Chapter 212.1 - Poster Princes
212.1 – Poster Princes
— imperial capital.
Tianmen Avenue, which extends from the square in front of the imperial city and runs through the whole city, divides the city into east and west.
The western district is where royals and their kin, nobles, and high court officials reside. It’s status is second only to the imperial city. However, purely in terms of value, it may not be comparable to the eastern district.
Most of the people residing in the imperial capital’s eastern district are commoners, but they are no ordinary commoners. They are people who made great achievements in different fields. They are great merchants, famous scholars, famous swordsmiths, genius doctors… although they have no real power or status endowed by the institution, yet their influence and social status cannot be ignored.
In fact, this is just a conventional and not a compulsory division. However, even though it is not impossible for a commoner to live in the western district, but whether they dare to or not is another matter. Conversely, it is not a big deal for a noble to move to the eastern district — in fact, many royals, nobles, and high court officials buy mansions in the eastern district and use them as their secondary residence.
In the Hua Dynasty, power and institution are still important factors that determine how much freedom a person possesses.
Near the core of the eastern district, there lies a mansion belonging to a royal.
However, this mansion is not a secondary residence, but the main residence.
The owner of this mansion is an outlier among royalty. They not only like to interact with people of different fields, but also moved their main place of residence to the eastern district in order to communicate with them. Although they are a girl and cannot hold real power, but thanks to their reputation accumulated over many military expeditions and victories and their connections they established in exchange of humbling themselves, they gained status and power that others wielding real authority cannot match.
Additionally, she is much a person of the people and often appears in the streets of the imperial capital. The imperial capital’s residents may not know what the Emperor looks like, but most of them know what the owner of this mansion looks like.
— Ninth Princess.
The owner of this mansion is the ninth daughter of the incumbent Emperor. Despite being only eighteen years old, she is the “Poster Princess” that has both beauty and talent. Among the people, she and the Merak Temple’s Temple Master Qi Qiqi are likened to a pair of peerless pearls of the Hua Dynasty’s younger generation.
But this Poster Princess, who constitutes a brilliant image in the eyes of the people, is now reading a novel in her study and laughing immoderately.
“Ha-ha, how amusing! He actually fell into the latrine pit, wow, how clumsy! How truly clumsy!”
This legendary Ninth Princes violently slapped the desk while laughing, and even tears welled up in the corners of her eyes.
Despite not using any cosmetics, she has a delicate face that looks like an uncanny work of art, making it impossible for people unable to find fault with; deeper than the sea, her blue eyes are as clear as gems and dotted with stars; the palace dress formed from intertwined pink, orange, and beige colors, which hides her exquisite body underneath, accentuates her grandeur and charm.
But, her most striking characteristic is probably her long black hair faintly suffused with the color of water.
At least twice as long as the person herself is tall, it’s hanging to her ankles. Then, when traced to the back of the height of the back of the head, it is tied into a side bun and fixed with accessories.
Probably because she saw something interesting again, the Ninth Princess Qin Shiyu burst into laughter again.
“Ha-ha-ha, he actually can’t climb up — can’t climb up! This is killing this princes! Help, there are assassins! Help!”
At this time, the door of the study was suddenly pushed open.
Qin Shiyu looked over reflexively, and a tall, voluptuous woman in maid clothes entered her eyes.
The maid is about twenty years old. Although she looks to be about the same age as Qin Shiyu, yet unexpectedly, she gives off the feeling of someone past their prime.
This feeling probably stems from her long hair.
Her hair is dark gray, like the color of death in the cold winter, and it gives off the misconception that everything is coming to an end.
Moreover, her eyes are gray. If it wasn’t for the deep glow of life that fills them, it would not be surprising for people to mistake them for the eyes of the dead.
“Princess, please pay attention to your manners… I heard your laughter outside.”
Probably because she can’t watch it anymore, the maid advised with a wry smile as she poured Qin Shiyu tea.
“Ei — can’t this princess laugh even in her own house?”
Qin Shiyu, acting like a spoiled child, pouted and grumbled cutely.
“Yinping, you’re so strict!”
If outsiders were to witness that the famous “Poster Princess” has such a cute side, their eyes might really pop out from the head from shock. After all, in their eyes, the “Poster Princess” is an awe-inspiring, inviolable heroine who keeps her calm even in the face of a 10,000-strong army.
