The Princess Is On Top (GL) - Chapter 18

Inside Southern Yue’s imperial palace, a farce was currently unfolding.

“Father Emperor, I want to see Father Emperor! Is my father inside? Chief Steward Sun, tell him to come out. He’s been hiding from me for days! If he doesn’t come out today, I’m not leaving!”

Outside Furong Hall, a woman dressed in gorgeous palace attire was being blocked at the entrance. Her skin was smooth and delicate, like warm jade, soft and luminous as cream. Her eyes held anger. Her crimson palace dress was covered in large peony patterns woven through smoky gauze, and silver thread at the cuffs outlined several auspicious clouds.

Facing this little ancestor before him, Chief Steward Sun felt his head split in two. Ever since that imperial edict had been issued, His Majesty had been avoiding her whenever he could. Today, who knew who had leaked the news, saying that Consort Hua was serving His Majesty in bed, letting this little ancestor block him right here at Furong Hall.

This woman, whom even the emperor had to hide from, was precisely Xiao Le and the others’ target this time—the Southern Yue emperor’s most beloved seventh princess, Yuge.

Yuge was currently very angry. When the imperial edict had been issued, she had been in her Qingge Hall, happily drinking chilled sour plum soup. Who would have known that, for no reason at all, an imperial edict would suddenly come down, ordering her to marry that tyrant of Great Wu, Yu Ke, as a concubine! Truly, this was something even an uncle might tolerate, but an aunt absolutely could not.

“Your Majesty, why are you panicking? You are the emperor. Publicly, you are her sovereign; privately, you are her father. Could Seventh Princess really do anything to you?” The woman on the bed held the quilt to her chest and looked resentfully at the Southern Yue emperor, who was wearing only his inner clothes and pacing anxiously around the hall.

The two had clearly just been startled awake from sleep. The Southern Yue emperor impatiently waved his sleeve. “What do you understand!”

After being scolded, the woman did not dare make another sound. Just then, someone hurried in from outside the hall. It was none other than Chief Steward Sun, who had been outside just now.

The moment the Southern Yue emperor saw Chief Steward Sun enter, he quickly went up to him and asked, “How is it? Has Ge’er left?”

Chief Steward Sun wore a bitter expression. “Your Majesty, Seventh Princess said that if you do not see her today, she will not leave!”

“Absurd! How does she know Zhen is definitely here? If Zhen does not go out, could she possibly barge in?”

“Aiyo, my emperor, it is already midnight now. In another four hours, it will be time for morning court. Furong Hall has no back door either. You cannot keep hiding like this forever.”

“Simply absurd. Zhen is the ruler of a nation. Where can Zhen not go? Even if there were a back door, Zhen would not use it!”

“…What Your Majesty says is right.” Who knew who it had been yesterday, upon hearing that Seventh Princess was coming toward the main entrance of Ganlu Hall, who immediately left through the side door and made her come up empty? Chief Steward Sun inwardly complained bitterly. Caught between this father and daughter, he was truly not a person on either side.

“Forget it. Let her come in and wait in the side hall.” The Southern Yue emperor probably also knew he could not hide anymore.

Yuge was welcomed into the side hall. After waiting a short while, the Southern Yue emperor finally came out from the back, dressed properly.

He sat in the main seat and glanced at Yuge, who was standing in the center of the hall, asking despite already knowing the answer.

“Cough… Ge’er, it is so late, yet you insist on seeing Father Emperor. Is there some urgent matter?”

“Father Emperor, why ask when you already know? Why are you marrying this daughter off to Yu Ke? You promised before that this daughter could choose her own husband.” Yuge had known this cheap father of hers would try to laugh things off and circle around the subject. She did not give him that chance at all and cut straight to the point.

The Southern Yue emperor was still an emperor, after all. Being questioned so directly like this was unacceptable, even from his most beloved daughter.

