Chapter 1 Kidnapping "You are someone you absolutely cannot afford to offend, the Prince of Jingbei..."

In the spring of the fifth year of the Jingtai reign, the Turks invaded from the south with overwhelming force.

The bells and chimes are destroyed, the mulberry grove dances, Mars guards the heart, and the Purple Star is dimmed.

......

*

The clouds descended, weighing as heavy as a thousand pounds.

It was past 7 PM, and a chilly wind brushed against my cheeks. A heavy rain had just fallen during the day, and the air was full of damp moisture, which added to the coolness.

But Shi Wan, who had been fleeing all the way, did not feel cold at this moment.

Ah Ling drove the cart ahead, and in the dark night, the sight of the donkey and the two people seemed strangely eerie. After a while, perhaps because they were traveling along and the road was overgrown with weeds, the donkey suddenly brayed twice, but the sound was quickly swallowed by the wind.

Startled by the sudden shout, Shi Wan instinctively clutched her chest, her willow-leaf eyebrows furrowing in unease.

As if sensing something, Ah Ling quickly turned her head to look at her out of the corner of her eye. "Miss, is your chest hurting again?" Her tone was a little anxious. "The inn is only a few miles away. You must hold on!"

Upon hearing this, Shi Wan subconsciously swallowed the itch in her throat and gently replied, "I'm fine, don't worry."

Even so, the dark clouds hanging over the master and servant had not yet dissipated.

There is fighting everywhere, and people are dying everywhere.

Nowadays, even a slight fever can be fatal.

And Shi Wan, a frail, sickly woman who could barely breathe after three steps...

Ah Ling couldn't help but sigh.

Our young master is good in every way, except that his taste is truly flawed. Shi Wan is just a courtesan, and with such a frail constitution, let alone bearing him children in the future, we don't even know if she will live to see the day our young master finishes his business and comes to take them back.

Ah Ling glanced at him secretly.

Upon closer inspection, Shi Wan sat quietly, her face almond-shaped with willow-leaf eyebrows and her eyes sparkling like autumn water. Even with A Ling's prejudices, she couldn't find a single flaw in Shi Wan's appearance.

If the other person had been healthier, she wouldn't have had to live in fear the whole way, lest she mess things up.

Thinking of this, Ah Ling subconsciously adjusted her breathing, concealing the regret in her eyes.

Everything is but a fleeting moment.

Only after the other person had completely turned their head did Shi Wan raise her eyes.

Ah Ling had seen that look in her eyes far too many times over the past eight years.

The emperor is young, and the great edifice is about to collapse.

At this critical juncture, Prince Jingbei, Jiang Xu, achieved a great victory over the Hu barbarians and became stuck in Jichuan, refusing to move.

Rumors spread like wildfire, and people were in turmoil.

Huzhou and Jichuan are very close, separated only by two small towns. For some reason, Wu's mother wanted to send Shiwan to Jiang Xu to do him a favor!

They even went so far as to call it "following the trend."

As her thoughts returned, Shi Wan's expression remained unchanged, but her tone subtly revealed a hint of resentment, "If it weren't for Wu Mama's stupidity, we wouldn't have had to escape in such a hurry."

A-Ling couldn't see Shi-Wan's expression, but could only guess her mood from her tone, and echoed, "Yes, it's fortunate that Young Master Wu was kind-hearted and helped the young lady, otherwise we probably wouldn't have been able to leave Huzhou's city gates half an hour ago."

"Indeed, I owe him a lot of help." Shi Wan rubbed her chest for a while, her expression softening slightly. Sensing that A Ling was openly and subtly praising Wu Qiyuan, she hesitated for a moment, then immediately followed suit.

He softened his tone, "On this journey, I even brought you, Ah Ling, to my side."

After speaking, her gaze lingered on the donkey cart beneath her.

Nowadays, noble families mostly travel by horse-drawn carriage, or at the very least by oxcart, but considering Shi Wan's status, Wu Qiyuan thoughtfully arranged a donkey cart for her.

The donkey cart was simple in design, and its roof was completely bare.

Although it's not like a carriage, it certainly saves the two of them a lot of effort right now.

Once she arrived in Jichuan and settled in, she wrote another letter to Wu Qiyuan to keep him in check. Afterward, she gradually cut off contact with him, then dumped A-Ling, changed her name, and was free to roam the world.

