Chapter 9: Chapter 4: Madness

Forget it. She lay back down again. Since everyone already called her the "silly princess," it wouldn't matter if she had called out; she wouldn't know anyway.

After lying there for a while longer, she finally washed the stuff off her face. She touched her cheeks—sigh, they really were tender, so tender you could almost squeeze water out of them. Although her skin was a bit dark, its texture was actually quite good.

She giggled at her own reflection in the washbasin.

Sigh, she could already imagine how beautiful she would look in the future.

Once she finished tidying up, she placed her hands into the basin. The skin on her hands seemed to have lightened quite a bit. The water temperature was very comfortable, and she closed her eyes in enjoyment. When she opened them again, she looked at the slender—well, little black hands—soaking in the water.

And there was the ring on her finger.

She lifted her hand and looked at the ring. It had been on her finger when she arrived. The princess’s mother had given it to her, claiming it was some sort of family heirloom. She took the ring off and held it before her eyes for a long time.

It didn't seem any different; it was just a ring. Sometimes she really wanted to take it off for good, but in the end, she always put it back on. It was a habit, she supposed.

There was still plenty of time before dawn, so she lay down on the soft bed. Sigh, time for a beauty sleep.

She slept until early morning, and no one came to disturb her. She no longer had to set an alarm or worry about going to work; she could sleep as late as she wanted. After waking up, she first looked in the mirror to see if she had gotten any fairer. But the mirror was made of bronze, and after staring for a long time, it still looked yellowish, making it impossible to tell if she had lightened or darkened.

She really missed modern mirrors, where even a tiny mole could be seen with perfect clarity.

She stretched her limbs. The nanny had timed her arrival perfectly; she walked in to bring her wash water. To be honest, being served like this made her feel quite embarrassed. After washing her face, she decided she could go out and exercise.

"One, two, three, four; two, two, three, four..." She twisted her waist and wiggled her hips, causing the nanny to sigh incessantly as she watched.

"The silly sickness hasn't healed, and now she's caught a madness. What is to be done in the future?"

Li Hong turned her face away, her expression beaming with joy. She kept twisting and turning; for the sake of a good figure, who cared if she was crazy or silly?

After finishing her workout, she ran off to eat breakfast. The breakfast was quite rich, and there was even white fungus porridge to drink. Drinking this was good for beauty and skin, so she naturally had to drink plenty of it. She added some sugar—sigh, the taste was absolutely delicious.

After finishing the porridge, she had some fruit for dessert.

The apple was large and red, and it smelled sweet and juicy. She couldn't help but take a bite. Mmm, fruit in ancient times was just better—natural, with no pesticides. She took bite after bite, eating happily.

Seeing her eat so well, the nanny couldn't help but wipe away a tear.

"Sigh, the princess is finally not a picky eater. This is good, this is just fine."

*Crunch.* Li Hong took another bite of the apple. So, the original "little black" had been a picky eater. She didn't understand—with food this delicious, why be picky? Back when she was in school, she had eaten nothing but salted vegetables and steamed buns for a whole month. How could anyone be picky with food this good?

She finished one apple and reached for another, but as soon as her hand moved, she saw the nanny’s brows furrow. The nanny’s eyes were fixed on her hand. Her hand was stuck in mid-air—it wouldn't be good to reach for it, but it wouldn't be good to pull back either, so she just froze, feeling very awkward.

"Princess, you cannot eat any more, or you might get indigestion," the nanny said as she took the plate of apples and walked out.

Li Hong watched her leave and boredly propped up her chin.

Sigh, those big, red apples. What a pity.