chapter 24.1

Yu Pin Yan went to the military camp and only returned home twice a month. This made Yu Xiang very anxious and had no choice but to chant Buddhist scriptures. She possessed wisdom,[1] yet she has a secular heart. In Yu Xiang’s two lives, she had fallen into the same place, Avici[2]. Yet, she never wanted to break free and fell deeper instead.

This day, a female official[3] went to pick her up to meet the Ninth Princess after she had finished her morning lessons.

Interacting with a simple child was the most relaxing and pleasant thing to do. Yu Xiang suppressed her worrisome thoughts and got on the carriage.

Although the Ninth Princess was eight years old, she still lived with the Empress and occupied a large courtyard on the Changle Palace’s west side. Yu Xiang greeted the Empress, and two old Momo pushed her wheelchair.

The Ninth Princess’s study companion had already been decided. She was Fan Jiao Jiao, the youngest daughter of the General Who Guards the State. Even though her name was beautiful, she was a naive little tigress. Her personality was very straightforward, and if you talked to her in a roundabout manner, she wouldn’t be able to understand it. Even though she just reached seven years old, she was taller than Yu Xiang. With her tanned skin and big eyes, her manner would seem imposing when she stared at someone.

Of course, such a paper tiger would only be able to frighten ordinary children. Yu Xiang wasn’t afraid of her. On their first meeting, she made the little girl docile and thought to herself, “The Empress has great discernment. Though looking for a foolish person was to prevent the Qiu’er from being controlled by her companion, but how can she find someone this stupid? When both of them are together, it can only form four words——Heaven is imperfect, the earth is uneven[5].

Once ‘Heaven is imperfect, the earth is uneven’ saw her, it was as if they saw a meat bone. They ran towards her and pulled her hand towards the soft couch. Two Momo pushed the wheelchair forward and took off Yu Xiang’s shoes before carrying her.

The three of them chatted for a while. The Ninth Princess looked around and saw that all the palace servants hung their heads low. Then she took out a wooden box from the back of the pillow, opened the lid, and placed it in front of Yu Xiang. She whispered, “ Here, this is for you. It’s called Snow Exquisite. It’s delicious.”

Yu Xiang looked intently at it, but it was just two fried chop rice cakes that were sprinkled with a layer of white icing sugar. They were round and powdery, which looked very lovely. Yu Xiang picked one up and placed it into her mouth to chew. She glanced at the tigress, who was secretly swallowing her saliva.

“Is it nice?” The Ninth Princess asked expectantly.

“Delicious.” She bit on the soft glutinous skin, and the fragrant red bean paste filling immediately seeped out. It was too sweet for others but just right for Yu Xiang. Like the Ninth Princess, she has a sweet tooth as well.

The Ninth Princess laughed contentedly, “I knew you would like it. I traded it with a bag of jewels. There were six of them. I ate two and Jiao Jiao ate two, and I left two for you.”

When she heard this, Yu Xiang who was swallowing the food almost choked to death. She quickly waved to the palace servants standing beside them, rolling her eyes until the white of her eyes was almost shown. What type of fried chop rice cake is worth a bag of jewels?

The palace servant hurriedly brought a glass of water and handed it to her.

The Ninth Princess’s wet nurse, Jin Momo, came forward to pat her back as she contemplated the words that were said. Who was bold enough to deceive the Ninth Princess with a few rice cakes? Because the princesses were not allowed to be accompanied by palace servants when they were in class, and only their study companion could. Thus, as for what was happening in school, if the Ninth princess didn’t mention anything, then there was no way for Jin Momo to know.

Yu Xiang stretched her neck, and finally swallowed the ball into her stomach. She hurriedly asked, “Did you really exchange a bag of jewels for six rice cakes?”

The Ninth princess blinked her big eyes and looked extremely innocent.

Yu Xiang covered her face and groaned. Then she took out the silver, which was the size of a fingernail, from her purse and said, “See, you can buy fifty Snow Exquisites with such a teensy silver. Moreover, it’s not even called Snow Exquisite, it’s called fried chop rice cake. This snack can be seen anywhere outside, and it is very cheap. Silly girl, you have been cheated.”

She looked towards the tigress and asked, “Haven’t you seen this before?”

The tigress cautiously shook her head. She was so strong, and she still tried to hide behind the Ninth Princess. She hid her head but exposed her tail, which was very amusing. Strangely speaking, she wasn’t afraid of the Ninth princess but was very scared of the person she would only meet once every three to five days, Yu Xiang.

Although this child may appear boisterous, she was also from an aristocratic family and was usually pampered. How could she have eaten such things as fried chop rice cake? Yu Xiang face-palmed helplessly and asked, “Who did you trade with?”

“It’s Seventh Princess’s study companion, Deng Cai Ming.” The tigress stuck half her head out and replied in a terrified manner.

The Ninth Princess may be slow-witted. However, at this moment she realised she had suffered a loss. She pouted and questioned, “How many pieces of Snow, uh, fried chop rice cake can be traded with one bag of jewels.”

“So much that I can bury you with it, and you can’t finish it in your entire life!” Yu Xiang gently tapped her forehead. She was a bit resentful that she didn’t meet her expectations and said, “What’s the point in exchanging, you are the princess. And she is just a small study companion. If you fancy her pastry then just snatch it, why must you give her a jewel?”

“She-She refused.” The Ninth princess felt very wronged.

“If she isn’t willing then hit her! You have the most powerful father in the world, the most powerful mother in the world, and the most powerful elder brother in the world. What can’t you obtain? The next time you see her, hit her mercilessly. The Ninth Princess wants to eat her pastry, yet she dares to use all sorts of excuses. Who the heck[6] gives her the right to reject?! ” As soon as she said these vulgar words, Yu Xiang awkwardly stroked her lips. Realising that the two children didn’t notice that she had said vulgarities, and they were staring at her with eyes of admiration, she then put down her hand naturally.

Jin Momo covered her mouth and held back her laughter.

The Ninth Princess pondered for a moment and shook her head troublingly, “This isn’t right, acting like this would make me be the same as Qinghe Junzhu.”

“That’s not the same. Qinghe Junzhu snatched your stuff, that’s called impudent, and crossed the line. But when you snatched other people’s stuff, that’s called blessing and giving her face. You are a princess, and she’s a study companion. How’s that the same?” Yu Xiang instilled the law of the jungle into the child’s mind. On the subject of how to defeat the strong with the weak and pretending to be a pig to eat the tiger,[7] even if she taught them for 10,000 years, this child still wouldn’t be able to learn it.

Although Fan Jiao Jiao is a girl from the general tigress, she was simple-minded. She mumbled, “Mister will scold you if you hit them.”

“Foolish, find a reason will do.” Yu Xiang pressed on her forehead.