26. A Trip to the Temple

"Zhen Zhen, you were only gone for a short while and you come back with a sword wound!?" Empress Yu exclaimed loudly with tears. Her precious daughter had woken up from a two month coma only to be kidnapped by stupid bandits and saved by her ex-fiancé.

Life has certainly been tough for the girl.

Yu Zhenzhen smiled at her mother, "Those bandits sure were tough to deal with. Thankfully, Prince Sin, Lijie gege and... his lordship the duke were there to save me." Before any of the men could tell the emperor what happened, Yu Zhenzhen specifically begged them not to tell that it was Natsu Sin who had her kidnapped. The primary reason being she didn't want war to occur because of the silly ordeal.

Hence they thought of the idea of using bandits as an excuse.

"My precious child," the empress cooed, "Mother won't allow you to go anywhere until you heal fully."

Yu Zhenzhen pouted, "Imperial mother... please don't lock Zhen Zhen in. Zhen Zhen is almost healed," An idea sprouted in Yu Zhenzhen's head. "Please let me go to Flourishing Temple to pray. Please imperial mother! Zhen Zhen feels that many ominous events have fallen on our Yu family. Zhen Zhen wish to go and pray for our safety."

"No. What if there are risks of bandits appearing again?"

Yu Zhenzhen pinched her thigh and a few tears dripped now her cheek, "Please, imperial mother. I will be okay with any security you and imperial father provide."

Empress Yu rolled her eyes at her daughter's dramatic antics and slowly nodded. Truly, she needed to start saying no to her spoiled daughter. The little brat was starting to use tears for everything. But she could only let her have her way since Yu Zhenzhen was injured and she didn't want her daughter to feel any discomfort. "But you must come back as soon as the ceremony hosted is over. Don't stay any extra days or your mother's heart will not be able to take it."

Yu Zhenzhen leaped from her spot, ignoring the horrendous pain, and hugged the empress. "Thank you imperial mother! Zhen Zhen will not disappoint."

The empress sighed and only prayed in her head for the journey to go smoothly.

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Yu Zhenzhen pouted when she the the group of guards surround a luxurious carriage. When she told her mother she was going to let her and the emperor decide on security, she didn't mean in this way! The number of soldiers here was big enough to rival some imperial army. For goodness sakes, she was only going to have an ancient version of a road trip, no need for so much precaution.

She saw familiar faces and one female face she did not want to see.

She leaned over and whispered in Er Xi's ear, "Er Xi, what is Qing Xiaolin doing here?"

Er Xi gave her a look of confusion until she saw where the princess was looking at. She then discreetly pointed at Nangong Longwei, "His lordship brought a few servants for help along with his soldiers."

Yu Zhenzhen sighed, "Isn't he supposed to leave me alone after our engagement was broken? Why is he still trailing after me like a second shadow..." Her vision turned to Ouyang Dichen and frowned. What was the yandere doing here? He should be playing the part of the sweet scholar that turns psychopath on anyone that dares to harm Qing Xiaolin.

From what Yu Zhenzhen remembered reading the novel, Ouyang Dichen, Yu Lijie, and Shangming Yunwang were childhood friends that shared a deep brotherly bond. Yu Zhenzhen was always that extra wheel that sticked to her brother while he hung out with his friends. He didn't mind, but the other two were annoyed by her bratty self. She continued to eye Ouyang Dichen until he turned his peach blossom eyes and gave her a friendly smile so pure it made Yu Zhenzhen cringe.

If she hadn't read about him, maybe she would've been one of the girls who swooned over this gentle scholar. Yet she only raised a brow coldly and huffed. This shocked the prime minister's son deeply for he was used to women, including the royal princesses, to be entranced and smile back.

Usually, the first princess also smiled at him with an admiring look every time he smiled at her, yet ever since her birthday banquet, she had been actually extremely odd. He averted his eyes and suspicion began to bloom in his chest and another feeling he didn't realize at that time...

Yu Zhenzhen turned her attention to Shangming Yunwang and found that he was already looking at her in a curious manner. Once he found out that his bold staring was discovered, he turned his head and ignored her for the rest of the trip.

Yu Zhenzhen was baffled at his behavior, but then remembered that he acted in a similar manner in the original book. He was extremely cold to everyone, not as cold as Nangong Longwei since the duke was just an icy demon on a whole new level, but cold enough to the point people that didn't know him avoided him.

She turned her attention to Er Xi and smiled at the maid, "Er Xi, come join me in the carriage, there's plenty of room!"

What Yu Zhenzhen didn't know was that her brief smile caught the attention of about everyone in an awestruck way. They had heard the princess was beautiful yet vain and spoiled, but the princess on front of them held an aura of grace and beauty. So beautiful that it blew their minds away.

Three particular minds that didn't know how to react with their minds thrown in chaos. One particular mind thrown between the green flames of envy and the red flames of... a crush?

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Andddd update :)

I have finally caught us up on Tapas, so yay! Both will be at about the same pace in regards to updates.

Here's the cover being used on that website:

Also, I guess I didn't address this in the previous chapter, but remember when I asked y'all how you wanted Qing Xiaolin to be? I got all types of mixed answers, but everyone seemed to have been rooting for her to go gay for Zhenzhen...

My solution is... I'll do a combination of all of the options. How? You'll see... I have it planned out ;)

Also, if you've seen what I've posted on Upcoming Stories & Ideas, you'd know about Glass Sight and Black Tea for the Boss.

Currently, I'm deciding to officially start writing one of them, but I don't know which one >///<

One is historical fiction while another is modern fiction... which one do you guys want me start writing first? Their plots are ready, I just need to get my procrastinating self going XD

Here's the preview: not the beginning of the next chapter, but a little snippet of a random place of the next chapter.

Chapter 27: The Original Yu Zhenzhen Strikes!

"Yu Zhenzhen?" Zheng Mimi asked as she stared at the copper mirror in the temple in horror. She thought she was alone here in this room to pray, but here stood the princess with a face full of fury.

"Don't try to be friendly with me." Yu Zhenzhen spouted in anger. "Didn't you befriend Qing Xiaolin? I thought I told you the whole revenge was against her, so why are you acting like your friendship is magic with dainty tea parties and other nonsense?"

Zheng Mimi gave her a look of guilt, "I don't know what you mean. From what I can see, she's a perfectly normal girl."

Yu Zhenzhen snorted, "You're so naive. Let me tell you, the moment you find another rotten egg to go to your world, I want you to go search for the author of the shitty novel. That author can tell you the truth."

"The truth about what?" Zheng Mimi was very confused. Was there a conspiracy going on that she didn't know about?

"Little chef," Yu Zhenzhen smiled wickedly, ignoring her question, "I'm going to borrow my own body for a bit."

"What do you mean-" Zheng Mimi didn't have the chance to finish as the reflection in the copper mirror suddenly swooped out and went inside of her.

Wowww... who's ready for the next chapter? I know I am ready to post it!

Until next time👾
And thanks for reading 💕