Chapter 10: The War of Two People

  Later, I gradually learned that this little princess was not an ordinary person. From the eunuchs, I heard about her past "glorious deeds". Although she was called a princess, she was actually the daughter of Crown Prince Li Hen's deceased wife and had grown up by Emperor Xuanzong's side due to his fondness for her. She was intelligent, clever, and had a mischievous personality.

  She often caused a stir in the palace with her antics, such as using a crane to fly a kite at the age of eight, which got tangled on the flagpole of the Zhengyang Gate, almost killing the rare black-necked crane that had been gifted from the south. Another time, she wanted to see what would happen if she gave wine to the exotic animals in the imperial garden, resulting in chaos as the drunken animals broke free and ran amok, causing the palace maids and eunuchs to flee in terror.

  She even kept a small tiger as a pet, which one day escaped from the inner court and ran into the palace school, scaring the young princes and scholars. The usually calm and composed Crown Prince Li Hen had to specially appoint an official to deal with the aftermath.

  Even the powerful officials Yang Guozhong and Li Linfu were wary of her, but she was favored by Emperor Xuanzong and could do as she pleased. I didn't know how she managed to get into so much trouble, but it seemed like every time something went wrong, she was involved.

  One night, our camp was thrown into chaos when a fire broke out, causing us to think we were under attack. It turned out that she had accidentally set the fire while playing with some sparks. The next day, I found out that Yang Yuer had almost drowned in the river and was only saved by my timely intervention.

  I was furious and humiliated, but when I saw her crying and clinging to my sleeve, I couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt. However, when I remembered how she had caused so much trouble, my anger returned, and I scolded her severely.

  To my surprise, she didn't seem to care about offending the imperial family and continued to act as if nothing was wrong. Two days later, she even came to find me again, this time acting coy and timid, which made me wary of her intentions.

  I threatened her, saying that if she dared to cause any more trouble, I would take her to a dark forest and... (the text is censored here). She seemed to be both afraid and expectant, and later asked the eunuch Gao Lishi what my words meant. He was so scared that his face turned green.

  From then on, a loyal eunuch followed me everywhere, as if he was trying to protect me from her mischief.