“You’re saying that yesterday someone brought you a bottle of antidote pills?” After listening to Long Ying’s account, Qiao Zhao asked.
Long Ying nodded.
Qiao Zhao furrowed her brow in thought.
A couple of days ago, after Jiang Yuanchao had delivered that bottle of antidote pills to Princess Zhenzhen, he had sent word to her through someone. No matter how wary she was of Jiang Yuanchao, she still trusted him on this point.
So what was this bottle of antidote pills about?
After brief consideration, Qiao Zhao understood—Jiang Yuanchao must have heard news of Princess Zhenzhen’s poor condition and taken out the bottle of antidote pills she had sent.
“So you’re saying that now the Ninth Princess has disappeared from the palace, and you’ve brought her to me.”
Long Ying lowered his head awkwardly: “Yes.”
What he had done had indeed brought great trouble to Third Miss Li, but he had no other options left.
“Have you thought about what to do next?”
“Next?” Long Ying looked dazed.
“After the Ninth Princess recovers, she can’t very well live here forever, can she?”
Long Ying’s eyes lit up: “You mean Her Highness will get better?”
Though Binglu had spoken of miraculous healing earlier, Long Ying hadn’t believed it. But the words of this young woman before him—he couldn’t help but believe.
Perhaps that was exactly why he had run here without hesitation.
Qiao Zhao nodded lightly.
Long Ying seemed to come back to life, his eyes sparkling with excitement as he murmured: “Wonderful, wonderful.”
As he spoke, he knelt to kowtow to Qiao Zhao.
“Don’t kowtow—you still haven’t answered my question.”
If a princess mysteriously disappeared, even if they could temporarily conceal the news, Princess Zhenzhen could never again appear before the world in her original identity. So Princess Zhenzhen’s future life would be a problem.
“I’ll listen to the princess,” Long Ying said honestly.
Qiao Zhao was momentarily stunned, then smiled: “Very well, I’ll ask Her Highness when the time comes.”
With such a loyal guard present, it seemed she had worried unnecessarily.
News of the Ninth Princess’s death spread outside the palace the next day. Two days later, when Princess Zhenzhen awoke, all the residences in the capital already knew that Great Liang’s princess of unparalleled beauty was no more.
Normally, when a favored princess died, the emperor would often suspend court for one to three days to express his grief. But in the current dynasty, this wasn’t necessary—His Majesty hardly ever attended court anyway, and he was currently in seclusion, completely unaware of the princess’s death. All funeral arrangements for the Ninth Princess were handled by the Imperial Clan Court, Court of Imperial Sacrifices, and other departments under the Empress Dowager’s supervision.
“So you’re saying the world thinks I’m dead?” Princess Zhenzhen murmured, then suddenly grabbed Qiao Zhao’s sleeve. “Where’s Long Ying? I want to see him.”
“Your Highness, please wait a moment.”
Qiao Zhao nodded to A’Zhu, and soon A’Zhu led Long Ying in.
“Your Highness!” Seeing Princess Zhenzhen awake, Long Ying was overjoyed and knelt on one knee to pay his respects.
Princess Zhenzhen raised her hand and slapped him: “Long Ying, you bastard!”
Long Ying lowered his head and remained silent.
Princess Zhenzhen’s face turned white with anger: “Who gave you the audacity to do such a thing? What about my mother consort when you’ve implicated her like this?”
Qiao Zhao glanced coolly at Long Ying kneeling on the ground and left the room with A’Zhu.
Long Ying knelt straight and said nothing.
“Say something! Don’t you have a brain?” Princess Zhenzhen grew angrier as she spoke, using both hands and feet to hit Long Ying.
Long Ying silently endured it. After a while, he reminded her: “Your Highness, please hit more gently—your hands will hurt. Or let this humble servant hit himself instead.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Long Ying began slapping himself hard with both hands.
