An Eight-year-old Princess novel Chapter 141

Yun Shang was at a loss for words. She stared at them, but the two maids were not fazed. Frustrated, the Princess turned away.

Seeing that, Qian Yin giggled and approached Yun Shang, "But you have to be vigilant, Your Highness. What if those people turned to you when they fail to deal with the Prince? There is an old saying, go after low-hanging fruit."

Yun Shang raised her eyebrows at the words. She pretended anger, "Do I look like an easy target? Do I?"

Her question gave the maids yet another occasion to burst into laughter.

Prince Jing had served at the frontier for a long time. But he still had great influence in the Imperial Capital. As he had sent invitations, people flocked to pay respects to him. In no time, Prince Jing's Mansion was crowded with guests, gifts, and people asking for invitation letters.

The Prince's chamberlain was a capable man. Though he had never experienced such a situation, he was able to handle it.

Fortunately, the invitations had been carefully sent. But still, when Prince Jing's birthday arrived, for the first time in history, the Prince's Mansion was so lively.

Normally, a lady in a house would administer the internal affairs, but the Prince was not married, so his chamberlain played the role. Thus, when Yun Shang arrived at the mansion, the chamberlain hurried to her for help. After having heard the chamberlain's brief, Yun Shang was almost amused, if not angry. She cast a glance at Prince Jing, who lay idly on his bed, "It's already late. Don't tell me you've not prepared anything yet. And I had a look along the way. There's no maid serving in your mansion. Do you really want to have male servants attend to the ladies?"

The chamberlain coughed to conceal his discomfort, "It's all my fault. I've been too inconsiderate. After all, I've never taken care of a birthday party before, and His Highness had given his instruction in a hurry...It's hard to make a thorough plan in such a short time..."

The Prince was extremely calm. He put away his books, glanced at the angry Yun Shang, and smiled, "But I don't need any maids. And I don't want to hire some just for today's event. It's troublesome to fire them again."

"Why didn't you come to me earlier?" Yun Shang felt frustrated.

Prince Jing cleared his throat, "I forgot."

"..."

Although she didn't want to, Yun Shang started the work with assiduity. She asked Qian Yin and Qin Yi to help her with the preparations and sent for Ning Qian. Ning Qian would take care of the entertainment. She ordered Qian Yin to care for the ladies, and Qin Yi to arrange for the food. Yun Shang used to manage a household in her previous life. She wasn't unfamiliar with the affairs. With her arrangement, each servant was busy with his or her task. And everything was getting in order.

The chamberlain watched as Yun Shang gave her orders to the servants. He massaged his whiskers with a hand and said to Prince Jing, "Your Highness, you truly need a lady. In your years away at the frontier, it was okay for you to ignore etiquette. But now that you're back in the Imperial City, you have a lot of internal affairs that need to be taken care of."

Prince Jing shot a glance at Yun Shang. A gleam flashed in his eyes when he watched her set everything in order. He paused for a while, and nodded, "I see. How old am I now? 28? I'm a little old."

The chamberlain glared at him, "Not just old, Your Highness. Most men have already fathered their own children at your age. And some of their children have come of age."

The Prince coughed to conceal his feelings. "But Shang'er told my brother that she shouldn't marry for at least another two years. I have to wait."

The chamberlain wanted to say more, but Yun Shang entered. He stopped, and grinned to the Princess, "Thank you so much, Your Highness. I can't imagine how things would have been without you."

Yun Shang nodded to him. Without being polite, she turned to Prince Jing and said with a frown, "I can host the ladies for you. But you still have to host the male guests. And your wound…" Yun Shang had noticed that Prince Jing's face was pale.

Prince Jing smiled. He stood from his bed, and paced back and forth unhurriedly. Yun Shang watched him. The Prince looked all fine, but…

"Arrange some bodyguards to protect you secretly. And don't let anyone get close. You looked fine when you walked slowly, but you can't risk making any sudden movements, for your wound may bleed and tear open. I have to attend to the guests now. Take good care of yourself."

The Prince nodded, "I know."

After nodding to both of them, Yun Shang turned away.

Qian Yin had led the ladies to a pavilion aside a lake, which was the only beautiful scene in the Prince's Mansion. As the Prince was at war, his garden wasn't taken care of. It was clean, but not eye-catching.

The guests were no ordinary folk. Some of them had attended banquets in the Palace. And they recognized the girl who entertained them to be Princess Yun Shang's maid.