“Impudent. Emperor Wu is still the ruler of a nation. How can you call him directly by name and be so rude? Zhen is doing this for your own good. This concerns diplomatic relations between two countries. If you marry over, he certainly will not mistreat you.”

“I won’t marry him!”

“The imperial edict has already been issued. A ruler’s word is no joke!”

The Southern Yue emperor slammed the table hard and stood, descending a few steps from the dais.

Yuge laughed from sheer anger. “Heh. Whoever wants to marry him can marry him. You issued the edict, so you marry him.”

Slap!

The crisp sound of a slap echoed through the empty side hall, as if mocking something.

In truth, the moment the Southern Yue emperor finished hitting her, he regretted it. He could hardly even believe he had struck his most beloved daughter just now. His hand remained suspended emptily in the air, and he did not know what to say.

“Zhen… has simply spoiled you rotten.”

Yuge covered her face with one hand, her head turned to the side. From the side, her expression could not be seen clearly. Seeing her like this made the Southern Yue emperor feel even more heartache. He reached out, wanting to comfort her, but unexpectedly, Yuge quickly stepped half a pace back, just enough to make his hand fall into empty air. The Southern Yue emperor’s expression turned extremely interesting in an instant. At this moment, Yuge’s state of mind instead gradually calmed. She lowered the hand covering her face, her gaze sharp as she mercilessly mocked the man before her who was called her father.

“Back then, your favored consort framed my mother. Without even investigating, you deposed my mother, causing her to lose all hope and spill her blood in Ganlu Hall. All these years, everyone has said I am your most beloved daughter. In truth, that was only your way of compensating my dead mother! You could not get past your own conscience! Now, in the face of enormous benefits and the little guilt you have left, you naturally abandon me just like you abandoned Mother back then, while still pretending that everything you do is for my sake. It truly makes one sick.”

After Yuge finished speaking, she turned and left. She knew saying more would be useless. Whether she begged with tears streaming down her face or did anything else, this man would not change his decision, and her pride would not allow her to do that. In his eyes, a daughter was nothing more than a chess piece to be used in a marriage alliance.

The Southern Yue emperor’s face had already turned the color of pig liver from anger. “Stop right there!”

In that instant just now, Yuge seemed to have become a different person. She was no longer that little daughter who only knew how to circle around him and make unreasonable trouble. More importantly, every word Yuge said had struck the deepest part of the Southern Yue emperor’s heart. He was indeed full of guilt toward Yuge’s mother, and that was why he had doted on Yuge so much—to make up for the unease in his own heart. And the reason he was sending Yuge to the Great Wu emperor was also because this child had grown more and more mature. The charm between her brows and eyes, every movement and gesture, resembled her mother far too much. The Southern Yue emperor often felt as if he were facing Empress Xiaode, who had died all those years ago.

Yuge did not stop because of his words. Instead, she quickened her pace and swept away without looking back.

The hall was frighteningly quiet. Chief Steward Sun stood at the side, trembling. He had witnessed the entire argument between father and daughter just now, and at this moment, he did not even dare breathe loudly, afraid that if the emperor was displeased, he would vent his anger on him.

“Have Seventh Princess watched for Zhen. Let her peacefully prepare for marriage. Without Zhen’s decree, she is not permitted to step out of Qingge Hall!”

The next day, Yuge wanted to go out to the imperial garden to clear her mind, only to unexpectedly find many imperial guards outside the door. It turned out that last night, the Southern Yue emperor had been so angered by her that his blood had surged, and he had simply placed her under house arrest.

Yuge stormed back into her hall and drove everyone out. Alone, she fumed, and the more she thought about it, the more wrong it felt.

It seemed this cheap father of hers was dead set on selling her to Great Wu.

This was the first time she realized the terror of imperial power standing supreme in feudal society. Before this, relying on the Southern Yue emperor’s favor, she had run wild without restraint. Now that she had fallen out with him, she instantly lost all her privileges. The fate of everyone in this imperial palace rested on one thought from this man.

