"Your Highness…" the little servant girl lowered her head nervously, unsure of what to do in this situation.
"Hmm?" Xianyu leaned closer, trying to catch what she was saying.
He wasn't very used to being treated this way by others, despite being a prince. Those serving in his residence had been with him since he was little and had long grown used to their master's personality. From young until now, no one had ever cowered before Xianyu like this.
"Speak clearly," he huffed, creasing his eyebrows in frustration.
…
"I don't know where Princess Minlian could be," the young girl said suddenly, hands tightening around the basket she was clutching.
Then, without another word, she dashed off.
Stunned, Xianyu could only stare after her in surprise. He didn't understand what had just happened in the slightest. Perhaps there were other things she had to attend to, he thought as he watched her disappear around a corner. Well, either way, it didn't matter much to him; if she didn't know, then he wouldn't have gotten anything out of her lingering around.
"Who else could we ask," he grinned, turning to Jiang, who was standing a step behind him.
Around them, a few other female servants were staring curiously at them, clearly wondering what this strange woman and her eunuch might have said to have sent the servant girl running.
"Hello!" Xianyu waved at them enthusiastically. "Do you know where Minlian jie might be?"
Upon seeing the woman's attention turn toward them, all other servants scrambled to resume their earlier work. None of them could figure out why someone would be searching for Princess Minlian, and no one wanted to open their mouths to put themselves in danger. Many were even questioning why she would be referring to Minlian as her jie, since this woman was clearly not one of the princesses.
Not a single person considered that, perhaps, this suspected princess was not a princess at all, but instead a prince.
Noticing that no one was answering his questions, Xianyu decided to continue his quest by shouting out his half-sister's name as he wandered through the Inner Palace. He figured that, at some point, someone would most definitely come to his assistance if he was persistent enough.
"Jie!" He called out energetically, bounding through the Inner Palace with little care for decorum. At many times, he thought he'd finally found his half-sister only to discover that it was a completely different half-sister who he wasn't familiar with at all. "Minlian jie!"
"Jie!"
"Minlian jiejie!"
"Xianyu?" a woman's voice sounded, clearly unimpressed with the ruckus.
"Jie," Xianyu whirled around at the sound, "I've been looking for you for forever."
"I could tell," Minlian replied, apparently quite amused by the scene. "You caused quite a commotion. Just on my way here, multiple sisters told me a lunatic was searching for me."
"Is that really what they said?" Xianyu pulled a face, bounding over to his half-sister.
Minlian was a beautiful young woman, with an expression that seemed perpetually amused by the world. She was attractive enough that Xianyu almost wondered how she had yet to be married off by their father. Currently, she was dressed in a white and blue robe, one that even made Xianyu slightly jealous.
"Mmm," she hummed in reply, gesturing for him to come over. "Of course, that's exactly what you looked like."
"No it's not," Xianyu huffed, casting a smug glance at his half-sister's handmaiden who was currently glaring at him with a look of disapproval. The woman clearly did not approve of him going around, causing trouble for her master.
"You've gotten taller," Minlian said as he got closer. "I still remember when you were only up to my shoulder!"
"I hope I stay this height for a very long time," Xianyu replied. "I don't ever want to get taller than you."
"Why's that?" Minlian asked, her perfectly shaped brows drawing together curiously.
Indeed, Minlain was a relatively tall woman; even now, she was still nearly the same height as Xianyu. This didn't upset the young prince in the slightest at all. In fact, it was quite reassuring that he could still pass for a woman. The day that he surpassed his half-sister in height, Xianyu was quite sure he'd have to mourn his ability to have as much fun in teahouses.
He even feared that perhaps, after growing too tall, he may not be able to pass as Yuehua ever again! After all, there weren't very many women who were that tall. Surely by then, they'd realise her connection to the prince who had recently grown to a similar height.
"I think you're tall enough for me," Xianyu replied. "Isn't it good that your little brother wants to follow after you?"
Minlian only laughed in reply, not buying his excuse for a second. "Right, like you care about me that much! I'm surprised you don't wish to be taller, like your dear Jingrui ge. Aren't you always following him around like a lost pup? Though, His Highness might be taller than you can achieve."
"That's fine," Xianyu said, his eyes darting around as they passed numerous other pretty ladies. Hopefully, they wouldn't pass a certain sister.
"I don't really want to be that tall."
"No?" his sister shook her head, lost as to what her half-sibling could possibly be thinking. Really, how could someone with western blood be so short? Weren't they supposed be far taller and broader than this pretty little thing trailing beside her?
