His Majesty gave me control of the city before he left, if it becomes known that I allowed such rumors to float around then wouldnât it be me who failed?
âI⦠I donât knowâ¦â the guard gulped, âbut they are saying the girls brought by the king from before is going to be the consorts. I thought⦠First Elder, I really donât know anything.â
Almost wanting to smack this idiot before himself, the poor elder was burning fire in those eyes: âGo now! Go and investigate who began this rumor! If I hear another person talking about this nonsense then I want them disposed of! I only hope they can stop yapping their mouth before the king returnsâ¦.â
The queen and king went through so much in order to be together, I canât allow something like this to get in-between them. If it does, then Iâm the one at fault because I didnât do a good job.
The guard made a shudder over what heâs going to say, knowing itâs not what the other side wanted to hear. âFirst Elder⦠Iâm afraid itâs already too late.â
Glaring in the eye: âWhat do you mean by that?â
âItâs⦠Itâs around a year ago. The kingâs brother-in-law came and demanded to see His Majesty. He had inadvertently learned of the rumors and was very angry, saying he wonât let the queen stay with the king.â
Poor First Elder, he could already feel his soul flying away into the sky and leaving his mortal body.
The queenâs younger brother already found out? In that case thenâ¦.
Oh no⦠no, no, noâ¦.
âSend our messengers out this instant! Go find Her Highnessâs younger brother! No matter what, we must clarify the misconception before the king returns! If we donât then you and I and everyone else will have to offer up our heads do you hear?!â
âYes Elderâ¦â The guard complied and practically bolted it out of the back mountain.
Rubbing his own temple in frustration and suffering from a headache,?These demons are so unreliable, why canât they keep a simple thing like a rumor down? The king always has to handle everything by himself.
â¦â¦
Inside the supposed harem of the palace.
Mu Xue was continuing her pompous behavior of conducting the other maids around when a rude and harsh voice broke in from the rear.
âWhat are you doing?!â
Dazed in the face, the leopard girl had to take a good moment to realize the holler was in fact directed at herself. âMe? Of course I am teaching these maids on how to do their job after seeing how lazy they are.â
The guardâs face darkened: âIf theyâre lazy then what are you?â
Now Mu Xue didnât even know how to respond to that.
In this girlâs view, sheâs the future consort of the king so how dare this puny guard tell her what to do?
âYou donât know who I am?â asking while pointing to her own nose in shock.
The guard coldly snorts: âYou are nothing but a maid brought in to serve the little princess, what makes you think you are any different from all the rest here that you can order the others around? Now get moving and work!â
âYouâ¦â Flushing red from anger, Mu Xue couldnât take this, âI am the future consort!â
Consort?
Snickering derisively in the face, the guard didnât want to waste time and threw down the truth: âI have already confirmed it with First Elder just now when I went to meet him. The rumors about the king taking in a consort is only just that, a rumor. In this palace, there is only one queen.â
That cold hard truth instantly causes the girl to go pale: âWhat did you say?â