“Stop!” Princess Zhenzhen was both angry and anxious, grabbing one of Long Ying’s hands.
Long Ying was slightly stunned. His ears quickly turned red, and he hurriedly withdrew his hand, lowering his head like he had done something wrong, not daring to look at Princess Zhenzhen’s eyes.
Princess Zhenzhen pursed her lips and silently released her grip.
For a moment, the room was completely silent, making things somewhat uncomfortable.
Princess Zhenzhen coughed lightly and glanced sideways at Long Ying: “So what do we do now?”
Long Ying didn’t dare raise his head: “Whatever the princess says to do, this humble servant will do.”
“Raise your head! Always showing me the top of your head—do you think I enjoy looking at it?”
Only then did Long Ying raise his head.
“And don’t lower your head in front of me anymore!”
“Yes.”
“And don’t say ‘yes’ either.”
“Yes—” Long Ying looked innocently at Princess Zhenzhen, completely unsure what would be appropriate to say.
Princess Zhenzhen sighed: “So what’s happening in the palace? Have they been fooled?”
“It appears so for now…” Long Ying thought for a moment, “But Miss Li said we should make plans early.”
Princess Zhenzhen fell silent.
No matter what the future held, since they had temporarily succeeded in the deception and news of her death had spread everywhere, she could never return to the palace. That meant she would no longer be a princess.
Thinking of this possibility, Princess Zhenzhen felt no regret. Instead, she felt relieved from the depths of her heart.
If she weren’t a princess, she would never have to return to that cage-like imperial palace and could visit many places she had dreamed of going.
Of course, the prerequisite was having money.
Thinking of this, Princess Zhenzhen quickly raised her hand to touch her hair, discovering her head was completely bare. Her expression changed slightly: “Long Ying, when you brought me out of the palace, didn’t I have even a single hairpin on my head?”
Long Ying shook his head.
Princess Zhenzhen thought about it—she had been severely ill, so naturally her hair would have been loose, with no gold or silver ornaments.
As for the jade bracelet on her wrist, she dared not sell it, as doing so would expose her identity.
Princess Zhenzhen frowned in distress.
“What is Your Highness worried about?”
Princess Zhenzhen had nothing to hide from Long Ying and spoke directly: “I can’t return to the imperial palace. What will we live on in the future?”
“Your Highness, please wait.”
Long Ying turned and ran out, soon returning with a small bundle. He opened it to reveal gleaming silver ingots and gold leaves.
Princess Zhenzhen’s eyes went wide as she asked blankly: “Where did this come from?”
“What Your Highness previously bestowed upon this humble servant.”
“But these are yours,” Princess Zhenzhen said, inexplicably relieved yet unable to help commenting.
Long Ying didn’t hesitate at all: “This humble servant belongs entirely to Your Highness, let alone these material possessions.”
“What nonsense are you spouting?” Princess Zhenzhen was startled, her face inexplicably growing warm.
How had she never noticed this blockhead was so smooth-tongued before? Could it be that, thinking she was no longer a princess, he dared to be presumptuous?
Long Ying immediately knelt on one knee: “Your Highness, please don’t misunderstand. What this humble servant means is that this humble servant is Your Highness’s guard—this life belongs to Your Highness, so naturally these silver coins also belong to Your Highness.”
“I’m no longer a princess now. Don’t call me Your Highness anymore. Call me—” Princess Zhenzhen paused, momentarily unsure what would be appropriate for Long Ying to call her.
“Miss.”
“No, call me Zhenzhen.”
Long Ying was stunned.
Princess Zhenzhen looked away and coughed lightly: “Don’t think too much about it. In the future, when we travel together, if you keep calling me ‘Miss,’ it will arouse suspicion. What family’s young lady travels with only one guard and no maidservants? So it’s better to call me Zhenzhen.”
“This humble servant understands.”
“Then try calling me that.”
Long Ying was silent for a long time before softly saying: “Zhenzhen.”