She was truly too unlucky! For no reason at all, she had transmigrated to this godforsaken place in who knew what dynasty. Then, as soon as she was born, her biological mother died. Fine, so she died. Yuge admitted that she did not have much emotional attachment to them anyway. She had originally thought that since her biological father was the emperor, she would be able to spend this lifetime comfortably and without worry, keeping male favorites and shopping in the streets. She had never expected that even a princess would have to become someone’s concubine! She was only sixteen! In modern times, she would still be in high school…

It turned out Yuge was the same as Xiao Le. Both of them were lonely souls drifting over from the modern world.

The only difference was that Yuge had directly drifted into someone’s mother’s womb, while Xiao Le…

…

At this moment, Xiao Le was traveling beneath the blazing sun. After days of sleeping in the open and eating in the wind, they had already passed through several prefectures and counties, all very smoothly. Although there had been a few small incidents along the way, they had still escaped danger without real harm. This also allowed everyone’s originally tense hearts to loosen a little.

Half a month later, the merchant caravan smoothly arrived in Heyuan. After everyone settled down, they began making arrangements. According to the first-hand intelligence Xiao Le had received, although Southern Yue’s bridal escort team numbered more than a thousand, there were not many among them who could truly fight. The escort team had already reached Kaiyang by now and should arrive in Heyuan in another two days. Xiao Le planned to intercept the person, stuff her into the caravan, and then swagger back the way they had come.

On the day the plan was carried out, Xiao Le arranged for Xiao Kai to lead people to first attack the convoy escorting the dowry goods from the rear, scattering the guards. Once the other side believed they had come for wealth, Xiao Le would lead people to attack the princess’s carriage and abduct her as quickly as possible.

When chaos suddenly broke out outside the carriage, not only was Yuge unafraid, she was unusually excited.

Ever since she had been confined, there had been no way for her to leave Qingge Hall even half a step, let alone escape from the imperial palace. She had tried knocking out the palace maid who delivered meals, attempting to sneak out in disguise. Who knew that, by terrible luck, she had happened to run into the Southern Yue emperor coming to see her. As a result, she had not even managed to step over the hall threshold, and instead, even more people were assigned to watch her.

She had been forcibly made to wear the wedding dress. All the way until today, when they were about to enter Great Wu territory, she still had not found any way out.

Until Xiao Le and the others appeared, letting her see hope.

Yuge lifted the carriage curtain, and what she saw was a group of masked people fighting with the Southern Yue soldiers. The soldier driving her carriage had long since died in some unknown place. She lifted her skirt and got out of the carriage, then took off the several-jin-heavy bridal crown on her head and threw it to the ground.

“Don’t let her run!” Xiao Le noticed a woman getting down from the carriage. Seeing that bridal outfit, she was definitely Southern Yue’s Seventh Princess. Xiao Le thought the other party was trying to flee, so she quickly called out to the brothers beside her. Who would have known that the moment she shouted, Yuge came toward her side instead.

This kind of behavior from the target was different from ordinary people, but Xiao Le did not care whether her brain was broken or not. She struck Yuge unconscious with a knife-hand chop. “Got her. Go!” The plan went surprisingly smoothly, and their casualties were not heavy. It could be called a perfect operation.

When Yuge woke up, she discovered that she had been tied to a bed, with a piece of cloth stuffed in her mouth. She looked around and found that there were actually two men sitting at the table eating.

“Mm… mm!…”

Xiao Le and Du Fei were eating at the table in the room. Xiao Kai and Liu Yu had gone to handle follow-up matters for the caravan’s return journey.

“Master, that Seventh Princess is awake.” When Liu Yu heard the movement, he put down his chopsticks and looked back. Along this journey, they had been addressing Xiao Le this way. Caution sails the ship for ten thousand years. Hearing this, Xiao Le also turned to glance at Yuge. Seeing the two men look over, Yuge hummed even harder.

