An Eight-year-old Princess

Chapter 189 Unexpected Findings (Part Two)

When Yun Shang and Wang Jinyan arrived in his yard, they saw Wang Jinhuan grieving over a pile of

portraits. The women in these portraits were extremely adorable which made reaching a decision

challenging for Wang Jinhuan. "Whom should I choose? Lady Qin seems gentle and kind. But Lady

Zhao is prettier. Lady Qian is more outgoing while Lady Qi is considerate. And then there's Lady Su,

Lady Wang, Lady Sun..."

Seeing Wang Jinhuan's misery, Yun Shang tried to suppress her laughter and almost choked. She

coughed to relieve her discomfort.

Wang Jinhuan turned around curiously. "Your Highness? What brings Your Highness here? Have you

heard from Prince Jing?"

Wang Jinyan had also heard that Prince Jing was missing, but she had forgotten to ask Yun Shang

about it. So she asked with concern, "Is Prince Jing alright, Your Highness?"

Yun Shang shook her head. "I'm not sure yet. Actually, I came here today for another matter. But it is

quite related to Prince Jing's whereabouts." Yun Shang looked at Wang Jinhuan solemnly. "Mister

Wang, I want to know whether Prince Jing asked you to investigate Ning Ye or not. And I want to know

what you found during your investigation."

Wang Jinhuan looked away. He couldn't meet Yun Shang's gaze and avoided answering her directly,

"You mean Ning Ye has something to do with Prince Jing's disappearance?"

"I'm not certain but I think he does. If you feel uncomfortable, I can tell you what I found first. Someone

is posing as Ning Ye." Yun Shang said flatly.

Yun Shang's casual tone left Wang Jinhuan slightly embarrassed. He forced a smile and said, "That's

pretty much what we have found as well, Your Highness. But is he really related to the disappearance

of His Highness?"

"I can't say for sure, but I certainly have my suspicions." Yun Shang sighed. "Uncle trusts you, so I don't

want to hide anything from you. My grandfather came to the Palace today. He told me that a foreign

army had camped on Mount Kirin..."

Wang Jinhuan's expression changed abruptly. "It's exactly as Prince Jing speculated."

As he speculated? Yun Shang noticed his choice of words and turned to Wang Jinhuan. She was

puzzled. Wang Jinhuan continued, "His Highness encountered several assassinations before, and the

force behind them seems to be growing. Last year, during an assassination, His Highness encountered

a squad. Their weapons and accent indicated that they were not from the State of Ning. Although some

enemy squads exist in the State of Ning and we send similar troops to other states as well, His

Highness sensed something amiss. After that, we sent people to investigate them, but little information

was found. However, there were some unexpected findings, which include that Ning Ye had someone

erase the arrival record of some foreign citizens."

"So His Highness asked me to look into it, and I found that Ning Ye was different from his public image.

The undercover agents we sent into Shun Qing Mansion reported that it was impossible to investigate

Ning Ye's real life. As those who have served in the mansion for a long time told the agents, Ning Ye

had a significant change in personality..."

"Now that his change is so obvious to everyone, why is that the Prince Shun Qing and Lady Shun Qing

have not doubted his identity?" Yun Shang frowned.

Wang Jinhuan smiled bitterly. "They did doubt him once. But they didn't find any difference between the

real Ning Ye and the imposter. He even has the same birthmark as the real one..."

Yun Shang understood right away and nodded. "I see. The priority now is to look for Prince Jing. I'm

going back to the Imperial Palace and if you have any news, send Jinyan to me."

Wang Jinghuan nodded. "No problem. I'm on His Highness's side, so it's my duty to work for him."

Back at the Palace, Yun Shang had a long rest on the bed before she said, "You have been with me

the whole today and you must have heard everything. Don't you think it's time for you to tell me where

Prince Jing is now? If that army takes action, it would drag the whole state into an abyss of misery."

No response was heard in the quiet room. Yun Shang was tired. She closed her eyes and called for

Qian Yin loudly, "Tell Ning Qian to assemble as many people as she can. I have a task for them

tonight."

Qian Yin nodded and left the room. Suddenly, a woman said in a flat voice. "So what? His Highness

has done so much to defend the State of Ning, but the Emperor still doesn't trust him.. If His Highness

has indeed been taken away by a foreign force, they would plan on killing him. They would want to

assassinate rather than imprison him. For now, His Highness is just imprisoned..."

Yun Shang was struck with a complicated feeling. "So he has been taken away... by... His Majesty?"

The woman sneered. "Who else could it be? Emperor Ning has been suspicious of him for ages. All he

wants from His Highness this time, is the other half of the Hufu. Despite the fact that His Highness has

agreed to give it to him when he marries you, Emperor Ning still has no trust in him!"

Yun Shang froze. Prince Jing had agreed to give his half of the Hufu to her father when they got

married. How could she have forgotten such an important aspect of Prince Jing's marriage negotiation

with the Emperor? Having been reminded of the deal, the situation became clearer to Yun Shang.

"But Prince Jing was set up by Wen Ruyu, who was disguised as me at that time. Wen Ruyu kidnapped

me once before and her clan is close to Grand Councilor Li. Actually, it was the Grand Councilor's

people who kidnapped me and handed me to Wen Ruyu. How could father be involved..." Yun Shang

gritted her teeth as she found it unbelievable.

"Wen Ruyu and Wen Yunqing have different goals to begin with. Wen Ruyu wants to marry His

Highness, but her father wants her to be the Emperor's concubine as that would contribute more to the Property of Nô)(velDr(a)ma.Org.

future of their Clan. Wen Yunqing is the one who made a deal with the Grand Councilor. Wen Ruyu is

smart. On the one hand, she offered to obey Wen Yunqing under the condition that Wen Yunqing asked

the Grand Councilor to kidnap you. On the other hand, she was planing to kill you once you were at her

disposal, so that she could marry Prince Jing. To achieve this, she made another deal with the

Emperor. If she could help the Emperor take His Highness without attracting attention and shift our

suspicion to Li Clan or other forces, the Emperor would let her marry Prince Jing as his concubine."

Yun Shang felt a sharp pain in the heart and forced a bitter smile. Her father was indeed an excellent

Emperor!

"Qin Yi, send for my grandfather please..." Yun Shang ordered loudly.

It was natural for His Majesty to want the Hufu back, because he was the Emperor. However, His

Majesty had no idea that there was a foreign army of a hundred thousand soldiers in his country. If

anything bad happened to Prince Jing now, it would be disastrous for the State of Ning.

Before long, Qin Yi brought Xiao Yuanshan to the Palace. Yun Shang met him in the outer Hall and

asked Qin Yi and Qian Yin to guard the door. Then she shared what she found with Xiao Yuanshan.

Xiao Yuanshan remained silent for a while. He forced a smile before speaking, "His Majesty is being

unreasonable. I told him that Prince Jing was important to keep the balance between the Li Clan and

the Royal family. At that time, Prince Jing hadn't made many military achievements. It's even more

unwise to plot against him now. It is possible that His Majesty started to worry about the other half of

the Hufu when Prince Jing mentioned it during the marriage discussion. Perhaps that worry drove him

to make a wrong move?"

Yun Shang said nothing.

Xiao Yuanshan noticed her silence and smiled. "Fortunately, nothing horrible has happened yet.

Shang'er, I'll take care of this and persuade His Majesty to let Prince Jing go. But if you want to avoid

such kind of trouble, maybe you should have a talk with Prince Jing, and hold your wedding ceremony

soon."