Chapter 1062

Familiar Stranger

In Wen Xuan Palace, the rooms which the Masters slept had floor heating, so without burning charcoal at night, it was very warm. Logically, regardless of how Xuan Tiange slept, it was impossible for her to feel chilly. But she had this feeling tonight, so she tossed and turned a few times and had no choice but to sit up from her mattress in the end, calling for the maid who was standing watch overnight, “Huan-er, can you check if the floor heating is no longer warm, why is it this cold?”

There was a maid on duty overnight at the side of the Princess’ bed, the maid would curl up there in a blanket and would immediately react once their Master called for them. But strangely, Xuan Tiange called out a few times, and waited for a while, yet she did not hear the maid replying, nor see any movement.

“Huan-er, why are you sleeping so deeply?” She frowned and pulled open the curtains to take a look, only seeing that girl sleeping soundly, and there was even a slight snoring sound, she was sleeping even more deeply than her Master. She reached out and pushed a few times, even calling out: “Huan-er, wake up, Huan-er!” However, that maid did not react at all, still sleeping deeply.

Xuan Tiange suddenly felt that something was not right, this Huan-er was her personal maid and followed her for many years, always carrying out her tasks in the most stable way, how could she suddenly sleep even more deeply than her when on overnight duty? This was something which never happened before. Was Huan-er sick? Or did something bad happen?

Just as she was thinking, a laugh was suddenly heard within the house. She got a huge shock, and looked up. In the night, there was surprisingly a man in expensive robes standing in the middle of her bedroom, he looked to be in his twenties, his attire of light yellow winter robes giving him the strong aura of a noble. His five features were distinct and he was something which a very good looking appearance. She felt this person was a little familiar, but in this situation, she had gotten a fright, how could she still afford to analyse where she had seen him before?

Xuan Tiange backed up cautiously and grabbed the long gown next to her mattress to cover herself. That was when she surveyed her surroundings and discovered that other than this man, no one else had appeared. It looked like he was alone, but she did not know if there were any accomplices hiding in the shadows. She asked warily: “Who are you? Why did you barge into This Princess’ bedroom in the middle of the night?”

She did not know if she should scream, if she screamed, she was afraid that before anyone could come to help her, the other party would kill her. After all, he could enter her room under the eyes of the hidden guards outside her house and successfully made her maid lose consciousness, this person’s skills must be good. In addition, an unmarried princess having a man barge into her bedroom in the middle of the night, these words were easy to say but did not sound good, there was no guarantee what it would end up being if this was spread. But was it good for her not to scream? Could she deal with this person?

Xuan Tiange felt very conflicted and afraid at the same time. That man did not look like he had bad intentions, but his eyes seemed to hold a hidden danger, they were as sharp as a poisonous snake, piercing straight into her heart.

She took a deep breath and asked again: “Speak, since you came, you should let This Princess know who you are.”

After she said this, that person finally opened his mouth, his voice was nice to listen to, a little willowy, but not feminine. He said, “I came to see if Da Shun’s princess has been living well, and if you still remember this old friend.”

Old friend? Xuan Tiange was stunned, then looked at him closely, yet felt he was more familiar the more she stared. It was just that this person did not look like the Han people of Da Shun, but resembled the Gu Shu people in the desert. Once she thought of Gu Shu, her eyes lit up, blurting out, “It’s you?”

She did know this person, but they could not be considered friends. Xuan Tiange remembered, when she first went to Da Mo to participate in Feng Yuheng’s and Xuan Xianming’s marriage, she entered the borders of Da Mo a few days early and saved someone who was heavily injured in the streets one afternoon. To be specific, it was not considered saving, that person collapsed next to the road while covered in blood and only asked her to look for a physician and leave some silver for him. Xuan Tiange was thinking that Feng Yuheng and Xuan Tianming were going to get married, and it was best not to have someone like that appear on the streets, so she left him 20 sliver taels and went to the medical clinic to ask a physician to handle it. They met briefly and in a hurry, but she had a deep impression of that injured person, because though that person was in poor shape, his clothes looked to be of good quality and he appeared to be rich. In addition, the classic appearance of a Gu Shu person caused her to look at him a few more times. At that time, she did suspect his identity, but in the end, the less trouble the better. She had just arrived and was going to leave in a few days, there was no need for her to bother with such small things.

But unexpectedly, a few months later, this person actually came to Da Shun’s capital and even snuck into her bedroom in the middle of the night. She was a little angry, but since they did know each other, the fear decreased by a lot, she asked the other party: “Why did you come to Da Shun? Who exactly are you?” After saying that, she could not help but examine him from head to toe, and asked randomly: “Your injuries, they’re all fully recovered? They were really bad that time.”

That person smiled, the edges of his lips curling up in a smirk, bearing some resemblance to when Xuan Tiange was being sly. He said: “Because of Princess Wuyang’s assistance, the injuries have recovered. The reason for coming to Da Shun is mainly to meet my saviour, are you living happily in Da Shun?”

