Chapter 474 - Get Away Alive
Chapter 474 Get Away Alive
The journey from the City of Yu to Prince Qing’s Mansion would take at least three days.
In addition, Zuo Yuanyi had intentionally delayed three more days on his way.
Because Lin Mengya and her companions had hurried along, by the time Prince Qing received news that she had entered into Yulong Prefecture, they had, in fact, gone out of the boundaries of Yulong Prefecture.
After the tiring six-day journey, even Long Tianyu and Zuo Qiuchen looked exhausted, not to mention the horses.
Fortunately, however, the City of Yuan, which was the last city within Yulong Prefecture, had by then become a shadow that had been forgotten by them.
Lin Mengya lifted the curtain of her horse carriage. Without taking a good rest for six days, she had already had two panda-like dark rings around her eyes.
However, she still had a place to rest, given that she was in the horse carriage. Unlike her, Long Tianyu and Zuo Qiuyu, whose beard had grown out, appeared to have been dug out from a heap of earth.
“How far is the next safe place?”
Lin Mengya peered out of the window and asked quietly.
“In half a day’s journey, we will arrive at Qingyuan Prefecture, where we will find the emperor, my brother’s loyal trusted aide. He is someone whom Prince Qing would be wary of and would not dare to provoke. Once we get there, we would be safe for the time being.”
Zuo Qiuyu, who had been staying by the horse carriage replied Lin Mengya with a low voice.
It was not a big deal to hurry on in their journey. The main challenge was that they had to keep their vigilance every second wherever they were. They had to beware of the sudden appearance of Prince Qing’s men.
It was all thanks to Zuo Yuanyi. If not for his delay, they would surely not be able to escape Yulong Prefecture without any hiccups.
Lin Mengya nodded. They were not far from the former capital the moment they exited Yulong Prefecture.
It seemed that the election of the chief elder in the Pavilion of Herbs was a highly esteemed event.
Although Prince Qing had privately detained quite a number of people, there were still many people who went through Yulong Prefecture to get to the former capital.
Zuo Qiuyu had said that all the powerful and influential families in Nation of Lintian would surely send representatives to attend the medical competition in the Pavilion of Herbs.
Many physicians and their disciples were hoping to become famous through participating in this medical competition.
No doubt, there would also be many who would be there to watch the excitement, not to forget those at the peripheral who would be betting on the winner of this competition.
Lin Mengya laughed in spite of herself. In the eyes of these people holding powers in their hands, the Pavilion of Herbs not only affect the destiny of their clans, but it also determined the distribution of power within the entire country.
However, in the eyes of the common people, this event was like a magnificent gathering of people.
The horses which had been working hard for the past six days started out once again with all their energy and they finally arrived at Qingyuan Prefecture.
Outside the city gates, the senior provincial officer of Qingyuan Prefecture in an official ceremonial outfit, accompanied by his men and horses, was waiting for Prince Shen and Princess Anle.
Having been traveling in the rocking horse carriages for many days, Lin Mengya and her company finally get to stop outside the city gate of Qingyuan Prefecture.
To be honest, although coachman was very skillful, Lin Mengya felt as if all her internal organs had been moved out of place from all the rocking in the past few days.
“Your servant, I’m Liu Xuan, the senior provincial officer of Qingyuan Prefecture. Welcome Prince Shen and Princess Anle!”
The magnetic yet earnest voice of the young man echoed from outside the horse carriage and it sounded like the beautiful sounds of nature in Lin Mengya’s ears.
“Haha, Liu Xuan, I knew you would come to welcome me personally once you received news of our arrival. How have you been? We haven’t seen each other for so many years, and I really miss our group of old friends!”
When Zuo Qiuyu met his good friend, his fatigue from the journey had turned into the excitement of reunion with old friends.
Lin Mengya alighted from the horse carriage with the help of Long Tianyu. The first thing that came into sight was a fair, clean-shaven young man, who was frowning while he was being pompously embraced by Zuo Qiuyu.
“Your Highness, the prince, but we are of different status, yours being much more honorable than me.”
Liu Xuan cooly dodged. He did not try to deliberately hide the disgust in his eyes, but he was definitely not looking at Zuo Qiuyu with that kind of honor as he claimed.
“Just look at you and your awkward personality! Neither of us is a woman, why are you so afraid of embraces?”
Zuo Qiuyu refused to let him off, firstly because he had been reunited with an old friend. However, this old friend had an unhealthy obsession with cleanliness.
Not to mention it was Zuo Qiuyu, even if it were the emperor, he would have to put up with this guy’s taunting.
Now that Zuo Qiuyu had stumbled upon an opportunity to make him suffer, how would he let the chance slip?
“Prince Shen, please conduct yourself with dignity!”
Liu Xuan could not hold the serious expression on his face any longer but looked at Zuo Qiuyu with disgust.
He easily dodged Zuo Qiuyu once again.
“Oh come on, we are men! It’s only right that we rough it!”
“Get away!”
Lin Mengya looked on enthusiastically at the two big men chasing and hitting each other.
One was thick-skinned and hard to shake off, while the other seemed to have mysophobia.
She could not figure out what was on their minds. All she could do was to wait for the lively monkey show to end.
Zuo Qiuyu was soon brought under control by the composed Liu Xuan, who had pinned Zuo Qiuyu under his feet.
He even wiped the bottom of his shoe on Zuo Qiuyu.
Lin Mengya, who had been enjoying this highly entertaining scene, finally received a greeting from Liu Xuan.
“This way please, Your Highness and Prince Yu.”
Liu Xuan greeted them politely with a gentle smile. He was a completely different person from a moment ago.
Lin Mengya nodded in response and followed Liu Xuan into the city.
