An Eight-year-old Princess

Chapter 86 Hua Jing‘s Sudden Arrival

No one had thought that Hua Jing would be released until she appeared at the camp. Early in the

morning, before Yun Shang was full awake, she heard a sound from outside. "Mr. Xiao, Mr. Xiao..."

Then Qian Yin got up and went out to see what happened. She returned in a jiffy. "Master, Prince Jing

sent word that Princess Hua Jing is at the gate of the camp and is clamoring to see him, " said Qian

Yin. She looked serious.

"Hua Jing?" murmured Yun Shang in surprise. "Wasn't she captured by the Yelang army? Why is she

here now?"

She immediately got up, dressed, put on her silver mask, and went out of the tent. No sooner had she

stepped out than she saw Prince Jing standing not far away. She hurried toward him. "Do you know

why Hua Jing is here?" asked Yun Shang.

Prince Jing batted his eyelids without emotion. "Indeed, Qingsu is sophisticated. If I didn't know the

truth that the person he had captured was Hua Jing, I might have been deceived. He is clever enough

to send her back without being exposed, " said Prince Jing.

They walked to the gate of the camp together. Yun Shang walked behind deliberately so as not to be

noticed by Hua Jing. Hua Jing stood at the gate, dressed in aquamarine silk. Two attendants stood at a

distance.

"Oh...dear?" Prince Jing frowned in surprise. "How did you get to the camp?"

Hua Jing looked at Prince Jing, and then glanced at Yun Shang. "My husband is trapped at the border,

so I'm here to help him, " answered Hua Jing with a sad face.

"Really? If memory serves, you set out before me." Prince Jing lifted his eyebrows when he spoke.

"So... you mean you arrived here today?"

Hua Jing's eyes flickered scrupulously. "I was born in the Palace and have never been far away before.

When I set out, I was in a hurry and did not take enough attendants, so I got into a lot of trouble along

the way. And when I arrived at the border, I heard that you had been stationed here. So I'm here to ask

you to lend me some soldiers to help me find my husband, " sighed Hua Jing.

"Really?" grinned Prince Jing, sardonically. "There are no women in the camp, so I'm afraid it's not

proper for you to live here. Besides, your husband got into trouble in Linguan town. So if you want to

find him, you'd better go to Linguan town. The enemy's army has withdrawn from the town, which

makes it safer than my camp. And if you still don't feel it is safe, I can send someone to protect you."

Prince Jing turned his head and looked at Yun Shang. "This is my military counsellor, Mister Xiao. He is

resourceful and highly skilled in martial arts. How about I send him to protect you?"

Hua Jing glanced at Mister Xiao and frowned. "But he's thin and weak...Besides, since he's your

counsellor, you will need him in battle. I don't think it's a good idea to take him with me..." responded

Hua Jing unhappily.

Hearing her words, Yun Shang grinned and tried to speak like a man. "No, no...Ability can not be

measured by body size. I promise, even fifty strong men could not defeat me."

Hua Jing was glad to hear this as she already knew that a military counsellor was of great importance

to an army even though she had not fought in any battle.

"Then I happily accept your kind offer." smiled Hua Jing. "I heard that my Mother-in-Law came to the

border too. Do you know where she is?" asked Hua Jing sullenly.

"Oh, she's in Linguan town, " answered Prince Jing. Hua Jing was disappointed as she thought her

husband's mother would cause her trouble.

But when she realized that Linguan town was far from Prince Jing's encampment, she smiled again.

"She was excellent when she was young, so I believe that she will find him if he's in Linguan Town.

Now that she's already there, I think I'd better search Xiyi Town."

"As you see fit, " answered Prince Jing impatiently. Then he turned to Yun Shang and spoke to her.

"Please, the Princess's safety is in your hands now."

Yun Shang made an obeisance by cupping one hand in the other before her chest. "You may rest

assured that I will spare no effort to keep Her Highness safe."

After Prince Jing returned to his tent, Mister Xiao walked to Hua Jing. "Your Highness, let's go. There

are a few inns in Xiyi Town. However, they are all shabby, and I'm afraid you will have to compromise

for several days, " smiled Mister Xiao.

"It doesn't matter. My husband is in danger, and I have to find him, " sighed Hua Jing.

When they find an inn in Xiyi Town, Hua Jing frowned unhappily. She glanced at her attendants. She

was about to speak, but decided to say nothing. After Yun Shang checked in, a waiter led them upstairs

to their rooms.

Three rooms had been appointed. Two were adjacent to each other, while the third was separated by

several rooms. Hua Jing told Mister Xiao that her attendants had to take turns keeping vigil, so it didn't

matter where they lived. Then, Yun Shang arranged herself for the room next to Hua Jing's.

Hua Jing beckoned Mister Xiao into her room and sat down. Yun Shang followed as she didn't dare to

refuse her. The room was sparse. It had a bed, a table, two benches, and a tub. Although the outside

looked terrible, the room was even shabbier than Hua Jing thought it would be. Hua Jing frowned as

she sat down on the bed. "Sit down, please, sir." She said and smiled at Mister Xiao.

