An Eight-year-old Princess

Hua Jing had spent the whole day in her tent. When she peeked out, it was already dark. Sometimes, several patrol soldiers passed by. That and Hua Jing's agitated pacing were the only sounds that could be heard.

A sudden noise scared Hua Jing. She jumped in surprise. She turned around to see, and found that a stone had fallen by the table. Hua Jing watched as it bounced and rolled before coming to a halt. Hua Jing looked around carefully before picking it up. She split the stone into two halves and took out a strip of cloth from the inside. There were two lines of characters on the cloth, which said, Time is limited. Take action soon.

Hua Jing clenched her teeth and put the cloth into the sachet hanging on her waist. It was a letter from Qingsu urging her to finish and leave. But, she still had no idea as to how she would escape. She frowned and felt more agitated.

Hua Jing's stay in the Ning army and being a spy for Qingsu were just expedient. She had been impersonating Yun Shang since she met Qingsu, and had deceived him into writing a letter to Emperor Ning, in which he raised the request of marriage between him and Princess Hui Guo. Qingsu was so cruel that he would not let Hua Jing live if he learned the truth. So she persuaded Qingsu to send her to the Ning army. She had convinced Qingsu that she, as the Princess of Ning, could work as his spy in the Ning army, or steal an Army Deployment Map, or even poison Prince Jing.

However, Hua Jing would not do as she had assured Qingsu. She was, after all, the Princess of Ning. How could she do something to undermine her own country? She just did all this to escape from Qingsu.

But Hua Jing came to realize how simple-minded she was as soon as she set foot in the Ning camp. She had underestimated Qingsu. Qingsu not only placed guards outside the Ning camp, but he had also arranged spies to watch her inside the camp. He must know everything about her.

"Your Highness..." A voice announced from outside. Hua Jing was so shocked that she turned around hurriedly, "Who is it?"

Silence followed her question. Then the person spoke, "Your Highness, I am in service of Prince Jing. The Prince wonders whether Your Highness is willing to have a chat with him in his tent."

Prince Jing? Hua Jing squinted as she contemplated. She could feel suspicion from the Prince ever since she arrived at the camp. He always gave her the cold shoulder whenever she went to his tent. But today, the Prince was inviting her to his tent. How could it be possible? Hua Jing could not help but worry.

The soldier led Hua Jing to Prince Jing's tent. She vaguely heard the Prince speak as she stood outside the tent.

"My Lord, Her Highness is here." The soldier said aloud from the doorway. To prevent Qingsu from finding out her true identity, Hua Jing had ordered all soldiers to address her Princess instead of Princess Hua Jing since her first day at the Ning camp.

"Please come in." Hua Jing heard the Prince speak in a low and attractive voice. The soldier pushed open the curtain for Hua Jing, and she entered. But her face darkened after she got a clear view of the interior. There were three people in the tent, the Prince, Mister Xiao, and Lady Zhao.

Lady Zhao looked sullen too. She turned and gave Hua Jing a look of contempt, and said sarcastically, "It's you, Princess Hua Jing."

Hua Jing gnashed her teeth but walked in with a smile. "Mother, I didn't expect that Uncle had invited you here."

"Mother?" Lady Zhao smiled, "Your Highness is the star out of reach of the Zhao family. Before I came here, I requested the Emperor to allow Your Highness and my son to divorce. Anyway, no one knows whether Yingjie is alive or dead. Your Highness can relieve yourself of the burden if Your Highness divorces him."

Hua Jing fastened her hands into fists in her sleeves. How she desperately wished that she could consent to Lady Zhao's proposal! However, she recalled what the Empress had said to her when she was about to leave the Imperial Palace. If she divorced Zhao Yingjie at this moment, she would certainly be condemned as a hardhearted woman by everyone. Thinking of the stigma the divorce would bring for her, Hua Jing lowered her head to show pitiful meekness. She said while sobbing, "The Emperor's Son-in-Law is missing. I know mother must feel sad and worried for him. But, mother, please don't say something like that again. As Yingjie's wife, I feel no better than you. No matter what happens to him, I will bear the consequence with you, shoulder to shoulder."

