Chapter 169   The Princess’ Plot to Get Herself a Husband

“Yes, Your Highness, am I seeing things? Is that a hare eating meat?”

They had seen a talking hare but they had never seen a meat-eating hare in their lives.

“What’s wrong? Do you really think that you’re the only ones who are able to eat meat?” The hare rolled his eyes at the dumbfounded soldiers.

Hua Qiyue didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. This hare truly brought joy wherever it went.

The night passed by safely and after the soldiers had gone to bed, two soldiers remained on guard duties. The Crown Prince did not sleep but instead, he sat quietly by the carriage and read a book by the candlelight.

Hua Qiyue looked at Huangfu Shenglin who was diligently reading outside and couldn’t help but nod as she said, “The Crown Prince is indeed a hardworking man. He did not slack off on his studies just because he was born to the imperial family.”

The hare scoffed coldly and said, “Girl, sometimes you might not be able to reap the rewards of your hard work. It depends on where you channel your efforts and who would appreciate your efforts.”

Hua Qiyue froze a moment and realized that the hare was right.

This was just like the Crown Prince’s attention toward her. He professed his true love toward her but he had directed his efforts at the wrong person. She was not the woman for him so no matter how hard he tried, she would never fall for him.

The hare ate two hare legs before it went to a corner and drifted off in contented slumber. Hua Qiyue was a little bored and regretted not bringing Lv Xin and Youshui along with her.

If she had brought those girls along, at least she’d have a companion. Her only option now was to head into the jade gourd to cultivate. When she entered the jade gourd, Tianpi asked for the Drunken Flower Fan and stared at it in a daze for a long while before he suddenly started to guide her. He told her that there were words on the fan and wanted her to gradually comprehend those words.

Hua Qiyue found his actions very odd but when she turned the fan toward the light, she noticed words that were neither part of a poem nor lyrics but under Tianpi’s guidance, she managed to comprehend two lethal skills on this fan.

They continued to make their way forward the next morning.

Huangfu Shenglin remained very attentive to Hua Qiyue’s needs and gave her food and water like a well-trained servant. When the hare saw his actions, it moaned the demise of the Crown Prince’s masculine dignity!

They finally reached the remote Rock Hillock Mountain in the afternoon. This place was surrounded by mountains and thus, evil beasts found it easy to attack their targets here.

The residents of Rock Hillock Mountain mainly lived along the sides of the mountain and the narrow winding paths were hard to climb. As they made their way up, they saw several middle-aged women burning incense sorrowfully. When they saw the Palace Guards and the soldiers, they shouted excitedly, “My God, the soldiers have come to save us!”

“We’re going to be alright. Your Excellencies, please kill those two evil beasts... our homes have been destroyed and the men have been killed.”

“Oh yes, I heard that the Crown Prince has come along with the guards. There’s hope for our village now!”

Everyone heaved a sigh of relief and their eyes followed the group who made their way up the mountain.

Someone also asked worriedly, “If the Crown Prince is totally useless and is merely trying to put on a tough act. Then, he would bring disaster upon the village. What should we do then?”

“Yes, there are too many corrupt officials in court. The Crown Prince might also be...”

Huangfu Shenglin didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry when he heard the villagers’ speculations about the Crown Prince. There were also black sheep in every dynasty, so the villagers’ worries were not entirely unfounded.

The group finally reached a small mountain village along the mountainside. This village was known as Rock Hillock Village and there were more than 50 families living in the village, so it was a medium-sized village.

Dozens of young people had perished in the fight against the evil beasts and more than 100 were injured.

Those who were able to fight were either dead or injured, so the remaining villagers were the women and the elderly.

“We are the Crown Prince’s guards and we’ve come together with Princess Jinghua to kill the evil beasts, so we ask for your co-operation!” Huangfu Shenglin’s people said loudly. The villagers quickly gathered in a circle around the newcomers and gestured at all these newcomers and their elaborate robes.

