"Why are you pinching your face like that?"
Yuying immediately freezes and whips her head to the side.
She sees Chen Jun and Ruofei standing at the door with what looks like three food containers and a packet of something in their hands.
It's a comical moment. Yuying's hands haven't left her face, and she's now looking directly at her friends. It looks like she's pulling faces at them.
"I... I..." Yuying fumbles for a response before she finally splutters, "I... was squeezing some pimples, of course! I think a few popped up last night while I was asleep."
She then stuck her tongue out in feigned disgust, "Bleh, stupid pimples. They're so annoying."
Ruofei scoffs. "Pimples? On that smooth and clear face of yours that's well-maintained by the special facial treatments that you get back at the Imperial Palace?"
"No way, Second Prince Zhao." he snorts.
/Second Prince Zhao...?/
/Does that mean I'm the second son of the Emperor...?/
/Wait a second... the 'er' in my name... is the character for the number 'two' in Chinese...?/
"You know, we may as well just call you the Crown Prince. No one ever says it out loud, but we all know that the actual Crown Prince..."
"Ruofei," Chen Jun warns, cutting Ruofei off before he could finish his sentence.
Ruofei glares at Chen Jun. "Tsk, you're no fun," he grumbles. "Mr. Party Pooper..." he mutters under his breath, but makes sure that he's still loud enough so that Chen Jun can hear him.
/May as well call me the Crown Prince?/
/Why?/
/What's wrong with the actual Crown Prince?/
Chen Jun ignores him and turns to Yuying. He passes the food container-looking objects to Ruofei before taking a step forward.
He's approaching Yuying.
/Why is he coming towards me?/
Yuying doesn't know why, but she feels the need to stand her ground and puff out her chest so that she appears bigger. Not that it helped, considering that even in this Ming'er's body, she's still an inch or two shorter than the towering Chen Jun.
She doesn't know why Chen Jun is coming towards her, but she feels like she's going to be met with some sort of confrontation. His aura was so intimidating that Yuying had to remind herself to stay rooted to the ground and not budge.
Chen Jun's cat-like eyes weren't helping. His gaze is so intense that Yuying wonders for a moment whether he's seen through her and knows that she's not their friend.
Yuying wonders if he knows that she's an imposter.
Chen Jun stops right in front of Yuying and studies her face. Yuying gulps slightly as she stares back at him as though she was a stubborn child defying her parents.
/Why is he looking at me like that?/
Just then, Chen Jun cups Yuying's cheeks with his right hand. Yuying is caught by surprise and nearly lets out an adamant squeak.
"Hey, what are you doing?" she protests, "Let me go..."
"I don't see any pimples," Chen Jun states calmly. He then places the back of his hand against Yuying's forehead.
"Are you running a fever, perhaps?" Chen Jun asks. However, he frowns when he realizes that Yuying isn't burning up, the telltale sign of a fever.
"No, I'm alright," Yuying insists. She grabs Chen Jun by the wrist and sets his hand down. "Like I said, I'm just feeling a little tired."
"No shit, we can tell," Ruofei, who'd been standing at the door watching the two, chuckles.
"That's why we got you this," he chirps, raising the three food container-looking objects, "Congee from breakfast, freshly made by our dear Madam Wu."
"And this," Ruofei continues as he raises the packet in his hand, "Medicine from the infirmary, freshly prepared by Physician Pan."
"Wow," Yuying blinks. Ming'er is really lucky to have such good friends. "Thanks guys."
Just then, she notices that Ruofei is holding not one, not two, but three of the food container-looking objects. "Wait, you guys haven't eaten?"
"Of course, we haven't!" Ruofei exclaims, "How could we pheasants ever have the nerve to dine without the presence of the future Emperor, his Royal Highness..."
"Ruofei," Chen Jun warns again in the same tone that he'd used earlier, "That's enough, don't go there."
Ruofei pouts. "You're seriously a wet blanket, you know that?"
/There seems to be some sort of controversy when it comes to discussing the future Emperor.../
/Ruofei also mentioned something about how I may as well be the Crown Prince earlier.../
/I wonder what that's all about...?/
"Alright, c'mon guys," Ruofei chirps as he grabs both Yuying and Chen Jun by their wrists. "Let's go eat the delicious congee while it's still hot. My stomach has been growling for ages."
Yuying doesn't miss how Chen Jun's eyes widen and how he turns slightly pink at Ruofei's touch. He hadn't reacted like this to her when she'd grabbed his wrist.
She knows this look. She has seen it way too many times now.
Yuying smirks internally. She has seen this way too many times in the BL manhuas that she has read and the BL Chinese dramas that she has watched to count now.
/Ooh, I wonder what this is all about...?
Despite having just met Chen Jun and Ruofei, Yuying already ships them hard.
...
"So," Yuying starts as she takes a bite out of her congee. It's a pretty decent congee, though not as good as the one from Crystal Jade. Still, it's already pretty good, considering that she's in some kind of ancient Chinese universe.
