The Seventh Princess Insists on Making Me Live Off Her - Chapter 20

The cold words once again made Lian Pingyou’s heart ache. She had thought Gao Jingxi would always remain lofty and beyond everyone’s reach, but in the end, she treated Lian Liejin differently. Perhaps Gao Jingxi herself had not yet noticed it.

But as an outsider, Lian Pingyou could see it with perfect clarity.

How she wished Lian Liejin would disappear forever this time. Lian Pingyou clenched her hand inside her sleeve.

“Your Highness, your body is precious,” Lian Pingyou said with a burning gaze, no longer caring that they were still inside the imperial palace. “Why must you personally take action to capture the assassin and rescue the Princess Consort? Besides, you are injured.”

Gao Jingxi gave a cold laugh and walked toward the palace gates. A-You hurried after her princess, while Lian Pingyou followed once again.

The moment the three of them passed through the palace gates, the carriage from the Princess’s Residence was already waiting outside.

Standing before the carriage with her hands clasped behind her back, Gao Jingxi faced away from Lian Pingyou and said each word clearly, “Lian Pingyou, you are Liejin’s elder sister. There are certain things you should not do.”

Lian Pingyou gritted her teeth. “Your Highness, Pingyou is terrified. I do not understand what you mean.”

“Is that so?” Gao Jingxi turned slightly and cast her a cold glance. “Liejin is my Princess Consort. No matter what happens, that will never change.”

After saying this, Gao Jingxi boarded the carriage, leaving Lian Pingyou standing alone amid the wind and snow.

Inside the carriage, A-You handed Gao Jingxi a small copper hand warmer before asking softly, “Your Highness, this servant keeps feeling that something about this assassination was strange. Many of the scholars who were killed belonged to the First Imperial Prince’s faction.”

“I also cannot understand why those jianghu assassins were particularly interested in those people.” Gao Jingxi kept her eyes closed as she rested, though her grip on the painting scroll tightened slightly. What she had never anticipated was Lian Liejin being taken away—especially just when she was about to demand a clear explanation from her.

A-You fell silent. In her opinion, however, her princess did not look like someone who had no suspicions at all. Could it be that the person behind the assassination was not actually an enemy of the princess?

By the time they left the imperial palace, the sky had already grown dark. The winter night wind was even more bone-chilling.

As soon as they returned to the Princess’s Residence, a servant delivered a letter. When Gao Jingxi saw the familiar flute design on the paper, a faint smile finally appeared on her face. “It is a letter from Aunt.”

After reading it, Gao Jingxi set the paper alight and watched the yellowed sheet turn to ash beneath the flames. “A-You, Aunt will return to Changyong in a few days. She is coming back in secret this time, so I must first report the matter to the Empress Mother.”

“What? Isn’t Grand Princess Shenwei guarding the border? Your Highness, returning without permission is a serious crime.”

“That is correct.” Gao Jingxi considered the matter for a moment. Perhaps it was because Imperial Mother’s recent conduct had become rather absurd. She even intended to build a Longevity Platform for Consort Lian at an enormous cost. “Aunt has her own considerations. We must not reveal anything.”

“Your Highness, you must have your wound treated first. Otherwise, Her Majesty the Empress will worry even more when she sees you. Besides, Her Majesty has also been feeling unwell recently.”

“Empress Mother will certainly lecture me about having an heir again.” Gao Jingxi turned toward A-You. “Guanxie Residence recently received a shipment of old mountain ginseng. I happened to buy two roots yesterday. I will bring them into the palace for Empress Mother later.”

Once Gao Jingxi was seated, A-You sent someone to bring water that had been boiled and allowed to cool slightly, along with some wine.

“Your Highness, cleaning the wound with wine will hurt a little.” A-You wiped the blood from Gao Jingxi’s forehead and saw that the wound, less than half a cun long, was still faintly oozing blood.

Seeing the tears in A-You’s eyes, Gao Jingxi smiled helplessly. “It will be fine once you apply some hemostatic powder.”

“But Your Highness…” A faint sob entered A-You’s voice. “What if it leaves a scar? I will fetch the Black Jade Scar-Removing Ointment. Haven’t you suffered enough injuries lately? Why didn’t you try to dodge?”

“Enough, enough. Hurry along.” Gao Jingxi examined herself in a mirror, then shook her head. It was only a minor injury, yet A-You made a tremendous fuss every time.

Even so, A-You did not return with the medicine until one ke later. The moment she entered, her voice was still tearful. “Your Highness, your wound must not be exposed to the cold wind. And later, you still have to search for the Princess Consort…”

Gao Jingxi laughed. “Would it satisfy you if I wrapped a layer of gauze around my head?”

“Your Highness…” A-You knew Gao Jingxi could not wear visible bandages. If news of the injury spread, countless rumors would arise again. “The steward came earlier and said that all the clothes purchased for the Princess Consort have been delivered to the Princess’s Residence. The sizes were exactly as you instructed this afternoon.”

The cool ointment made Gao Jingxi feel much more comfortable. Her gaze drifted toward the window. “Let the Princess Consort wear them when she returns. The clothes from Tianzhi Pavilion may not match the skill of the palace seamstresses, but they are still quite good.”

After everything had been taken care of, Gao Jingxi put on a hooded cloak embroidered with ruyi patterns and entered the palace once more. By the time she finished bidding farewell to the Empress and came back out, it was already deep into the night. A-You had long since prepared all the supplies and was waiting outside the palace.

Gao Jingxi then led eight hundred soldiers of the Sun Radiance Guard eastward, following the trail of stellar-power fluctuations left by the assassin.

