Chapter 82
The big news came so unexpectedly that Chu Huan almost couldn't eat.
The real princess ran away, leaving a fake substitute to eat vegetarian food in the temple for her. What kind of magical operation is this?
Chu Huan was very interested, but unfortunately her dinner was almost over and she didn't have time to finish the whole melon.
When I came back from the merchant class in the evening, I was bored on the carriage ride, so I continued to eat melons.
This time, Chu Huan and the system used group chat mode.
She had already received the small note from Nangong Ling, and she didn't have her own staff investigating outside. It would be unreasonable not to use the plug-in system to understand the basic situation.
Chu Huan: [I know Hu Qiaoyun. She's the daughter of Lord Hu. One is better than three. She must be an exceptional woman, worth associating with.]
[Why is the Second Princess on this list? Doesn't she live in Baiyun Temple outside the capital, devoted to Buddhism and unconcerned with worldly affairs?]
The system spoke the lines that had been communicated and prepared in advance: [That's because the Second Princess who stayed at Baiyun Temple was just a stand-in to fool people. The real Second Princess had already escaped!]
Jia Yi Cai Gang:!!!
Passerby:!!!
What? The second princess left a substitute and ran away?
The royal family actually has such a hidden secret?!
Passersby were shocked and confused, all looking towards the carriage passing by. The sound seemed to come from here? Who was sitting inside?
As soon as Jia Yi and Cai Gang moved the embroidered spring knife in their hands, passers-by immediately suppressed their unnecessary curiosity.
What a joke! They were the dreaded Jinyiwei!
When can’t you eat melon?
There is no need to risk your head to eat.
It’s a pity, because it belongs to the royal family and you may not be able to eat it once in your lifetime.
There were also passers-by who were going in the same direction as the carriage. They were suddenly overjoyed and quickened their pace so that they could be the first to eat the melons at any time.
What happened to the Imperial Guards? Could they possibly stop them from going home? Passersby followed suit, righteously watching the scene unfold.
Someone took the lead and followed, and before being driven away, other passers-by who were not going home in this direction also pretended to walk in this direction.
In order to avoid alerting the enemy, Jia Yi and Cai Gang did not dare to expel the people and could only let them follow.
Fortunately, the emperor and his officials had anticipated that Chu Huan would not be able to just sit at home and watch melons forever, so when they encountered similar situations, they could just threaten them slightly, as long as the people did not make any big moves.
It is absolutely not okay to do something like last time when Ye Congwen was eating melon and then chased after me to ask questions.
That is why everyone heard it clearly.
Chu Huan: [Why did the Second Princess do this?]
System: [Because she has never liked the music, chess, calligraphy, and painting that girls in the boudoir should learn since she was a child. She only likes wielding swords and knives. But what princess would learn that?]
Everyone nodded repeatedly, that's right!
If the queen is the mother of a country and the role model for all mistresses in the world, then the princess is the role model for all girls in the world. How can she not be gentle and virtuous, and instead engage in fighting and killing every day?
Chu Huan immediately found evidence to refute this: "Don't princesses of the Northern Di learn martial arts? The entire Northern Di nation is martial. I heard some girls start wielding wooden swords at the age of three."
Everyone seemed to have been tapped by someone, and their nodding movements froze in place, like demented puppets.
Who is this person? How can you compare a princess from a dignified and ceremonious country like Dasheng with a princess from a remote and barbaric country?!
Can you talk? Can you compare?
The anger accumulated little by little. If they had not been concerned about the Jinyiwei driving the carriage outside and the people inside were not ordinary people, they would have had to quarrel with them.
Chu Huan added, "The Dasheng claim to value military power, spending a considerable amount of money on the Autumn Hunt every three years, and never delaying military pay. Yet, after all these years, the court hasn't produced many military commanders."
The border between Dasheng and Beidi is guarded by the eldest prince, while the border between Dasheng and Xirong is guarded by Prince Furui's eldest son. They are all members of the royal family. Look at Beidi, they don't have any princes, crown princes, or princes stationed at the border all year round. This is really...
System: [Tsk tsk tsk, the contrast is too tragic!]
Everyone: “…”
These contrasting sentences and each cry of disgust were like a series of slaps in the face.
