Several public security officers dropped to their knees, trembled with fear, and replied successively to the Princess. Princess Hua Jing frowned and sighed, "I heard from my chambermaid that a scoundrel has kidnaped princess Hui Guo. You have to arrange more public security officers to search for the scoundrel, and you must search everywhere in the Imperial City, especially… brothels or somewhere like this."
The leader of the public security officers nodded hurriedly, "Yes, Your Highness. We will begin our search immediately."
Hua Jing nodded and waving her hands. "Go now!"
The leader rose to his feet and led the other public security officers out of the room. As they went downstairs, the leader said to the rest, "Act quickly. I need some of you to block all the arteries through which people go in and out of the Imperial City, and one of you needs to report this to the prefect and ask him to dispatch more staff to search for the Princess."
The chambermaid brought a cup of tea to Hua Jing and said gently, "Your Highness, everything is ready. During their search, the public security officers will find Princess Hui Guo in the biggest brothel - Goulan Brothel. By that time, Princess Hui Guo would have been raped. Then you will see…"
On hearing this, the tips of Hua Jing's mouth lifted in a grim smile. She said, "By then, all people in the Imperial City would know that Princess Hui Guo was found in a brothel and was defiled by a scoundrel. I really want to know who would marry an impure woman, even though she is a Princess."
At the very thought of the miserable life Yun Shang would live, Hua Jing felt delighted. Although impatient to hear the news, she waited for what seemed like an hour. Suddenly, footsteps could be heard outside the door. A smile appeared on Hua Jing's face. She quickly replaced it with a sad and despondent look.
The door opened, and a man in an official robe hastened to salute Princess Hua Jing. He sputtered, "Your Highness, I am Bai Feifan, prefect of the Imperial City. My subordinates and I searched around the Imperial City and found a maiden in Yixiang Brothel. She claimed to have been kidnapped from here."
"Yixiang Brothel?" What kind of place is it? How is my sister, Princess Hui Guo?" Hua Jing rose to her feet with a concerned air.
The prefect added hurriedly, "The maiden we found is not Princess Hui Guo…"
"What?" Hua Jing frowned and exclaimed, "Did you say that she is not Princess Hui Guo?" She thought for a moment and realized that she had overacted. She soon calmed her emotions and said, "What's going on? Where is Princess Hui Guo?"
"We haven't found the Princess. However, the maiden we found in Yixiang Brothel claims to have been kidnapped from here while using the toilet. I asked a dozen witnesses to identify if the maiden had been at this restaurant. They confirmed her identity. She is just a daughter of a businessman. I believe Princess Hui Guo must still be in this restaurant since she hasn't been kidnapped. So I'm here to inform you that we will be searching this restaurant." said the prefect with a low voice before he kowtowed to Princess Hua Jing.
"If Princess Hui Guo is still here, how could it be that she hasn't returned in such a long while? Search this place. Find her as soon as possible." said Hua Jing unhappily, waving her hands. A moment later, she added, "Well, start your search from the upper floors. Only the powerful and influential people in the Imperial City have access to private rooms. I will come with you."
Hua Jing felt restless and confused as she wondered what went wrong with her plot. How could it not be Yun Shang? She had devised the perfect scheme! She tried to keep herself calm. It had dawned on her that if the prefect and his subordinates searched around without due care and attention, she would have to bear the consequences of their mistakes. With this in mind, she stepped out of the private room.
"Start with the last room." said Hua Jing.
The prefect nodded hastily and went forward. His subordinates followed the prefect to the door. As soon as he pushed the door open, a familiar could be heard. "Who are you? The prefect of the Imperial City? Well. What do you want?"
Hua Jing
Eventually she stormed off after she learned that he had betrayed her again. But life brought her back to him a few years later, to his astonishment. The man had already got what he wanted from her, but she couldn't understand why he still wanted to torture and haunt her.
