Mistakenly Marked the Madly Beautiful Princess - Chapter 69

As expected, the merchant caravan sent people down to search for their belongings. Seeing that Ling Yue and the other three were unharmed, the guard remained somewhat wary.

“You’re all right?”

Ling Yue and the Princess remained silent, creating an awkward atmosphere. Qing Niao had no choice but to point at the deep pool and say, “We happened to fall into the water. Luckily, this pool was here, or we would have died.”

Yunli chimed in at the right moment, “Yes, Mother, I was so scared.”

Qing Niao hugged Yunli and began crying with a look of lingering fear.

The guard glanced at the deep pool and then at the four of them, all drenched, her suspicion diminishing slightly.

However, she was here to retrieve the goods, and the fate of these people wasn’t particularly important to her.

She smiled and said, “I found a path earlier. You can go up from the west side, but it’s quite steep, so be careful.”

Ling Yue and the Princess still didn’t speak, so Qing Niao had to step up once again. She expressed her gratitude to the guard and then led the group away.

The guard hadn’t lied after walking about five hundred meters to the west, they found a narrow path leading upward.

Qing Niao smiled wryly; this was no path, it was clearly a rope ladder. She turned to look at Yunli.

Understanding the worry in her mother’s eyes, Yunli smiled proudly and said, “I can do it.”

No matter what, Qing Niao couldn’t feel completely at ease, but considering Ling Yue and the Princess were there both skilled in qinggong she thought they could remedy any mishaps.

With that thought, she glanced at the two of them again, only to find them still angry, which made Qing Niao’s head ache.

She shook her head helplessly, surprised that Ling Yue had grown bolder, daring to be angry with the Princess.

With such thoughts in mind, Qing Niao let Yunli climb the ladder first, following closely behind.

Seeing the two ascend, Ling Yue looked at the Princess and finally spoke, though her tone was sullen, “Sister, you go first.”

The Princess didn’t reply. She walked past Ling Yue and climbed the rope ladder.

Her cold attitude made Ling Yue feel uncomfortable, but she couldn’t swallow her anger.

Any joke was acceptable, but not one involving life and death. Ling Yue was truly terrified.

Though she had experienced many partings in her past life, she still couldn’t get used to it, always fearing that those around her would leave her one by one, just as in her previous life.

Especially the Princess.

Ling Yue also climbed the rope ladder with a cold expression.

The cliff wasn’t particularly high, and since they moved quickly, in about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, they saw the people eagerly waiting at the top.

When those on the cliff saw that it was Ling Yue and the others climbing up, they were somewhat surprised. After her initial shock, Ling Que was overjoyed. She reached out to pull Yunli up, then extended her hand to Qing Niao.

But when she offered her hand to the Princess, the latter ignored her. Ling Que didn’t mind, assuming the Princess was too shaken to notice.

She said happily, “It’s great that you’re all safe.”

Qing Niao smiled and nodded, while the Princess, who had been silent all along, gave a faint smile, though her spirits were low.

Ling Que immediately sensed the strange atmosphere. Her eyes shifted back and forth between Ling Yue and the Princess before she quietly said to Qing Niao, “Did the two sisters have a fight?”

Qing Niao nodded with a bitter smile.

Someone, please save her! The two of them continuously radiating such low pressure was terrifying!

Ling Que understood and, noticing that their clothes were soaked through, worried they might catch a cold. She suggested, “We’ll need to rest here today. Should we go to the neighboring town to buy some clothes?”

A cold gust of wind swept by and Yunli sneezed.

Qing Niao’s priorities instantly shifted toward buying clothes.

She nodded and then took Ling Que with her toward the neighboring town.

Since neither of them knew martial arts, Ling Yue naturally worried they might run into danger. Yet, she also felt uneasy leaving the Eldest Princess alone at the campsite.

She glanced at the Eldest Princess and felt a pang of disappointment when she realized the other’s gaze wasn’t on her.

It was then that she noticed how often the Eldest Princess seemed to watch her. Many times when she turned around, she would find the Eldest Princess looking at her with a gentle smile.

But now, Ling Yue felt a surge of panic. She feared the Eldest Princess might distance herself because of this.

What was there to be afraid of, really? The Eldest Princess often teased her under various pretexts, and hadn’t she herself been troubled by it?

Wasn’t it better this way? With some distance, they could return to a proper ruler-subject relationship, couldn’t they?

Ling Yue tried to console herself with these thoughts, but it only backfired. Her chest felt tight, as if voices were clamoring in her mind.

She didn’t want to be just a subject to Her Highness she wanted to be her one and only.

The thought startled her, and she couldn’t help but despise herself, yet she had to face her true feelings.

She liked Her Highness so very much.

“Sister.”

The Eldest Princess turned. “Hmm?”

Her indifferent tone wounded Ling Yue. She suppressed the overwhelming ache in her heart, but no matter how hard she tried to hide it, her emotions were still palpable.

Seeing her like this, the Eldest Princess felt a pang of pity. She knew Ling Yue had every right to be upset, but she couldn’t stand the way Ling Yue acted when angry, which had made her angry in turn.

She had expected this standoff to last longer, but Ling Yue had given in so quickly.

Though it seemed Ling Yue had lost, the Eldest Princess felt as if she were the one defeated. Seeing Ling Yue putting on a brave front made her heart ache.

So she sighed, thinking that as the older one, she shouldn’t bully the younger. With a soft smile, she coaxed, “Our clothes are wet. We need to change.”