——You look down on the remoteness and barbarity of the Beidi people, but you are still no match for the martial spirit of the Beidi people!
Although the border between Dasheng, Xirong and Beidi is long and not entirely guarded by the eldest prince and Prince Furui, it sounds a bit biased, but the people in the carriage said the most fatal point: Dasheng has few military generals and had to send out royal family members, while Beidi has no such people. Beidi has so many military generals that it is enviable!
I can't refute it, so angry!
Chu Hua: [Let’s continue eating melon.]
System: [Alright!]
The attitude of one person who just said a few words and didn't care made everyone feel uncomfortable - there was always a feeling that "no matter how much we say, Dasheng will not change, so we might as well give up and not say anything."
System: [Precisely because the national conditions of Dasheng don't allow it, the Second Princess can only come secretly to learn martial arts. Her family is poor, so she can only chisel a hole in the wall to get light. The Second Princess is born into a royal family, so what kind of educational resources does she not have? She has to learn martial arts secretly, tsk tsk.]
[Sister Huan, do you know how the Second Princess learned martial arts?]
Chu Hua: [She sneaked out of the palace, hid her identity, and learned martial arts from others.]
What else could there be besides this?
System: [Half right, half wrong.]
Everyone: ???
Isn't that quite right? What's wrong?
System: [When the Second Princess was young, she wanted to learn martial arts, but no one in the palace taught her. No matter how much she begged and pleaded, the Emperor and Concubine Hui refused. So she found a way to sneak out of the palace and learn martial arts from anyone she could meet.]
The child was innocent and didn't think too much about it. Perhaps there was really nothing she could do. She saw a tall man and rushed up to him to ask if he knew martial arts and could teach her. She would pay him.
Most people ignored the childish words of a child. Some kindhearted people asked if she had sneaked out of her home and were ready to send her back. Others, seeing how pretty the second princess was, wanted to kidnap her.
Chu Huan was a little nervous: [It didn't work out, right?]
Everyone held their breath, worried about missing a word.
At any time, the beggars who kidnap children are the most disgusting.
Although they had never heard that the second princess had encountered a beacon boy in her childhood, this was a royal secret that was blocked, so it was normal not to let it spread.
System: [Success.]
Chu Huan:!!!
Everyone:!!!
No, she was a princess of the royal family. How could she have been successfully abducted and sold by a beggar?
There are only a few princes and princesses in the palace, how pitiful! How come the second princess doesn't have guards protecting her, both openly and covertly?
Is this beggar so powerful that he could kidnap the second princess without the help of the guards, or is there a traitor in the palace who is colluding with the outsiders?
But the second princess is a woman, she has no right to inherit the throne, and she is not particularly favored by the emperor. What is the point of dealing with her?
My head itches so much, I need a brain.
Chu Hua asked the question for all those who were puzzled: [How did this succeed?]
The system's tone was somewhat stagnant, clearly finding this process difficult to evaluate: [Paihuazi said he could teach the Second Princess martial arts, but it's not appropriate to teach her on the street. We need to go to the backyard and find a martial arts master to teach her properly.]
Chu Huan couldn't believe it: [And then she followed Paihuazi away? ]
"How is this any different than just following a stranger who offers you a piece of candy? Isn't this the lowest form of kidnapping? Even someone like that could fall for it? How badly does the Second Princess want to learn martial arts?"
That’s right!
Everyone was almost dizzy. How could the royal princess have such no awareness of anti-fraud?
The system was disappointed: [Concubine Hui doted on her daughter too much. She'd always wanted the moon in the sky, not the stars. She'd spoiled her to the point of being a bit overconfident. Otherwise, the Second Princess wouldn't have sneaked out of the palace just because the Emperor and Concubine Hui didn't allow her to practice martial arts.]
Too.
Only a favored princess would not be afraid of the punishment of sneaking out of the palace and would leave the palace frequently.
Chu Hua: [This is because her family was wealthy when she was little, and she didn't encounter any setbacks or difficulties, which is why she has such a naive and innocent personality.]
[As long as she suffered a little loss or humiliation in the palace, she wouldn't be easily deceived and taken away.]