“I’ll remind you first. Don’t scream, or you can stay unconscious.” Xiao Le walked to the bedside and threatened her. Yuge hurriedly nodded to show she would not shout. Only then did Xiao Le remove the cloth from her mouth.

“Um, two big brothers… can you take off the ropes too? I’m hungry… Don’t worry! I won’t run.”

…

And so, there was one more set of bowls and chopsticks at the table.

“Xiao Le, did we tie up the wrong person?” Du Fei leaned close to Xiao Le’s ear and asked quietly.

He watched Yuge sit calmly at the same table as them, eating with great relish, not at all like someone who had been abducted.

“Don’t speak ill of me. I heard everything. I am Southern Yue’s seventh princess, Yuge. What, you don’t believe me?” Yuge pointed her chopsticks at Xiao Le and Du Fei, rather unhappy that they were questioning her identity.

“Go to the next room and bring that portrait over.” Xiao Le had not expected Yuge’s ears to be so sharp that she had heard them clearly. So she stopped hiding it and directly told Du Fei to bring the portrait. To be honest, although she was very unwilling to admit it, she really did suspect that they had tied up the wrong person.

Du Fei soon brought the portrait over. The two opened it and looked. Mm. No mistake. The person before them really was Southern Yue’s Seventh Princess. Aside from being a little uglier in the painting, the portrait was not much different from the actual person.

“What, did you think someone else would pretend to be this unlucky princess?”

Neither of them answered her. Xiao Le asked in return, “Aren’t you afraid we’ll kill you? Or do something to you?”

“If you wanted to kill me, you wouldn’t have gone to so much trouble to bring me here. You’re people of the Prince of Luoyang, right?”

Xiao Le and Du Fei silently exchanged a look, but their faces gave nothing away.

After filling her stomach, Yuge put down her bowl and chopsticks, then poured herself another cup of tea.

“Stop thinking about it. Right now, who else besides the Prince of Luoyang least wants Southern Yue and Great Wu to form a marriage alliance?”

“Princess, you truly are clever. It seems the princess also does not want to marry Great Wu’s emperor.”

Xiao Le finally understood why Yuge was not anxious at all. It was because she had never wanted to marry in the first place. Once both sides reached agreement on this point, the matters afterward became much easier to handle.

Xiao Le had Yuge change into men’s clothing and pretend to be her younger brother. Then Yuge did her own makeup, pasted on a beard, and so on. With the level of portrait artists in ancient times, it would be impossible to recognize her by comparing her to a portrait. After the bridal escort team was robbed, both Southern Yue and Great Wu attached great importance to the matter and dispatched large numbers of troops to search for the princess’s whereabouts. Yet Xiao Le and the others passed through every checkpoint unimpeded. Yuge swaggered right past soldiers holding her portrait and still was not discovered.

“Xiao Le, I think you’re very different.”

Yuge rode her horse over beside Xiao Le’s and spoke as if casually. Over these days, Yuge had completely stopped treating herself as an outsider. It was as if she had fully blended into this team, as though she had already forgotten she was a princess.

Xiao Le ignored her and let her talk by herself over there.

“Xiao Le, you’re actually a woman, aren’t you?”

Yuge’s voice was not quiet, and muffled laughter came from within the team.

Xiao Le’s heart tightened, but on the surface, she pretended there was not the slightest ripple. She turned and glared at the people behind her, then tilted her head and asked, “Is this a new cold joke?”

Actually, based on their days and nights together lately, Yuge felt that what she had said had some basis. She also felt that Xiao Le looked clean and delicate, completely different from other men. But she was not certain either, so she had spoken to test her. And with this test, Xiao Le’s calm reaction immediately made Yuge, who had previously been unsure, become certain that Xiao Le was a woman.

It did not matter if the other party did not admit it. After all, this was only something she had idly guessed at when bored on this long journey.

After leaving Great Wu territory, everyone finally truly breathed a sigh of relief and urged their horses toward Jiangxia. Yes, Xiao Le and the others had received news that the army had already advanced to Jiangxia.