I am a palace maid that serves the princess, my name is Ah Wan.
The princess and I have about the same figure and resembling faces. So whenever the princess sneaks out, she will have me dressed up as her and stay in the room to avoid being discovered by his and her majesties.
Due to this, there was a twist in fate and our position changed.
Princess KeQi is the only daughter of the emperor and empress. With five sons, it was natural that the emperor and empress pampered her the most and her status was extremely noble. Whatever she wants, she can get, be it the jewels on her hair accessories or soft precious silk used as materials for her clothes.
However, she always seemed dissatisfied with her life in the palace. Hence, often sneaking out.
Each time she comes back she would always describe the outside life to me, "Ah Wan, do you know how free the outside life is and how lively the markets are?"
"But my father and mother never let me go outside, saying it's dangerous."
I always felt perplexed at her words, the commoner's life outside is lively and free? But I only feel poverty, hunger and powerless...
My family never had enough food to eat or nice clothes to wear. During the winter season, my younger brothers and sisters were so hunger that they could only dig snow from the ground and eat, it was so cold but they couldn't cry.
In the end, my mother gritted her teeth and sold me to the palace as a maid in exchange for money to buy rice.
I never resented her actions and understood her. Afterall, life is the palace is good, there were piping hot food to eat and warm clothes to wear for the winter. A maid like me can have at least a full meal everyday.
With the little bit of monthly wage, I send it back to my home and now my family can have warm food to eat.
Life in the palace is so comfortable, if even a little maid like me felt this was good then isn't the princess's life better? The emerald that was sent as tribute is about the size of my fist. The princess did not care about it and just told me to place it anywhere.
So I don't understand, why does the princess finds her life pathetic and like the miserable life of common people instead?
...
The princess came back from outside again.
Instead of her usual cheerful self, she sat in front of the window for a few days and sighed, not even reading her favourite book.
"Ah Wan, how great would it be I wasn't the princess!"
"But your highness, his majesty and her majesty all dote on you so much. Whenever there are tributes sent, they always give you the best. Even the crown prince is envious."
"But I'm like a canary, trapped in this golden cage with no freedom at all! What's the point of having more gold, silver, jewelry, and delicacies from mountains and seas if you are not happy?" The princess angrily hit and smashed the house,leaving a mess everywhere.
I didn't dare to say anything, so I could only kneel down and put those objects away silently. I felt extremely distressed. Even the county magistrate's family probably couldn't afford these gold- plated plates, yet they are just broke into pieces like that. This pastry was so delicate that I couldn't even take a bite. It crumbled as soon as I moved it. My mother will never have the opportunity to eat such a sweet pastry in her life.
Looking at the angry princess, I couldn't understand where her resentment comes from.
...
In the evening, the queen came, and maybe the nanny told her that the princess had lost her temper.
Looking at the angry princess with tears on her face, the queen's eyes almost overflowed with distress.
"My darling Qi'er, what's going on? Who made you angry? Tell your mother and I will help you vent your anger."
"Mother, I don't want to marry the prime minister's youngest son. I don't want it. I don't want it."
Shi Jiu, the youngest son of the prime minister's family, is a talented person with a charming temperament and is worthy of you. Moreover, he is willing to take on a job to marry you. This is the most suitable one for you after your father and your mother have selected different young masters from aristocratic families for a long time."
If the prince-in-law and the princess got married in this dynasty, they could only take on up to rank sixth positions and their career would stop there.
Therefore, many children from aristocratic families did not want to be the prince-in-law.
The prime minister's family has two sons. The eldest son has entered the court as an official, and the younger son Su Jiu does not have much enthusiasm for being an official. His Majesty also decided to build the princess palace not far from the palace so the princess can return to the palace at any time after getting married. It is indeed the best choice as seeing their longing for their daughter.
"I said I would not marry! I already have a sweetheart!" The princess said angrily, not listening to the queen's explanation at all.
It turns out that the princess sneaked out of the palace a few times and met a scholar, Guan Jinzhi. She was so enamored by his literary talent that she would not marry anyone unless he was Guan Jinzhi.
She had secretly tested him to see if he would be willing to marry the princess if there was a chance.
However, Guan Jinzhi said that his lifelong goal was to be an official, he would not give up his career for a princess.
That's why she was in a low mood and depressed after she came back last time. It turned out to be because of this.
"Mother, I would rather be an ordinary person than be a princess."
Hearing that the princess would be so humble for a scholar, the queen was furious: "Your father and I loved you so much, place you on the tip of our hearts. Yet for a man you rather not be a princess. Looks like you been spoiled too much!"
Then the queen ordered the princess to be restrained and grounded, calm down in the palace.
On the second day of confinement, the princess knocked me out with sleeping incense and sneaked out wearing my palace uniform.
Knowing that the princess ran away again, His Majesty and the Queen became very angry and sent people to capture her. As a result, the princess went on a hunger strike and fainted without drinking water for three days.
At this time, Her Majesty and the Queen couldn't sit still and compromised. After all, it was their own baby. She had never suffered such a big grievances and the emperor and empress couldn't bear to continue like this.
His Majesty told the princess that he could give the Guan family a sum of money and give him a leisure job. As long as they treated the princess well, the Guan family would be rich and prosperous for the rest of their lives.
However the princess was determined not to, and insisted on giving up her identity as a princess and accompany Guan Jinzhi as an ordinary person to see him become an official.