The Pearl on the Emperor’s Crown

Chapter 14 – Princess, You're Very Capable

When it was almost evening, Xie Ying invited Zhu Yi out of the carriage and led her to the shade of the trees by the roadside.

“Princess, this official would like to discuss something with you,” he said.

Zhu Yi studied the man in front of her. Xie Ying’s gaze and tone of voice were indifferent as if he didn’t know her very well.

Zhu Yi thought to herself that Xie Ying had a solemn and dignified demeanour in front of his subordinates. If you only looked at how he was at the moment, you would never have thought that this was the same rogue who had once sneaked into her room in the middle of the night.

“What’s the matter?” Zhu Yi’s tone was also polite. “Please speak, Your Highness.”

“If we set off from this place on horseback at our racing speed, we can reach the Imperial Capital in just under two hours,” Xie Ying said. “If you ride a carriage, you’ll have to endure a bumpy ride for more than three days. Right now, the weather is hot even with the ice block in the carriage so this official thought that Your Highness might as well go on horseback instead.”

Xie Ying’s suggestion was really to Zhu Yi’s taste. She liked horseback riding far better than rocking about in a carriage. In fact, she always had some of her biological father’s boldness in her blood, but it had been confined and worn away by the inner palace.

“It happens to be sunset now, and there’s not much sunlight left,” Xie Ying continued. “We can catch up with an hour’s ride tonight, and we’ll be able to get to Grand National Temple within another hour tomorrow morning. What does Your Highness think?”

Zhu Yi was moved, but she hesitated. “My palace maid can’t ride a horse,” she pointed out. She couldn’t just let her and Xie Ying go ahead alone. It was uncomfortable in the carriage, but it was better than travelling alone together with Xie Ying. It was improper for an unmarried man and woman.

Xie Ying pondered for a moment. “Well, I’ll ask Wen Yan to join us, and she can also act as your maidservant. How about that?”

Zhu Yi eyed Wen Yan. The girl was obviously skilled with martial arts, so she agreed. “That will work.”

After Zhu Yi changed into her riding clothes in the carriage and came out, Wen Yan had already brought a horse over for her, and Xie Ying was also standing by to watch her reaction.

Zhu Yi’s lips parted in surprise, and her eyes glowed with pleasure. This was actually a pale golden Ferghana horse.  How had she not seen it when she set off? Zhu Yi didn’t have any doubts and without hesitation, she immediately stepped onto the stirrups and climbed onto the horse. Wen Yan assisted Zhu Yi in mounting, and a smile flashed across Xie Ying’s eyes when he turned around.

The important reason why the Xie family could stand out from the crowd was the huge number of horses they reared. The southern part of Wei Province sat on the Ning River Plain, and they had horse markets with the western countries. Therefore, Wei Province’s warhorses accounted for one-third of the entire Great Zhou Dynasty, and the armoured cavalry division under Xie Ying’s command was invincible.

Although the palace was generous, it wouldn’t give the princesses rare Ferghana horses to ride and play with. The horses were good companions for the generals instead. Zhu Yi had always liked horses, so she was very moved at the sight of this horse.
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The four fast horses raced along the mountains and official roads for nearly an hour. Although there was still some daylight left, Xie Ying called for a halt. On one hand, they could keep moving instead of staying in Weishui Town. On the other hand, he was worried that Zhu Yi, who had no experience riding a horse at night, would get hurt.

Xie Ying asked the locals in Weishui Town where the largest inn was and led everyone directly there.

Because horseback riding consumed physical strength and the conditions were limited, Zhu Yi simply wiped herself down with the hot water that the servant had sent up before laying down on the bed. Wen Yan slept on the arhat couch on the other side of the room.

Zhu Yi faced the direction of the wall, fiddling with her fingertips one by one with boredom when a laughing voice suddenly called out behind her. “What a child, you can even play with your own hands so enthusiastically.”

Zhu Yi was startled and she turned around immediately. Wen Yan was gone and instead, her master Xie Ying had replaced her in the room.

She tried to sit up but as soon as her upper body was propped up, she was gently pushed back down by Xie Ying. 

“What are you doing?”  Zhu Yi asked anxiously. “Leave quickly. It won’t be good if Wen Yan comes back and sees us like this.”

Xie Ying sat down by the bed and picked up Zhu Yi’s small hand to play with. “Don’t worry,” he reassured. “She won’t come back until I leave.”

When Zhu Yi heard this, she even forgot to pull her hand back. Her face was so red it was almost dripping with blood. Doesn’t that mean that Wen Yan knew that Xie Ying was alone with her? 

“How could you do this?” She rebuked. “How can you let others know about you and that you’re bullying me??”

“Whoever said that others would think I was bullying you?” Xie Ying laughed. “What if they thought that you were bullying me?”

Zhu Yi was absolutely stunned by Xie Ying’s cheek.

 “I bullied you? Tell me, what could I possibly do to bully you?”

Xie Ying held back his smile and said, “You underestimate yourself too much. Princess, you’re very capable.”

When Zhu Yi heard the strangeness in his tone, she wanted to pull back her hand. But then Xie Ying asked, “Why is Your Highness hiding from me these days?”

Zhu Yi said nothing.

Xie Ying leaned over and pushed Zhu Yi, who was once again trying to brace herself, back down. “Not saying anything means that Your Highness knows that you’re in the wrong.”

Their bodies were pressed up against each other so closely that there was no gap. Zhu Yi heard a gloomy implication in his voice. “It was Your Highness who came to provoke me first. I accepted Your Highness, but I was suddenly ignored. Princess, were you playing with me from the start?”

