V2C129

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However, Zhu Yan did not obey his advice. The next day, when the new Crown Prince visited the Red King’s Palace and stepped in to reward the Vassal King in place of the Emperor, she followed her parents out.

She did not expect him to make a big fuss this time, as both the Red King and his wife came out to greet him, hailing him and bowing in gratitude, while she stared in amazement at the crowds of people surrounding the entire palace, and her heart pounded with discomfort as she stood there, seemingly stiff and motionless.

On one side, Grandma Sheng tugged at her anxiously and whispered, “Princess, why don’t you bow down?”

She froze for a moment, suddenly realizing. Yesterday he made sure she didn’t have to come out, just because he didn’t want her to witness this scene… Now he was the Crown Prince of Kongsang, the future emperor. There was a distinction between the monarch and his subjects, between the nobles and the lowly. As soon as they met, her parents had to prostrate to him, and she had to do the same!

They were already as distant from each other as clouds and mud. At the thought of this, her heart trembled like a stroke of thunder and her awareness went blank.

In the crowd of prostrating people, only the young Princess of the Red Clan was left standing. She was the only one remaining on her feet in the sea of people who were bowing their heads to the ground, but Shi Ying only glanced at her blankly and made no remark, lifting his hand and ordering the Red King’s family to stand up.

The new Crown Prince followed the rituals and proclaimed the kindness of the Emperor of Kongsang in favor of the Red King: boxes of congratulatory gifts were opened in turn, countless treasures, numerous rewards, in a dazzling array. The usher kept announcing names, and the attendants in the palace occasionally emitted muffled shouts of excitement.

Zhu Yan was watching from the side, but her eyes were empty. What was the significance of these things to her? It was just a bid to buy her freedom for life…

After the imperial gifts were delivered, Shi Ying sat down and exchanged a few pleasantries with the Red King and his wife before cutting to the chase and asking, “I wonder if the date for the wedding has been set? The marriage of the eldest son and eldest daughter of the White and Red Clans is of great importance, and when the time comes, I will come to officiate on behalf of the Emperor.”

Zhu Yan shook violently, almost dropping the teacup in her hand.

He… he will preside? Why him? How could he… consent to such a thing?! She looked at him in shock and bewilderment, yet the Crown Prince only turned his head to look at the Red King and did not distract himself from looking up at her.

“We are grateful to His Majesty the Emperor and His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince for their generous grace!” The Red King expressed his gratitude and respectfully reported, “The date for the wedding has been chosen, but we have yet to discuss it with the White King – once it is decided, we will inform the Crown Prince straight away.”

Shi Ying’s expression did not falter, he calmly said, “This is an extremely difficult time in the Yunhuang Wilderness, so I have to do it in a hurry, thus, I will have to compensate for the situation with Princess Zhu Yan.”

When he said this, he finally glanced at Zhu Yan, but his eyes looked calm and lifeless.

Her heart jumped and she felt her fingers shaking so much that she could barely hold the cup of tea. In the background, she heard her father laugh and say, “All these formalities are not important. In ancient times they used to enter into the marriage before a battle.”

The two parties rambled on about other things, and after seeing how much they were talking, Consort Red opened her mouth with a smile: “Marriage is an important matter – the emperor’s body is troubled, and he is probably anxious as well to see His Imperial Highness married, right? I wonder if His Majesty has a candidate in mind for the appointment of the Crown Princess?”

The Crown Princess? Zhu Yan shuddered again, and this time the tea cup fell straight down from her hand. Shi Ying didn’t even look at her, but his finger swiftly and silently swept under the sleeve of his robe. In a flash, the cup of tea that was about to crash to the ground instantly reversed and flew back into her hand, without spilling a single drop of water!

No one in the audience noticed this momentary alteration, and he did not even glance at her. Zhu Yan held her cup of tea with uncertainty, and her heart was in turmoil, but she only heard Shi Ying open his mouth calmly, answering the question: “In two days from now, I will go to the residence of the White King to discuss this matter with him – according to the usual practice, one of the four unmarried daughters of the White Clan will be selected, I believe.”

