Chapter 113 Chapter 113 Wen Shen takes Jiang...

Wen Shen pulled Jiang Wan behind him, unsheathed the Mountain and River Sword, and used his internal energy to create a strong wind, blocking all the sword winds from Zi Sha on the opposite side.

The impact of his sword blast caused Zisha, already severely injured, to vomit a large pool of blood. Her balance was unstable, and she swayed twice, barely holding onto her sword to stand upright.

Facing Wen Shen from a distance, Zi Sha wiped the blood from her lips and smiled sweetly, "Mr. Wen has become even more handsome. But he's too unkind to women. How could he be so rough with a girl?"

Wen Shen stared coldly at the sword in her hand and reminded Jiang Wan behind him: "Her internal energy is poisonous, be careful."

Zisha's smile deepened. Against the backdrop of blood, she looked like a demon girl who had just crawled out of hell. "Since you care so much about her, it all depends on your swordsmanship."

With two snaps, two masters landed behind her, and three desperate swords stabbed at him at the same time.

Wen Shen held his sword horizontally, and the tip of the sword drew a blue arc in the air. He rushed forward and actually stopped all three swords.

Four powerful internal energies stirred up the dust in the tunnel. Jiang Wan couldn't see the battle clearly, only vaguely making out the flickering blue sword light and the continuous overflow of dark purple internal energy. Liu Ming, a martial artist, could discern the battle situation by hearing, but he was mute after being struck by Wen Shen, and could only express his excitement through excited "woooos."

It's no wonder he was excited. The three Purple Evils were all Grandmaster-level masters. Although their own severed meridians had prevented them from freely controlling their internal energy, they were fighting a life-or-death battle, so their attack power was bound to be immense. And Wen Shen could fight three of them alone, blocking dozens of attacks in a matter of seconds, proving his kung fu was at least Grandmaster-level.

A twenty-one-year-old master is simply a fighter among geniuses. The number of recorded cases of him can be counted on one hand. He is even rarer than the Emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Half a cup of tea had passed. As the dust settled, blood stained the Mountain and River Sword, trickling down its tip. The thin blade reflected his cold face, the blood on the sword making his handsome face look even more enchanting and alluring.

Zi Sha and two other masters were lying on the ground, their life or death unknown.

Wen Shen put away his sword, untied the three of them, helped Jiang Wan up, looked her up and down, and then asked softly, "Are you okay?"

The five men emerged from the tunnel and, upon closer questioning, learned that Wen Shen had come to capture the commoner Zhu Yongding. A year earlier, Zhu Yongding had been exiled to Yumen Pass and assigned to the county yamen as a handyman. However, a month earlier, he had vanished from the county jail. After two days of searching without success, the magistrate reported him to the imperial court.

At that time, Wen Shen had already been promoted to the third-rank assistant minister of the Ministry of War. He still had doubts about the case of He Guogong, so he asked to go to Xiaofangpan City to look for Zhu Yongding.

He shared Jiang Wan's doubts: first, how had the Ministry of Revenue's top-secret files been leaked? Second, why would Zhu Yongding risk training private soldiers? After a year of investigation, he had come to suspect the Grand Tutor. This trip was also to test his suspicions.

Wen Shen heard everything Wei Liang and the others had just said in the secret passage. His suspicions were confirmed. All he had to do now was capture Zhu Yongding and bring Wei Liang back for interrogation, and his mission would be complete.

After explaining his purpose, Wen Shen sat quietly aside, staring at Jiang Wan without blinking.

Jiang Wan's heart pounded at his gaze, so he dismissed the three subordinates with the excuse that it was late at night and the dew was heavy, prioritizing women over subordinates. Liu Ming, still lingering on, wanted to discuss martial arts with Wen Shen, but Bai Yanyun slapped him on the back, jokingly scolded him, "Dead wood," and mercilessly dragged him away.

The shop was quiet, the wind had stopped, and only the candlelight flickered slightly.

Thousands of words came to my lips, but I was too shy to express them because I was so homesick.

After a while, Jiang Wan asked in a low voice: "When did you come here?"

Wen Shen blushed. "When your convoy entered the city, I followed it from a distance. But..."

He just didn't dare to meet her, afraid that she was not doing well, afraid that she had forgotten him long ago, afraid that his sudden appearance would make her angry... But he still greedily wanted to see her, even if it was just from a distance.

Jiang Wan understood. She had thought the same thing when she first saw him.

"Then how did you know there was such a secret passage in the shop? It looks like it hasn't been used for many years."

Wen Shen looked at the cracked floor and spoke word by word, "Twenty-one years ago, my sister and I hid here and escaped with our lives."

He lowered his eyelids. "This shop is where my mother's grain shop was twenty-one years ago. Back then, this secret passage was used to store the newly harvested rice."

Jiang Wan froze.

At that time, the Xiongnu launched a massive attack on the Great Zhou. After capturing the small city of Fangpan, they burned, slaughtered, and looted for seven days. Before the Xiongnu could storm in, Wen's parents stuffed their fourteen-year-old daughter and their son, less than a year old, into a secret passage. For ten days, the siblings lived in the passage, surviving on dry rice.

Wen Shen was still a baby, and he had no memory of many things, and Empress Wen never mentioned them. But even today, he could still hear his mother's sobs and pleas for mercy above him, and feel his sister's hand tightly covering his mouth, as warm tears fell on his young face.

