89 Capital of Mountain Kingdom (1)

The news about the Yuan Kingdom withdrawing from the battle made the other two kingdoms feel pressured. But all in all, they still continued with their plan. On the other hand, the people of the Ming Kingdom were so astounded by Nanglong Souka's achievement to the point that his name was being talked about all the time along with Jun Min's.

…

Mountain Kingdom

Kuina had been hiding inside the cave for some time. Given that this was one of her favorite places to hide, her personal servants have secretly hidden some food here. With the food inside the cave, Kuina did not need to worry about dying because of hunger.

But she cannot stay inside the cave forever. There are things she needs to do outside of this place. She was afraid, but she knew full well in her heart that she had to make the decision to go outside. Staying in this place won't help her regain the throne.

"What belongs to me will be returned back to me again," Kuina said with determination. She vowed that she would get the throne back and avenge her father. Those greedy and disloyal officials would know the meaning of the word regret.

Kuina had been staying inside this cave for a few days and she was itching to have a good bath. Her appearance must be no different from a beggar anymore. With a resigned feeling, she carefully sneaked out and walked onto the street. As she expected, most people who saw her turned their head and ignored her.

"Great, my status has changed so drastically."

Partially mocking herself, Kuina walked towards one of the small inns. The owner looked at her with a frown, but upon seeing a gold coin on the table, the owner instead smiled widely.

"Is there anything you need? You can ask for anything."

"Just prepare a room and food for me," Kuina answered flatly.

The owner thanked her profusely before taking her to one of the empty rooms. The food was also delivered inside and Kuina could eat to her fill.

"Luckily, I still have some money."

Kuina sighed, then went to shower and take a bath. Feeling the warm water, she felt rejuvenated again. As a girl, she would love cleanliness and after a good one hour inside the bathroom, she came out and changed her clothes.

The inn owner also provided her with some clean clothes. The clothes were a bit rough, but Kuina didn't really care. She sat down on the bed, thinking about what she was going to do right now. Given that she already cannot be considered as a princess anymore, the people around the palace are surely her enemies.

"So it means I need to find people who still support me."

Kuina was not stupid. She knew that to become the empress, she needs support from some of the officials and military officers. The problem is, there is no way she could convince them without revealing her real identity. She wanted to go out, but she was also worried that she will die after she tells them her real identity.

Thinking for a while, she decided to sleep first before leaving. The cave was not a nice place for sleep, so the bed made her sleepy and she slept for a long time. When she woke up, it was already the next day. The inn owner had prepared some food for her and Kuina ate them happily.

She walked down the street, hearing the people converse along the way.

"Have you heard about the palace? It seems something had happened."

"Really? I thought it was just a rumor."

"The number of officials are decreasing. Many of them are too afraid to step out of their house."

"Well, with the situation like this, who can blame them?"

"But, who will be our next leader?"

Kuina couldn't follow most of the conversation, but she noticed something, they have been controlling the information that gets out on the streets. The number of people who knew that something has happened in the castle was limited and they would not reveal it to other people.

She doesn't know where she should go. The only places she knows of loyal officials towards her were only General Hen and Prime Minister Rei, but she was not sure if they were still alive. In the end, she could only try to walk towards Prime Minister Rei's house.

"Get out! We are not accepting beggars here!"

Kuina saw an extraordinary view when she arrived in front of Prime Minister Rei house. The servants were tossing out a person outside who then run away from the place.

She braced herself, "Excuse me, is Prime Minister Rei here?"

"Who are you?"

"Um… please tell him that one of his friends is visiting."

The servants looked at Kuina in disbelief, but one of them still went. Not long after that, a middle-aged man came out. His appearance looked a bit haggard, but most of all he was fine. His eyes widened in shock when he saw Kuina.

"Come inside."

Kuina followed the prime minister as she walked inside. She no longer knows who she can believe any longer so she could only try her luck.

"How did you escape, Princess?" the prime minister asked in a worried tone.

"I don't know," Kuina answered. It was true, even she herself only vaguely remembered that she ran away from the palace towards her secret place.

"Never mind. It's good that you're still alive," Prime Minister Rei smiled.

"What about you?"

"I did not go to the palace that day because my wife was sick."

"You're really lucky. The palace's condition is really scary," Kuina said in a lower tone.

Prime Minister Rei nodded. "Since you're here, it would be better if you take a look at this first and possibly sign it."

Kuina felt that Prime Minister Rei was acting weird. Why would he tell her to look at a document at a time like this? Shouldn't they try to find a way to take the throne back?

Seeing the look on Kuina's face, Prime Minister Rei shook his head. "You're just a naïve little girl. It would be better if you hand down your right to the throne to us. Don't bother resisting, you're inside my territory."

Kuina's face turned pale. "Why? Aren't you one of the loyal officials?"

"That was in the past, Kuina. Learn to accept the truth."

Kuina stared in disbelief. It's over! She had chosen the wrong person. Should she just wait in the cave? But no, if she did, she would never know the truth. Facing the person before her, Kuina braced her heart.

CRASH!

"She's here!"

"You take her and I will distract the others."

Kuina found herself carried away by another person as the prime minister yelled here and there. She could not follow the recent events. What had happened?