Housekeeper of the Hundred Blossom Palace

A long time passed since Li Yong left to join the pirate extermination.

Yui Mei realized that it could be quite uncomfortable when a person that had been constantly with her was gone.

They spend a lot of time together as compared to when they were in the Hundred Blossom Palace, after all.

Yui Mei had basically done everything the way she wanted to on her own.

That’s why when Li Yong entered the picture, she felt a bit irritated because she felt she was being chaperoned. 

However, when the irritating existence disappeared, what she felt was a sense of loss rather than a feeling of liberation. 

Finally, word came that the boat that carried Li Yong, who was the root of all those feelings, had entered the harbor.

‘Lord Li Yong, are you safe?’

Yui Mei was not a cold-hearted person, so of course she was also worried about him.

However, it didn’t mean that she spent sleepless nights tossing and turning while thinking of him, though.

One of Yui Mei’s pride was her ability to sleep like a log through the night, wherever and whatever situation she might be in.

Still, she thought that it would be better if she saw that he was safe in person, so that this faint uneasiness would also settle, too.

However, Li Yong had explicitly instructed her to ‘Never ever leave the mansion until I return’.

Since she could not go to the harbor to meet him, she decided to just wait patiently inside the mansion.

On the other hand, Princess Pan’s anxiety levels shot up.

Dark circles surrounded her eyes because she couldn’t sleep well at night.

Unfortunately, the princess couldn’t go to the harbor for security reasons, regardless of how much she wanted to.

Thus, she had been pacing restlessly at the entrance of the mansion since the news came, and she actually looked like a bear in the zoo.

Yui Mei accompanied her, and she also waited at the same place.

Both of them waited, although their enthusiasm differed for a bit.

After a while —

They could see a group of people down the road, and they were headed towards the mansion.

‘Oh, they’re back?’

Li Min’s figure was very obvious since he was leading the group, but Yui Mei couldn’t confirm whether Li Yong was with them.

She had been relaxed before, but she suddenly felt a rush of uneasiness.

‘What will I do if he’s severely wounded?’

She already prepared a medical kit beforehand as a precaution, but she decided that she would immediately dash towards him to treat him.

She would leave the mansion in that case, but he just had to turn a blind eye in that case.

And in the worst case scenario, a one-in-a-million chance, that he died………….she would ask for a proper burial, and she would definitely take part of his hair and bring it back to the crown prince.

Such thoughts swirled inside Yui Mei’s head.

“Welcome home, Lord Li Min!”

Princess Pan’s voice resounded, and Yui Mei saw Li Min as he passed through the entrance.

Li Min didn’t have a trace of blood, either from him or splashed from his enemies, so he must have changed his clothes, but the scent of blood faintly wafted.

He probably didn’t have enough water to wash his body on the ship.

Still, he prioritized going back to the mansion right away, instead of stopping at the city to fix himself.

“Indeed, I have returned, and we have achieved the fruits of our labor…. Ugh!! So troublesome!!”

Li Min greeted her with formal words, but he was fumbling and the words didn’t come out properly, probably due to his excitement.

“Congrats to us, Lady Princess, we won!”

Li Min grabbed Princess Pan’s shoulders and he excitedly shouted in his own dialect.

Princess Pan was stupefied for a moment because of the rough greeting. Still —

“How marvelous! All the people of Kai will be able to live in peace.”

The princess sweetly smiled.

“…Yeah.”

Li Min was also dumbfounded when the princess didn’t have any trace of revulsion at his crudeness, but he was very happy.

‘Looks like this couple is okay, right?’

Yui Mei felt pleasantly warm as she gazed at the two of them.

“Hey, Yui Mei, I’ve been watching you for a while now, and you’re acting like a geezer.”

Yui Mei spun around when she heard that voice, and Li Yong was standing right beside her.

“Ah, you’re alive!”

Those words unwittingly spilled from her mouth. Li Yong glared at her.

“What, you wanted me to die?”

“No, no way, I was just thinking about all the possibilities.”

Yui Mei retorted, then she promptly inspected him all over.

‘He doesn’t seem to be injured, judging from his appearance.’

“Lord Li Yong, please walk over there, just to that spot.”

Li Yong raised his brow at Yui Mei’s abrupt request.

“Why?”

“So I’ll be satisfied.”

Li Yong sensed that Yui Mei was keeping something from him, so he wordlessly strode towards the place that she pointed out and returned to her side afterward.

She was relieved to see that there were no abnormalities in his gait, and he didn’t seem to have broken any bones.

“Great, you seem perfectly healthy to me. Alright, let me do this over again. Welcome back, Lord Li Yong.”

“Ahh, I see now. You’re so hard to read.”

Yui Mei beamed at him, and Li Yong lightly sighed.

‘What’s so hard about that!?’

Wasn’t it common sense to check first if the person in question was truly alright, before congratulating him?

Well, she set that aside for now.

“Li Yong, strange, you look so clean.”

Indeed, Li Yong did smell of sweat, but his armour didn’t even have any trace of gash or blood. 

‘Was he part of the logistical support or something?’

There were still a lot of things to do even if he didn’t participate in the battle.

“Heh, don’t pair me with those noobs who get splashed with blood with that level of enemy.”

Li Yong looked a bit offended as he retorted. He probably thought that Yui Mei was being sarcastic when she pointed that out.

“Sorry, that was rude of me.”

Yui Mei honestly apologized.

Still, he must have been swinging his sword a lot, and yet he managed to remain spotless —

Maybe this guy belonged to the high-caliber, powerful soldiers?

‘Like those highly skillful surgeons who can operate with minimal bleeding.’

Was it really okay that the crown prince left such an excellent human behind with her? 

–––

T/N: Yui Mei lowkey missing Li Yong ? Lol at her thoughts, though ?

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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