Housekeeper of the Hundred Blossom Palace
Chapter 56: Meeting the Princess

They spent a relaxing night in the inn, then they set out at dawn the next day.

The skies were clear, it’s fine weather for travelling, indeed.

Yui Mei and the rest left the inn and rode the carriage once again, heading towards Kai.

She engaged in idle chat with the crown prince as the carriage approached a small hill.

“Yui Mei, look outside.”

The crown prince abruptly said.

Yui Mei obediently peeked outside the window, and a sparkling scenery below the hill stretched before her eyes.

“It’s the sea!!”

So Isekai’s ocean was also blue.

The gentle wind that blew on her face had the feel of the sea.

‘Even if the world changed, the scent of the sea breeze is still the same, huh.’

She was unusually moved, so she kept on sticking her face out until Li Yong scolded her, saying, ‘It’s dangerous if you fall!’.

Anyway, the carriage kept on moving towards the sea, and they arrived at Kai by noon.

The place was also bustling just like Kyo, the capital, but the atmosphere here was a bit different.

‘The buildings also have that touch of the West.’

The inn they stayed in previously was also western style, but here, the entire city was a mixture of both Chinese and Western – it’s appearance resembling the townscape of modern HongKong.

Yui Mei was overwhelmed with nostalgia, and she remained frozen, staring at the scenery before her. The crown prince chuckled when he saw her like that.

“The townscape is pretty unusual, right? The harbor part of Kai has blended with civilization beyond the sea, so their buildings are also peculiar.”

“Yes, indeed…”

While conversing like that, Yui Mei’s thoughts drifted to another direction.

In other words, a country with a western civilization existed beyond this sea.

In that case, perhaps, ready-to-wear panties were also imported here, so maybe she’d replace them if she searched this city, and she absolutely wanted to do that while staying here.

Just as Yui Mei was immersed in these thoughts, the carriage they were riding in entered a huge mansion in the center of the city.

This mansion was also built in western style.

She also saw the residences of the other princes from afar when she left the borderland, but they had structures that looked like fortresses.

Compared to that, this completely western mansion blended with the surrounding townhouses, although it had the distinctive characteristics of a noble’s residence.

According to the crown prince, the husband of the princess living here was called Huang Li Min.

A large crowd gathered and kowtowed in front of the mansion, waiting to receive the carriage that was heading towards them.

When the crown prince alighted, a young man got up and drew closer. He was probably Li Min.

“Your Highness the Crown Prince, welcome and thank you for gracing us with your presence.”

“Long time no see, Li Min.”

The youth bowed deeply, and the crown prince beamed.

As expected, he was Li Min.

“Your Highness the Crown Prince, please pardon us for our tardiness in receiving you.”

Li Min said that as he bowed his head once again.

Usually, the Huang family should have welcomed the crown prince the moment he set foot in the territory that they governed.

Li Min was apologizing for not doing so.

“Li Min and everyone, rise. There’s no need to apologize since we did not notify you beforehand.”

When the crown prince said that, all of the people started to rise in all directions, and a lone woman walked towards them.

“Your Highness the Crown Prince, Yu is here. It has been a long time since we met.”

Apparently, she was Pan Yu – the imperial princess bestowed to one of the governing subjects and Yui Mei’s older sister. Yui Mei had been wondering what kind of person she was all throughout their journey.

‘She’s quite skinny.’

No, thin was an understatement.

Her jaw was very angular, and although her body was wrapped in layers of clothes, it was obvious at a glance that she was skin and bones.

“Yu, your figure…”

The crown prince was rendered speechless upon seeing her, so that meant her current appearance was not normal for her.

However, Yui Mei did not have an inkling as to how different she was back then.

“What did Princess Pan Yu looked like before?”

Yui Mei whispered to Li Yong as they stood together behind the crown prince.

“…If you’re asking how she was before, how to say this, she was..well nourished.”

Li Yong maintained a poker face while explaining this, but his words made Yui Mei understand.

‘Oh, so Princess Pan was on the plump side, huh.’

So it was only natural that he was shocked because became too thin.

“Yu, I heard that you lost weight, but what on earth happened here?”

Princess Yu averted her eyes when the crown prince unwittingly blurted that out because of extreme shock.

“Ever since I caught a cold, I could no longer muster an appetite.”

Princess Yu said so with her face turned down. Apparently, she did not want to expose her current figure to other people, but she had no choice but to welcome the crown prince who especially came to visit her.

Her body was quivering with shame because her skin and bones appearance had been seen by her brother. Li Min extended his arm around her shoulders, and patted her.

“Your Highness the Crown Prince, it would be a long conversation not suitable in this place, so please do enter our humble abode.”

“…Yes, you’re right. Let’s go.”

And so, Yui Mei and the rest of them entered Li Min’s mansion. They went to a room overlooking the garden.

‘Whoa, I can see the sea from afar!’

If Yui Mei was alone, she probably rushed towards the garden immediately.

Perhaps the scenery was exceptional, so they were led to this room.

However, she firmly held herself back, and stood behind the crown prince together with Li Yong.

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T/L Thoughts:

Shout-out to Chriistine Govinden-Loh for being my patron! ? Your support truly means a lot, thank you!

How tactless dear crown prince was! Weight is such a sensitive issue, yet he was so shocked, he ended up making a huge blunder. (0.0)

Author-sama loves to name her characters in homophones, which could be confusing in English. Li Min’s Li is 利 which means profit, while Li Yong and Libin’s Li is 立, meaning rise. By the way, trivia, Pan Yu means river jade, apparently, though I’m not 100% sure about this. A real consort (Guifei, at that) with the name Pan Yu’er lived during the Chinese dynasty in Southern Qi, and some say she was the one who started the lotus feet binding tradition because her manner of walking was very beautiful (she herself was gorgeous), although it wasn’t proven that she bound her feet. Lol, thanks for bearing with the trivia ramblings. ? ?

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