Chapter 91 The City Of Warriors Part 27

Bao rushed into the back of the garden and stood a few feet away from the pavilion where Liling was sitting.  Bao said happily, "Your Highness… Your Highness… I have good news."

Liling put the cloth she was sewing on the table and turned to look at the excited Bao. "What's wrong?" she asked. "What good news did you bring today?"

Bao stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, my cousin gave birth to a son this morning..."

Although the news made Liling sad, she still smiled and said, "Oh, congratulations to you and your family. Shall I send her some presents?"

Bao said, "No need… my cousin and sister-in-law are having difficulty having a child, so they went to Nanmen Temple to beg for a child."

Fang asked, "Is what you said true?"

Bao said, "I don't believe it, but she said she heard it from someone else. I ran around the capital all morning to check if the rumors are true or false."

Fang asked, "What did you find?"

Bao said, "I found that people who went to Nanmen Temple to pray gave birth a year later." She looked up at Liling. "Do you want to try, Your Highness?"

Liling said, "Maybe I did too many bad things in my previous life, so I will be punished and not be able to have children in this life. Forget it, Bao… that rumor is the same as Tiantang Temple. I stayed there for three months, but nothing happened."

Approaching from the walkway and said, "Why did my dear wife give up so easily?"

Liling said, "It's not that I gave up easily, but that I don't have any hope."

Jianjun said, "You should go."

Liling asked, "Why?"

Jianjun said, "Maybe this is a test from heaven. They want to test how much you want a child. I will order twenty of the best guards to go with you."

Liling sighed and said, "Do you really want me to go?"

Jianjun said, "I also want to have a child with you, not one, but twelve." He held Liling's hand.  "Actually, I want a guarantee that when I'm not around, you will have someone to protect you..." He looked into Liling's eyes. "I know you and I feel the same way. You can go and stay for seven days, within these seven days.  During these seven days, I will not eat meat and pray every night." He paused for a moment. "I think it's better to go with you."

Bao said, "Your Highness, according to rumors, only mothers are allowed in the temple, fathers are not allowed to enter."

Liling said, "In that case, I'll just go with Bao and Fang… don't make trouble for others."

Jianjun said indifferently, "No, I'm still worried about the three of you going alone. I think I'll let Huan go with the three of you."

Liling asked, "Why?"

Jianjun said, "Everyone knows that Huan is an Untouchable person.  If she goes with you, if anyone wants to harm you, they will be scared away. In addition, I will send twenty of the best soldiers to go with you."

Liling asked, "We have already taken twenty of your best soldiers. I don't want to disturb Huan."

Jianjun said, "Just for precaution.  As we all know, Huan is an untouchable race that can't be mess with.  I'm relieved if she goes with the three of you. With Huan, I'm sure no one will hurt you or try to rob you."

Liling said, "It makes sense, but I don't want to force her for personal gain."

Jianjun said, "Then you can ask her if she is willing to go, if she agrees, then she will go with you and the others, if she does not agree, I will go with you."

Liling nodded.

Since the preparation time was already late that day, Liling waited until the next morning to let Lan Huan accompany her to Nanmen Temple. When Liling, Bao, and Fang arrived, they saw Lan Huan cleaning the old garden courtyard.

Fang said loudly, "Huan, Her Highness came to see you."

Huan leaned the broom against the side of the house and walked towards the stone table where Liling had already sat. She looked at Liling and asked, "If Your Highness needs me, let others call me. Your Highness doesn't need to come in person."

Liling smiled and said, "I have to come in person, because I have something to ask you."

Lan Huan said, "Go ahead and ask." 

Liling said, "Tomorrow we will go to Nanmen Temple to worship heaven. I heard that many women who go there to ask for a child, will become pregnant and give birth after a year."

Lan Huan asked, "The Crown Prince loves you so much, even if you have no children, he will continue to love you. Why do you want to have children?"

Bao said, "It's not about wanting, it's about having to."

Lan Huan looked at the young maid and asked, "What do you mean?"

Bao said, "If Imperial Princess Consort can't get pregnant and gives birth to a son, she will lose her status as the future empress of Magior."

Lan Huan said, "Having a child to serve a greedy purpose, no matter how much you pray, heaven will not give you what you want." She looked at the two young people standing beside Liling, and then at Liling.

Fang said, "Huan, how can you say such things to Her Highness."

Lan Huan said, "I didn't speak falsely."

