Very early the next morning, Prince Song woke up feeling refreshed and different.
For the first time in his life as a prince , he woke up a very happy person. Feeling grateful for finally knowing the meaning of life he began to hum his favourite song.
Going to the bathhouse with his bathrobe, he ordered his servants not to prepare breakfast for him as he was entering the palace.
Done with both his bath and oral care , he put on his royal robe and went out dancing to an imaginary song playing in the background.
The old servant sent from the palace since he was a baby noticed the extremely happy mood of his master.
This is the first time to see his master so happy that he is lost in his own world and is oblivious of his surrounding.
It's true that his master doesn't care about his image, he does whatever he likes not minding what people think about him as can be depicted from his escapades ,but this is the first time seeing him dancing for the horse.
What? he even hugged the horse.
"...and here I thought I have seen it all" the servant hiccupped.
Riding his horse, he is seen waving his hands at every passer-by and telling his story to everyone that cares to listen
"I had the best dream of my life! She smiled at me!! Today is the happiest day of my life!!!"
People that heard the proclamation was stunned. Some interpreted it as maybe one of the prostitutes at the brothel smiled at him or a young and innocent girl had fallen for his magic.
The most debated topic was ' whose married wife had smiled at the prince today?'
Prince Song is a well known playboy and womanizer. The number of females that have fallen for his charms cannot be counted .
He's a ladies-man so it's not such a surprising factor that lots of girls have fallen for him or that lots of married women would give up their husbands to be with him.
Actually he never actually look at married women, he will just greet them politely and bless them with a smile, but some of the vain ones misinterprets it as an act of seduction .
On one of the occasions, a married woman had been beaten black and blue by the husband, he trashed the man and consoled the woman .
Unexpectedly, the woman had traced him home and given that Prince Song is a kindhearted person, as long as you don't anger him, he allowed her to stay but never did it occur to him that the woman had come to stay for good.
Noticing that after staying for a few days the woman was not leaving, he panicked and asked her to leave. The lady cried so much that he almost joined her .
He is helpless when it comes to women's tears and considering the fact that the woman was very pretty too he turned weak in his defense.
He allowed the woman to stay as a worker in his compound, the next week,the husband delivered a divorce letter to her with the complaint that she is an adulterer, and staying with Prince Song is the evidence.
The woman very happy proposed to prince Song but he refused to accept her as anything less than a worker. She even pleaded to be a concubine but it was a' no' for her .
Finally giving up , she contented herself with the position of a worker.
On another occasion, he had saved an old woman from falling down to her death. She was walking home with her stick when she suddenly felt dizzy, letting go of her walking stick by accident she expected the impact of the fall but instead of the hard ground she felt a warm and soft arms.
Opening her eyes to see her savior, she was very surprised to see a very young and handsome boy looking at her with concern.
The old woman being a dramatic person, closed her eyes mockingly and said
"Aiyei! It's too bright, your handsome face is so dazzling that I can live forever in your arms".
Shocked at the turn of events, Prince Song was rendered speechless as this was the first time he ever met someone more shameless than him.
Blushing a little bit, he raised her to a full standing position and said humorously
"Old pretty, stop being melodramatic, you are not my type"
The oldie holding her heart in self-mock shouted
"Did you just hear that sound?"
Prince Song alarmed, held her shoulder and wondered what could be broken as he made sure she fell into his arms , he asked her what had broken.
Seeing the confusion on his face, she grinned and said
"My heart" ..."You just broke my heart, handsome"
Prince Song felt he's nothing when it comes to melodrama as he had just met a master.
Blushing hot red now, Prince Song shouted
"You are too shameless"
The old woman enjoying the attention, feigned that she was still feeling dizzy and made him walk her to her house in his arms.
Prince Song felt that he has been deceived but knowing that the old woman is harmless obliged.
At the woman's gate, she let go of his arms and walked majestically into her compound leaving the dumbfounded young man outside, feeling betrayed by the woman, he ran after her and blocked her path.
Feigning surprised, the old woman innocently asked him why he is blocking her path.
Prince Song told the woman to at least offer something to him as a means of gratitude.
The old woman folded her hands akimbo and huffed
"You just said I'm not your type, so why should I give you anything?"
Prince Song choked on the air and the woman broke into a hysterical laugh patting her chest to ease the slight pain due to her coughing session.
She stopped laughing and went closer to him to pinch his flaming cheeks but not without adding
"You look so cute ,son, especially when you blush"
Sprinting away in order to get him some persimmon fruits, she left the dazed young man to his world.
Returning with the fresh fruits, she met tears flowing down his cheeks, feeling touched by the show of emotions, she held his hands and asked him if she has done something bad to him.
Shaking his head, he held the woman's own hands and said thank you.
Surprised at his sudden outburst, the woman asked him why she is being thanked and he told her in between tears, that for the first someone has made him upgrade himself in the art of 'Shamelessness'
It's now the old woman's turn to choke on the air.
Realization dawning on her that the young lad has been acting, she raised her walking stick to spank him but he ran away to the gate but not before grabbing the fruits on the woman's hand .
At the gate now, he smiled at the woman and said
"Can I call you grandma?"
Feeling happy on getting a cute grandson, she nodded her head and replied
"Yes, you can call me grandma and also whenever you feel lonely you can come here, Prince Song"
Prince Song was surprised that the old woman knew his identity, in order to clear up the doubt about whether his mouth had slipped during their conversation, he asked her how she knew, the old woman replied that she once saw him last year when he came to donate things to the orphanage.
Satisfied and happy with her answer, he bade goodbye and promised to come again.
"Grandma, until next time make sure to be healthy"
Still on the horse waving and shouting, Prince Song's servants are feeling embarrassed with their master's attitude but knowing that they can't make him stop resigned to their fate and wished that they would arrive at the palace on time.
Arriving at the palace gate, Prince Song sprang down the horse and rushed to the imperial guard nearest to him
"You look so handsome today dear sir, and don't you think the sky is so blue and bright today?"
The confused guard slightly moved his body away from Prince Song's embrace and told him not to cause trouble for him, because, without imperial command he can't be allowed to enter the palace .
Prince Song understanding what he meant told him that far from it, he is not trying to bribe his way inside as he had come with the empress dowager's seal .
Looking at themselves, they didn't know whether to allow him inside since they didn't receive a prior notice about his arrival but concluding that today is the last free day of the new year festival they allowed him in .
About rushing to his younger brother's palace to narrate his story, he was called by the empress dowager's entourage who had personally come to escort him to the dowager's palace per her order.
Feeling suspicious about the welcome he is getting he pushed the previous matter aside and proceeded with them to the dowager's palace.
Getting there, he saw her waiting outside for him and his suspicions was confirmed.
He wondered what the empress dowager needed from him to act this way but he decided to play along with whatever thing she says, with this thought he allowed her to hold his hand and lead him inside the room after the customary greetings to the elder of the palace.