Chapter 230: Xiang Ling’s Offer
Chapter 230: Xiang Ling’s Offer
"I can give you two options, Your Highness. If you are interested." Xiang Ling offered and watched the Crown Prince nodding his head in approval for her to voice out the said offers.
"First one, if you want to travel with us, you will need to let go of your identity and army..."
As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she noticed Mo Li getting ready to protest all over again as he was finding her proposal ridiculous. Once again, he was stopped by a glare from the Crown Prince who asked Xiang Ling, "What do you mean by that, Lady Chen?"
Xiang Ling took in a deep breath and unfolded her hands. Choosing her words wisely, she explained to the Crown Prince. "Your identity and your army have been bringing us too much attention throughout our journey. If you don’t give up on these two, you will keep attracting more attention. Eventually, these attacks will bring harm to me and my husbands, and I don’t want to take such a risk."
There was silence for a moment before she continued, "But I can understand that you might not want to travel as a commoner or give up on your security. If that’s the case, then we can travel separately. The choice is up to you."
The silence lasted for a while before the Crown Prince finally nodded his head and announced his decision. "The main reason we are going to Dongzhi City is for my Crown Princess to be able to spend time with you and for the two of us to enjoy some time away from the politics of the Imperial Palace. That’s why, we will travel together. I don’t mind traveling as a commoner and leaving behind my army. Mo Li alone is enough for protecting me and the Crown Princess."
"Your Highness-"
"Don’t you trust your abilities, Mo Li? Or are you questioning my judgement?" Crown Prince demanded while turning his sharp gaze at his right hand man.
"Your Highness, it’s my honor to receive your trust. And while I’m ready to protect you with my life, I will not take any risk with your security. Please forgive me, Your Highness." Mo Li was determined to not compromise his master’s safety even if that brought him punishment for defying the Crown Prince’s orders.
Noticing that her demand was going to end up with Mo Li getting punished. Xiang Ling decided to intervene. "I can see where Master Mo is coming from. Even if His Highness start traveling with a different identity, we will not be able to confirm that it will cover your tracks. Since someone dared to attack you tonight, its obvious that someone is keeping a close eyes on us. Traveling without a tight security is indeed a high risk."
Her gaze shifted from the Crown Prince to Mo Li and she spoke to the latter. "Since His Highness will be traveling with us, I will also make sure of his safety. Then, there’s also the group of Shadow guards following us secretly..."
"How do you know-"
"She’s a cultivator and a powerful one." The Crown Prince answered Mo Li’s question even before the man got to finish it. "It’s normal that she sensed the presence of the Shadow Guards."
Xiang Ling just bowed her head politely to accept the compliment before continuing, "... other than these two, you can also deploy some well-trained and trusted guards as common men who will follow us closely. They can travel as a group of merchants or something to blend."
Listening to her idea, Mo Li nodded his head. He was slowly starting to realize that Young Lady Chen was smarter than he expected her to be. Most importantly, she was nothing like what he found out about her during his investigation on her and her father.
"Thank you for the idea, Lady Chen. Your Highness, I think it’s a great idea. What do you want me to do?" Mo Li waited for the Crown Prince’s decision.
"Go ahead and prepare for it. Also, spread the rumor that I will be parting ways with Lady Chen and will be heading to western borders to meet with General Qin because I received an urgent report. We will create a similar scene tomorrow morning to solidify this rumor and will meet again on our next stop." The Crown Prince added his own part of the plan which received an approving nod from Xiang Ling.
Mo Li immediately accepted the order and headed out of the courtyard with the rest of the guards.
Crown Prince also headed toward his newly booked room and Su LiangLin quickly followed behind him. Once everyone was gone, Xiang Ling and her husbands also made their way to their room on the top floor of the Inn where their booked room was located.
Since the entire inn was booked by the Crown Prince for his army, Xiang Ling only got one room for herself and her husbands. So, the four of them were going to sleep in the same room. The Crown Prince even went as far as arranging a huge bed for her so that all four of them could sleep on the same bed without any problem. Xiang Ling wasn’t sure whether she wanted to thank the Crown Prince or curse him for making her share the room and the same bed with her three husbands.
The four of them made their way into their room and closed the door behind them. Xiang Ling immediately let out a loud groan and poured herself a cup of water before gulping it down at once.
"That was such a nightmare. I must take back my words about the Crown Prince not being someone we should worry about. It seems both the husband and wife are going to cause trouble for us." She muttered while gulping down another cup of water.
She stood up and was ready to head to the bed to rest when she got stopped in her tracks by Wei Guang’s sudden question - "You can cultivate?"