A Notice from the Palace

A beautiful pavilion sat in the middle of a huge man-made lotus pond. In it, most of the young misses and young masters gathered together to exchange pointers on this month's poetry meet.

The capital's foothold had always been the strength, talent, and knowledge thus this kind of gatherings were very popular and was created to further foster and enhance the younger generation's creativity and learning.

In the middle, a beautiful young woman who was 12 years old, sat gracefully while sipping her tea. She was surrounded by a group of aristocratic young misses of various noble houses in the capital.

This young lady was known for her sharp mind in creating wonderful poems and artistic interpretation and high-level skills in the qin arts, Bai Xiang'er.

"Young miss Bai, have you seen the notice from the palace that was posted on the information board throughout the capital?" A young lady of Chu estate, Chu Yanyan asked.

"Yes, father told me about it this morning and had me prepare for the upcoming competition." A soft and gentle voice answered. As the talented Di daughter of the prime minister estate, Bai Xiang'er was always in the limelight, hence the prime minister took it upon himself to nurture this daughter in hopes that she would help the estate flourish into unprecedented status in the capital.

When she finished her words, hushed mutterings were heard inside the pavilion. That morning, the palace issued a notice that on the night of the crown prince's banquet, they would hold the annual competition for the maidens in the empire.

Although everyone knew how much the King loved talented youths, they also knew that this competition was actually for the sake of choosing a crown princess consort as on that day, the crowned prince would be turning 18, which was the legal age when someone could start shouldering heavy responsibilities for the sake of the empire.

In short, this would be his debut.

The young ladies around the place were worried as they all knew how talented this Di daughter of the Prime Minister's estate was. Aside from the fact that she was smart and talented, she was also very beautiful that she was even dubbed as the most beautiful flower in the whole capital.

Would they still stand a chance? Who were they kidding? Of course, they knew they didn't, so they could only shake their heads in disappointment.

As if sensing the crowd's dismay, Bai Xiang'er was very ecstatic. In her last life, she was the princess consort who was sent to the cold palace. She wasn't able to shine brightly despite her brilliance and had no choice but to be stepped on by cockroaches that she used to deem as worthless.

With the knowledge she had on the last life, she did her best to excel and grab attention left and right, she worked hard even to the extent of stepping onto the useless sprouts that could hinder her future.

That's why in this life, she will crush those people who made her suffer and make them live a life worse than death. She will rise to the top and be the empress. And for that to happen, she must have the crown prince thus this competition will be hers by hook or by crook.

On the inside, her mind was running in a vicious circle as if plotting ways on how to harm others in a way death was a luxury they could never have, but on the outside, she was picturesque of a young gentlewoman with a very warm smile. This two-faced personality of hers was indeed high class.

If Ying Yue heard her thoughts, she would have been shocked but would probably applaud her on how sinister her mind was. She might even conclude that Fei Hong's viciousness has followed her to this world.

But alas she did not. She was currently busy having a staredown with this adopted tiger of hers.

It has been a few months since Ying Yue stayed in the mountain and she reckoned that Bao'er would be almost done gathering the fragments including the hostile one that it discovered.

The only place she could make changes would be in the capital so the moment she had finished her training, she spent all of the remaining time finding herbs she could bring back to make more salves and attempt making medicines.

So she tried connecting to the tiger's consciousness using the spiritual essence she earned these past months to make it understand that she was not abandoning it, but she just had to leave for a moment to do things she needed to accomplish.

But Ying Yue underestimated the tiger's reliance on her. It didn't want to budge and wanted to follow her back hence the stare-off.

Ying Yue understood it but she also felt very helpless in their current situation. If she brought it back with her, it might scare the people from the estate. If the consequences would be just being noticed by her so-called family this early, it didn't matter much to her but if they decided to kill Shasha, then this would be something she cannot stand idly watching by.

"Shasha.." She started, stroking the tiger's head. She was no heartless immortal. Shasha became special to her after the months that they have stayed together. So as much as it was reluctant to part with her, she was also devastated in parting with it.

"Be good and stay here, I cannot protect you now. If I bring you there I cannot assure your life." Hearing the animal's grunt of protest, Ying Yue continued, "I know you are strong enough to protect us both but I don't want you to get hurt. So please listen to me. I will come back here and take you away. By then I would have enough power to protect and shelter you. Please trust in me." Placing her forehead on top of the tiger's head, she begged.

Shasha whimpered sadly with drooping ears. This broke Ying Yue's heart to pieces, as she was about to say something, the tiger cut her off with a lick on her face. This was its way of saying that it consented and would wait for her no matter how long.

Ying Yue hugged it for the last time then made her way out of the mountain.