Princess and the General

Disappeared After Waking Up (Part One)

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When the sun came up, the campsite was already tidied up.

The eldest prince had gotten up much earlier.
Thinking about how Yin Shuo’s subordinates had been overheard made him brood even more.

He wanted to ask Yin Shuo about his investigation, but there were people coming and going.
In the end, he decided to temporarily avoid doing anything suspicious and went to Imperial Consort Xian’s tent.

Imperial Consort Xian had already finished getting cleaned up and dressed.
She had changed into a set of plain clothes, and there was only a single silver hairpin in her hair.

Her complexion was a little pale, and she did not make use of much makeup.
It looked as if she was mourning Emperor Ning’s passing.
Only the eldest prince knew that she was sick from anxiety and fear.

“You’ve come?”

Imperial Consort Xian saw the eldest prince, and a hint of a smile appeared in her eyes, “Quickly, come and sit.
Have a cup of hot milk.
We will need to rush back to the capital soon, and it’s really cold outside right now.”

The eldest prince glanced outside the tent.
The north wind howled like a displeased beast.

He suddenly remembered that Emperor Ning did not say anything before passing away.
His heart had been crushed by the special arrow.
Before passing away, he glanced at the second prince then himself then at Yin Shuo.

At that time, nobody was able to react, but the three of them had all clearly seen Emperor Ning’s expressions.

When he looked at the second prince, his eyes were full of shock.
When looking at himself and Yin Shuo, his eyes were full of resentment.

He closed his eyes, “That’s right.
It’s really cold.”

Imperial Consort Xian spoke candidly: “How is it? Has the person who was eavesdropping been found? Who was it?”

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The eldest prince took a sip of the milk.
There were milk cows at the campsite, and this milk had been milked from a cow by a servant in the middle of the night.
It was very fragrant and sweet.

But for some reason, he found the taste a little fishy.
As a result, he put the cup down after a single sip.

“When I went to see Prime Minister Yin last night, he still had not found them.
He guaranteed that he would find that person.
It was a man dressed in dark green.
Does imperial consort mother have any clues?”

“A man in dark green clothes…”

Imperial Consort Xian furrowed her brow but could not recall ever seeing anyone matching that description, “The men who could ride and shoot went on the hunt with His Majesty.
Only the female guests and imperial guards stayed here.
All of the imperial guards were wearing their bright-yellow military uniforms.
As for the women, there’s no need to talk about them…”

“Hold on!”

Imperial Consort Xian suddenly remembered something, “Are you certain that Yin Shuo said that it was a man?”

The eldest prince could tell that there was something behind this comment, “If it’s not a man, does imperial consort mother have a clue?”

“Yesterday, that princess from Western Kun was wearing dark green clothes.
The other ladies were dressed in bright and gorgeous clothes.
She was the only one wearing men’s hunting clothes.
This impressed me quite a bit.”

The eldest prince furrowed his brow, “I saw her yesterday.
She was wearing a pink top with a light-green skirt.
I am sure that it was not a dark-green hunting outfit.”

Imperial Consort Xian quickly said: “The clothes that she wore at first were dark green.
Later on, she said that she was going to get changed and did not return for a long time.
Even later on, I saw a girl riding off into the forest.
It was her after she had changed into her pink top and green skirt!”

All of the clues pointed at Kun YuYang.
Imperial Consort Xian felt that the eavesdropper was her, “Quickly go to Yin Shuo and verify that the eavesdropper was a man.
After all, she was wearing hunting clothes.
If Yin Shuo’s subordinates did not get a clear look at her, they might have thought that she was a man.
Wouldn’t that be a big mistake?”

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The eldest prince immediately stood up, “Very well, son will go and ask Yin Shuo immediately!’

Yin Shuo’s tent was brightly illuminated.
He did not sleep all night, as he had been sending people to investigate the man dressed in dark green.

“Eldest young sir, we found that there were three men wearing dark green clothes at the campsite yesterday.
But these three were with His Majesty’s group in the forest.
They could not have appeared at the camp at that time.”

Yin Shuo listened to his subordinate’s report and fell silent for a moment, “Regardless of whether or not they could have been at the camp, have them all killed without fail.
This matter absolutely must not be found out by anyone.
It would be better to erroneously kill three thousand than to let the correct person go.”

Just as the subordinate was about to accept the order, the eldest prince suddenly burst into the tent.

A look of displeasure appeared in Yin Shuo’s eyes, as he glanced outside.
It was only after seeing that there were no people outside that he was barely able to feel a little more at ease.

“Why has eldest prince suddenly come?”

The eldest prince glanced at the two subordinates standing there before directly saying: “Prime minister, are you certain that the eavesdropper was a man?”

Yin Shuo did not know why would ask this and looked at the two subordinates, “These two are the ones who noticed that they were being overheard.
Eldest prince, feel free to ask them anything.”

