Chapter 148: The Troublesome Princess

Before the man could reply, Princess Wusun Ya of the Northern Li Kingdom, who was walking in front, suddenly turned her head. Seeing this scene, she frowned and sharply reprimanded, "Why aren't you moving faster?"

The man lowered his eyes and followed behind her.

"The Princess bumped into someone, yet she walks away without a single word of apology?" A sharp, cold male voice rang out. Sima Moli strode forward, looked Shen Qingyun up and down, and asked softly, "Miss Shen, are you all right?"

The dramatic change in his attitude before and after left everyone around in astonishment.

Could this gentle man truly be Prince Li, the merciless god of war on the battlefield?

Startled by the reprimand, Wusun Ya was secretly surprised to see Prince Li standing beside Shen Qingyun. She walked over with a smile, her cute, childish face displaying an expression of guilt with her large, watery eyes: "Prince Li, I didn't realize I had bumped into this young lady. I thought she was just some careless palace maid. I am truly sorry."

She pouted, her round, doll-like face pink and adorable, and her voice was exceedingly sweet and soft, as if it had genuinely been an unintentional mistake.

However, her so-called apology subtly demoted Shen Qingyun to the rank of a palace maid, clearly showing that she was not as innocent and naive as she appeared on the surface.

Wusun Ya turned around and, from an angle where Sima Moli could not see, flashed a provocative smile at Shen Qingyun.

In the past, whenever she acted like this and played the spoiled child, neither her imperial father nor her brothers, nor any strange man, could ever find it in their hearts to blame her.

"Miss Shen, you won't mind, will you?" Wusun Ya asked pitifully.

"I do mind," Shen Qingyun replied with a detached expression. "It is me today; but if Her Highness were to bump into a noble consort another day and mistake her for a palace maid as well, that would hardly be proper."

Seeing Wusun Ya's expression of shock and anger, Shen Qingyun smiled faintly and added, "Her Highness is noble, and every word and action of yours represents the Northern Li Kingdom. If it is merely that Your Highness's eyesight is poor, we can summon an imperial physician to examine you. But if people were to suspect that Your Highness is harboring resentment and deliberately causing trouble, they might inevitably doubt the sincerity of the Northern Li Kingdom in seeking peace. That would be most unfortunate."

What a joke. Since the provocation had been brought right to her doorstep, if she were to cower and shrink back now, she would undoubtedly become the laughingstock of all the noble ladies in the capital.

Wusun Ya was left completely speechless by Shen Qingyun's words. She instinctively reached toward her waist, only to remember that she was in the imperial palace where carrying curved sabers was prohibited, and her face distorted with anger.

Left with no other choice, she put on a wronged expression and looked at Sima Moli: "Prince Li, isn't Miss Shen making a mountain out of a molehill?"

Sima Moli's expression remained icy: "Her Highness need not speak to this Prince. The person you ought to be apologizing to is Miss Shen."

Wusun Ya's face instantly turned livid. This Prince Li was truly blind; how could he turn a blind eye to someone as adorable as her?

Yet she also knew that Prince Li was not a man to be trifled with, so she could only mutter a reluctant apology before leaving with her attendants.

The First Prince, Wusun Ang, watched all of this with great amusement and did not step forward to speak up for Wusun Ya from beginning to end. It seemed that all was not well within the imperial family of Northern Li either.

Since Sima Moli still needed to discuss the details of the peace treaty with the Emperor, he naturally could not stay long. He looked at Shen Qingyun and, seeing her blink to signal that she was entirely fine, found her utterly adorable. His heart swelled with an indescribable joy, and he turned and left first.

Shen Qingyun was also about to return to her residence when Ji Qianxue suddenly walked over.

"County Princess, that princess looks like the type to harbor a grudge. You should be careful in the future."

Not expecting Ji Qianxue to come and warn her, Shen Qingyun was stunned for a moment before nodding amicably. With a smile, she said, "If Miss Ji doesn't mind, you may simply call me Qingyun."

Being addressed as County Princess every time felt a bit unnatural, and she truly wished to forge a friendship with the gentle Ji Qianxue.

Ji Qianxue asked with a pleasant surprise, "May I? Then Qingyun can also call me Qianxue."

The two looked at each other and smiled, both reading genuine delight in each other's eyes.

"Then Qingyun, I will invite you out again next time, and we can have a proper game of chess. I could tell from our last meeting at the Princess's Estate that you deliberately let me win."

Ji Qianxue's tone carried the gentle cadence of a maiden from the Jiangnan region, sounding as refreshing as a cup of soothing tea. Shen Qingyun smiled and nodded, and the two chatted as they walked until they reached the palace gates, where they boarded their respective carriages and waved goodbye.

Upon returning to her residence, Shen Qingyun immediately sent people out to gather specific information about the entourage from the Northern Li Kingdom.

To her surprise, over the next two days, rumors spread like wildfire throughout the city, all claiming that the little princess of Northern Li, Wusun Ya, was soon to marry the Mighty General Xiao Jue.

Yicui frowned. Didn't General Xiao like her mistress? For over thirty years, he had never shown any interest in women for the sake of her mistress. How on earth did a little princess suddenly pop up?

Zhenzhu said with a puffed-up face, "Miss, you have no idea how shameless that princess is. Every single day, she runs over to the Xiao Estate bright and early. Wherever General Xiao goes, she follows, clinging to him relentlessly. Who has ever seen anything like that?"

Shen Qingyun sighed softly. She understood the difficulties Xiao Jue faced.

Being a princess who had come to negotiate peace, even if he felt aversion in his heart, he at least had to maintain courteous hospitality on the surface to avoid giving others grounds for gossip.

Yicui asked with deep worry, "Is that little princess really so difficult to shake off?"

Zhenzhu nodded vigorously: "When I went out to inquire, those people spoke as if they had witnessed it with their own eyes! They said General Xiao took the little princess shopping for pastries, went horseback riding together in the suburbs for spring outings, and—even more exaggeratedly—they claimed that when the little princess was almost hit by a carriage, General Xiao swept her right into his arms!"

"What!" Yicui gasped. "If there has been such intimate physical contact, won't that little princess truly end up marrying General Xiao?"

Zhenzhu pouted: "That little princess certainly doesn't care about such things, but she has completely compromised General Xiao's reputation."

Hearing Zhenzhu speak thus, Yicui felt both exasperated and amused. She couldn't help glancing at Shen Qingyun, swallowing the worried words on the tip of her tongue: *What should our mistress do now...*

Shen Qingyun's expression darkened slightly. She believed in Xiao Jue's character.

If Xiao Jue were someone so easily moved by others, he would not have remained unmarried all these years for the sake of her mother.

It was just that the news had spread so quickly and vividly, which undoubtedly meant Wusun Ya was fanning the flames behind the scenes. By throwing herself at him so aggressively, she was bound to mislead the majority into misunderstanding her relationship with Xiao Jue.

The Emperor might not necessarily agree to let a foreign princess marry a domestic general, but if Wusun Ya insisted upon it, it was hard to say how things might turn out. She had to take precautions against this beforehand.

"No matter what, I will go to the General's Estate tomorrow to see Mother," Shen Qingyun said softly.

She hoped her mother wouldn't harbor any misunderstandings. In truth, deep down in her heart, she felt that if her mother could end up with Xiao Jue, she would undoubtedly live a very happy life.

Unexpectedly, the next day, even before Shen Qingyun reached the General's Estate, word reached her from Han Qing's side.

"Miss, that Wusun Ya has gone to the General's Estate to find Madam!"