Chapter 111: The Royal Princess (17)
Mu Huai took a deep breath, and after persuading himself with all kinds of psychological preparations within, he indifferently uttered, “I couldn’t even protect myself, Master, you’ve come to the wrong person.”
“King Huai, Your Highness, perhaps you’ve underestimated our Heavenly Temple.”
“…” Since you are that powerful… Why the hell come to me?! Are you nuts!
…
Lying in the bed, Ming Shu was counting numbers seriously: one roast whole lamb, two roast whole lamb, three… But suddenly a gloomy face appeared, breaking into her delicious illusions of food.
It was a bearded face. Eyes circled in blue-black and decorated with horrible streaks of blood within. It was like the face of a ghost.
Ming Shu stared into this pair of eyes, her own eyes equally widened.
MMP… She murmured inside, Are you trying to scare me to death and then inherit my snacks?
Come on! Isn’t it enough King Huai could get into this room? Now our Lord Male Protagonist came in so easily as well! Is it because he is the leading role, and any defense would be invalid against him?
Where’s the justice!
The Heavenly Temple is the safest place in the royal palace…
Lies!
Okay. Be cool.
Calm down, and…
Smile.
Wait… King Huai is not the male protagonist, why could he get in?
A BUG!
Ming Shu finally squeezed out a calm smile. “Hey, what festival is it today, my room seems so popular?”
Mu Ze bent over to gaze at Ming Shu, supporting himself with the bed’s edge. His cracked lips were slightly open, and several words came out bitterly: “Is it true… Shen Ci has gone?”
Ming Shu sat up swiftly and jumped to the ground from a gap between Me Ze and the bed. She put on her coat and answered, “I’ve told you clearly, Your Highness, Shen Ci has gone.”
Isn’t the reaction of the prince too lengthy?
Mu Ze clenched his fist, enduring the extreme agony. “But you are standing in front of me. You were lying, right?”
Ming Shu leaned against the bed. “I’m not Shen Ci. You know it, Your Highness. Why deceive yourself?”
She is not Little Ci.
She has the same appearance, voice, and breath as Little Ci, but the expression in her eyes and the way she speaks are totally different.
She is not Little Ci, not my Little Ci…
The past two days were like hell for Mu Ze. Countless scenes kept playing out in his head, setting off his nerves. At first, he was overwhelmed by the pain, then it was replaced by numbness. He disbelieved what Ming Shu told him at first, then persuaded himself to believe, but in the end, he denied all of it.
“Then who are you? Who are you?”
Why had his Little Ci gone away?
“Me? Well… I don’t know who I am either. Probably I’ve lost my memories.” Mu Shu began to talk willfully in an earnest tone. “Right. I must have lost my memories.”
However, as she was talking, all of a sudden Mu Ze flashed close to her and pinched her neck fiercely. “Who are you?! Tell me!”
” Cough cough cough , Your Highness, I may remind you that you are hurting the body of Shen Ci.” It was a little difficult for Ming Shu to speak, but no panic appeared on her face, which even showed an ambiguous smile.
Hearing this, Mu Ze suddenly loosened his hand as if he’d received an electric shock. The fair skin of Ming Shu’s slim neck turned red because of his fierce pinching. Mu Ze became very guilty, and he apologized in a trembling voice. “Little Ci, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it, I didn’t mean it…”
“Your Highness, you have lost her.” Ming Shu touched her neck and took a few steps back.
“Please, let Little Ci come back. As long as you let her come back, I will do anything for you.” Mu Ze looked at Ming Shu with pleading eyes.
He was wrong. He shouldn’t have hidden his feelings from Little Ci. He always thought that one day he might have a chance to tell her openly, he always thought… Little Ci would wait for him.
He was so regretful.
After keeping silent for a while, Ming Shu shook her head. “Sorry, I can’t do that.”
“…”
Mu Ze squatted down with his hands covering his head. He couldn’t help drowning in tears.
Ming Shu just watched this man cry quietly. The smile on her face had disappeared, though she didn’t know when, and her entire person was like a transparent jade sinking under cold ice.
