Mistakenly Marked the Madly Beautiful Princess - Chapter 41

After yesterday’s battle, the soldiers of Hongshui County had shed their despondency, their spirits entirely transformed.

Now was the perfect time to take the initiative and drive the enemy away.

This battle could very well be the one to make Ling Yue famous. After receiving the Princess’s approval, she was too excited to sleep, tossing and turning in bed until the old wooden frame creaked under her movements.

In the silence of the night, the noise was unbearably irritating. Realizing this, Ling Yue forced herself to lie still.

Though the Princess was in a separate room, the walls were thin, and she couldn’t risk disturbing Her Highness’s rest.

Knock, knock!

Someone was at the door. Ling Yue sat up abruptly, slipped on her shoes haphazardly, and opened the door. As expected, it was the Princess standing there.

Ling Yue glanced at the closed window and took a step back. “Your Highness.”

“Mm.”

With a casual acknowledgment, the Princess stepped inside and sat by the table, a faint smile gracing her lips. “I couldn’t sleep and thought I’d come find you. I hope I’m not disturbing you.”

“Not at all. Your Highness’s visit is an honor.”

Ling Yue sat down as well.

In truth, it had only been a little over half a month since their first encounter after her rebirth, yet the Princess had been constantly changing.

Ling Yue hadn’t forgotten the icy gaze from that first moonlit night or the Princess’s subsequent erratic behavior, which had brought her to the brink of death more than once.

But that must have been a façade, right? Someone too gentle would never command respect. The Princess as she was now was likely her true self.

The Princess had thrown on a robe before coming over, but it was still too thin for the chilly night. Ling Yue couldn’t help feeling concerned. “The night is cold, Your Highness. You should take better care of yourself.”

The Princess tightened the robe around her shoulders and smiled again. “It’s nothing. But you, why aren’t you asleep? Tomorrow will demand much of you.”

The candle flickered with a soft pop, its warm yellow flame dancing briefly before settling.

After a moment’s hesitation, Ling Yue went to her bed, retrieved her outer robe, and walked behind the Princess to drape it over her shoulders.

Having returned to Hongshui County, Ling Yue had switched back to her red attire. Now, draped over the Princess, the vibrant color was mesmerizing.

Feeling she had overstepped, Ling Yue quickly lowered her head, her explanation somewhat distracted. “I’m just… excited.”

Ling Yue’s clothes carried a faint scent of soap, clean and refreshing, much like her own demeanor.

The Princess narrowed her eyes slightly, concealing the emotions within, and smiled gently. “It’s only natural to be excited about achieving fame at a young age.”

Ling Yue grinned. “I can’t let down Your Highness’s expectations.”

Though it sounded like flattery, it wasn’t a lie. It was one of the reasons she strove so hard. She had confidence in herself her past life had proven her capabilities, and in this life, she could do even better.

In the darkness, Ling Yue’s eyes were always the brightest. The Princess loved seeing her so spirited, though she couldn’t quite explain why.

Yet, alongside that joy, a sense of unease always crept in, as if those bright eyes might one day lose their light.

She picked up the scissors from the table and trimmed the burnt wick of the candle. The room brightened, casting Ling Yue’s face into sharper relief.

Ling Yue was unaware of her own fluster and merely said as she set down the scissors, “Your Highness could have simply instructed me to handle such a trivial matter.”

The Grand Princess rested her head on her hand, dark hair cascading over her shoulders, her tone languid. “I am not one of those pampered, useless nobles from the previous dynasty.”

Ling Yue froze for a moment. In her past life, when she had interacted with Lu Weiying, the latter had done everything herself. At times, Ling Yue had felt treated like a maid, but she had dismissed it as her own dark thoughts, only to later realize she hadn’t been wrong.

Her expression shifted dramatically. The Grand Princess’s remark had inadvertently insulted Lu Weiying as well.

“What are you grinning about?”

Noticing the Grand Princess’s curiosity, Ling Yue quickly suppressed her smile. She naturally wouldn’t mention Lu Weiying’s name, in this life, their connection was shallow, and bringing it up would only cause misunderstandings.

Although the Grand Princess valued honesty, this time Ling Yue chose to lie. “My mother used to say something similar to me.”

The Grand Princess saw through the lie but was more intrigued by Ling Yue’s mother.

She leaned forward, propping her left cheek on her hand, a posture that inevitably closed the distance between them, though she paid it no mind. With a light laugh, she asked, “Oh?”

Seeing the Grand Princess’s interest, Ling Yue held nothing back. Besides, there was nothing she couldn’t share.

Time had passed too long, and her memories of her mother had grown hazy. All she recalled was her frail, sickly form, confined to bed year after year.

Hardship forces one to mature early. Though she yearned for the world beyond the estate, Ling Yue was far more obedient than other children her age.

Neglected and often bullied, they had no servants to attend to them everything had to be done by their own hands.

From a young age, Ling Yue took on all sorts of chores while caring for her ailing mother.

Yet, her gravely ill mother, heartbroken to see her daughter toil, would stubbornly insist on helping. When refused, she would grow upset.

“I’m not useless, I can do it.”

As Ling Yue recounted this, a smile touched her lips, but it gradually faded.

The Grand Princess suddenly felt a pang of regret for broaching the topic.

The moment she sensed something amiss with Ling Yue, she had thoroughly investigated her background.

Ling Yue had lost her mother young, was unloved by her father, and by some fortune received martial training only to later conceal her skills, leading to suffering in her past life.

What was rare was that, despite how the world had treated her, she had managed to retain her kindness.

The Grand Princess privately considered such people foolish which was why she often called Ling Yue “silly girl.”

