11 Chapter 12: Time for Business 1

COPYRIGHT © A.D. Torres

Date Published: March 28, 2020

Chapter Title: Time for Business (1)

Chapter no. 12

(Qin Zetian's POV)

When the princess spoke her mind, everyone in the table abruptly stop eating mouthful spoons of their meals. I stared at the food on my plate and savor the delicious flavor in my mouth. The princess is the queen's favored daughter, and the second female child of the emperor.

From the previous memories that I have gained it seems like we have the same birth year. The eldest daughter of the emperor died an awfully quiet death, she had a poor constitution and I guess poisoning will do. So when this child was born everyone in the family regarded her as their flower. While the fourth princess is barely comparable to her.

The Empress graced the emperor with five children thus she never loose favor. Her children are: second prince; Wang Haoran, the second princess; Wang Roushi, the third prince; Wang Ximen, the fifth prince; Wang Shaoxi and the fourth prince; Wang Yuanzhen. Among the empress' children I failed to meet the eldest son.

The crown prince; Wang Jichen is the son of concubine Wu Ming Shi. The sixth prince; Wang Shaoxun and fourth princess; Wang Feifei is from concubine Qiao Ning. While the seventh; prince is from a deceased concubine named Li Yuyan. And the youngest prince; Wang Wenxuan is the son of my sister.

\"If the princess wants a playmate then I have no objections with her inviting my youngest daughter to the palace. Or you can meet here and enjoy peace, the manor is open for you your grace.\" my father commented

\"Thank you uncle, I'd be glad bringing Ze'er wherever I go. Life in the palace is boring, my brothers do things they are required to do and the emperor won't allow me to roam around the city alone. Bodyguards follow me wherever I go and it attracts too much attention, they would even force me to use carriages from the imperial palace to show my status and I hated that. So maybe Ze'er can accompany me freely.\" the meaning behind her words were clear, she wants me to help her get her freedom

\"If the princess wants it, this subject will humbly comply\" I resumed eating while everyone was still in a daze.

I can sense that her physique is trained well. She must be practicing martial arts in secret. Or her brothers might have taught her.

When lunch was over the imperial sons and my brother went along with my father to the palace. My mother became busy again, she was even called for business because of the matters that need her attention and time, a good example of that is owning the most profitable auction house in this kingdom. My third uncle was tasked to go to the northern border and check the situation there so he left to prepare. The princess and I are the only ones left.

\"Princess shall we take a stroll? The garden is in blossom and I'd like watch them in full bloom before the leaves fall on the ground\"

\"You address me too formally, just call me Roushi or Rou'er\"

\"If you like to\" I answered politely, but I wasn't too comfortable with calling people endearing names or nicknames. Growing in a politically and business inclined family I was trained to address people based on their titles, so it somehow felt foreign.

As we walk she keeps on talking about random things and from the tasteless details I have created and imagery of how the outside world looked like.

\"How long have you mastered martial arts?\" she asked

\"Ever since I was able to read, I have been reading secret books of martial arts from the manor's library. My family never knew that I have the ability to contend with them because I kept it in secret and chose to only show it earlier.\"

\"The dishes you've prepared, they are so tasty! Can you teach me how to cook them?\" her eyes twinkled

\"What the princess wants, goes\"

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Author's Note:

From this chapter onwards the character's name 'Elizabeth Lee' will be replaced with 'Qin Zetian' as a sign that she has finally accepted a new identity and a new life. There will be lots of 'author's note' from now on since I will want to gladly explain things or scenes that were too fast to digest. The use of [no.] symbolizes that I am referring to a direct quotation from famous literary or philosophical works and/or business terms and research articles. For questions refer to the comment box below and ask whatever you have in mind.