The Legend of the Concubine in the Harem

The 29th year of Qiyuan, summer.

A little palace maid in a light gauze skirt was walking hurriedly on a cobblestone path. She had an anxious look on her face, a thin layer of sweat on her forehead, and her steps were as fast as the wind, with her emerald skirt fluttering.

"Princess!"

"Princess where are you?"

Among the strange rocks and the dense green pines and cypresses, the voices of palace maids searching and calling out came one after another. The little palace maid in the green dress was one of them. She walked around a rockery and appeared in front of her a vermilion railing that was indeed very familiar. The little palace maid was stunned for a second before she realized that she had already searched this place before.

Just as the maid was about to turn around and look for her somewhere else, a woman in royal blue palace clothes came out from the corner of the corridor. When the maid saw her, she immediately knelt down and bowed, saying, "Your servant greets Princess Shou'an."

Princess Shou'an - the fourth princess, Lu Baohui, covered her lips with a handkerchief and coughed twice, then asked gently, "But the fifth sister is running around again and has disappeared?"

She looked very much like Liu Luohua, with bright and beautiful eyebrows and eyes, but unfortunately she looked a little sickly. However, this made her beauty less aggressive and instead gentle and amiable. In addition, when she occasionally frowned because of physical discomfort, she had a kind of beauty that made people feel pity and care for her, like Xishi holding her heart.

The little palace maid lowered her head and whispered, "...Yes."

Princess Shou'an looked at the young palace maid who was obviously not very good at answering in front of the nobles and smiled: "This Chonghua Palace, even though we brothers and sisters have moved out, it seems... it is still very lively every day."

The little palace maid didn't know how to answer Princess Shou'an's words, and she was just sweating. Fortunately, after saying this ambiguous sentence, Princess Shou'an didn't think of making things difficult for the little palace maid. Instead, she gave her some advice: "Before I left the palace to start my own residence, I often played with Fifth Sister by the lotus pond in the southwest corner. It's cool there, and these days the lotus flowers are in full bloom. You might as well go there to look for Fifth Sister."

She is already twenty years old this year. She married the son of the Earl of Yiyang two years ago. Due to her poor health, she has not been able to conceive a child. However, Princess Shou'an is not in a hurry. She still submits her name card in every now and then, enters the palace to show filial piety to the emperor and empress, and maintains their relationship.

"Your Highness, we have already searched everywhere, but we really can't find Your Highness Yuyi..." Seeing that the nobleman spoke in a friendly manner, the little palace maid couldn't help but replied with some worry.

Princess Shou'an frowned: "Is that so... Never mind, since I'm here, I'll help you find your fifth sister."

As the emperor's children grew up and left the palace to set up their own homes, only the two youngest ones were left in Chonghua Palace - Princess Yuyi Lu Weiyuan and the sixth prince Lu Jiaxuan. The latter was taught to be very well-behaved and quiet by her biological mother and two adoptive mothers, but the former brought a bustle that kept the entire Chonghua Palace awake day and night.

Everyone in the entire palace knew that Princess Yuyi was a playful and mischievous girl who could not stand discipline. She would often slip away when the palace servants were not paying attention. Even the strictest teacher in the imperial study could not scare the princess when she was only seven years old.

According to common sense, such a "lawless" princess should be taught by several maids, so that she can learn the proper manners worthy of a royal princess. However, the people who should be in charge of this matter are -

As a father, the emperor only wished that he could renovate Chonghua Palace a few more times so that his precious daughter could have fun as she pleased under his nose;

Empress Xie, her own mother, publicly stood up several times to praise her only daughter for her liveliness, health, intelligence and bravery. As for those who said that Princess Yuyi's behavior did not seem dignified and gentle, and did not have the demeanor of a noble lady... Empress Xie, with a stroke of her red pen, investigated those people thoroughly, convicted the guilty and punished the innocent. After a series of punishments, some rumors about Princess Yuyi in the capital suddenly stopped, as if their tongues were suddenly cut off.

Under the premise that both supreme rulers clearly doted on their most precious daughter, Princess Yuyi was just a little more lively, active, smart, and argumentative. Compared with those princesses in history who sold official positions and did all kinds of evil things, she was a rare well-behaved one.

Even the palace servants who were busy all day long because of Princess Yuyi's missing whereabouts knew very well that Princess Yuyi was actually one of the easiest masters to serve in the palace. Not only did she never beat or scold servants at will, she also seldom did anything that would really embarrass others. She was just a child by nature and was a little too playful.

Princess Shou'an Lu Baohui agreed with this deeply. They were sisters with the smallest age difference. Although they had many disagreements in the past, they grew up together after all. After thinking for a while, she took the anxious little palace maid and walked towards the direction of the lotus pond mentioned earlier.

This lotus pond was built for her by Lu Weiyuan after she pestered the emperor to build it after she moved into Chonghua Palace. The water level at the edge of the pond is only up to an adult's waist, and the pond becomes deeper the further in you go. The pond is planted with carefully selected lotus flowers, and the lotus leaves of this variety, when spread out, can cover most of a person's body. When it is flowering season, the tender pink lotus flowers have tiny yellow lotus pods, and the palm-sized petals overlap. When you take them in your hands and take a closer look, they seem to be made of the lightest and most transparent gauze, with a faint lotus fragrance, like clouds, mist, and a dream.

Standing beside a pond of pink, white and green lotus flowers, Princess Shou'an felt that she had worn the wrong clothes today. The royal blue was too dull and she should change into a soft pink and goose yellow that would be more suitable for viewing the flowers.

"Fifth sister?" She called softly toward the deepest lotus in the center of the lotus pond, "Come out quickly, stop playing, Father wants to see you."

On the way here, Princess Shou'an easily found out from the little palace maid why they were so anxious to find Lu Weiyuan.

As soon as she finished speaking, a long-legged water bird with a pure white body flew out from among the lotus flowers. Then the lush green lotus leaves also bowed their heads and bent their waists, as if they were moved by something from within.

Not long after, the lotus flowers that bloomed like clouds and smoke began to sway as if drunk, and a small black boat emerged from between the lush flowers and leaves.

At the same time, a young girl's sweet voice reached everyone's ears: "Father is looking for me?"