Chapter 193: Meeting the Emperor

Prince Yuliu spoke with implication, "My royal sister has disappeared."

Princess Yi'an was stunned. "What do you mean by 'disappeared'?"

Prince Yuliu spread his hands. "She went out early this morning and hasn't returned. I went out to look for her, but I couldn't find her."

Under the scrutiny of Prince Yuliu's enigmatic gaze, Princess Yi'an felt a secret surge of irritation.

Could he possibly suspect that her involvement had something to do with Princess Lingque's disappearance?

How ridiculous!

"In that case, I shall come to visit another day. I won't delay your search for her."

Seeing Princess Yi'an preparing to leave, Prince Yuliu took a step forward. "Has the Princess seen my sister?"

Princess Yi'an's face instantly darkened. "What is the meaning of this, Prince?"

Prince Yuliu smiled faintly. "Do not overthink it, Princess. I am merely asking. I am truly worried since I cannot find my sister."

"Then you should hurry and find her. I have been out of the palace for too long; the Empress Dowager will worry." Having said her piece, Princess Yi'an walked briskly toward the palanquin parked not far away.

Prince Yuliu watched Princess Yi'an's figure disappear behind the curtain of the palanquin, then coldly commanded his attendant, "Continue searching for the Princess."

The attendant took his orders and left, hurrying to find the Minister of the Honglu Temple.

"Lord Ouyang! Lord Ouyang! Something has happened!"

The Minister of the Honglu Temple was a rotund old man in his fifties with a compound surname, Ouyang. Upon hearing Prince Yuliu's continuous shouting, he felt a headache coming on.

What had happened now?

Ever since these people from Yuliu arrived, he hadn't had a good night's sleep; he had even lost weight.

Despite his inner impatience, Minister Ouyang immediately put on a look of concern. "Prince, what has happened?"

"My royal sister has gone missing!"

Minister Ouyang's beard twitched in shock. "Princess Lingque is missing?"

"Yes, she hasn't been found yet."

Minister Ouyang glanced at the bright sun outside and was skeptical. "Could she have simply gone shopping?"

"She is unfamiliar with the land. If she were shopping, she would surely go to the places you mentioned, but I have already sent people to search those streets and found no one." Prince Yuliu's expression was grim. "Furthermore, my sister's injuries have not yet healed, and she has lost her memory. How could she be in the mood for shopping?"

Hearing this, Minister Ouyang also grew nervous. "Do not worry, Prince. I shall call for more men to search together immediately."

"That would be best. My sister is injured and amnesiac; if she goes missing on top of that, I will be unable to face my father, the King."

Minister Ouyang wiped his brow with his sleeve.

If Princess Lingque were to simply vanish like this in the capital of the Great Zhou, it wouldn't just be Prince Yuliu who would have to answer to the King of Yuliu!

***

While people were scrambling everywhere to search, in front of the Shuntian Prefecture Yamen, a maidservant accompanying a young girl wearing a veiled hat stepped forward and struck a large drum.

The heavy thrum of the drum immediately startled everyone inside and outside the yamen.

Since public hearings were permitted during trials, the local commoners, who were rich in experience, immediately swarmed forward to claim the best vantage points.

Hearing the drum, the Prefect of Shuntian rushed to the courtroom. He looked down at the two young girls, clearly master and servant, and struck his gavel. "Who is before the court—"

The girl removed her veiled hat, revealing her true face.

The girl, dressed in foreign attire, possessed a face of peerless beauty. The gauze wrapped around her head complemented her small, fair face, making her beauty even more breathtaking.

Gasps rose from the crowd, followed by a low buzz of discussion.

The Prefect's eyes widened as he recognized the girl's identity. "You are—the Princess of Yuliu?"

Princess Lingque nodded slightly, her voice like a songbird emerging from a valley. "They all say I am Princess Lingque."

The phrasing sounded strange, so the Prefect asked reflexively, "They?"

"Yes. I injured my head at the Fuxiang Garden and cannot remember. They told me I am Princess Lingque."

Looking at the innocent-faced girl below the bench, the Prefect had an ominous premonition.

He felt that a massive trouble was brewing!

"Ahem, may I ask what business brings Princess Lingque here?" The Prefect tried his best to make his voice sound gentle.

Once anything involved two different nations, it was never simple; if it involved members of royalty, it was no different from digging a pit to push him, the Prefect, into.

Princess Lingque's beautiful eyes swept left and right with confusion. "Is this not the Shuntian Prefecture?"

"It is," the Prefect nodded.

"Then it should be the same as Yuliu. I have naturally come here to file a complaint."

The Prefect shifted in his seat, feeling as though his chair was suddenly prickly. "Whom does the Princess wish to sue?"

Princess Lingque lifted her chin slightly and said, word by word, "I wish to sue your country's top scholar, Yang Zhe."

The Prefect nearly stood up, but he forced himself to remain calm and asked, "Why does the Princess sue Scholar Yang?"

The girl, who had just looked resolute, suddenly had her eyes redden and began to weep. "He clearly exchanged professions of affection with me in public, yet turned around and denied it. He has abandoned me after playing with my heart!"

"This... how did it come to this?" The Prefect was dumbfounded.

He had only heard that Scholar Yang had suppressed the arrogance of the Yuliu people two days ago by engaging in a couplet duel in front of a teahouse, but he had never heard of this!

Had he missed something?

Princess Lingque gently wiped her tears, looking pitiable. "That day, I saw Scholar Yang's peerless elegance and felt admiration. I used an upper line of a couplet to test his feelings, asking how he had found a match, and he responded, saying he was fortunate to not require a matchmaker. He made a promise of lifelong devotion in public, only to go back on his word. Is that not abandoning someone after playing with their heart?"

"This... the Princess must have misunderstood. Scholar Yang was merely engaging in a couplet duel; there was no other meaning." The Prefect's head throbbed, and he couldn't help but try to explain for Yang Zhe.

Wasn't this just a blatant lie?

Princess Lingque questioned through her tears, "As the presiding official, you not only fail to summon the defendant for a confrontation but even defend him. Is this what you call officials protecting their own?"

The Prefect's head felt as large as a bucket. He hurriedly ordered his subordinates to find Yang Zhe and sent someone to report to the Honglu Temple.

Before long, Minister Ouyang of the Honglu Temple fought his way through the crowd of hyperactive commoners and was the first to arrive.

"Princess Lingque, you truly are here! Your brother is searching everywhere for you!" Upon seeing her, Minister Ouyang breathed a sigh of relief.

The Prefect coughed. "Lord Ouyang, did Prince Yuliu not come with you?"

"I sent someone to inform the Prince." Minister Ouyang asked the Prefect with his eyes, wondering what kind of drama was unfolding.

The Prefect gave a brief explanation and then asked the shocked Minister Ouyang, "Lord Ouyang, do you think this matter requires mediation by your Honglu Temple?"

Minister Ouyang snapped back to his senses and immediately deflected. "Lord Huang, the Honglu Temple does not handle legal trials."

"But you do handle foreign guests."

After a bout of buck-passing, the two finally reached an agreement: they would go to request the Emperor to decide.

Once Prince Yuliu and Yang Zhe arrived one after the other, the group set off grandly toward the Imperial City, under the reluctant gazes of the commoners who had been listening to the trial.

The Imperial City guards were startled to see a large group approaching and gripped their scabbards warily. Even after being allowed entry, their eyes couldn't help but glance back at the procession.

Emperor Taian never expected there to be a sequel to this matter; for a moment, he nearly failed to maintain his imperial composure.