Chapter 118
Princess Ying Chuan boarded her coach and left the mansion. As she was only the princess of Lu Kingdom, there was no way she could compare to Taba Ao, who was a monarch of a great kingdom. Her coach was rather simple and low-key; it was just an ordinary double-wheeled coach made from wood with clear varnish. Four guards were seen following beside it. Inside the coach, besides Princess Ying Chuan herself were only two other serving ladies. In Ji City, a coach like this was considered fairly shabby, and not eye-catching.
After it left the mansion, the coach took a few turns in Inner District Two of Ji City, traveled through a few main streets and alleys, then went past the city gate and came to Inner District Three, where it again took another few turns. And finally, it went straight to Inner District One from a city gate located on the East.
Along the way, Wu Qi had changed into a few different set of clothes. While following closely behind the coach, he couldn't help but shake his head. Compared to Taba Ao, it seemed Princess Ying Chuan was rather inexperienced. In order to shake off any possible trailing spies, she purposely took many detours in the city, and tried her best in taking those remote streets and alleys which were rarely traveled by anybody. However, when a shabby coach like hers was seen traveling alone aimlessly within the inner city, it actually attracted more attention than it should.
As the coach was traveling aimlessly within the inner city, there was nothing unusual that was worth Wu Qi's suspicions. However, Wu Qi was shocked when he saw Princess Ying Chuan's coach going straight into Inner District One, the city area adjoining the Imperial City. After all, the residents in Inner District One were the core members of Imperial Clan of Great Yan Dynasty, such as the Eight Princes, or those members of Imperial Clan who were more senior than them. By coming straight into Inner District One, could Princess Ying Chuan have some kind of a secret relationship with core members of Imperial Clan?
The coach went westward and pressed on the journey along the Green Swallow Street in Inner District One for a few miles. Then, it turned in an alleyway on the side of the main street - the Green Cloud Alleyway, where it finally halted.
It was an incredibly difficult task to tail after Princess Ying Chuan in Inner District One. Not only was the street filled with patrolling city guards, but there were also more than a couple of Sky Patrolling Eagle Guards wheeling overhead, casting a watchful eye on the ground at all times. In addition to that, numerous private guards of Imperial Clans were coming in and out from different mansions. Whenever there was a stranger found on the street, he would immediately be questioned by these private guards. In the end, left with no other choice, Wu Qi was forced to use the escape art of Earth element, hiding underground while continuing following behind Princess Ying Chuan's coach.
He noticed there was a small token of a shield on the coach of Princess Ying Chuan. All the city guards along the way had also seen it, and that was why they didn't bar the coach from traveling further. If not because of that token, how could she come into Inner District One with a shabby coach like this?
The coach halted before the side door of a great mansion. The distance between this side door and the main entrance was almost one and a half miles. The mansion covered an enormous piece of land, much larger than the mansion of Yu Xuan. While remaining hidden underground, Wu Qi sent out his divine sense and surveyed the plaque hung on top of the side door. It was a small plaque of nearly one foot in length, with three calligraphies engraved on it: 'Mansion of Prince Ren'. (仁王府)
The Prince of Ren, Yan Xianchen, one of the Eight Princes of Great Yan Dynasty. Like Yan Heluo, he was also one of the lineage great-grandsons of Yan Dan. However, Yan Xianchen was much older than Yan Heluo, and among all Eight Princes of Great Yan Dynasty, he was the one with the most senior record of service, as he had been holding the position of Prince of Ren for five hundred years. He had also attained the cultivation of Gold Core realm. He was the Prince who had the highest prestige among all Eight Princes.
Among all the men who held the true power in Great Yan Dynasty, although in terms of seniority Yu Xuan was in the rank of the grandson of Yan Dan, when it came to their age, this Prince of Ren, Yan Xianchen, was the oldest among all of them. He had been building up his career in Great Yan Dynasty for over few hundred years. Except for the Crown Prince Yan Qijun, and the Emperor Yan Dan, who could suppress his power, he was the most powerful man in the Imperial Court. All the other Princes who governed the affairs of the state had to work hand in hand only to stand equal to Yan Xianchen.
Evidently, among all Three Prime Counselors and Nine Ministers of Great Yan Dynasty, except the Central-Prime-Counselors, Gao Jianli, who had been following Yan Dan since the establishment of the dynasty, the other two Left and Right Prime Counselor, together with Minister of Criminal and Justice, Minister of War, and a few other important ministers, were all students of Yan Xianchen. Throughout the history of a few hundred years their interests had been tangled into a messy state. Thus, the power that Prince of Ren held currently was beyond the imagination of any ordinary person; it was simply enormous.
In a trance, Wu Qi had his divine sense scanning over and over on the three golden calligraphies engraved on the plaque. He did not read it wrong, this place was the indeed mansion of Prince of Ren. Could Princess Ying Chuan really have a relationship with Yan Xianchen? Or perhaps, she was just having a contact with someone else residing in the mansion? Wu Qi had no idea what Qin Qingshui told Princess Ying Chuan, but he knew Qin Qingshui was asking her to go look for Yu Xuan the Duke of Yanxing. But surprisingly, she actually came straight to Yan Xianchen, the Prince of Ren. This had given Wu Qi quite a fright.
Since she was looking for Yan Xianchen, then why was she taking such a detour just now? Was she trying to play trick with somebody?
The curtain on the door stirred, as Princess Ying Chuan came through the door and out from the coach. She held her head high up, and with both arms carried by two serving ladies, she walked straight towards the side door of Prince Ren's Mansion. In front of the door stood an Imperial Eunuch, clad in a bright red robe, waiting for her arrival together with a few little eunuchs who looked younger than ten years old. When the Imperial Eunuch, who appeared to hold an important position in Prince Ren's Mansion, saw the arrival of Princess Ying Chuan, a bright smile immediately bloomed on his face as he hastily bowed and bid his greeting to the guest.
"Were there any activities just now?" asked Princess Ying Chuan with an indifferent voice, as she had her head still held high up.
"We did find a few fools who tried to follow Princess, but they have been thrown into the city moat by now." said the Imperial Eunuch hurriedly. "Five of them were secret agents of Xian Kingdom, and seven were from Scouting Office. Nevertheless, all of them are now lying with their mouth shut in the depth of the river, and will never cause any trouble to you. Rest assured, my Princess, except for those who were supposed to know of your arrival, no one will never know that you've come here."
Princess Ying Chuan nodded her head. Then, she stretched her finger out and gently scratched on the eunuch's chin while giggling, before going past the side door.
Wu Qi was about to follow Princess Ying Chuan and enter Prince Ren's Mansion. But to his surprise, he saw that Imperial Eunuch, who was supposed to have his little brother castrated and not have any feelings towards woman, was gulping down a lump in his throat and casting a lustful look over at Princess Ying Chuan's twisting and swaying butt while wearing a strange smile on his face and following behind. What kind of eunuch was this? Obviously, he was a burly man beaming with lustful desire!
"Weird, this is really weird!" Wu Qi muttered to himself, then hastily entered Prince Ren's Mansion from underground.
Yan Xianchen, the Prince of Ren, had proven himself to be the most senior Prince who governed the state affairs of Great Yan Dynasty. His mansion was heavily guarded from inside out. From the ground up to the air were all protected with layers upon layers of defensive arrays. While Wu Qi was traveling underground at a distance nearly one hundred feet below the mansion, he discovered that the entire mansion was tightly protected with three layers of Arrays of Nine Halls, even under the ground. Furthermore, it was obvious that there were Masters of Arrays controlling these arrays, as waves of powerful energy kept circulating and flowing underground, watching for any possible activities at all times.
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