As soon as they sat down, Hua Jing asked curiously, "Why are you wearing a mask?"

"When I was a child, I was too naughty. I was scalded and disfigured by boiling water. People were

scared to see my face, so I put on a mask, " laughed Yun Shang. She raised her hand to touch her

silver mask when she spoke.

"Really? Where are you from? I find that you have the accent of someone who grew up in the Imperial

City. But I've only seen Mister Wang follow my Uncle to the Imperial City. I mean, I haven't seen you in

the Imperial City before." Hua Jing sized her up, but she did not realize that her sister, who she thought

was far away in the Palace, was in front of her and dressed as a man.

"I did live in the Imperial City when I was a child." Yun Shang raised her hand and adjusted her

sleeves. "I have only been with His Highness in recent years, but I seldom go back to the Imperial City.

He has always acted with caution. Although he returns to the Imperial City, he still needs a trustworthy

man in his army to take care of daily affairs. Whenever he returns to his troops, if there is no war, he

sends me home to my family."

"Aha, " chuckled Hua Jing. "Who's in your family?"

"Only my mother and I..." answered Yun Shang with her head lowered. She wondered why Hua Jing

tested her. So Yun Shang looked out of the window and pretended to be irritated. As if to emphasize,

Yun Shang tapped her hand on the table.

Seeing that the the man in front of her was becoming impatient, Hua Jing became unhappy. He's

monstrously audacious! How dare he be so impolite to me? Thought Hua Jing. But, she tried to be

courteous in appearance. "I'm sorry. I am so tired after my long journey. I need to rest now. Please go

about your business, sir."

Yun Shang nodded and stood up. "I will take my leave then." Seeing that Hua Jing nodded too, Yun

Shang left the room and headed to her own room.

As her room was next to Hua Jing's, she opened the window to check if Hua Jing's window was open

too. She then left the window open so that she would notice if anything was happening in Hua Jing's

room. However, Hua Jing was silent all that morning.

At noon, she heard the waiter come to the adjacent room to deliver lunch. After a while, silence

returned.

From morning till night, Yun Shang did not see Hua Jing leave her room, nor had she heard her sister

speak.

After dinner, Yun Shang went to the adjacent room to give her regards to Princess Hua Jing. When she

entered, Hua Jing was sitting on her bed staring at the wall blankly. Seeing Mister Xiao, she smiled at

him. "Good evening, sir."

Yun Shang nodded and spoke. "Though the enemy has withdrawn from Xiyi town, some spies were still

mixed among the people. Don't forget to close the door and windows before you go to bed, and warn

the guards not to fall asleep by accident."

"You are staying next door, so I'm not afraid at all, " responded Hua Jing with a smile. "Even my uncle

praised you before. So I believe that your combat ability is strong."

Yun Shang smiled without denying. After she asked Hua Jing to pay attention to her own safety, Yun

Shang turned to leave the room. However, the moment she opened the door, she saw an attendant

dressed in black. She was startled by him. It took Yun Shang some time to regain control, and then Yun

Shang looked at the attendant before continuing to her room without saying a word.

She kept her ear next to her door all night, but nothing unusual happened.

Early morning the next day, Yun Shang had hardly stepped out when she saw Hua Jing leaving as well.

"Good morning, Mister Xiao. Let's go downstairs and have breakfast!"

"Aye, " responded Yun Shang. No sooner had she climbed down the stairs when she caught sight of

two soldiers entering and saluting her. "Mister Xiao, the enemy launched an offensive. His Highness

wants you to go back to camp and discuss countermeasures with him."

Hearing this, Hua Jing's eyes lit up. "Since it is so, you can go back to the army now. Don't worry about

me, it's daylight and there's no danger, " said Hua Jing with a smile.

Yun Shang nodded hurriedly. "These two soldiers will stay and help you. I'll leave now." Then she left

the inn and hurried back to the camp. When she got to the camp, Yun Shang found only a few soldiers.

A shout burst out in the distance, and she thought they were already at war, so she hurried off on

horseback to the place where the armies had met earlier.

Prince Jing was delighted to see Yun Shang, and he hastened his horse to meet her. "Let's go back to

my tent. It seems that Qingsu is not going to fight today either. We've been waiting a long time."

Yun Shang craned her neck to see the enemy. She saw a chariot in shining silver armor in the

distance. She grinned and proposed. "Why don't you attack them before they are adequately

prepared?"

"I guess you don't know that Canglan City, which is easy to defend but difficult to attack, is placed just

behind their army, " laughed Prince Jing. "If I attack and chase them now, they'll certainly run into

Canglan City. I'm sure it's definitely not a good idea." After a few pleasantries, Prince Jing asked Yun

Shang about Hua Jing. "Did anything unusual happen last night?"

Yun Shang shook her head. "If I have to say, I think she was too quiet. Quiet is unusual for her.

Besides, one of her attendants seemed to have strong combat ability."

"Really?" Prince Jing looked at Yun Shang in surprise. "Do you remember what the attendant looked

like?"

"I usually have a good memory, but I don't really remember the attendant very well. The only thing I can

be sure of is that his eyes were brown and so bright, " answered Yun Shang as she frowned.

