Allure of a Country Maiden
Chapter 704 - 702

Chapter 704: 702

Lin Miaoyan knew that Xiao’er would be returning home today, so she had been waiting not too far from the Sixth Prince’s Mansion since early morning.

Her only objective was to steal another glance at the man she had been constantly thinking about.

As their carriage traveled to Marquis Shengping’s Mansion, she relocated to stay nearby and wait.

She ended up waiting for the majority of the day.

Shangguan Xuanyi helped Xiao’er into the carriage, but Xiao’er glanced at the shadow lurking not far away, slightly frowning. What was Lin Miaoyan up to? It was one thing to wait near the Sixth Prince’s Mansion in the morning, but why was she still here? Did she really think they couldn’t see her? Xiao’er silently cursed her for being psychologically deranged before promptly getting into the carriage.

Shangguan Xuanyi followed Xiao’er’s lead. He had noticed the suspicious figure lingering around some time ago. Things like this had happened quite a bit over the years, and as long as he wasn’t barged in on, he chose to ignore the situations.

Without sparing a glance at the person in the distance, Shangguan Xuanyi also got into the carriage.

The two of them refrained from mentioning their random observer to preserve their good mood.

Xiao’er laughed and began to chat with Shangguan Xuanyi about Xi’er’s amusing antics.

Hearing this, Shangguan Xuanyi couldn’t help but laugh.

"I don’t know who Xi’er takes after, how can anyone conceive such absurd things! A bald Persian cat and a bald poodle, that’s surely unique in the world!" Xiao’er exclaimed.

What Xiao’er didn’t know was that more of her little princess’ outlandish ideas were yet to surface, causing her even more headaches.

Once Lin Miaoyan saw the person she wanted to meet enter the carriage, she also stepped out to leave.

Having woken up early and stood in place for most of the day without having lunch, all she wanted was to steal another glance at a certain someone.

Perhaps it was due to her skipped lunch and the subsequent hunger that caused her to faint shortly after initiating her departure.

Xiao Fuzi, who was driving the carriage, saw a woman collapsing on the street. Not knowing what had happened on the streets of the capital, he pulled the carriage to a stop:

"Master, a lady has fainted in the street."

"Since when have you become so nosy?" Shangguan Xuanyi responded unhappily.

Startled, Xiao Fuzi quickly whipped his horse, and the carriage resumed its progress.

Xiao’er lifted the curtain of the carriage to take a look and found that it was indeed Lin Miaoyan.

Seeing her pale face devoid of any color, Xiao’er thought it didn’t look like a pretense.

Clearly, the girl hadn’t eaten anything from morning till now and had fainted from hunger. It served her right!

Helping her into the carriage was out of the question. Xiao’er was not that generous. However, seeing that Mrs. Lin was still reasonable to deal with, Xiao’er commanded, "Xiao Fuzi, take a detour to Doctor Yuan’s house at the Ministry of rites and notify them that we have found their cousin lady on the way."

Xiao Fuzi acknowledged the order.

"What a bother!" Shangguan Xuanyi complained displeasedly, although he did not oppose Xiao’er’s instructions.

"Now, you understand what a hassle it is to attract admirers wherever you go!" Xiao’er said, throwing a glare at him. Were it not for his infuriatingly handsome face, would she be encountering so much trouble? She let out a cold huff.

Shangguan Xuanyi was silent. When had he ever sought to attract others? Indeed, he was innocent!

...

Meanwhile, at the Yuan Mansion, Mrs. Lin realised her daughter had been absent since early morning. Upon questioning her maid, Dong’er, she was told, "The young miss left early this morning, mentioning that she was heading to the beauty salon for a treatment."

"Why didn’t any of you accompany her when she went to the beauty salon?"

"The young miss did not allow us to go with her. She said that the Old Madam’s birthday was approaching and asked us to quickly finish embroidering the birthday gift for her."