The second princess is of such a personality that she only hopes that her life will be smoother when she grows up and that she won't meet a scumbag, otherwise she will be easily deceived.
System: [Who says it isn't true? It's just that the Queen is generous, there are few children in the harem, and the concubines rarely quarrel with each other, so this is how they develop this temperament.]
The second princess was quite clever. After realizing something was wrong, she yelled "Help!" and the hidden guards immediately rushed out and pinned Paihuazi down. They also saved many abducted children in the process.
[However, this also made the Second Princess more determined to learn martial arts. Otherwise, when she encountered the flower boy or other bad guys, she would just have to wait for others to rescue her.]
Chu Huan agreed with this point: [Indeed, if you can save yourself, then do so. Otherwise, you'll easily miss the best chance to escape.]
[And then? Did the second princess change?]
The system really wanted to hold its head in its hands: [No, the Second Princess knew that there were guards secretly protecting her, so she became even bolder. She rushed up to anyone who seemed to know martial arts and asked. Perhaps God favored such a foolish child, and she actually met a martial arts escort.]
The escort master also had a daughter who was always clamoring to learn martial arts. Seeing the Second Princess was like seeing his own daughter, and his heart softened as he agreed to teach her. The Second Princess also gained a new friend, and learning martial arts wasn't boring anymore.
Chu Huan was powerless to complain: [This is really...]
Fools have their own luck, everyone silently said in their hearts.
System: [She was pampered and raised in the palace, and is a very lively and cheerful person. She has never suffered any hardship since childhood, but she endured the hardship of learning martial arts and the boredom of laying the foundation.]
The Second Princess truly possesses some talent for martial arts. When the escorts couldn't teach her quickly enough, she would find another master. She wasn't picky about masters, and would learn from any skilled one. She was a natural at learning from many.
When she was older, the Emperor and the Imperial Concubine saw her persistence and passion for martial arts and no longer objected, though they kept it to themselves. She then found a master and would sneak out of the palace to study with him whenever she had time.
Sneaking out of the palace and hiding one's identity are half right and half wrong, so this is what it means.
Chu Huan also witnessed the second princess's dedication to learning martial arts, which was comparable to many people's dedication to the imperial examinations.
[What happened next? Why did you find a replacement?]
System: [After the Second Princess mastered her martial arts, she challenged others to a duel to see how good she was. However, everyone knew her identity and would give in if a fight really broke out. The Second Princess got angry and ran away with her friends.]
She thought that the eldest prince was fighting on the border and would be short of men. If she went there, she wouldn't be able to lead the troops, but being an ordinary soldier would be fine. At least she could put her martial arts skills to good use.
How could the Emperor and Concubine Hui want a young woman like her to fight on the frontier? Shortly after leaving the capital, she was stopped by the Imperial Guards. The Second Princess was also very stubborn, running away again and again, until the Emperor grew tired of it.
Chu Huan couldn't help but ask: [And then you agreed? ]
System: [The Emperor definitely cannot agree openly. Otherwise, if everyone acts recklessly, how can he still play the role of a leader?]
The emperor sent a team to escort the second princess away, but they were told that if she complained about the hardship of the journey and her fear of fighting and wanted to return to the capital, she must return immediately and never mention martial arts or fighting again in her life.
Having said that, everyone knew what the outcome would be.
The Second Princess must have agreed and made some achievements on the border, otherwise she would not have kept her substitute in the capital until now.
Chu Huan also understood why Nangong Ling put the second princess's name on the list.
This is a female general who is more powerful than Nie Shui. She is much better than Nie Shui in terms of identity, status, ability and experience.
System: [The Emperor initially thought that his daughter was spoiled and that even if she could endure the hardships of martial arts training, she couldn't stand the hardship of traveling. She would definitely cry and demand to return soon after leaving the capital.]
The emperor was quite confident. He used the above reasons to comfort Concubine Hui and even made a bet with her about when the Second Princess would return to the capital.
When I think of the emperor's ease at the beginning, his panic in the middle and his attempts to calm himself, his eager gaze at the days as the deadline neared, and his despair at his daughter's refusal to return, I feel numbed by the torment.
Damn it! Chu Huan was almost dying of laughter at her own imagination.
