"Here are your two cups of our house special tea."

Xia Yu served the tea to their last customers of the night. The guests gave their gratitude and began to drink the tea. She can see the satisfaction in the eyes of the men.

"How do you find our tea?" she asked, soliciting praise from the customers.

"Well Young Miss, this is a very delicious cup of tea." One of the men said.

"Thank you for your praise. My husband has good tea brewing skills."

Xia Yu saw the surprise on the men's faces upon giving the idea that she was married. There were multiple occasions when men would flirt with her. To prevent herself from any trouble, she keeps finding opportunities to say she's married. So far, it's working as she anticipated.

"My! Your husband is good at making tea. You are lucky to marry such a skilled man." The other man complimented.

Xia Yu smiled at them. Now is her chance.

"Thank you. By the way... are you from this town? This is the first time I have seen you, two gentlemen."

"Yes, we are."

"To tell you the truth, we live on the other side of the town. We heard about this tea shop and came here to see for ourselves. I must say we're glad we came here."

"Thank you for your praises."

She was about to ask another question when the tea shop's door opened. She turned to shoo the customer away but she froze. She saw the woman's eyes widen upon recognizing her.

"Oh, my-" the woman began to utter.

However, Xia Yu was quick to come close to her to cut her off. She made a subtle gesture at the woman to keep silent. The woman did. As Xia Yu drew close, she said in a whisper.

"Wait for me at the back of the tea shop. We'll talk there."

Though the woman was still confused, she gave Xia Yu a nod and left the tea shop.

"Merciful heavens! You are alive!" the woman cried as she hugged Xia Yu tightly.

Xia Yu hugged the woman back. While Miyojin prepared a glass of water for the crying woman. After closing the tea shop and informing Miyojin, they took the woman back to their room. And now, the woman is bursting into tears after seeing Xia Yu.

"When I heard about what happened to you, I was so distraught. I thought we could only see each other again in the afterlife." The woman sobbed.

"There... there. I'm alright." Xia Yu said as she rubbed the woman's back to soothe her.

She pulled away from the embrace. The woman pulled out a handkerchief and began wiping her tears and nose.

"Here. Have some water." Miyojin offered.

The woman looked at him with confusion. This reminded Xia Yu of something she had forgotten to do.

"Oh! Your Highness, this is Huiqing. She is one of the daughters of a merchant who my family had been doing business with. Huiqing, this is my husband, the second prince of the Great Yong Empire, Miyojin." Xia Yu introduced them to one another.

Huiqing was about to get on her knees to pay her respects. But Miyojin stopped her.

"Miss Huiqing, you don't have to do this. It is our great delight to meet you at this moment."

Though she was prevented from kneeling, she still gave the prince a bow. She took the glass of water offered to her and drank it. When she was done, Xia Yu began to tell her what happened to them.

"Oh my! You are so lucky to be able to escape and survive all of that," Huiqing said.

"Yes. But we wouldn't have made it without the sacrifices of the Crown Prince and the royal guards."

"That's so tragic."

"Now tell us. How did you find out about the assassination?" Xia Yu asked.

"Oh, Lady Xia Yu! It was the only thing they talked about in the whole empire. If the people of Yumin didn't send another invitation, no one would know about the tragedy that had befallen you."

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

"Another invitation?" Miyojin said joining in the conversation.

"Yes, Your Highness. Two days after you departed, the imperial palace received another invitation. But this time, it was brought by a messenger." Huiqing began to explain.

"When the Imperial Court told him that they already sent you, the messenger was surprised. He claimed that they were just about to invite you. They didn't send an invitation beforehand. When they showed the first invitation to him, he was able to prove that it was fake."

"Let me guess..." Xia Yu began. "Was the location of the celebration different? That is why he said it was fake."

"Yes! How did you know?" Huiqing asked in surprise.

"Xia Yu had a hunch before we set out. She said that our island destination was uninhabitable for centuries." Miyojin answered for Xia Yu.

"Yes, we even considered the idea that it might be a trap. But we didn't take it as a good enough reason to not continue the journey. The people of Yumin had no motive to harm us." Xia Yu explained further.

"That is because it wasn't them who faked the invitation," Huiqing said, lowering her eyes. This didn't go unnoticed by the couple.

"What is it, Huiqing?" Xia Yu encouraged her to speak.

"You see... your family set out to Xieye Sea after hearing about the fake invitation. They discovered the ship's debris and the wreckage. The divers working for your family went below the sea. They were able to recover some corpses... including the Crown Prince's."

Miyojin knew that there was no way his brother would survive. But hearing that his body had been discovered, he knew that there was nothing left but to accept his death. He didn't realize he had his fists clenched until he felt a comforting hand touch him.

