Just at this time, there was a man in plain clothes outside the door. He bowed and scraped to Jing Yuanchu, “Your Majesty, the carriage is ready to go.”
Jing Yuanchu’s sight went through Leng Changxi directly. He shouted to the back room, which was simply covered with bamboo curtains, “Bring her out.”
Leng Changxi and Qin Yunuan turned sideways slightly and saw someone lifting the curtain. The first person who came out was a woman dressed as a maidservant. She was about seventeen or eighteen years old. With the star-like shining eyes on her oval face, as well as her exquisite makeup, there seemed to be an unspeakable aura of luxury around her. If it weren’t for her simple pink dress, others would have thought she was a lady of some noble family. She had a shrewd look. After a glance at Qin Yunuan and Leng Changxi, she pulled another woman out from behind without mercy. This woman was Elder Princess.
“Donghua.” Elder Princess saw Leng Changxi but still mumbled the name “Donghua” in her mouth.
“He is not Donghua,” Jing Yuanchu said to Elder Princess coldly, “I’m sent by Donghua, the man in your dream, to take you back.”
Jing Donghua? The emperor of West Xia? The ruthless heartbreaker?
Leng Changxi took Elder Princess back and protected her subconsciously, “Why are you taking her away?”
Jing Yuanchu smiled without saying a word. He just stood up and turned to the window. Looking at the uniform black-armored soldier and the neighing Ferghana horses outside the window, he said, “I brought three hundred cavalries. But you, you have only two people.”
“This room is not that big. I can kill you at any time.” Leng Changxi was protecting two women.
“Just come.” Jing Yuanchu provoked, “You could kill me. But could you take those two women out with you alive? Haha. Although you are a younger half-brother of mine, it seems that you don’t know what kind of man I am. There is nothing I can’t do.”
“I’m not happy to be your little brother,” Leng Changxi sneered at Jing Yuanchu, “but I probably know you better than you think. Ten years ago, you drowned your seventeenth brother in the lotus pond so that you won the chance to enter the Imperial College of West Xia. Six years ago, to gain the trust of the Great General Murong Lie, you cut off your beloved woman’s hand and gave it to him. Four years ago, you wanted to gain control of the Salt Mountain. You didn’t hesitate to kill your nanny who had raised you for the past 20 years and then blamed it on your rivals. Just two years ago, you swore to win Jing Donghua’s trust. For the rest of his life, you must find the long-lost Elder Princess for him. Jing Yuanchu, I seem to know you very well. You are a man who stops at nothing to achieve your purposes, but you know nothing about me.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Jing Yuanchu doesn’t seem to be surprised that Leng Changxi had such a thorough grasp of himself. “We still have more opportunities to know each other. After all, I will need your help along the way if I take Elder Princess back.”
“Do you mean to take us back to West Xia with you?” Qin Yunuan couldn’t help but doubt the thirteenth prince, who was determined to achieve his goal, by fair means or foul.
“Or what?” Jing Yuanchu gave a childlike smile, which had always made him look extremely kind, “I can’t leave you here alone. After all, this is Yeren Valley.”
Qin Yunuan was still about to ask when Leng Changxi stopped her. Leng Changxi raised his head slightly and said, “Okay, I will go with you. But you must ensure the spending on Elder Princess’s food and clothing. Moreover, you shouldn’t limit her freedom.”
Jing Yuanchu glanced at Elder Princess. Though Qin Yunuan had freshened her up, this woman seemed to lack nobility after the baptism of years and the tiring travel of the past few days. She resembled a rural woman in some aspects.
Inexplicably, Jing Yuanchu had a feeling of contempt for the princess. She was said to be the first beauty of Qi. It turned out to be nothing more than that. Jing Yuanchu was worried that if he found the woman and took it back to Jing Donghua, it would threaten his position. Now it seemed that he was worrying too much.
“Naturally,” Jing Yuanchu nodded and made a promise. “The emperor’s affection for the eldest princess hadn’t been over, and now he still thinks about Elder Princess while lying ill in the bed, hoping to see the princess for the last time. Otherwise, how can I spend so much effort to find her?”
“Are you saying that the emperor of West Xia is seriously ill?” Leng Changxi was somehow worried. After all, he was Leng Changxi’s father, and Leng Changxi was his son. Leng Changxi hadn’t looked deep into what happened back then and didn’t want to blame him too much.
Jing Yuanchu didn’t say much. He just looked out of the window and said, “It’s getting late. The woods ahead will be filled with miasma later. We’d better hit the road early.”
After the words, he got up and left. The soldiers outside watched Jing Yuanchu come out, and they bowed to him respectfully without exception. Leng Changxi remembered that only the guards in the West Xia Palace would wear those black armors. These imperial guards were so respectful to Jing Yuanchu. It seemed that he was rather powerful in West Xia.
“Let’s go.” Leng Changxi held Elder Princess in his left hand and Qin Yunuan in his right hand.
“Changxi,” Qin Yunuan whispered, “I don’t believe this Jing Yuanchu.”
