"It's His Highness the Nineteenth!"
The crowd automatically parted, opening a passage through which they could see the Nineteenth Prince, Bai Shijiu, wearing a conical hat and white robes, ethereal as an immortal. With Blooddrop in tow, he headed toward the Tai Yu Divine Map.
"Your Highness the Nineteenth!"
Upon hearing the voice, the ten women of the Palace of Female Rites seemed drawn toward it like moths to a bright lamp, all looking that way.
When they saw Bai Shijiu approaching, the expressions beneath their veils and the gazes visible outside them both changed. They even abandoned their previous formation and went together to greet Bai Shijiu.
"Bai Sha of the Palace of Female Rites pays respects to Your Highness the Nineteenth."
Together with Bai Sha, the ten stunning women approached in neat formation, graceful and poised as they bowed to Bai Shijiu.
Bai Shijiu's face was obscured beneath his conical hat. His attention rested on the Tai Yu Divine Map. He merely nodded, passed by them, and arrived before the map.
The ten beauties seemed accustomed to this. They turned around and followed Bai Shijiu together, gathering around him and enclosing his surroundings so tightly that not even water could seep through.
They exchanged glances, communicating with their eyes. It seemed the phrase "palace infighting" did not yet apply to them. After all, they had not yet come ashore; for now, they were still in the same boat.
Bai Shijiu and Blooddrop stood before the Tai Yu Divine Map, dealing with no one as they studied the divine map alone.
"So this is the Tai Yu Divine Map? Your Highness, I heard there were ten drops of colored crystal?" Blooddrop asked quietly.
"That should be so," Bai Shijiu said.
"We were late again. Whose hands are the colored