Song Shuyu stood frozen in place.
"Opportunity? What opportunity?" Song Shuyu looked completely confused.
Duoduo looked at her as if she were an idiot.
"What else? You should hurry back and find someone to save Xiao Yunming!"
Song Shuyu lifted her chin.
"Why should I save her?"
"She’s always been at odds with me on normal days."
"If she’s gone, I’d be thrilled!"
Duoduo shook her head regretfully.
"Song Shuyu, you’re such an idiot!"
Song Shuyu refused to accept that, hands on her hips.
"Hmph! You’re the idiot!"
Duoduo stood up, pulling Lüdou along, and gave Song Shuyu a pitying glance.
"I’ve already taught you the way."
"Whether you want to seize the opportunity is up to you!"
With that, Duoduo lifted the carriage curtain and spotted the prince’s coachman looking around anxiously.
"Come on, Lüdou!"
Duoduo hopped off the carriage with Lüdou and ran toward the coachman.
Song Shuyu was still mulling over Duoduo’s words.
It wasn’t until the carriage carrying Duoduo had left that Song Shuyu finally caught on.
"Ah! How am I the only one left!"
Chunxiao’s timid voice came from under the carriage.
"Princess, your servant is here!"
Hearing Chunxiao’s voice, Song Shuyu clutched at it like a lifeline.
"Chunxiao, drive the carriage! We’re going back to Prince Ling’s mansion!"
Chunxiao fidgeted nervously.
"Princess, your servant doesn’t know how to drive a carriage."
"Besides, the young master and Princess Anning haven’t returned yet. Is it really alright for you to leave like this?"
Song Shuyu shot a fierce glare at Chunxiao.
"What do you know? We have to hurry back and get people to save someone!"
Chunxiao asked cautiously, "Princess, are you really going to listen to that jinx?"
Song Shuyu put her hands on her hips again. "Who said I was listening to her?"
"I’m going back to see Father!"
"Go find a carriage, quick!" Song Shuyu only wanted to get out of there as fast as possible.
Chunxiao was lucky—soon enough, she found a carriage.
The mistress and servant climbed aboard and made it back to Prince Ling’s mansion without trouble.
As soon as she entered the mansion, Song Shuyu started crying.
She made a fuss about seeing Prince Ling.
When Princess Ling heard the servant’s report, she snorted with laughter.
"Ignore her. Anyway, the prince isn’t here."
"She’s not even his real daughter, yet she clings to him all the time. It makes An’er and Ning’er estranged from their father."
Princess Ling then went back to her own business.
After a while, something struck her.
"Princess Anning is back, so why haven’t I seen the young master or Fu’ning?"
"Didn’t they come back together?"
"Your Highness, Princess Fu’ning came back alone—madam, she rushed in crying and said she needed the prince to save someone," Princess Ling’s maid reported.
Princess Ling thought it over.
"Is the prince’s carriage back yet?"
"Not yet, Your Highness."
Princess Ling relaxed.
"Then An’er and Ning’er must have gone off to play somewhere."
"As for that Fu’ning, she probably got left behind halfway and wants to tattle to the prince."
"Don’t pay her any mind. And you—go guard the gate. As soon as the prince returns, bring him straight to me. Tell him I have something important to discuss."
"Yes, Your Highness."
As Princess Ling’s trusted maid, she understood perfectly.
She happily went to the mansion’s main gate and waited for Prince Ling.
Half an hour later, Prince Ling’s sedan chair appeared at the gate.
The maid rushed forward, bowed, and relayed Princess Ling’s message.
Prince Ling thought for a moment, then signaled for his attendants to carry the sedan chair to the rear courtyard.
Under Princess Ling’s orders, no one in the mansion paid Song Shuyu any mind.
Song Shuyu, of course, stopped crying and making a scene.
She simply ordered Chunxiao to wait for Prince Ling at the second gate and report to her the moment he arrived.
Prince Ling went to the rear courtyard. When Chunxiao saw this, she bolted back.
Inside the room, Song Shuyu had already eaten her fill and was pouting while writing characters.
When she heard that Prince Ling had gone to Princess Ling’s courtyard, she dashed off immediately.
As she ran, she deliberately tousled her clothes and hair.
But the moment she reached the courtyard gate, the maids and matrons stopped her.
Princess Ling despised Song Shuyu, and the servants in her courtyard followed suit.
A matron stepped forward and banged into Song Shuyu, sending her to the ground.
"Waaah—!" Song Shuyu burst into loud wails.
The matron got a little nervous. "P-Princess Fu’ning, you ran into your servant and fell on your own."
"Father! I want to see Father!" Song Shuyu shrieked at the top of her lungs.
Inside the room, Princess Ling saw Prince Ling’s brow furrow and his face turn as black as a pot.
She quickly scolded, "Are you all dead? How can you let Princess Fu’ning behave so disgracefully?"
"Where have the manners the governess taught you gone?"
"Bellowing like this—where is the propriety!"
Princess Ling’s maid hurriedly bowed and stepped outside.
"Quickly, help the princess up and take her back to her room!"
"The prince and princess are discussing important matters. Princess, please be good and go back first."
The maid shot a meaningful glance at the matron holding Song Shuyu.
The matron forced a fawning smile and pulled a handkerchief from her sleeve.
"Father, help! It’s a matter of life and death!"
Song Shuyu managed to yell one sentence before the matron stuffed the handkerchief into her mouth.
Inside, Prince Ling fixed a dark, brooding gaze on Princess Ling.
Princess Ling hurriedly waved her hands. "Your Highness, I swear I did nothing!"
Prince Ling tilted his head, and his guard strode out.
Soon, the guard brought Song Shuyu inside.
When Song Shuyu saw Prince Ling, she burst into tears.
This time, her crying was genuine.
Because she was truly terrified.
She recalled the scene of Xiao Yunming being knocked unconscious and carried off—and she was scared.
What if, one day, the one knocked out was her...
She didn’t actually want to save Xiao Yunming, but she worried that something similar might happen to her someday.
Whatever the jinx’s motives for telling her to rescue Xiao Yunming were,
she only wanted to protect herself.
She wanted to live well and, one day, become a princess!
Under Prince Ling’s pressure, Princess Ling stood up, clenched her teeth, forced a smile, and pulled Song Shuyu into an embrace.
"Child, what’s got you crying so bitterly that you have to bother His Highness?"
"Didn’t I tell you? The prince is very busy. Whatever it is, you can tell your mother."
"Were you scolded by the Grand Tutor at school?"
"Or did you fail to answer a question and got punished?"
Song Shuyu wriggled out of Princess Ling’s arms.
A flicker of disgust crossed Princess Ling’s eyes.
She had condescended to be nice, and yet Song Shuyu had the nerve to reject her!
Gathering her courage, Song Shuyu tugged at Prince Ling’s sleeve.
"Father, please send someone to save Brother Shizi and Anning!"
