The system horse was only timid around the protagonist; if it were a lowly soldier watching it, it wouldn't be so polite and would find an opportunity to run away. The soldier, fearing punishment for his incompetence, came up with this terrible idea.

Although the idea was a bit bad, Yu Ling did not resist anymore. Moreover, since Liu Molian had already been brought here, Feng Yi didn't want to take a detour to send her back. So he took his men and escorted Yu Ling back to the Northern Sorrow Palace.

Although it was called escorting them back, in reality they just rode together on one fast horse: Liu Molian and Xiaobing on one, Yu Ling and Feng Yi on another, while the others who didn't have horses were at the back, traveling slowly.

With their horses galloping at full speed, the journey back to the palace was swift. Feng Yi quickly led the two of them into the palace to meet the king.

The group arrived at the empty side hall, which was usually used for private conversations with one or two ministers. However, the King of Beishang was waiting here, clearly not wanting others to interfere.

"This humble general pays his respects to Your Majesty." Feng Yi knelt down and bowed.

"This servant, Liu Morian, greets the Northern King," Liu Morian said, bowing respectfully.

These prisoners of war were not even as good as commoners; before the ruler of a country, they could only call themselves slaves.

...a profound silence...

The Northern King was waiting for Yu Ling to perform her salutations before he told her to rise, but Yu Ling remained unmoved under the watchful eyes of everyone.

Although it was somewhat of a loss of face, the Northern King still politely asked everyone to stand up, and without holding Yu Ling's rudeness against her, he went straight to the point and advised:

"Yi Lanbin, I am aware of your actions (making the medicine to cure headaches), and I was planning to take you down (to prevent you from secretly poisoning the medicine)..."

However, considering your exceptional talent (outstanding character and superb medical skills), I've decided to give you a chance. If you're willing to become one of my Bei Shang's people (submit and serve him), I will certainly put you to good use. What do you say?

Oh yes, yes, you see, there's a tiny bit of an illicit relationship between me and your princess, so you wanted to kill me! But then you saw how handsome I am, or maybe your princess really has no one else to marry, so you want me to marry into Bei Shang and become one of your Bei Shang people. Is that right?

Not understanding the meaning in the parentheses of the Northern King's words, Yu Ling naturally misinterpreted it according to her own understanding.

"This is absolutely impossible, don't mention it again! Even if I, Yi Lanbin, die, I will still be a Dongli person!" Yu Ling rejected him without the slightest hesitation.

Marrying into the family? Marrying a princess? Absolutely impossible!

Seeing that Yu Ling's words were somewhat impolite, and fearing that the Northern King's anger might affect him innocently, Feng Yi excused himself and left, saying that he had other matters to attend to.

It has to be said that Feng Yi was indeed prescient. Fortunately, the Northern King lost face in front of his own people. If he had been rebuffed like that in the imperial court... just thinking about it makes me angry.

"You'd better think this through. I'm only giving you this one chance. If you refuse, you won't be able to go back to where you were before. You might as well stay in my Northern Palace. I can give you whatever you want!"

The Northern King suppressed his temper and tried to persuade him again.

But seeing that Yu Ling absolutely refused, he had no intention of wasting any more words and simply handed the person over to someone who was in charge of this area.

Feng Yi left on his own, and Yu Ling was taken away by a stranger. Now, only Liu Molian was left to face the furious Northern King.

But having come this far, he couldn't bear to let the opportunity slip by, and asked tremblingly:

"Your Majesty, may I see the King of Nanyue?"

The King of Nanyue? That glutton?

This person would make a fuss about the food every few days, which made the Northern King both amused and exasperated. Since he figured he would deduct money from one person's account anyway, he also put Liu Morian in the palace to live with the Southern King and the others.

Watching Liu Morian being led away, the Northern King summoned another person and gave an order:

"Oh, right, give the order to send two portions of food, just enough for the King of Nanyue and that other person."

Ha, you're being picky about freeloading, just wait till I starve you! Thinking of this, the Northern King was immediately happy, and even the anger he had suffered at Yu Ling's hands earlier subsided considerably.

Over here, Yu Ling was being carried forward by two tall and burly guards. She wasn't in a hurry. The attitude of the Northern King made it clear that she was still not in any danger. At most, she would just suffer a little.

Soon, they arrived at a secluded courtyard that was clearly used for interrogating assassins. He hadn't expected the palace to be so complex, almost like a maze. Fortunately, the system navigation was still working, so he didn't have to worry about getting lost after escaping.

Yu Ling was tied to a thick tree in the yard with layers of cowhide rope, but with so many ropes wrapped around her body, there was no place that could be hit. What was the meaning of this?

Yu Ling's doubts were quickly answered.

"Oh, General Yi, it's a pleasure to meet you. Please put your mind at ease. I will definitely show you mercy today and make sure you are not wronged. In the future, when you work in the palace, please remember my kindness."

The eunuch with an extremely effeminate appearance clapped his hands. He was an old man in the palace and well-informed. He knew that as long as Yu Ling yielded, her future would be limitless. So he had no intention of using torture to extract a confession.

Seeing the head eunuch's actions, the junior eunuchs immediately began to huff and puff as they carried a person out of a small, dark room.

Upon closer inspection, who else could it be but the King of Dongli?

Yu Ling only resembled the original owner in terms of behavior, speech, and expression; she didn't actually have the same brain as the original owner. Naturally, she had no reaction when she saw the Dongli King being "handed over" like this.

As she watched coldly, she saw the eunuch bring out a bunch of chilling objects and start gesturing at the King of Dongli. Yu Ling couldn't help but ask:

What does this mean?

Didn't the Northern King order me to give in? How did it get involved with the Eastern King again?

"I don't know either. Perhaps he has offended the King somewhere, and he has no right to stop. In short, if you want the King to let him go, the only thing you can do now is to apologize."

The eunuch's words were brilliant. He claimed that the king ordered the beating, but he himself was credited for getting Yu Ling to back down. Since both sides were of similar status, they wouldn't verify each other's claims, thus avoiding offending either while simultaneously currying favor with both.

King Dongli, unable to speak with his mouth gagged, turned green with rage at the sight of this painful-looking pile of things.

I'm innocent! I really didn't do anything!

The eunuch originally thought that as long as he made a few gestures to scare her, Yu Ling, who was willing to risk her life for the king, would soon bow her head. However, Yu Ling gritted her teeth and remained silent.

With the arrow already on the bowstring, the effeminate eunuch had no choice but to go all out. With a single thrust of the torture instrument, King Dongli was already bleeding, and he couldn't help but let out a painful howl.

Yu Ling had no idea what the eunuch's motives were. What did it have to do with the King of Dongli offending the King of Beishang? Was he trying to beat someone up to scare her? This wasn't how you make an example of someone! Oh well, she'd just treat it as a show.

Seeing how tolerant the King of Dongli was of Xue Yuling, the eunuch had no choice but to unleash another bloody storm, determined to make Yuling submit to Bei Shang in his hands.

King Dongli, although you are completely innocent, I am still sorry.