Chapter 311 - Food for the Damned

Princess Nalan went over to visit the Zou representatives' residence again today. After a short while there, she pretended to have a headache to avoid answering questions about their departure date. She went to "nap" and secretly ran off on her own again.

Molin and the envoys were not aware of Prince Rui's situation since the Emperor had spoken with the highest person in charge - Princess Nalan believing that she would make the responsible choice but the truth was that she was a bit befuddled at the moment.

She kept the news about Prince Rui's situation to herself and simply gave the vague response of soon, stalling. After all, the Emperor had assured her that Prince Rui was safe and will remain protected until her group arrived. Even she had to acknowledge that the Emperor was being very considerate of them given the reason Prince Rui had left in the first place.

Anyway, today she was a girl on a mission.

Everyone was waiting for her to give the go-ahead, but before she could do or say anything, she needed to get her affairs in order.

Prince Yi had still not responded to her letter and she had finally gotten impatient and decided to make a move herself. She did want to wait for him but he was too slow and she was usually not good at patience, not to mention, the pressure she was under right now.

So today with the assistance of Prince Yi's undercover maid who served as the communication channel between them, she sneakily left the Zou representatives' manor again.

And with a little persuasion, she bullied the maid into leading the way to Prince Yi's manor. Now here she was standing across the street from the entrance and hesitating. 

"Your highness, please let's go back...The Prince won't be happy if you just barge into his manor uninvited like this..." The maid pleaded as she worriedly held onto Princess Nalan's arm in a pointless bid to stop her from going.

Princess Nalan knit her brows, she too acknowledged that this might not be the way to handle this. Prince Yi liked his privacy. Not to mention, the fact that she knew that he was not on good terms with the Emperor and her visit, if known can be seen as something more than it was - which was a simple visit. 

But what else was she supposed to do?

So regardless of her reservations, Princess Nalan shrugged the maid off and marched towards the entrance where she was promptly blocked by guards holding out their swords. She frowned at them but rather than fight or argue with them, she simply folded her arms and haughtily says, "Go inform Jun Shan that I am here..."

"Princess Nalan is here..." The maid quickly supplied before the guards could toss her out of there for that bold and frankly very rude request, even more so for using Prince Yi's name like that.

The guards looked at each other and then one of them informed, "The Prince is not receiving visitors today..."

Princess Nalan frowned and then said, "I am not a visitor so go inform him that I am here..."

The guards knit their brows and the maid tried to advise again, "Princess, why don't we go for now and I can deliver a le-"

"What is the point of sending a letter when I am standing right there?!" Princess Nalan exasperatedly asked and the maid shut her mouth. Princess Nalan then turned to the guards and went, "Would you go inform him, or do I need to bring an edict from the Emperor for you to do so?"

The guards knit their brows in contemplation, Prince Yi had ordered not to disturb him but then an edict from the Emepror would definitely put him in a worse mood. Also, this princess was a guest of the royal household. If they upset her, it could mean their heads. But Prince Yi also could have their heads for disobeying him. 

But before the guards could make their decision, Tian Ji arrived at the entrance and was surprised to see Princess Nalan and the maid there. Tian Ji bowed to Princess Nalan, glancing at the maid, who promptly lowered her head apologetically with a frown as she timidly said, "...The Princess insisted on coming..."

Tian Ji glanced about the street hoping no one knew Princess Nalan's identity but it was probably already too late. He inwardly sighed and ushered them in, leading Princess Nalan to a pavilion in a garden and politely said, "Please wait here...I will go inform the Prince."

Princess Nalan nodded and sat down with a satisfied expression, as she glanced about the surroundings, appraising the manor.

{...Not bad...}

Tian Ji sent the maid another disappointed look and then left them to go inform Prince Yi of his unexpected guest. After Tian Ji disappeared, Princess Nalan promptly got up to walk around and fidgeting maid quickly jumped in front of her, "Your highness, please just stay here...You really shouldn't be wanderi-"

"I'm just stretching my legs..." Princess Nalan dismissively said as she brushed past the maid while mumbling, "Don't you people get tired of telling me what I can and can't do...so annoying." 

The maid made a crying face and promptly followed closely behind her, this job was suddenly becoming very tiring. 

***

It seemed Prince Yi was getting back to his normal self, today he was not only awake already, but he also was sober, groomed and dressed in his usual elegance, sat in a meditation pose with his eyes closed wearing a frown, seemingly in deep contemplation. 

"Your highness, Princess Nalan is here to see you." Tian Ji informed after entering the room. Prince Yi immediately opened his eyes with a deepening frown.

Tian Ji swiftly continued on, "She was insisting and creating a scene with the guards at the entrance so I brought her inside to avoid attracting unwanted attention. I can send her aw-"

"It's alright..." Prince Yi said with a sigh, "It was bound to come to light sooner or later. Time is short..." He said as he rose to his feet.

He had been thinking about things since Zhao Chang left last night. And at this point, he could only try to balance things out. After all, what's done is already done. 

He could not simply discard Princess Nalan like that, it would be too cruel and well, he could not bring himself to abandon not abandon Princess Nalan - that was if she wanted him, he owed it to her. More so, if she had his child in her, he could not abandon his own child...he could never.

