An Eight-year-old Princess

Chapter 1407 Everything Is Ready

"Yes, I remember. It came from the southeast and was heading to the north." The servant knelt down

and replied respectfully.

"From the southeast to the north," thought Yun Shang.

Yun Shang narrowed her eyes, she found the whole thing suspicious. Just then, Luo Qingyan turned to

Liu Wenan, who was standing aside, and asked, "Who are on the southeast side of the yard where

Crown Prince resides?"

When Luo Qingyan and the others stayed in the tavern yesterday, the secret guards had already

investigated the surroundings in detail.

"Your Majesty, the family living in the southeast is the dumb woman who broke into the tavern before."

"The dumb woman?" Yun Shang opened her mouth abruptly. She only knew that the dumb woman

lived next to the tavern. Since the woman had been deaf and mute since childhood, she didn't ask who

else was in her family.

Liu Wenan seemed to understand the hidden meaning of Yun Shang's question, he quickly replied,

"She has an old blind father and a young brother. They are living with her at the moment. It is said that

her mother died of hard labor five years ago when she gave birth to her brother."

"The whole family is either old or disabled. How strange. The father is blind and the daughter is deaf

and mute."

Luo Qingyan tapped his slim finger on the table and said, "Bring me the brush, ink, paper and

inkstone."

Liu Wenan responded in a hurry, fetched the things he required, poured some tea and grounded the ink

for Luo Qingyan.

With a steady head, Luo Qingyan quickly and carefully copied the words on the note and put the

original note back into the bamboo tube.

"Release the pigeon," he ordered.

His attendant took the bird and went out. After a while, he came back and reported, "Your Majesty, the

dove is flying north."

Yun Shang raised her eyebrows and turned to Luo Qingyan, "Isn't Xia Houjing the big boss behind the

dumb woman? Then how come the words on the note were written in the ancient language of the State

of Yelang? And why is the pigeon flying north?"

"Who knows?" Luo Qingyan shrugged and replied, "Maybe we guessed wrong before. The dumb

woman is not working for Xia Houjing, but is working for someone from the State of Yelang. Or maybe

it's just a cover up to mislead us to suspect Cangjue Qingsu."

Lou Qingyan blew dry the paper he had just written on and continued with a low voice, "But it doesn't

matter who she is. She is just a pawn sent by someone to test us. If it doesn't rain later, we will leave

here tomorrow. The top priority is to get to someone to find out what is written on the note."

Yun Shang frowned but she agreed with his decision anyway. Despite the doubt in her heart, she

remained silent. "Is the dumb woman really one of Cangjue Qingsu's pawns?" thought she solemnly.

At the moment, the State of Yelang was at an absolute disadvantage in the war at the border. Cangjue

Qingsu was in the middle of a mess. How could he have the time and energy to deal with spying?

Deep down, Yun Shang still believed that Xia Houjing is the one who instigated the dumb woman to

test them. This was just a cover up by the calculative Xia Houjing.

"The dumb woman was released by me not long ago, and now she had already made a move and sent

out a messenger pigeon. Isn't it too deliberate? Don't forget, it is daytime. The messenger pigeon could

be seen at a glance when it passed by the sky over the tavern. Even if the it wasn't shot down

accidentally by Chengye, the secret guards would probably not let it fly away under their noses. All in

all, it's not a smart way to send a message out."

Hearing Yun Shang's murmuring, Luo Qingyan couldn't help but chuckle, "Yes, the Empress is

absolutely right on this one."

She could tell he was just flattering her, with a faint blush on her face, Yun Shang had another idea in

her mind. 'Maybe it is a deliberate trap to begin with!' she thought to herself.

What if the dumb woman knew what they were thinking? She pursed her lips and wondered if she

should discuss the matter thoroughly with him.

The more Yun Shang contemplated about it, the more complicated the situation became. She sighed

and decided to put it aside. His Majesty was right, whether it was true or not, a plot or something, they

should just find out what was written on the note first.

After the sky cleared out, it didn't rain any more. On the second morning, as soon as the sun rose, the

servants had packed up their things. Yun Shang and Luo Qingyan got on the carriage and continued

their journey.

Along the way to the temporary imperial palace, nothing strange happened.

After the servants had arranged the temporary imperial palace ready for them, Yun Shang moved in.

Luo Qingyan had his own separate palace, but now he was drinking tea and reading in Yun Shang's

chamber.

Yun Shang looked up at him and smiled, "We've already arrived at the temporary imperial palace, but

no one has come to test us for the third time. Your Majesty, guess who will come here this time?"

Luo Qingyan's attention was all on the book. Hearing Yun Shang's question, he didn't even look up.

Instead, he curled up his lips and asked back, "Well, how should I know?"

Yun Shang was not surprised at all. She said directly, "I guess it will be Cao Han."

"Cao Han?" The name successfully attracted his attention, Luo Qingyan looked up. After thinking for a

moment, he nodded and chuckled, "It might be him."

After a pause, he continued, "You said earlier on that you wanted to set them up this time?"

"That's right." Yun Shang nodded, "Cao Han is a smart man. When he actually comes in, I don't have to

be too deliberate. I will only show a little flaw and hopefully he will take the bait."

After saying that, Yun Shang suddenly remembered the situation when the dumb woman came to test

them. She smiled profoundly and looked at Luo Qingyan in the eyes. She said solemnly to him, "Since

Your Majesty has your own chamber in the temporary imperial palace, please have a rest in your own

place tonight. Don't stay overnight here. Otherwise, others will find out the truth."

Since she had to pretend that she was about to leave, she had to pay more attention to the details.

Lou Qingyan was about to turn a page, hearing her abrupt request, his hand froze in the air. He

squinted at Yun Shang and asked unhappily, "Can't I just sleep here?"

"Of course not."

Her direct answer made him furrow his eyebrows. Luo Qingyan sighed, "That is very harsh of you. How

can I sleep without you?"

Yun Shang ignored the slyness in his tone and simply said, "You can't make it too obvious. Your

Majesty can always come and have tea here during the day." NôvelDrama.Org owns this.

Luo Qingyan's eyes instantly lit up. "Well, I won't come here tonight. I can pretend to be busy with the

tedious political affairs. In fact, it will be alright for me to come over during the day."

Yun Shang knew what he meant. She rolled her eyes and said, "I'll attend the banquet tomorrow, and

I'll deliberately expose some flaws to our hidden enemies. I'll then leave at the banquet tomorrow."

The fire in Luo Qingyan's eyes was extinguished at once, "Are you leaving tomorrow afternoon

already? So soon? Have you arranged everything?"

"It has been arranged for a long time. Everything is ready. Your Majesty, please don't worry about me."

No matter what, Luo Qingyan couldn't really rest assured. After a long silence, he asked, "Do you need

me to send some secret guards to protect you?"

"No, thanks." Yun Shang smiled, "It will be too obvious that your Majesty's secret guards are to be

mobilized to a large extent. I won't be in need of any of your guards. Tomorrow, someone will come to

pick me up outside the temporary imperial palace. The rest of the secret guards are waiting halfway for

me. After we all meet up, we will then travel together."

She gave him an assuring look, "In case of any accident halfway, I have also placed some secret

guards in several large towns along the way in case of need."