Drugged one night by her ex-boyfriend, a mysterious man took advantage of her in an ecstatic night filled with sex. To take her revenge, she married the man, and used him. "As long as I'm alive, I'm still his legal wife, while all of you are just his mistresses."She remained adamant even when he was involved in scandals with other women.
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frowned and then walked into the room. Looking around, she saw a man in a purple robe, looking aloof and emotionless. She curtsied to the man and said, "How are you today, uncle?"
Just as Hua Jing finished, the maiden who had spoken earlier stepped forward and said with surprise, "Sister, how did you know I am here?"
Anger and hatred filled Hua Jing. She said to Yun Shang, "Why are you here?"
Yun Shang's face broke into a smile. "Just now, when I was on my way back from the toilet, I happened to see our uncle entering this room. I came here to greet him because he had called Doctor Xue Yan to cure me when I was severely ill. We were having such a good conversation that time passed quickly. It seems that I have been here longer than I intended. I forgot that you were waiting for me…"
Hua Jing clenched her fists in her sleeves. As she looked up, she saw Prince Jing give her a cold, hard stare, which sent shivers down her spine. Then she calmed herself and said, "You worried me. A little while ago a maiden was kidnapped while on her way to the toilet. Since you hadn't returned, I had thought that maiden was you. I called on the prefect to search around the Imperial City. I was just about to report this to our father, but now I see that you are here, safe."
As Yun Shang was about to offer an apology, Prince Jing said, "How could you be so sure that the missing maiden was Princess Hui Guo? I was told that only one maiden was kidnapped. If that were the situation, what do you think happened to her two personal maids? Suppose it had turned out that the kidnapped maiden was Princess Hui Guo, why didn't you command the public security officers to search around this restaurant before searching outside?"
Hua Jing put on a stern expression and said through clenched teeth. "What are you implying, uncle? When I heard a maiden was kidnapped, Yun Shang happened to be nowhere in sight. My mind went blank. I wasn't able to think these things through."
On hearing this, Prince Jing looked at Yun Shang. The sparkle in his eyes seemed to convey that Hua Jing was lying.
A brief smile appeared on Yun Shang's face. She walked towards Hua Jing and held her hands, "This is all my fault. I apologize for making you worry." Then she turned around and said to Prince Jing, "Don't embarrass my sister. She is not you. She is not so wise or thoughtful as you. Uncle, you have fought on several battlefields and suffered much. Your experiences have taught you to think clearly in difficult situations. We are just innocent girls who are raised in the Imperial Palace. We are not in the same class as you."
Hearing this, Prince Jing smiled slightly and shook his head. "All right. You make a good point there. I have been out for a long time. I have to go back to my mansion now. If you feel sick, don't hesitate to come to my mansion to visit Doctor Xue Yan."
Yun Shang was shocked at Prince Jing's invitation. It was unbelievable that Prince Jing would show her due concern. She was so taken aback that it was not until a while later that she regained her senses. She nodded slowly and said, "I see, thank you, uncle."
Prince Jing nodded and then left the room followed by Wang Shunlai.
As their footsteps gradually faded, Hua Jing turned and looked at Yun Shang. She smiled, "Uncle is always indifferent to everyone, except for the Emperor. What I didn't know is that you have built a good relationship with him. He not only talked with you for such a long time but showed concern for you."
Yun Shang stuck her tongue out wittily and said, "I have seldom seen him. It was not until recently that my illness forced our father to ask Prince Jing to bring me to his Mansion to see a renowned doctor. In fact, I fear him just as much as you do. Today, I had meant to make a simple greeting and leave. I didn't expect him to share his battle stories with me, along with the customs and culture of the frontier."
"Really?" Hearing this, Hua Jing turned her eyes to the nearby wall and squinted as she contemplated over the day's events.
After a long pause, she turned and said to Yun Shang, "Well, it's late. It's time for us to return. We need to clean up our room." After this, she stepped out of the room.
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