Yuelan spent the next six weeks spending her time between the library for some peace and quiet and occasional visits to see her father and her Crystal Moon Residence in the capital. When she was in the capital she met with the princes one at a time or spent time getting to know the girls she had met at the cherry blossom viewing and was getting along with. There wasn’t much opportunity to spend time with Princess Liling, but when the first princess wasn’t busy preparing for her upcoming wedding they would get together for tea and chat, usually with the other two girls that Yuelan was getting along well with joining them.

The time Yuelan spent with the first prince was either boring or frustrating. He ignored her opinions, likes, and dislikes, and bestowed expensive gifts on her that she didn’t even want to look at, let alone actually use. Everything Xiong Guangfai gave her was sent into her manor’s storage, including the peacock accessory set that Yuelan decided she couldn’t stand because it reminded her of the first prince’s attitude.

In contrast, Xiong Guangfeng sent gifts that were either useful, such as medicinal herbs and medicines, or to Yuelan’s taste, like beautifully intricate but lightweight accessories, soft fabrics in various shades of blue, green, and purple (an obvious choice, since those were the colors she wore the most often), or even music scores for the guzheng for her to learn. He also had a tendency to send her books to read on subjects he knew she was interested in from their conversations.

Yuelan was pleased that the third prince was paying attention to her and had kept his promise not to spy on her through her maids or even the hidden guard he had assigned to her. She was also glad that he was willing to ask her preferences and get to know her as a person and didn’t treat her like an object. She still wasn’t sure if it was because he actually liked her or if he was just used to pleasing women.

The second prince, Xiong Guanghong, had not officially declared his decision to pull out of the battle for the title of crown prince as yet, so he also made time to spend with Yuelan, though it was more for the sake of appearances than anything else. Without the need to feel the pressure to choose him, Yuelan was able to be much more relaxed and act like herself with the second prince. He didn’t do things to annoy her like the third prince (who would always turn around and present her with something she liked to get her in a good mood again), and he didn’t ignore her as a person with thoughts and feelings like the first prince. He did seem surprised whenever Yuelan revealed her intelligence and insight on matters generally only men were concerned with and would occasionally comment on how it seemed odd that a woman would know such things.

Occasionally, the second prince would bring the fourth, fifth, or sixth prince along with him, generally one of the latter two, which allowed Yuelan to get to know the three younger princes who weren’t competing for the throne in the first place. With the exception of the sixth prince, the princes not competing for her attention were all polite, intelligent, and happy to make conversation. The sixth prince was more like a child who wanted to play and Yuelan and the second prince would help make kites to fly or find some other way to entertain Xiong Guangjun during his visits.

With Liling’s wedding only two weeks away, Granny Bing Mei had started up another round of lessons for Yuelan on how to behave and act. Since she wanted to see him as little as possible, Yuelan cheerfully used Granny Bing as an excuse to avoid spending time with the first prince. While the elderly woman didn’t object, she did seem amused by Yuelan’s actions--not that her amusement in any way changed how strictly she taught Yuelan how to behave during a wedding ceremony, both as a guest and as a bride. Fortunately, wedding ceremonies in Longuo were quite similar to traditional wedding ceremonies in Kilin, though much of the traditional things that took place outside the actual wedding hall were rarely used in Kilin anymore. Unfortunately, Yuelan had never attended a wedding ceremony, as none of her friends (which were few in the first place) in Kilin were of age yet, she had no living relatives on her mother’s side, and no one on her father’s side had gotten married since before her mother had died and Yuelan had been too young to attend.

Granny Bing had also sent in an order for a new dress for Yuelan to be made for attending the wedding out of emerald green and light pink fabrics. Yuelan had no idea what embroidery or anything else Granny Bing had decided on for the gown, but she trusted the older woman’s judgement in what would be appropriate for her to wear for the occasion.

The morning of the third day of the week, Yuelan woke and started getting ready for the day. Guangfeng had invited her to walk around the shops with him after morning court and she had accepted. Going into town was a pleasant activity for her and he had mentioned that he was planning to go incognito to see how the shops were doing without the interference of his family background and title.

Keeping the third prince’s intentions in mind, Yuelan dressed in some of her less expensive-looking clothing and only wore a single hairpin, a set of earrings, and the black jade bracelet that Guangfeng had given her not long after she had first arrived in Longuo. Almost as soon as Yuelan had finished preparing for the day, Guangfeng arrived outside her residence and she went out to meet him.

