THE PRINCE

KINGDOM OF MINAN

CAPITAL CITY OF NAIRA

Silks rustled, quiet footsteps sounded on the flagstone pathway; sounds of birds and the whispers of a breeze all that broke the heavy silence. She was led by an old woman to her small courtyard, where she would live during her stay in this residence. The prince decisively abandoned her, who he thought was Xu Qingyu, his engaged wife who brought him no power, no desire in his heart and no help in his conquest for his Father's throne.

Xixi was indifferent to this treatment as the prince was just a stranger. Finally, they reached a dilapidated courtyard in the corner of the estate. The silent old woman finally broke her silence.

"This will be where you shall stay. Do not expect his Highness anytime soon. He may visit when he wishes. Do not leave your courtyard or the estate without permission. Your luggage has been moved in earlier. Food will be served three times a day, and you will be assigned one maidservant for your needs."

Xixi, her face still covered in the red veil slightly raised her head and spoke the lines from the book,

"How dare you order me around! I'm the princess from this day forward and my rule must be followed! I demand you take me to the prince's courtyard so that I may meet him. How could you people treat me this way. Just slaves with no standing!" her voice was raised in an unpleasant shriek. Such distasteful behaviour for a noble's daughter; acting definitely was not a skill in her repertoire.

"Miss, the prince has given us his orders. Please do not make it difficult for us mere servants. If you must insist, your maid will lead you to the prince's courtyard during the hour of the dog*. This old lady will take her leave." Saying so, the old woman quickly retreated, surprisingly nimble for her age.

As her head was bowed, she never noticed those eyes filled with ice, devoid of anger , embarrassment or any emotion at all, striking a discordant note with her trembling body, clenched fists and loud voice as Xixi continued to shout after the old slave,

"YOU...YOU...! All of you have great guts to humiliate this princess like this! Just wait till I have met my husband, I'll throw you, you worthless thing into the street. Just wait for it. JUST WAIT!" her screams echoed in the old and silent yard, no one left to listen to a crazy woman. As silence reigned and the old crone's footsteps faded away in the distance, the supposed shrew suddenly relaxed, turned and walked into the dusty old house. She ignored the dust and broken furniture and directly went into an old bedroom which housed a creaky old cot and a mattress covered in dirt. Her skirts rustled as she sat down and removed her veil; a beautiful face with phoenix eyes, straight nose and pink lips came into view.

"System, we have infiltrated Ning Xiao's compound. Requesting protocol to deal with the original half-sister. I'm afraid the actual Ranyan is causing tremendous problems right now, back in the estate." her cold voice sounded in the system interface.

" We must move quickly Xixi. After your meeting with the prince this evening, you must move out to meet Ranyan. Our best method to protect the heroine is to pretend you both swapped souls. You must convince Ranyan you are Qingyu and Ning Xiao that, you are Ranyan. There have been no other anomalies detected in any other characters and so as per the plot, you will meet the prince tonight. After he finds you tricked him, that he got a different bride, he will try to kill you. That is when you must convince of your willingness to help him get the throne, just as Ranyan did in the original. You must help him get the throne as well. It is essential."

"I understand. I know the story. I will proceed as per the timeline. But what should I do with the heroine. The heroine is to meet the hero in the slave market in two weeks and she will start her journey in two days. But Ranyan is in her body. What about that maid?"

" Xixi I cannot help you with everything. With my current authorization I can only transfer your original physical stats into any body you occupy, temporarily during your time of possession. Right now, I need to charge myself after the transport. I will be powering down temporarily for a day. Please stay safe and protect the protagonists. Your physical abilities have returned to normal. Please check. Goodbye for now."

Beep…Beep…

And then the system turned dark and no matter how many times she called out, there was no response. Xixi sat silently in that dark room, in wedding clothes that were a mockery to the institution, there was no fear, no trepidation. She had to do what she had to do, system or no system. There were still a few hours till she needed to meet the third prince, might as well clean her living quarters. Suddenly she heard someone opening the front door. Thinking it might have been the maid, she walked out.

As she stepped out, a sight came into view that almost shocked her soul out of her body. An extremely handsome Chinese man, with long hair, dressed in imperial robes of a prince stood in the receiving room.

Even the ever-stoic Han Xixi was stumped as to why the prince would come here. The story had just started, and Ning Xiao had been cleared of all bugs! Why was he here!? When Xixi stood there in a daze, the prince had also been scrutinizing her."

Suddenly a surprisingly cold and deadly voice reverberated through the room shocking her out of her stupor.

"You are not Xu Qingyu. You seem to be her half-sister, Xu Ranyan. My bride seems to have been swapped. Tell me, what is your purpose in entering my estate. If you do not wish to be sent back to your father in a coffin, you will give me a satisfactory explanation right now!"

*Hour of the Dog - 7.00 PM to 9.00 P.M