Liling said, "Huan, I really want a child." She coughed and wiped her mouth. "I'm thinking, if I have to leave this world, I want someone to accompany the prince instead of me." She smiled happily at Lan Huan. "Do you want to come with us?"

Lan Huan stepped forward and said to Liling, "Can I?"

Liling smiled and nodded.

Early morning on the next day, for the first time in her life, Lan Huan did not walk beside the carriage. She stuck her head out the carriage window and let the wind blow across her face. Looking at the beautiful clear blue sky, she suddenly turned her head back and sat back in her seat.

Liling smiled and said, "You seem to enjoy the weather. "

Bao said, "I'm glad you decided to come with us.  If you had refused to come with us, you would have missed this opportunity to enjoy such beautiful weather and scenery."

Lan Huan said, " For the first time in my life, I didn't walk beside the carriage, but you still have to tell the driver to hurry up, because it's going to rain soon."

Bao drew the curtains to the left and looked at the clear blue sky. She looked back at Lan Huan and said, "Really? The weather looks good.  I don't believe that it's going to rain."

Lan Huan said, "It will...soon."

Bao said, "Do you want to bet?" She saw that Lan Huan suddenly stopped blinking, and her lips began to tremble. She reached out and touched Lan Huan's right shoulder. "Huan... Huan..."

Liling asked, "What happened to her?"

Fang moved beside Lan Huan and said, "Huan." She shook Lan Huan's left shoulder, but quickly withdrew her hand from Lan Huan's shoulder. "Huan's eyes suddenly turned red..."

Bao and Fang moved quickly towards Liling, leaving Lan Huan sitting at the other end of the carriage.

Although Lan Huan could hear Bao and Fang's voices, she couldn't open her mouth. She knew she was in a carriage, but the sight before her was not. She began to hear raindrops hitting the roof of the carriage. She saw ten men in black holding swords and starting to kill. The sound of death rang in her ears. One of the men in black lifted the curtain on the carriage's door, swung his sword left and right, killed Bao and Fang, and then stabbed Liling in the chest.

Lan Huan suddenly screamed in horror, "No! Don't kill her!" She covered her face with her hands. Then, the sound of the wheels crushing the earth gradually became clearer, while the sound of servants and soldiers being killed gradually faded away.

Lan Huan's heart began to settle down, and she slowly looked towards Liling. She shook her head and said, "Stop the carriage... Please stop the carriage..."

Liling asked, "Why, we are almost there?"

Lan Huan shouted, "If you don't want to die, stop the carriage immediately."

Bao said angrily, " Lan Huan, how dare you curse Her Highness..."

Lan Huan plead in tears, "I'm begging you, please stop the carriage..."

Liling saw the terrible tears in Lan Huan's eyes. "Stop the carriage," she said.  Lan Huan quickly got out of the carriage. 

"Huan! Where are you going?" Bao shouted behind Lan Huan.

Liling said, "Let's go, see?"

Liling, Bao, and Fang stepped out of the carriage quickly, and saw Lan Huan standing there looking at the road ahead.

Liling walked up to Lan Huan and asked, "Huan, what's the matter?"

Lan Huan didn't look at Liling but continued to look forward. "Over that mountain, there are ten assassins waiting to kill you," she said, pointing to the mountain in front of her.

Hearing Lan Huan's answer, Liling, Bao, and Fang were all stunned. "How do you know?" Bao asked.

Lan Huan looked at Liling, Bao, and Fang. With tears in her eyes, she said, " You are so kind to me, so I don't want you to die." She reached out and took Liling's hand. She smiled at Liling, quickly grabbed one of Liling's hairpins, and poked the tip of the hairpin into one of Liling's fingers.

Fang and Bao shouted in unison, "Lan Huan! How dare you?"

The twenty soldiers before and after the horse carriage, with their swords sheathed, rushed up quickly.  Liling looked at the soldiers and shook her head for the soldiers to withdraw.

Bao said worriedly, "Your Highness..."

Liling's said, "It's alright..."

Lan Huan squeezed three drops of Liling's blood onto the palm of her left hand. She opened her palm and turned to look in the direction of the hidden assassins. Lan Huan touched the blood on her palm, closed her eyes, put the middle finger of her right hand on the drops of blood in her palm, and began to chant, spreading the blood on her palm in a clockwise motion.

Bao looked at Fang and asked, "What is she doing?"

Fang shook her head and said, "I don't know."

Lan Huan chuckled, Liling, Fang, and Bao looked at Lan Huan, just in time to see Lan Huan opened her eyes.  Lan Huan smiled and said, "I see you."