An Eight-year-old Princess novel Chapter 206

Prince Jing rushed to Yun Shang and asked with concern, "What happened? Are you okay?"

Yun Shang nodded but kept silent.

It was dark around them, so Prince Jing couldn't see that Yun Shang had been hurt. He also didn't see her swallowing her blood. When he didn't hear Yun Shang speak for a long time, Prince Jing held Yun Shang's hand and asked again, "Are you hurt?"

It took Yun Shang a while to muster enough strength to answer softly, "I'm all right. I'm just tired after the chase and the fight."

Prince Jing was happy to hear Yun Shang's voice. But he noticed how weak she sounded. He nodded as he thought over her explanation. Prince Jing felt relieved. 'Yun Shang isn't very good at Kung Fu. It's understandable that she would feel tired.'

"We need to hurry. I set fires around the forest during the chase. It won't be long before someone comes to put them out. I have a way to deal with the soldiers. After we return safely, we can set another fire in the forest. Then we can place our army at the foothills and kill every soldier who comes down the mountain." Yun Shang suppressed the pain in her shoulder. She ground her teeth before continuing, "Ning Ye and Xia Houjing talked about letting their soldiers sneak into the Imperial City from tomorrow. They must have bribed more than one person in the Imperial City. We need to place more guards in the Imperial City."

Since it took all of her energy to share this information with the Prince, Yun Shang felt pain spread throughout her body. She was afraid that Prince Jing would find out about her injury, so she ground her teeth and bore the pain silently. She didn't want to be a burden to Prince Jing.

When the next spasm of pain enveloped the Princess, Yun Shang broke into a cold sweat and shivered slightly. Her vision blurred and she felt as though she was on the verge of losing consciousness. Just then, Prince Jing's voice gave Yun Shang something else to think about. He said, "Well, now that we are not afraid of the poison in the miasma, we should go back down the mountain and find our people. I've been able to spot a road that we can use. Tomorrow I'll report the secret army to Emperor Ning and suggest that he replace the garrison guarding the Imperial City with people that I trust......"

Yun Shang answered him with a soft "Em." Just then she felt Prince Jing holding her injured hand. Yun Shang burst into a cold sweat as pain radiated throughout her arm and shoulder. She almost passed out because of the intensity of the sudden pain.

"Why is your hand so sweaty?" Prince Jing asked.

Yun Shang ground her teeth and forced a smile, "It's probably because I've never fought with anyone in practice. As it's my first time, I became nervous."

Prince Jing nodded at the explanation. He held Yun Shang's hand and gently guided her to the right.

As the Prince and Princess arrived at their destination, they saw a number of soldiers guarding the forest.

Prince Jing frowned as he quickly counted the number of soldiers. If there were only a few soldiers, then he had the confidence to break their blockade. There was, however, a possibility that these soldiers were only a bait to lure Prince Jing and Yun Shang into a confrontation. Once the confrontation began, soldiers in hiding might join the fight. If such was the case, then Prince Jing and Yun Shang would get caught.

Yun Shang was aware of the possible danger as well. She was in great pain and knew that she couldn't climb down the waterfall. Given her current circumstances, she knew that Xia Houjing would set ambushes in the forest as he knew that they were not afraid of the miasma and would probably not risk the waterfall. So the waterfall was probably the least guarded spot in the forest and hence, the safest option for them to climb down the mountain.

"Let's go back through the waterfall." Yun Shang said softly, "We can send a secret signal to our shadow guards who will then gather near the waterfall. We can't afford to alert Ning Ye and Xia Houjing by fighting with their soldiers. If our identities are exposed, they will change their plans correspondingly. It will be hard for us to arrest them. Right now, they don't know who we are. And from their experience of fighting with us, they will think we are only normal Kung Fu practicers. They let us go because they thought we weren't a threat to them."

Prince Jing agreed with Yun Shang. He held her hand again. This time, he led her back to where they had been when the fight broke out.

