Chapter 48 : The Eldest Princess
Chapter 48 - The Eldest Princess
Although the woman who had suddenly appeared was merely a phantom, one could vaguely make out her gentle and alluring figure.
“So this is the meeting you were talking about.” Li Nan Ke realized.
He hadn’t expected this mysterious woman to also be a Dream Weaver; her identity was truly out of the ordinary.
“How was this welcoming gift?” The woman asked again.
Li Nan Ke shrugged.
“To be honest, it was quite ordinary. Not challenging in the least. But using ‘Red Rain’ on an eight-year-old girl… don’t you think you went a little too far?”
“That’s why I am here.”
The mysterious woman’s voice held a hint of amusement.
“If you hadn't been able to deal with the Nightmare, I would have had to step in and save the little girl myself. Fortunately, your performance wasn't too bad.”
Li Nan Ke’s gaze deepened. “Let’s get down to business. Did Landlord Lin commit suicide, or did you force his hand?”
The sky was already beginning to brighten.
The surrounding grass, trees, and rocks looked as if they were pixelated, degrading from Blu-ray to standard definition, ready to be erased at any moment.
“I never force others.”
The mysterious woman’s figure flickered like a candle flame in the wind.
Li Nan Ke raised an eyebrow. “So he killed himself? But I don’t understand.”
“What don’t you understand?”
“Even though Landlord Lin had suffered a great misfortune, he surely wanted to live.”
“I only told him one thing.” The mysterious woman fell silent for a moment before speaking slowly.
“I told him my mother passed away at the beginning of the year.”
“Your mother is…”
“His first love.”
“?”
Li Nan Ke couldn’t help but be stunned.
Now it made sense.
He had previously asked Landlord Lin why he would marry a prostitute from a brothel, and the man had replied that Mei Xing Er bore a slight resemblance to a woman he had been fond of in his youth.
From this, it wasn’t difficult to see the place that the goddess of his first love held in his heart.
The mysterious woman said softly, “Uncle Lin used to be an accountant who worked for my mother. After my mother married the Cult Master, he volunteered to go out on missions. Later on, he came to settle down in this small town.”
“In truth, we all knew he had grown tired of it all. The fact that he married a woman who bore a resemblance to my mother made it obvious that he intended to live out the rest of his days here.”
“He projected his feelings for my mother onto Mei Xing Er, but unfortunately, Mei Xing Er betrayed him in the end. He was quite ruthless himself, though, driving that mother and daughter to a dead end.”
Li Nan Ke was silent.
He could hear that there wasn’t a trace of a lie mixed in the woman’s words, confirming for him that Landlord Lin’s death was a suicide.
The woman he had projected his emotions onto had betrayed him, the woman he loved most was dead, and he himself was being targeted by the Night Patrol. It was highly likely he would end up implicating the daughter of his first love. Landlord Lin had thus lost his motivation to live, and suicide was perhaps a release.
“If he hadn’t killed himself, would you have acted?” Li Nan Ke asked the crucial question.
The mysterious woman didn’t answer directly.
“Although he caused trouble, the Heavenly Dome Cult wouldn’t have come for him so soon. I just happened to be in Dongqi County on other business and paid him a visit, which is how I found out about the whole affair.”
“The major case in three days?” Li Nan Ke recalled the letter the other party had given him.
“Correct,” the mysterious woman said.
“A major case will occur in three days. It might be outside your official duties, but I hope you can participate. Uncle Lin said you were very smart and might be able to help me, so I’d like to see for myself just how capable you are.”
Watching the surrounding vegetation begin to vanish, Li Nan Ke couldn’t help but sneer.
“I don’t recall ever agreeing to help you.”
“That is not important. What is important…”
The woman’s figure dissipated along with the forest, her voice drifting back through the air with half a sentence.
“…is that I have a bargaining chip sufficient to sway you.”
Hm?
Why did that sound… off?
……
On a slightly bumpy mountain path, a two-horse carriage clopped forward under the cloak of night.