Chu Hua: [Hahahaha, the Emperor lost miserably this time. How long can he keep betting?]
System: [Two months. After all, the journey out and back has to be taken into account.]
[Comparatively, Concubine Hui understood her daughter better. She felt that her daughter was stubborn and could at least stay away for half a year.]
Chu Hua chuckled: [So, aren't both of them losing miserably this time?]
System: [Yes, a month passed, and the Second Princess was on her way at full speed. Two months passed, and the Second Princess started fighting on the border. Half a year passed, and the Second Princess became a junior general.]
The Emperor and Concubine Hui were slapped in the face, but they also felt a little proud. "Look, which princess is as capable as their daughters?" they thought. "But pride is pride, and this kind of thing shouldn't be encouraged. Otherwise, what will happen if the other princes and princesses follow suit?"
[Then they had to find someone with a similar figure to the Second Princess to disguise her. However, the Second Princess never returned, and the disguise would eventually be exposed. They had no choice but to send the substitute to Baiyun Temple and claim that she had devoted herself to Buddhism and was praying for Dasheng and the people.]
If it wasn't an extremely important matter, most people wouldn't disturb a person who was in seclusion, let alone have the courage to disturb the princess from praying for Dasheng and the people.
It can be said that this excuse is perfect.
Chu Hua: [Hasn't there been any mistakes in all these years? ]
System: [How is that possible? This method is just to deceive outsiders.]
It's okay for the Second Princess to not appear on a regular basis, but during the New Year, she either skips the palace banquet or, if she does appear, covers her face with a veil, saying she has a rash or a poisonous insect bite. Once or twice might be acceptable, but if she does it too often, isn't it clear to everyone that there's something wrong?
[Officials secretly made countless outrageous speculations, but they didn't dare speak out for the sake of the imperial family's reputation. Furthermore, since the Second Princess wasn't seeking a consort, neither the good nor the bad would be theirs, so they simply played along with the emperor.]
Chu Huan thought of another question: [Does the princess's substitute have any objections?]
System: [No, she was one of the girls I rescued when the Second Princess sneaked out of the palace and was kidnapped.]
[The others were kidnapped, but this one was sold by her family. The Second Princess felt sorry for her and wanted to keep her by her side, but what kind of place is the palace? How can you bring just anyone in? And entering the palace means being a maid, which a girl might not be able to adapt to, and it's not necessarily a good choice.]
The second princess decided to keep the girl outside the palace. After investigating many families, none of them were satisfactory. After much deliberation, she contacted the family of the escort who had originally taught her. After a period of trying to get along with each other, they agreed that the girl was a good match, so they let their family adopt her.
The Second Princess had saved the girl's life and taken the trouble to find her a suitable home. She had always been by her side, so she was very familiar with her and could imitate her. She also volunteered to help the Second Princess, which was why she was chosen as a substitute.
Furthermore, when the Second Princess went to the border, the escort's own daughter also went with her. The distance between the mountains and rivers made communication difficult, and it was likely that they wouldn't receive any news for months. If she went as a substitute, she could use the military and the royal family to receive news from both sisters at the same time, and even reply to their letters. She was very happy about this.
Chu Huan was once again moved by the sincerity and mutual support between the women: [Women helping women again.]
The system was also touched: [But there's more to it than that! The girl was worried about her two sisters fighting on the border. They were in great danger. She kept thinking about how to help them and couldn't sleep.]
She had little talent for martial arts, which was why the Second Princess didn't take her with her. Later, the girl studied medicine with a nun at Baiyun Temple, where she unexpectedly discovered a talent for both medicine and pharmacy. She often experimented with and made her own medicines, and she sent a lot of them to the two sisters through the royal family.
The drugs she sent were a huge help, including knockout drugs, anesthetic powder, and hemostatic powder. The two sisters wrote back to praise and encourage her, which greatly inspired the girl. She disguised herself as a man and provided free medical treatment to the people, saving many lives and improving her medical skills. She's truly a wonderful girl!
Chu Huan's eyes and face were filled with smiles. Hearing this, she nodded heavily: "Yes, they are all good girls, all very, very good girls."
So for these really, really great girls, she will definitely persevere and protect them!
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