Prince Jing nodded. He seemed to be drifting in thought. "People in the country of Yelang have brown

eyes. So her attendant might be from Qingsu's army. I'm afraid that Hua Jing's not here for her

husband, but for something else..." speculated Prince Jing.

Yun Shang grinned sardonically. "I guess that my dear sister has forgotten that she is the daughter of

the Emperor."

After staying in the camp for a while, Yun Shang returned to the inn, but Hua Jing was not there. She

waited a long time before she saw Hua Jing returning with the two attendants and the two soldiers.

"Your Highness, where have you been? I was worried about you." Yun Shang walked to her sister

promptly.

"I went out and looked around the town. I was trying to find General Zhao. But I didn't find him."

answered Hua Jing, with a tired look. It seemed that she didn't want to talk at all as she walked straight

to her room and locked the door. Another afternoon passed, but Hua Jing had not yet been seen

leaving her room.

Then night came. Hardly had Yun Shang fallen asleep when she heard a rustle. Suddenly, she opened

her eyes. It was dark in the room, but she heard a soft breath coming from the window. Then her mind

became alert and she held her breath nervously.

Before she could see what happened, she heard a scream from the next door. "Ah! Assassins! Help!

Help!" Hua Jing cried in fear. Her scream was followed by the sounds of a struggle.

Yun Shang was astonished and she thought for a few seconds. "Assassination? It was not late at night

and they made too much noise. How strange..." thought Yun Shang in confusion.

She sprang out of bed and opened the window. Then she made a sudden leap from the window and

jumped into the adjacent room. Of the two attendants, one lay motionless on the ground, while the

other although wounded, was still fighting with a masked man. Four or five masked men lay on the

ground too. She squinted and joined the fight, but she deliberately did not to exert all her strength. Content protected by Nôv/el(D)rama.Org.

Realizing that he had no chance to win the fight, the man quickly retreated to the door and ran out. At

that moment, the second attendant, who was not badly hurt, stood at the door. He looked at the

escaping assassin and pretended as though he could not follow as he was hurt. But in fact, he was

blocking Yun Shang's way. She couldn't give chase either.

"He escaped!" The attendant pretended to be sorry, then he rolled his eyes and fainted.

The sound of horseshoes filled the silence. The horses seemed to stop outside the inn. Soon Prince

Jing appeared. He looked anxious. "Dear Princess, are you okay?"

Yun Shang narrowed her eyes. She noticed that only a short time had passed between the assassin's

attack and his escape. She knew it took longer to ride from the camp to the inn. Since Prince Jing had

come so quickly, someone must have informed him about what was going to occur.

"Her Highness is safe, " answered Yun Shang, looking back at Hua Jing who was still cowering on her

bed. After Yun Shang checked the breath of the two attendants, she continued. "One of the attendants

is dead, but the other one is still alive. Take him back to the camp for treatment."

Prince Jing nodded and told his soldiers to help the wounded attendant. Then he walked to Hua Jing.

"Can you walk? You know, It is improper for men and women to touch each other's hands. But there

are no maids or eunuchs in my army. So I'm afraid you have to walk by yourself. It is not safe here,

please follow me back to my camp."

Hua Jing mumbled and nodded as though excessively frightened. After a long time, she came to her

senses, stood up cautiously, and went downstairs. Yun Shang observed her closely, and found that she

had no sweat on her forehead which didn't match the terror reflecting on her face.

As soon as everyone had gathered outside the inn, they made the journey back to the camp. After

Prince Jing helped Hua Jing settle down, he returned his tent with Yun Shang. "Are you okay?" asked

Qian Yin as she hurriedly made her way to Yun Shang.

Yun Shang shook her head and looked at Prince Jing. "It's okay for me to wear a mask, but I'm afraid

it's not appropriate for Qian Yin to wear a mask too. Please ask someone to send her out later, " said

Yun Shang. Then she turned to Qian Yin. "Would you please tell Ning Qian to choose someone else to

serve me? By the way, Hua Jing is here too, and she has no maid now. I think we'd better bring two

women, who look honest."

"Aye, " nodded Prince Jing in agreement. Then he called a servant and repeated Yun Shang's

suggestion.

Yun Shang continued. "I think their purpose was to enter the camp. They thought you would refuse her

request if she asked you directly, so they enacted an assassination to create an excuse. This way they

can stay in our camp without being suspected."

"But I could actually use it to my advantage, " answered Prince Jing. He grinned cooly. "Now I have a

good chance to find the spies in my army." Then he paused and stared at Yun Shang. "Qingsu is so

shrewd that he set many spies in our army. I think some of them knew that you were always in my tent

and they must be wondering who you are. So, I told my soldiers that I'm gay, and that you and I are

lovers, to avoid their suspicion." He paused again. Yun Shang felt shy and bowed her head since she

knew what he meant.

"What's more, Hua Jing and her unidentified attendant are here now. So we have to be more careful."

Prince Jing gave her a knowing glance. "You'd better share a room with me for some days and pretend

to be gay to dispel their doubts."