Chapter 240 - 240: Change of plans

"Father is going to be so shocked when he finds out about you." Mingyu chuckled as she said, but she soon turned melancholic as she remembered the danger that her empire was facing and that it was near a war.

"Don't worry about your family. We'll definitely help them. Nothing bad will happen to them." Long Chen assured her as he noticed the worries on her face. He embraced her gently.

"Yeah." Mingyu nodded her head.

Zhiqing couldn't help but wonder about what they were talking about but she didn't ask. She could sense that the mood had suddenly gotten heavy. She wondered about what she could go to lighten the mood.

"Hey, does this mean that we're both his women now?" Zhiqing abruptly said as she looked towards Long Chen.

"So I don't have to hold back anymore, right? Brother Chen, Shall we continue where we left off last time?" Zhiqing said in a seductive tone as she stuck closer to Long Chen.

"You!!! Stop being so shameless!" Mingyu abruptly let out as she glared at  Zhiqing.

"Hey, you said that you won't do anything other than kiss him! Why are you preventing me from doing the rest of the stuff! There's nothing shameless about it! We'll eventually have to do it with him anyways! Better be first than last"  Zhiqing laughed lightly as she teased Mingyu.

"You!!! Mingyu looked like she was fuming in anger as she tried to find words to speak, but nothing was coming to her mind.

"Can you guys calm down for a moment. There's a long journey ahead of us. Let's talk about that first!" Long Chen interrupted them before their arguments turned serious.

"Zhiqing, can you give me the map?" Long Chen looked towards Zhiqing and said.

"Alright. Here it is," Zhiqing said as she brought out the map and gave it to Long Chen.

Long Chen opened the map and started looking at it carefully.

"We're 200 kilometers outside the boundary of Xuan Kingdom. We'll be right here." Zhiqing touched a certain spot on the map and said to Long Chen.

Mingyu also looked at the map.

"Our next destination will be the Qidia Kingdom. It's a 2nd rank kingdom, but it's under the 1st rank kingdom of Malta. We'll go through the first rank Kingdom of Malta to the 1st rank Kingdom of Sedia. There will be 2 more Kingdoms to pass through before we enter the parameters of the North Moon Empire."

"How long do you think the journey will take?" Long Chen asked as he gazed at Zhiqing.

"In short, our journey will take about 15 days if we travel without stopping, but that's impossible as we definitely would have to stop at night. So realistically, our journey should take around 25 days." Zhiqing continued as she gave an approximate timeline.

"We won't go to the Qidia Kingdom." Long Chen abruptly said he shook his head.

"What do you mean by that? Going through Qidia is the best possible path for us. It'll be the fastest way for us." Zhiqing said with a confused look on her face. She couldn't understand what Long Chen was thinking.

"You're right. But we won't go there. We'll go through here?" Long Chen said with a smile as he placed his finger on the map.

"That? Why Weixin? Although we can take this other road and go towards the kingdom of Weixin, the journey will become longer if we go through the Kingdom of Weixin. There is nothing beneficial from that." Zhiqing said with a perplexed look on her face.

Even Mingyu had a doubtful look on her face.

"Is there something special in the Kingdom of Weixin that you need?" Mingyu said as she thought of a possible explanation behind Long Chen's strange decision.

"Yeah. There is something really useful for us there. Going through Weixin is really important for us and beneficial. You'll see." Long Chen said as a smile appeared on his face.

"Alright. We will go through to the Weixin Kingdom If you want that. Even in the worst-case scenario, it will only increase our journey by 2 days. Let me inform the driver." Zhiqing let out with a smile as she folded the map and kept it back.

She opened the door of the carriage and called out for the driver. The carriage stopped and the driver came towards Zhiqing. 

She told him about the change in the plans and that they needed to go towards the Weixin Kingdom now. She highlighted the path that was needed to be followed by the carriage driver.

"Do you understand everything now?" Zhiqing asked the carriage driver after she finished telling him.

*Yes mistress!" The carriage driver nodded his head as he said with a confidant look on his face.

"Good. Get going." She let out as she entered the carriage.

The driver walked back to his seat and the carriage began moving again. The destination was still the same, but the stopgaps have changed.

The carriage continued moving through the day and it was finally starting to get dark.

The carriage driver decided to stop the carriage when it got too dark to move.

He began preparation to set up the tents for the princess and the others.

The carriage driver walked towards the carriage after he was finished with setting up the camp. He knocked on the door of the carriage and informed Zhiqing that everything was ready.

"Alright. Good work." Zhiqing nodded her head in praise as she got out of the carriage. Mingyu came out as well, whereas Long Chen was already out long ago.

Long Chen looked around the forest as he breathed in the fresh air. He was getting tired after sitting around in the carriage for a long time.

"Are you going to cook for us? I would love to eat the food made by a Princess." Long Chen looked towards Princess Zhiqing as he asked her with a grin on his face.

"Hey, I never said I would cook food personally. I only said that I will take care of the food. Ron here would handle the food. I especially chose him to accompany us. He is actually my father's personal carriage driver. He can cook food better than the chefs of the hotels and as you have already seen... he set up the camp as well."Zhiqing praised the driver with a bright smile on her face.

"He is one of the most talented carriage drivers in our Kingdom. His battle strength isn't weak either." She continued.