Du Xiaoli and Han Mingxiang weren't too bored along the way– the two of them chatted and giggled, and time passed just like that. It appeared as if the weather was good today, so everyone was in decent spirits, but only Du Xiaoli and Han Mingxiang knew what was going on.
It wasn't yet evening when they stopped in a city. Since everyone knew about Han Mingxiang's marriage alliance, as soon as they entered the city, they saw the streets decorated in flaming red and other festive colors. The streets were full of people standing on both sides of the road to greet them cheerfully.
When they arrived at the inn, a group of people were standing in front of the inn. Seeing Han Mingyi and the others stop, the head of the group, wearing an official uniform, knelt down with the group of people behind him, saying, "Micheng Magistrate Zhu Zhong leads all the officials of Micheng in welcoming His Royal Highness Prince Ding, Princess Changle, Princess Anle, and young General Ji."
The magistrate had prevented onlookers from coming closer, and they were watching the spectacle from a distance. They also followed the officials and knelt down.
Du Xiaoli placed the veil on Han Mingxiang's head, then helped her out of the carriage. Seeing the considerable number of people kneeling on the ground, she thought to herself that this was not a small city.
Han Mingyi and the others got off their horses. He glanced at the people kneeling on the ground and said, "Be at ease, all of you can rise."
"Thank you, Your Highness Prince Ding."
Zhu Zhong stood up, took a few steps forward, and said, "Your Highness Prince Ding, the rooms and hot water have already been prepared."
"Mm, let’s go in." Han Mingyi turned to look at Han Mingxiang and Du Xiaoli.
Du Xiaoli nodded and assisted Han Mingxiang in first, the shopkeeper leading them to their room.
"Secure the carriages. The weather is cold, don't let the horses freeze at night. You all come in." Han Mo Yi commanded, leading Zhu Zhong and some of the higher ranking officials inside.
The onlookers outside dispersed, one after another, when they saw Han Mingyi and the others all go in.
Du Xiaoli led Han Mingxiang to her room, and Han Mingxiang's maid entered closely behind them. Although she couldn't serve her in the carriage, once they left the carriage, she would still do everything for Han Mingxiang.
Du Xiaoli sat her butt down on a stool and took a long stretch, saying, "This carriage ride is really uncomfortable."
"It’s been tough on you." Han Mingxiang said with traces of guilt.
"What nonsense are you thinking!" Du Xiaoli waved her hand, "I just think that riding in a carriage is not as freeing as riding a horse!"
"Princess, Mistress is just like this. Last time we came to the capital, Young Master didn't allow Mistress to ride a horse. In those few days of riding a carriage, there wasn't a single day that Mistress didn't complain inside the carriage," Xia Yuan said with a smile as she prepared an incense burner on the side.
“Xia Yuan, how can you expose me like this!” Du Xiaoli looked at Xia Yuan.
“Mistress, this isn’t me exposing you, it’s you exposing yourself,” Xia Yuan lit the incense burner before placing the lid back on.
“This isn’t on you?” Du Xiaoli let out a puff of frustration, saying, “You’ve turned so evil now!”
“Mistress, Xia Yuan has always been like this. But I’m not that evil compared to Ying Ge, right Ying Ge?”
“Where am I evil? You’re not allowed to speak of me like this, I’m the kindest of all,” Ying Ge retorted.
Han Mingxiang watched the way Du Xiaoli bantered with her own maids, laughing.
In her eyes, there was truly no difference between the noble and the lowly. She and Xia Yuan and the others looked like master and servants, but were more like friends. No wonder when she went missing, her maids were so anxious.
“Alright, alright. Hurry and get some food up here, your mistress is starving,” Du Xiaoli said, “Princess, are you hungry?”
“I’m okay,” Han Mingxiang replied. “I want to remove my makeup, it’s so uncomfortable to have it pasted on my face.”
“Then just take it off. Either way, you’re restricted from meeting others now, who will know whether you’re wearing makeup or not,” Du Xiaoli said. “Bi’er, go fetch some hot water and bring two extra pots, otherwise I don’t think we’ll have enough to wash with. Ying Ge, you go help too, and then Xia Yuan, you can go make food.”
“Yes, Mistress.”
“Yes, Princess.”
“After the three went out, there were only four maids left in the room plus two nannies. Du Xiaoli hadn’t seen these four maids before, but they were all relatively quiet. She remembered that Han Mingyi had said he would send along a few people to protect Han Mingxiang; she was guessing it was these four.
Thanks for your continued support~ happy reading!
--If you want to support the team, please donate .
--
If there are any major inconsistencies between the old releases and our new ones, please point them out for us, thank you!
Join our for more announcements and release updates~ We won't bite~