Valiant Princess

Twenty-eight: As the day darkens

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King Emo

(Vengo Gao)

Suddenly the protection formation barrier vanished without a trace. The princess is looking as if she is an immortal with her white dress. She no longer wears her veil but on her face is a golden mask, the one that worn by her in the banquet before.

The General saw this, his mood is suddenly getting heavier, his men are now able to see the lower part of her face. They can see how small her face is. They can see what a lovely pair of eyes she has. They can see her seductive reddish lips. They can see how devastatingly beautiful she is even with half of her face is covered with the mask. He does not like this. He wanted to grab her and put her inside his magic spatial ring if he could.

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Congming raises her head and stares at the General. This man is getting more and more shameless day by day. Her mistress is so unlucky to be engaged with such a shameless man. His cold self in the past is more tolerable than this shameless self that he is now. She had told the princess about the General, the princess just stays silent with a scowl on her face.

The princess then walks towards where Xiao Yu, Huli and Chengshi are. They have now done cooking dinner. Xiao Yu suddenly takes out a large table and enough chairs for the 2 groups to dine on. Seeing this, the General's men then gladly assist him and the 4 beautiful maids by arranging the bowls of rice then the dishes. Each of them even gets a bowl of hot soup each scoop out from a large steaming pot by the beautiful eunuch before passing 2 bowls each to each of the guards. The guards happily arrange it too. Once everything has been arranged in its place, the princess sits on the top left while the General is sitting facing her. The 4 maids sit by pair on each side of the table. The same goes for Bing Zhongcheng and Wenhe too as they both sit on the left and right sides of the table. The remaining men, all 10 of them are sat equally on each side of the table too. They hesitated at first to sit on the same table as the princess and the General but as the servants of the princess are sitting comfortably, they bravely sit on the same table as well. The princess gently smiles and nod her head when she sees them sit on the same table.

The General is smiling too as the princess is actually quite down to earth and willing to sit on the same table with her servants and his men. He found this habit of hers is quite endearing. The only thing that he did not like is that they are sitting on opposite sides of the table. But this will do he thought. At least, he can eat while stealing glances at her. His smile is wider with this thought not realizing that the men on his sides are not satisfied with their seats as they cannot even see the person that they wanted to see in the first place (Chengshi is sitting on the same side as Wenhe and the same goes to Congming and Bing Zhongcheng too). But, not long after that, the General smile falter... Xiao Yu, that damnable eunuch, is sitting next to the princess. Before the princess eats anything, he is the one who will eat it first.

The scowl on his face is deepening and thought to himself, "This eunuch is a poison tester???"

Her 4 maids seem to be enjoying the dinner and they are even talking casually with his army guards; those silly men blush upon interacting with those pretty maids. The princess seems quite at ease receiving portion of food from her eunuch after he had done tasting them. She seems to be saying something to him before she starts eating. He too starts eating his share of food as well.

She then looks up and stares at him, "Is the food acceptable for the General and his men? Xiao Yu and Huli are the best when it comes to cooking. And, each of this food today is highly beneficial for mind and body."

Huli smiles and continues to explain, "This maid is using herbs to re-energize the mind and body. Xiao Yu, on the other hand, cook each dish with added spiritual qi as well. The princess instructed both of us to prepare this dinner to say thanks to the General and his men. Isn't that right Xiao Yu?"

Xiao Yu then briefly look at Huli and the others and says, "Indeed..." He then continues to eat while checking the princess from time to time.

The General smiles, "Then this General thanks her highness on behalf of his men. My thanks to Huli and Eunuch Xiao Yu as well."

Both Huli and Xiao Yu stands up and gives their respect to the General. The General smiles and thought they are both thoughtful in their manner for sure.

Chengshi then pouts and say, "But, I have helped too..."

Out of nowhere, Wenhe clearly says, "Then this guard thanks Chengshi for diligently cutting the vegetables as well."

Chengshi stands up and pointed her finger at him, "Shut it!"

Wenhe continues eating, even with that expressionless face of his, he is obviously happy even when someone is obviously fuming because of him. The General and Bing Zhongcheng are both in deep thoughts while eating their dinner. The rest of the army guards are in a happy mode too as they are eating with beautiful flowers.

The princess is eating in silence. Once she is done, Xiao Yu pour a cup of warm digestive tea for her where she drinks it in one gulp. Huli then passed a bowl of herbal mouthwash for the princess, she gargles the herbal liquid before elegantly spitting it out into the same bowl as she covers her action with her long sleeve, after all, she is a princess, she has to act like one. Lianhua gives her a silk handkerchief, she uses it to wipe her mouth in a gentle motion before passing the used handkerchief to Chengshi. Once she is done, Congming takes her small hands and soak it in warm water with rose petals in it.

The princess smiles contentedly with these actions by her servants. The army guards are amazed at the efficiency of each of her people. No words are spoken by the princess but each of them knows what needed to be done. Others might say that this princess is definitely pampered to a point of ridiculousness. But, seeing the small princess smiling contentedly while being pampered by her (obviously) willing servants, it is a sight of tranquillity for the spectators instead.

Wenhe and Bing Zhongcheng smile when they see this serene scene in front of them, a princess is indeed a princess, they both thought. Her aura is quite overwhelming even when she acts idly and letting her servants take care of her every need.

After 10 minutes, the princess takes her hands out from the small basin and did something that made the General stands up and stared at her while the rest of his men stared with their mouths open wide. The idle princess dries her hands off by using her qi, her hands glow with warm energy flow and, within a few seconds, her hands are dries to perfection.

The General is shocked. She is a cultivated person with fire attribute. This is news for him. He never knew that she can cultivate. She is obviously someone with a considerable amount of cultivation, but he was not able to detect it. No one of his people has been able to detect it. Her people too are undetected by his spies. They cover their real abilities. Deep in his heart, he is shaken. Did she know about his plan? If she did know, what will happen now? Suddenly, the pain in his heart is too much for him to bear, he slumps weakly to the grounds which shocks everyone else.

Even the princess looks at the General with a surprised look on her face, "Wenhe, bring the General to his camp. Huli, please check on the General's condition. Xiao Yu, accompany Huli to check on the General."

She stands there while watching Wenhe and Bing Zhongcheng both supports the General to his camp. She never saw him in that condition before. He is always a strong, cold and distant person. Being weak is never in the General's book. Seeing him with a pale discolouration on his face made her feels a bit sad. She takes a deep breath, and silently walks to her camp.

Chengshi, Congming and Lianhua noticed the difference in their mistress's mood. They decided to let their mistress spend time on her own for the time being. Their mistress is obviously affected by what has just happened to the General, but she still keeps an expressionless face. They can only wish that their princess will be alright soon. Whatever the princess wants, she will get it with their undeterred supports.

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Once she is inside her camp, she takes out her guzheng and plays a tune to ease her burdened heart. She has to remind herself to stay strong, the matters of her heart are nothing compared to the safety of her beloved family and, the peace of her kingdom. With that, love is not something she has to indulge herself with.

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The sound of her guzheng permeates through everyone's hearts as the day darkens. 3 shadows hiding amongst the trees listen to the sound of the soothing music. The sound of it somehow heals everyone from within their souls. Even the General, who is lying on a thin mattress inside his camp, seems to be in a better condition. As Huli have given him a herbal pill to somehow ease his pain, he listens to the sound of the guzheng before he gradually falls asleep. Seeing that General has fallen asleep, the others silently went out of the camp. Bing Zhongcheng and Wenhua both guarding the General's camp while he is asleep. The rest of the army guards are guarding their surroundings by taking turns.