Chapter 7: All Men Are The Same!
Lin Xueyi wanted to try all the beautiful clothes that belonged to the original Lin Xueyi, but since Rong Shuyan had already warned her not to be late, she decided to save that for another time.
In the end, she changed into a peach-pink robe and styled her hair in a simple way because once again, there wasn’t enough time for a full face of makeup or an elaborate hairstyle.
"Princess Consort, this makeup really suits you better than your usual look!" one of the young servants blurted out.
The moment the words left her mouth, the color drained from her face. She looked as if she had just realized she had dug her own grave.
The young servant immediately dropped to her knees. She lowered her head so fast that it looked like she was about to slam her forehead against the floor.
"This servant begs for forgiveness, Princess Consort!" she cried. "This servant had no intention of insulting you!"
Lin Xueyi, a former corporate worker who had been looked down on so often that she eventually quit her job, could only stare at the scene with wide eyes.
[Maybe this is why my manager loves putting people down so much...] she thought. [The feeling of having someone kneel in front of you is surprisingly powerful.]
Lin Xueyi’s eyes widened. [What? No! Why am I starting to act like the original Lin Xueyi?]
She shook her head so quickly that she almost felt as if it might fall right off her neck.
"It’s nothing. Please stand up," she said at last.
The moment those words left her mouth, the servants fell into an uproar because normally, if a servant did something the Princess Consort disliked, she would punish them by making them run fifty laps around the courtyard.
But now? Whether the Heavenly Gods were about to send down a punishment or Buddha himself was preparing to descend from the sky, this was such a strange event that none of them had ever seen anything like it before, not even in their dreams.
As if that was not shocking enough, Lin Xueyi spoke again. "Besides, you’re right. This makeup really does look better than my usual one."
All three servants in the room gasped at the same time. They immediately huddled together, clutching one another like a group of frightened baby chicks trying to survive a storm.
Without a doubt, all of them were convinced that their Princess Consort had been possessed! One of the servants had even begun thinking about whether she should run back to her village and bring over the local shaman.
Meanwhile, the person at the center of all this chaos remained completely unaware because Lin Xueyi was far too busy admiring her reflection in the mirror.
In the novel, the original Lin Xueyi was known for wearing makeup so thick that the powder on her face looked like flour. The bright red blush painted across her cheeks looked less like makeup and more like bruises.
Even so, her beauty was so extraordinary that the terrible makeup could not hide it completely.
Now that the terrible makeup was gone, her features could finally be seen clearly.
Her skin looked smooth and bright, while her face seemed to glow softly, like a pearl shining under the light.
[This face would definitely become the number one example photo in every plastic surgery hospital,] Lin Xueyi thought. [Oh, dear heaven, with a face like this, even I would fall in love with myself!]
It wasn’t as if she had been ugly in her past life. Her original face had been quite beautiful too, but it was nothing compared to the original Lin Xueyi’s beauty. This was the kind of face that looked as if it had been carefully shaped by the heavens themselves. Every feature was flawless, making it almost impossible to look away.
"P-Princess Consort," one of the servants finally said. Her eyes drifted toward the incense stick they had lit earlier. "The incense is almost burned out."
Within seconds, Lin Xueyi lowered the small mirror in her hand and jumped to her feet. "I’m late!"
Without wasting another second, she rushed out of the room and hurried toward Rong Shuyan’s chamber. By the time she arrived, she found him already waiting outside his door, sitting calmly in his wheelchair as if he had been there for quite a while.
"You’re late, Princess Consort," Rong Shuyan said in a flat voice the moment she stopped in front of him.
Lin Xueyi bent over and placed her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath after running all the way there.
[Does he really think a woman can magically become pretty in fifteen minutes or so?!] she complained in her head. [Even thirty minutes is pushing it, and these clothes have way too many layers!]
[Men are the same in every era! They have no idea how long it takes to get dressed and fix your hair properly!]
[I haven’t even had the chance to properly try on any hair accessories yet!]
Lin Xueyi spent the entire walk to the reception hall complaining in her head. However, because she also wanted to push Rong Shuyan’s wheelchair, her thoughts kept jumping back and forth between "Poor Yanyan" and "All men are the same!"
The constant change in topics made Rong Shuyan feel a faint headache coming on.
By the time they reached the reception hall, he had already made a silent promise to himself that in the future, he would give the Princess Consort much more time to get ready or better yet, perhaps he should stop giving her deadlines altogether.
"Sixth Brother!"
Lin Xueyi’s thoughts instantly went silent the moment she saw a man she hated so much that her dislike for him had crossed worlds.
Across the room, Rong Mingze smiled so widely that he looked like a donkey. "Sixth Brother, it’s really nice to see that you’re doing well despite what happened yesterday," he said.
His tone was warm and friendly, but Lin Xueyi was not fooled in the slightest. Then, without the slightest bit of shame, he suddenly looked at Lin Xueyi.
"Xueyi." He spoke her name so affectionately that anyone who heard it would be convinced that the two of them were very close. "You look beautiful today."
Lin Xueyi gasped softly and immediately went stiff.
[What? What? What is this?!] she screamed internally. [Does he like Lin Xueyi?! I mean, me?!]