Villain Lady

Since there were rarely women who liked to see hunting equipment, Prince Kou dismissed Princess Ji Xiaoli without much thought. The servants behind them were divided into two as part of them followed Princess Ji Xiaoli.     

It was then Princess Ji Xiaoli noticed Wei Liuying and Yang Xian standing a bit to the back. Her brows creased as she knew their identity.      

'They're really brave to come here like this.'     

Princess Ji Xiaoli walked to their direction slowly. "You are?"     

"Wei Ying greets Your Highness," Wei Liuying bowed to greet.     

"And this?"     

"This is my servant, Xian, Your Highness."     

Princess Ji Xiaoli blinked her eyes. This person was clearly Yang Xian, the great strategist in Han Shi Kingdom. However, she understood that they were coming here under disguise, so she would not overstep her bounds and revealed their identity either. It would only create chaos without any point here.     

"It's the first time I see you here."     

"I'm coming here to have a look at the area beyond the border, Princess. It's been my dream since I was a child to see wider world," Wei Liuying lied so naturally. Her eyes were looking at Princess Ji Xiaoli as she examined the latter's countenance.     

Princess Ji Xiaoli looked like she was happy and all, but she could see that there was thick layer of makeup on her face. It looked like Princess Ji Xiaoli was using makeup to hide the fact that was not feeling that good at the north in order to not make people worry about her.     

She might be a young girl who also longed for her happiness, but she understood her position. When it was clear that she could not run away and the risk to not follow this road was too big, she chose to bear with it bravely. Princess Ji Xiaoli was doing everything she could to be a proper princess from Han Shi Kingdom.     

"I see. This must be an interesting journey to you."     

"Yes. I'm happy that I choose to come here. I can even meet with the wonderful Princess who's so brave," Wei Liuying praised.     

This time, the praise was coming from the bottom of her heart. She knew full well that if it was her, she might not be able to perform as well as Princess Ji Xiaoli. It was a fact that she herself had run away when her father tried to marry her with someone thrice her age on a whim.     

Princess Ji Xiaoli smiled. "I'm going to look around. It's a pleasure to talk with you, Lady Ying."     

"It's my honor to be able to talk with you first, Your Highness."     

After seeing Princess Ji Xiaoli away, Wei Liuying turned around and looked at Yang Xian. She didn't speak, but her eyes were telling to him what she had seen just now. Princess Ji Xiaoli was not as happy as she was on the surface.     

Yang Xian smiled bitterly. "Shall we return, Miss?"     

"I want to visit the village again."     

"I understand, Miss."     

Wei Liuying walked around aimlessly in the village. There was barely anything here. As for place to eat, there was only one inn that was owned by an old lady with her children. The food there only consisted of what the village had decided to have because they couldn't possibly consume their entire livestock if they wished to survive the harsh winter.     

After walking for a bit, Wei Liuying chose to come inside and sat near the window.     

"I would like a bowl of soup, please."     

There were still common herbs around here that the people used to make soup or something like that. Wei Liuying called it as soup, but she herself was not totally sure what they actually used inside.     

"Miss, would you like your usual meal instead?" Yang Xian asked.     

"It's fine," Wei Liuying replied. She looked at the soup and tried her best to not furrow her brows. In all honesty, she didn't understand what kind of food this was, but it was common here because they could only butcher one goat each week if they didn't want to run out of their livestock.     

Because of that, meat was scarce.     

Fish was even harder to get because the river was quite a distance away. There was a team that was arranged to take water from the river each day to fulfil the needs of clean water of the people in the village.     

Yang Xian sighed and stayed standing behind Wei Liuying. He knew that she didn't want to stay in the carriages area any longer because of Princess Ji Xiaoli's presence. Having to see Princess Ji Xiaoli acted to be happy when she was in fact not would be very heart wrecking. It would only leave a bad taste in their mouth because they were the one who brought her to this place.     

At this time, Yang Xian noticed that Princess Ji Xiaoli walked to the village. She stopped near the intersection as Shi Mo appeared. He was still in his usual demeanor as he smiled and joked around.     

"She's smiling."     

Wei Liuying stopped eating and put her spoon down as she glanced out of the window. Her eyes widened when she saw Princess Ji Xiaoli laughed so happy with Shi Mo joked before her while bringing something in his hand. It seemed that he had just hunted and showed off to everyone there, including to Princess Ji Xiaoli.     

"Have you thought of this possibility, Xian?"     

"I don't…"     

Yang Xian lowered his gaze and looked at Wei Liuying, who was also looking back at her. He smiled bitterly. "At least, we know that he'll protect her properly, right?"     

Wei Liuying rolled her eyes. "I can't believe you're such a cold hearted man."     

"Well, what do you expect me to say?"     

"The same thing as what you said," Wei Liuying replied and returned back to her soup. "There's never any other option in the first place. There's no way time can return back, only the future can change. I only hope the best for them."