At an unnoticeable abandoned house outside the capital.
Clearly, the dwellers had left in a hurry since many valuable antiques, calligraphy and paintings were left behind. Mo Xiu Yao sat in the garden and looked at the newly-planted peach wood and poisonous flowers and herbs all over the place.
Next to him, Shen Yang clicked his tongue in wonder. An ordinary man didn’t have the ability to grow all these poisonous flowers and herbs together. The one who lived here must have been a master of poison. To his amazement, Shen Yang even found a few rare poisonous herbs which he failed to find anywhere else. He didn’t care about anything else and hurriedly removed them with their roots in order to plant them in his own herb field.
“Your Highness, we are late. They have gone.” Walking out of a room, Feng Zhi Yao handed a book to Mo Xiu Yao. “My Lady did stay here. I think this is hers.”
Taking over the book, Mo Xiu Yao opened it. It was an ordinary selection of poems with a slip of paper in it. On it a few light red words were written with an anonymous ingredient which read “Safe, Don’t Worry”.
Feng Zhi Yao glanced at Mo Xiu Yao and continued: “Some corners of the yard were left with signs of fighting and smells of blood. Besides, the coal ashes left in the kitchen is still warm. I guess they've left not long ago. In my opinion, the secret guards who work for My Lady have found her before we do.” Feng Zhi Yao grumbled to himself, wondering why those secret guards didn’t inform them when they found the princess and everything would be ok after they rescued her together. Now that they were gone and the place was empty, they had no idea whether the princess was successfully rescued. Seeing Mo Xiu Yao's increasingly gloomy expression, Feng Zhi Yao started to envy Leng Hao Yu who left for the south.
“Where's Mo Jing Li?”
Feng Zhi Yao hesitated and answered: “n.o.body has seen him up to now, but… he can't hide forever. It's a pity that we don’t have evidence against him since we haven't caught him here and now and haven't found the princess.” Feng Zhi Yao had to admit that he had underestimated Mo Jing Li. There was nothing in this house that could link to Mo Jing Li, besides, the owner of this house was an irrelevant merchant who knew nothing. All they knew now was that a woman lived here whose appearance, age and ident.i.ty all remained a mystery.
Crouching in the flower bed and handling the herbs, Shen Yang said: “It was a woman from Nan Zhao who lived here.”
Feng Zhi Yao raised his brows. “Mr. Shen, how do you know that?”
Pointing at the flower bed, Shen Yang answered: “This garden is full of poisonous herbs, several of which comes from Nan Zhao except that peach wood. Let alone men of Great Chu, ordinary men of Nan Zhao who don't know poison well won’t recognize those herbs either. And… this…” Fishing out a shiny little thing from the soil under the peach wood, Shen Yang threw it to Feng Zhi Yao.
Feng Zhi Yao weighed it in his hand. “What is this? It seems like a girl's jewelry.”
Glancing over, Mo Xiu Yao said indifferently: “It’s a head ornament worn by female of Nan Zhao and… it should only be worn by an unmarried female of a n.o.ble family. There should be a mark behind the sapphire, an emblem of n.o.ble families of Nan Zhao. Send someone to check on this later.”
Feng Zhi Yao turned the sapphire around and it took him a good while to find a small and vague mark in a secret corner. If it wasn’t for Mo Xiu Yao's remarks, he could have taken it as a flaw of the jewelry and wouldn't pay it further attention. “An emblem? Nan Zhao likes to carve emblems on jewelries?”
Shen Yang shook his head and said: “In Nan Zhao, an emblem stands for a man’s ident.i.ty and honor. Not only do they like to carve emblems on jewelries, they also like to print emblems on clothes. In Nan Zhao, ordinary people know the emblems of n.o.ble families so they’ll get out of their way voluntarily.”
“Ah Li won’t bury something useless here.” Mo Xiu Yao said indifferently. “It seems she has already left.”
Feng Zhi Yao nodded and put that jewelry away. Then he said: “I’ll send someone after it.”
“Your Highness.” A guard came inside with a letter and said: “I found this outside the gate just now.”
Taking the letter, Mo Xiu Yao opened and read it when his sword-like brows slowly drew together in a frown.
“Your Highness?”
Folding that letter and putting it inside his sleeve, Mo Xiu Yao looked up and said to Feng Zhi Yao: “Head back to the capital.”
“What about the princess…”
“It's a letter from Ah Li's secret guard. Ah Li has been out of danger. As for Mo Jing Li… send someone to the woods three miles west, find him and take him back to the capital. Remember, I want him safely back to Prince Li's Manor. Don’t let anyone learn about this.”
Feng Zhi Yao nodded. “Is the princess back yet?”
Mo Xiu Yao glanced at him and said: “Princess Ding is missing. Prince Ding's Manor stops all its affairs to find the princess with full strength.”
