The Legend of Princess Qingping
Chapter 8. Guessing A Plan

On a sunny morning, a luxury car stopped in front of Rongyi Inn. Li Zemin as the coachman, came down to pick up Jiang Yu. There was no chatter going on as they immediately left after Li Zemin greeted Liu Qingqing.

After the departure of Li Zemin and Jiang Yu, Liu Qingqing came to the backyard of the inn. That place he had rented because it was directly next to his room and somewhat hidden from the outside world. In a good mood Liu Qingqing intended to start practicing the sword.

This was the first time Liu Qingqing had used a sword, either as herself or with Xiao Qing's soul. In his former life Liu Qingqing never had the opportunity to practice martial arts, whereas in the modern world Xiao Qing more often used a short knife or dagger and a pistol.

In his spare time Liu Qingqing would read notes on martial arts or the basics of how to use a sword. He had also asked Jiang Yu a few things related to her fondness. His murderous soul from the modern world is again present, giving a powerful impetus to practice every move he has learned from the ancient books.

Although the wind carried a chill, it did not dampen Liu Qingqing's determination to continue honing her fighting skills. He had a bit of difficulty at the beginning when swinging his sword, but it did not last long. After struggling hard and trying to repeat all the moves, Liu Qingqing looked to be starting to get a little more proficient.

Liu Qingqing was so excited in training. Her movements though were not as agile as when she used the dagger, but it looked beautiful and steady. There was killing intent in every slash he made, as if it was deliberately meant to take down an enemy.

Though what he faced now was just a blank page with several trees that were molten. The rays of the sun burst in between the yellow leaves, providing some warmth with the cool air. Spiders stretched among the branches, as if it was their silk path.

Bai Liu came carrying a towel and Pickled Plum Soup, placing the two on a stone table in the corner of the courtyard. Seeing that Liu Qingqing was already drenched in sweat, Bai Liu felt a pain in his heart. "Miss, let's take a break!"

Liu Qingqing then stopped her training. He walked towards the stone table and received the towel handed out by Bai Liu. An expression of satisfaction surfaced as he wiped his forehead that was soaked in sweat.

Elsewhere in the vast hall of white walls with pillars full of intricate carvings, was sitting a man. In front of him just in the middle of the hall was a rectangular rocky ornamental pond. Dozens of koi fish swim freely in the clear water.

The man's face was really handsome with snow-white skin. He had very bright eyes with deep and clear eyebrow lines. Thick eyelashes seemed to hide half of his sight when he looked down, as was common practice.

He was about twenty-three years old. His name was Zhou Ziyang, the second prince of the Zhao Kingdom. A person of perfect good looks with outstanding talent, military experts, and including the best young man in Taiyuan Capital City.

His palm that was filled with calluses because he often used a sword, looked so good at playing a bristle brush. He had been busy in silence for a long time. When he heard a knock on the door from the outside, he opened his mouth and said, "Get in."

The one who knocked on the door, immediately entered then slightly bowed before the man. "Your Majesty, Uncle Yi gave word. Our inn was attended by two special guests."

"Who are they?" The man's voice sounded cold without lifting his gaze.

"Second Miss Liu and Miss Song. Second Miss Liu came two days ago, while Miss Song came the next morning."

Looking at his master's eyes, Xu Jia had a slight goosebump. "Uncle Yi did not understand clearly about their plan, but Song Nian came with Li Zemin to meet Liu Qingqing. It wasn't long before Li Zemin left and returned in the daytime with Jiang Yu."

"Jiang Yu's? Is that the man we're looking for?"

Xu Jia nodded. "Yes, Your Majesty."

There was no response from Zhou Ziyang. He moved the paper that was filled with writing and replaced it with new paper. Then he took out a bristle brush, put it in black ink, then started writing the names 'Liu Qingqing' and 'Song Niang' next to each other. Then Zhou Ziyang made a large circle outside of the name with the addition of the word 'Rongyi Inn'.

Zhou Ziyang took some distance from the first writing, then added the names 'Li Zemin' as well as 'Jiang Yu' in a large circle. After that he drew a straight line between the two circles. However, Zhou Ziyang still did not understand the entanglement that existed between them for what matters.

In silence Zhou Ziyang's mind floated in all directions, trying to figure out where the important point he might have missed was. Suddenly a name flashed through the man's mind. As he recalled Song Nian was very fond of Zhou Yicheng, but Zhou Yicheng preferred Liu Qingqing as his wife.

"This is clearly related to First Brother, but what are they attracting Jiang Yu for? Did Song Nian come to Liu Qingqing to make a calculation? Looking at Song Nian's temperament, she would not likely give an easy lesson to her love rival. There must be something else in the matter," Zhou Ziyang thought.

"Your Majesty, there's actually something else that I haven't reported yet."

Zhou Ziyang asked, "What is that?"

"So morning Li Zemin took Jiang Yu away from the inn and I told our men to follow him. They came to Liu's House, which was led directly by Song Nian."

Zhou Ziyang's hand moved again. The current one he had written down were the three names of the people who had filled his mind, Zhou Yicheng, Liu Qingqing, and Song Nian. The three names are given a line to form a triangle. Then he added the word 'Liu's residence' in the middle of the triangle.

Zhou Ziyang looked at all the characters on the paper seriously. Xu Jia tried to peek and his thoughts were confused by Zhou Ziyang's doodles. Although the brush strokes of his master were very good, but there was no explanation that became a bright spot. That made Xu Jia have to guess with her own thoughts.

While he was busy drawing conclusions from the writing he saw, Xu Jia was startled by Zhou Ziyang's cold voice. "Feilong Plate!"

"Your Majesty, what's wrong with the Feilong Plate?" xu Jia asked curiously.