An Eight-year-old Princess

Yun Shang was shocked. What did Lady Shu mean by this? Whenever a concubine in the Palace got pregnant, Prince Jing would order Lady Shu to get rid of the unborn child? Yun Shang could only feel coldness spreading from the bottom of her heart.

Although Prince Jing was an adopted son of the late Emperor, he was still a Prince. It would be unwise to assume that he did not covet the throne. Moreover, Prince Jing was a valiant warrior. Most of the country's territory was either conquered or guarded by him. However, if the Emperor had a son, the throne would surely belong to his son. As Prince Jing desired the throne, the best option for him would be to prevent father from having a male child. Prince Jing was over twenty years younger than the Emperor. If father had no heir of his own, after father's death, the throne could only be Prince Jing's.

Yun Shang had been thinking that Prince Jing's biggest opponent in the Imperial court was the Li clan. She was expecting Prince Jing to take action in the court. On the contrary, he had carefully set up a plan with Lady Shu in the Imperial household. While Yun Shang had figured out the alliance between Lady Shu and the Prince, she hadn't managed to understand their plan. Now Yun Shang realized that Prince Jing was the wiliest person she knew. She could also see that he knew how to achieve his goal while maintaining his composure.

If this only concerned other people, Yun Shang would watch the fight from a distance. But now the situation was different, as Lady Jin was pregnant as well. In this Palace, if someone else, even the Empress, wanted to harm Lady Jin's child, Yun Shang felt sure that she could prevent it. But if she were up against Prince Jing, Yun Shang was unsure that she would be able to secure a complete victory.

Lady Shu and her maid walked further and further away. However, Yun Shang stood still for a long time. Her mind was registering what she had just heard, and she was thinking of how she would deal with it.

A long time passed before Yun Shang came out from behind the trees and returned to Qingxin Palace.

When Yun Shang went to Qiwu Palace to pay her respects to the Empress the next day, she saw that Hua Jing was there, too. Yun Shang paid her respects in a courteous manner and stood in front of the two. Perhaps because the Empress was pregnant, Hua Jing was in a great mood as well. She did not say anything about what happened at the banquet. Yun Shang stood there for a while before deciding that she needed to be elsewhere. Yun Shang had originally intended to return to Qingxin Palace, but when she was half way there, she changed her mind and headed for the Palace gate.

Having left the Palace, Yun Shang went straight to Prince Jing's mansion. When she arrived, the guards at the gate saw her and opened the gates to the mansion without asking any questions. However, it was only after entering Prince Jing's mansion that Yun Shang discovered that he had gone to drill the soldiers at the training ground outside the city.

"Princess, the Prince should be back soon. I'll serve Your Highness a cup of tea while you wait here." The butler said in a low voice, then turned around and ordered the attendants to make tea.

Yun Shang sat for about an hour before Prince Jing returned to the mansion. He was accompanied by Wang Jinhuan.

Yun Shang looked at the two men. Prince Jing was wearing black today, but Wang Jinhuan was wearing red as usual. Although she had seen them together several times, Yun Shang always felt surprised that two such different men could actually became friends.

"Oh, our young Princess is here? I heard that Lady Zhao took a letter written with her blood to the Palace yesterday to implore the Emperor to issue an order for Hua Jing to divorce the Emperor's Son-in-Law. How did that turn out? What a pity. I wasn't there. It must've been quite a display." As soon as Wang Jinhuan saw Yun Shang, he delightfully sat by her.

Prince Jing nodded to Yun Shang, "I'll change."

There was the "I" again, thought Yun Shang, distracted. Why had he done away with royal etiquette when speaking to her?

"Hey, hey, I asked you. How did it turn out?" Wang Jinhuan pulled at Yun Shang's arm.