Yun Shang was sitting near Hua Jing. She glanced at Hua Jing with a look of contempt, and thought to herself, You are smarter now, Hua Jing. I should never have underestimated you.

Yun Shang cast her eyes on both women before speaking with Lady Zhao with a smile, "Hua Jing is right, Lady Zhao. You two should not quarrel with each other at this time when the Emperor's Son-in-Law is missing. Her Highness is worried for the Emperor's Son-in-Law, too. Her Highness came to the border in search of the Emperor's Son-in-Law. She left the day after you left the Imperial City. All people in the Imperial City are talking about the virtuous deeds of Her Highness and lauding her faithfulness to the Emperor's Son-in-Law. But Prince Hua Jing had gotten lost along the way, and was delayed in arriving here. Her Highness must have suffered tremendously. Wouldn't it be improper for you to blame Her Highness after so long and hard a journey?"

clever enough to catch the subtext behind the words. Hua Jing sought to better

face darkened suddenly. She said with a cold smile, "No wonder the Empress is the Empress. Her

Shang smiled when she heard Lady Zhao mention the Empress. "I heard something awful had happened to the Empress during the Winter Solstice Sacrificial Ceremony. Lady Shu ran into Her Majesty by

Jing. Hua Jing stayed silent for a short while, then

"I don't know all the details very

was hoping her mother would give birth to a son. She would have nothing to worry about if her brother was designated by the Emperor as the Crown Prince. But

Jing's sullen expression. This is just the beginning. There will be more for you to

and Lady Zhao are the only women in the camp, it would be more convenient for both of you to share

escorted Lady Zhao and Hua Jing to their tent. When Prince Jing and Yun Shang were alone in the tent, the Prince asked softly, "Is Lady Shu under arrest in the

Shang was taken by surprise. Then she remembered that Lady Shu was in service of the Prince. But how

cup by her side, and tried to come up with an ideal answer. Then she heard the Prince speak after a sigh, "Lady Shu has spent many years in the Imperial Palace. I know more or less what she is capable of. You must be angry at her

after a long silence, "How could you be so

wanted to eliminate the baby in the Empress's belly, she didn't have to do it in public.

at the Prince, "What did you say? The Empress is unable to have a

had told her

incapable of bearing

Prince Jing raised his hand to pat her head

could it be possible for Yun Shang to fall asleep? What the Prince had said left her sleepless. It must be he who ensured that the Empress was unable to get pregnant. The Empress, however, must not know about all this, otherwise she would not pretend to be pregnant. And His Majesty didn't seem to know any of this. But why did the Prince tell

eyes to look at the Prince. But the

tent before the morning drum sounded. The Prince was in such a hurry that he didn't wear his armor while attending the meeting. Before long, the entrance of the camp was guarded by soldiers to prevent anyone

feel the tension, though they were not told anything. It seemed as though

reason as well. She paced in her tent the whole morning.

off the Buddhist bead

camp entrance. Seeing many soldiers patrolling the entrance, she

Your Highness. I just heard that the Army Deployment Plan was stolen. The Prince

She could not even find where the Army Deployment Plan was being kept! It had already been stolen? Who did it? Since Ning and Yelang were at war, the military plan must have been stolen by someone from Yelang. It was useless to a third party. If Qingsu already had

Not a solder was seen outside the Prince's tent. Hua Jing found this odd as the tent used to be heavily guarded. As she neared, Hua Jing could hear someone speaking

army informed me that they were going to steal our Army Deployment Plan. So I prepared a plan. I told the soldiers that the Army Deployment Plan had been stolen, which is of course false. But Yelang's spies would think it to be true, and would no longer try to steal the plan. It might be possible that those spies would think the plan was stolen by one

plot? Hua Jing was taken by surprise. Was the Army

hidden in a secret place, right? But where is it hidden, My Lord?" A man asked the very question that Hua Jing wanted to raise.

I will dismiss all soldiers around my tent. It would seem as if the Army Deployment Plan has indeed been stolen and there is nothing important in my tent. There would be no difficulty in identifying Qingsu's spies