The eldest prince had a fierce look on his face, and one of them quickly said: “Replying to Your Highness, that person knew martial arts and qinggong.
When we came out to give chase, all we could see was the corner of fabric that was dark green.
Based on that, we determined that it was a man wearing dark green clothes.”

The eldest prince slapped that person, “Idiot! Just because they were wearing hunting clothes and knew martial arts, they had to be a man? Indeed, Eastern Ling’s women do not know martial arts, but did you never consider that it might be a woman from Western Kun?”

Yin Shuo stood up from his seat, “Your Highness, what do you mean?”

The eldest prince hatefully said: “Imperial consort mother said that Kun YuYang was wearing dark-green hunting clothes yesterday.
She changed into her pink and green clothes later on.
The girls from Western Kun know martial arts.
She also rushed into the forest at a time like that.
Aside from her, who else could it be?!”

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The two subordinates immediately recognized their failure and dropped to their knees to beg for forgiveness, “This subordinate recognizes my mistake.
This subordinate will immediately go and kill the princess from Western Kun!”

“Hold it!”

Yin Shuo stopped the two, “That is a princess from Western Kun and a wife to Eastern Ling’s imperial family.
Killing her would cause too much of a stir.
That guy might look like a playboy, but he is more prepared than anyone else.
To kill his wife under his eyes, isn’t that easier said than done?”

They had already determined who it was, but they could not kill her.
The eldest prince had completely lost his former demeanor from the anxiety, “Then what do we do? Could it be that we have no choice but to let her live and tell others about our secret?”

“Of course not.”

Yin Shuo gave him a profound look, “What Your Highness needs to do right now is to be rational.
The court’s officials are very sharp.
If Your Highness is unable to stay calm, there won’t be any need for Kun YuYang to tell others.
Won’t others be able to notice your strange actions?”

The eldest prince froze for a moment then took a deep breath.
Thinking back from the previous day to the present, he had not acted normally in the slightest.
It was no wonder Yin Shuo would say this sort of thing.

He had personally plotted his own father’s death and watched Emperor Ning die in front of him.
How could he act normally?!

He could not act normally, but he needed to act normally.

After a while, the eldest prince finally calmed down and said in a heavy voice: “You cannot kill her, then does prime minister have a better idea?”

Yin Shuo nodded and said: “Since the second prince has been detained, Her Highness Imperial Consort Xian and eldest prince are the most venerated ones present.
Right now, it would be understandable if eldest prince asked Her Highness Imperial Consort Xian to step forward and ask the imperial guards to search the area.
Just say that the second prince assassinating His Majesty was a serious matter.
It’s possible that there are still people with similar ideas.
For the sake of everyone’s safety, they need to conduct a search.”

This was a pretty good excuse, and the eldest prince said: “You want to use this opportunity to find out where Kun YuYang is?”

“Yes, when the time comes, we can just find any reason to have her detained.
Her identity as a princess from Western Kun is a sensitive matter.
Nobody would dare to say a word if she was detained at a time like this.”

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The eldest prince immediately left the tent, “It isn’t too late.
I will go and talk to imperial consort mother for help.”

…

Adding to the sound of packing up the campsite were the sounds of imperial guards carrying out a search.

Their shouting voices made it impossible for everyone to sleep.
When their search reached the imperial family’s tents, Ning TangShu got up and yawned.

His vision was hazy from just waking up.
Seeing the eldest prince lead a group inside, he had a look of confusion on his face, “Eldest prince, what have you come here for?”

The eldest prince looked around but did not see any signs of Kun YuYang, but he did see Kun YuYang’s clothes on the screen.
It was just her pink top and green skirt.

He awkwardly smiled at Ning TangShu, “Because the second prince assassinated His Majesty yesterday, imperial consort mother was worried that the other female attendees would be in danger, so she had me lead a group to look around.
Where has TangShu’s wife gone?”

Ning TangShu did not buy it but let out a snort, “It’s fortunate that she isn’t here, or she would have been seen without her clothes on when eldest prince barged in.
Should she abandon her shame and reputation?”

The eldest prince’s expression was a little ugly and thought to himself that this guy was really thinking of himself as someone from the older generation.
When it came to actual ages, Ning TangShu was a few years younger than himself.

Just as he was about to speak up, he suddenly heard Ning TangShu shout outside, “Cui Ya, where has my wife gone? Has she gone to make breakfast?”

The sound of footsteps came from outside, and a maidservant named Cui Ya came in and bowed, “Replying to young sir, this servant has not seen madam.
Hasn’t madam been in the tent this entire time?”

Ning TangShu furrowed his brow.
He stood up and scratched his head, “What’s going on here? A perfectly good and alive person disappeared after I woke up? Oh no, I’ve got it!”