After walking for a while, the donkey, probably tired from galloping all the way, suddenly stopped.

Shi Wan nearly slipped off the cart due to the sudden stop, startled again. Her tone was cautious as she asked, "Is the donkey tired?"

Are you still hungry?

Ah Ling was only a mediocre driver, and seeing this, she quickly got off the cart and ran to Shi Wan's side. "When the servant gave the donkey cart to me, he said that the donkey had been fed."

Thinking of her own experience of only being able to eat a small bowl of food per meal, Shi Wan sighed inwardly and guessed, "Donkeys... should also be able to eat grass to fill their stomachs, right?"

Ah Ling: "...?"

As the master and servant were chatting, Shi Wan suddenly looked up and gazed at the woods to the side.

It was pitch black, no different from any other forest on the outskirts of the city.

But right now, her heart started aching again for no reason.

With a dull ache throbbing in her chest, Shi Wan seemed to have a bad feeling.

The dark figures in the distance drew closer, and the sound of the wind mingled with the clatter of horses' hooves, filling Shi Wan's senses with a frantic rush.

When she looked closely, all that remained was a scene of tranquility.

An extreme, eerie stillness.

She was probably too nervous, because she thought there were people in front of her.

distinct......

At this moment, she is only one step away from being reborn.

Almost the instant Shi Wan thought this, her body honestly squatted down and then sneakily hid in a thicket of grass.

The moon had quietly peeked out at some point, hanging coldly in a corner of the night sky. Sparse moonlight shone down, and the uneasy expression on Shi Wan's face could be vaguely seen.

A-Ling was suddenly pulled down by her, and thinking that Shi-Wan was afraid of being caught again, she comforted her, "Anyway, Madam Wu just wants to select the best to send to Prince Jingbei. It doesn't matter who she sends them to." She smiled, "With Young Master Wu here, Madam Wu will definitely not search again."

Mother Wu was a distant relative from a branch of the Wu family. With Wu Qiyuan, a member of the main family and a member of a prominent clan, around, Shi Wan wasn't too worried.

She looked around and unconsciously sniffed; at the tip of her nose, she could smell a faint scent of blood.

Seemingly to verify her keen intuition, a crowd of people could be seen gathering not far away.

Why would there be an army here?

Judging by the direction, it's even heading towards Huzhou.

Shi Wan didn't have time to think much and quickly led A Ling away from the donkey cart. Fortunately, this time the donkey just lowered its head and quietly ate grass.

With the cover provided, the two managed to hide relatively well.

Shi Wan's pantyhose were already soaked with wet mud, adding to her disheveled appearance. She was practically crawling on the ground, seemingly becoming one with the weeds.

After a while, the sound of horses' hooves faded into the distance, and everything returned to silence.

The master and servant quietly straightened up and poked their heads out from the haystack.

Ah Ling felt a pang of unease, her voice barely audible, "Miss, we need to hurry, just now..." As if afraid of mentioning some taboo word, she finally managed to say, "That was terrifying!"

Shi Wan was haphazardly applying mud when she heard this. She subconsciously touched her cheek, and the mud, moistened by the water, adhered better to her skin. Feeling a little relieved, she replied.

"Don't worry about my health. We'll find a doctor when we get to the inn."

Let's hurry on our way.

The air was heavy with humidity, and a faint smell of blood wafted through the air.

A moment later, one of the soldiers who had just passed by broke away from the ranks and turned back.

*

Pingsu is a small town bordering Huzhou.

The soldiers quickly checked the travel permits and then let the two men into the city.

By the time we arrived at the inn and settled in, the sky outside was already pitch black, so thick it seemed impossible to see through.

As the hour of Hai approached, everything gradually came to a standstill, and the entire city of Pingsu became quiet.

A moment ago, Ah Ling drank two cups of warm tea poured by Shi Wan to soothe her throat. She drove all the way at breakneck speed, and now that she has suddenly relaxed, her head feels like mush and she is dizzy.

"Young lady, I..."

Hearing the noise, Shi Wan quietly stepped out from behind the landscape screen, picked up a cheap ornament from the table, and smacked A Ling on the head.

Under the combined effects of the medication and the pain, Ah Ling lost her last shred of sound.

Shi Wan waited for a while before slowly placing her fingertips under the other person's nose. After confirming that he was still breathing, she picked up the purse she had packed, tied it to her body, and turned to leave.

