Princess, Spare My Life - Chapter 17
Chapter 17: Someone Still Intends to Run Away (First Part)
Princess Minghui looked at Chen San; the tone of her words was somewhat unnatural, “Was the prince consort here?”
Chen San smiled and nodded. “Yes! I didn’t expect that he would figure out the hidden mechanism.”
Princess Minghui glanced at the tunnel; it was dark and she could not see the exit from here.
“Where does this passageway lead to?”
Chen San replied, “Not too far, it should lead to the small valley in the back of the mountain.”
Princess Minghui observed the entrance to the tunnel and did not speak.
Although she did not know why, in these past few days, Princess Minghui often thought about the situation on the ship that day. When the assassins arrived, her prince consort not only sent his only guard, Su Yin, to her but also blocked the assassin’s attack by jumping in front of her with his frail body. Finally, he was hit by the assassin’s hidden weapon and fell into the lake. Minghui did not expect that the person who needed ginseng soup, lingzhi mushrooms for his meals, and snow lotus herbs to survive would risk his life to protect her.
Whenever she thought of that moment, Minghui would always feel touched. At least, in this Imperial City, there was one more individual who would treat her sincerely. She did not expect that prince consort to shake off his illness and do such a thing.
Princess Minghui couldn’t tell what this feeling was in her heart and asked, “From here, could someone hear what the people outside are saying?”
Chen San thought about and said with a tone filled with uncertainty, “It should be possible…this mechanism is something that my apprentice had made, so I am not too sure about that. Do you wish to ask him about it?”
“No need.” Minghui stood in front of the hole before. While inspecting it, she sighed and her expression gradually became calm. “Is the prince consort still in the hands of the assassin?”
In the meantime, Chen San was looking at the mechanism while muttering endlessly under his breath. He nodded and spoke to himself, “The mechanism that my apprentice made should have been hidden properly…but how was it discovered by her…”
Princess Minghui’s face was solemn as Chen San, who was still examining the mechanism. She suddenly stood up and walked out of the medicine room. She yelled out, “Come here!”
A large bearded general promptly walked over and said, “Your Highness, what would be your command?”
“General Mu, immediately take people to the valley at the back of the mountain to search the area and chase after the assassin! Be careful, the prince consort is still in the hands of the assassin!”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
Zhu Yu quietly stationed next to her. She merely guarded the door to the medicine room to not prevent others from approaching.
At this moment, she suddenly found a small head poking out from the rear court’s arched door
Zhu Yu’s eyes shone as she told Princess Minghui, “Princess, look over there!”
Minghui followed her line of sight, discovering a little girl quietly standing over there and was watching her. Her eyes were cautious and innocent as she gave off a familiar feeling.
Zhu Yu whispered softly into her ear, “Princess, look at that child! She looks just like the prince consort!”
At this moment, Chen San came out of the house and said, “That child came here with Su Qi. Perhaps she is one of your family’s prince consort’s relatives, so you should take her with you!” After he said that, he suddenly slapped his thigh.”Oh no, my pills!” Then, he ignored the countless murderous-looking soldiers in the courtyard and rushed over to the front yard to find a medicine furnace.
Zhu Yu’s complexion suddenly became unsightly. On the contrary to one would expect, the princess’s face was serene as she told Zhu Yu, “You, bring her over.”
As the little girl saw how Zhu Yu was approaching her, she immediately turned around and fled to a remote region of the courtyard.
The general whose surname was Mu had already taken a majority of the soldiers away to pursue the assassin and the prince consort. The remaining guards were at a distance away, so they did not notice the little girl in the courtyard. Zhu Yu’s movements were light and quick as she caught her in two or three steps.
The little girl was around three-years-old. She was thin and small, but she was not weak. During the days she spent in Chen San’s residence, she was fed well and supplemented by Yuan Shang’s medicine, so she was already regained a lot of vitality. Zhu Yu picked up using one hand, but she struggled and kicked Zhu Yu. The strangest thing was that she did not say a word nor call out for help.
Zhu Yu spent a lot of effort to carry her over as the little girl thrashed around. When she was presented before Princess Minghui, the little girl suddenly stopped her moving, looking at her without blinking.
Zhu Yu said with a smile, “The princess is so charming that this small child is just watching you. She was kicking around while I was carrying her, but she stopped moving when placed in front of you.”
Princess Minghui carefully looked at the little girl and found that she was not looking at her but toward the golden decorative patterns on her collar.
These golden decorative patterns were the auspicious nine phoenix pattern that the emperor gave to Minghui. Generally speaking, only the queen and eldest princess could obtain such a gift. Although Minghui was not the eldest princess, Minghui was the eldest daughter of the imperial consort. As long as she did not commit a grave sin, she would definitely become the next generation’s eldest princess, so it was natural for her to be bestowed with a special and auspicious gift.
A friendly and gentle smile appeared on Minghui’s face as pointed at the patterns on her collar. She said, “Do you know what this is?”
The little girl looked at her with hesitation and did not speak.
Minghui smiled and tried to probe, “Do you remember the person who brought you here? He also has this pattern, right?”
The little girl still did not talk or move, but Princess Minghui discovered that her eyes had become brighter. Apparently, she was right.
Minghui said again, “See this? I have the same decorative patterns as he does because we are a family!”
The little girl looked at her skeptically, then she looked at the auspicious nine phoenix patterns on her collar. She reluctantly took out a white and gold-rimmed ribbon from in her embrace. At the end of the ribbon, there were similar auspicious nine phoenix patterns, which were only slightly smaller.