Yun Shang's turned and smiled, "You really wish for pandemonium, don't you? The Empress was there, so how could she allow Lady Zhao to get what she wanted? However, even if it was only up to my father, he wouldn't have condoned it. After all, Lady Zhao had no proof. She could only lean on what the monk said. Yet, she wanted to place the blame for the Emperor's Son-in-Law's captivity entirely on Hua Jing. She had no evidence, so any person would find her plea ridiculous. Besides, Hua Jing is still the Emperor's daughter..."

"Hm, what a bore. All this commotion and yet that cruel Princess is not being overthrown. Did you know? That time I escorted you to the Princess Palace, I got lost when you asked me to leave. I wanted to jump out of the Princess Palace with my Qinggong*. That's when I heard Princess Hua Jing discuss how to hurt you at the banquet." Wang Jinhuan grimaced and said hatefully, "What's with the grudges between you and Princess Hua Jing? You are sisters, even though not by the same mother, but you are still sisters..."

(*TN: A Chinese martial arts technique that supposedly helps one lift and travel in the air.)

Hearing this, Yun Shang turned to look at Wang Jinhuan, "Huh? You heard that?"

Wang Jinhuan quickly nodded, "Yes, you didn't know? I thought Luo Qingyan would have told you. Later that day, I rushed here to tell Luo Qingyan. I was thinking that since you were close to Luo Qingyan, he would inform you. But after I told him everything, he just left, saying that you were going to deal with it by yourself. I didn't think that he would show up at the banquet. Before this banquet, he received several invitations to parties. Yet, he answered none. Who would've expected him to show up? I felt that it was because he couldn't leave you there alone. Hm, it must be that..."

these things. After all, she was not that close to Prince Jing. As she opened her mouth to clarify, a cough

a sip of her tea, and then said,

soon as she finished, Wang Jinhuan jumped up, "What? The Empress

Prince Jing. Her eyes never left his face. The Prince calmly drank his tea as if... He

Jinhuan seemed to realize that he had overreacted. He looked at Prince Jing and

didn't know how to respond.

while Prince Jing broke the silence. "How's your

me worked well.

Jing nodded, "Well, that's

great today. I'm going to enjoy the flowers. I'll leave you two to quietly sit here." He straightened up as he finished, and made several faces at

two spoke. A while later, Yun Shang said, "I came to see you today because of something I heard. I thought it might concern you, but I'm not sure if it's true. After

it concerns me, there's nothing wrong in asking

pregnancy was never revealed

Jing nodded, but did

in the Imperial Garden. I ran

Jing nodded

the Palace, you would order her to get rid of the child within a few days." Yun

a moment. Then he whispered, "What she

Shang looked up at Prince Jing in surprise,

Shang. He looked down at her, "What do you think of me? As compared to your

was somewhat puzzling, but Yun Shang understood what he meant. She was silent for a moment, and then

ascended the throne, I was seven. It was then that your grandfather, the former Grand Tutor, praised me for having the talent to run the country. He said I was well-suited to the role of Emperor as I always cared about the people's peace and security. I did not try to compete with your father for many reasons. First, I am an adopted son of the former Emperor. Second, I did not have any power over the

did not expect Prince Jing to tell her all these things. She was stunned

smiled and turned away from

you're afraid that it's too hard to meddle in the Imperial court, and that your actions might alert my father and his ministers. So you've deliberately planted your informers in the Imperial

anything too openly in the Imperial court. Besides, Li clan has never been a threat to me. Because they all rely on the Empress. If anything happens to the Empress and she can't support them anymore, or if the

Shang. She deliberated for a while before finally saying, "My mother, Lady Jin has been

Yun Shang. A gentle smile appeared on his face. He looked somewhat puzzled and kept silent for a moment. Finally he seemed to mutter to himself,

had regained his

the Empress..." Yun Shang

her words. "The Empress?" Then he shrugged. "I don't need to

blank for a second. What's this supposed to mean? Yun Shang then remembered Lady Shu's explanation from the night before. She had said that many people at the

greater understanding of the current situation. She raised her head to look at Prince

at Yun Shang for some time before he nodded and smiled, "Will you now