Chapter 85: Scheme to Escape
Clear Creek Plains was a scenic area for people of the imperial household to amuse themselves.
Hua Qianye was holding the Hundred Flowers Gathering today, so he naturally wouldn"t leave this place out.
These daughters of aristocratic families also like coming here to play so today was a perfect chance.
However, certain people didn"t care that much. And that person, was Xiao Susu.
Unexpectedly, Xiao En was also willing to spend time in this place. It wasn"t because of how amazing the scenery was, but because it was a show of status.
This place was a spread of seemingly endless gra.s.sland with a valley ahead that had a pouring waterfall.
This was all that Clear Creek Plains was. However, it was very refreshing to stand in this place. The moment Xiao Susu walked in, she became captivated.
She fell in love with this place at the first glance.
There were guards keeping watch of the surroundings, so it was very tranquil inside.
Of course, the arrival of their group disturbed the quietness. It didn"t affect things much, it just became a hint more lively.
On the eastmost side was a row of houses with glazed roof tiles like that of the palaces for people to rest. There were servants walking in and out of those houses. They knew that the prince and princess would be visiting today, so they were very busy with preparations.
They still didn"t dare to offend this new princess. After all, there was a high chance that she would inherit the throne.
These were people that didn"t come in touch with government matters, so they naturally didn"t know too much, and hence had to be even more cautious.
This was also Xiao En"s first time coming to Clear Creek Plains, so he also had a very bright smile on his face. He knew that he was here thanks to Xiao Susu, otherwise, he had no hopes of stepping in here in this lifetime.
Meanwhile, although Xu Weiran was also smiling, the depths of his eyes were very dark.
From the start, he had been getting further and further away from his people on the lake, and now that he was here, it could be said that he would have to face all dangers alone. He had no way of contacting He Yitian and the others.
Of course, he couldn"t risk a falling out and could only fire off the help signal when there was no other choice.
He looked towards Hua Qianye with a cold smile.
Hua Qianye was acting like a very enthusiastic host, he even had his subordinates explain the origin of Clear Creek Plains. Of course, things were said with great exaggeration. They made Hundred Flowers Nation"s imperial power sound G.o.dlike.
And they made this Clear Creek Plains sound like an existence even more mysterious than Lunar Waters Palace.
Of course, it was easy to see exactly how mysterious this place was with just one glance.
Following behind them, although Xiao Susu looked like she was captivated by the scenery in front of her, she was also very much on guard. Princes from two nations had been lured here, so the situation definitely wasn"t that simple.
Even she could tell that Hua Qianye definitely did not have good intentions.
He hadn"t invited her here out of good intentions, so his invitations to Xu Weiran and Baili Mo were definitely even worse.
Xiao Susu was keeping a close eye on his every move. Of course, those daughters of aristocratic families that only knew to play and were giggling as they wandered around happily.
No one sensed the existence of danger.
Baili Mo also looked very on guard. Although Nangong Mo was with him, he was well aware that this was Hundred Flowers Nation"s territory.
Furthermore, this Hundred Flowers Gathering was only a small gathering. No one had given them an invitation, they had purposefully come here to catch Xiao Susu. So if something actually happened, their people wouldn"t be able to find evidence that it was the prince of Hundred Flowers Nation, Hua Qianye"s doing.
He couldn"t help but become a bit anxious.
He maintained an amiable manner, but he remained very cautious.
"Let"s go rest in the pavilion." After Hua Qianye"s subordinate finished introducing Clear Creek Plains, Hua Qianye invited everyone to continue onwards.
It was like they were here to take a walk in nature.
So this group of young men and women proceeded onwards. The men were handsome, the women were graceful, so it was a very pleasant sight.
Only the people involved were aware of the danger in this moment.
Hua Qianzi was also a very intelligent woman. She had already carried out what she had wanted to do and she was very satisfied with the results. Even though Xiao Susu had put her in a difficult spot, she endured it.
If she didn"t endure this small matter, it would ruin the big picture.
