Du Ling’s expression shifted to one of surprise, having not expected this to even be possible. A frown eventually settled itself on his face as he continued watching Su Xi-er in silence.
Royal lineage was of top priority in the Western Region. Though her body belonged to the Imperial Princess of the Western Region, it would be an embarrassment to them if the people found out that somebody else’s soul had taken over. How could the body of a noble princess be taken over by somebody else!
Su Xi-er watched Du Ling as he continued to think, using the chance to take the initiative. “I’ve been in this body for a long time. Unfortunately, your real sister likely passed away long before I awoke to someone pouring a bucket of water over me. As a fragile maidservant in the Palace Side Quarters, she succumbed to the many wounds that she suffered as a result of the bitter hardships she went through each day. If you were to ask how I was able to arrive in her body, I can only say that it is heaven’s will.”
She paused, meeting the gaze of the man across from her before continuing. “King, you’re a decisive and courageous man, someone who treats others with sincerity. As such, even if I can lie to everybody else in this world about this matter, I cannot lie to you.”
Du Ling looked her in the eye before turning to Pei Qianhao, asking, “What does Prince Hao plan to do about this? Beimin, the Western Region, and Nanzhao are all involved; chaos will break out if not handled properly.”
There were people who would make use of this chance to blame Su Xi-er as the root of all the problems, something that would even implicate Pei Qianhao.
Pei Qianhao then said, “All this Prince knows is that she is Princess Consort Hao; what others think or do is not my concern. I’ll not let them off the hook if they are targeting the Princess Consort in any way. The Western Region is not an exception to this either.”
As my wife, I’ll protect her no matter what others say. Though he would never say it aloud, Pei Qianhao felt that it was a man’s duty to do so.
Du Ling understood what Pei Qianhao meant and turned to Su Xi-er. “As you said, this is heaven’s will. My sister passed on after having endured bitter hardship, and her body may have been left to the dogs if you didn’t enter it. This King’s order to you is to take up the responsibility of being the Western Region’s Imperial Princess since you’re already in my sister’s body.”
This made it extremely clear that the rumours would be declared untrue. No one could find out about Su Xi-er’s real identity!
Su Xi-er had prepared herself to respond to any of Du Ling’s reactions, but she had never expected for him to answer like this. It made her rather emotional.
Before she could say anything, Pei Qianhao said, “Right now, she’s Princess Consort Hao and the Western Region Imperial Princess.”
Du Ling looked at Su Xi-er and asked, “How’s the situation in Beimin now?”
As expected of the Western Region King; he was able to keep a clear head and adapt to the situation quickly.
“Three of our allies have been captured by Yun Ruofeng, and one of them is the daughter of late Grand Tutor Liu from Nanzhao,” Su Xi-er answered. She then took out a note and said, “This was found in the horse carriage when I left the palace earlier in the day.”
Du Ling and Pei Qianhao looked at it, their gazes turning cold instantly as they read its contents. The note requested for Su Xi-er to meet Yun Ruofeng alone at the bottom of the mountain where the landslide occurred previously.