It seemed a long time passed before Mu Ze stood up. With his head lowered, he said dismally, “Take care of her body. Otherwise I will make you suffer.”
…
The disappearance of Princess Rong Hua ignited the emperor’s fury.
The master told Ming Shu he had cleaned up all evidence related to her, but the next day Ming Shu was still taken away by the people sent by His Majesty.
Since some certain force made up their minds to frame her, it seemed they would not let this chance go easily.
In the royal study room…
Ming Shu was not as lucky as last time; the room was crowded with circles of ministers.
The minute Ming Shu stepped into the room, the emperor couldn’t help throwing out an angry question: “Royal Princess, I ask you, why did your belonging appear in the room of Princess Rong Hua?”
Ming Shu blinked. “What belonging?”
The eunuch held up something to show Ming Shu. It was a gold buyao , a kind of hair accessory for women in ancient times that was awarded to her by the emperor. And in the entire palace she was the only person who possessed abuyao like this.
Before, the Host often wore it. But after Ming Shu had come, she complained that it wasted too much strength to wear such a heavy, shiny thing on her head. So she told Zhi Qi to put it away somewhere.
“I don’t know. Perhaps Her Highness thought it was pretty so she took it from me.” Last night when she went to beat her, she didn’t take anything there except her fists.
But this thing appeared here now, which could only mean that…
There’s probably a traitor hidden in the Heavenly Temple.
The emperor became even more ferocious. “Royal Princess, Rong Hua is missing, were you involved with that?”
“Even if I tell you it has nothing to do with me, you won’t believe me,” Ming Shu said in a casual tone, showing no respect.
“Royal Princess, mind your attitude!” The emperor was originally holding back his anger, but with this disrespectful attitude of Ming Shu’s, his anger was ignited immediately, like fire meeting gasoline.
But Ming Shu continued, raising her eyebrows with a light smile: “Your Majesty, what’s wrong with my attitude?”
You want me to kneel down and sing a song for you?
The emperor burst out, “This buyao was given to you by me. It appeared in the room of Rong Hua, and you are telling me it has nothing to do with you? Where is Rong Hua? What does your Heavenly Temple want?”
Thinking of the Heavenly Temple, the emperor felt even more wronged. It seemed he was going to vent all his anger at that temple that had accumulated during all these years.
“How should I know?” Ming Shu answered with a smiling voice. “Your Majesty, rather than waste time here questioning me, it’s better for you to send people to search for Her Highness. The kidnapper is much more fearsome than me, and if you can’t find Her Highness in time…”
“How dare you!” The emperor slapped his desk. “Shen Ci, are you not taking me seriously?”
Ming Shu’s smiling tone remained unchanged. “Your Majesty, you’re too old for me, I’m afraid I cannot take you seriously.”
The ministers: “…”
Her Highness is going to rebel, isn’t she?
“You, you…” The emperor was angered to the point of speechlessness. If it were possible, he would have ordered to kill her.
“Your Majesty, please, calm yourself.” Seeing things were getting out of control, the head eunuch hurriedly came forward to sooth the emperor. “The investigation is still ongoing, and perhaps Her Highness is really unrelated to the kidnapping.”
“The evidence is conclusive. If it’s not the royal princess, then why did such a valuable buyao appear in the room of Princess Rong Hua?” one of the ministers questioned.
“And besides, in the daytime, the royal princess and Princess Rong Hua had just had a conflict, so the Royal Princess has a reasonable excuse to implement a kidnapping,” another minister added.
“Last night we were blocked when we requested to search the Heavenly Temple, isn’t it suspicious?”
It seemed all the ministers present were trusted followers of the emperor. They were trying to convict Ming Shu of the kidnapping.
Ming Shu raised her hand and complained, “Your Majesty, I suspect you instigated them to frame me. So… was it you yourself that kidnapped Princess Rong Hua?”
The royal study room fell into silence all at once.
The royal princess… She was not going to rebel, she was crazy.