The Beginning of Su Xueying’s Journey (I)

Perhaps Su Xueying was just naturally lucky for no certain reason, but she liked to think that her luck originated from the fact that she was a lovely, wonderful, and beautiful princess that no one could possibly dislike. She liked to think that her luck was a gift from the deities, who upon seeing her being born into this world, declared that there was no other person that could possibly be so perfect, therefore blessing her with luck that followed her wherever she went.

Of course, that was a bit of a narcissistic statement, but being the princess of the Danyan, one of the largest countries in the world, no one had ever told— or dared to tell— this spoiled child, Xueying, otherwise.

With a luck like hers, though, it was inevitable for her to think like this. For one thing, she was born as the only princess in Danyan, and that by itself was already considered a lucky thing by many. The month and date she was born on was also prosperous, not to mention. Lucky enough?

Following from there, she was showered with love by her father, the emperor, to the point where she was known as the only child Emperor Su ever truly cared for. Lucky enough?

Besides that, everyone who saw her practically loved her, be it the commoners, the servants, the nobles, or even her fellow siblings. Even the jealous consorts and concubines didn't dare to do anything to harm this little princess because she was just too adorable that they couldn't set their hearts on doing it. Lucky enough?

As the little princess grew up, it was also discovered that Xueying was talented in multiple things. At age six, she was found to have a pleasant singing voice and talented in playing both the zither and flute. At age seven, her skill in painting, calligraphy, and embroidery shone, displaying her talent in the visual arts. She was a quick learner— as long as she tried, that is. The only thing she lacked in was her enjoyment of studying any lessons or reading books at all to improve her knowledge of the world, but of course, that wasn't important. She was the princess, after all, and that was the lowest of her priorities to excel at.

Lucky enough?

The turning point in her life, however, had to be at age ten, where when she was playing in the gardens and decided to punish a eunuch to dig up a random spot behind a tree, claiming that once he dug a hole deep enough, she would bury him in the hole he dug for himself because he nearly killed her pet puppy by spilling scalding hot tea on the animal.

Yet upon digging a hole deep enough, all thoughts of punishing the eunuch were set aside when the princess discovered that a gigantic chest filled with ancient artifacts, gold, and pearls were buried at the very location.

The emperor hired a professional to analyze the wealth uncovered, and it was determined that Princess Su Xueying, at only ten years of age, discovered so many items of value that it was enough to pay for all the taxes collected in two, no, three years from the people! Nonetheless, the wealth was not the most important part, rather an ancient artifact that laid in the midst of all the gold and jewels, which was found to be a national treasure coming from the very first ancestors of the emperor, the founders of Danyan!

Princess, how could you possibly be so lucky? To want to punish an insignificant eunuch yet end up with discovering a national treasure that would be honored for generations and generations to come! Could you have any less good luck?

Well, perhaps the only unlucky thing that happened in Xueying's life would be her mother, the previous empress, departing from the palace under the approval of the emperor because of political imbalances and her mother's desire to live a peaceful life without all the complexities of the palace. Xueying thought that it was cruel of her mother to leave, especially because she was only eleven when it happened, but it didn't impact her too much in her life. She was still the 'lucky star' of Danyan anyways, and the rest of her good luck made up for it.

Her good luck followed her as she grew up, from small things such as winning bets with her siblings, to bigger things such as getting her father to sponsor most of the palace nobles to go on a short vacation to the southern area of Danyan because she heard that there was delicies to be eaten there that couldn't be found in the imperial palace.

This morning was a prime example of her luck aiding her. In the midst of learning another boring lesson with her newly assigned tutor, Tutor Zhang, the tutor was suddenly summoned to the palace by the emperor not too long after the lesson began, saving her from her miseries of listening to the teacher drone on and on about ancient philosophers who have died centuries ago. If that wasn't considered as good luck, she didn't know what would be.

Even though the guards and servants outside the library where she was taking her lessons in attempted to block her from leaving immediately after Tutor Zhang walked far enough away, they weren't enough to stop her. When Princess Su Xueying has a goal set in her mind, she will get to her goal no matter what. That was the first thing people knew about her, and her determination was renowned throughout all of Danyan. A few mere guards and eunuchs and maids couldn't stop her from leaving the library even if they tried.

So now, Xueying was strolling through the streets outside the palace without a single care for the world, whistling a cheerful tune as she glanced at the stalls patterned by the sides of the streets, some selling vegetables while others had little common trinkets hung up on display.

In case her father sent guards to look for her, Xueying was prepared— before leaving the palace, she purposely returned to her own courtyard to put on a set of men's clothes she had tailored for herself privately a while back. Her hair was loose of all the usual ornaments and delicate hairpins. Instead, it was simply tied into a knot at the back of her head, a thin rod sliding through the bun to prevent it from slipping, similar to the hairstyles she's seen scholars in the palace wear. The disguise wasn't enough to make her look very masculine, but at least it was enough to trick the eyes of the guards. Besides, with a luck like hers, who would bother to doubt and call her out for the false appearance?

What dead philosophers? What wisdom? What knowledge?

Su Xueying was free, terribly disguised as a man, and all the time in the world was hers to spend today before the guards managed to catch her— if they ever would, that is.