Chapter 34: Princess Shunde
"You go get Lin Canglan onto the bed, position him in the same way he usually sleeps. And the placement of the wheelchair, I want you to replicate it without the slightest error. I'll go and wipe the blood off the floor."
Ji Yunhe took off her jacket and dipped it into some tea on the table. "When we are done with this, you and I will each go back home, change our clothes, wipe our faces, and go meet Princess Shunde."
"We will go meet her?"
"Yes, let's go meet her."
Ji Yunhe knelt down on the floor and wiped at the pools of blood.
"Let's go tell the princess that the Valley Master suddenly fell seriously ill last night and is now bedridden, and that his breathing is extremely weak."
When Ji Yunhe wiped to the corner of the wall, she saw the small pile of dust left behind by Qing Shu. She took the dust into her palms and sprinkled it into a flower pot nearby.
"Move quickly." She turned her head to look at Lin Haoqing.
"We don't have much time to waste."
When Ji Yunhe and Lin Haoqing finished cleaning up Lin Canglan's residence, they avoided others and quickly went back to change their clothes. When they met again, it was in front of the main mountain gate of the Demon Valley.
The spring flowers were already gone, leaving behind an eyeful of lush greenery. Ji Yunhe and Lin Haoqing stood to the left and right of the gate without saying anything. They looked like the usual young valley master and Master Warden.
The two looked at each other quietly, then looked down the main path. They waited for the legendary Princess Shunde to blow in with the wind.
Soon after, the sound of marching footsteps came from the distant bend. Even though they could not see anything yet, the sheer amount of people coming was apparent just from the noise.
The Demon Valley was located in the southwest, far away from towns and extremely remote. It rarely had such a grandeur of a crowd. Most of the demon masters here had been confined to the valley since childhood. Unless they had the capabilities of Snow March, few got to see the outside world.
The sound of footsteps approaching was enough to cause an uproar. They were nervous, anxious, and curious. The first thing to appear in the distance was a red flag embroidered with a five claw dragon.
The emperor's flag was a dragon embroidered in bright yellow, representing supreme power. Princess Shunde always loved red, the brighter the red the better. So the flag representing her was a golden dragon on a red background.
Throughout the dynasties, princesses and empresses, the females of royalty, always used a phoenix design. Only Princess Shunde abandoned the phoenix and preferred the dragon instead.
She did not even bother making an effort to downplay her ambition. But her brother, the emperor, did not seem to mind at all. He allowed his sister to participate in dynastic politics, executive decisions, and even infiltrate the military and the State Council.
Ji Yunhe pondered over these things while staring at the ground. Once the dragon flag came to a stop in front of her, the sound of footsteps, horses and carriages also stopped. Ji Yunhe finally lifted her head to look at them.