Once everything was ready, Princess Lingchen allowed her maidservant, Ah Zhen to put a thick coat around her body before the Princess climbed up her horse. Vice General Fei Liu led the group in front along with a few other guards. Mingyue chose to ride beside her with Yang Yun staying closer to them. Because of his injury, Prince Lu Wei had to ride a carriage with guards surrounded him.The group departed early in the morning as they wanted to arrive in the capital city before the sky turned darker. They traveled for hours until they decided to catch a quick break near a stream.
The guards scattered to patrol around the area. A few from the Elite Squad stayed around both Princess Lingchen and Prince Lu Wei, while Yang Yun scanned around his surroundings. Once he was sure that the area was safe, Yang Yun walked towards Prince Lu Wei and helped him to exit the carriage and let him rest under a shady tree.
After examining the Prince"s injury as per Mingyue"s instruction, Yang Yun called a soldier nearby to help Prince Lu Wei with his meal. Once he finished his tasks, Yang Yun walked towards the stream where Princess Lingchen and Mingyue sat to rest. Yang Yun stopped at a certain distance away to protect them.
"How are you feeling?" Mingyue asked the Princess as she sat down.
"Good," Princess Lingchen gave a smile. She removed the binding around her wrist before she placed her hands on top of Mingyue. The Princess closed her eyes briefly as Mingyue examined her pulse.
After a few minutes, Mingyue helped to tie the bindings on the Princess" wrist. When they finished, Ah Zhen stepped forward with a leather flask in her hand. The Princess took a few sips before she returned the container to her maidservant.
Princess Lingchen turned towards where Prince Lu Wei was resting, and then she looked away. "How is the Prince?"
"He"s pretty well," Mingyue answered. "The route back to the Capital was a bit rough, but he"s holding on alright."
Princess Lingchen nodded. Last night, just before the Princess retreated to her sleeping chamber, she had received news from Vice General Fei Liu that there was an incident with Prince Lu Wei"s carriage that headed towards the capital city. Someone sneaked into the Prince"s carriage to a.s.sa.s.sinate the prince.
However, Prince Lu Wei was not in the carriage, but instead, a subst.i.tute. A brief fight happened inside the carriage. Soon, the a.s.sa.s.sin was caught and detained inside the carriage without anyone else noticing.
When the Princess first heard the Emperor"s command to let Prince Lu Wei traveled with her using another route, Princess Lingchen had thought that both the Emperor and General Jiang Xiao Xian was too precautious.
Princess Lingchen pondered for a while before she excused herself from Mingyue. She stood up and headed towards Prince Lu Wei. "Prince Lu Wei," the Princess greeted before she continued, "I hope you are alright after this long trip. If you need to rest a while longer, you can tell me."
"Thank you for your concern, Crown Princess," Prince Lu Wei said with a smile. "We do not need to delay this trip back to the city. I am alright. Your people took care of me well. Da Cheng"s hospitality is indeed the best."
"I"m glad to hear that. You are, after all, a guest of Da Cheng. If there"s anything that you need, don"t hesitate to tell them to the servants. " Princess Lingchen said. She glanced towards Ah Zhen and signaled her maidservant to bring her meal along. Then, she turned to the Prince with a courteous smile. "Do you mind if I join you for a meal?"
Prince Lu Wei studied the Princess" expression to guess her intention. He could only guess that the Princess was trying to be polite to him. "Of course. Please." the Prince motioned towards a spot beside him.
Princess Lingchen paused when she saw the light in the prince"s eyes. Her brow knitted as a thought crossed her mind. She felt that the prince"s gaze was somehow familiar. Before Princess Lingchen could think further, a servant stepped forward to clean the spot before Princess Lingchen sat down.
The Princess and Prince had their meal together while chatting courteously over some trivial matter. Their conversation stopped when they noticed something was changing around them. The sun shone brightly a while ago, but the sky slowly turned darker.
Princess Lingchen turned to the soldier next to her. Then, she looked up and frowned. "What happened? Is it going to rain?"
Prince Lu Wei tilted his head up to the sky. His expression darkened, and his eyes glinted dangerously.