“It is truly the Crown Prince!”

“He’s so handsome! Sigh, didn’t the Crown Prince and the Princess grow up in rich households? How could we expect them to be able to kill the evil beasts?”

“Wouldn’t the Crown Prince’s guards be able to get rid of them?”

“Sigh, don’t be too hopeful! Evil beasts hardly ever appear in the capital, so they might not have enough experience in battle...”

The crowd chattered animatedly and suddenly lost confidence in Hua Qiyue and the others. Nonetheless, the village chief welcomed the group warmly and led them into the village, then made arrangements for their accommodation in the village.

The evil beasts would only come out at night. These beasts were extremely powerful and they already possessed a certain level of intelligence, so they still moved very carefully even though this was just a small mountain village.

The living conditions here at the mountain village were not that great. The scenery was beautiful but in terms of food and clothing, it was a fraction of what the capital could provide.

Hua Qiyue donated the silver taels that she had brought to the villagers and the Crown Prince did the same. Thus, the Crown Prince and Princess had already won the villagers over even before they battled the evil beasts.

The villagers were grateful that the Crown Prince and Princess did not try to plunder nor harm the village and even donated quite a few silver taels to them. It was indeed rare for them to come across such kind acts.

The soldiers arranged for an evacuation and moved the villagers to a mountain cave while the Qi Artists were on standby within the village to attack the level-five evil beasts.

At the same time.

Yun Shimo and Princess Qianyang arrived at Forture Temple to pray. Forture Temple was much nearer compared to Rock Hillock Mountain and thus, the journey was half a day lesser than the mountain. Night had already fallen by the time they arrived and the moon and stars twinkled brightly in the sky.

Yun Shimo was about to retire for the night when he heard someone knocking at the door. He rose to his feet and saw that Princess Qianyang had extended an invitation to him to admire the moon together with her.

Yun Shimo arched his brows and said, “I don’t feel very well. Let’s do this tomorrow. Or... let me rest for a bit first.”

Princess Qianyang’s maidservant gently agreed and said that she would be back in a while to send him to meet Princess Qianyang. Yun Shimo did not say anything else but softly closed the door and sat on the wooden lounge. He looked at the moonlight that splashed in through the windows and tried to calm his emotions.

He wondered how that girl was doing at Rock Hillock Mountain. Regardless, she should be fine since the hare was with her.

The hare could cast Transmission Array so it should arrive here at any moment.

He heard the soft chants of the monks reading their scriptures and this made the night seem even more quiet and peaceful.

Puff—

A white light flashed outside Yun Shimo’s window and in a blink of an eye, a flickering Transmission Array appeared. The hare sprawled out lazily on the ground and looked at Yun Shimo with its red eyes.

Then, it burst out maniacal laughter.

Yun Shimo’s heart skipped a beat when he saw the hare’s reaction and his face darkened as he asked, “Senior, has anything happened?”

The hare chuckled loudly and made sure that there was a silencing charm in place to prevent others from eavesdropping on their conversation, “Hahahaha... Huangfu Shenglin is far too corny and I had vomited blood several times because of his overly-sentimental actions. He had been extremely attentive to the girl’s needs throughout the journey and the girl had also mentioned that he would make a good husband. Haha... when dusk fell, Huangfu Shenglin even played those sentimental love songs for her. Ugh... I feel nauseous all over again!”

The hare made a disgusted face and Yun Shimo’s face darkened. He could imagine Huangfu Shenglin looking tenderly at Hua Qiyue.

“Did... she agree?”

“Of course not. However, Huangfu Shenglin had also cheesily promised her that he’d wait for her. He also said that both you and Princess Qianyang have feelings for each other, so if she married him she’d be Princess Consort while if she married you, she’d probably only be a concubine.”

Yun Shimo scoffed coldly and his eyes flashed with strong murderous look as he said, “The Crown Prince... well, very well! How dare he insult me!”

