His Peasant Wife : Yao Ling

The inn had no other guests other than them, so it was very quiet in the evening. When Xiao Fang inquired Han Xiang’s condition, Han Er said that there was no movement inside the room. It seemed like Han Xiang was sleeping soundly.

However, there was no movement until the next morning and the quartet started to become suspicious. General Hu was also the same. He thought the princess was only lazy and willful, but not going out of the room for one day and there was no movement inside, General Hu started to feel uneasy.

"Are you sure the princess is inside?" General Hu asked.

Han Er nodded. "Yes... This servant took a peek for a few times since last night and the princess was asleep... Does General Hu want this servant to wake her up?"

General Hu was a man, so it was a bit inconvenience for him to directly go into the room. Not only that, his status was too low in front of the princess and he didn’t dare to do that. When he was in distress, Xiao Fang appeared behind him. She also wanted to check on Han Xiang just like General Hu because somehow she and the trio felt a bit uneasy. However, when she went near Han Xiang’s room, she heard the commotion that had just happened and she wondered what it was all about.

Xiao Fang asked softly, "What’s going on, Hu Gong Zi?"

General Hu explained that he felt worried about the princess because there was no movement inside the room and she kept sleeping from the previous day. Xiao Fang looked at General Hu in confusion while furrowing her eyebrows, "I talked with her yesterday and I saw that she wasn’t in a good condition... Hence, I made the decision to let her sleep." Then, Xiao Fang asked Han Er who stood solemnly at the side, "Is there really no movement at all?"

"This servant checked a few times and Han Xiang Gong Zhu was still sleeping soundly... It’s normal if there’s no movement when one is sleeping, so this servant only took a peek from outside of the room." Han Er answered. She didn’t dare to wake her up because of Xiao Fang’s order, besides... she was still in the room, so what could possibly go wrong, right?

"Let me check on her!" Xiao Fang finally decided just to appease General Hu, besides, she still wanted to chat with Han Xiang. General Hu and Han Er’s identities were inconvenience, they couldn’t go inside without permission, so it left only her who could go inside Han Xiang’s room.

The room was still dimmed even though it was almost noon and somehow it felt a bit eerie. Xiao Fang furrowed her eyebrows, suddenly having a bad feeling. It was quiet... too quiet... Her hand started to tremble but she didn’t understand why... Xiao Fang took a look and she sighed in relief, because Han Xiang was indeed sleeping soundly.

Xiao Fang felt weird when she smelt Han Xiang’s strong unique smell. It had been a long time her smell was so intense. It was sweet and tantalizing but yet so different from usual... She looked at the open window and wondered why Han Xiang opened it. Although it was only a small opening, wouldn’t it make her caught a chill if it was opened all night? It was only a small window and the only source of light in the dimmed room. Han Xiang’s room was located in the inner part of the inn, thus, it made her room quite dark, to begin with.

Xiao Fang wanted to open the window wider when she took a look at the sleeping Han Xiang and she was surprised at what she saw. Han Xiang was smiling but her face was beyond pale, it was like there was no blood flowing inside her body --- even her lips turned a bit bluish. She went closer and with a trembling hand, Xiao Fang used her finger to sense Han Xiang’s breath under her nose.

There was no breath... Xiao Fang felt nothing... Only silence.

*Thump*

*Thump*

*Thump*

Her heart skipped a beat. She could definitely sense that something was wrong with Han Xiang.

"Arrggghhh!" Xiao Fang screamed in a mixture of surprise and fear.

Xiao Fang didn’t even realize that she had cried like a lunatic. She yelled at Han Er to call Yao Ling. General Hu heard the ruckus however he didn’t dare to barge in. He held Han Er’s arm and asked what was wrong, but the later only shook her head. She didn’t get closer to Han Xiang, so she had no idea what her young miss found out.

"Hu Gong Zi, let me find Yao Ling Gu Niang first..." Han Er said weakly.

General Hu knew that he could do nothing so he could only nod his head and give way to Han Er. He could see the panicked Xiao Fang and how she was trembling on the floor.

Yao Ling was going to find Xiao Fang and when she saw how Han Er was in a hurry finding her, she felt quite puzzled. Was Han Xiang in relapse? It shouldn’t have happened though... She already counted and it should be at the evening, then what was this ruckus all about?

She quickly walked faster and followed along Han Er. Yao Ling was quite surprised when she saw General Hu standing quietly in front of the room. He didn’t hinder Yao Ling, but finally decided to ask, "Can I come in too?"

"This..." Yao Ling didn’t know how to answer because she also didn’t know what exactly had happened.

Xiao Fang let her out of the predicament, when Xiao Fang called them from inside the room, "Come in... It’s best if General Hu can come in too..." When they heard Xiao Fang’s agreement, they quickly went in.

"What happened?" Yao Ling asked in concern.

"She... she’s not breathing..." Xiao Fang said while Han Er helped her standing up.

Yao Ling and General Hu gasped in surprised and asked at the same time, "What?!"

Yao Ling quickly came to the bed side and checked on Han Xiang’s pulse. She indeed found no pulse and she declared that Han Xiang indeed was dead. That was it? Yao Ling was quite surprised. They did nothing but Han Xiang was dead... What exactly happened?

Yao Ling saw that Han Xiang was peaceful... she found that there was something inside Han Xiang’s sleeve. She took it and she saw that it was actually letters --- one for Xiao Fang and one for General Hu. Another one... was for the Han Emperor...

Yao Ling gave General Hu’s letter to him and when he saw the letter, his hands were trembling. He knew that he couldn’t survive this calamity... because he failed his mission and he couldn’t avoid the punishment... He slowly opened the letter and the more he read... the more he became paler... He gripped the letter tightly and he read whatever in there in disbelief.

Yao Ling couldn’t give Xiao Fang the letter at that exact moment because the latter fainted after Yao Ling declared that Han Xiang was dead. She took a glance at General Hu and asked, "Gong Zi, may I know what’s inside the letter?"

General Hu could only tell her that it could be said as a suicide note. She gave him a way out by presenting this letter to the Han Emperor. He couldn’t believe that this was written by the same spoiled princess... did he misjudge her? He felt guilty for no reason, but he demanded for Yao Ling to check more on Han Xiang’s condition... whether it was a real suicide or not.

Yao Ling nodded in agreement. She also needed to get the bottom of this... She told Xiao Yu to tell this news to Lin Jian and Yao Ying... The only way they could find out more was from Xiao Fang’s letter, after all, they couldn’t forcefully grab General Hu’s letter... And also... the blood letter addressed to the Han Emperor. It seemed like they really had to entangle themselves with Han Xiang’s matter because they witnessed everything and there would be no way General Hu would allow her to go. At least, he would need her to become a witness.