When Zhu Yu saw that, her complexion suddenly turned blue as she said, “Oh no! This prince consort unexpectedly had an illegitimate daughter!”
Princess Minghui lightly waved her hand, motioning her to be quiet. “This little girl had obviously been abused for a long time. She may have been picked up off the road and saved by the prince consort. But because of the assassin’s threats, the prince consort left her behind.”
Zhu Yu said, “The prince consort was being held hostage by the assassin yet he could still save other people?” In fact, what Zhu Yu actually wanted to say was that could the pale-faced prince consort rescue people? If he could save her without someone else’s assistance, then he should be doing well. Thank the heavens for this!
“When we go back, we will slowly question her.” Princess Minghui glanced at the little girl. Unconsciously, a gentle light surfaced within her tranquil eyes. She said, “Since she was saved by the prince consort, we can not let her stay here. Judging by her appearance, she might not open her mouth for a while. Bring her back first before we resume this discussion!”
Zhu Yu had never been able to figure out her own master’s thoughts. As she watched the little girl in her arms, she noticed that the girl was looking at Princess Minghui with curiosity. She replied, “Yes, Princess!”
Outside of the capital, the White Horse Temple below the mountain.
“Hey! Why do I have to take you to Chengde’s manor? Can’t you go by yourself? It’s the manor of the crown prince, so currently, it should be heavily guarded. Since you’re taking me there, aren’t we walking into a trap? Right now, I am injured, so there is no way to use my skills easily!” Yu Qinghong’s ankle was hurting painfully, but Yuan Shang still did not take the hidden weapon out of it. She was using it to force Yu Qinghong to lead the way to find a certain someone.
Since Yu Qinghong’s kinder words and actions did not work, she immediately changed her strategy by sarcastically saying, “Didn’t you say that you didn’t want to be a prince consort? How can you still wander around in the Imperial City? I see that you are just bluffing! With such a beautiful lady, or even better, a princess over there, who wouldn’t want to go back!”
Yuan Shang bluntly replied with a cold voice, “Wherever I want to go is none of your concern!”
Yu Qinghong gave her a fierce glare as she bitterly said, “Should I continue to say what’s on my mind? That princess is truly not a simple person! With just a few words, Godly Doctor Chen agreed to sacrifice his life for her. Humph! Even as she grew up, she still looks beautiful but unfortunately, her mind is as cunning as a snake’s!” Yu Qinghong took advantage of the opportunity to verbally attack Yuan Shang. “Tch, tch, this princess originally married you in order to use you! No wonder you decided to run away from home! I advise you to stop wasting your breath. What kind of princess would like such an invalid and sickly person like you?”
Yuan Shang gave her an indifferent glance and said, “Don’t you need me to take that hidden weapon out?”
Yu Qinghong choked before coldly snorting. “A certain someone, when meeting the princess, would act as a mouse before a cat so that someone couldn’t help but run away with his tail between his legs for fear that he wouldn’t be able to run away. Except, when that someone ran away, he couldn’t even deal with his illegitimate children, causing others to become mad…”
Yuan Shang faintly said, “If you don’t want to run away, you can always go back. If you don’t want to lead me there, do you think I would still be willing to save you?”
Yu Qinghong suddenly stopped talking, biting her lower lip and glaring at her in disdain.
After coming out of the hidden chamber, Yuan Shang’s attitude was getting more and more unyielding, but her complexion was still the same as before. Occasionally, she glanced at the small flowers and grass on the side of the road, leaving Yu Qinghong unaware if she was in a good mood or not. She was really weird and elusive. While this person looks weak and unaccustomed to physical work, the strangest thing was that when her eyes became sharp, there was a murderous intent that was similar to the one owned by Yu Qinghong’s Master. Her ferocity and cruelty was equivalent to a predator’s. Even though she didn’t seem to have martial arts skills, if she reached out with her hand, her hidden weapons would shoot into people’s vitals.
Yuan Shang walked in front as Yu Qinghong followed two steps behind her; the two were not slow. This road led to the famous White Horse Temple. Occasionally, they could see a few monks coming and going along the way. It seemed very popular as they could see that most of these monks had come from afar.
Watching as these monks came and went, Yuan Shang suddenly asked, “These Buddhist monks don’t resemble the ones in the Central Plains. Why would they come to the White Horse Temple?”
Yu Qinghong turned to look elsewhere and did not want to pay attention to her. Yuan Shang glanced at her coldly. But when Yu Qinghong remembered that this demonic being was still holding onto her weakness, she relented and said, “How should I know this? The White Horse Temple’s Great Master Kong Wen is one of the top five masters of today. Since he is a senior Buddhist monk, many monks from Buddhist monasteries would naturally come to ask him for consultation and guidance in the teachings of Buddha! Other monks would from afar to pay respects to Great Master Kong Wen and study martial arts or the Dharma under him.”
“Five masters…” Yuan Zhen thought of what Princess Minghui said yesterday. This empty master of White Horse Temple is indeed one of the five major martial arts. In addition, the master of the Tianyun Temple was also one of the five masters and Princess Minghui was a member of this sect.
“What kind of sect is the Tianyun Temple?”
Yu Qinghong’s face was full of contempt, but she had to explain to Yuan Shang in detail. “The Tianyun Temple is where Princess Minghui is affiliated with. Currently, the temple is under the control of the famous Daoist master, Xiao Yao.”
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JustCallMeDaBoss
Uh oh she Lost her little girl just like that eh?
So the princess didn’t see through MCs plan and is genuinely thankful hu?