Gifted Bride of the Sinned Prince

She didn’t want to stay for long in the chamber as she knew they would give her another task to fulfill. Her hands were already soaring to write the Chinese characters fifty times.

Soon, she reached the manor of the Sixth Prince and told the maidservant that if anyone came to ask about her, she must not tell them that she was with Li Hua.

She walked into Li Hua’s chamber. Li Hua was doing the embroidery on a fabric. She was so engrossed in the work that she didn’t hear the footsteps, nor did she realise that Jin Yu was in front of her.

Jin Yu silently sat on the chaise and let Li Hua finish her work. After ten minutes, when Li Hua lifted her head, she was astonished to see Jin Yu there. “When did the Crown Princess come here?” She asked and inserted the needle into the fabric. She bowed to her and apologized to her for not seeing her.

“You have good concentration, Li Hua. I came ten minutes ago,” Liu Jin Yu replied. “I ran away from there,” she added.

Li Hua was shocked to learn about that and found Jin Yu on her feet.

“My hands felt numb for the first time,” Jin Yu complained, looking at her hands.

“That’s not good, Crown Princess,” Li Hua said.

.....

“They never told me that I had to read five books a day. My mind blows up just seeing the textbooks. Learning everything from them isn’t easy for me,” Jin Yu said, and asked her not to speak about that topic anymore.

She moved to Li Hua to sit down, but she stopped as she heard loud footsteps.

“Princess Jingfei,” Li Hua rose from her seat, while Jin Yu turned to face her. Back behind her were a few maidservants. Xiaolian was present too. Both the princesses greeted the Crown Princess and then lifted their heads.

“I was going to come see Princess Jingfei in the evening,” Li Hua said.

“Why did your brother lie to me and give me false hope that he would talk to Huang Xi?” Jingfei questioned Li Hua in anger. Jin Yu glanced at Li Hua, wondering what was going on.

“I didn’t know about it. When I-” Li Hua could not complete her words when Jingfei asked her to stop.

“You and your brother joked about my feelings. Xiaolian told me everything. Huang Xi hates me and he told his friends about it proudly while drinking around with his friends. You wanted me to be a laughing stick, right?” Jin Yu shouted at Li Hua.

“Princess Jingfei is taking me wrong. I never thought ill of the First Princess,” Li Hua said.

“Stop telling lies, Li Hua. Just because you married Brother Lóng Wei, that doesn’t mean you can trouble anyone and hurt the person. I should not have told you to help me. You did it so that people around me could laugh at me,” Jingfei blurted out at her and continued to step towards Li Hua.

“Princess Jingfei is taking me wrong. I never lied. I wasn’t even aware of all this; neither my elder brother was,” Li Hua said, keeping her eyes low when Jingfei raised her hand to slap her. Jin Yu caught her hand and pushed Jingfei away.

Li Hua lifted her head and found that Jin Yu had saved her.

“Leave my hand, Your Royal Highness. Also, stay away from my matter with Li Hua,” Jingfei warned her while glaring at her.

“Who gave you the right to raise your hand on Li Hua?” Jin Yu asked her and pushed her with a force. Jingfei lost her balance as she moved several feet back until Xiaolian caught her arm, thus preventing her from falling.

Li Hua widened her eyes to see that.

“When Li Hua told the Princess that she knew nothing about it, then she must listen to that. Don’t try to dominate her just because you are the Princess. You have no right to slap Li Hua,” Jin Yu affirmed.

“Crown Princess, you cannot speak with the First Princess this way,” Xiaolian told her with a stern tone and she lowered her arm.

“Really? Then, she also should not speak without respect with Li Hua. Learn some manners first and then lecture me or Li Hua,” Jin Yu affirmed.

Jingfei glared at Jin Yu. “Lower your eyes, First Princess. A royal lady must not behave like a mad woman,” Jin Yu stated, and asked both of them to leave instantly.

“Now, you will tell me how I must behave,” Jingfei dropped honorifics with Jin Yu. “What are you? A nameless woman without any background. You are lucky to marry my brother, else no man would have even glanced at you,” she muttered.

Jin Yu chuckled. “Unlike the First Princess, no man would have hated me. I understand now why Huang Xi hates her,” she taunted Jingfei. “I think the First Princess didn’t study well. I am not nameless. I have my own identity. I am Jin Yu. Is there any woman in the kingdom who is well-versed like me in weapons? No, right! So, I have my own identity with much more qualifications than Princess Jingfei,” Jin Yu announced.

Jingfei felt humiliated and decided to tell her mother about it. She turned to leave when Jin Yu stopped her.

“If Prince Lóng Wei finds out that you raised your hand on Li Hua, then what will happen? Princess Jingfei knows the consequences better than anyone. So, she must apologize to Li Hua like a humble, polite woman,” Jin Yu stated.

Jingfei snorted and walked out of the chamber, followed by the others.

Once they left, Jin Yu turned to look at Li Hua. “Learn to defend yourself. Also, don’t help the First Princess with anything. If anything goes wrong, she will blame you. No one will be able to protect you in your husband’s absence,” Jin Yu advised her.

“I understand,” Li Hua said and lowered her eyes. She felt upset because she only wanted to help Jingfei, but she took her wrong. She felt guilty for not listening to Lóng Wei and made up her mind to stay away from Jingfei. She thanked Jin Yu for helping her.

She admired Jin Yu for being fearless and strong. Li Hua decided to be like her. Jin Yu was now a role model for her. A strong woman who didn’t let the wrong overpower her. Li Hua realized that she was an easy-going person and would melt at anyone’s words. But not anymore. She didn’t want to be the person, who would be blamed like Jingfei did to her and needed the protection of the others. This was one important lesson for her which taught her not to believe those people, who were once evil to her.

“Have you had your lunch?” Jin Yu asked Li Hua, who refused.

“Then, let’s have lunch together,” Jin Yu said enthusiastically, and called in the maidservant. She ordered her to bring lunch meals for them and led Li Hua towards the table.