As Ling Yue spoke, she noticed the Grand Princess had fallen silent. It dawned on her that the Grand Princess, too, had endured much hardship in her youth and had been unable to protect her own mother.

Perhaps her own words had stirred painful memories. Overcome with guilt, Ling Yue murmured an apology.

The Grand Princess didn’t understand what she was apologizing for. Sometimes, she found Ling Yue easy to read; other times, completely inscrutable.

She leaned in slightly. “Why apologize all of a sudden?”

Gazing at the Grand Princess’s gentle face illuminated by the candlelight, Ling Yue felt even more sorrowful. “If I hadn’t brought this up, Your Highness wouldn’t have been reminded of the past.”

Now she understood. The Grand Princess found it almost amusing that tragic backstory had been nothing but a fabrication of her own.

Strictly speaking, she was no saint. A pitiable past easily evoked sympathy, and sympathy had a way of bridging distances.

Otherwise, Ling Yue would likely still regard her with fear, not sit here chatting so casually as they were now.

Logically speaking, if she only valued Ling Yue’s abilities and wanted a capable subordinate, there should have been a sense of reverence between them.

Yet she insisted on shattering that distance.

The emotions involved here were different from those with Qing Niao. The Eldest Princess tried to analyze herself as she would analyze others, but she failed.

She let out a soft sigh, but that sigh made Ling Yue, sitting across from her, restless.

The Eldest Princess stopped teasing her. “Don’t blame yourself. I’m just tired, not upset.”

Only then did Ling Yue feel at ease. Hearing that the Eldest Princess was tired, she hesitated for a long time before finally blushing and saying, “Would Your Highness like to hear a story?What kind of trick to coax children was this?

The Eldest Princess inwardly scoffed, but her mouth betrayed her thoughts: “Sure.”

Before she even began the story, Ling Yue’s ears turned red. She also thought it was a terrible idea and hadn’t expected the Eldest Princess to agree.

Really! The Eldest Princess wasn’t a child, how could she be lulled to sleep by a story!

But with no way to back out, Ling Yue had no choice but to search her memory desperately, digging up the stories her mother had once told her.

She cleared her throat. “Once upon a time, there was a mountain, and on the mountain stood a temple.”

The temple was always bustling with worshippers, rumored to be incredibly efficacious. One day, a disheveled, wild-looking madwoman arrived. She knelt before the Buddha, confessing her sins, hoping to see her friend one last time.

That year, the snow fell incessantly, and her friend had long since turned to dust and bones.

But the madwoman did not give up. She burned incense every day until, one day, she received a response.

She left the temple and returned to her friend’s grave.

The next day, passersby discovered her frozen to death before the tombstone.

After hearing the story, the Eldest Princess felt a headache coming on. Was this really a story suitable for a child?

Upon closer thought, the story could be considered complete in its own way after all, the madwoman’s death meant she could reunite with her friend on the path to the afterlife.

Suppressing the urge to complain, the Eldest Princess said, “It’s quite a good story.”

Ling Yue anxiously pinched her thigh and awkwardly explained, “Strictly speaking, it’s not a story. My mother told me it was something that actually happened to our ancestors.”

Ling Yue’s mother was a descendant of the Ke clan from Pengzhou. Due to some absurd rumors, the Ke clan had fallen into decline. Some members changed their surnames to distance themselves from the clan, while a very few retained the surname and went into hiding.

Ling Fu had been incredibly lucky to actually find a descendant of the Ke clan, but this turned out to be a misfortune for Ling Yue’s mother.

Because it concerned Ling Yue’s mother, the Eldest Princess felt a rare pang of pity. She considered finding an excuse, upon returning to Rong City, to have Ling Yue’s mother’s tomb renovated and enlarged. If Ling Yue was willing, it wouldn’t be an issue to move it out of the Ling family’s ancestral burial grounds.

As soon as this thought crossed her mind, a sharp pain shot through her head.

The Eldest Princess’s expression darkened as chaotic yet familiar voices echoed in her mind.

She seemed to hear Ling Yue’s voice, respectful yet tinged with a hint of hostility.

“Your subject wishes to move my mother’s grave out of the Ling family’s ancestral burial grounds. I beg Your Highness to grant this request.”

Her heart suddenly ached. The Eldest Princess looked up and saw Ling Yue sitting across from her, silent and wearing a foolish, dazed expression.

Soon, she heard her own voice, calm and devoid of any emotion: “Granted.”

The Eldest Princess knew she hadn’t spoken, so these voices could only be hallucinations.

She showed no sign of abnormality, merely lowering her head and saying wearily, “I’m tired.”

Ling Yue was somewhat surprised. She hadn’t expected her first story to have an effect so quickly, and she couldn’t help but feel a surge of joy inside. “Your Highness, allow me to escort you,” she said.

The Grand Princess, seeing her so enthusiastic, felt the restlessness and irritation within her gradually recede.

Her expression softened, and her voice turned gentle. “Then I’ll trouble you, my little general.”

Ling Yue had intended to offer support, but at this, she froze as if struck by electricity. After a moment of hesitation, she still extended her hand.

Noticing her reaction, the Grand Princess couldn’t resist teasing her. “Actually, I’m not so weak that I need assistance.”

Ling Yue was about to withdraw her hand, but the Grand Princess pressed her palm against the back of Ling Yue’s hand. The cold touch sent a shiver through Ling Yue.

Then, she heard the Grand Princess whisper softly in her ear, “But this is fine too.”

Her heart was thrown into disarray in an instant. Stiffly, Ling Yue escorted the Grand Princess back to her room and then fled as if making a hasty escape.

Watching her retreat in a fluster, the Grand Princess let out a light laugh. But as her laughter faded, a trace of melancholy crept between her brows.

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