Chapter 9 She died
"What did you say?" Princess Chong'an suddenly questioned.
The guard lowered his head, too frightened to speak.
In contrast to Princess Chong'an, Prince Huailing appeared remarkably calm.
He asked, "Have you found any clothing or other identifying items to confirm your identity?"
His tone was almost flat, as if it were nothing more than a trivial matter.
"Still looking."
Princess Chong'an wanted nothing more than to kick the guard away. "Then what are you still doing here? Go now!"
Neither of them spoke after that.
The mountains seemed dead, and everything was silent in the stillness.
"Are there any wild animals roaming around?" the Prince of Huailing asked.
His voice was steady.
His calm demeanor caused Princess Erchong'an to suddenly turn her head and stare at him.
The guard immediately replied, "Your Highness, the villagers say there are black bears and wolves in this area." "Expand the search area and continue the search."
"Third Brother, your self-cultivation is truly excellent. You tend to flowers and plants every day, which is really cultivating your character. I'd like to know what in this world could possibly move you even a little bit?" Princess Er Chong'an glared at him. "If Yunxi didn't like you, why would she have gotten involved in such danger? She lost her life for nothing. It's really not worth it for her."
The Prince of Huailing turned his head and suddenly glanced at her.
"Am I wrong?"
As soon as she finished speaking, the Prince of Huailing had already looked away.
Princess Chong'an saw no emotion on his face, and her heart grew colder and colder.
Thinking of what Yunxi used to be like, she clenched her hands, and her eyes reddened.
The maidservant behind her stepped forward and bowed, advising, "Princess, Miss Yunxi is blessed with good fortune."
Princess Chong'an barely managed to suppress her emotions and sat in the chair with a stern face to continue waiting.
She couldn't believe Yunxi was dead.
Yunxi was skilled in martial arts, so how could he die like this?
Just then, a servant from the Marquis of Huailing's residence rushed over to deliver a message: someone from the palace had arrived.
Seeing that the Prince of Huailing was about to leave without hesitation, Princess Chong'an suddenly said out of the blue, "Princess Yong'an was frightened and has been running a high fever ever since she got back."
The Prince of Huailing did not stop walking and continued forward.
"She was delirious with high fever, repeatedly muttering a name in the air. Brother, guess who it is?" —Princess Chong'an
"What do you want to say?" The Prince of Huailing finally stopped and glanced at her.
"Marrying Princess Yong'an is the best choice for you. Only Yunxi in this world would be so foolish as to believe in so-called love and give you her whole heart." Seeing the Huailing Dynasty's nonchalant attitude as they walked forward, she breathed a sigh of relief. "Xiao Shenjing, if Yunxi really dies, you will never meet a woman like her again in your life."
"Of all the women in the world, my royal sister has seen far too little." With these words, the Prince of Huailing turned and left without looking back.
"Xiao Shenjing and Yunxi's life hangs in the balance, waiting for someone to rescue them. She only has a high fever, and you're already in such a hurry to go see her?"
Seeing his retreating figure without turning back, Princess Chong'an angrily cursed, "You're destined to be alone, a heartless and unfaithful wretch!"
After he finished cursing, he immediately shut his mouth.
Which royal man isn't like that?
There's no such thing as true sincerity; to them, the power behind a woman is what matters most.
After the Prince of Huailing left, a torrential downpour began to fall on Sheqi Mountain.
A thick fog soon rolled in, making the already damp mountain road even more slippery, forcing the search to slow down once again.
Princess Chong'an was still angry and didn't leave until the night was deep.
That night, the Prince of Huailing did not come over again, nor did he send anyone to inquire about anything.
She felt increasingly disheartened.
The Prince of Huailing reappeared at the foot of Sheqi Mountain the following day.
Princess Chong'an was furious when she saw him and immediately mocked, "Fifth brother, you've arrived quite early today. The sun hasn't even set yet."
The Prince of Huailing is not a suitable candidate.
The angrier Princess Chong'an became, the more sarcastic she sounded, "When will I be able to drink your and Princess Yong'an's wedding wine, little sister?"
