A short while later, Su Xi-er saw Wu Ling striding over. She immediately walked out from the military drill grounds and asked, “Did you discover someone suspicious outside the army barracks?”
Wu Ling nodded. “This subordinate stopped a horse carriage. There was a man and a little girl inside who live in a village about 30 kilometres away from here.”
Su Xi-er replied, “Wait outside the military drill grounds. Don’t inform Prince Hao or His Majesty.” She then headed out of the army barrack.
There’s an 80 – 90 percent chance that this little girl is Yinyin. As I thought, she has come.
In the military drill grounds, Ning Lianchen happened to see Su Xi-er walking away as his attention shifted for a moment.
Is there news about Yinyin?
He immediately turned to leave when Pei Qianhao called out to him. “This Prince told Xi-er to return to the carriage to get something. Your Majesty, after carefully observing the military formations, did you notice anything strange?” Pei Qianhao pointed to the soldiers gathered in front of them.
Ning Lianchen put his thoughts at the back of his mind and concentrated on examining the scene on the ground, furrowing his brow a moment later. Is there something amiss?
~~~
Meanwhile, Su Xi-er had already left the army barracks, and spotted Liu Yinyin beside the horse carriage with a single glance.
Watching the solemn soldiers, Da Zhu understood that there were stringent military rules. We were discovered loitering outside the army barracks; this is enough to warrant death if they choose to punish us!
“Please let us off. My younger sister and I have never seen soldiers training before, so we just wanted to take a peep from outside; we had no other intentions.” Da Zhu beseeched the soldiers in front of them, already halfway to kneeling.
Liu Yinyin reached out a hand to pull on Da Zhu. “Brother Da Zhu, don’t kneel down; there is gold under a man’s knees.”
“Yinyin, if I still don’t kneel down, we won’t be able to keep our lives!” He frantically exclaimed as he tried to pull Liu Yinyin to kneel with him.
Su Xi-er happened to walk over and said to the soldiers, “Withdraw and guard the other entrance.”
“This subordinate obeys the order.” The soldiers bowed and turned to leave.
Da Zhu could immediately tell that Su Xi-er had some standing, and quickly politely implored, “Young Miss, you are a magnanimous person; please forgive us!”
However, right after he finished pleading, he realised that there was something amiss with Su Xi-er’s expression. He turned to look at Liu Yinyin and found the girl looking dazed.
Su Xi-er flashed a smile at Da Zhu, then walked to Liu Yinyin’s side and caressed her head. “Yinyin, why did you secretly sneak off? Were you unhappy? Did you suffer some grievances?”
Da Zhu’s eyes widened in disbelief. This little lass comes from a rather significant background; she actually knows this woman! It turns out that she’s the daughter of an eminent family, and secretly ran away because of suffering some grievances! To think that I even thought she was pitiful.
Liu Yinyin lifted her head to look at Su Xi-er. “Fairy Elder Sister, this is Brother Da Zhu. Let’s step aside to talk.” She then looked towards Da Zhu and added, “Wait for me here.”
Su Xi-er nodded, then pulled Liu Yinyin to a more secluded area. Only then did Liu Yinyin hug the former and sweetly call, “Fairy Elder Sister.”
Liu Yinyin kept rubbing her head against Su Xi-er, and there was a trace of sobbing in her voice.
“Yinyin, were you unhappy because of the Imperial Beauty Selection?”
Liu Yinyin’s body stiffened, only replying a long while later. “With my parents no longer around, I like to eat candy best, but I only have this one piece, yet there are so many people fighting over it with me. It’s not the Imperial Beauty Selection or Elder Brother Lianchen marrying someone else that I object to, but I’m not happy about him doting on other women. Since he doted on me, why didn’t he continue doing so? Why does he have to dote on others too? Why am I allowed to have a taste of the candy, only to have it taken away in the end?”
