'Dearest Xianyu,
I am sure you understand how little information can be gleaned from your decription. If you wish, you may make a visit to my study tomorrow morning, and take a look at the official records. Perhaps you will see a name which sparks your memory. However, I expect my little brother isn't the type of person to do that.
I must also warn you that a man of such station may very well not be a safe target for your games. I suggest you leave him be, and instead focus your energy elsewhere. Your studies, perhaps.
Your brother.'
…
"That's so unhelpful!" Xianyu wailed, clutching the thin paper to his chest dramatically. "Gege is so mean to me. How am I to meet Mystery Man if he doesn't even try to help."
"I am sure His Highness is only trying to do what is best for you," Jiang said mildly, placing a tray of pastries in front of his master.
Xianyu huffed, reaching for an almond cookie which he promptly shoved into his mouth. He swallowed down the sweet pastry before speaking again. "You sound just like gege. Why isn't any one of you ever on my side?"
"I'm on your side," Xiao Tian piped up from where he was sat, also clambering to grab a cookie off the well filled tray. The prince enjoyed sharing treats with people around him, and the younger boy had learned early on that it never hurt to reach for what you want first. Especially if you flattered the prince while doing so.
To that, Xianyu gave him a wide grin and clapped his hands together enthusiastically. "At least that's one person! I should fire everyone and replace them with little replicas of you, Xiao Tian."
With that, he returned to his contemplative look, tapping his hand curiously against his cheek as he ate. If Jingrui gege didn't have the answers to Mystery Man's identity, then who else could possibly help him. It wasn't as though Xianyu could magically find more information on someone who's face he barely remembered anymore, aside from its astoundingly simple beauty.
The young prince wasn't overly familiar with people in the palace, thanks to his tendency to skip out on all and any responsibilities that came his way.
Aside from Jingrui, the only other people Xianyu could consider himself close to were his servants. Despite his love of socialising, he'd never made a big attempt to grow his connections outside of flirting. This had never bothered him in the past: his gege always came to his rescue in the end.
Turning his attention to his numerous sisters, Xianyu tried to consider his options. There was Xiuying perhaps, though he didn't want to pester her for this. It felt too improper to bother his only full sibling for something like this, after having spoken to each other so rarely over the years.
He could also consider Yuming, Jingrui's younger full sister, though Xianyu knew full well he'd get nowhere with her. Li Yuming, the only daughter of the empress, was not a welcoming soul, especially not to the boy who she seemed to think was intruding on her place of the empress's brood. Xianyu had learned this when he'd tried to play with her when they were younger, only to be ignored flat out and scolded when he tried to call her 'Yuming jie'.
Finally, he landed on the option of Minlian jie. She was two years older than Xianyu and certainly quite a gossip. While they weren't particularly close, he certainly figured that if anyone could tell him about handsome men in the palace, it would be Minlian.
At the very least, even if he never found his Mystery Man, Xianyu was confident he'd be entertained by whatever she had to tell him. Gossip was always enjoyable!
***
The next morning, bright and early, Xianyu woke and dressed in his prettiest robes. Though perhaps it was brighter than it was early…
"My makeup looks prettier than usual," Xianyu crowed, admiring himself in the bronze mirror excitedly. "Doesn't it?"
The servants around him inclined their heads as their prince bounced up again, admiring his own reflection in its reflective surface.
Today, Xianyu had been dressed in a gentle pink robe, the sleeves adorned with intricate floral embroidery that had been painstakingly sewed on. His hair was decorated with flowers to match, and the majority of his hair was left to spill down his back in their natural loose waves. Everything about the visual screamed princess more than it did a prince.
"Let's go visit Minlian jie!" he clapped his hands together dramatically, marching forth excitedly.
The journey took Xianyu and his small handful of servants toward the palace. Aside from him, few other princes could revisit their former home as freely as he did. Once sent out, most of the royal children were not allowed to come and go as they pleased anymore.
Luckily for him, Xianyu was more than a little bit favoured my His Majesty. Enough so that Xianyu had even considered asking his father about the identity of Mystery Man. It would be the quickest solution, after all. In the end, the little prince wasn't that unaware of the world around him, and decided to refrain from taking those kinds of actions.
Perhaps the emperor wouldn't have been angered by it — yes, Xianyu was quite certain that his father would actually be quite amused — but he would have certainly not approved of his son chasing after his trusted ministers.