A few breaths later, he returned, took out a few taels of silver and placed them on the table. He also took the dirty clothes that Ah Ling hadn't had time to deal with, rolled them roughly around his body, and then wrapped them around his waist.

After doing all this, Shi Wan gently pushed open the door again, and in the blink of an eye, she completely disappeared into the thick night, vanishing from sight.

Over the past few years, she had met all sorts of people at Liushaotai and learned a lot of miscellaneous tricks. In addition, she had been to this place before when she was a refugee, so Shiwan's journey was quite smooth as expected.

She hurried to the dock, boarded the ship in a flurry, and only then did she feel much relieved.

Before I knew it, the bright moon was once again obscured by thick clouds, barely peeking out and casting a few dim rays of moonlight that rippled across the still lake.

Shi Wan stood at the bow of the boat, her amber eyes sparkling.

Thousands of mountains and valleys converge on both sides, the night breeze caresses the face, and the air seems to be filled with a joyful atmosphere.

Her heart was pounding, and Shi Wan unconsciously slowed her breathing. Just as she was about to ask the boatman when the boat would depart, she suddenly felt a sharp pain in the back of her neck and abruptly lost consciousness.

*

As night fell, outside Jichuan City, the Jingbei Army set up camp for rest and reorganization.

As was customary, the guards sent the traitor to jail for questioning later.

The situation was chaotic, and the established rules and regulations had long lost their credibility. As a result, in the days before the army was fully settled, an unusually large number of spies and traitors were uncovered.

"Your Majesty, your subordinate has discovered that the Wu and Zhang families in Huzhou City are acting suspiciously and are colluding with Youzhou. In addition..." The guard's eyes followed him as he led the way, "Your subordinate also discovered a woman acting strangely. She injured a servant of the Wu family and attempted to flee with money. Just in case, your subordinate simply knocked her unconscious and brought her back."

A series of indistinct sounds rushed in, jolting Shi Wan awake from her confused state of mind.

Inside the dark dungeon.

Water droplets seeping from the stone wall, tinged with a hint of blood, dripped down with a soft sound.

Human voices and metallic sounds rushed in together, then stopped.

The firelight on both sides stretched the shadows of the people in front of them, forming a undulating mountain range.

Then, the mountain stopped in front of Shi Wan.

The man was nearly 1.9 meters tall. In the flickering firelight, his high, straight nose cast a sharp shadow, just like the way he looked at her. For some reason, this reminded Shi Wan of a hawk on the grassland, as if it could bite off her neck at any moment.

"A person from Huzhou?" he asked.

The lights flickered, and Shi Wan lowered her eyelashes guiltily, forcing back the sudden pain in her heart, and softly responded.

This person has an extraordinary demeanor and is likely to have taken many lives. Moreover, the fact that he was able to capture her so easily suggests that he is not someone she can fool.

She immediately replied honestly, "I was born a courtesan and was adopted by Madam Wu of Liushaotai a few years ago. Unfortunately, I am not very bright and after studying for many years, I can only roughly recognize a few words and play a few tunes. Madam Wu thinks I am useless and wants to send me to a male demon as his concubine."

She was chained to a rack, a wave of pain spreading through her body, and the sobs in her voice made it all the more real. “My daughter has been targeted at every turn over the years, and then suddenly learned of this terrible news, so she fled in the night... There was a real reason for it, and she is by no means the traitor you two are talking about.”

There must be a reason? Jiang Xu's face remained expressionless. "As you said, they arrested the wrong person."

Upon hearing this, Shi Wan was taken aback.

Who would have thought that the person who looked so fierce would actually be so reasonable?

Just as she was about to continue, the other person suddenly approached her, wiping the scabbard, saying, "In that case, a short pain is worse than a long one."

What, what does that mean?

Is this sending her on her final journey?!

Unfortunately, the man showed no sign of stopping.

Shi Wan made a snap decision and shouted, "Do you know whose house I'm going to?"

Perhaps because the words "cannot afford to offend" were too unfamiliar, the man paused for a moment for the first time. The scabbard suddenly changed direction, from stabbing to thrusting, and lifted Shi Wan's chin.

In a flash, the second half of her sentence rang out.

In the chilly dungeon, a few unusual, jarringly clear sounds emerged.

"Jiang Xu, Prince of Jingbei".

A note from the author:

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Male lead: The main character is someone I can't afford to offend.

The story has begun! [Dog head with rose in hand]