Despite this, the maid has long since gotten used to this. She calmly put a teacup in front of Qin Shiyu.
“It’s not alright for this servant to hear such things. After all, you are a princess…”
“So what if I’m a princess? A princess cannot laugh heartily, can only laugh without showing her teeth…”
As if she was greatly wronged, Qin Shiyu pouted and said this sullenly. As she spoke, she wiped off imaginary tears from the corners of her eyes and assumed a sobbing tone. At the same time, she peeped at he maid Yinping from the canthus.
Seeing her master putting on an act, Yinping sighed helplessly.
“Oh dear, how strange… doesn’t look like a princess.
“What should a princess look like…”
The Poster Princess deliberately dragged out the words, making her tone meaningful.
She closed the novel and put it on corner of the desk. Then, she raised the teacup and took a sip of tea.
“Yinping, oh Yinping, the identity of a princess has always been granted by bloodline! Even if the words and actions are not princesslike, but this princess can only be a princess, cannot become a commoner.”
Qin Shiyu put down the teacup and looked at Yinping standing beside her, a meaningful smile on her face.
“This princess stands out from the masses from birth and cannot become a commoner. No matter how hard this princess tries to enter the ranks of commoners, they will only comment that this princess is unlike an ordinary princesses, but won’t really regard this princess as a commoner.”
Qin Shiyu spread her arms.
“Of course, it is another matter if royal father deprives this princes of her identity.”
This can already be regarded as an irreverent statement.
Consequently, Yinping reprimanded strictly, “Princess, speak cautiously!”
If it was a common maid instead, she would not dare to yell at the Poster Princess like this. However, Yinping is not a common maid, but one of the twelve members of the Swordguard Order, who are responsible for the protection of royal family members.
What’s more, Qin Shiyu isn’t bothered by it.
“What is there to be cautious of?” Qin Shiyu tilted her head, “To tell the truth, whether this princess goes to the latrine or has a love affair, royal father will learn of everything.”
Qin Shiyu raised the teacup again.
On the tea’s surface, there is a pair of dark blue eyes reflected.
“Royal father’s ‘Nightwalker’ have a finger in every pie…”
Nightwalker —
Only a few people know that it is the intelligence agency directly subordinated to the Hua Dynasty’s Emperor. At the same time, it is the only hidden organization in the Imperial Court. Since they only answer to the Emperor, they are not subjected to the supervision and regulation of the Imperial Court, they are located outside the reach of the law. They are the most loyal minions of the Emperor — a fierce sword that can best embody and display the will of the Emperor.
Yinping was silent for a long time, and then said a little helplessly, “Princess, speak cautiously. If this servant heard something she should not have, what then? What do you mean by love affair? Princess, you haven’t even held a man’s hand yet.”
“Just saying, but it is a little embarrassing that this princess hasn’t held a man’s hand yet. Among the several sister, this princess is the only one who has passed the marriageable age and has yet to get married? It seems that royal father has a headache regarding this.”
After finishing the tea, Qin Shiyu pushed the teacup to a corner of the desk. Just as she reached out to pick up the novel, she suddenly remembered something.
“Oh, right, Yinping.”
“Please speak.”
Yinping respectfully encouraged Qin Shiyu to carry on.
Qin Shiyu propped up her head, flipped through the novel’s pages, and asked casually, “Reportedly, Second Brother recently caused a commotion. What was it again? The abduction of the Gong Clan’s precious daughter?”
“Yes, the yesterday’s affair.”
“Who could abduct a person from under Old Master Gong’s nose?” Qin Shiyu looked curiously at Yinping, “Hey, it wasn’t the doing of Daoist Facetious, was it?”
The Daoist Facetious Qin Dynasty mentioned refers to the Second Prince’s guard, the Third Swordguard, who studied under the One Dao Cult’s Wang Daoming. By the way, Yinping is the Fifth Swordguard and is responsible for protecting the Poster Princess, who is the sole princess with a such a guard.
Yinping shook her head firmly and answered in a resounding voice, “Impossible. Although we ‘swordguards’ each have a different disposition, but we will never violate our creed.”