"What's the agenda for today?" she smiles, expecting Chen Jun and Ruofei to start talking about classes. She's trying to act as naturally as she can, especially she must've already weirded them out quite a bit.
Instead of replying, Chen Jun and Ruofei blink at her. Yuying internally berates herself and wonders if she'd somehow said something wrong or messed up again.
"Have you forgotten?" Chen Jun finally replies, "You're going home today."
Yuying blinks.
"Home? What home?" she asks.
"You're going back to the Imperial Palace today." Chen Jun clarifies.
/WHAT?!/
"What?!" Yuying accidentally blurts out aloud, not even bothering to try and conceal her blatant shock and surprise. "Why?!"
/I just got here today, and I'm already going to the Imperial Palace?!/
/I'm already barely surviving in this place, how the fuck am I gonna survive in the Imperial Palace?!/
/Why the fuck am I even going anyway?! To the Imperial Palace of all places...!/
"It's the day of the Choosing," Ruofei shrugs nonchalantly as he takes a bite out of his congee, completely unfazed by Yuying's reaction. "You've been complaning to us about it non-stop over the past few days."
/The Choosing...?/
/What the fuck is that...?/
/And why would I be complaining about it.../
"Ah... yeah..." Yuying stammers, "That's right..."
/If I'm complaining about it, that must mean that it's something that I don't like, right?/
/It must be something that Ming'er detests and hates to the core!/
/I need to express this distaste!/
"O-Oh yeah, that," Yuying feigns a scoff, pretending that she knows what they were talking about. "Ugh, I'm so not looking forward to it... so much that it completely slipped my mind..."
Ruofei seems to accept that reason. "Fair point," he states matter-of-factly, "After all, we didn't go through all of that trouble to sneak into the A Lab just to..."
"Ruofei," Chen Jun warns, interrupting Ruofei yet again. "Oh, come on!" Ruofei sulks as he shoots a glare at Chen Jun.
/We took the trouble to sneak into somewhere?/
/Somewhere called the A Lab?/
"Anyway," Yuying clears her throat as she finishes the last of her congee. She realizes that she's hungrier than she thought she was. "What time will I be going back to the Imperial Palace?"
"Whenever the Imperial Guards come," Chen Jun replies almost immediately. "It's not like we're not used to them barging in by-"
The door to their room bursts open before Chen Jun can finish his sentence. There are a few guards standing there.
/They must be the Imperial Guards./
/Huh./
/Speak of the devil./
"Second Prince Zhao," a man that looked like the commander of the Imperial Guards greeted Ming'er respectfully, "We are here to escort you back to the Imperial Palace for the Choosing."
Yuying swallows a gulp. The Imperial Guards look intimidating and overbearing. Some of them look even taller than Chen Jun.
Realizing that she's been stalling for a moment, Yuying immediately gets up. As she's about to say something, she realizes that she's still in her sleeping robes.
"D-Don't I have to change or something?" she stammers, glancing down at her grey robes. As plain as they look, Yuying could tell that they were of high-quality. It felt like some sort of silk of velvet. She notices that her robes look even more expensive than Chen Jun's and Ruofei's.
"His Majesty has already prepared many beautiful clothes for you to choose from back at the Imperial Palace," the commander explains. He then bows, "Second Prince Zhao, please."
Yuying looks at him uncertainly for a moment before nodding slightly and following the Imperial Guards out. She glances back to find Chen Jun and Ruofei coming with her.
'You guys are coming along too?" she gasps, sounding almost relieved.
Unfortunately for her, Ruofei shakes his head. "No, silly," he teased, "Everyone knows that they have to send a Prince off."
Yuying is confused by what he means. However, she soon finds out exactly what he means.
There were many people gathered at the entrance of Qilin Academy. Teachers, students, staff, everyone.
Yuying notices that one of the staff stands out in particular. He's an old man who's clad in robes that are different than what the other staff are wearing. She figures that he must be the headmaster of the academy.
Yuying is momentarily overwhelmed by the sheer number of people who have gathered just to send her off.
/Is this what it feels like to be a Prince...?/
Just then, she notices the carriage waiting before her. Yuying's jaw almost drops.
It's an extremely grand-looking carriage, with intricate lotus flower and dragon patterns trailing down the sides. The horses pulling the carriage look strong and majestic, the best of their kind. Even the driver looks extremely posh and well-put together.
Yuying soon finds herself getting into the carriage. She throws one last glance at Chen Jun and Ruofei, who smile at her before the carriage door shuts.
Yuying sits inside the carriage, stunned by the spectacle that she'd just witnessed.
/Did that really just happen...?/
/How did I even end up here in the first place...?/
Just then, Yuying remembers.
/Oh, yeah.../
/The Choosing./
Yuying chews her bottom lip nervously and fiddles with her fingers.
/There's just one problem.../
/.../
/I still don't know what the fuck that is./