The Man In Silver Mask (1)

The sun has almost set, but the people on the street does not look like they were about to return home to their family soon. Soon, trying to walk through among the others became harder.

The street looked colorful and livelier, different than the usual. Princess Lingchen had gone out for a walk in the city a few times, but this is the first time she saw the street like this. Looking at the stalls at both her left and right, Princess Lingchen felt as if she was at a different place. Her eyes brightened up as she watched a few officers lightened up the lantern of various color and hung it along the street.

Princess Lingchen jolted when she felt someone holding her arms. She turned and saw Mingyue's smiling face. "What is it?"

"Let's walk around like this," Mingyue said. "Or else, we might get separated by the crowd."

The Princess nodded. After a while, their path cleared. She looked up and saw Jiang Xiao Tian's tall figure before them. Even General Jiang Xiao Xian had sent over a few of his men to protect her as her hidden guard. The hidden guard roamed around the street, acting as a civilian and they would block others from approaching the princess.

Yang Yun walked right behind them. Princess Lingchen shot an apologetic smile to Yang Yun, and the man nodded at her. His expression was aloof as usual.

Usually, when Yang Yun and Jiang Mingyue were together, they acted like nothing could separate them. But right now, Mingyue and Yang Yun would pretend that they didn't know each other. Princess Lingchen did not know whether she should laugh or feel sorry for them.

Princess Lingchen decided to pretend along with them. Right now, she and Mingyue were just two girls walking along the street.

"There are a lot of people in the city recently." Princess Lingchen commented as they walked further.

With a smile on her face, Mingyue spoke, "Of course. I heard that merchants and traders from other countries choose to visit Da Chen when they heard about the upcoming Spring Hunt. They took this opportunity to gather and trade with the other merchants."

"But the Spring Hunt is months away!" The Princess was surprised to hear that they had come for the upcoming Spring Hunt.

Mingyue laughed. She recalled what Yan Zifu had told her. "It will be hard for them to travel to Da Cheng during winter. When spring comes, the prices of the room would increase and so will other things. That's why they decided to come sooner."

Princess Lingchen glanced around the city to look at the people around her. She could see from the way some people dressed that they were not a citizen of Da Cheng.

A group of men with thick clothing walked passed them which she recognized as the citizen of Eastern Zhou, an island on the southwest of Da Cheng.

Then, they walked passed another group of men from the western. When the men walked by, Da Cheng's girls would lower their eyes and their cheek reddened. This is because of the Westener men dressed in a tight shirt and tight pants. Their clothes hugged tightly against their body and showing off their muscle.

Although the westerners were not part of the Spring Hunt, once they heard the news that a lot of people will gather in Da Cheng, they decided to join in the fun.

Princess Lingchen watched her surrounding with fascination. It seemed that the upcoming spring hunt attracted a lot of people to Da Cheng. This is as expected. Where else will they be able to witness princes from several countries gather at one place?

Looking at the people trading their goods, it seemed that the capital has turned into a trading center. She suddenly had a vision of the capital city turning into a trading center in the future.

"I wonder how is Ying Yi is doing now?" Mingyue said absentmindedly. When she saw the group of men with thick clothing, she thought of her assistant who chose to join the other physician to the western region to help the flood victim.

The Crown Princess snapped out of her thought and turned to Mingyue. "I heard that she would return soon. Because the army was quick to offer their help and move the villagers to a safer place when the rain didn't stop for days, and the water level was rising. Now that the floodwater receded and the people will move back to their home. The army will help to build their home which was destroyed."

"That's good to hear." Jiang Mingyue breathed with relief. Realizing that they have been walking for a while, Mingyue then said to the Princess, "Tell me when you started to get tired. We'll take a rest."