Hearing this, Mrs. Lin waved her hand to dismiss the maid. She recalled her daughter indeed mentioning about a reserved deluxe beauty treatment; it would indeed take a long time to complete, which explained why she had to leave so early.

When lunchtime arrived, she sent someone to fetch Lin Miaoyan from the beauty salon, only to be told that no one with the last name ’Lin’ had come for a beauty treatment that morning.

When the servant returned with the news, Mrs. Lin was stunned.

Her daughter hadn’t gone to the beauty salon, so where had she been all this half day?

Her first thought was that perhaps Lin Miaoyan had run into some kind of trouble on the road.

She quickly sought out her mother, asking her to send out people to look for her.

But after searching several streets in the Imperial City, they found no trace of her.

Mrs. Lin was frantic. Usually the young lady would not leave without a word, and she definitely wouldn’t leave without even one maid to accompany her.

What was going on with her leaving the house today?

Possibilities flash through Mrs. Lin’s mind, making her both angry and anxious.

Mrs. Lin was just about to ask the servants to make inquiries at Marquis Shengping’s mansion.

Just then, the gatekeeper came to report that the Sixth Prince’s people had come to say: they had seen a young woman near Marquis Shengping’s mansion who looked a lot like young Miss.

Mrs. Lin went pale with anger at the news.

The disobedient child, just wait until she came back. She would see if she wouldn’t break her legs!

Seeing that Mrs. Lin was silent and seemed in a rage, the gatekeeper felt a bit unlucky. He had hoped to gain some reward for news of the young Mistress’s whereabouts, but it seemed that was no longer possible.

"What were the exact words of the man from the Sixth Prince’s mansion? Don’t leave out a single word!" Mrs. Lin worried not only that Lin Miaoyan may have offended the Sixth Prince with her inappropriate behavior, but also that this might damage her own reputation.

"The people from the Sixth Prince’s mansion said they saw a young lady near Marquis Shengping’s mansion who looked a bit like our young Miss. They weren’t entirely sure if it was our young Miss, because her complexion seemed off. So they came to notify us. If it truly is our young Miss, we should hurry and send people to pick her up!"

Mrs. Lin, upon hearing this, hastily sent some people to fetch Lin Miaoyan.

At the same time, she was deeply uneasy. The people from the Sixth Prince’s mansion had only said they weren’t entirely sure it was her daughter just to save them face. They must have known it was her daughter, that’s why they had sent someone with the message.

Offset complexion? What on earth had the girl done to have such a poor complexion?

Not long after the servants and maids of Yuan mansion were sent out, the gatekeeper came to report: "Young Miss has returned to the mansion. She was brought back by Master Gu and she fainted."

Fainted? Mrs. Lin turned pale with fear and rushed out the door.

By this point, the old crone at the second gate had already carried Lin Miaoyan inside.

"Get a doctor quickly." Upon seeing that her daughter’s face was completely pallid, as white as paper, Mrs. Lin turned white with fear.

The doctor arrived quickly. He took her pulse and only then did Mrs. Lin realize that her daughter had fainted out of hunger because she hadn’t eaten anything all day due to her menstrual period.

She was so exasperated!

After Lin Miaoyan regained consciousness, Mrs. Lin scolded her severely and, as punishment, made her copy "Lessons for Women" a hundred times.

The person who had saved her daughter was of secondary importance, she thought, as she sought her mother’s counsel.

But when she inquired about it, she was almost scared unconscious!

"Mother, this Gu Honggen won’t try to cling to Yan’er, will he?" If she had to marry her daughter off to Gu Honggen, it would be better to allow her to become the Sixth Prince’s concubine!

"It’s hard to say. He’s quite a scoundrel!" Madam Yuan replied, rubbing her temples.

Mrs. Lin spent the whole night worried and unable to sleep.

The following day, as expected, the Gu family had sent someone to the Yuan family to propose marriage.

This event had stirred up quite a storm in the city!