Chapter 381: Prepare for a Rainy Day

Haruji raised her eyebrows slightly, "We need more 'princesses' to deal with emergencies."

Huo Yanran understood a little, "Sister-in-law wants to..."

"Shh." Chunzhi put her index finger to her lips and signaled to the little princess with her eyes that some things can only be understood and not expressed in words, so be careful of eavesdroppers.

Huo Yanran understood and immediately called out "Zhiqing", instructing Zhiqing to call over several trusted palace ladies who had grown up with her and were willing to come to Beili with her.

Zhiqing didn't ask anything and immediately responded and did it.

Soon, five young palace maids, including Zhiqing, gathered in the carriage where the princess was.

Everyone in the carriage looked at Haruji, waiting for her to speak.

Huo Yanran asked nervously and anxiously, "Sister-in-law, can you tell me what we should do next?"

"Everyone sit down." Chunzhi raised her hand and motioned to everyone.

The palace maids hurriedly said, "We dare not."

"Why would you be so afraid?" Huo Yanran said, "My sister-in-law asked you to sit down, so just sit down."

After hearing what the princess said, the five palace maids sat down nervously.

Being in a foreign country and encountering such a big chaos, it would be a lie to say that I am not afraid.

But now that we are here, there is no turning back.

Chunzhi asked them, "How many years have you been with the princess?"

"To answer the princess, ten years."

Zhiqing was the first to answer.

Several other palace servants answered one after another, "Eight years."

"Seven years..."

"Five years."

"Five years—"

All the palace servants and eunuchs working in the imperial palace knew that being able to serve the Thirteenth Princess was the luckiest thing. Huo Yanran was cute, innocent and lively, consistent in her appearance and heart, and she never lost her temper or tortured those around her.

These palace maids all entered the palace at a young age. The nobles in other palaces were unwilling to accept them because they were too young and not as capable as the older ones. Only Huo Yanran smiled and kept them. In name only, they were master and servant, but in private, they were playmates.

Other palace maids were reluctant to leave their parents and brothers outside the palace. These people were sold by their families and had no home long ago. They remembered the princess's kindness and were willing to follow her even to the ends of the earth.

So even though they might die in a foreign land, they didn't think of running away.

Chunzhi saw that they were all in their teens, the oldest was eighteen and the youngest was fifteen. They were well taken care of by Huo Yanran, and they were about the same height and build, and even their looks were extremely outstanding.

"You are all the princess's confidants, and have been by her side for many years." Chunzhi's eyes swept over their faces one by one. "Right now, there is something I need you to do. It may put your lives in danger. Are you willing?"

"I am willing!"

Zhiqing was still the first to answer.

"I do, too!"

"We all do!"

The other four palace servants also responded immediately.

"Sister-in-law." Seeing this, Huo Yanran quickly grabbed Chunzhi's hand and whispered to her, "I..."

Chunzhi gave the little princess a soothing look and immediately continued, "I want you all to dress up as princesses, wear veils, and ride in different carriages to confuse the people outside."

Several palace servants listened very attentively.

Chunzhi said, "I hope our group has the best of luck and avoids any hardships or dangers, but the road ahead is long, so we must also be prepared for the worst."

"Um."

Huo Yanran nodded heavily.

Several palace servants quickly said, "It's all up to the princess' orders."

Chunzhi continued, "No one from the three tribes has ever seen the princess. If we are unlucky enough to encounter them, we should scatter and escape. Whoever is caught can call themselves the Princess of Daxing to save their own lives and the lives of those traveling with them..."

Pretending to be a princess is indeed dangerous, but the princess is valuable to the people of the three major tribes, and they will not harm the princess easily. In this way, even if they can't tell who is the fake princess and who is the real princess, they will not kill rashly.

They had seen the Beili people who were massacred on the road. Even the Beili royal family could not escape death, so it would be even more difficult for these accompanying palace servants to survive.

That's why Chunzhi came up with this idea.

After she explained the pros and cons to a few people, she asked them again if they were willing.

Several people nodded.

Chunzhi asked Zhiqing to take out all the clothes and jewelry that Huo Yanran had worn along the way and distribute them to everyone, and she even took a set for herself.

Seeing this, Huo Yanran quickly stopped her, "Sister-in-law, why are you..."

"Of course I have to implement the idea I proposed." Chunzhi held the little princess's red wedding dress and said to Huo Yanran with a smile: "In Beili, no one recognizes me as the Princess of Chang'an. It is better to use your name as Princess Changning to save my life."

Huo Yanran was speechless for a moment, tears filling her eyes.

Chunzhi raised her hand to wipe away the little princess's tears. "Don't think too much. Maybe Huo Zheng will be back soon. Maybe we won't encounter any trouble. What I'm doing is just a waste of time."

Huo Yanran cried, "What nonsense! Sister-in-law is clearly preparing for a rainy day, just in case!"

"Okay, okay, our little princess is right. I have made some preparations for a rainy day."

Chunzhi hugged Huo Yanran and coaxed her for a long time.

The palace maids changed into the princess's clothes in the carriage, re-dressed her, put on her hairpins and rings, and then put on a veil.

Several of them had been following Princess Thirteen for many years and were quite familiar with her posture, makeup, and even her accent.

Chunzhi told them to keep silent if possible, and it would be even better if they could trick the wedding procession into leaving.

After it got dark, Chunzhi let Huo Yanran and several palace maids dressed as princesses get off the carriage, and then they dispersed and got on different carriages during the night.

Each carriage was equipped with palace servants, and even when Sun Liangji came over, he was confused about what Princess Chang'an was up to.

Chunzhi didn't say much to him and directly ordered the entire team to set off and find the next suitable hiding place.

The snow fell in Beili for three consecutive days. The wedding procession shuttled through the sea of ​​snow to avoid being searched by people from the three major tribes.

Huo Zheng and Liu Yan had not returned yet, and everyone was worried.

Fortunately, their group changed their positions every day and only traveled at night, so they were never discovered by the enemy.

But luck always runs out.

On the fourth night, when the wedding procession was moving to another location, they encountered a large group of people. When the leader of the group saw the soldiers' attire, he immediately shouted, "They are from Daxing!"

"With so many people from Daxing, this must be the Daxing Princess's wedding procession!"

"King Chang'an of Daxing assisted Tuoba Ying in his brutal attack on our three major tribes. Let's capture Princess Daxing and see if he will save his sister's life or Tuoba Ying's!"

The people from the three major tribes had superb horsemanship and loud voices. Their shouts were like thunder. A large number of people rushed over and quickly broke through the defense line of the wedding party.

Chunzhi blew a bamboo whistle, signaling everyone to proceed according to plan. The driver of the carriage she and Huo Yanran were riding in was shot off his horse by the chaotic soldiers. Chunzhi rushed out of the carriage, grabbed the reins, and personally drove the horse out of the battlefield...