Chapter 1318 Wait And See
Ling Ziyue sneered, "From Deer City to here, we have been in the State of Xia for more than a few
months. We have walked through countless cities and viges in the State of Xia all the way. There
was no problem before. Why do they suddenly feel ufortable of the journey this time?"
"It''s just the emperor of the State of Xia or the Empress who tries to threaten us. Basically, they want to
make it clear to us that this is their territory and we have to be obedient. Otherwise, they have a lot of
ways to control us."
Another man smashed the table and made a huge "bang" sound. He widened his eyes and shouted
defiantly, "Damn, how could we just be sitting ducks and let them set us up like this?"
"Of course not." Ling Ziyue pursed his lips and said, "but we can pretend to be trapped. Let''s just y
along and pretend that we are intimidated andy low for a period of time. And then we shall see who
He paused for a while and then confidently chuckled, "it all depends who is more maniptive."
Their little conversation in the tavern was clearly heard by Yun Shang. She was ying with the sand
tray by herself. Hearing hisst words, she curled up her lips silently and whispered, "That''s right. It all
depends who is more maniptive."
She looked carefully at her sand tray and the pawns in it as if she was in deep thoughts. Then she
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pushed one of the pawns a few steps towards the gate of the city on the sand tray and said quietly,
"There is a saying in the Art of War: right timing, ce and men are the three essential elements of
winning a battle. Losing one of them may lead to defeats. Judging by what they have now, the winning
chance is quite slim. First of all, they don''t have a good ce and don''t even have the right timing. At
their best, they might have the right men for the battle."
She tilted her head and smiled, "but sadly, there are only a few of them. And even if they have the best
men for the job, I will find a way to destroy them."
Hearing Yun Shang''s words, Qian Zhuo quickly added, "I''ve found out the details of the envoys from
the State of Youyue and the State of Yihai. The ones from the State of Youyue is Ling Ziyue and his
general minister Gong Yu. The escorting females are Lady Gong Sijia and the eighth princess Ling
Lanyu."
She continued, "As for the envoys of the the State of Yihai, they are prince Qian Yifan, Vice Minister
Shan Xian. The escorting females are the forth princess Qian Hutong and Lady Qian Jinyu."
Then Qian Zhuo took out a pamphlet and said, "Take a look at this. We have written down everything
we know about the temperament and preferences of these envoys and thedies. But we really don''t
know much about the two states. To be honest, we haven''t dealt much with the State of Youyue or the
State of Yihai. What we know is only what they show after theye to the State of Xia. I don''t know if
things are really what they seem to be."
Yun Shang nodded, "it doesn''t matter whether it''s true or not. Be it true or not, we can still make good
use of it if we are smart enough."
She took over the pamphlet and looked through it for a while. Then she closed the pamphlet carelessly
and chuckled, "So, among the envoys sent by the two states, the most honorable one is called Ling
Ziyue, but the mostposed one is the Vice Minister of the State of Yihai, by the name Shan Xian?"
"Yes, that''s exactly what we get from our informants."
Yun Shang lowered her eyelids and thought for a while. Then she put pamphlet away and asked,"Do
they usually move around together?"
"They move around together most of the time, however, since theye from two different states, we
can often see them act separately."
"That''s good." Yun Shang nodded, "I had made up my mind that I wouldn''t go out of the pce before
the Wanshou Festival party. But now, it''s time for me to go out."
"Out of the pce?" Qian Zhuo was slightly surprised by her directive. She blinked her eyes and
asked, "Your Highness, are you leaving the pce to attend the affairs of these envoys?"
"Yes."
"What do you n to do, Your Highness?" Qian Zhuo''s face was full of curiosity.
Yun Shang lowered her eyes and chuckled, "Well, it''s a secret for the time being. You''ll know soon."