Although surprised, they knew better than to make inquiries. Gathering in small groups, they chatted with each other to pass time.

When Yun Shang arrived, the ladies were exchanging gossip. They were talking about the most popular courtesan in the Imperial City, Qian Qian, and how the noble men fought for her. Although Princess Hua Jing's scandal was the hottest topic, the ladies certainly wouldn't bring it up in front of Princess Yun Shang, lest it would incur trouble.

Yun Shang flashed a generous smile as she approached the guests. The ladies also curtsied to her when they spotted the Princess. Some said, "We all found the two women hosting us to be familiar. They seem to be Your Highness's servants. Thus we wondered where you were, Your Highness. But before we asked, Your Highness appeared."

Yun Shang looked to the direction, and identified the woman speaking to her to be Prince Shun Qing's daughter-in-law, Lady Ruxin.

Yun Shang smiled to her too, and said, "How have you been, my Lady? It's been a long time since we last met. Speaking of which, I really want to apologize to you in my Uncle's stead. Away at the frontier for a long time, my uncle has not been able to care for formalities. But as he has returned to the Imperial City, it would be rude for him to ignore basic courtesy. What's worse, he doesn't have maids working in his mansion. So he had to borrow my maids to host the guests. I sincerely hope that you don't feel neglected, my ladies."

The ladies exchanged glances. They had heard of Prince Jing's apathy, but until they came here did they believe that the Prince had no maids. When they heard Yun Shang say there were no maids working in Prince Jing's Mansion, different feelings surged in their hearts.

But they didn't dare to make any comment in front of Yun Shang, given her and Prince Jing's relation. Suddenly, a voice cut in, "Your Highness, you are so lucky to have the Prince. Polygamy is common in the State of Ning. Even the commoners take many wives. How unbelievable it is for a noble Prince to have no interest in other women. He doesn't even have maids tending to him. Your Highness, seemingly, the Prince loves you so deeply. But fortunately, you are famous for your virtues. Oops, is this garden a wilderness? Perhaps when you marry him, you could manage his household by starting with the weeds."

Yun Shang turned and saw that the speaker was Cangyang Yu'er. Yu'er looked aggressively into Yun Shang's eyes. Her pretty face sported an ironic smile.

The ladies sensed the sarcasm in Yu'er's words. And some had recognized Yu'er to be the woman who proposed to the Prince the other day during the royal banquet. They recalled how the Prince had refused her.

Thinking that through, the ladies intended to watch a cat-fight, and couldn't help compare Yu'er's and Yun Shang's appearances. Yu'er was a beautiful girl, who must have many suitors. But her true love was Prince Jing who had turned her down mercilessly. She had said that the Princess was lucky. And so, the guests read between the lines. What Yu'er truly meant was that Yun Shang was jealous and petty, which was why she didn't allow other women to approach the Prince. And the awkward situation was exacerbated by Yun Shang, as according to Yu'er's words, the Princess should've helped the Prince to choose some maids.

Yun Shang flashed a smile. "I've chosen some maid for uncle before. But he was very picky, and he didn't like any of them. If I insisted on arranging maids for him, I'm afraid uncle would be displeased."

Yu'er's face fell, and thought to herself. "Ning Yun Shang, how dare you to deny your jealousy?" She wanted to say more, but a commanding voice called from a distance. "Your Highness, I'm late. Did I miss anything?"

Yun Shang turned towards the voice, and saw Wang Jinyan walking to them. She was dressed in cyan. A pretty lady followed Wang Jinyan.

Yun Shang flashed her a smile. She always thought that red suited Jinyan best, but cyan worked on her too as it brought out her feminine charms. 'You are not late. It has just begun.' Yun Shang thought to herself.

Jinyan cast a cold glance at Yu'er before she turned to Yun Shang and smiled, "Your Highness, this is my mother."

Yun Shang nodded to her before looking at the smiling lady behind Jinyan. She sighed to herself and wondered how the serious Minister Wang and the gentle Lady Wang had parented Jinyan and Jinhuan Wang. Yun Shang smiled to Lady Wang, "Good day, Lady Wang. You are so gorgeous. No wonder both your children are so pretty!"

Lady Wang was happy to hear the praise. She flashed Yun Shang a warm smile.

Suddenly someone gasped. The guests looked around and saw a woman in pink pass through the corridor opposite the lake. Although far, the pink figure looked so alluring…