Her guards

Chapter 112 Is the Night Peaceful?
As night deepened, the lights in the princess's palace were extinguished one by one.

Princess Heisei sat on the edge of the bed, watching the palace maids turn off the lights. When she got close to the bedside, she suddenly spoke.

"There's no need to turn it off here."

The palace maids exchanged glances. The princess always insisted on having no light in her bedchamber for a good night's sleep; what was going on today…?

Princess Heisei picked up the book from the bedside table.

"I'll read for a while before I go to sleep."

"I see," the palace maids said, understanding dawning on them.

"Princess, although the exam is approaching, you can't stay up late," a palace maid gently advised.

Princess Heisei nodded: "I know, you may leave."

The princess was always decisive, so the palace maids said no more, bowed, lowered the curtain, and left.

Princess Heisei raised her hand and gently rubbed it against her right cheek. When she withdrew her hand, she saw bright red bloodstains. She shuddered and opened her eyes. All she could see was the top of the tent, and her vision was blurry.

Did I fall asleep without realizing it?
Princess Heisei took a deep breath and slowly raised her hand to touch her right cheek. It was delicate, smooth, and clean, without blood or wounds.

She didn't get up to turn off the light; instead, she pressed her hand to her face, turned to the side, and gently exhaled.

It's so scary.

How could such a terrible thing exist in the world?

……

.......
The night was deep, and the fire in the stove in the small courtyard flickered.

Mo Zheng examined her unwrapped hand by the firelight.

“It will leave a scar,” Peach Blossom said, looking at Mo Zheng, then interrupted, “Anyway, I have plenty of scars on my body.”

Mo Zheng burst into laughter as soon as she opened her mouth: "Sister Peach Blossom is right."

Peach Blossom gave her a reproachful look, took her hand, and sprinkled the medicine powder on her: "If you can avoid leaving any, then leave it. Use the medicine powder for a few more days."

Mo Zheng let her apply the dressing to her wound and asked Zhang Shengyou, "Has everyone arrived?"

Zhang Shengyou nodded with a smile: "We've all arrived, now we're just waiting for your arrangements, young master."

Mo Zheng followed Zhang Shengyou out of the alley and arrived at an inn located at the west gate of the city.

It has large warehouses and livestock sheds, specially prepared for merchants traveling long distances.

Night had fallen, but those who had traveled long distances and those preparing for distant journeys had not yet rested. The inn was brightly lit, with people moving about from time to time, and the kitchen continued to work busily, delivering the late-night snacks ordered by the guests one by one.

"Son!"

Upon seeing the boy carrying a food box and dressed as a shop assistant walk in, the three men who were either sitting or lying on the communal bed immediately stood up.

"Uncle Hong." Mo Zheng greeted him with a smile, handing the food box to a tall, thin man. "Aqi, set out the food and drinks."

The man called Archie placed the meat and wine from the food box on the long table, and everyone sat down around it.

Hong Lin, dressed as a traveling merchant, looked at the young man before him and sighed, "Young master, you've lost weight again."

Mo Zheng quickly gestured to show her height: "It's because I've grown taller." Then she looked expectantly at another man with a red and black face and a scar on his face, "Uncle Hei, you have a good eye, I have grown taller, haven't I?"

The man called Uncle Black smiled, his face scarred and menacing, but his eyes were full of kindness: "Young master is still young, there's no rush for him to grow taller."

Mo Zheng rolled her eyes, sat down, tossed the wine pot aside, poured herself a bowl of wine, and then looked at the three of them: "How were the people arranged?"

Archie immediately stopped laughing and his expression turned serious.

"The fifteen men I led were escorting goods and stayed at the Shunjie Escort Agency outside the city."

"Ten others went into the city and worked in restaurants, teahouses, and general stores."

"The children were placed among beggars."

"Five women were arranged to act as matchmakers, going from street to street."

"In the next few days, I will take over a restaurant in the city and a carriage and horse shop outside the city."

As he introduced himself, Hong Lin spread a map on the table, marking the locations of the personnel.

"As per your request, young master, we have deployed personnel and informants at the four corner gates, the four main city roads, the Duke of Ding'an's residence, the Marquis of Yichun's residence, the Earl of Yongwu's residence, and near the imperial city," he said.

Mo Zheng nodded and pointed to another location: "Add the residence of the Grand Master of the Palace, Lady Li."

I hadn't paid any attention to this Consort Li before.

In this school incident, Consort Li was gentle and kind, and even sacrificed herself to take a blow for "Yang Luo".

However, this does not necessarily mean that she had good intentions towards "Yang Luo".