Marry Princess Qianyang? What a joke. If he couldn’t even decide who he wanted as his wife, then there was no point in living.

“Haha, his corny actions seemed effective on the girl. Frankly, I feel that women would find a man who goes about courting someone in such a cheesy manner more attractive. Although his words made me vomit blood, the girl liked it! Who wouldn’t like someone who’d praise her, court her and love her?” The hare said sagely as though he was a love advisor.

Yun Shimo felt extremely annoyed since he was only with Princess Qianyang because of the pearl in her body.

He guessed that he would need to come up with a solution. If Princess Qianyang really mistakenly thought that he had fallen in love with her, then it would be hard for him to extract himself from this mess.

At the moment, someone came to knock on his door. Yun Shimo told the hare that he’d be right back. When he opened the door, it was none other than Princess Qianyang’s maidservant.

The maidservant extended an invitation once more for Yun Shimo to head to Princess Qianyang’s quarters to eat fruits and admire the moon, so Yun Shimo followed the maidservant.

Forture Temple was very large and many people visited the temple to pray. However, the courtyard assigned to Princess Qianyang was naturally the quietest, cleanest and most spacious courtyard in the temple, away from all the noise in the temple.

Most temples would prepare courtyards especially for noblemen and noblewomen since the Empress might visit occasionally, so she’d require a place to rest.

The courtyard that was assigned to the Princess was located at the furthest corner of the temple. Yun Shimo was not a stickler for propriety and did not stay in the courtyard reserved for noblemen but his courtyard was not that far from the Princess’ courtyard either.

Soon, the maidservant led Yun Shimo to the Princess’ courtyard and the soldiers standing guard outside looked meaningfully at Yun Shimo. They were so jealous of Yun Shimo!

Princess Qianyang was a daughter who was doted on by the Emperor, so whosoever became her husband would enjoy immense wealth and status.

“Did you see that? It’s already so late at night but Prince Nan had still entered the Princess’ quarters. He must’ve fallen for the Princess.”

“Tsk, you’ve got to be kidding, right? Isn’t his wedding to Princess Jinghua about to be held soon?”

“Yes, I heard that it will be held on the 10th of October but Prince Nan has probably fallen for Princess Qianyang, right? Princess Qianyang’s status is higher than Princess Jinghua’s. Tsk, I guess the stunning and talented Princess Jinghua will be reduced to being the concubine!”

The pilgrims who witnessed this sight chatted animatedly amongst themselves.

Many female pilgrims had followed behind the Princess’ carriage in hopes of a glimpse of her beautiful face. More importantly, they wanted to see exactly how handsome Prince Nan was.

The female pilgrims felt sorry for Hua Qiyue. After all, it was rare of such an outstanding woman to emerge in a place like Changjing Kingdom where males reigned supreme. Hua Qiyue was about to become Prince Nan’s princess consort when Princess Qianyang suddenly appeared from nowhere to steal her thunder. This would not be easy to resolve!

Yun Shimo entered the Princess’ chambers and the maidservant said softly, “Your Highness, Prince Nan has arrived.”

“Yes...”

Someone inside answered coldly. Yun Shimo was a little taken aback. Didn’t the Princess invite him to admire the moon? Why was she still indoors? The courtyard was rather huge and there was a Moon Admiring Pavilion and a pavilion that faced the wind.

“Your Highness, you...”

Yun Shimo started in confusion when he suddenly heard footsteps and when he turned around, he saw the maidservant leaving in a hurry. His face darkened. This had all been a set-up!

After the maidservant left, he would be all alone with Princess Qianyang in her quarters. He could already guess what kind of rumors would circulate about the two of them once everyone found out that they were alone in a room together without a chaperone!

“Ah... save me, Your Highness!” The Princess shrieked in surprise.

He had someone say coldly, “Haha, Princess, you should just submit to me!”

An assassin?

Yun Shimo frowned and didn’t know what he should do.