Then she straightened her face and quickly said, "Send someone to help me do some investigation
first." As she took another look at the names in the pamphlet, Yun Shang added, "Especially this Vice
Minister Shan Xian, pay attention to where he frequently visits. Or, when he is about to go somewhere,
Qian Zhuo was even more curious, she opened her mouth and wanted to ask more question but Yun
Shang simply turned her head away to hide her grin. Seeing her empress wanted to keep her in
suspense, Qian Zhuo had no choice but to pout, "Your Highness is so tricky."
Her little protest didn''t make Yun Shang reveal her n. She simply curled up her lips and didn''t say
anything about what she was going to do.
On the second day, news came from outside the pce that Shan Xian had booked a private room in
one of the renowned theatres and would go thereter this afternoon for a show.
As soon as Yun Shang got the news, she began to make arrangement.
"Recently, we are quite short-handed on the secret guards. Outside the pce, things are getting more
and more lively because of theing of the Wanshou Festival. The more lively the atmosphere is, the
more dangerous it will be for me. I can''t just go out of the pce without permission through the front
gate. I will be like a live target, attracting all the unnecessary attentions."
Qian Zhuo nodded and blinked, "what are you going to do then, Your Highness?"
Yun Shang thought for a while and replied, "send someone to bring Chengye here. Meanwhile, Pei Lan
shall disguise herself as me in the pce and y with Chengye. I, on the other hand, will secretly
leave the pce with my secret guards."
Qian Zhuo tilted her head, eagerly waiting to hear more about the details. Upon hearing Yun Shang''s
words, she widened her eyes and earnestly asked, "Your Highness, don''t you take me with you this
time?"
Yup Shang gave her a soothing smile and said, "you are my personal maid and many people are
watching your every move. It''s understandable if Pei Lan doesn''t show up for half a day. You can
always say that she is waiting on me inside my pce. However, if you also disappear out of no
reason, others will definitely start gossiping and spread rumours.
Thest thing I want is that someone happens to figure out my n," said Yun Shang quietly but firmly.
Hearing these words, Qian Zhuo furrowed her eyebrows gloomily. Despite her eagerness to go out of
the pce, she had to admit that what Yun Shang just said was highly likely to happen.
Taking these into consideration, she had to agree with her aggrievedly.
Soon enough, Yun Shang made the arrangements and left the pce. She and her secret guards went
straight to the theatre.
When Yun Shang arrived at the site, it was still quite early.
There was still a couple of hours left before Shan Xian would arrive. Yun Shang was in no hurry at all.
Like an ordinary spectator, she chose afortable seat in the private room, ordered a pot of tea and
two tes of dessert, and with great interest, she enjoyed listening to the y on the stage.
It was almost at the end of the y when the secret guard beside Yun Shang suddenly yelped in a low
voice, "Look!"
"What''s the matter?" Hearing her secret guard''s voice, Yun Shang knew that something unexpected
had happened.
Sure enough, she soon heard him saying, "Isn''t that the minister from the State of Youyue, Gong Yu?
Why is he here?"
Yun Shang raised her eyebrow. She slightly leaned over and saw a young maning in from the
theatre gate.
Before she could figure out what was going on, the young man went upstairs like a puff of wind.
"Interesting. Is it possible that Shan Xian has made an appointment with Gong Yu today?"
Yun Shang tapped on the table with her long slim finger and said, "Although their appointment is a little
out of my expectation, it''s not a bad thing for me."
Since things had changed, her n would naturally change as well.
While Yun Shang was thinking about her next move, she heard the secret guard saying, "Your
Highness, Shan Xian is here."
She turned her head to the gate and saw a young man in his twentiesing in with two servants.
"He looks young."
The secret guard nodded and exined, "The envoys from both the State of Youyue and the State of
Yihai are quite young in age. The eldest one would be Ling Ziyue and even he is only twenty-eight
years old."
Yun Shang nodded. After a short pause, she quickly stood up and ordered, "Let''s go."
She went out of the private room and gracefully went downstairs. In the hall, she met with Shan Xian
face to face.