It was almost the evening.Today, the usually busy streets of Lin Kingdom were busier than normal days. They were filled with peoples mourning and murmurs. People were whining and cussing the disastrous storm that destroyed their livelihood and pleading to G.o.d.
The aftermath of the storm was really huge. Hundreds of people lost their lives and countless were badly injured. Rooftops and houses were uprooted by the dangerous windblown, so, people had no idea what should they needed to do.
As a result, a large crowd of homeless people was sitting in front of the government district offices, asking for rescue and help. There were even some wealthy families among the crowd. The impact of the storm was so horrible that even the privileged families were not spared of the destructive force. It was such a merciless storm.
They were uncertain about the future. They not only lost everything they had but also the precious lives of their respective family members. Since most of them had no shelter to live on or money to provide themselves, as a result, some were setting slums on the street. It was not like they had other options left except staying under the sky.
*****
A large procession of luxurious carriages was pa.s.sing through the border of Lin Kingdom; they were almost entering the Qiu Kingdom. It was difficult for these people to confidently ensure which country they belong since they could be regarded as both Qiu and Lin Kingdom"s citizen.
In the middle of the entourage was a gorgeous red colored carriage with golden borderlines. At the back of it was a picture of a flying eagle; engraved in gold, implying the imperial family"s sign. It looked domineering but enchanting at the same time.
The refugees thought that finally, the higher-ups had arrived. So they started to gather in front of the carriage. Soon they noticed the red luxurious carriage and deduced that the imperial family or maybe His Highness was present here. As a result, they were happily kowtowing on the street while shouting their hearts out.
"Your Highness, thank you for arriving."
"Please help our families."
"Your Highness..."
The curtain of the red carriage was slightly opened by a small slender hand. Nuwa sneakily peeked at the chaos outside while slightly lifting her thick veil from face.
She was surprised to realize that the situation was more terrible than she had imagined. Though she had a bit of idea that the impact would be bad; never imagined it would become this worse since the weather looked calm and beautiful when she was leaving the palace in the morning.
Nuwa sighed.
"They are my past, my reflection..."
Back then, if she was not picked up from the street by the Princess Liena and got noticed by the royal family, she might also behave like them. Or worse, she might have already died on the deadly storm...
"I"m the luckiest person in the world..."
Nuwa murmured when shifting her gaze again to the crowd. She had a great urge to stop by and offered them her helping hand by giving off some of her dowry. Twenty carriages of dowry... It was really too much. Only a trunk of gold was enough for an entire city to live well off; atleast for a month.
However, she didn"t do it. She didn"t have the courage to act according to her heart and do whatever she wanted to do. For her, it was more important to safely reach to the Qiu Kingdom. It was her responsibility to keep promises.
Nuwa slowly closed her eyes. She was exhausted. It"d been a week since she last slept. After Liena"s death, she could hardly close her eyelids because of insomnia. As a result, her head had been spinning with an unbearable headache. However, she was feeling drowsy today because she felt a huge burden was left from her heart after she left the kingdom to marry Qiu Feng Mian.
Suddenly her carriage speeded up. She was not prepared so, her body loudly fell on the floor. Opening her eyes in shock, Nuwa frowned when readjusted herself on the seat.
"Miss..."
Xiao Anhao exclaimed in horror. Her miss was bleeding so badly. Her miss"s forehead had a cut, worst timing that it was before entering in her future husband"s place. Such a bad luck!
"Miss, you are hurt!"
Xiao Anhao hurriedly offered Nuwa a handkerchief. Nuwa accepted it.
"It"s okay. Don"t be so loud."
Nuwa said when pressing the handkerchief on her wound. She didn"t like to see others worried about her.
The empress dowager"s faithful servant, Yao mama, was also present inside the carriage. She worriedly took out a small box from G.o.d knows where and offered Nuwa.
"Princess, please apply this. It will prevent your bleeding and... please don"t say that you are okay when you get hurt. Don"t be negligent on yourself. You can"t have any scar on your body."
"Why?"
Xiao Anhao curiously asked. She had been serving Nuwa for last three years and was Nuwa"s only companion of some a.s.sa.s.sination missions.
Xiao Anhao was surprised that her miss was promoted to the princess"s position and also was getting married to an emperor. Worst of all, it was that horrible emperor!
Everything happened so sudden like a blink of an eye that she didn"t grasp enough time to digest.
"Because it"s not permitted. You will never be able to get married to any imperial family member if you have any scar on your body. Forget about being married, even a concubines position is impossible. These rule past down to all imperial families for generations."
Both Nuwa and Xiao Anhao nodded their heads like chicken. They had no knowledge about these matters.
Yao mama signed inwardly. These little girls had no knowledge about the harsh inner court management of the royal families. She had to teach them otherwise they will bring shame to Princess Liena"s name.
The next moment, all of her frustration poured on Xiao Anhao as she angrily started scolding.
"How many times do I have to remind you not to call Her Highness miss or lady?"
Xiao Anhao loudly gulped her saliva. She stared at the floor apologetically when listening to the lectures of the aggressive Yao mama. She lost count how many times she was being scolded today.
Besides, it was hard for Xiao Anhao too, to change her three years of habit in just a few hours. She only learned about Nuwa becoming Princess this morning from Yao mama. Previously, Nuwa didn"t tell her anything, so Xiao Anhao wasn"t aware of Liena"s death.
As a result, she was repeatedly making mistakes and nonstop getting scolded. Yao mama was really scary.
She almost burst to cry. Tearfully, she stared at Nuwa asking for rescue, so, to divert Yao Mama"s attention, Nuwa asked.
"What happened to the Coachman? Why the carriage is shaking so much?"
Nuwa was actually successful since the talkative Yao mama"s attention was finally diverted to her. Yao mama asked the coachman about the outside situation and then replied to Nuwa,
"Our carriage has been surrounded by citizens, Princess. We are already in Qiu kingdom..."
Yao Mama"s could not complete her sentence since the carriage again violently shook and both she and Xiao Anhao fell on the ground.
This time Nuwa was prepared. She was tightly holding the edge of the window and her seat with both of her hands to tolerate the violent pressure when looking outside.
The sky had already getting pitch black. They were in the middle of a forest.
However, her beautiful face turned pale when she discovered a large crowd was chasing after their procession like mad dogs. Their attires didn"t look like normal citizens, they were wearing black robes when holding swords. Their face looked dangerous.
Nuwa"s heart suddenly filled with immersible fear. She realized, they were attacked by a group of bandits.
[Note: Unedited chapter.]