When Huiqing mentioned the Crown Prince, Xia Yu immediately turned to Miyojin. She offered her hand to comfort him. The prince gladly took her hand and held it.

"But not only that..." Huiqing continued. "They also recovered things from some of the bodies. One of them was a drenched letter. After reconstructing the letter, they discovered it was from the one who plotted the assassination."

Miyojin was stunned to hear that. But he was glad that the assassins left some clues. Bringing justice to his brother will become easier.

"The letter and the other items had one thing in common. They all have the same moniker. And because of that, they were able to find the mastermind."

Huiqing didn't continue. Xia Yu can see the doubt in her eyes. Using her free hand, she held Huiqing's hand.

"Go ahead. Just say it. Who did it?"

Huiqing looks at Xia Yu and the Second Prince with sadness.

"It was the Third Prince..."

The moment the title registered in their minds, Xia Yu and Miyojin went into shock. Of all the people who could have the motive to do this, they couldn't believe that it was Prince Jinyi.

"That's impossible. Jinyi would never do such a thing!" Miyojin blurted out.

"Your Highness, I know it is hard to believe. We didn't believe it either. The Third Prince even pleaded that he was innocent. But the shreds of evidence were pointing to him. The investigators said that his possible motive was to eliminate the two princes before him. So, he'd be the next in line to the throne."

"No! That is not true! Jinyi and I never wanted the throne. Since the beginning, we had already accepted that the throne would go to First Brother. We even vowed to support him."

"Your Highness, calm down." Xia Yu said as she gently pulled the prince back to his seat.

Realizing that he had overreacted, he sat down again. But to his astonishment, Xia Yu didn't let go of his hand. She continued to caress his hand in a way to soothe him.

"What did the emperor do upon learning this?" Xia Yu asked Huiqing.

"His Majesty had the Third Prince imprisoned. I didn't know what happened afterward. I left the country and traveled here with my father to do business. We have yet to receive news on this matter." Huiqing explained as she bowed in apology.

"Even Father believed Jinyi would do such a thing?" Miyojin groaned in frustration. None of this was making any sense to him.

"I think that's not it." Xia Yu began as she continued to caress Miyojin's hand. "I don't think His Majesty believed Prince Jinyi did it. He just didn't have any evidence to prove his innocence."

What Xia Yu said made sense to Miyojin. But a question came to him and he asked Xia Yu.

"Do you think Jinyi did it?"

Without any hesitation, Xia Yu gave her answer.

"No. I don't think Jinyi is the culprit."

"How can you say so, Lady Xia Yu?" Huiqing asked in curiosity.

"I met the Third Prince many times. He had a good relationship with both the Crown Prince and His Highness. I can see that he looks up to his brothers. The admiration in his eyes is hard to fake."

Xia Yu paused for a while. Then she proceeded to say her other point.

"I think it's suspicious that the culprit was this easy to find. The pieces of evidence were just there as if the culprit wanted to reveal himself on purpose. If it was Prince Jinyi who did it and his motive is as they say, he would be careful not to reveal himself."

"You mean the Third Prince was set up?" Huiqing asked.

"Yes... But until we can prove it, Prince Jinyi is still the prime suspect."

"We?" Miyojin asked in wonderment. Though he already had an idea of what Xia Yu meant, he still felt the need to clarify.

Xia Yu turned to Miyojin with a smile.

"Yes. We. It's time to return to the Great Yong Empire."

"I can't believe I didn't realize that all this time, we were in Nansheng."

Xia Yu was very disappointed in herself. If she had known earlier, she and Miyojin would have traveled north already.

"That's alright, Lady Xia Yu. You were in the independent region of Nansheng. Most citizens don't recognize that they are part of this country." Huiqing explained.

After bidding farewell to the old couple who gladly blessed them on their journey, Xia Yu and Miyojin set off at once. With the help of Huiqing's family, they were able to travel in a carriage. Huiqing decided to join them until they reached the borders. It's been three days since then.

"Lady Xia Yu, may I ask something?" Huiqing said.

"What is it?"

"Why did we have to use the path through Mt. Shoushan?"

Upon hearing Huiqing's questions, Miyojin turned his attention to them. He didn't question Xia Yu on her decisions. But now that this had been brought up, he too wanted to know the answer.

"We don't know who the culprit is. Therefore, it could be anybody. If he finds out that we're alive, he'll send another assassin at us. Mt. Shoushan is where Shuyuan Temple is located. Apart from being less guarded, I know someone we could trust there."

"Oh? Who is it?"

"You'll meet the person when we get there."

Huiqing had a few more questions to ask, but she was interrupted when a servant called out.

"Madam, we are now at the foot of Mt. Shoushan!