The Suiyu River outside the city gates was already covered by a thick layer of ice, even thicker than it had been on the night of the Lantern Festival.

The northern wind howled. To increase their speed, Gao Jingxi did not take a carriage. Instead, she rode a swift horse and galloped headlong into the freezing wind.

All eight hundred elite soldiers wrapped stellar power around their horses’ hooves. Light shone beneath every step as they raced like the wind, resembling sparks capable of setting the wilderness ablaze beneath the dark night.

Strangely, the trail of stellar-power fluctuations left by the assassin was extremely obvious, almost as though she had deliberately marked the way to prevent anyone from getting lost.

“Your Highness, that assassin is only an Astrologer. She should not be able to travel for long before we catch her. Besides, she is carrying the Princess Consort and cannot move quickly.”

“I have calculated it. Relying solely on stellar power, the assassin could not possibly travel a thousand li overnight, no matter how exceptional her qinggong might be. She must have obtained a horse.” Gao Jingxi tightened the reins, dismounted, and examined the surroundings. “This area is uninhabited. Those hoofprints on the ground most likely belong to the assassin.”

“In that case, we only need to pursue them quickly. We will certainly rescue the Princess Consort.”

The captain of the Sun Radiance Guard was a graceful and upright young woman. She showed no dissatisfaction at being assigned to something so far beneath the guard’s usual capabilities as rescuing the Princess Consort. Instead, she remained conscientious throughout the journey.

Even so, Gao Jingxi remained suspicious. If the assassin had deliberately chosen such a remote road and fled on horseback, why had she left behind so many traces of stellar power?

They mounted their horses again and rode swiftly throughout the night. Only as dawn approached did they arrive at an inn, where they encountered a soldier returning from the original guard force with a report.

“Your Highness, we pursued the assassin all the way to this Carp Companion Inn, but the fluctuations of stellar power suddenly vanished here. The trail then reappeared ten li away.”

“This Carp Companion Inn?” After going without sleep all night, Gao Jingxi narrowed her eyes slightly and examined the building. Although simple, it was fairly spacious and bright, with many rooms—an excellent place to conceal one’s movements. “There is no time to lose. Let us continue.”

As for Lian Liejin, after separating from Luo Qian’er outside the city, she and Little Radish each mounted a horse and openly headed toward Qingyue Mountain. Qingyue Mountain stood near the border of Qingzhou. By riding day and night at full speed, they reached the foot of the mountain within two or three days.

“Lielie, let Little Black Horse rest for a while. Look at her—in the middle of winter, she is so exhausted that she keeps breathing out white mist.” Little Radish leaped from her horse and stroked the mane of her small black mare.

“Fine. Let us drink some tea at the stall ahead.” Lian Liejin looked at the sky. “We will continue in half a shichen at most.”

Little Radish glanced sideways at Lian Liejin. “Hey, why are you in such a hurry? You look eager to return home, but exactly where are you rushing back to?”

“I slipped away without permission. Changyong may already have been turned upside down. No matter what, it is a fact that I married the princess. In everyone else’s eyes, the Duke of Yan’s Residence has long since joined the Seventh Princess’s faction.”

“Oh my, your father told you that, didn’t he? I cannot believe you actually listened so seriously.” Little Radish looked incredulous.

“Mother arranged this marriage.” Lian Liejin’s gaze softened. “Still, aside from the Seventh Princess, I do not think any of the other imperial princes or princesses are decent people.” After pausing, she changed the subject. “Besides, someone has recently begun investigating the Shadow Clan again. The longer I remain outside, the more dangerous it becomes.”

“How could that be? You have always carried the black jade. As long as you do not use shadow power, it should be almost impossible for anyone to discover you.”

Hearing this, Lian Liejin raised her head toward the sky and happened to see several kites. She smiled softly. “People are still flying kites in winter? Perhaps it is the will of heaven.”

Little Radish stepped on Lian Liejin’s foot in disgust. “Just say you do not want to tell me. Why act so mysterious?”

Upon reaching the tea stall, Little Radish carelessly sat on a greasy wooden bench. “Waiter, bring us a pot of pre-rain Longjing tea and five dry flatbreads.”

After the waiter acknowledged her and walked away, she turned toward Lian Liejin and winked. “With your abilities, you could easily leave all these conflicts behind and simply walk away. Your mother’s dying wish, your marriage to the princess—you could abandon all of it.”

Two days of constant travel had left Lian Liejin somewhat tired. She accepted the teapot from the waiter, poured herself a cup of hot tea, and only then slowly replied to Little Radish.

“Listen to the nonsense coming from someone untouched by worldly concerns. Suppose I walk away from everything—what happens to the Stellar Medicine Sect? What happens when Guanxie Residence has no successor?”

“Oh? Lielie, you have actually thought about having a successor? I assumed you had no desires, kept your distance from women, and had no intention of having children.”

“Who said that? My original ambition was to secure investment for Guanxie Residence, take it public, and achieve an annual profit of one million taels of gold. Such an enormous family enterprise needs someone to inherit it.”

Little Radish pursed her lips and made several tsking sounds. “You? But I heard you can’t perform.”

The remark came so suddenly that Lian Liejin thought she had misheard.

“You heard… from whom? Who cannot perform? Perform in what way?”

“You are a physician, for goodness’ sake. Don’t you understand your own condition?” Little Radish leaned closer with an expression of disappointment at Lian Liejin’s failure to improve. “According to highly reliable firsthand information, you cannot do it. You know—the kind of ‘cannot’ I mean.”