“This Princess is obviously happy!” Xuan Tiange rolled her eyes, “This is my home, I am Da Shun’s princess, who dares to make me unhappy? Your worries are a bit unnecessary? In addition, our relationship is not that close, your reason are too fake, it doesn’t hold water.” She shook her head, denying the words that the person had come to see her, while thinking of the matter in the palace. Earlier she said that no one dared to make her unhappy, but in reality, was she not unhappy the past few months!

Seeing Xuan Tiange’s face fall, this state entered that man’s eyes and some feelings of worry surfaced. He asked Xuan Tiange: “But someone is bullying you?”

“Does it have anything to do with you?” Xuan Tiange’s face darkened and she scolded the other party: “Do you know the crime for barging into a princess’ bedroom at night is? Just leave quickly, are you waiting for This Princess to summon people to apprehend you?”

She thought that she had spoken very sternly. Although she was very curious about that person’s identity and purpose, she still felt it was better to chase the person away first, this happening in the middle of the night was panic-inducing. But after she said this, what she got was a mocking laugh from the other party, he said: “You have a total of four hidden guards outside your bedroom, two servants on overnight duty in the yard and this sleeping maid in the house, adding the personal army and guards in Wen Xuan Palace, there are so many people, yet these people were unable to stop me, do you think, you can still call anyone to apprehend me?”

Xuan Tiange breathed in sharply, and the sense of danger she had initially came once again, and she felt even colder. She shrunk back on reflex and hugged her blanket. She knew that this offered no means of protection, but she wanted to obtain some feeling of safety.

That person just stood there without moving, his gazed fixed on her, until he saw a growing sense of fear in Xuan Tiange’s eyes, he started to regret a little. What was he doing? Scaring her? That was not his original intention. Therefore, the sinister aura in his eyes were pulled back slightly and his whole aura changed, his expression softening so that he did not look that frightening. He had actually worn a black cape over his pale yellow long robe, though it was April in Da Shun, to him, the temperature at night was still too cold, so he had to wear more layers. The hood of that cape covered his head and only his face was shown, making him look mysterious and frightening. At this moment, he pulled off the hood of the cape and when he looked at Xuan Tiange again, he bore more resemblance to when Xuan Tiange saved him in Da Mo.

“I didn’t mean to scare you.” He spoke first and his tone had normalised greatly, “I do have something to do in Da Shun’s capital, but wanting to see you was true as well. Since you saved my life before, people in Gu Shu place great importance to a life saving debt.” He did not hide his origins, after all, the two of them first met in Da Mo. In addition, with his appearance, he was clearly a foreigner, and could not hide it even if he wanted to.

With the change of his aura, Xuan Tiange’s emotions gradually calmed down, she wanted to say that he could leave since he had already seen her, but what she blurted out was a question of curiosity: “What did you come to Da Shun to do?” Thinking again, she remembered the Gu Shu’s new ruler wanting to visit and guessed: “You are someone under Gu Shu’s new ruler? Did you come with him?” After saying that, she shook her head, “No, that’s not right, he should still be on the way and will not reach so quickly, then you should be the advanced troop, entering the capital first for scouting. Yeah, this is normal as well, since their new ruler is visiting, and Da Shun and Gu Shu are not considered friendly, sending someone in advance to take a look is reasonable.”

That person listened to her deduction and thought it was interesting, crossing his arms and listening, and until Xian Tiange finished analysing, she added on: “But the new ruler choosing this time to come to Da Shun, we don’t know if he is a friend or foe. Right now, the Eighth Prince is in power in Da Shun, that previous top General is Gu Shu has a very good relationship with the Eighth Prince. Thinking about it, there should still be many members of that top General’s faction in Gu Shu, and that new ruler might be supporting Old Eighth in secret. So, all of you choosing this time to come to Da Shun, you are planning to give Old Eighth a hand, right?”

That person shook his head quickly, telling her: “No, it’s nothing like that, the new ruler does not know your Eighth Prince at all and does not harbour any good feelings towards him. On the contrary, if not for the meddling of the Eighth Prince, Gu Shu would not have lost a few important city oases? Therefore, the new ruler hates him a lot, why would he give the Eighth Prince any help, Princess is overthinking things.”

“Really?” Xuan Tiange’s eyes flashed and she got excited. Without caring about being afraid before, she leaned forward, asking anxiously: “You mean what you said? Gu Shu is really holding a grudge towards Old Eighth?”

That person nodded, “It is true.” He wanted to say more, but his ears suddenly pricked up and he positioned his index finger next to his lips to gesture for silence, then spoke to Xuan Tiange in a low volume: “Someone is coming over here, I will leave first. If our fates are linked, we will naturally meet again.” After saying this, his figure flashed and in a blink of an eye, he disappeared from where he stood.

Before Xuan Tiange could come to her senses, the person outside had reached outside her door, it was the voice of a maid: “Princess, were you speaking? Do you need anything?”