A bit of Gossip

Zhao Xing got home, quickly doing her homework as she thought about her plan, she needed to leave the walls of the Crown Prince's manor, she felt she was really being obstructed because she didn't exactly know her current situation. If she stayed in the manor, she'd only hear what the master of the manor wanted her to hear. She couldn't just sit and wait for news from the Crown Prince like she was some house decor.

But with the way the Crown Prince kept her under watch, she could tell that getting out of the manor wouldn't be an easy task. The maids were watching, the guards were watching, she was sure even the pretty birds that chirped in the morning as well as the little squirrels she found extremely adorable, and plants were watching, whenever she was there she'd always feel on edge. She couldn't help but inwardly curse Zhang ZhengYang. He was always smiling looking like a gentleman. The women who had a crush on him were all blind! If they saw his true colors he'd probably become the scorn of heaven and earth!

She would surely give it a try. But on account that she fails then she can only resolve to her first plan; to go see the traditional chinese Doctor. Only the method is said to be lost. If the doctor said he didn't know about it or couldn't help her, then that would mean her idea was as good as naught. But she had hope, she had hope that heaven won't close all the doors, she would have gone today to see the doctor, but she was wearing her uniform, last time she had told him she was a university student, he couldn't find out she was in high school or he'd become suspicious. But that wasn't the main problem.

"I spent too much time on the road with Jiang Chen!"

A student could have anything, anything but time. She stared at the textbooks on her desk with a blank expression. She was getting anxious, she needed answers fast, so she would know whether to continue with the poison-poison plan.

Amidst her grumbling her mother opened the door to her room and poked her head in, staring at her daughter, with a worried expression.

Zhao Xing who had heard the door opened turned to the uninvited guest.

"Ma?" She called out.

Her mother walked in calmly, when she arrived in front of her she held her forehead as if checking if she was sick or something.

Zhao Xing:"???"

Her mother then put her hand down after being assured that she wasn't having a fever or anything. "Xing Xing, are you really ok?"

Zhao Xing only got more confused by the minute.

"If anything's the problem you can ask mommy, mommy will do anything I can do-"

Zhao Xing abruptly stood up making Mrs. Zhao pause. The girl stood on her tiptoes raising her hand to check her mother's temperature.

Mrs. Zhao:"..."

She quickly held both her daughters hands and proceeded to say, "Xing Xing, mommy knows how hard it is at school, it's not easy to be under such pressure. But don't give up ok?"

Seeing Zhao Xing's confused expression, she elaborated, "You've been studying so much lately, you no longer read your manhuas, when you come back from school, you no longer watch your favorite show and directly lock yourself in your room, even speaking to yourself, You're changing too fast, you've never been like this, no matter how much I talk you had never listened, you being like this all of a sudden, mommy's worried, I hope it's not like they say in the news...!"

Zhao Xing didn't know whether to laugh or cry, when she heard this. Was her mother insinuating that she probably had a mental disease?

No wait, was her mother saying she had been completely hopeless all this time? And that her sudden change was too good to be true??

"Ma, don't worry, I'm fine, I just grew up, I'm almost 18, I'm getting more responsible, I was enlightened when I realised after this year, I would start college if everything went well." She had also heard in the new about a few high schoolers who committed suicide, or fell really sick, they said it was because of stress and all. But Zhao Xing knew that she wasn't planning on doing that at all, life was so sweet, she still had so many shows to watch, she also wanted to travel around, meet her favorite stars and so on, who wanted to die?

"Zhao Xing, don't joke with these sort of things. If there's any hardship, you must tell me about it, alright?" Mrs Zhao tried her best to be as gentle as she could.

But Zhao Xing felt that she really couldn't tell what her problem was, so there's no need to act pathetic. Well, at least not in front of her family.

Her mother soon left after a series of talking to her about how her mental and physical health were important.

Later that night like always, was her travelling time. She arrived at her quarters in a morning. And the prince wasn't around.

She was in a good mood, and ate more for breakfast than usual.

She turned to her two maids who stood beside her as she ate. "Eh, say, the both of you, don't you know any gossips on whatever's going on in town?" She began execution of plan B.

"Grand Master, Nuo Nuo rarely goes out so I don't know much."

Lan'er on the other hand was more of a talkative, she immediately got excited, "Grand master, I heard the Duke fifth miss' marriage has been arranged."

Oh? Zhao Xing was suddenly interested, as she turned to Lan'er with eyes full of interest.

"Her marriage with the minister of Justice second master, heh, I heard she almost killed herself when she heard it."

"Why? Is this second master that horrible?" Zhao XIng asked.

Lan'er shook her head, "How could he, he's one of the potential bachelors in the capital, but of course, when one has seen oceans they're no longer impressed by rivers." her expression held a bit of pity.

Zhao Xing didn't quite get it, who was the ocean? who was the river?

Nuo Nuo saw her master's expression and couldn't help but smile. Even though she didn't like gossip, there were really some news everyone would know about even if they didn't want to.

Lan'er could also tell that Zhao Xing didn't understand, so she explained. "Young Miss Chu Yin had always had a crush on the crown prince, the whole capital knows."

Oh, so it turned out to be an admirer of the Crown Prince.

Zhao Xing's expression fell as she made a grimace. "She even wanted to die for this love..." She shook her head, it was really pitiful.

Well it is also a blessing in disguise, if she did marry the Crown Prince...heh...such an unimaginable thing. It'd be awful. Truly awful.

"Well it's good for her, one should take what one can handle." She said thinking out loud. The maids didn't quite understand what she meant, so they chose to stay quiet.

Well so much for the useless information, it seems it'd be really hard to get out of here. Should she just straight up ask the prince?

She immediately shook off the idea. That won't do. He might restrict her even more. But she could find a way, even if it was to accompany him out.

To achieve one's goal a person needed to be smart, and persistent.

After a whole morning of lazing around, she asked for the time. It was estimated that the Crown Prince would be back around late afternoon, as usual.

Today she was going to have lunch with the Crown Prince. Yes, though the prince restricted her from doing so many things, she was left with certain privileges; if she acted spoiled enough, she could get a lot. Today she refused to have lunch, and said she would wait for the Crown Prince instead.

No matter what they said, she refused to listen. So they complied, saying they would inform him the moment he came. Ha! The fun things you could do when you're the guest and exempted from following etiquette because you're not from the area.

The crown prince had almost arrived the manor only to be blocked by another carriage in front. The Crown Prince carriage refused to reverse, it wasn't like the road was narrow, but the person in the other carriage was too stubborn, deliberately blocking their path and refusing them to move forward.

"Fifth Miss Chu, the prince is really busy and doesn't have time to attend to you." Xiao Chen calmly explained.

Fifth Miss Chu was resilient, she had already got off her carriage and was currently standing before the Crown Prince's own. Her eyes were red and swollen, showing how much she'd cried.

"Crown Prince! Won't you look at me.." Her voice was hoarse as she cried out to the man in the carriage, it had already been a few minutes that they'd been in a deadlock. But Zhang ZhengYang had not stepped down from the carriage neither had he even said a word.

"Fifth Miss Chu..." Xiao Chen was already having a headache. Why did this have to happen now of all times?