After capturing the person, the palace maid once said she was the princess...

The assassin was completely confused.

They had never seen Princess Jing Mountain, but surely their master had.

If their master said it’s her, then it must be true.

Even Beimo Cheng King hadn’t realized the assassins had brought Princess Jing Mountain to Nanliang, and still asked if "she is Princess Jing Mountain" in such a manner.

The palace maid was still in shock and hadn’t recovered.

She never expected the one who kidnapped the princess would be Prince Cheng, wasn’t he already dead?!

And he even mistook her for the princess?

But this was good, if she acted as the real one, then the assassins wouldn’t look for the princess, making the princess safe.

To make Prince Cheng believe more that she was the princess, the palace maid imitated Princess Jing Mountain and angrily scolded Prince Cheng, convincing both him and the assassins of her identity.

However, she was only able to scold for a while before being taken away by the assassins.

Although she was dressed luxuriously, her appearance was far from that of a princess. The maids in the separate courtyard helped her bathe and dressed her in a new gown.

After changing, she was taken to see the Prince of Nanliang.

The Prince of Nanliang had never seen Princess Jing Mountain before; since Beimo Cheng King said she was the princess, he naturally believed it without doubt.

And then——

Princess Jing Mountain was taken to the palace.

Although she was brought to Nanliang by force, the Prince of Nanliang declared to the public that she had come to visit Princess Consort Mo.

Princess Consort Mo was the favored concubine of the Emperor of Nanliang, the daughter of Beimo Cheng King, and the cousin of Princess Jing Mountain.

Nang felt the favor in lending one hundred thousand troops to Beimo Cheng King to save King Beimo was for her ’sake’.

Leaving aside the promised one hundred thousand liang of gold and three hundred thousand piculs of grain, King Beimo was publicly indebted to Princess Consort Mo for an enormous favor.

Especially in the public eye, Beimo Cheng King almost gave his life in Daqi for the peace deal to save King Beimo.

No amount of gratitude for Beimo Cheng King and Princess Consort Mo could suffice for Beimo.

As King Beimo couldn’t leave Beimo, it seemed reasonable for Princess Jing Mountain, as his daughter, to personally come to express her gratitude to Princess Consort Mo.

As for Princess Consort Mo, upon learning that Princess Jing Mountain was safely brought to Nanliang, was waiting for her in the palace.

Impatient as she waited, Princess Jing Mountain finally arrived.

Upon seeing Princess Jing Mountain, Princess Consort Mo frowned deeply.

Though she was Princess Jing Mountain’s cousin, she was only a few years older than Princess Jing Mountain, and even if Beimo Cheng King didn’t care much about a princess, Princess Consort Mo did recognize her.

How was this Princess Jing Mountain?

This was clearly the little palace maid beside Princess Jing Mountain!

Princess Consort Mo nearly fainted from anger, having sent people specifically to capture King Beimo’s most cherished daughter to be a hostage in Nanliang, only for them to return with a palace maid pretending to be her?!

The ones they sent, were they people or just a bunch of useless fools?!

Princess Consort Mo’s chest throbbed with anger.

She wanted to ask how the mistake happened, but the person who delivered her wasn’t the eunuch who knew how to solve her doubts.

And even if she asked, what could be done, now that word was out that Princess Jing Mountain came to visit her in Nanliang.

If it all ended with her just being a palace maid, it would be utterly laughable!

No matter how the error occurred, Princess Consort Mo could only go with the flow, taking the palace maid’s hand she affectionately said, "As a daughter of Beimo, it’s only right for your aunt to help Beimo. Why trouble yourself to travel such a long way just to thank me, your aunt?"

"Is everything well in Beimo?"

With palace maids and eunuchs all around, the palace maid curtsied dutifully, saying, "Thank you for your concern, aunt. Everything is well in Beimo."

Thinking of Beimo, Princess Consort Mo’s eyes teared up. Though now a favored concubine of Nanliang, Beimo was after all where she grew up from childhood, it was impossible not to miss it.