At first, walking along the streets with Willow and one of Guangfeng’s guards a short distance behind them was quite enjoyable. Yuelan watched Guangfeng’s serious attitude as he looked around the shops and spoke with people on the streets, managing to find out information about how they were faring and their feelings on how they felt the kingdom was doing without making anyone suspicious. Unfortunately, before too long Yuelan started to feel a pain in her abdomen that was both sharp and crushing. She tried to keep the pain from her face, but walking became more difficult with each step and her face turned pale.

“Are you alright?” Guangfeng asked as he turned from the person he was speaking with to talk to Yuelan. “You look pale…” He lifted his hand and nearly touched her face before pulling his hand back and looking over at Willow. “See if your miss has a fever,” he ordered.

Willow nodded and hurried closer, lifting a hand and checking Yuelan’s temperature with the backs of her fingers. She frowned and shook her head. “There’s no fever,” she assured the third prince.

Yuelan was almost certain she knew what was going on and she pulled Willow close to whisper quietly into the maid’s ear to explain. Willow’s eyes widened and she nodded, then reached out to support Yuelan.

“Could Miss trouble Yo--Sir to call the carriage?” Willow asked Guangfeng, barely managing to keep from slipping up and revealing his identity to the people around them. “Miss needs to return home to rest…”

Guangfeng frowned and turned to gesture to his guard, who nodded and quickly made his way down the street. “What’s wrong with her?” he demanded of Willow.

“Nothing is wrong,” Willow answered honestly.

“She’s obviously in pain and her face is pale,” Guangfeng argued. “Obviously something is wrong. Do not lie to me.”

“It’s really nothing,” Yuelan told him, pain evident in her voice as she tried to keep from curling up on the ground. “Please don’t ask anymore.”

“I’ll get you home and call for a doctor,” Guangfeng insisted.

Yuelan’s face turned slightly pink, though it wasn’t enough to make her look any less pale and a few beads of sweat formed on her nose and forehead. “I really don’t need a doctor,” she told him. “Willow, Camphor, and Laurel can take care of this just fine. I just need rest and I’ll be fine by tomorrow.”

“How can you be sure? What if it’s something serious? Did you eat something bad?”

Tears appeared in Yuelan’s eyes as the cramps got worse and she shook her head. “This happens every time. I really don’t need a doctor and I haven’t eaten anything bad. It’s nothing serious, either. Please…”

The servant Guangfeng had sent returned with a low-key carriage and Willow started trying to help Yuelan into it. Unfortunately, Yuelan was obviously in too much pain to walk on her own.

Frowning, Guangfeng made a quick decision. He lifted Yuelan up with one arm and climbed into the carriage. To his surprise, something wet touched his arm seconds after he lifted Yuelan, whose bottom was supported by his arm, and he frowned as he started to set her on the seat.

Yuelan’s face turned even more pale and she bit her bottom lip as Willow climbed into the carriage and quickly joined them. She helped Yuelan settle herself and took up a position beside her mistress hiding a red spot on the pale blue dress that Yuelan was wearing.

Guangfeng’s face turned red when he caught just a glimpse of the spot and realized what was going on. He stopped asking questions and just ordered the carriage to return them to Crystal Moon Residence with as little bumping as possible.

Yuelan, pale faced, leaned against Willow and saw Guangfeng’s embarrassed expression. She smiled, thinking he was a little cute when embarrassed. “I’ll be fine after some rest,” she assured him again. “This always happens. I just...forgot to keep track of the day and was taken by surprise.”

“You don’t need to explain,” Guangfeng assured her, his face turning a bit more red. “Close your eyes and rest. We’ll be at your home soon.”

She gave him a faint, pained smile before closing her eyes and trying to relax as much as possible in the bumpy carriage. Each bump made her cramps more painful and she tried hard to distract herself by making up math problems to solve in her head--which she admittedly had never been all that good at.

Before many minutes had passed the carriage stopped and Guangfeng stepped out. He went straight to the gates and instructed that a pair of strong servant women be sent out to assist in getting Yuelan back to her courtyard to rest before going to help Willow get Yuelan out of the carriage as gently as possible. Before lifting the young woman he removed his outer half-coat and wrapped her in it to save her from embarrassment then carried her into the manor with Willow right beside him.

Once the two servant women arrived Guangfeng released Yuelan to their care and watched them take her toward her courtyard before he turned and left.