weight?

If the princess refused to answer these doubts, they would not be able to solve the problem from the roots.

Besides, voicing her concerns was also a step towards healing.

“The reason why I wanted to lose weight, huh….”

Princess Pan remained silent for a moment, but she eventually started to talk about it.

The princess was chubby since she was a small child. 

However, she did not notice that fact when she was in the Inner Palace.

Her mother had a relatively great influence there.

That’s why, not a single maid and court lady faced the princess directly to tell her about her body weight.

“Well, they must have been gossiping about me behind my back though.”

Despite that, not a single word reached the princess’s ears.

Besides, her own marriage was decided to be with one of the emperor’s subjects, so it seemed that Princess Pan’s lifestyle wasn’t really affected by her figure.

“The emperor decided to bestow me in marriage, but the one who wished for that marriage was Lord Li Min.”

Li Min also led the navy in battle against the pirates, so it’s natural that he would live beside  the harbor. 

That also meant it would not be a refined lifestyle that mainland residents were used to.

That’s why Li Min’s side had requested that it should not be a delicate, art-like woman.

“It’s actually unheard of for a subject to make a request to the emperor when a marriage is being bestowed. Well, the Huang family is the exception, though.”

Princess Pan smiled vaguely as she said that.

The crown prince also mentioned this, but the Huang family was widely known as the lords of the sea, so they were not docile and meek towards the emperor.

‘Ahh, so Princess Pan was bestowed in marriage to monitor them huh….’

And so, Princess Pan was chosen under this situation.

“I’m not too concerned about getting sunburned, unlike my older sisters.”

The princess had already given up on the notion of being beautiful, because of her heavy figure.

That was why she was not against the idea of living in a port city, unlike her sisters who hated the sea breeze, and were very concerned about their hair and skin being sunburned.

She was even ecstatic to see the sea that she had never laid her eyes on before.

Yui Mei could also emphatize with how she was more inclined towards feeding her curiosity than taking care of her appearance.

‘If I had grown up in the Inner Palace, maybe we got along as sisters, huh.’

With those feelings in her heart, Princess Pan finally arrived at Kei. However, everything changed once she set her foot inside the Huang family.

“The mansion servants kept on gossiping about me within earshot, and deliberately, at that.”

They were saying things like ‘Lord Li Min is so pitiful for having that kind of fatty princess forced on him.’

‘Eh, can a mere servant slander the daughter of THE EMPEROR like that?’

That was blasphemous, and if they were in the Inner Palace, no, even in the Imperial Palace, their heads would probably fly already.

Yui Mei was perplexed. Li Yong was listening to the whole story behind her, and when he saw her like that, he drew his face nearer and whispered.

“The Huang family had absolute power in this area. Thus, the residents here also revered the Huang family more than the emperor.”

“I see, so it’s within their territory, huh.”

Princess Pan bitterly smiled as she watched them muttering to each other.

“Well, the Huang County Lord, in other words, Lord Li Min’s aunt and her esteemed daughter had the real influence among them.”

The county lord was the title given to the princesses of the lords governing the territory.

The Huang Family had such a huge power, so of course the Huang County Lord was also someone who had a very high status.

“The Huang County Lord, or should I say the person who was supposed to become the bride of Lord Li Min, was supposed to be chosen among the daughters of the Huang family. However, Grand Duke Huang had talked to the emperor and selfishly took me in, so they were extremely furious.”

“Grand Duke Huang, the present head of the family, is already advanced in age, so apparently, he wanted to pass on the title to his son sooner or later. That son is Lord Li Min’s esteemed Father.”

The princess then heaved a deep sigh, and Li Yong continued from behind Yui Mei.

“Aah, so that means Lord Li Min’s bride will become the future madam of the Grand Duke, huh.”

So it must be a very fierce competition.

‘Don’t tell me, maybe the Grand Duke didn’t want the muddy strife within the Huang family, so he brought an outsider maiden in?’

It was a wild guess, but it was highly probable that he was already aware how the emperor would easily slip in the Huang family when he dragged the princess into this mire.

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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