Moreover, it was not as if Princess Nalan would be a detrimental choice for him. As for the rest, well, he was sure Bao Zhun could understand. After all, it was not as if he was required to have only one woman - Prince Yi frowned as thoughts of the Emperor and Lei Xing flew to his mind again.

He honestly still could not believe that the Emperor had actually done what he did. As much as he loathed to admit it, it was clear now that the Emepror was truly smitten with Lei Xing, why else would he have done what he did? After all, all the Emperor gained from this act was an unnecessary amount of ire from the ministers by cutting a potential path to greatness for them.

Prince Yi inwardly sighed and pushed thoughts of his brother's "happy" marriage out of his mind. But he then arrived at the garden to find another troublesome scene, one of his concubines was talking to Princess Nalan.

"What is going on here?" Prince Yi irritatedly asked as he walked up to them. Princess Nalan turned to him with a smile, while the concubine almost jumped out of her skin, she quickly bowed and explained, "I...I was just wondering what this Meimei was doing here-"

"When did it become your duty to question my guests?" Prince Yi coldly interrupted.

"I just thought she might be lost -"

"Lost? Does this look like a marketplace where people wander into when they are lost? Ge - Leave..." Prince Yi ordered with an irritated sigh. The concubine swiftly bowed, glanced at Princess Nalan, and scurried out of the garden.

Princess Nalan, who had awkwardly been standing there watching the short exchange turned to Prince Yi and said, "That was a little too hard...I could have easily handled myself-"

"If you don't set boundaries then they will only get more unruly with time...You have to use a firm hand at the start to ensure compliance in the future." Prince Yi simply said. He would not allow his palace to be like his father's, where there was no order or peace and his women did whatever under his blind watch.

"True..." Princess Nalan said, knitting her brows in thought but then remembered why she was here and went, "Why haven't you responded to my letter?" She asked turning to Prince Yi with a disgruntled pout.

Prince Yi raised his eyebrows and informed, "...I was actually about to send for you." This was true, he was actually on the verge of sending for her, once he was done arranging his thoughts. 

"Oh..." Princess Nalan said lowering her eyes, feeling a bit foolish now for rushing over here and causing a scene.

"It's of no matter now...Have you eaten?" Prince Yi asked with a smile and Princess Nalan shook her head, "Time was of the essence...We need to talk about some things, I'll -"

"Good, we'll talk after eating...We have time." Prince Yi interrupted again still smiling, it would not have mattered if she had eaten or not, this meal she had to eat because it contained a special something he had arranged so they could move forward.

As if on queue, Tian Ji entered the garden with the servants bringing in the food. Princess Nalan pouted, unhappy with the interruption, she really just wanted to get this talk out of the way but she obliged him and followed him sit down for the meal. 

Prince Yi glanced at Tian Ji, who nodded at him. Prince Yi then smiled at Princess Nalan and encouraged her to eat. He picked up his own chopsticks and began to eat himself while surreptitiously glancing at Princess Nalan across from him. 

He was actually feeling somewhat excited by the prospect of a child. It had never occurred to him to have one before, the timing was never right so he always made sure his concubines took birth control. Moreover, it would not be a good look for him to already have a child before marrying his Princess consort. 

After all, for peace and harmony, the first child should naturally come from the Princess consort herself. All that aside, it will be good to have a child. He would be a great father, he thought smiling to himself.

Princess Nalan looked at Prince Yi smiling and also smiled to herself, happy that he was happy with her presence. Even if it did not seem that way, she had for a second or two worried that he would have been angry with her barging her way in here like this.

She was relieved to see him smiling, so she too smiled to herself. Once this meal was over, they would talk about things and then - Princess Nalan suddenly froze and frowned, she lightly scratched her throat, feeling off and then she suddenly jumped up and raced over to the corner holding her stomach in pain and hurling. 

Prince Yi hid his smile and quickly shot to his feet and went over to her to play the dutiful host, "Are you alright?" He asked, patting her back as he waved over for a maid to bring some water. 

Princess Nalan took the water and rinsed out her mouth, taking deep breaths but before she could talk, she went back to hurling again. 

"Quick, send for a doctor." Prince Yi ordered and Tian Ji, right on queue again raced off to "find" the doctor.

After her stomach had calmed down a bit, Prince Yi helped her to her seat, "I think something here must disagree with me..." She said in a raspy voice.

"Clear the table." Prince Yi ordered with a frown and then he sat next to Princess Nalan and asked, "Feeling better?"

"En, better..." She responded with a frown, "I normally have a strong stomach..."

"I am aware." Prince Yi said with a snort, remembering her taste for bugs, but then he also remembered Lei Xing and frowned, quickly shoving the memory and the annoying thoughts away before they ruined his mood again.

"Still, let's have you checked by a doctor...just in case." Prince Yi said as he poured a cup of tea and handed it to her. 

Princess Nalan sipped her tea, looking at Prince Yi, who was smiling at her and glancing behind her anxiously waiting for the doctor to arrive to give the verdict.

Princess Nalan smiled to herself again. thinking that It was not such a bad thing to be ill once in a while, it was nice being doted on like this.