Feng Zhi Yao was shocked. He was aware that Mo Xiu Yao wasn't in a good mood so he held back his questions wisely. “Yes, Your Highness. Come to think of it, Secret Guard No.3 and those lads have made great progress after following the princess for the half a year. They could basically come without a shadow and leave without a trace.” As he complained, Feng Zhi Yao told his men to get busy. Since His Highness wasn't in a good mood, he’d better leave him alone. But… this period of depression was finally going to end, right?
In a street of the capital, a young man in white wandered around with a folding fan in his hand. He was as fair as jade, his eyes glowed like shooting stars. Though he looked a little too young, he would become a gentleman as good as those handsome men of the capital in the future. The young man was followed by two tall guards. People that pa.s.sed by couldn’t help but throwing a few looks at him while wondering which family this young man who took his guards out for fun came from.
Secret Guard No.3 stood on the street a little awkwardly. Seeing their young lord who glanced over all those grocery stands by the street, he elbowed Secret Guard No.4 who is walking beside him. “What on earth do you think dose the prince… my lord want to do?”
Secret Guard No.4 glanced at him and said calmly: “Doesn’t she tell us? She’s waiting for No.1's message.”
“He doesn't have to ramble around on the street in order to wait for a message. If someone from the manor found out…” Recalling that his master didn't want to go back to the manor after she was safe, Secret Guard No.3 could picture what His Highness would look like if he knew about that. It didn’t matter for the princess but as secret guards they were definitely the ones to take the blame.
Secret Guard No.4’s mouth twitched and he glanced at the young lord in white in front of him. “Look at her. If you don’t know it’s her, will you recognize her as the princess?”
Their master's skills to dress up as a man were way beyond those of the n.o.ble ladies who dressed up as men in order to sneak out of their homes for fun. From height to figure, brows to eyes even the voice she spoke with and the way she walked were changed completely. More importantly, even a master of dressing up in disguise couldn’t tell who she really was since she didn’t use any tools or skin mask to help her disguise. If someone dared to point at her and call her a woman, that someone would no doubt be held with disdain by the crowd on the street. That was why she dared to walk in the street of the capital as bold as bra.s.s.
Secret Guard No.3 nodded in agreement. Few in the capital knew the princess and it would be impossible if anyone recognized her with her disguise. But… as a secret guard he wasn’t used to stand in the sun so openly.
Secret Guard No.4 tugged at Secret Guard No.3 who was still in a daze. “Come on. As long as you don’t act as if you have a guilty conscience, the secret guards of the manor won’t recognize us. Remember what our lord has told us.”
Secret Guard No.3 nodded and together with Secret Guard No.4 he caught up with the young lord in white.
The princess had told them that she didn’t need secret guards who could only protect her in the dark. Instead, she needed those who could stand by her side to a.s.sist her or even fight alongside of her and those who could complete all kinds of tasks.
After strolling around, Ye Li went back to the master suite of the inn where she stayed for the time being. Secret Guard No.1 and No.2 were already there, waiting for her.
Secret Guard No.1 took out a letter and said: “This letter comes from Lord Xu. He asks you to meet him at Silent Spirit Temple outside the capital tomorrow when he, Lady Xu, and a few other young lords of Xu Family will be there to pray for your safety.”
Ye Li nodded. She was a little frustrated since she didn’t know how to explain to her second uncle why she hadn't returned to the manor for so long and kept them worrying about her as well as her plan for the future. Rubbing her forehead, she looked at Secret Guard No.2. “Is there any news about Qing Luan and Qing Yu?”
Secret Guard No.2 nodded and answered: “Last night His Highness sent men to get them back to the manor but…” No.2 looked at Ye Li and said with a frown: “It seems they've lost their memories and don’t remember what happened exactly. I’ve heard that the secret guards found them in the cold palace.”
“Don’t remember what happened?” Ye Li frowned. “What did His Highness say?”
“His Highness let them recuperate in the manor and forbid anyone to meet them without his permission. He also sent Mr. Shen to treat them. The manor was heavily guarded thus I didn’t get too close though I know it well. Therefore, I didn’t have detailed information.” Secret Guard No.2 said a bit guiltily.
“You did well enough.” Ye Li was well aware of the defense of Prince Ding’s Manor. Secret Guard No.2 did a good job having sneaked in without anyone noticing and got out safely. Ye Li frowned slightly. Mo Xiu Yao had kept Qing Yu and Qing Luan away from the others, which seemed an approach to let them recuperate without any worries, that also meant he might suspect them. During the past year when she lived with her maids, she counted on Qing Luan and Qing Yu more than she did Qing Xia who used to serve Old Lady Ye and Qing Shuang who was younger and livelier. Out of her trust in her uncles and grandpa, she never had the slightest doubt that Qing Luan and Qing Yu would betray her. Silent for a moment, Ye Li decided to leave it be for now. She was going to leave the capital and didn’t intend to bring those maids with her. Mo Xiu Yao wouldn’t get rid of them as he pleased since they were her maids. Then… let him find out if they were trustworthy.