The walk through the palace gardens was less chaotic than it had been yesterday. He wasn't as used to the path to his half-sister's residence as he was the path to his gege's study.
"Do you think she'll be there?" Xianyu thought aloud as he walked, obediently sticking close to Jiang this time. Unlike yesterday, he no longer dared run off ahead with full confidence that he'd make it to his destination. He didn't even have the faintest idea which direction Minlian would be. There was a chance she wouldn't even be at her residence when they arrived.
"I am not sure, Your Highness," Jiang replied coolly, leading his master in the direction of the princesses' residences.
Beyond this, neither master nor servant knew where the princess would possibly be. Before this, Xianyu had only ever met his elder half-sister at banquets or on invitations to have tea. Even then, those invitations had often been extended to him while at a gathering of some sort.
With Xianyu's lack of directional memory, they lacked many clues for where to find the young lady.
The plan, according to the young prince, was that they'd simply ask around until someone told them where she'd gone. Wasn't it a perfectly full proof plan? Being unused to being denied his wants, the prince could only assume that this would work out perfectly well.
So what if his jie wasn't there, surely one of his half-sisters would point him in the right direction. Or maybe a different half-sister would possess the information they want about Mystery Man! Either way, he didn't see a way the plan could possibly go awry.
When they finally arrived at the princesses' quarters, Xianyu was practically bouncing on his feet. The Inner Palace was well guarded and walled in. That didn't in any way stop the young prince. Even if he was male, even if he wasn't really a powerful figure, he certainly was important. The emperor loved him! This alone granted him copious amounts of freedom to wander where he pleased.
And, he certainly came prepared with official papers!
Well, no. Jiang came prepared! Xianyu had only thought to bring himself.
With all factors combined, it wasn't very hard for the boy to be allowed in.
"I love being me," Xianyu sighed, his hands waving in the air as he bounded through the Inner Palace with little care for who casted their gazes toward him.
All in all, he didn't stand out very much at all, despite being one of the only men in the compound. Aside from eunuchs, men of non imperial blood wouldn't have been allowed in. Most princes weren't allowed in either.
It was only thanks to Xianyu's effeminate features and delicate sense of dress that no one found him out of place. Aside from his senseless cheering and clearly unfamiliar face, maybe no one would have spared him a second glance at all. Some servants even wondered if maybe the cheery new girl was a new concubine that had been brought in. Or perhaps a noblewoman brought in to serve the high concubines?
"If I were jie, where would I hide?" Xianyu mused to himself as he walked, swinging his arms dramatically as he did so. "Which residence would be mine?"
His gaze bounced from one identical building to the next, skimming over courtyards and walkways with no clear sense of where he was going. If only he could remember what jie had said the last time they saw each other! Xianyu distinctly remembered that his sister had described some fancy decoration she'd had put up in her courtyard during one story or another.
No matter where he looked, not a single thing stood out to him in the slightest!
"Maybe we should ask someone," he mused, turning to Jiang expectantly. Usually, when he made these kinds of suggestions, the eunuch would tell him not to bother others. Today though, he only gave a faint nod in reply.
Excitedly, Xianyu bounded off, in search of anyone who looked like they could point him in the right direction.
At last, he settled upon a rather young looking girl dressed in servants' clothing. As far as he figured, it didn't hurt to ask her first. At the very least, she seemed like the person least likely to chase him off with a dismissive wave of a hand.
"Hello," he greeted her cheerily, bounding over with excitement. "Do you think you could tell me where my dear princess of a sister is?"
A short silence followed his question as the little servant girl gazed up at him in confusion. This wasn't at all how the princesses spoke to them! Nor was this face a familiar one. But surely she must be! Why else would such a pretty figure be here, searching for her sister?
"I don't know," the girl bowed her head fearfully, unsure how this strange person would react. "What's Her Highness's name… uh, Your Highness."
Unfazed by the fear in the young servant girl's eyes, Xianyu only cheerily continued in his excited ramble.
"Minlian jie," he replied casually, smoothing his own dress out as he knelt before her. "She looks like me, but not at all, because we don't look alike. I'm much prettier. And she's a naughty little gossip."
What kind of princess spoke about another like that! The little servant girl stared up at the noble before her with fear. How would she tell her that she knew nothing about Princess Minlian's whereabouts? Was this woman a princess? Surely she was, but at the same time, how had she never heard of her! The Inner Palace wasn't that large!