"...Just," Pei Ye stared at her for a moment, "just because of that, they broke your leg?... What about Li Youlong? Aren't you her personal attendant?"
"It had nothing to do with Her Highness!" Meng'er said earnestly, frowning. "I kept it from her... Back then, Her Highness was two years younger than me, only twelve."
She paused, looking up at the sky as she recalled it in a quiet voice. "When they sent me back that night, the lights in the hall were out. Her Highness's hair was all messy, she was covered in dirt, and her shoes were gone. She was inside, her eyes swollen from crying. She held me and said she'd run off to find her father and plead for me, but she couldn't find His Majesty anywhere. She grabbed the palace servants she saw along the way and asked them to take her to him, but none of them dared agree... She ran around the palace alone until it was dark, not knowing what to do."
"Ah, actually, it was lucky she didn't find him. His Majesty never ordinarily comes to the rear palace, and he never visits Her Highness either. If she'd bothered him over such a little thing..." Meng'er sighed softly and said no more.
"Isn't Li Youlong one of the candidates for the succession?"
"Yes. Her Highness has excellent qilin blood and is qualified to compete for the succession. That's why she was granted Clear Thought Hall." She glanced at the boy. "Oh, I know what you mean. Yes, Her Highness holds a very high position, but... rules are rules. And... His Majesty has many children. Maybe one or two aren't all that important... Well, I don't really understand either."
"...So the last time you came here and got caught, you suffered torture