Seeing her return to her usual self, Ling Yue’s nose tingled with emotion. She smiled and said, “Mm, let’s follow them.”

In truth, Qing Niao hadn’t gone far. She watched as the two inexplicably grew angry, gave each other the cold shoulder, and then just as inexplicably made up!

She couldn’t help but sigh, “How terrifying.”

She stood there for a long time, watching Ling Yue and the Eldest Princess walk past her, chatting and laughing, and she looked as if she’d seen a ghost.

By the time they returned with the clothes, it was already evening. The escorts were gathered around a campfire some chewing on flatbread, others tending to each other’s wounds.

Ling Que was bandaging the team leader, whose face was contorted in pain.

Seeing Ling Yue and the others return, Ling Que wiped the sweat from her brow and smiled. “You’re back. We might have to delay our departure a bit. The merchant team is still retrieving the goods from the bottom of the cliff, so it might take some time.”

Ling Yue glanced around and noticed only two of the merchant guards remained above.

After the horses had panicked earlier that day, aside from the goods that had fallen off the cliff, the rest had suffered varying degrees of damage. Some horses were injured as well, making it impossible to set off anytime soon.

Ling Yue found it strange again. If they were transporting something so important, how could these escorts not know about it? If it was something shady, there was no need to hire escorts they could just transport it themselves. The Yun Family Trading Company had plenty of skilled fighters.

Ling Yue pondered a lot. She sat down by the fire and spoke to Ling Ya, “Does your escort agency also handle valuable goods?”

Thinking Ling Yue was merely curious about the escort business and that this wasn’t a forbidden topic, Ling Que smiled and replied, “Yes, our work is inherently risky. The more valuable the goods, the higher the escort fee.”

Ling Yue had some understanding of escort agencies. She remembered that besides the Chasing Sun Escort Agency, there was also the Icy Wind Escort Agency in Rong City, and the two were competitors.

Her memories grew clearer, and Ling Yue suddenly recalled that later on, the Chasing Sun Escort Agency seemed to have collapsed, rumored to have been involved in some incident.

Ling Yue felt this was a key point and began asking in that direction, “Is your escort agency the only one in Rong City?”

The fire was growing weak. Ling Que added a handful of dry branches, and the flames leaped up, rising high.

Ling Yue stepped back, closed her eyes for a moment, and then opened them again.

Before Ling Que could answer, the team leader, who had been silent all along, provided the answer. He appeared much older, with a steady voice that was reassuring just to hear.

“No, across from our escort agency is the Icy Wind Escort Agency. They’re quite formidable.”

Ling Que, however, was unconvinced. “How can that agency compare to ours? Not only are their fees higher, but the people there are also quite arrogant.”

Ling Yue grew increasingly convinced that something was amiss. She looked at the team leader, whose right hand emerged from his clothing, wrapped entirely in bandages, with faint red stains seeping through in some places.

It seemed the injury was quite severe.

Ling Yue respectfully asked, “What’s your name?”

“Fu Shuang.”

It was an unfamiliar name.

Ling Yue thought for a moment and then said, “Is the Icy Wind Escort Agency really that bad?”

Fu Shuang did not refute what Ling Que had said earlier and now nodded in agreement. “Yes, they only opened in recent years and seem to have significant backing.”

In truth, the Chasing Sun Escort Agency also had connections to someone in the court. To grow as large as they had, their backing was considerable. For Fu Shuang to say this meant the Icy Wind Escort Agency’s backing was even more extraordinary.

But no matter how extraordinary, how could it compare to the person beside her?

Ling Yue glanced at the Eldest Princess.

This was someone even the emperor would shrink from like a mouse in her presence.

The Eldest Princess seemed quite interested in the topic. After listening quietly for a while, she asked with a look of surprise, “Is the Icy Wind Escort Agency the private asset of some high-ranking official in the court?”

These were merely speculations. Fu Shuang was just a minor team leader in the escort agency and didn’t know much more.

After sighing, she seemed somewhat troubled. “It appears so.”

Ling Que, however, couldn’t hide the disgust in her eyes. She had thought being an escort was just about the job and never imagined it would involve connections to corrupt officials in the court.

She said angrily, “These people are disgusting!”

Then, slumping her shoulders, she petulantly tossed a dry branch into the fire and muttered unhappily, “If only I were under General Ling’s command. General Ling isn’t like this.”

General Ling smiled awkwardly, sighed, and turned to find the Eldest Princess looking at her with a smile.

What was she smiling about? Perhaps she was laughing at Ling Que.

Lost in thought, she glanced at the Eldest Princess’s clothes. Although they had all bought the cheapest garments, if they were clean and tidy, they wouldn’t look like refugees.

The snow disaster had long passed, and the imperial court’s relief efforts had been relatively effective, leaving few disaster victims remaining.

The Northern Kingdom was not only accepting refugees but also those who were impoverished or discontented with the Rong Dynasty.

On the surface, this seemed commendable, but Ling Yue was well aware of the inherent pride in the Northern people’s nature.

When Fu Shuang learned that the group was heading to the Northern Kingdom, she seemed to recall something and said with a hint of melancholy, “If you happen to see a woman who looks exactly like me in the Northern Kingdom, please keep an eye out for her.”

Seeing her sorrow, Ling Yue guessed, “Did she go missing?”

Fu Shuang replied, “Yes, we are twin sisters. My younger sister went missing near the Northern Kingdom’s border when we were five years old, and her whereabouts remain unknown to this day.”

Moved by her sadness, Ling Yue agreed, “We will keep an eye out.”

“Thank you so much.”

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