“I don’t believe him, either.” Leng Changxi squinted. After all, Jing Yuanchu had done so many unreasonable things before. Nobody knew his true intention in bringing Elder Princess back this time. “But my mother missed the emperor so much. She had waited here all her life just to meet Jing Donghua. I hope to fulfill this wish for my mother. No matter what the truth is, no matter whether Jing Donghua had broken my mother’s heart or not. I didn’t fulfill my filial piety and stand by my mother’s side all the time. I want to complete her wish.”
The team in the distance had already begun to move slowly. Jing Yuanchu left the maid, who had escorted the eldest princess before, to accompany Qin Yunuan and Leng Changxi. Frankly speaking, she was keeping an eye on them.
Jing Yuanchu called this maid Xinger, and she was extremely agile.
The female relatives were in the carriages. Cha and a few others followed at the back of the team. Jing Yuanchu kindly gave Leng Changxi a Ferghana horse. Seeing Leng Changxi pondering and stroking the horse back and forth, Jing Yuanchu sneered, “Why, the first Great General of Qi, haven’t you seen such a good horse?”
North Di produced many horses, but the really good horses were in West Xia, which was universally acknowledged.
“No,” Leng Changxi raised his eyebrows and glanced at Jing Yuanchu coldly, “I’m thinking if my horse was here. This so-called Ferghana horse was incomparable of even one hoof of my horse.”
Jing Yuanchu turned his head back, smiling. He looked to the front, “General Leng, if you could still be so arrogant after seeing my father, I would only express my admiration to you.”
The team moved forward slowly, passing by a few mounds on the way. Cha’s team, including himself, had six people. Now only three people were left. The other three died during the fight with the tribe. Those three people died terribly. They were all killed by witchcraft worms. Although the immature worms couldn’t enter the human bodies and control them, their bloodthirsty temper was as horrifying as those leeches. The mounds were the simple tombs of the three people. When passing by the mounds, Cha and his team members were all heartbroken. Qin Yunuan also felt terrible on the carriage.
Qin Yunuan let down the curtains. There was a lot of space in the carriage. Elder Princess sat in the middle. Qin Yunuan was on her left side, sitting opposite the maid named Xinger. Xinger always had some caution in his eyes. Nobody talked. The atmosphere was quite embarrassing.
Though Xinger seemed cold and didn’t care about anything, under Qin Yunuan’s careful observation, she had found that Xinger would turn her head unconsciously every time Jing Yuanchu ordered a turn or rest. Xinger would follow the voice and look over. Although she sat the curtain, Xinger still had tenderness and love in her eyes.
Those exquisite thoughts could never escape from Qin Yunuan’s eyes. Xinger liked Jing Yuanchu, and her affection was obvious.
“You must have been following His Highness Thirteen for a while, Xinger.” Qin Yunuan started the conversation. Elder Princess on the side seemed a little tired. She wrapped herself up in a thin woolen blanket and leaned directly against the wall for some sleep.
Xinger didn’t say anything. Qin Yunuan nodded, explaining softly, “I saw how swift you are at your work. Every time it seemed that Your Highness hadn’t said anything, but you already knew what to do. If I could have such a maid, then I really have no regrets in this life.” While speaking, Qin Yunuan couldn’t help thinking of Maner and Tingxue who were still in Qi. She didn’t know how they were doing. Having stayed in this solitary Yeren Valley for so long, Qin Yunuan knew nothing about the outside world now.
“Of course,” Xinger took much pride in her work, she raised her chin slightly, “Only I know His Highness the most. Many servants have changed during this period, but it’s either that His Highness didn’t like them, or they had made too many mistakes and were expelled from the house by his Imperial concubine. None of them stayed long.”
“Ah, it turns out that His Royal Highness is already married,” Qin Yunuan pretended to be surprised. “Looking at him, I thought that he was so young and that His Royal Highness has not yet been married. Which lady could be so lucky to spend the rest of her life with His Highness?”
Xinger was apparently unhappy, “You shouldn’t know so much.”
She became cautious. But it didn’t matter. Qin Yunuan had already figured out the character of this maid. She always thought that only she was the most suitable person for the thirteenth prince, so Qin Yunuan could start from this aspect.
“You misunderstood, Xinger. I don’t want to ask for some news, I’m just thinking that,” Qin Yunuan said while observing Xinger’s reaction, “The one who can match His Highness must be an extremely dignified, generous, and beautiful woman. She should be gentle and elegant, who could live up to the talent and grace of Your Highness.”
“That’s not necessarily,” Xinger was a bit aggrieved. “It’s just a political transaction. If it wasn’t for the future of West Xia, His Highness would never marry such a woman.”
“Oh, such a woman?” Qin Yunuan provocatively asked, “Why do you oppose? I’m very curious.”
“You don’t know,” Xinger squinted, disdain slid out from the corner of her mouth, “The woman’s surname is Dou. She was a noble daughter of Qi. But later, the family lost its power. She had been relying on other powerful people to survive. Now that Sima Ray was in the power of Qi, she entangled him like a mangy dog. She must have charmed Sima Ray to agree on the imperial matrimony for peace with West Xia and send her to marry the thirteenth prince, one of the most outstanding princes.”
“The surname Dou?”
Xinger glanced at Qin Yunuan, “You should know her. Dou Meishuang, that slattern.”
