Indulging in Carnal Desire
chapter-230

“The plan is to…” Bai Luo gently wiped the princess’s neck, slowly drawing out the words she was about to say, “to have a plum tree wither in place of the peach tree¹To substitute one thing for another.”

“To have a plum tree wither in place of the peach tree?” Hong Xiu had never gone to school before, which meant that she didn’t know what this phrase meant.

“Think about it. Our princess is of honorable status, so consider how sad must she have been to be sent to such a desolate region,” Bi Luo vividly remembered that after the princess had learnt that she would be wedded off, she angrily spouted all sorts of complaints in front of her, and so, Bi Luo repeated them, “In the end, this group of Xianbei soldiers were not only dressed so shabbily, but they even neglected this princess and had failed to carry out their night duty, allowing the bandits to slip through inconspicuously!”

“Tell me, in the many years we have served at the palace, has anything like this ever happened before?!”

Bi Luo’s words contained another meaning to them, and if one were to continue her well-crafted train of thought, they would instantly feel that the Xianbei people looked down on the princess, which led to the current matter happening.

Hong Xiu nodded, “That’s right.”

She fondly recalled back to the time she was living in the palace. Although she had to tend to the princess everyday, she was still able to eat well and live a better life than the average person. Moreover, she didn’t need to worry about her own safety since the palace was protected well. How could it compare to what they had experienced this past month? Everyday, they were completely covered in dirt, eating grains and wild herbs and had to be on alert at all times.

“The princess is such a good person. If it weren’t for the marriage arrangement, she would’ve had a lot of suitors knocking at her door.” Bi Luo continued, “Moreover, the emperor would have selected the most outstanding man in all of Great Chu as his son-in-law. Think how much better off the princess’s life could have been! Whereas, in contrast to the present circumstances, she ought to suffer so much wrong!”

“That’s right!” Hong Xiu suddenly exclaimed in righteous indignation.

“That’s why…” Bi Luo continued softly, “Now that something terrible had happened today, Xianbei definitely wouldn’t take any action for the princess. After all, before the princess could even marry their great Khan, she’s already…” Bi Luo swallowed the dangerous words ‘lost her virginity’ and carefully said, “For now, the princess should return to the Kingdom of Chu! Ask the Majesty to make the decision for her and seek justice!”

“Re-return back to Great Chu!?” Hong Xiu simply couldn’t entertain the horrid idea, “Bu-But this marriage was a condition set for the peace talk between Great Chu and Xianbei! If the princess goes back now, Xianbei would definitely march their soldiers to Great Chu for being double-crossed!”

Bi Luo was almost rendered speechless by Hong Xiu’s utter stupidity, “That’s why we can’t let them know!”

“We need to find a person to act as the princess. These soldiers have only seen the princess a couple of times. As long as she feigns sickness and uses veil to cover her face for the remainder of this trip, who would recognize her!? The princess can then use this opportunity to slip back into the kingdom and seek for the emperor’s help. Seeing how the emperor lovingly dotes on the princess, he would definitely not blame her for what had happened!”

“Th-This…”

Hong Xiu was shocked by Bi Luo’s boldness, but after ruminating the plan for a while, she felt that this was not such a bad idea at all. After all, the emperor doted on the princess, they were very clear on that, and so, if the princess wanted to discreetly slip away, the king could only do what he always did, keep the matter shut and seal it away.

Chu Jiao merely sneered in her heart when she heard this.

Bi Luo certainly came up with a good idea to remedy the situation, and her delivery had always been good. If the original owner were to have heard these humbug words, she would quite possibly agree to them.

Since in the end, Bi Luo had faithfully served the original owner for many years, so Bi Luo knew her temper and character like the back of her hand and naturally knew which handpicked words could curry the princess’s favor. She was also skillful in luring others into agreeing with her suggestions no matter how out there they were.

The original owner repeatedly escaping the wedding must’ve been a result of her treacherous influence.

However, it was such a pity that Bi Luo had now chanced upon Chu Jiao.

“Then, who will replace the princess!? This troop only brought along a couple of slave girls!”

“…” Bi Luo lowered her eyes and did not speak.

She had already said what she needed to say. If the princess were truly awake, she should have chosen to ‘wake’ at this moment.

As expected, before she could even say anything, the person lying on the bed had slowly opened her eyes.

Chu Jiao slowly sat up and allowed the brocade quilt to slip away, revealing the purple and red marks all over her body.

She leaned against the bedpost sluggishly, languidly asking, “That’s right, Bi Luo. Who’s going to replace me?”

Noticing that her master was finally awake and seemed to have overheard their conversation earlier, Hong Xiu got so taken aback that she immediately kneeled on the ground and started kowtowing for mercy.

Bi Luo also followed suit but remained silent.

“Let this princess think…” Chu Jiao tapped her chin as if contemplating on the plan, “The person who’ll be replacing me… should be extremely familiar with my temper and behavior to be able to mimic me exactly. They need to be someone who is loyal and devoted so that they won’t ever betray me. They need to be bold and quick-witted so that they can respond to any sudden situation thrown at them…”

That’s right. It was like this.

Bi Luo thought to herself. The only person to fit all these criteria by the princess’s side was none other than herself!

Just earlier, she suddenly considered that compared to killing the princess headon, letting the princess seek death herself would consume much less effort.

Moreover, there was a possibility that she would be able to soar to the top!

Though the possibility of her being discovered still existed, furthermore, the consequences for such a heinous scheme would be her head getting cut off, Bi Luo was the type of person who would make hard decisions for herself.

She was convinced that as long as she could conceal this matter for a certain period of time, after she had married the Khan, and the timber had been turned into a boat²What is done cannot be undone., the king wouldn’t expose her even if he discovered the truth for the sake of the peace between the two kingdoms. And with her identity solidifying as queen in Xianbei, she would order all those who knew of her secret to be killed. This way, no one would know that she was the false princess! And, she would become a person who ruled above all but one.

As for the true princess, Chu Jiao… She would disgracefully fall down from the skies and learn of true suffering. During her thousand mile journey back, anything could happen, so she didn’t even need to lift a finger herself.

“Hong Xiu…” Chu Jiao first landed her gaze at the slightly foolish servant girl, “Do you think you’re up to the task?”

Hong Xiu quickly shook her head, “N-No! This slave doesn’t dare. This slave only vows to follow the princess!”

“Oh…” Chu Jiao didn’t insist on this as well, shifting her bright eyes onto Bi Luo, “Then… Bi Luo?”

Bi Luo kowtowed her head three times on the ground before saying with dedication, “As long as it grants happiness to the princess, no matter if I have to climb a mountain of swords or plunge into a sea of flames, Bi Luo would always be willing!”

Loyal and devoted, bold and courageous.

“Tsk tsk, this princess is truly moved by your sincerity.” Chu Jiao bent her waist and patted Bi Luo’s little face with a small smile.

“But…”

“What if this princess isn’t willing?”

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E/N: Oof I really don’t like the female leads in this series ahhahaha

[Completed]