44. The Crown Prince-to-be Battles the Spoiled Princess (1)

Late that night, in the abandoned palace of the Linyan Kingdom, everyone was somewhat astonished when they saw Yue’er. Feishu pointed at her and exclaimed, “Good heavens! If I didn’t know you were a man, I really would have believed you were a woman!”

Yue’er slapped away the right hand Feishu had pointed at her chest. Seeing her slightly offended expression, Feishu burst out laughing. “Ha! You look even more like one when you do that! Hahaha!”

With the exception of Zhao Chengxian, everyone laughed at Feishu’s words.

Yue’er could only blame the moonlight for being so bright that it revealed everything clearly. Naturally, she could not admit that she was a girl. She acted as she imagined a man would when mistaken for a woman, glaring at Feishu and the others as she retorted, “You’re the ones who look like women!” Then she deliberately lowered her voice and added, “If I were a girl, then you all probably would be too!”

She had to deny it to the bitter end. Otherwise, she would be finished.

Seeing how desperately Yue’er denied being a girl, Zhao Chengxian knew that she must be feeling terrible inside. He looked at her anxiously. Yue’er smiled at him and nodded, signaling that she was all right.

Wanting to help Yue’er out of the awkward situation, Zhao Chengxian changed the subject. “Did any of you discover anything?”

He wanted to learn more about the Linyan royal palace so that he could decide whether they should return to their own kingdom first and make further plans afterward.

Yuan Bin and Yuan Hua’s group had found nothing. They had merely circled the palace cautiously. Only Feishu and Haiming had encountered anything unusual. Haiming was secretly laughing as he looked at Feishu, while Feishu wore an expression of utter embarrassment. Clearly, he had no intention of mentioning the matter.

Yue’er understood from Feishu’s expression that whatever had happened must have been extremely embarrassing. Remembering how Feishu had teased her moments earlier, she deliberately asked Haiming, “Haiming, you must have made an interesting discovery. Why don’t you tell everyone about it?”

She simply wanted Feishu to lose a little face. Since they had managed to gather here safely, the matter could not have been too serious.

Haiming glanced at Feishu’s livid expression and at the curious faces around him. He had no choice but to recount the whole story.

It had happened that afternoon.

The story began just after they had separated. Feishu and Haiming had headed south. Feishu looked awkwardly at the eunuch’s clothes he was wearing and complained to Haiming, “I never imagined that I, Feishu, would one day end up wearing a eunuch’s uniform. How ironic and ridiculous!”

From childhood onward, he had always been the master. It was no wonder he could not adjust to suddenly wearing a servant’s clothes.

Haiming did not know Feishu’s true identity. He merely assumed that Feishu, like himself, knew little about the lives of eunuchs in the palace, so he comforted him. “In any case, it’s impossible for us to be masters here. Being able to walk through the palace even once is already a blessing, especially since this is the royal palace of the Linyan Kingdom. Think about it—how many people ever get the chance to walk through another kingdom’s palace? We should be content.”

Haiming was right. If this had been the palace of the Jiaoyang Kingdom, they might still have had a chance to enter. But to set foot in another kingdom’s palace was something most people could not experience even once in their entire lives.

Feishu glanced at him disdainfully and laughed. “That’s all you aspire to? What’s so good about palace life? Every step requires endless calculation. It’s far less free than life outside.”

He knew the life of the palace all too well. If he had been given a choice, he would rather have been born into an ordinary family. He might even have been happier that way.

Haiming studied Feishu carefully and smiled. “You couldn’t be a prince, could you? Wait—you’re also a Xuanyuan, and you’re very familiar with Prince Jun…”

Just as Haiming was about to reveal Feishu’s identity, he noticed a girl approaching from not far ahead. She appeared to be fifteen or sixteen years old, with elegant clothing, a tall, slender figure, and beautiful features. A maid followed at her side.

It was obvious that the girl’s status was extraordinary. The eunuchs and palace maids ahead of them all bowed in greeting. Haiming imitated the eunuchs in front of him and knelt on one knee.

Feishu, however, simply stood there without saluting.

Normally, other people were the ones who bowed to Feishu. Apart from his imperial mother, his imperial brother, and his sister-in-law, the empress, he never had to salute anyone, much less kneel before them.

The girl and her maid approached. Haiming silently sweated on Feishu’s behalf.

The maid glared at Feishu and scolded him, “How dare you, servant! You see Princess Yunqing and still refuse to bow? Are you planning to rebel?”

Yunqing was the younger sister born of the same mother as the ruler of the Linyan Kingdom, so she was naturally more favored than the other princesses. Her temperament was also more arrogant and overbearing.

Feishu paid no attention to Yunqing. He raised his head proudly, as though she did not exist.

Yunqing had never suffered such contempt. She stepped forward and rose onto her toes, trying to meet Feishu’s gaze. But Feishu was nearly six feet four, and even standing on tiptoe, she reached only the tip of his nose. Since they were too close for her to see his eyes, she had no choice but to return to her original position.

Feishu could not help laughing.

In Yunqing’s eyes, however, he was mocking her. Without another word, she raised her right hand and tried to slap his left cheek. She had not expected Feishu to seize her wrist.

Now she was truly enraged. She launched into a series of flashy but ineffectual martial arts moves and began fighting Feishu. Her maid was about to call for the guards when the stubborn princess loudly ordered, “Lianbi, don’t call anyone! This princess will capture the arrogant servant herself!”

Yunqing believed that her martial arts were excellent. It was no wonder she thought so. Whenever she sparred with the guards, they always held back. Who would dare defeat her? Anyone who did would surely be courting death. Naturally, everyone could see what was happening, but no one ever said it aloud.

Before long, however, Feishu had subdued Yunqing. With a light laugh, he said, “Had enough, little princess?”

Yunqing’s hands were firmly restrained, leaving her no ability to fight back. She secretly signaled to her maid, Lianbi, telling her to summon the guards.

Lianbi understood at once. Just then, a patrol of guards happened to pass by. Seizing the opportunity, she shouted, “Help! Someone is kidnapping the princess!”

The guards hurried over. Feishu quickly released Yunqing. He had no desire to make the matter any worse, since doing so could damage the reputation of the Jiaoyang Kingdom.

Yunqing found Feishu rather interesting and had no wish to send him to the imperial prison. She waved dismissively at the guards. “It’s nothing, it’s nothing. This princess was merely playing with these two little eunuchs!”

Then she looked at Feishu and ordered, “The two of you, come with this princess.”

Feishu and Haiming knew that if they refused to follow Yunqing, they would be sent to the imperial prison. Once there, their identities could no longer remain secret. After much hesitation, they followed her after all.

Deceiving a young girl would surely be easier than deceiving officials who had spent years navigating the political world.