The carriage was especially magnificent and luxurious. Its shafts, yokes, and passenger compartment were all coated in a glossy black lacquer.
The exterior was constructed of ironwood planks with moving mechanisms, capable of effectively withstanding attacks from arrows and projectiles.
Expert guards in tight-fitting, ink-black uniforms surrounded the carriage, holding torches made with pine oil and remaining vigilant at all times.
Inside the carriage, a warming stove drove away the night’s chill.
Like a little kitten, He Lan Xiao Xiao had her hands pressed to the small window, curiously observing the elm trees lining the road, her beautiful eyes shimmering.
“Grand Empress Dowager, you have been watching all day. Aren’t you tired?”
A smile played on Bai Ru Yue’s foxy, charming face.
He Lan Xiao Xiao turned around, her large, dark eyes crinkling into crescents, her sweet and soft voice unable to conceal her excitement.
“How could I be tired? The world outside is so much fun! Do you know what I saw just now? I saw a fox… I think it was a fox… Anyway, it was fascinating!”
“Alright, you can keep watching then. If you get tired, just take a nap.”
Bai Ru Yue’s gaze was affectionate as she brushed a stray bang from the other’s forehead.
“We need to travel quickly for the next couple of days, so the sleep won’t be as peaceful as it is in the palace.”
“Mhm.”
He Lan Xiao Xiao nodded her little head vigorously and continued to watch the night scenery outside.
Bai Ru Yue smiled, picked up a piece of intelligence that had arrived a short while ago, and reread it, her slender, arched eyebrows furrowing slightly.
[In three days, the Shadow Guards escorting the County Princess of Mountain Cloud will stop to rest in Yun City’s Dongqi County. As a Chiliarch of the Shadow Guards, why would Long Tianhe choose to station his people in a place like this…]
Bai Ru Yue’s long, slender fingers tapped gently against her leg.
‘Could it be a secret order from Father Emperor?’
The woman leaned against the carriage wall, deep in thought.
If it was a secret order from her Father Emperor, then things would be rather tricky.
This meant that Father Emperor was still very concerned about that rumor; otherwise, he wouldn't be in such a hurry to find the County Princess of Mountain Cloud.
Other factions were also watching from the shadows.
Whether in the imperial court or the pugilistic world, this County Princess of Mountain Cloud was a veritable hot commodity.
Just at that moment, the woman, deep in thought, suddenly furrowed her brow. Her hands unconsciously gripped her dress, and a rouge-like blush gradually spread across her jade-like cheeks.
“Damn it! This strange illness is flaring up again.”
Bai Ru Yue silently cursed her own carelessness for forgetting when it was due to flare up, and she quickly bolted the carriage door.
He Lan Xiao Xiao looked back, puzzled. “What’s wrong, Little Ru Yue? Are you tired?”
“Turn around and don’t look!”
Fine beads of sweat appeared on the woman’s forehead, her tone harsh.
He Lan Xiao Xiao was startled. She had never been rebuked so harshly by the other woman before and felt a little hurt, but she obediently turned her head away.
Gazing at the scenery outside the window, the young woman’s attention was captivated.
It was something she had never seen in the palace, and her whole heart felt as if it had taken flight.
She imagined herself turning into a little bird, soaring freely.
An unknown amount of time passed before a long sigh was heard.
He Lan Xiao Xiao turned her head and was puzzled to see Bai Ru Yue leaning wearily against the carriage wall. Her almond-shaped eyes were half-closed, and her slightly disheveled hair was stuck to her sweat-dampened cheeks, creating an indescribably bewitching and alluring sight.
“Little Ru Yue, are you really tired? Why don’t you lean on my lap and sleep for a bit?” He Lan Xiao Xiao’s expression was full of concern.
“I’m fine.” Bai Ru Yue forced a smile and slowly opened her eyes.
Within those shimmering, limpid eyes, a hazy mist seemed to swirl.
Just then, He Lan Xiao Xiao suddenly covered her small mouth and exclaimed in surprise,
“Little Ru Yue, you’ve spilled tea all over the floor!”