Lu Kai advised her earnestly.
"Amang, I know you don’t want to go to Shangjing.
Shangjing is just too far. If anything were to happen to you, we’d be too far away to help.
If your father were still alive, he wouldn’t have the heart to let you travel over mountains and rivers to such a distant place.
But the Holy Decree has already been delivered to our Yu Royal Mansion.
If you don’t go, that’s defying an imperial edict."
Mrs. Liu chimed in.
"Even if you don’t think about yourself, you have to think about your mother and younger sister.
If you defy the decree, they will suffer along with you."
Hua Manman was completely baffled.
’What in the world are they talking about?’
Jiao Gui grew anxious as she listened.
She couldn’t help but speak up.
"Second Master, Second Madam, the Young Master’s injuries haven’t healed yet. Please don’t talk about these things for now."
’What if the Princely Heir gets agitated and runs away from home again?!’
Lu Kai frowned, displeased.
"When we are speaking, is it a mere maid’s place to interrupt?"
Mrs. Liu tugged his sleeve gently and coaxed him in a soft voice.
"Jiao Gui is just looking out for the Princely Heir. Let it go."
Lu Kai said a few more words of concern for Lu Man, perfectly establishing the image of an uncle who cared for his junior.
Before leaving, he couldn’t help but add with a sigh.
"You might not like hearing this, but I have to say it anyway.
Since you’ve already been titled the Princely Heir, you need to shoulder the responsibility for the entire Yu Royal Mansion. Stop throwing childish tantrums."
After Lu Kai and Mrs. Liu left, Hua Manman asked Jiao Gui.
"What was that they said about a Holy Decree?"
Back then, Mrs. Xie had only said that she ran away from home and accidentally fell down a hillside, but she never mentioned why she had run away in the first place.
Hua Manman had assumed it was just a simple family conflict.
But after listening to Lu Kai and Mrs. Liu sing the same tune, Hua Manman realized there was more to the story.
Jiao Gui hesitated, looking like she was struggling to speak.
"The Holy Decree is... just the Holy Decree. The Young Master only needs to focus on recovering right now. You don’t need to worry about anything else."
Hua Manman stared at her fixedly, not saying a word.
Perhaps even Hua Manman herself didn’t realize how much pressure her gaze held at that moment.
For an instant, it was somewhat similar to Li Ji’s.
Jiao Gui felt her skin crawl under that stare. Terrified, she could only reveal the truth.
"A while ago, the court sent a Holy Decree.
It said that the new Imperial City has been completed, and the capital is about to be moved.
This is an unprecedented event for the Great Zhou Dynasty.
The Saint has decreed that all the Vassal Kings are to send their Princely Heirs to the capital to participate in the grand ceremony for the move."
Hua Manman: "So Shangjing is the Imperial City?"
Jiao Gui explained honestly.
"Shangjing is the old Imperial City. The newly built Imperial City is called Tianjing."
Hua Manman still didn’t quite understand.
’It’s just attending a large event held by the Emperor. Why did the original owner have to make such a scene and run away from home?’
Jiao Gui had been watching the Young Master’s expression the whole time.
Seeing that the Princely Heir was only confused, with no signs of emotions like resentment or resistance, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
After recovering for a while, Hua Manman’s wounds were mostly healed, and the bandages on her head had been removed.
She examined herself carefully in the mirror and was surprised to find a small, light-colored scar on her forehead.
Before she transmigrated, she had a scar just like it on her own forehead.
Not only were the size and shape identical, but even the location was exactly the same.
That scar was from when her father had hit her as a child.
Hua Manman never expected to see this scar again after transmigrating into a new body.
She couldn’t help but ask.
"Where did this scar of mine come from?"
Jiao Gui was taken aback. "What scar?"
Hua Manman lifted her head and pointed to the small scar on her forehead.
"Look, right here."
Jiao Gui leaned in for a closer look and saw that there really was a scar on the Princely Heir’s forehead.
Jiao Gui’s expression grew very puzzled.
"I don’t remember you ever having a scar there."
Hua Manman grew even more perplexed.
’Jiao Gui is my personal maid; she grew up with me. Logically, if I had any scars on my body, she would definitely know about them.’
Hua Manman couldn’t figure it out no matter how hard she thought.
Seeing her silence, Jiao Gui thought she was upset because the scar on her forehead was unsightly and quickly tried to comfort her.
"Your scar isn’t very deep. I’ll get you some scar-removing ointment later. It should heal just fine."
Hua Manman gave a noncommittal response.
"Oh."
She lowered her gaze to her fingers.
On the first knuckle of her right middle finger was a thin callus.
It was from holding a writing brush for many years.
She wasn’t sure what came over her, but she suddenly wanted to test something.
"Do I have any hobbies? Like reading, writing, or painting?"
Jiao Gui answered truthfully.
"You usually enjoy needlework the most. When you have free time, you like to embroider flowers or make clothes. Sometimes, you also paint a little to trace embroidery patterns."
Hua Manman’s expression was complicated.
’The great and mighty Young Master actually likes needlework.’
’Hasn’t anyone ever suspected anything?!’
Jiao Gui explained in a low voice, "You usually hide away to do your needlework, so outsiders don’t know you have this hobby."
Hua Manman pictured the scene. It was a little pathetic, and a little funny.
But then again, if the original owner didn’t like writing or painting, why would she have a callus on the knuckle of her right middle finger?
The doubt in Hua Manman’s heart grew stronger.
Once suspicion takes root, a person starts seeing problems everywhere.
From then on, whenever she had the chance, Hua Manman would test her theories.
She discovered that the original owner’s shoes were a bit small for her.
Also, her hair was a little shorter than the original owner’s.
Furthermore, the original owner had a very low tolerance for alcohol and was lactose intolerant—drinking milk gave her diarrhea.
But Hua Manman could hold her liquor well and had no problem drinking milk.
All these suspicious points piled up.
It led Hua Manman to a bold conjecture.
To verify this conjecture, she decided to return to the place where she first transmigrated to look for clues.
However, she had just reached the main gate when she was stopped by a Royal Guard.
"Young Master, the Prince requests your presence."
Hua Manman was in a difficult position. "Do I have to go right now? I have something I need to go out for. Can I go see Grandfather after I get back?"
"The Prince wishes to see you now. Please do not keep him waiting."
Hua Manman had no choice but to temporarily shelve her plan to go out and search for clues.
She arrived at Rong’an Residence and saw Prince Yu.
Even though it was autumn and the weather was still relatively warm, Prince Yu was dressed in thick layers, with a heavy woolen blanket covering his legs.
His spirits seemed low, and he looked sickly and listless.
"Amang, you’re here. Sit."
Hua Manman obediently sat down across from him.
"Grandfather, you summoned me. Do you have any instructions?"
Due to his advanced age, Prince Yu’s face was covered in wrinkles, and his pupils had a grayish-blue tint.
He asked slowly, "I hear you want to go back to the place where you were injured?"
Hua Manman hadn’t expected him to ask about this right away. She paused for a moment before answering.
"Yes."
Prince Yu watched her quietly, his gaze tinged with scrutiny.
"Why do you suddenly want to go take a look there?"
...
Stop flaming, stop flaming.
This isn’t filler, and I’m not writing nonsense.
There won’t be any angst, and there’s no mistaken identity plot.
It’s 1v1 from start to finish!!