"So then, why are you here? Don't tell me it's just to see little old me."
"What if it is?" Xianyu retorted. "Maybe I just realised I hadn't visited my dear sister in a while."
He received a raised eyebrow in response, along with a faint smirk. Xianyu rarely visited people without an agenda. If it wasn't amusing to him, he didn't do it. Which was why his half-sister found it hard to believe that he went through the effort of coming to the Inner Palace for the sake of familial love.
"Fine," he finally relented after a while. "Could you help me find someone?"
"Find someone?" Minlian echoes. Being a princess, she didn't have much freedom to travel wherever she wanted. She highly doubted her freely wandering brother needed her help in this aspect. Especially with how many other connections he had.
"Mhm," Xianyu smiled enthusiastically. "You're the only one who can help.
"And also I wouldn't mind hearing about any new stories you have."
As they made their way through the Inner Palace, many continued to cast their eyes toward them. Most had heard of the strange girl who was going about, yelling for Minlian, and were now noticing the presence of an unfamiliar figure by the princess' side.
Many whispered as they passed, curious about the unknown beauty lingering by Her Highness. One princess even approached them, her handmaiden following quite enthusiastically by her side.
"Minlian," she spoke sweetly, "who's this? I don't believe we've met."
Before his half-sister could reply, Xianyu himself stepped forward without any hesitation, more than happy to make new friends. To him, this woman, being a princess, was still one of his half-sisters, making her someone whom he would dearly like to get to know.
At the very least, he thought she share some beauty tricks with him. He never gave up the opportunity to improve his looks, especially not when he spotted attractive women whom he could certainly learn from.
"Are you saying you don't recognise me, jie," he teased, knowing full well they'd never met a day in their lives. "Can't you see the resemblance to father?"
Huh!?
No way she could be unfamiliar with one of her own sisters, but this face was clearly one she'd never seen before. She certainly wouldn't forget such a face, even if she'd only glanced it from afar at a banquet. Not with such striking features. Who was this strange girl calling her jie? And why was she so close with Minlian? Lizhi couldn't wrap her head around it at all.
"No, I don't think I do," she said, trying to place where she'd seen these features before. She clearly hadn't seen this face before, but it certainly seemed familiar.
"Eh, really?" Xianyu took another step forward, enjoying how flustered the other woman and her handmaiden looked. "I'm a prince, you know? Most people remember my name."
…
A prince!?
Just then, Minlian gave a gentle laugh, reaching over to draw Xianyu back by the scruff of his clothes. "Come now, I'll do the introductions. Xianyu, meet Lizhi jie. Lizhi, Xianyu. He's only visiting me today, though I won't try to explain why he was yelling out so dramatically earlier."
Another silence passed.
"What's with that look, don't I look like a prince?" Xianyu huffed, tucking a stray strand of hair behind his ear. "Jingrui ge says it's rude to stare."
A prince!? And one associated with the empress' third son at that. Lizhi could only repeat it to herself in her mind as she watched her sister drag the supposed prince away by the sleeve. Not only that, but she was quickly realising where she recognised those unique features of his from.
Hopefully, a certain other princess wouldn't decide to go for a walk right now. Or else, she might not have been too happy with who she saw walking through the Inner Palace.
When they finally arrived at Minlian's residence, Xianyu promptly made himself at home at his half-sister's garden table and awaited the sweets to be served. After all, he was a pretty shameless person to begin with, and people always gave him sweets.
"Alright, who is it?" she asked, seating herself down opposite him.
"I don't know," he shrugged. "I was hoping you could tell me."
"Xianyu," Minlian started, "I'm not a detective. I'm not sure what you're expecting from me."
"I'm expecting that you can tell me plenty about handsome men," Xianyu cheered in reply, reaching for a candied winter melon and shoving it into his mouth.
The princess only raised her eyebrow in reply. "What do you think of me, Ah Yu? I don't have the names of every handsome man in the palace memorised."
"But this particular man is so very pretty."
In the end, Minlian reached for a piece of candied fruit too, in an attempt to drag the silence a while longer.
It wasn't that she didn't want to help her brother. That wasn't it. If she could, she certainly would — if only to get the boy out of her hair — but she well and truly didn't think she'd be able to find the identity of a man she'd never seen before.
Minlian knew all too well how unreliable Xianyu could be at giving clear details; he tended to exaggerate or get distracted midway when telling stories.
As far as she could hope, maybe the little prince had remembered some standout details, since he was clearly fascinated enough to go looking for the man's identity.