Even though Beimo Cheng King was now in Nanliang, she still had her mother’s concubine and her siblings there.

Holding the palace maid’s hand, they talked about matters of Beimo, then sent all the palace maids and eunuchs away.

Once alone, Princess Consort Mo’s expression changed, and she stormed off.

As Beimo Cheng King could not easily enter the palace, Princess Consort Mo wrote a letter for her trusted palace maid to deliver to the Crown Prince’s Separate Courtyard for Beimo Cheng King.

Only by reading the letter did Beimo Cheng King learn of the fact that the captured Princess Jing Mountain was an imposter.

The assassins hadn’t expected this turn of events, thinking the tide had turned, only for it to be reversed again?!

Kneeling on the ground, the assassins reported the entire incident of rescuing Princess Jing Mountain to Beimo Cheng King.

Beimo Cheng King was furious.

He thought of the fortune teller’s words, how his plans were easily thwarted at the last moment.

The scheme to seize Beimo was almost successful but ultimately failed.

The ploy to swindle Beimo’s money and grain was in hand but still ended in failure.

The mission to capture Princess Jing Mountain had her brought to Nanliang, yet she was rescued.

Success was within reach, yet it eluded him.

Such agony was even more excruciating than having never succeeded at all!

Hadn’t he been trying to change his fate, so why was this still happening?!

"Bring that Taoist to me!" Beimo Cheng King gritted his teeth and said.

The guards quickly went to fetch the person.

Beimo Cheng King looked at the letter in his hand, feeling a headache throb.

Nothing ever seemed free of trouble!

Now everyone knew about Princess Beimo’s visit to Nanliang, and even Princess Consort Mo decided to go along with it, what else could be done, this matter could only remain a secret for now.

The matter of Princess Beimo visiting Princess Consort Mo reached the ears of Emperor Nanliang, who was delighted and immediately ordered Princess Consort Mo to prepare a banquet to welcome Princess Jing Mountain.

Beimo also had planted people in Nanliang, and upon receiving news of Princess Jing Mountain’s presence in Nanliang, they immediately informed Beimo.

Six days later.

The guard of Young Master Shi rode swiftly to Beimo.

However, upon reaching Beimo, he couldn’t recognize the Eldest Prince of Beimo, let alone deliver the painting to him.

After a two-day delay, the guard became anxious.

The guard was also eager to return to the border. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Waiting indefinitely, who knew how long it would take, so the guard used the most direct approach and went straight to the front of the Beimo Palace, seeking an audience with the Eldest Prince of Beimo.

Under ordinary circumstances, the guards would not pass on a message from just anyone, as that would undermine the prestige of the Royal Family.

But the current situation was unusual, the most beloved princess of King Beimo was missing, her whereabouts unknown until now.

The visitor might have knowledge of the princess’s location.

The guard informed the visitor to wait while he sent someone to report to the Eldest Prince of Beimo.

The Eldest Prince of Beimo didn’t dare miss any chance to find Princess Jing Mountain’s whereabouts and had the visitor brought inside the palace.

Upon meeting the Eldest Prince of Beimo, the guard asked, "Are you indeed the Eldest Prince of Beimo?"

The Eldest Prince of Beimo frowned, "Could anyone actually dare impersonate me?"

The guard replied, "I dare not say otherwise, but I have been commissioned to ensure this delivery reaches the hands of the Eldest Prince of Beimo."

Commissioned by someone?

Could it really be from his Imperial Sister?

"Quick, give it to me," the Eldest Prince of Beimo urged.

Believing that no one would dare impersonate the Eldest Prince in front of the Beimo palace, the guard presented the painting he had carried all along to the Eldest Prince of Beimo.

The Eldest Prince of Beimo hurriedly opened the brocade box and saw it was a painting, his brows furrowed subtly.

Upon unfolding the painting, his brows furrowed even more.

Though the painting wasn’t particularly appealing, it was definitely not the work of his Imperial Sister.

He looked at the guard and asked, "Who instructed you to deliver this painting to me?"