The night sky was clear, filled with boundless stars.

Yang Yu Lian had fallen asleep as soon as she had entered the carriage. Her sleep was sweet as the carriage was slowly moving forward along the lanes where the silvery light of the huge moon in the sky didn’t reach and where almost no people were at that hour in the night.

Nonetheless, as Yang Yu Lian was sleeping and her carriage had yet to leave the Royal City, there were people wide awake who despite the hour were concerned about this matter in one way or another.

In the estate of a first-rank official, a handsome man in his late twenties was sitting before a wooden table and sipping wine at the light of the candles in an elegant study room. From time to time, he would tilt his head from one side to another, making his long threads of dark brown hair waft even more in the cool night breeze.

At length, after having filled his cup with wine again, he supported his head on his right hand and said while picking up the cup with his other hand, “The message must have already reached his hands, isn’t it, Qiang Yi?”

From the shadows made by the absence of candlelight came out a man clad in assassin dark robes. He stood ten steps behind him, right before the wall and said, “Yes, the Crown Prince must be already aware of the switch of plans, Master.”

The handsome man with dark brown hair pressed his lips before taking a sip of wine, “Hmm~ He must be hurrying to meet her midway, then.

“Tsk, this is maddening; though, I was the one who basically told him. However… ughh… if she weren’t his sister…” he whispered the last words as he straightened his back to drink all the wine in his cup.

“…”

*****

After the carriage left Yang Kingdom’s Royal City, Yang Yu Lian and company followed a route where they avoided any big city, only passing through the small-sized ones because their troupe was small; it was less probably to encounter bandit groups there.

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Five days went by. They were almost mid-way and a day from the next small city. Yang Yu Lian was glaring ahead from her seat; she had finally begun to get tired. The load of big and small wooden boxes tied with a rope and double secured with bamboo sticks four steps before her inside the carriage were becoming bothersome to her eyes and ears.

She felt like throwing all away but she needed some assets that she could use freely in the light without arousing suspicions. She put her anger down and thankfully, before her suppressed annoyance broke out, evening came and a camp was set in the wilderness.

The sky darkened before she knew it and now, she was grooming a bit with a big wooden basin of warm water inside her tent.

As she was relaxing with a wet folded cotton fabric on her face, the sound of horseshoes was suddenly heard, making the people camping outside turn alert. She didn’t care, though; by the sound of it, it was only one rider and no other presences aside from that rider or theirs were detected by her.

The horseman rode right onto their campsite without changing directions and soon come into the guards’ sight.

With the help of bonfire’s light, they saw the figure of a man coming out from the woods. He was wearing a long and dusty hood, and even though his face was covered, he seemed pretty worn out. His steed was excellent and despite the weariness they could feel from the man, his bearing was that of someone who stood high and aloof; hence, after their quick evaluation, someone yelled, “Who are you?”

The unknown man didn’t answer and just raised his hand from the reins. By instinct the guards braced themselves and as some of them were about to yell again, the man’s hand took the hood away, uncovering his face and letting his unbound and long black hair blow away with the briskly night.

The people with words on the tip of their tongues swallowed them back and all of them stilled in place. The man was very handsome with facial features somewhat feminine; however, his dark eyes were sharp and haughty as if he was judging all, making impossible the mistake of confusing with a girl.

“Seeing His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince,” inexplicably, all the men came back to their senses at the same time; they kneeled in one knee and called out with bowed heads.

Thank goodness we didn’t do anything reckless, some men thought right after calling out. Though he hadn’t said anything and wasn’t wearing one of his distinctive head ornaments, as elite imperial guards they had recognized him. The lone and dusty man on horseback had resulted to be the Crown Prince of their Yang Kingdom, Yang Lin Yun.