"Okay, I will."
The Seventh Prince was thinking that he couldn't let the Empress know, as it would implicate Hai Ling. Little did he know that no matter what Hai Ling did, the Empress wouldn't blame her, but it was different for him.
"It's getting late, I should go back. I just came to see how you were doing, and it seems you're doing well."
Feng Zihe knew it wasn't appropriate to stay in a woman's room so late at night, so he quickly got up to say goodbye.
"Okay, be careful."
Hai Ling gave him caring advice, and Feng Zihe felt a sweet warmth in his heart upon hearing her concern. It was a wonderful feeling, as if he had eaten candy, a feeling he had never experienced before.
"I know."
After he finished speaking, he left the side hall and quietly slipped away from the Crown Prince's residence.
Rouge walked in, letting out a sigh of relief. Hailing glanced at her and said calmly, "I know you mean well, but don't make things difficult for him. He's my friend, and I don't want to be the kind of cold-hearted person who doesn't care about others."
She said that the Seventh Prince was her friend, and friends should naturally be more honest with each other.
Rouge blushed. She had been so focused on her mistress's reputation that she had forgotten how kind the Seventh Prince had been to them.
"Let's go to sleep. This Crown Prince's residence is definitely not a good place. If we get enough rest, we can fight the next battle."
“Hmm,” the master and servant went inside to sleep.
They thought they wouldn't be able to sleep in an unfamiliar place, but to their surprise, they had a wonderful night's sleep and slept soundly.
The luxurious bed, the soft quilt, the finest incense—it was incredibly comfortable.
However, before dawn, before they had naturally woken up, they heard shouts outside.
The voice of the night watch maid rang out: "Crown Princess, Crown Princess."
Rouge woke up first, stretched, and comfortably got up from the couch. She had been sleeping in the young lady's room to keep her company in case she asked for something in the middle of the night.
Hearing the shouts outside, afraid of disturbing the young lady's sweet dreams, he quickly dressed and went out, asking in a low voice, "What is it?"
"Chief Steward Xia came and said that the Crown Prince is waiting outside the mansion and wants the Crown Princess to go into the palace with him to pay her respects to the Empress."
It turns out that yesterday's events alarmed the Empress, who, after a stern rebuke, ordered Feng Zixiao to bring Hailing to the palace today.
Feng Zixiao was so angry with Hai Ling yesterday that he forgot about the matter. He only remembered it when it was dawn, so he instructed Steward Xia to come and call Hai Ling.
Upon hearing this, Rouge realized that going to the palace to pay respects to the Empress was a serious matter. Her young mistress had married the Crown Prince and hadn't even paid her respects to the Empress yet; this was no trivial matter. She quickly turned around and went inside, shaking the sea lily on the table until her young mistress finally opened her eyes and asked groggily.
"What's wrong?"
"The Crown Prince wants to take the young lady to the palace to pay her respects to the Empress."
Hai Ling blinked, and it took her a while to realize that she was being asked to go to the palace to pay her respects to the Empress.
She really didn't want to, but not going was impossible, so she nodded and slowly got up.
Rouge quickly helped her get up, then washed her and led her to the dressing table to fix her hair.
Hai Ling then took the inkstone to draw her eyebrows. Her originally delicate eyebrows were transformed into thick, dark eyebrows like those of Zhang Fei, which looked extremely ugly on her face.
Rouge was horrified and couldn't help but cry out, "Miss, what are you doing?"
"I didn't do anything. I was just going to the palace to pay my respects to the Empress, so of course I would have to wear a full face of makeup."
After she finished speaking, she took out some rouge and applied a thick layer to her cheeks, as well as bright red lipstick to her lips. At first glance, she looked like a monster. She was already chubby, and if she had been clean-cut, she would have been cute. But now, with all that makeup, she looked quite frightening.
"Miss, what are you doing? You can scare people to death."
Rouge groaned. She knew her mistress wanted to leave the Crown Prince's residence and was trying her best to make the Crown Prince dislike her, but this was too frightening. She was scared just looking at it.
Upon hearing Yan Zhi's words, Hai Ling grinned triumphantly, her mouth agape. This meant that her painting had been very successful.
After the series of events following her grand wedding, she now has a strong urge to torment Feng Zixiao. Yes, she is about to leave the Crown Prince's residence, but before she leaves, she wants to make him regret ever messing with her.
"Let's go, I'm very happy with my makeup now."
"Miss."
Rouge was exhausted. She slumped her head and slowly followed Hailing out.
Could she pretend she didn't know this bastard in front of her? It's so embarrassing.
Outside the door, several screams rang out. Rouge sighed. Look, someone else was just as frightened as she was by the young lady.
The young maid and Steward Xia were indeed startled, each letting out a cry of surprise. They didn't know who this heavily made-up woman was or how she had come out of the Crown Princess's room. It wasn't until Hai Ling spoke up that they heard, "What's wrong with you all? Am I that scary?"
"T-Princess?"
The group was horrified, and at the same time, they shouted in their hearts, "Is this really necessary?"
Hailin glanced at Xia Cheng and saw his lips twitch a few times, and then kindly asked him something.
"Chief Steward Xia, do you think my makeup is pretty good? Today is a rare occasion for me to go to the palace to pay my respects to Her Majesty the Empress, so I put on a full face of makeup."
To be honest, Hai Ling's makeup wasn't actually wrong. If she were a little more delicate and pretty, the makeup would have looked great. Unfortunately, she was overweight, and the rouge and powder piled on her face made her look much worse. With her exaggerated movements, it became even more unsightly.
Xia Cheng nodded and kindly offered his help.
"Your Majesty, actually the Empress doesn't care about these things, so Your Majesty doesn't need to wear heavy makeup."
Hai Ling glanced at him coldly, and Xia Cheng began to wipe his sweat. Why was he always afraid of this woman? Was he scared out of his wits by her?