Trap in a Book

Chapter 17

"I grant your request. You are no longer married to the Crown Prince. You are free. I will arrange a carriage for you at your new place." the emperor said, signaling a people make the divorce papers.

"Thank you, your majesty. May I also take this guard since he was willing to die for me, so I would like him to protect me," Xiaomei said, pointing to Bao.

"That would be fine," the emperor replied.

"Thank you," she said again as she was about to get up. The emperor spoke again softly, "I- I apologize that I couldn't protect you. They are probably disappointed...." She remained silent, knowing who he was talking about.

"Huang Daiyu, take care of yourself," he genuinely said.

She looked up at him and said, "Your majesty, you also take care of yourself."

"You are all dismissed," he said as everyone left. "Have some men prepare the carriage and help Huang Daiyu move out of the cold palace," the emperor ordered his trustworthy henchmen and left.

"Yes, your majesty," the henchman answered before making his way out.
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The emperor entered his room and said to the servants following him, "You all leave now." The emperor slammed his fist against the wall. He was tricked again. He listened to the wrong people again. He had failed them again. He couldn't protect the only thing he left of them. How could he?
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Xiaomei, LiMei, and Bao headed back to the cold palace, "The both of you never ever put your life on the line for me again," Xiaomei said dead serious. "If you ever do that again. I will never forgive you," she said deadly.

"But..., Miss...." LiMei tried to speak until Xiaomei looked at her.

"Yes," both of them bow their heads.

Once they arrived back at the cold palace, there were already men there, ready to help Xiaomei and them move out. Bao was carrying out stuff to the carriage while LiMei was directing what each guard should carry. As for Xiaomei, she sneaked away from them and headed to the little garden. She had to pick all her vegetables because she didn't want all her energy to go to waste. She picked all of the ripped and unripe tomatoes and peppers. She pulled out all the green onions and took all of the cilantro. She set all the vegetables down on a cloth before brushing her hair away while she was tying it up. The little chipmunk appears in front of her. "Oh, hello there. Today is my last day here. I'll be leaving soon. I won't be able to feed you anymore. You take care of yourself now," she said. She picked up the bag full of vegetables and headed back, but the little chipmunk followed her. She turned to see it, tailing her. She smiled and crouched down to it, "do you want to follow me?" she asked. In response, the chipmunk crawled up her dress and onto her shoulders as she made her way back.

To her surprise, she spotted BoJing in the mist, scanning around.

"General BoJing?" she called out as the little chipmunk hid in her clothes.

He didn't say anything, even though it looked like he wanted to. "Since you are here, I can show you my gratitude. I want to say thank you for helping me find another witness and serve justice to me," she bowed her head to him. "How can I repay you?" she asked.

"That's not necessary," he said.

"I insist," she said as she spotted a servant carrying the bag of her stuff. She stopped him and grabbed the bag. She opened it up to see if she could find anything she could give to him. She couldn't possibly give him money, or he will get suspicious of how she got the money.

She pulled out a small jade charm that LiMei insisted on saving as it was a present from her parents. "Take this as a thank you," she handed it to him.

Before he could speak, LiMei came out with the last guard and said, "Miss, we are all set."

"Alright," she answered. "Well, farewell, General BoJing. Thank you again," she said and left with LiMei.

"Your majesty? Huang Daiyu is leaving now. Are you going to send her off?" ask his trustworthy henchmen.

"No...," he replied. "Give her a large amount of money," he added before the henchmen left quietly. He couldn't possibly face her anymore.

The carriage was leaving the palace. LiMei was playing with the chipmunk while Xiaomei opened the side window and took one last look at the palace. She knows she changed the story, but the story already changed when she was framed early, so let's see what to expect later on..... She is leaving, so this can be as if she died and will no longer interact with the story. She will stay on the sideline and watch.

Once they arrived, Xiaomei stepped off the carriage and saw a quiet, slightly small residence that looked built for high-class people. The guards unloaded all of their stuff before heading back to the palace.

A couple of hours later, they finished settling down. Xiaomei was in the kitchen, prepping as Bao and LiMei entered.

"Miss, we got the ingredients," LiMei said. "Here's the fish and pork," Bao said. Both of them set the stuff down in front of her.

"Good," she said before she descaled the fish and cut the head off. She then filleted the fish before removing the skin. She minced the fish filets before putting them in a bowl. She added salt, black pepper, and some starch. She then cracked an egg before separating the egg whites and yolk. She added the egg whites in with the minced fish and mixed it all together. After mixing it, she placed cold water into a pot and started forming fish balls by squeezing the mixture through the gap between her thumb and pointer finger. She placed the fish balls in the cold water, and once she finished, then she boiled the fish balls. As it was cooking, she minced the pork while occasionally stirring the fish balls. She added seasoning to the pork and threw in some chopped-up green onions. She then cracked open a couple more eggs before beating them up in a bowl. She set it aside as she drained out the water from the fish balls and set it aside. She went back to the beaten eggs and had a ladle in her hand. She poured a small amount into the ladle and moved it around a bit before adding the pork filling. She then folded it in half and pressed the edge with chopsticks to make them stick to each other. She flipped the other side to have a nice golden brown on both sides. She continued until she finished with all the pork filling.

After making the egg dumplings, she opened the cabinet and grabbed the ripe tomatoes that were from her garden back in the cold palace, and washed them before cutting slits on them and pouring hot water on them, so she could peel off the skin. Afterward, she chopped them up and threw them in a pot, and poured in water. She let it cook and simmer before adding seasoning. Soon after she tossed the fish balls and egg dumplings in and let them cook for a bit before taking it off the heat and placing it on the table.