The assassins couldn’t catch up with Zhao Xu and Princess Jing Mountain, angered to the point of gritting their teeth, not knowing what to do.

The little palace maid hid in the carriage, trembling.

Tears fell like a string of broken pearls.

She accompanied the princess out of the palace to choose a Prince Consort, who would have thought they would be directly knocked out.

By the time they woke up, they were already tied up hand and foot, with cloth stuffed in their mouths, unable to speak.

They initially thought it was a dead end, who would have thought they would be jolted all the way from Beimo to Nanliang.

Countless times on the way they wanted to call for help, but no one ever discovered they were kidnapped.

They finally met someone, but after just a glance, he turned a blind eye and continued to eat noodles.

She and the princess both lost hope, curious to see who had the nerve to kidnap them.

But then!

Their rescuers came.

Thinking of this, the palace maid cried uncontrollably.

She was happy that the princess was saved, but she was still in the hands of the assassins, not wanting to die.

She heard the sound of horseback approaching and quickly held back her tears.

Observing her, the assassin saw another return empty-handed and asked, "Didn’t you catch Princess Jing Mountain?"

"She escaped," the assassin said angrily.

"What do we do now?"

They had been cautious all the way, bringing them to Nanliang, only for Princess Jing Mountain to be rescued in the end.

Their failure wouldn’t be forgiven lightly by their master.

With the princess rescued, there was no need to keep the palace maid alive.

The assassin dragged the palace maid out of the carriage and threw her to the ground, ready to kill her with a sword.

But just as the sword was about to strike, another assassin grabbed his hand, "The person who rescued her might not be from Beimo. As long as King Beimo knows Princess Jing Mountain is in our Nanliang, that’s enough."

"This palace maid looks good enough; with some dress-up, no one would doubt she’s Princess Jing Mountain."

"Since the princess refuses to write a letter, it’s fine for the palace maid to do it instead..."

And so—

The palace maid narrowly escaped death.

But she was forced by the assassins to impersonate Princess Jing Mountain.

This was no challenge for the palace maid at all.

She had been serving Princess Jing Mountain since childhood and, except for an injury that kept her from accompanying the princess to Daqi for marriage, she was nearly always by her side.

The palace maid knew the princess’s habits inside out, imitating her with ease.

Especially since she had also pretended to be the princess before.

After King Beimo was captured by Daqi, Beimo Cheng King forced Princess Jing Mountain into marriage.

Princess Jing Mountain wanted to save King Beimo but didn’t want to marry into Daqi. Who would want to be exiled as a marriage princess?

The palace maid figured that since no one in Daqi had seen the princess, she should impersonate the princess for the marriage.

She even wore the princess’s gown, but Prince Beimo disagreed with their plan, fearing they may be discovered, angering Daqi and worsening the situation.

No one expected that they wouldn’t let her impersonate the princess to go to Daqi, but to Nanliang instead.

The princess treated her like a sister, with deep affection, as long as the princess was safe and sound, she would do anything for her sake, even go through fire and water.

After dressing up and coming out, the assassin nodded after looking at her, "Indeed, she bears some resemblance to the princess."

The assassins divided into two groups, one half escorting the palace maid into the Capital, the other chasing after Princess Jing Mountain.

The assassins didn’t know, as the palace maid was disguised, Princess Jing Mountain was also changing her appearance.

Her dress was stained with Zhao Xu’s blood during the rescue, too eye-catching on the road, changing her outfit made it easier to escape the assassins’ eyes.

In the clothing shop, Zhao Xu sat there drinking tea, Princess Jing Mountain changed into a new dress and came out.

The shopkeeper, a woman, looked her over and felt satisfied, turning to Zhao Xu, "Sir, does your lady’s outfit meet your taste?"

Cough, cough!

Zhao Xu almost choked.

Princess Jing Mountain blushed.

"I’m not his lady," Princess Jing Mountain quickly clarified.

Not?

The woman was momentarily stunned, then laughed, "Not now, but sooner or later you will be."

Zhao Xu, "..."

Princess Jing Mountain, "..."

Unable to clarify, Zhao Xu simply didn’t explain.

After paying, Zhao Xu and Princess Jing Mountain left.

By chance, a guard bought a horse, and as the woman saw them off, she said, "Next time, sir, do remember to bring your lady to visit again."

The guard, "...???"

He had only been away for a short while, and now the Young Master had suddenly gained a Young Madam?

Seeing Zhao Xu and Princess Jing Mountain’s flushed faces, the guard knew they had been misunderstood.

But the misunderstanding didn’t stop him from taking the opportunity to tease his master.

"Young Master, isn’t your development a bit too fast?" the guard suppressed a laugh and whispered.

"..."

Zhao Xu gave the guard a fierce glare.

Princess Jing Mountain mounted the horse in a swift motion.

Her posture was agile, riding the horse spiritedly.

Zhao Xu looked at her and said, "Come down first."

Princess Jing Mountain, "..."

Obediently, she dismounted, took a few steps forward, and entered an inn, asking for a private room.

Although Princess Jing Mountain changed her dress, her beauty was unparalleled, too striking.

Zhao Xu taught her to disguise herself.

Once disguised, as they left the inn, they ran into the group of assassins capturing Princess Jing Mountain.

Princess Jing Mountain’s heart pounded with fear.

They rode out of the town.

Meanwhile, Xie Jingchen was rushing to the border, while the palace maid was taken back to the Capital City, and as for Princess Jing Mountain, wherever Zhao Xu went, she followed.

Even though Zhao Xu felt it inconvenient to travel with a girl, encountering countless misunderstandings along the way until he almost got used to it; since his cousin asked him to save her, he couldn’t just leave her, inconveniences or not, he had to endure.

Five days later, Xie Jingchen reached the border.

Just as he was about to return to the Nanliang Military Camp, he hesitated.

Once entering the Nanliang Military Camp, it wouldn’t be easy to leave.

He thought of taking the opportunity to visit Daqi, a thought which he immediately suppressed, knowing that impatience would ruin the bigger plan.

He might refrain from going back, but the paintings he’d carried all the way couldn’t be left unattended.

With no one reliable beside him,

Xie Jingchen glanced several times at Dong Chenglang and Young Master Shi, hesitation in his eyes.

Seeing this, Dong Chenglang said, "Brother Li, if you have something to say, just say it."

Xie Jingchen said, "Brother Shi, could you lend me a trustworthy person to deliver something to Beimo?"

Young Master Shi was stunned, quickly answering, "Why not?"

He lent his most skilled and trusted guard to Xie Jingchen.

Xie Jingchen handed over the painting to the guard, "Help me deliver this painting to Prince Beimo in Beimo."

Dong Chenglang’s eyes widened.

He couldn’t fathom Xie Jingchen.

Skilled in martial arts, tactically brilliant, and now involved with Prince Beimo...

If one said he was a spy planted by Beimo in the military camp, but he spoke frankly, what kind of spy is this careless?

"Who... whose side are you on?" Dong Chenglang couldn’t help but ask.

Xie Jingchen looked at Dong Chenglang and said, "I am just myself. If Brother Dong needs me to claim loyalty, consider me a person of the one in the inn in black that day."

Dong Chenglang gasped, "You... you know who he is?"

"Zhao Xu."