An Eight-year-old Princess novel Chapter 67

Before his hands reached the hem of the Prince's gown, the Prince quickly stepped aside. Wang Jinhuan flew through the air. He caught a pillar to keep himself from falling to the ground.

Wang Jinhuan turned to Prince Jing with teary eyes. "Why are you so cruel to me?"

Prince Jing ignored him and turned. He spoke to the person standing behind him. "My apologies, Lord Wu. Wang has lost his mind."

Upon hearing those words, Wang Jinhuan looked around the Prince and spotted a middle-aged man. Since Prince Jing had addressed him as Lord Wu, Wang wondered if he was a bachelor from the Imperial Hanlin Academy. Embarrassed, Wang Jinhuan wailed. He had intended to inform Prince Jing about Princess Yun Shang's troubles, but instead, he had just lost face in front of a high-ranked noble*. He turned towards Lord Wu and grinned before jumping on the roof and disappearing.

(*TN: to lose one's face is to suffer a loss of respect; to be humiliated.)

The bachelor was stunned and took a long time to recover.

Prince Jing smiled and said to him, "As for what you suggested earlier, I'll think it over."

Lord Wu nodded and smiled, "Now you are the only Prince who can stand up to them at the court. I really don't want this country to be destroyed by them. At the moment, however, you seem to have other things that need your attention. And so I'll leave."

Prince Jing nodded, "Be well."

Lord Wu bowed to Prince Jing, turned and left. When Lord Wu disappeared, Prince Jing stopped smiling and said in a cold voice, "Show yourself, coward."

A red figure fell into the courtyard. Wang Jinhuan said bitterly, "What have I done to deserve this? First, I suffered at the hands of Princess Hui Guo. Then I make a fool of myself here. What am I going to do? Grrrr!"

"What did you say just now? What's gonna happen to my Princess? And how did you suffer because of her?" Prince Jing ignored Wang Jinhuan's wail. He raised his hand and flattened the crease on his sleeves casually as he spoke.

Wang Jinhuan moved closer to the Prince. "You don't know how evil your little Princess is. I went shopping earlier and came across her by accident. You've mentioned her a lot recently. Curious, I followed her. And then I saw her being chased by some assailants. There were at least a dozen of them.

I was just about to help her, but she killed them all. I didn't even have the chance to show off. Then she spotted me and made me her scapegoat. She insisted that I killed those men and then she pretended to faint."

"What then? Was she hurt?" Prince Jing said calmly.

"Hurt? You must be kidding. They didn't even touch the hem of her clothes." Wang Jinhuan got angrier, "The point is, to add merit to her lie, I had to tell the Governor that I was following her because I covet her beauty."

Prince Jing cast a cold look at Wang Jinhuan. The man in red felt as if a cold wind had blown in from somewhere. He trembled and looked around and decided it was only an illusion. He added, "But I did overhear a secret on my way back. Her sister is a monster. She is planning on setting up your Princess at the upcoming banquet."

Prince Jing turned his face to Wang Jinhuan. "Really? How is she going to do that?"

Wang Jinhuan shook his head, "I don't know. Princess Hua Jing didn't elaborate on the details. I heard her ask the servant to prepare for the banquet carefully. She threatened him with dire consequences if anything went wrong."

"I see." Prince Jing said calmly. Then he turned and walked to his room.

Wang Jinhuan was surprised. He chased after Prince Jing, "Hey, hey, hey, aren't you worried? What if the pretty Princess Yun Shang is killed by her sister?"

"No need to worry. She'll take care of herself." Prince Jing closed the door and left Wang Jinhuan to contemplate his last remark.

"Hey hey hey..." Being treated terribly so many times today upset Wang Jinhuan. His eyes lost their sparkle. "At least I saved your little Princess's life today. You don't have to be so mean... Luo Qingyan, open the door for me..."

Despite knocking on the door several times, the Palace stayed quiet. Wang Jinhuan sighed and leaned on the door for a long time. Having thought of something, the twinkle returned to his eyes. "Ah, by the way, earlier when I said your little Princess, you didn't deny it. Instead, you acquiesced. Have you finally admitted it? You freak. You like your niece."

Just as he finished that sentence, the door opened, and Wang Jinhuan, who had been leaning on the door, fell to the ground. "Ouch!" The pain made him cry out. Before he could get up, Prince Jing grabbed him by the belt and threw him out of the courtyard.

Upon impact, Wang screamed. After that, the courtyard became quiet. Prince Jing stood in the yard as he contemplated. Then he called out, "Jing Ying."

A girl in black robes suddenly appeared in the courtyard. "Master."

Prince Jing nodded. "From today, you don't need to stay around me. Protect Princess Yun Shang. You're a girl. It will be more convenient for you to be among her escorts."

Jing Ying listened silently. "I understand." Then she disappeared again.

"Ning Yun Shang, Ning Yun Shang..." Prince Jing stood alone in the yard, murmuring those three words. He clenched and unclenched his hands for a long time...

"Ahchoo..." Yun Shang sneezed and frowned, "Is someone thinking about me now? Why am I sneezing so much today?"

