Chapter 88: The Princess

After Chi Nan Yi left, the smile on Hua Po's face slowly faded.

She turned to look at the young servant standing to one side: "Where is Mo Junyan?"

"The Prince is at the residence."

At this time, Mo Junyan was painting in the study, stroke by stroke, sketching the likeness of the person in his mind.

"Eldest Princess, the Prince is resting!"

"Resting? I traveled all the way from Jingcheng, and before I could even eat a hot meal, he had me doing this and that. I am his elder sister, not his servant, and he still dares to slack off and rest."

"Princess..." Yun Shui wore a bitter expression. Just then, a low voice came from inside the study: "Come in."

Hua Po—no, Mo Yunyan gritted her teeth. She had originally wanted to kick the study door open, but then thought that since Mo Junyan's legs were ruined, seeing her do that might make him feel bad, so she chose to... kick it open.

"You brat," Mo Yunyan said angrily. "You actually dare to order your elder sister around—are you tired of living?" Mo Yunyan slapped her hand down on the desk, and upon seeing the outline taking shape under Mo Junyan's brush, she knew at once who he was painting. "She looks decent enough, but that little girl has far too many tricks up her sleeve."

Mo Junyan's lips curved up slightly. "You came up short at her hands?"

"Nonsense!" Mo Yunyan rolled her eyes. "Am I the kind of person who would come out on the losing end?"

She said this with obvious guilt, and Mo Junyan did not call her out on it.

"I just never expected that brat wouldn't recognize me at all."

"Heh." Mo Junyan set down his brush. "She only entered the palace once as a child—how could she remember?"

Mo Yunyan twitched her lips. "After not seeing her for so many years, that girl has gotten quite a bit sharper."

Mo Junyan glanced at her with a smile. Mo Yunyan looked away. "Is Mo Junheng still here?"

"The Dark Guards reported that he set out early this morning and has already left."

Mo Yunyan nodded. "I can't stay away for too long on this trip either. In a while, I still need to go to Beiyan."

Hearing her say this, Mo Junyan's expression faltered, and the smile on his face vanished entirely.

"You may not go."

Mo Yunyan could not help but freeze. "Why?"

"Right now, chaos is erupting everywhere in Beiyan. It is extremely dangerous. Whatever the matter is, it will have to wait for some time."

"Do you know something?" Seeing him refuse so firmly, Mo Yunyan could not help but feel puzzled. "Wasn't the trip to Beiyan something you decided on before?"

"At that time, Beiyan was not yet this chaotic." Mo Junyan said in a low voice, "We will discuss this matter later. Right now, you absolutely cannot go."

In his previous life, Mo Yunyan was assassinated not long after arriving in Beiyan.

Though he and Mo Yunyan were not born of the same mother, not long after Mo Yunyan was born, her birth mother fell ill and passed away. The Emperor entrusted the eldest imperial daughter to Mo Junyan's mother consort to raise. Mo Yunyan and Mo Junyan grew up together from childhood, and their bond was naturally exceptionally deep.

"Alright, I understand." Mo Yunyan's expression was better than before. Though she did not know what had happened, Mo Junyan's resoluteness meant there must be something disadvantageous to her. This brat was still decent enough—he did, after all, keep his imperial elder sister in his heart.

"You are smitten with her—does she know?"

Mo Yunyan said with a smile, "This is the first time I've seen someone stare moonstruck at a painting."

Mo Junyan said nothing. Seeing the fleeting awkwardness on his face, Mo Yunyan's smile widened. "She is no longer the legitimate daughter of the Minister's Residence—just a farmer's girl now. You are a prince, Daqi's first prince. Do you think Father Emperor would let you marry her?"

"Heh. Whomever This Prince wishes to make his Princess Consort, the old man has no say, and others have even less." Mo Junyan glanced at his own legs. "Now that my legs are ruined, I imagine the old man won't truly want me to inherit the throne. Whom I take as my Princess Consort is my own affair to decide."

"Is having ruined legs something to be proud of? You bring it up all day long." Mo Yunyan reined in the smile at the corners of her lips and looked at the wheelchair behind him. "Is there truly no other way? Are you planning to spend the rest of your life sitting in a wheelchair?"

"Isn't this perfectly fine?" Mo Junyan said indifferently. "From now on, for things like leading troops into battle, Father Emperor can simply send the Crown Prince. It will save him from feeling all day long that I am stealing his military glory."

"You know perfectly well that grandson of his lacks the ability to command troops."

"Whether he does or not, he must try sooner or later."

"What you say makes some sense." Mo Yunyan nodded. "But if he carelessly dies on the battlefield, the Daqi imperial house will face another bout of war and chaos, and the one in the inner palace will likely worry her hair white."

Mo Junyan gave a few faint laughs.

Just then, Yun Shui walked in quickly: "Prince, Miss Chi has arrived."

"Let her in."

Mo Junyan's gaze fell on Mo Yunyan, the intent to shoo her away already perfectly clear.

"What, my being here is inconvenient?"

"What do you think?"

Mo Yunyan said with a smile, "I don't think there's anything inconvenient about it!" She leaned against the back of the chair as if she had no bones. "Surely she won't misunderstand anything!"

Mo Junyan gritted his teeth and said in a low voice, "Ten thousand taels."

"Begging a beggar?" Mo Yunyan held up her fingers. "Fifty thousand taels."

"Go find Yun Tian."

"Deal."

After Mo Yunyan left the rear courtyard, thoroughly satisfied, and exited through the back door, Yun Tian handed over a bank note for a hundred thousand taels.

"Wasn't it fifty thousand taels?"

"The Prince said so." Yun Tian coughed softly twice. "For the next while, do not appear here."

"Brat." A barely perceptible glint of amusement flashed through Mo Yunyan's eyes. This brat must have done it on purpose, knowing that her funds were tight.

By the time Chi Nan Yi arrived at the study, the painting on Mo Junyan's desk had long since been put away.

A faint tea fragrance drifted through the air. Amid the swirling mist rising from the tea, Mo Junyan watched Chi Nan Yi walk over slowly.

"Prince."

"Sit."

Chi Nan Yi did not stand on ceremony with him. Looking at the tea and refreshments on the low table, Chi Nan Yi said with a smile, "The cook at the Prince's residence is truly skilled."

"Not bad."

"This commoner has come today on account of the horses."

"Has your dear friend thought it through?"

"Indeed. Fifty taels per horse, fifteen hundred horses in total, amounting to seventy-five thousand taels. No haggling."

Seventy-five thousand taels isn't expensive, but This Prince needs to inspect these horses first—where are they now?

Right in town. She had just bought the courtyard where Huang San previously raised horses; the owner of that courtyard was none other than Zhao Anqi.

At night, Yun Tian reported everything he had investigated in full detail.

Prince, the Huang San you had your subordinates look for has gone missing, but the place where Miss Chi's horses are kept was indeed previously used by Huang; your subordinates have inspected those horses, and they are all Yuqin Guo horses, with not a single sick one. Most importantly, those horses seem even finer than the warhorses currently in Yuqin Guo's army camp.