Now that we've seen this person, we should keep a close eye on them.

Hong Lin responded with a "yes" and put the blueprints away. "Ji Ying has also been brought back and is kept outside the city," he said. "Would the young master like to see him?"

Mo Zheng shook her head: "It's useless to see him now. We'll talk about it when the person behind him takes the initiative to use him." After saying that, she instructed, "Have everyone recognize Miss Yang Luo's appearance, as well as Liu Chan's father and senior brother."

Mo Zheng felt somewhat apologetic at this point.

Yang Luo felt guilty and asked her to take the danger in her place.

But Yang Luo also has to bear the dangers she brings.

Moreover, she kept it a secret from her.

“The person behind this suffered a great loss last time and will definitely not let it go. Although I have the identity of Miss Yang as a cover, I cannot guarantee that everything will be foolproof.” Mo Zheng looked at Hong Lin. “They will definitely come again.”

Hong Lin clenched his fist: "Don't worry, young master, we were just afraid they wouldn't come!"

This time, it wasn't just the young master and Zhang Sheng dealing with it alone.

Mo Zheng stood up and walked to the window, looking at the still bustling inn at midnight.

“Uncle Hong, this is much more lively than the mountains and forests,” she said softly. “Since everyone is here, let’s take this opportunity to enjoy the hustle and bustle of the world.”

Although Old Eunuch Zhang said he wanted to live a good life, living in seclusion deep in the mountains and forests was the norm for them, and when they occasionally went to towns, they only passed through briefly.

So even though the world has been at peace for more than ten years, they still cannot enjoy the pleasures of everyday life.

I hope to enjoy this bustling world more in the future.

……

.......
But enjoying the hustle and bustle of the world doesn't mean you can sleep whenever you want.

"A-Luo, A-Luo".

Liu Chan was slightly nervous and gently nudged the person next to her.

Mo Zheng turned her neck and lifted it up, the book covering her face slipped off, and she saw Princess Heisei standing next to her, as well as the ladies around her with complicated expressions.

The morning classes have ended, and the instructors have allowed them to browse freely in the library, a time slot reserved exclusively for the young ladies.

The girls who accompanied the students were very happy.

The imperial library was where the emperor stored the national treasury of the previous dynasty and the rare and precious books collected from all over the world.

Some ancient books can be copied and passed down as family heirlooms.

The young ladies were so happy they couldn't take it all in, and the princess was no exception. They were all excitedly choosing books and discussing them when they passed by a corner of the bookshelf and saw someone sleeping with their face covered.

How could anyone sleep in such a precious place as the library! It would be so embarrassing if the Grand Master found out!
The young ladies were about to reprimand her, but when they recognized her as "Yang Luo," they stopped themselves from speaking and looked at Princess Heisei.

Yang Luo is now a meritorious official of the princess.

"Miss Yang, are you alright?" Princess Heisei asked softly.

"Thank you, Princess," Mo Zheng said apologetically. "I didn't sleep well last night; I kept having nightmares."

Actually, it was because I talked too late last night after meeting Hong Lin and the others, and I barely slept at all.

I managed to stay awake during class, and when I came to the library, I planned to take a short nap while reading, but I didn't expect to be discovered so quickly.

Fortunately, she had a perfectly reasonable excuse.

Sure enough, upon hearing her say that, the ladies around her felt relieved. They hadn't been able to sleep well at night even though they weren't injured, and this Miss Yang still had bandages wrapped around her hand, so it was normal for her not to sleep well.

So she was scared too, Princess Heisei thought to herself. For some reason, she felt a surge of joy, and her expression became even more concerned: "I see..."

This guy can say whatever he wants because he's done something right. Yang Hui, who was standing to the side, was both jealous and angry, and couldn't help but speak up.

"You're tired, you should go back to school first."

This time, however, she was smarter and feigned concern.

"No matter what, you can't sleep in the library; that's disrespectful to the sage."

Princess Heicheng hesitated for a moment. Yang Luo had made a contribution and had already been rewarded. If she continued to let her sleep in the library, it would not be good if word got out. It would be better to let her go home and rest early.

She had just opened her mouth when a shout came from above.

"What's all the noise about! Can't a person get any sleep?!"

The man's voice was shrill, as if his fingernails were tearing through her eardrums. The ladies present instinctively covered their ears and looked up. A fair and beautiful face came into view, and the pain on their faces vanished instantly.

"Ah Jiao!"

"Wei Jiao!"

At the same time, the voices of Princess Wuyang and Princess Nangong, who had been watching the commotion from the sidelines, also rang out.

When did you get back?

(End of this chapter)