Qin Yi smiled and put a cloak over her, "Don't catch a cold."

Qian Yin lifted the purple bead curtain and entered the room. "Your Highness, I have sent someone to find out who sent the assailants. But I think it's highly likely that Princess Hua Jing is behind all this."

Yun Shang smiled, "If that is the case, then this becomes easier for us. If it isn't, then we need to be careful. Having a strong enemy is not worrisome. But having an invisible enemy can be deadly."

Qian Yin nodded. Thinking of the man in red, she walked to Yun Shang and squatted down. "Your Highness, who was Mr. Wang?" she asked. "You have never seen him before. Why did you use him as a scapegoat? I keep thinking about what might happen if he exposes us. All our planning would be ruined."

Yun Shang thought about Wang Jinhuan's dissatisfied look and smiled. "That man? He has always been in a good relationship with Prince Jing. He is the Prince's confidant. Since I have allied with Prince Jing, Wang Jinhuan would not hurt me even if he followed me for questionable reasons. I didn't think it would hurt to use him as the scapegoat."

Qin Yi stared at Yun Shang for a while and laughed, "I've noticed that Your Highness trusts Prince Jing very much. It's very rare for Your Highness to trust a man so much that you also blindly trust the people around him."

Yun Shang was speechless. She frowned and thought for a while. It really appeared so. She had been reserved in how much she trusted other people. But today, she sent Wang Jinhuan away without rewarding him. If he did say something, she would surely find it challenging to explain. Strangely enough, she didn't think much about this before.

Yun Shang pondered for a moment, then hesitantly added, "Although Prince Jing is a little cold, I do not think that he is the kind of person who betrays alliances. Even if he is unhappy with my methods, he will not betray me like that."

Hearing no answer, Yun Shang felt strange and turned around. She saw the maids chuckling. Yun Shang felt her face burning. She grabbed her cloak and threw it at Qin Yi and Qian Yin.

For a moment, laughter filled the room.

Just as their laughter was subsiding, Hua Jing entered. "What is it that makes you so happy?"

Yun Shang squinted and said softly, "Sister. We were just talking about what happened this afternoon. They said I passed out over blood. It is very humiliating."

Hua Jing smiled and sat down beside the bed, "So what? You're a weak woman. Being terrified of such things is normal. How do you feel now? Are you feeling better?"

"I'm OK. I feel rested." After a pause, Yun Shang continued. "After what had happened today, Father will surely be notified. I am afraid that Father and Mother will worry about me. I'd like to go back to the Palace tomorrow and tell them that I'm fine. What do you think, sister?"

Hua Jing nodded, "You're right about that. I have something to deal with tomorrow, so I won't be able to accompany you. I'll send someone with you, however. Today, you went out unprotected and ran into a difficult situation. That scared me. I can't be scared like that a second time."

"Yes." Yun Shang nodded fiercely, "I'll keep that in mind."

"Oh by the way, " Hua Jing added nonchalantly, "As for the killers, did they tell you who sent them?"

Yun Shang thought about it and shook her head. "As soon as they appeared, they rushed towards us with swords in their hands. I don't even know what happened. But after Mr. Wang killed all the men in black, he spotted another man hiding behind the wall near me. That guy wore no mask, but I didn't have the chance to see what he looked like."

"Another man?" Hua Jing pondered for a moment and then asked, "Perhaps that man had something to do with whoever sent the killers? Did Mr. Wang find out anything?"

"I don't think so. I'm not sure. I remember Mr. Wang leaping on the roof in a single bound and catching the man hiding there. He broke the man's neck before he started to speak. Then I don't remember anything." Yun Shang stuck out her tongue in an innocent way.

So Hua Jing turned her head to the two maids. Qian Yin quickly added, "Of course Her Highness doesn't remember. She just shouted and passed out. Then lots of commoners ran in, so Mr. Wang asked them to help him report the case. We were afraid of what had happened to Her Highness, so we hurried to bring her back."

"Is that so?" Hua Jing looked at the three women for a while, then stood up and said, "Shang'er, it has been a tiring day for you. You should rest early today." Then she turned and left the room.

Qian Yin tiptoed to the door and peeped out. Seeing Hua Jing was no longer around, she turned to Yun Shang and said, "Your Highness, please rest early. I'll get some water for you to wash." Then she left, too.

Qin Yi walked to Yun Shang's bed and helped her undress. She asked in a gentle voice, "What is Princess Hua Jing planning?"

Yun Shang kept silent for a moment before answering. "That man must work for Hua Jing. As for the assailants, there are two possibilities. The first is that the assassins didn't work for Hua Jing, which is why she came to ask us for details. The other possibility is that the assassins did work for her, and Hua Jing came here to find out whether I had noticed anything."

"But the assassins had brought nothing with them. We couldn't identify them. Where should we start our investigation?" Qin Yi frowned and looked at Yun Shang with concern.

Yun Shang closed her eyes. Her mind was clear. "It doesn't matter. A fox will always show its tail. No matter who this person is, if he really wants to kill me, he'll find another chance. I do believe that I will eventually catch him."