The Prince of Huailing remained unmoved, giving her a slow and deliberate glance.
His gaze was as if he were looking at the flowers and plants in his own yard.
Princess Chong'an felt a lump in her throat and was about to say something sarcastic when several guards rushed out of the woods.
She turned her head and saw what the guard was holding from afar. Her expression changed abruptly, and she stood up abruptly from her chair.
A tattered, mud-covered crimson dress, marked by the piercing and tearing of a wild beast's sharp teeth.
"Reporting to Your Majesty and Princess, the clothes have been found ten miles from the bottom of the cliff, in an area frequented by wolves."
Princess Chong'an swayed, not daring to look at the still blood-stained clothes.
At this moment, Dao Yi stared at the Prince of Huailing and asked, "Master, are you still looking?"
The Prince of Huailing stared at the clothes held by the guard without speaking. Princess Chong'an, who was beside him, suddenly spoke up, "Impossible! Yunxi is definitely not dead. Keep searching for her. If you can't find the body, Yunxi must still be alive."
He fell off a cliff and was dragged away and eaten by wild beasts.
Everyone knew that Yunxi's chances of survival were extremely slim.
"Withdraw the people."
After saying this, the Prince of Huailing turned and left.
Princess Chong'an, in a fit of emotion, blocked his path. "Yunxi is definitely not dead. Keep searching! Maybe she's waiting for us to rescue her right now."
The indifference on the Prince of Huailing's face faded with impatience, revealing an exceptionally cold demeanor. "Get out of the way."
"I won't allow it!" Princess Chong'an was clearly unable to accept it, her eyes red as she shouted, "They just found her clothes! How dare you say she's dead? She loved you and cherished you like her own life! There are countless good men in the world, why did Yunxi have to fall for you? If it were any other man, he would have held her dear and loved her dearly."
The Prince of Huailing stared at her and suddenly spoke, "You keep talking about how righteous you are, have you already forgotten what you did to her?"
Princess Chong'an's pupils trembled, as if her throat had been locked, and she was instantly speechless.
The Prince of Huailing was always tactful in his actions and demeanor.
But at this moment, he actually closed in by an inch, his eyes piercing towards Princess Chong'an like sharp swords.
"When you let her reputation be ruined and she became the laughing stock of the capital, and when even commoners dared to trample on her at will, did you ever stand up for her and say a word?"
“You didn’t, you did nothing at all. You were even afraid of having any connection with her, hiding in the palace and refusing to see her! In order to stir up trouble, you made it public that she gave me the fox fur coat, just to confirm her promiscuity and shift everyone’s attention to her.”
“Now you speak of righteousness and awe-inspiring virtues,” the Prince of Huailing suddenly smiled, but the smile did not reach his eyes and instead appeared particularly eerie. “Royal sister, although we do not share the same mother, we do share the same father. We share the same blood.”
"You are just like me."
"Stop talking! Xiao Shenjing, get out of here! Get out!" Princess Chong'an screamed, covering her ears.
Yunxi had only been in the capital for a short time.
Princess Chong'an went to a temple to pray for Buddha. Because she was so captivated by the scenery in the mountains, she was spotted by lurking Japanese pirates who kidnapped her.
It was Yunxi, who had sneaked out to play, who rescued her.
There were seven or eight enemies. Yunxi fought for a long time to save her, and was hit in the back by five kunai before she found a chance to escape.
For some reason, this matter spread as a rumor.
When a woman is abducted, people tend to assume the worst and smear her with the most vile accusations.
Princess Chong'an's reputation was a matter of national honor, especially since she was associated with Japanese pirates.
And just then, an envoy from the Turkic Khaganate came to visit, so the emperor decided to marry Princess Chong'an to her.
Amidst the rampant rumors in the capital, Yunxi took the initiative to step forward. While drinking in a restaurant, he boasted to a storyteller about his heroic feat of being robbed by Japanese pirates and then fighting them for hundreds of rounds.
In an instant, all the filth about Princess Chong'an was thrown at Yunxi.
The terrifying thing about rumors is that they can spread as far as they go, creating countless versions of themselves, each one quite convincing.
