12 Chapter 11 | Bloom (1/2)

The years went by smoothly for Yue Mian. She juggled between her etiquette lessons and martial arts perfectly, but with just two hours of sleep, a day made her moody and violent.

Her uncle sat down with her and told her that he had taught her all that he knew over the past five years and that it was time to stop because he had nothing else to teach her.

Yue Mian wasn't happy because she felt deep inside her that there was room for improvement and was eager to learn more about martial arts. She left her uncles home with a bitter smile.

Looking up at the cloudy sky and chuckled, [I have made so much effort trying to be perfect and it ends just like this? What am I going to do now? Get married?] she questioned herself while strolling back to her home.

With a skip in her step she made it to the entrance of her home but inside she saw many royal robed men from behind. She paused then went around the house and avoided them, jumping on the wall then back down to the ground and sneakily went to her bedroom window and climbed in.

As she climbed in her grandfather stepped into her room and caught her red handed.

”Yue Mian!!! Where are you coming from?” he asked while pointing his index finger at her who was hanging out of the window. She smiled from ear to ear and pushed herself back out of the window and made a run for it.

General Ye rushed to the window and yelled her name as he watched her disappear around the servants quarter. Shaking his head with a light chuckle he folded his hands behind his back and walked out of her room.

Yue Mian ran too the front of the house and stopped when she met with the men in royal robes. She looked at them and smiled.

There were five men dressed in royal robes. Emperor An who was wearing his red robe with a gold dragon embroidered on the back, Crown Prince An Cheng who was wearing a lilac coloured robe with a silver Pheonix embroidered on the back and his cousin who is also his best friend Yu Sheng wearing a blue robe with white patterns embroidered on the hems.

The other two were the emperor's royal guards who were wearing black and had swords in their right hands. They all caught glimpse of her running and stopping near them in an awkward position with her hands in the air.

She quickly put her hands down and fixed her attire and walked over to the five men with a smile on her face and bowed with her hands in front of her and greeted them all.

”Your majesty what brings you here?” she asked with a curious gaze as she looked at the emperor. Crown Prince An Cheng and Yu Sheng chuckled on the side as they watched her act innocent.

”YuMi, I came here today because you haven't visited me in a while and I miss my naughty goddaughter,” answered Emperor An jokingly.

Yue Mian waved her right hand in front of her face and walked off with quick steps. ”Yue Mian!!!!” he grandfather yelled from the patio and her steps quickened.

Yu Sheng turned around and ran after her catching her just in time before she reached the gates. He held her around the waist and she ”tried” wiggling from his grip, but she couldn't because he was stronger than her. She was dragged back to her grandfather and held down by Yu Sheng.

”Where have you been? And for you to sneak in through the window is very unladylike and too make it worse, you are dressed like a lady!” berated General Ye.

Yue Mian shrugged and rubbed her nose and looked over at Emperor An ignoring her grandfather. General Ye cleared his throat and started conversing with Emperor An.

The two young men walked to Yue Mian's side and started pinching her sides making her laugh. In the beginning, Yue Mian and Crown Prince An Cheng had a good relationship that went sour but returned to normal after Yue Mian's accident.

In the beginning, all the nobles and royals couldn't believe this sudden change in her but this also did not stop them from mocking her and calling her ugly because of her scar. But Crown Prince An Cheng still loved her and his feelings for her kept growing because he saw how dedicated she became and also her behaviour was more womanlike.

Secretly he begged his father for him to approve of their marriage, but as much as Emperor An wanted too, he couldn't. Yue Mian being the future Empress and sitting on the throne was not a problem, but the problem lied on her face and in the rules that state:

”The future Empress must be of noble birth.

The future Empress must abide by all rules.

The future Empress must be elegant and graceful.

The future Empress must give birth to an heir.

The future Empress must be able to represent her husband the Emperor.

The future Empress must be pure.

The future Empress must not be wounded.

The future Empress must not have a scar.

The future Empress must have benevolence.