Later, his sister rescued the then-prince Emperor Chengde by the shores of Lake Duolun and married him into the Eastern Palace as a concubine. When she ascended the throne, outsiders hailed them as a match made in heaven, but he knew his sister had been unwilling to accept her fate. She endured humiliation in the harem solely to find her mother, who had been abducted by the Xiongnu, and to care for him when he was young.

Emperor Chengde agreed and gave Prince Youguli a thousand taels of gold, but in return he got his mother's disheveled body.

When Wen Shen talked about the old things after twenty years, his eyes were still red and filled with murderous intent. He clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles cracked.

Suddenly, his fist was wrapped by a soft little hand, and the fragrance was refreshing. The girl in front of him leaned against his heart, hugged him gently, and stroked his back again and again.

"We will definitely avenge our aunt." Jiang Wan murmured softly.

Wen Shen was stunned for a moment, and the strong murderous intent gradually faded away. He raised his arms, hugged her tightly, and rubbed his cheek against her shoulder.

Mother, mother, this is my son's sweetheart. When I have avenged you, I will bring her to your grave to pay my respects.

He thought so.

Jiang Wan lived a very comfortable life in Xiaofangpan City.

She didn't have to be wary of the dangers of the desert, nor did she have to rack her brains to sell goods. For her three meals a day, she either went out to buy food or had Wen Shen cook for her. Her two disciples competed to look after her daily accounts.

She was happy and comfortable, sleeping until noon every day. After finishing the affairs of Qingjiangju, she would lean on the beauty couch and read storybooks. From time to time, she would look up to admire the handsome man who was busy cooking - this man stayed in her shop all day long, leaving all the errands to his subordinates, and even had official business sent to Jiang's shop for processing.

"Why are you frowning? What's up?" Wen Shen passed a peeled peach to Jiang Wan's lips. Jiang Wan took a bite and spoke incoherently, "The people I left in the Western Regions haven't sent any news back. I wonder if something happened."

As soon as the words fell, the long-lost system voice rang in Jiang Wan's ears:

"Unfortunately, the host was expelled from Che Chi's shop, and the progress of the final mission [Silk Road Flower Rain] has dropped to 63%."

"Unfortunately, the host was expelled from the shop in Yelang..."

"The host's shop in Dayuan..."

…

"The host has been expelled from the Wusun shop. The progress of the final mission [Silk Road Flower Rain] has dropped to 10%. The current remaining points are 2200. Please work hard to complete the mission!"

Of the thirty-three countries in the Western Regions, all shops except Loulan were expelled.

What exactly happened?

Jiang Wan suddenly stood up from the beauty couch, casually placed the uneaten peach on the table, and said in a deep voice: "Almost all my shops in the Western Regions have been expelled."

Wen Shen was startled and opened his mouth. Then, as if remembering something, he didn't ask any more questions. He just stood up with her and said, "I'll go and ask what happened."

After he left, Jiang Wan sat at her desk, writing furiously. One letter was sent to Fang Hong, and the other to Loulan.

Seven days later, when Loulan's letter arrived in Xiaofangpan City, Jiang Wan was surprised. Calculating the time, her letter shouldn't have reached Loulan yet, so how come her reply had already arrived?

After opening the package, Jiang Wan realized that this was not a reply letter.

The package contained two letters, dated seven days ago. The first, from Fang Hong, reported that a large number of Xiongnu envoys had visited the Western Regions. Their shop had been expelled, and the Rose Inn had been closed. Even smaller Western countries had sent troops to hunt down the envoys. Fang Zeshi and Qi Qi had been captured by the Wusun. Fortunately, Loulan had taken her in, and she and Chen Xi were now hiding in the Loulan pagoda.

The second letter, from Aigu, stated that the Xiongnu were urging the Western Regions to launch an attack on the Central Plains, promising to divide the Central Plains' artifacts, gold, and silver equally among the nations upon victory. Many Western Regions states had already accepted. The Xiongnu's Left and Right Guli Kings had also made a special trip to visit the Wusun and Loulan states, hoping to obtain passage through them to send troops, and the Wusun Kunmi had already agreed.

Aigu had been holding back, refusing to agree. There was now widespread discontent within the Loulan court, and the Xiongnu were also exerting increasing pressure. In the letter, he said he was under immense pressure and might not be able to hold out much longer, hoping Jiang Wan would find a solution quickly.

The delegation's travels through the Western Regions sparked a yearning among the people for artifacts from the Central Plains. Now that there was a shortcut to directly plundering Central Plains products, the Western Regions would naturally abandon fair trade and opt for military action.

After working hard for a year, Jiang Wan became a tool used by the Huns' lobbyists, and he was furious.

But now is not the time to vent. To resolve the crisis, she must first understand the situation of the upcoming war.

Just as he was about to go out, he saw Wen Shen running in hurriedly.

"I just received Jianqing's reply." Wen Shen got straight to the point. "A Xiongnu army of 200,000 is marching towards Yumen Pass, ostensibly to purge the court of the unjustly exiled Third Prince Zhu Yongding. The Xiongnu Chanyu has even arrogantly demanded that Your Majesty kill Xiaoliu, otherwise they will invade Lin'an."

Wronged? The Huns were really good at confusing right and wrong.

"Zhu Yongding is in the Xiongnu army. In Lin'an, His Majesty fell ill a few days ago. In recent years, the Great Zhou has emphasized culture over military power, and there are almost no capable generals. The people in the court are in panic, and many ministers have demanded that Xiaoliu be handed over for peace talks. My sister is almost driven crazy." Wen Shen gritted his teeth and took a deep breath.

He took a half step forward, took Jiang Wan's hands in his palms, and looked at her intently: "Wanwan, I want to fight this battle myself."