After failing once, she had learned a lot.
She knew now how to escape unscathed from things.
"Ah…"
Just as everyone were walking up the steps, Hua Qianzi suddenly cried out and fell backwards.
Xiao En was standing next to her, so he reacted quickly and hastily helped her up. "Princess."
Everyone looked back upon hearing this.
Although Xiao En had already helped Hua Qianzi up, she had still fallen over the steps. At this time, her face was twisted in pain as she leaned on Xiao En and bent over. "My foot… it hurts."
Xiao Susu inwardly remarked that it was bad. This time, Hua Qianzi s.n.a.t.c.hed the opportunity first, so it was going to be a little hard for her to get out of this now.
Since Hua Qianzi had already used this method, if she tried to use this method, it would seem too fake.
How could she possibly not be aware that if anything happened today, no one currently present would be able to shake off responsibility? Even the Xiao family wouldn"t be able to escape unscathed.
This was precisely Hua Qianye"s scheme.
The people present were either the Emperor"s relatives or the descendants of generals and ministers who hold great power.
They were now all tied together.
Even if they didn"t want to continue walking with Hua Qianye, they had no other choice.
When Xiao Susu saw that Xiao En was supporting Hua Qianzi, she also walked over. She gritted her teeth as she thought hard for a way to get out of here. The longer they waited, the less of a chance they had of getting out of here.
Hua Qianye would make his move at any moment.
She knew that out of Xu Weiran and Baili Mo, one of them would definitely die here today.
Unless an accident occurred.
However, based on how perfectly staged everything was and Hua Qianye"s confident manner - Xiao Susu"s hands clenched inside her sleeves - it was impossible for an accident to occur.
Hua Qianye inwardly gave a cold humph as he took in Hua Qianzi"s expression of pain, but his expression didn"t change as he walked over. "Little Sister, how could you be so careless?"
He looked towards the side. "Is there an imperial physician with us?"
His eyes were completely dark. He thought that things would go perfectly, but it seemed that he had underestimated this sister of his which had just popped up.
She actually wanted to back out.
Of course there was no way he would allow it.
All the women shook their heads. Aside from Hua Qianye who had brought his personal bodyguards, no one else had brought any servants.
Xiao Susu looked at the people present, then lifted her head. "I know a bit of medicine, so allow me to take a look."
She didn"t seem very willing and her face actually contained a trace of helplessness.
"Young Miss Xiao… knows the medicinal arts?" Hua Qianye"s brows furrowed tightly. His voice contained a trace of dissatisfaction and hints of coldness.
It seemed that his plan wasn"t going to go that smoothly.
Just because of Hua Qianzi.
"Yes." Xiao Susu nodded.
Although Xu Weiran, Baili Mo, and Nangong Mo were very much on guard this entire time, upon hearing this, they couldn"t help but look towards Xiao Susu with shock.
In reality. Xiao Susu wasn"t very proud of all the talents that she had.
The one thing she had been most satisfied with was her skill in the medicinal arts.
However, she didn"t really want to touch it in this lifetime.
Because, it"d make her recall a certain person.
It"d make it impossible for her to continue her calm life.
However, today, for the sake of getting out of here, she had no other choice.
Even Xiao En looked incredulous. As he supported Hua Qianzi, he stared blankly at Xiao Susu, his mouth slightly open in shock.
Hua Qianzi who was currently twisting her face in an expression of pain also abruptly looked towards Xiao Susu.
She couldn"t shake off the feeling that Xiao Susu was very similar to that woman.
"You know the medicinal arts?" Hua Qianzi looked towards Xiao Susu in shock and lost control of her expression for a moment. She even stood up to grab Xiao Susu"s sleeve.
Of course, she didn"t want Xiao Susu to get involved either, otherwise she would lose the power she had just roped in.
However, in this moment, this wasn"t what she was thinking about. All that was on her mind was the fact that Xiao Susu actually knew the medicinal arts.
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Credits: Translated by Chiyomira
[Chiyomira"s Corner]
Enjoy~