The Princess Is to Remarry

Chapter 13: The Labyrinthine Courtyard

Wang Ruo watched as Zuo Xiaoqian practically skipped away, a smile never leaving his lips. Only when Zuo Xiaoqian and Xiao Lian had disappeared around the corner of the corridor did he speak softly: “Renuo—”

With a faint rustle of fabric, a man clad entirely in black appeared before him as swiftly as lightning. He clasped his fists in a respectful salute, his deep voice devoid of any emotional fluctuation: “Your Highness, what are your orders?”

“What do you think is wrong with that woman? ” Only then did the gentle smile slowly fade from his lips, though his serene expression remained unchanged. He tilted his chin slightly, his slender, elegant neck tracing a graceful curve.

“Your Highness, I dare to suggest that this woman is not a Miss Gu at all!” Reno followed his gaze toward the empty end of the corridor and replied calmly.

“Very well. Find out everything there is to know about this woman by tomorrow!” He rose to his feet and gently smoothed his snow-white robes. “For the time being, no one is to approach the rear courtyard—”

After circling the vast rear courtyard, Zuo Xiaoqian found herself puzzled by this labyrinthine complex—no matter how she wandered, she could not escape the bamboo groves and peach trees.

She’d intended to take a stroll after her meal to aid digestion and familiarize herself with the surroundings, but it seemed that path was now blocked. “Xiao Lian, have you ever left this courtyard?”

Xiao Lian, following behind her, obediently shook her head, then nodded. “Xiao Lian has left this courtyard, but…”

“But what?” The courtyard was teeming with life, one side a delightfully lush green, the other a soft, delicate pink.

She casually lifted the hem of her coarse cotton skirt and lay down on the smooth, flat blue-stone platform beneath the bamboo. Squinting slightly, she gazed up at the azure sky, pure and unblemished.

Xiao Lian was startled by Zuo Xiaoqian’s seamless movement. Her open mouth twitched slightly: “But this servant has only gone out once. It was when Your Highness fell from the rockery into the pond. In my panic, I rushed about the courtyard haphazardly, never expecting that I would end up running out…”

“So you’re saying you can’t remember exactly how you managed to get out back then?” Zuo Xiaoqian asked lazily, raising her slender, delicate hand to rest over her eyes.

Xiao Lian nodded nervously: “Yes, Your Highness!”

Zuo Xiaoqian pondered for a moment: “Then how did Xiao Qin, the maid who was sent back, manage to get out?”

Who would have thought that this seemingly ordinary, simple courtyard could hold such secrets? “And what about that Wang Ruo—how did he get out? Wait a minute—”

She suddenly sat up with a jolt, grabbed Xiao Lian, and ran toward the corridor they’d passed earlier. The uniform green and pink surroundings made it impossible for her to distinguish the path they’d taken upon arrival: “No way…”

She stood dumbfounded beneath a sea of pink. A breeze blew, sending peach blossoms drifting down to land on Zuo Xiaoqian’s hair and clothes… but she clearly had no time to pay attention to the mischievous petals. She spun around in a panic: “It’s still not there. How could it not be… God, what kind of hellish place is this?”

She stared, on the verge of breaking down, at the endless expanse of emerald green and pink. Why couldn’t she even find that corridor with its delicious food and handsome men?