Edward Clark happily continued swimming ahead, while Little Princess kept anxiously checking her body behind him. The two of them reached the end of the river channel like this, where another towering city wall blocked their way, and the river flowed through a sluice gate below—only this time, there were iron bars inside the gate...

"I just feel like we got out a little too easily."

Standing in the night breeze atop the city wall, having climbed up the same way as before, Edward Clark looked at the ancient city ahead and said.

It really was a bit unnaturally smooth. There had been gunshots and explosions in the palace earlier. Even if the gunshots didn’t matter much—just pistols—the sound of grenades exploding was different. With that kind of explosion, not only the imperial city but even the areas outside the city should have been alarmed. If there really were tens of thousands of soldiers on duty, the city walls should have been heavily guarded by now. But they had encountered no obstacles along the way.

There were patrols, but only the usual ones. There were indeed many soldiers at the city gate, but they clearly weren’t on high alert.

This was not normal.

This wasn’t like the late Ming dynasty’s useless imperial guards.

"Stop talking nonsense, let’s go! I can finally leave the palace!"

Little Princess said excitedly behind him.

"Leave the palace? Once we’re out, I’ll find a place to sell you off."

Edward Clark replied grumpily.

As soon as he finished, he remembered something...

"Did you bring any money?"

He asked.

"Money? Why would I bring money? You mean paper notes? I don’t have any. Do you really think I need to buy things myself?"

Little Princess said in confusion.

"Fine, I really should find a place to sell you."

...

Chapter 6: The Princess’s Elopement

"So, which way do we go?"

After climbing down the city wall, Edward Clark asked.

At this moment, he had two choices: head south, but there was still a river ahead; or head east, which was closest to the east city wall, but a large area of buildings blocked the way.

"You’re asking me? I’ve only left the palace a few times in my twelve years of life."

Little Princess replied righteously.

"If I don’t ask you, who should I ask? I’ve only been here for less than three hours!"

Edward Clark retorted, equally righteously.

"Do we really need to rush out of the city? We could play in the city for a few days first. I’ve heard from the palace maids and eunuchs that there are lots of fun things in the city. Anyway, we’re already out of the palace. Besides, how are we going to Guangning? Shouldn’t we make a plan first? Do you even know where Guangning is? Are we taking a boat, riding horses, or traveling by carriage? I can ride a horse, by the way. Also, is Wanli very far? Will it take several days to get there?"

Little Princess lay on his back, excitedly imagining her future.

"Shut up!"

Edward Clark had completely given up on her—she was totally unreliable.

He leaned against the city wall, hiding in the shadow of a horse’s head statue, looking at the vast city before him, and then made a decision...

East.

The south side was the government office district.

Half the imperial court’s offices were on the south side.

He stuck close to the city wall and headed east, with Little Princess on his back, pouting in dissatisfaction.

There was open ground outside the imperial city wall. Although the braziers, lanterns, and torches on top of the wall didn’t provide much light, if the patrolling soldiers were diligent enough, it would be easy to spot them if they left the shadows. For now, only the darkness beneath the lights protected them. Little Princess impatiently poked him, and Edward Clark turned to glare at her, only to notice her expression was a bit odd, and she was squirming in the backpack. Edward Clark looked at her suspiciously...

"Woof..."

Suddenly, a dog barked overhead.

"Who’s there?"

A shout of anger followed.

Without hesitation, Edward Clark dashed forward at full speed. Almost at the same time, a gong sounded behind him...

"Thief! Someone’s breaking the law!"

A shout rang out as well.

Carrying Little Princess, Edward Clark ran as fast as he could, reaching the riverbank ahead in the blink of an eye. At the same time, the sound of something slicing through the air rang out. He dove forward, rolling into the river just as an arrow whizzed past. The unlucky Little Princess was still screaming with her mouth open when he pushed her into the water. Although she quickly surfaced, she had swallowed so much water that her eyes rolled back. Edward Clark didn’t care about her feelings. In the water, he pulled out his arms and pushed the backpack, swimming hard for the opposite bank. More soldiers rushed out from the corner tower on the city wall behind, and two archers in the squad that spotted him kept shooting at him—one arrow even hit his helmet.

Fortunately, this river was much narrower, and in no time he reached the other side.

"Stop shooting! Your fourteenth imperial daughter is here!"

He shouted.

Then he pulled out Little Princess, thoughtfully turning on the light on his watch to illuminate Her Highness’s face, which was still spitting out water...

"Stop!"

A shout came from the city wall.

Then an officer-looking man stepped out.

"I don’t recognize the fourteenth imperial daughter. Wait here, I’ll get someone who does."

He said.

"Do whatever you want. I’m leaving her here for you!"