Some say that Yunxi has long been defiled by Japanese pirates.
It is also said that Yunxi eloped with her lover and ran into Japanese pirates.
In short, once a woman is tainted by rumors, she can no longer maintain her innocence.
The more people spread it, the more it becomes a rumor.
Throughout history, women have placed the greatest importance on their reputation and chastity.
Starving to death is a small matter, but losing one's chastity is a big deal. With such a stigma, which family in the capital would dare to marry her?
Even though some people knew the truth, they were still reluctant to marry Yunxi because of the stain on her reputation.
Because of this, Yunxi's reputation was ruined even before she was married, and no one in the capital dared to marry her, making her the subject of much gossip.
Seeing the distraught Princess Chong'an, Prince Huailing smiled and instantly reverted to his usual aloof and dignified gentleman. "My dear sister, take care. I must take my leave now."
Staring at Xiao Shenjing like this, Princess Chong'an suddenly felt a chill run down her spine.
For so many years, no one has paid any attention to Prince Xiao Shenjing.
His birth mother died early, and his maternal relatives were not prominent.
He neither competed nor fought for power, nor did he associate with court officials. He only knew how to tend to flowers and plants, and posed no threat to anyone.
It must be her imagination.
She stared at the Prince of Huailing's retreating figure, as if unwilling to accept her humiliating behavior, and loudly rebuked him, "I told you she was blind! There are countless good men in the world, why would she like you? She'll get nothing from you, and she'll just lose her life in vain!"
"Just because she likes me, does that mean I have to like her back?" The Prince of Huailing abruptly interrupted her, his usual aloofness vanished, replaced by an unfathomable coldness in his eyes. "Does my sister think that just because she likes me, I should even marry her memorial tablet?"
"Xiao Shenjing, are you really that heartless?" Princess Chong'an glared at him.
"Life and death are preordained, wealth and honor are determined by fate. I have done what I should do, and have been more than benevolent and righteous." After saying this, he turned around and left without looking back.
As the Prince of Huailing's figure receded into the distance, Princess Chong'an remained speechless for a long time.
The maidservant glanced at the sky and cautiously asked, "Princess, shall we continue searching?"
"Find her!" Princess Chong'an gritted her teeth. "I don't believe she's dead."
Because the mountain was closed off, ordinary people could not enter. Only the newly appointed top scholar stood at the foot of the mountain, with his pageboy holding a lantern standing beside him.
The faint light shrank into a ball.
Her figure became increasingly slender and delicate.
"Has Your Highness been found?" Lu Xiuran stepped forward, bowed to the Prince of Huailing, and asked.
The Prince of Huailing stared at him intently.
Then he waved to the people behind him.
The newly crowned champion's expression changed drastically when he saw the familiar, torn and tattered clothes.
The Prince of Huailing paid no attention to any of this and strode past him.
"Is she really dead?"
The Prince of Huailing paused slightly, the night like the thickest ink soaking into him, almost merging him into the darkness.
Without saying a word, he walked away.
At midnight, the sound of a wooden clapper came from afar.
Due to the robbery incident, a curfew has been imposed in the capital recently, and the ten-mile-long streets are deserted in the night.
The Prince of Huailing's Mansion.
It was late at night, but the study light was still on.
Dao Er ran from the outer courtyard to the study and leaned down to Dao Yi, saying, "We've found Snake Mountain again."
He paused, seemingly recalling the guard's description, and felt a pang of sadness.
"What did you find?" Dao asked.
“Miss Fan is really dead.” Dao Er shook his head and sighed.
Suddenly, the voice of the Prince of Huailing came from inside: "What are you talking about?"
Dao Er was startled and quickly pushed the door open and went inside.
"Your Highness."
"Speak," said the Prince of Huailing, writing the letter without raising his eyes.
"The guards just reported that two corpses were found down the mountain."
The Prince of Huailing slowed down his brushstrokes.
"One of the bodies consisted only of a head, and Miss Fan's jade clasp was found on the head."
With a 'plop,' a drop of thick ink fell heavily from the tip of the brush, spreading across the porcelain blue paper.
It can never be erased.
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