Chapter One

In a well furnished room , a young man in golden silk robes and a folded hand fan in his hand is standing looking at portrait that has been hanged on the wall. The portrait is of a boy about fourteen years of age. The boy on the picture is wearing blue low robes and obviously one cannot fail to notice his ethereal beauty. He looks slender and a bit feminine. The young man's thin lips are curved into a warm and calm smile as he passionately gazes at the portrait.

There is a knock at the door but the young man is too immersed into staring at the portrait that he doesn't hear the knocks which keep getting louder each time. The door creaks open and a young maiden walks in carrying a tray with tea and snacks on it. She places the tray on the table and walks towards the young man.

"Your Highness,"she curtseys.

The young man turns around and smiles a bit,"Oh Qiu Qiu when did you get in ?"

"Just now. Your Highness you have been staring at this portrait everyday for two years now. May I know whose portrait is this?"

"It's a portrait of the most beautiful villain."

"Most beautiful villain? Is he a good villain or a bad villain?"

The young man chuckles lightly before replying,"Is there a difference?"

"Of course. A good villain likes teasing or bullying their victims but when someone else tries to bully their victims they try every way to defend their victims from other bullies. A bad villain doesn't care about their victims,"Qiu Qiu clarifies.

"So you're saying a good villain is protective of his victims?"

"Exactly."

"Then he was a good villain,"the young man looks down with a wistful smile on his face.

"Where is he now?"

"He went back to where he belongs."

"Oh. By the way why did you change the name of the palace?"

"Because that beautiful villain loved gardenias so I decided to name it Gardenia Palace."

Gardenia Palace is the Second Prince Gong Jixiang's residence.The palace was initially called Jixiang Palace but now not only the name has been changed even the surrounding has been changed. Initially there were only random flowers planted outside and Gong Jixiang didn't care about them that much but now there are gardenias planted everywhere replacing the flowers that were planted there formerly.

Gong Jixiang is the second prince of Gudong Empire (Jixiang meaning 'lucky';Gudong meaning 'antique'). He was once Ao Jun ,a carefree disciple but now he's stuck at the Gudong Imperial Palace shouldered with the responsibility of being the Crown Prince after the death of his elder brother Gong Ling. Now he can only reminisce about the memories of his past life alongside his loyal maid Qiu Qiu.

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Begin Flashback (Eight Years Ago)

A young girl in a blue dress of about eight years is having a meal at Pork Palace restaurant. The amount of food on her plate is disproportionate to her tiny body. She stuffs several pieces of pork in her mouth greedily. As she is busy with her meal she notices a commotion at the entrance. At the entrance one of the waiters is having trouble getting rid of a young boy dressed in ragged clothes. The boy wants to come in for a meal but according to his dressing code the waiter is sure he doesn't have even a single penny with him. So to prevent more trouble he wants to get rid of him as soon as possible. The boy still insists on getting in and claims he can afford to pay for his meal.

The commotion attracts more people who all seem to be on the waiter's side since they are regular customers of the restaurant. More people gang up on the young boy,some insist on beating him till he leaves. The young girl steps in to the boy's rescue.

"If he can't afford the meal then I will pay for him."

"Stinky girl do you even have money?"

"Even if I don't pay the waiter will put on my master's tab when he comes to eat pork tomorrow evening,"the young girl replies arrogantly.

"Who is your master?"

"My Master is Master He."

"Master He of Orphanage 101?" One of the men asks in shock leading to others debating whether the girl is really a disciple of Master He.

"Stinky girl,how can Master He have a lousy disciple like you?"

"Exactly,"the other men gang up on her.

"Gentlemen you cannot gang up on a young girl like this,"the young boy finally speaks up.

"You stinky beggar ,what makes you think you can speak to us like that?"

The young girl flicks her finger releasing a small pendulum which hits one of the talkative men's nose and he starts bleeds instantly.

"It worked. The trick Ao Lian taught me worked!"The young girl exclaims excitedly stating at her hand in disbelief.

"Stinky girl I will kill you!" The injured man charges at her ready to attack while still covering his bleeding nose.

The young girl grabs the boy's hand and they run back in to the restaurant.

"Waiter close the door I'll pay you as much as you want."

The waiter tries to block the angry gang of men but they are too strong for him. The owner of the restaurant comes.

"What's going on?" He asks in an authoritative voice. The gang of men immediately cower in fear. The owner of the restaurant Liu Yan is a great martial arts famous in the pugilist world so no one would dare offend him. The gang of men turn around and run away.

The young boy and young girl settle down at the girls' table and she orders more food for him to eat. They eat as the girl satisfies her curiosity by asking him a number of questions.