Zuo Qiuyu, who was about to get up, was quickly pinned down by his feet once again.
Liu Xuan stepped on Zuo Qiuyu so hard that even Lin Mengya secretly stuck out her tongue in surprise.
What great hatred, no, what a deep and intimate relationship they share to warrant such a warm welcome gift!
Apart from the way that the Nation of Lintian was divided into a few major prefectures for administrative purposes, the rest of the areas within its boundaries were made up of a total of seven to eight small prefectures.
Each small prefecture was larger than the size of a city but much smaller than any major prefecture in its area.
Qingyuan prefecture was the most outstanding of the small prefectures. Coincidentally, it was also located between the former capital and Yulong Prefecture, so it could be said that it was a key junction of the two places.
For this reason, the power of the past did not completely mix together with Prince Qing.
Otherwise, the nation would not be able to avoid the situation of having two rulers within the same country.
From the look of the relationship between Liu Xuan and Zuo Qiuyu, Lin Mengya could tell that his relationship with Cousin Chen was also extraordinary.
Qingyuan Prefecture under the charge of Liu Xuan was much better developed than Prince Qing’s Yulong Prefecture.
For one, the streets alone were laid out in a very orderly fashion.
Although the cities were not small, they were orderly structured. On top of that, Lin Xuan was highly respected as an authoritative figure here.
In the streets, the pedestrians would cast aside what they were doing when they see Liu Xuan and greet him respectfully with a bow before they returned to their businesses.
There was no need for someone to beat the gongs to clear the way upon his arrival.
As Lin Mengya trailed behind Liu Xuan, she could not help but rest her eyes on this man walking ahead of her.
This man was definitely extraordinary.
“Dear honored guests, together with your horses must be fatigued. We will take a rest at the post for a while. Allow me to come for you in a while.”
Liu Xuan cupped his hands as he bowed slightly to Lin Mengya and Long Tianyu politely.
When the two nodded to Liu Xuan, indicating their agreement, he turned around, grabbed Zuo Qiuyu’s collars, and dragged him away.
Smiling, Lin Mengya waved her hand when she heard Zuo Qiuyu’s cry that sounded as if he were a pig being slaughtered.
Sigh, hopefully, she would still be able to see Cousin Yu alive tomorrow.
“Your Highness, the princess, your room is ready. Please follow me there.”
Two pleasant-looking maids from the post station soon came forward to receive Lin Mengya.
Lin Mengya followed the maids up to the second floor of the post station. Taking off her clothes which were covered with dust, Lin Mengya was finally able to submerge herself into a tub of warm water.
“Sigh…”
Giving out a sigh of relief, Lin Mengya felt her fatigued body being soothed by the warm water.
Lin Mengya had intended to turn down the maids’ attentive service, but she eventually succumbed to her aching body and allowed herself to be lazy.
After she had the bath and changed into a new set of clothes, Lin Mengya’s strength was renewed and she returned to the room prepared for them by Liu Xuan.
It was a tastefully decorated, spacious room. Although it was not decorated with pieces of antique or golden vessels, there were pots of plants with blooming flowers sitting on the table at one corner of the wall.
Lin Mengya was very satisfied with the room after looking around.
“I didn’t expect Lord Liu to be so attentive and considerate. Please convey my thanks to him.”
Lin Mengya cupped her hands around a white magnolia flower and took in the scent and immediately, her exhausted body was revitalized and her fatigued body soothed.
“Yes, Your Highness. Please rest early. We will take our leave.”
Not only was the room peaceful and elegant, even the maids were bright and intelligent.
This made Lin Mengya look at Liu Xuan with a new perspective. As she looked through the window to far and beyond, she realized that night had almost fallen.
Nevertheless, the people walking in the streets still looked in a hurry to set out.
Occasionally, she would spot young girls who seemed to have spent the day sightseeing, rushing towards a certain direction of the city.
Had they forgotten to keep watch of time, having been caught up with their enjoyment in the city?
It was because Qingyuan Prefecture was under the rule of Liu Xuan that it was so peaceful and safe. Otherwise, how could these girls be going around without any fear of danger at this hour when night had fallen?
All of a sudden, a clean piece of cloth fell onto Lin Mengya’s head.
When she turned around, she realized that a showered Long Tianyu was standing behind her.
Although he had dark circles around his eyes, just like Zuo Qiuyu, and his grey beard had grown a little into stubbles, he certainly looked much more refreshed.
“Do you have a dagger?”
Lin Mengya reached out her snow-white palm as she directed her question at Long Tianyu.
The latter drew out a dagger from his waist and put it onto her the fingers of her palm.
The brown scabbard diffused a scent of vicissitudes and of primitive life.
Lin Mengya held on to the handle and with a little strength, she drew out the dagger from its sheath. Instantly, a sharp pocket dagger appeared in Lin Mengya’s hand.
“Why would you such a small dagger? To you, this mini dagger would seem more like a child’s toy.”
Lin Mengya muttered under her breath as she carefully studied the dagger in her hand.
“I last used it when I was ten years old. I actually used it to kill a leopard.”
Long Tianyu replied without much emotion in his voice, as if killing a leopard was a very common thing to do.
A ten-year-old child killed a leopard with a dagger!
Lin Mengya gazed at the dagger in her hand with aroused curiosity. She could imagine that Long Tianyu was valiant since young.
“Next time, I’m going to kill a leopard with this dagger, too. Lift up your head. I’m going to help you shave stubbles.”
The dagger was so sharp that even a hair that fell on its blade could break. Lin Mengya gently moved the blade along Long Tianyu’s face, fearing that she would break his skin.
Soon, the somewhat rough stubbles fell like shadows from the sharp dagger.
“Alright, all done. This is my first time and doesn’t it look good?”