“Of course not,” Zhu Yi denied immediately.

She wouldn’t dare mess around with him. It was just that she was too afraid. Especially now that Xie Ying’s oppressive closeness made Zhu Yi clearly feel what a powerful masculine body he had. The absolute disparity in strength, as well as the unfamiliar sensations she didn’t understand, surged from the tips of her toes to her whole body, making Zhu Yi so scared that she couldn’t help but wriggle.

“Since that’s not what you meant, why is Your Highness so excited?” Xie Ying asked innocently. “It’s just a hug, it’s not like we’ve never hugged before?”

Zhu Yi wanted to cry without tears. He came over and pressed her down on top of her bed. Could that really count as ‘just a hug’?

“But you’re really heavy,” Zhu Yi pointed out. “Will you get up? I can barely breathe.” 

Why did this bastard have to put his whole body on top of her? It was as heavy as a mountain.

“Is that so? Princess can’t even breathe? Poor thing,” Xie Ying raised his hand with a gesture. “Then I’ll help smooth you out. Let me give you a hand.”

With the way Xie Ying moved and looked down at her, Zhu Yi instantly understood how he wanted to smooth her out, and she hastily blocked his hand. “I forbid it!”

Fortunately, Xie Ying only wanted to scare Zhu Yi and he didn’t continue. He simply grinned and smoothly grabbed her hand, giving it a peck on the back. “Princess, this is the profit I wanted that you’ve neglected in the past few days. Don’t do this again next time, otherwise, this official will ask for more.”

The temperature of Xie Ying’s body was too high, melting Zhu Yi into a pool of water. She just nodded quickly and begged him to let her go.

Zhu Yi suddenly felt the world spinning and before she knew it, their positions had been reversed, with Xie Ying lying down while she remained clasped in his arms on top of him.

“This way, the princess won’t be uncomfortable,” Xie Ying said cheerfully.

Zhu Yi had been tossed about by him so much that she couldn’t speak.

“Let me lie down for a while and I’ll leave soon. “Xie Ying stroked the back of Zhu Yi’s head and closed his eyes, ignoring her as he began to nap.

Zhu Yi wondered how she could have ever thought of taking the initiative to pursue Xie Ying when he came to the capital before.

There seemed to be some strange noises next door. Zhu Yi had noticed it before Xie Ying came, but it was not as clear as it was now.

Just as Zhu Yi was about to close her eyes, a shout suddenly rang out from the other side of the wall.

“Ahh – husband, I’m going to die!” 

Then the woman said nothing more.

Zhu Yi’s body immediately stiffened. “Xie Ying!” She had taken a glance when she went upstairs earlier, and there was a merchant couple living next door.

Zhu Yi looked at the man who seemed to be asleep under her and pushed him hard. “Xie Ying, quickly wake up!”

Xie Ying slowly opened his eyes, his long eyes darkened as if outlined in ink.

“Why are you sleeping so heavily, did you hear that just now? It seems that someone in the next room was killed,” Zhu Yi whispered, her eyes were round with fright.

Xie Ying looked at Zhu Yi and said after a while, “…can’t be dead.”

“Huh?” His voice was too low and hoarse, Zhu Yi didn’t hear it clearly.

“I said that the woman can’t be dead,” Xie Ying raised his voice and repeated to her.

“How do you know that she isn’t dead?” Zhu Yi felt that the case was too arbitrary. At any rate, it was a life, and it could be the murder of a wife.

Xie Ying sighed very lightly. “Princess can get up earlier tomorrow morning and go next door to check that the woman is alive and well.”

“Really?” Zhu Yi was still uneasy.

Xie Ying hummed, and then pressed Zhu Yi’s head into his arms again. “Go to sleep, and I’ll leave when you fall asleep.”

Zhu Yi was speechless, could she pretend to be asleep?
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 Xie Ying suddenly turned his head and looked at the row of windows facing the corridor. A man’s shadow drifted past like the wind. Xie Ying let Zhu Yi go and said, “Rest, Princess. You’ll have to get up early tomorrow morning.”

Didn’t he just say that he would leave when she fell asleep? Zhu Yi was a little puzzled. But she was afraid that he would ask if she couldn’t bear for him to leave again, so she quickly closed her eyes and stopped looking at Xie Ying who got out of bed.

As soon as Xie Ying walked out of the room, Shen Xing Liu had already swept down from the roof and landed in front of Xie Ying, holding a gagged person in his hand.

Xie Ying walked towards the spy, grabbed the opponent’s wrist to probe his pulse, and then curled his lips and smiled.

“Go in and protect the princess,” he ordered Wen Yan, who had just emerged, before turning to Shen Xing Liu. “Let him go.”

The last time Xie Ying met with Elder Zhan Ge in private, he also found that a spy was following him, and Xie Ying had killed the man on the spot. This time the master actually wanted to let him go? Shen Xing Liu’s expression twitched, but he had always been only responsible for carrying out orders, so he released the man.

The spy picked up his life and fled quickly.

“It seems that Xie Shao hadn’t waited in vain at Junyi Guard House after all.” Junyi’s inner guard collected information from all parties for the emperor. Back in the room, Xie Ying gave a rare compliment to Xie Shao.

“Your Highness means that the spy just now was Xie Shao’s?” Shen Xing Liu asked.

Xie Ying hummed softly. The emperor’s people had been waiting for him at Grand National Temple for a long time. And that person’s pulse earlier…Xie Shao was indeed ruthless enough. Even these spies didn’t know that their lives were in the hands of others.

“Then why did Your Highness let him go?” Shen Xing Liu looked at Xie Ying with puzzlement.