Currently, Xia Jiaying was feeling very happy. She just finished eating all of the food that Tang Yazhu cooked for her and was rubbing her full belly. Without having to think about what happened earlier in the day, she was undoubtedly feeling very good and cheery.
"I've always wanted to eat the food that you cook. I even requested you to visit the palace once, but sadly, the request was rejected," Xia Jiaying said.
Tang Yazhu did not know that she was that famous. Well, so much for privacy and keeping a low profile!
"Thank you. I'm just glad that you liked my food," Tang Yazhu humbly thanked her and drank her cup of water.
"Anyhow, what are you going to do now? Call the palace for help?" Tang Yazhu asked while she looked at Xia Jiaying.
After asking that question to estimate the current situation, Tang Yazhu saw a flash of anger shown in the eyes of the princess.
"There's no use in calling the palace for help. I'm sure that the palace is already full of hidden spies and traitors. I would only be sending myself to them if I call for help and cause my father to worry about me," Xia Jiaying answered as she knew very well that there was someone who wanted her dead.
Her brother was sick and if she died, the heir to the throne would be passed onto either one of her cousins or one of her half-siblings that were currently eyeing the throne. If the both of them from the direct line of royal blood were gone, that would be the end of their kingdom. Xia Jiaying absolutely would not let them have their ways.
"Among the royal families, which do you think is the one that is targeting you?" Tang Yazhu asked.
As cliche as the question may sound, Tang Yazhu knew that every member of royalty was always targeting the throne. And, in order to get the throne, there would be a heavy bloodbath that would take place.
That question caused Xia Jiaying to pause for a while before she could answer with, "My father has two brothers. The first brother has a son named, Xia Geming. I suspect that it would be him as he has always wanted the throne, fighting for the title of the crown prince with my brother."
"As for the second brother, he has two sons. One is named Xia Chen and the other is Xia Yong. Xia Chen has always focused on doing business and is rarely seen in the palace. On the other hand, Xia Yong has always liked to stay in the palace and study with me," Xia Jiaying said.
"My father - aside from my mother, the queen - has a concubine who gave birth to a son called Xia Xiaosi. He's around the same age as me and has always liked to have fun, always ruining his reputation. I'm only two years younger than him," Xia Jiaying continued to say.
After summarizing what she just said, she held her chin. Then, a sudden thought popped into her mind.
"Cousin Chen is never around, so he can be crossed out from the list of people who might want me dead. Cousin Yong is always with me and very close with me, so he can also be crossed out. Not only that, he's told me before that he's never wanted the throne," Xia Jiaying slowly spoke.
"And never mind Brother Xiaosi… That concludes that the only one could be Cousin Geming," Xia Jiaying told Tang Yazhu as soon as she arrived at that conclusion.
Her cousin has always wanted the throne and not only that, he always liked to mess with her brother!
Tang Yazhu did not react much to what Xia Jiaying stated. Although the princess included quite a lot of details in her conclusion, there were still a few fishy points. Even though the princess knew about the circumstances in the palace, she did not know about the networks of information flowing in the palace. It would seem that the princess is still far from grasping a good eye of judgment.
"That should not have been the first conclusion you arrived at. Although he may be eyeing the throne, his actions are noticeable. Princess, you should not forget that there are always sly foxes hiding behind the scenes," Tang Yazhu told her as she also thought about the matters related to the princess.
"If it's not Cousin Gemind, then who else could it be?" Xia Jiaying asked.
Xia Jiaying may not be close to her half-brother or her cousins, but she did not want to cause a bloodbath in the palace. After all, they were still a family in the end.
"I'll help you investigate on this matter, you can trust me on that. I can even bet that they don't want you to attend the business deal that's supposed to be happening in one week," Tang Yazhu said.
If Tang Yazhu wanted to help Xia Jiaying, then she needed to know what her situation really was like. Although it was not like her to meddle or help someone with their business, she felt that this could be a breakthrough to helping her discover a bit about her own background.
To be honest, Tang Yazhu was the type of person to do everything by herself and make sure that when she eliminates her enemies, it would be instant death.
