The other eunuch was frightened out of his wits! He dropped to his knees with a thud and kowtowed frantically:
"Mercy, Your Highness! Mercy! This old servant knows nothing! I saw nothing! Please, Your Highness! Please spare me!!!"
The princess stood on the table, combing her fingers through her long hair, a bewildered look on her incomparably beautiful face:
"Who cares whether you know? Who cares whether you saw anything? I'm not afraid."
"Yes, yes! Your Highness is not afraid! This old servant deserves death! I spoke nonsense! Please spare this worthless life..."
The eunuch shook like a withered leaf in the wind, crying for mercy as he slammed his forehead against the floor tiles.
The princess suddenly smiled and said amiably:
"All right, all right. I'll give you a chance too!"
She raised one snowy foot and gave it a little waggle:
"Guess whether I'm wearing shoes."
With the previous eunuch's fate as a warning, how could he dare to guess? Terror overwhelmed him, and his lips trembled too badly to form a sentence. All he could do was keep pleading through his tears:
"Your Highness... this old servant... I was only following orders! I never... never..."
The princess said with a beaming smile:
"Same rules as before. I'll count to one. If you haven't guessed by then, you forfeit! I'm starting now-"
The eunuch squeezed his eyes shut, tears and snot streaming down his face, and cried miserably:
"You're not!"
"Oh!"
The princess gave that little cry, and the eunuch, certain he was dead, collapsed to the floor and nearly fainted!
Yet no crossbow bolt came to end his life. Instead, the princess's delighted voice reached his ears:
"You guessed right!"
The eunuch opened his eyes in a daze. Once he confirmed that no bolt had pierced his