“All of the White King’s daughters are beautiful and virtuous enough to be considered suitable for matrimony,” the Red King said with a smile, “I wish His Imperial Highness a beautiful match as soon as possible, so that the Yunhuang Wilderness can also partake in the celebrations.”

“Thank you for your kind words.” With a faint smile, Shi Ying put down his tea and got up to leave.

At the very last moment, his eyes swept lightly over her, but his demeanor remained unflinching. Zhu Yan wanted to say something, but the words didn’t come out – this meeting, from beginning to the end, they never had the chance to exchange a word, and she could only watch from the sidelines, listening to the social pleasantries between him and her own parents, as if she were looking at a stranger.

A stone’s throw distant, a farewell encounter.

“Respectfully sending off His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince!” As he left, once again, all the people in the Red King’s Mansion prostrated and bowed down, only Zhu Yan stood there in a daze, looking at his back – Master, he… was going to take a wife? Yes, he was no longer a Great Priest of the Jiuyi Temple, and as the sole heir of the Emperor and Crown Prince of Kongsang, he was bound to take a wife, and had to choose the Crown Princess from the Royal Family of the White Clan.

Everything was justified. But… how could it all happen so quickly? It was so unreal and totally overwhelming – it was as if he had died in her arms just yesterday, and today he suddenly changed his identity and reappeared into this world!

Did he lost all his memories? Or perhaps she had forgotten?

“Princess, why don’t you hurry…” Grandma Sheng, seeing the young Princess staring there in a daze again, couldn’t help but raise her hand anxiously, trying to tug her lapels to make her kneel down together.

However, Zhu Yan faintly tossed her sleeve, and in just an instant, her entire figure suddenly disappeared.

Eight magnificently adorned stallions, pulling a royal carriage painted in gold, stopped at the entrance to the Royal Palace. The carriage had silver wings, the Imperial insignia of the blood of the Emperors of Kongsang. When Shi Ying sat down in the carriage, the great chamberlain closed the door from the outside and pulled the curtain shut. The interior of the carriage was magnificent and spacious, and not a single attendant was present. However, as soon as the curtain was closed, a slight movement followed.

Shi Ying seated inside the carriage, frowned, and suddenly opened his mouth to the void: “What are you trying to do by following me?”

“Ahh…” The carriage was empty, but a voice whispered, seemingly with a hint of annoyance, “You was able to spot me?”

A slight breeze swept through the enclosed carriage, swirling and settling on the floor. With a swish, a figure emerged from mid-air, bright-eyed and radiant, none other than the little princess of the Red Clan.

“Like you said, if you cast both the invisibility and the earth shrinking spell at the same time, a new spell can appear,” Zhu Yan recalled his own ability to move in an instant, and there was a hint of smugness in her tone, “This spell just now, even my father couldn’t notice it…”

Shi Ying’s eyebrows twitched, as though an expression of approval passed over them, but he refrained from speaking. The Six Kings were second only to the Emperor in Yunhuang, and to conceal the use of a spell from the Red King under his nose was already a very impressive level of cultivation – this little girl was really clever, he had only given her a small guidance, and she was immediately able to put it into practice.

However, he did not pick up her conversation, “As the soon-to-be-married Princess of the Red Clan, your sudden arrival in my carriage like this could cause a great deal of disturbance to all parties should it become public knowledge… leave before anyone else notices.”

Zhu Yan only followed up on impulse, and hearing such a formal tone from him, the bit of bloody courage and impulsiveness in her heart she mustered earlier went cold; only after a long time she mumbled: “Just now… there were too many people over there and I never had the chance to ask you a question, so I couldn’t resist coming over…”

Shi Ying was stunned for a moment and his expression strayed a little: “What do you want to ask?”

Zhu Yan clicked her feet, “Why do you want to come and officiate the wedding ceremony?”

“Is that all you want to ask?” Shi Ying was somehow relieved and sat back in the carriage, looking ahead without squinting, his voice calm and cold. “I am now the Crown Prince, and since the Emperor is ill, I can only step in for him and extend my grace to the courtiers and Vassal Kings in order to gain the hearts of the people – that’s all.”

“But… but…” she blurted out several times, without being able to formulate the following words.

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