"It's a very important business deal. I need to be able to persuade and have him sign the contract with us. If Mr. Long can be on our side, it'll be a lot of help for us," Xia Jiaying said and this caused Tang Yazhu to crease her brows as she heard the name of her husband.
"Mr. Long? What kind of deal is it?" Tang Yazhu asked.
Tang Yazhu was rather curious about what the business deal would be as she knew that Long Ning was involved in many different types of businesses. At the same time, she was interested in knowing how Xia Jiaying would persuade her husband. Of course, the most important thing was that since her husband is the main factor of the business, she wanted to be careful and help him evaluate.
"Our country is very rich in crude oil and our side has found out that Mr. Long wants to open an oil business in our country. It'll be great if the source of oil comes from us as we own a majority of the crude oil land. Not only that, our mining lands are rich in jade - our national stone - and there some other rare stones such as spinel, morganite, and alexandrite can be found in our mines," Xia Jiaying answered.
Then, she continued to speak, "His mother owns a big jewelry business. You can even say, it's the biggest source of jewelry as many people buy the jewelry from his mother's business. If Mr. Long signs with us, he'll not only have an opening to his oil business, he'll also have a great source of stones for his mother's business."
Xia Jiaying was very proud of the riches of her country and nation.
Although it was quite true that their country was rich with many different stones that were rare in many other continents, Tang Yazhu was sure that Long Ning would still need some time to think about the benefits and whatnot first. Though, could he really reject such an enticing offer that the palace was directly making?
Actually, Tang Yazhu knew that aside from the royal kingdom of Xia that owned oil mines, there was another one in which was also on par with them. In this continent, there were many kingdoms, but there were three big kingdoms. One was the rich Xia Kingdom, next was the prosperous Shi Kingdom - on par in oil mines with Xia - and the Deng Kingdom - famous for having their army known as the God of War.
Being the empress of the World Assassination Organization allowed her to be given more information when it came to the important places in the continents. Although it seemed easy, Tang Yazhu knew that the business deal with Xia Jiaying would be quite hard to sign. At the same time, she realized something from what the princess said.
"What do you mean by our side?" Tang Yazhu asked.
"If Mr. Long signs the contract, then no one would dare to provoke or steal our throne. Since everyone already knows the power that he owns, no one wants to be on his bad side. If anyone makes a move on us, they'll be harming his business. Of course, the important factor is that we would not let anyone steal him from us," Xia Jiaying answered.
Then, she continued to say, "We've sacrificed a lot to manage to make this business deal with him. Not only that, this is our only chance of surviving against our enemies. If we let this chance slip way, it'll be hard to suppress our enemies."
Xia Jiaying was more than willing to do anything to have this contract signed. There was not only her father and brother waiting for her but also the welfare of her people that had been entrusted to her by her blood family. This was not just a business deal to stay on the throne, but also for the good of all the citizens in their kingdom.
Tang Yazhu understood what Xia Jiaying was going through, and even the determination that she held. At just the age of eighteen, she was already having to deal with a huge responsibility. For a princess, she was supposed to be spoiled and faced with little to no hardships in life. However, here she was, having to carefully ensure the safety and fate of her people.
Xia Jiaying should be under intense pressure at this moment, knowing that there was someone after her life. However, she was still able to keep calm and not give up on her tasks. Even though there were a few signs of her being afraid, she did not back down - only going forward. This was a rare sight for Tang Yazhu who had always seen the rich girls cause problems at the smallest bit of hardship.
"You should get some rest," Tang Yazhu suggested, seeing that Xia Jiaying was getting sleepy.
"Are you going to leave?" Xia Jiaying immediately asked.
"Don't worry. I won't leave. You're in my care now, so I have to be responsible for you," Tang Yazhu said before calling the reception desk to request daily necessities such as clothes and some other things.
Even though her hands are already stained with blood, she still knew what she had to do and what her responsibilities were. When it came to her missions, the people she was tasked to kill were people that already had bloodstained hands. The only exception was this little princess that she was supposed to kill.
At the time, she did not want to kill the princess, but the mission came from the high-ups of the World Assassination Organization - not even the title of empress could stop the mission. When she heard the news of her mission being aborted, she felt deeply relieved as she did not want to kill an innocent person.
Maybe it was the fact that she had intended to kill the princess, that she was now having to help her…