When her shift ended early the next morning, Huo Qilang quietly slipped out with Li Yuanying's bloodstained inner robe, intending to wash it and keep it to wear herself, just like the previous one. Yet no matter how hard she scrubbed, the stubborn bloodstains on the front would not come clean. Even when she had rubbed the weave loose, a faint trace remained.
Apart from that figured-silk inner robe, Huo Qilang had never worn such fine silk garments. She did not know whether stains were simply this difficult to wash out of the fabric, but if she scrubbed any harder, she would rub it to shreds. Never one to overthink things, she stopped there, dried it, and casually tossed it into her chest.
On the day of the Military Tournament, they had to decide who would accompany Prince Shao to the banquet. An imperial prince could not take his entire ceremonial escort inside; only four people could remain close to him, including an Interpreter responsible for foreign languages. According to precedent, Household Steward Li Chengyin would certainly attend. Of the two remaining guard positions, Prince Shao specifically assigned one to Huo Qilang.
Yuan Shaobo objected. "When Huo Qi entered the residence, we never reported her to Liu Kun's people as a new soldier. The scar on her face makes her too easy to recognize. I fear this is ill-advised."
Hearing this, Li Yuanying turned to her. "Then patch up your face. You can manage that, can't you?"
Huo Qilang nodded in agreement. Sitting before a bronze mirror, she carefully filled in the scar, evened out her complexion with powder, and restored the damaged section of her eyebrow, returning her face to how it had looked before the injury.
She straightened her clothes and presented herself before Prince Shao's confidants. Everyone