Invitation to the Palace

"Your sister didn't come to school again?" Fan Lanying looked at the carriages of the Lin family. There were only Jun Hua, Lin Yuan, and Lin Hong. Lin San didn't appear again.

Lin Yuan smiled apologetically. "Second sister is resting at home because she's feeling unwell."

From the vibrant atmosphere surrounding Lin Yuan, even Fan Lanying could guess that something must have happened. Whatever it was, it caused Lin San to be unable to go to school and Lin Yuan was happy about it.

Jun Hua didn't answer and directly walked towards the school's entrance with Fan Lanying. From the corner of her eyes, she could see that Lin Hong was throwing her murderous gaze, but she paid no mind to it. In her eyes, Lin Hong was just a small boy who had not seen the real world. Although he had his suspicions on her, there was no way Jun Hua would allow him to find out the truth.

"Let's go in," Jun Hua said simply.

Fan Lanying stopped probing and walked along side with Jun Hua. As usual, they sat down on their place and started chatting. This time, there was an interesting piece of news that Fan Lanying brought up.

"Princess Ming Hui will soon celebrate her sixteenth birthday."

"When is that?" Jun Hua asked.

"In three weeks. My family got the invitation because my father is a marquis. How about you? Did your father tell you anything?"

It would be better if Lin Tang was able to ease up his rage first. With the incidents that happened yesterday, there was no way Lin Tang would be in a good mood to tell such news. Maybe he would tell them later but surely not at that moment.

"Not yet."

"Hmm… There must have been something happened to your home. Anyway, do you have time to go to my house? We can play together there. Without my brother, it's really boring," Fan Lanying asked.

"I need to ask for some permission first."

"Okay, don't make me wait too long, though."

As the two of them were talking, Xuan Pei arrived in their class announcing that their class is about to start. But today Xuan Pei was not alone as beside him stood a tall young lady wearing a veil. She was wearing a gorgeous dress while beside her were a few servants following.

Jun Hua's eyes twitched a bit when she looked at them. She knew that girl very clearly as she had just met with her two days before. She was Princess Ming Hui.

"Ladies, for the next three weeks, your lesson plan will undergo some changes. Please Princess Ming Hui."

"Thank you Teacher Pei," Ming Hui said softly. Her graceful demeanor made all the girls to feel instant defeat. There was practically no one among them who could conduct themselves better than the girl in front of them. The lessons from the imperial family were indeed totally different from them!

Jun Hua had a bad feeling upon learning that Ming Hui came here. When she met her as Jun Min, it was still all good. However, meeting her as Jun Hua, there were bound to be some unspeakable troubles to come her way.

"Ladies, I want to invite some of you to join my sixteenth birthday party personally. Because there are going to be some nobles too, all whom I invited will undergo special lessons for palace etiquette."

Thereafter, one of the servants started to read the names of those invited to the celebration.

Hearing the names being called out, Jun Hua and Fan Lanying hoped from the depths of their hearts that they were not invited. Unfortunately, that was a wish that didn't come true.

"…Fan Lanying, and lastly, Jun Hua."

Ming Hui smiled after her servant had finished reading the name. "Tomorrow, you will be going to the palace and stay there for the next three weeks. Don't worry, for I will prepare everything you might need."

Most of the girls who were invited had started rejoicing, but Jun Hua and Fan Lanying's faces turned dark. It was one thing to learn about etiquette, but if they have to learn the palace etiquette, it would definitely be a torment. For the two girls who didn't like learning these things, it was simply a torture for them.

Ming Hui bid her farewell then turned to leave with her servants to go to the other two classrooms. Xuan Pei called on the embroidery teacher and left the girls in their discussion.

"It's over! For three whole weeks I won't get the chance to hold my dagger," Fan Lanying said highly aggrieved.

Jun Hua's face was also not good. She had seen how graceful Ming Hui would usually appear and compared to her, she was far worse than her. She had only started to learn about this thing lately, and only because of her good self-control that she could walk in the correct manner. However, if she was forced to do it for a whole day, she was sure that her whole body would be sore.

The two of them looked at each other and smiled wryly. They were thinking of the same thing: they will soon experience another hell.

"By the way, was Lin San also on the list of chosen girls?" Fan Lanying asked.

"Yes she was. I will tell her about it today," Jun Hua answered. Her memory was good so she could remember those girls who have been chosen easily. With regards to Lin San, maybe the girl would be happy because she would have a chance to meet with the royalties.

"We need to be careful, though. The four imperial sons are not that simple."

Jun Hua nodded. She had long heard about the four imperial sons. The first prince was a capable man, the second prince was the most doted on by the emperor, the third prince was a troublemaker and womanizer, and lastly the fourth prince is the weakest among them. But the things she heard about them were not enough as Jun Hua knew that the imperial family members are all complicated people.

However, there were still some doubts within her mind. She was only going to learn under Ming Hui's supervision and not meeting those princes. Will there still be any chances of meeting any of them?

Jun Hua thought about it for a moment before shrugging off the idea. Whatever happens later, she would deal with it. For now, she would just focus on stitching her silk.

"Jun Hua, you made another mistake," Fan Lanying reminded her.

Jun Hua nodded sheepishly. It seemed she still had a long way to go in terms of embroidery.