Yun Shang let out a signal to inform her guards. She hoped that Prince Jing didn't find out about her injury. She was worried that he would blame himself for a long time given that he cared about her so much.

While walking back, the Prince and Princess saw the light of several torches in the distance. Just when Prince Jing was about to take a diversion, they heard Xia Houjing's voice. He seemed astonished. "Lord Hua Guo, you can't be serious!"

Yun Shang sighed as she thought, 'Why does everything happen at the same time? Everywhere we go, we overhear people's secrets. Each revelation leads to trouble!'

The next moment, Yun Shang's thoughts were interrupted by Xia Houjing's shocking words, "Prince Jing can't be my brother! He is Prince Jing of the State of Ning!"

At that exclamation, Yun Shang didn't know what to think. She turned to Prince Jing, but noticed that he had frozen in shock. Slightly panicked, she wondered whether what she had heard was true. She knew that Prince Jing was an orphan and that he had been adopted by the last reigning Emperor when the Prince was a child. But she never expected that Prince Jing was actually the Prince of the State of Xia.

Lord Hua Guo's majestic voice echoed through the forest, "Your Highness shouldn't question me. Prince Jing is my daughter's son. He looks so much like my daughter that I wouldn't mistake him for another person. I've heard that you tried to assassinate him many times. That's why I choose to tell you the truth today. I don't want you to hurt your brother. As for His Majesty, I have already sent a message to him. It won't be long before His Majesty comes and visits the State of Ning."

After Lord Hua Guo finished speaking, he turned and walked toward the camp.

Xia Houjing stood where he was. He bowed his head as he thought over Lord Hua Guo's orders. No one knew what was on his mind. After a while, he whispered in a cold tone, "Prince Jing? Well......"

Although he was whispering, his tone was so cold that Yun Shang felt goose bumps creeping up her arms.

Xia Houjing stood still for a long time before he turned around and walked to his camp. Yun Shang asked in a low voice with concern, "Uncle?"

Prince Jing didn't seem to hear her. He kept silent for a long time before he nodded and said, "We need to hurry now. We will be easily spotted if we try to go down the mountain after dawn."

Since Prince Jing didn't seem to want to talk about the secret they had just overheard, Yun Shang decided not to bring it up again. But she felt quite worried. If what Lord Hua Guo had said was true, then Prince Jing was the rightful heir as Prince of the State of Xia. Right now, they were on the brink of war with the State of Xia. If war really broke out, Yun Shang wondered which side Prince Jing would take. If Prince Jing chose to support the State of Xia, it would be disastrous to the State of Ning.

The more Yun Shang thought about it, the more worried she became. 'I should give Prince Jing some time to process the news. In the meanwhile, I need to ask my people to make sure of its authenticity. If it is true, then Prince Jing and I need to talk. No matter what, I will not let Prince Jing become an enemy of the State of Ning.'

Prince Jing brought Yun Shang to the waterfall. Yun Shang frowned. Without the rope, it would be harder for her to climb down.

Prince Jing seemed to be pondering about the problem, too. After a while, he said, "This problem can be easily solved. We can let our guards know that they need to set something under the waterfall to cushion our landing. Let's jump."

Yun Shang hesitated at Prince Jing's words. If she hadn't been hurt, she would have jumped without fear. But since she had been hurt and her shoulder injury was serious, Yun Shang wondered if her whole arm would break with even the slightest impact from such a high fall.

However......

"All right." Yun Shang said after a long time.

She smiled bitterly. Xia Houjing's people would try to enter the Imperial City tomorrow. If she wasted time, it would be too late to stop them.

Prince Jing walked to the edge of the cliff and looked down. Seeing that the guards had placed fishing nets and quilts under the cliff, he nodded and turned to Yun Shang, "I will jump first. When you jump down, I will catch you."

Yun Shang nodded. Seeing that Prince Jing had jumped without waiting for her response, she walked to the edge of the cliff. As she looked at the people and the arrangements, she assured herself that she would be all right. Then she jumped too.