The task of escorting tribute to the Kingdom of Qing was imminent. Even though he knew that the "Shen Wei" in front of him was full of doubts, King Wu had no choice at all.
He can only hire "Shen Wei".
King Wu restrained his expression and told Shen Wei: "I will hire you as a guide. You will set out with me in two days."
Shen Wei bowed: "Thank you, Your Majesty, I will not let you down."
King Wu asked the guards to arrange a room for Shen Wei, and Shen Wei temporarily lived in the palace.
After Shen Wei left, King Wu summoned his guards: "Go check, what is the identity of this Shen Wei? I have been in Wu County for a full year, and I have never heard of a fisherman with the surname Shen."
The surname Shen is rare in the entire Donglin Kingdom.
It sounds more like a surname from Qing State.
The guard cupped his hands and said, "Yes, I will check it out right away."
The King of Wu paced alone in his simple study, feeling melancholy. If the divination of the Yue State's national master was true and his destined noble man has appeared, then why hasn't his destined wife shown up yet?
Could it be that his future daughter-in-law is in Qing Kingdom?
...
...
At the Prince Wu’s Mansion, the guards took Shen Wei to a room. The room was simply decorated with only a table, chairs and a bed.
But it is much better than the shabby houses in Yuanjia Fishing Village.
Shen Wei closed the door, washed up hastily, and lay back on the bed exhausted. She thought about the route to Qing Kingdom for a while, and her thoughts gradually drifted away. She recalled that twenty years ago, when she had just become a maid in Prince Yan's mansion, Shen Wei, she had relied on her ambition to obtain the right to live in a small courtyard.
Now lying in the small room of Prince Wu's mansion, Shen Wei sighed inwardly, feeling a trance that the past was repeating itself.
...
...
The next day, the King of Wu continued to recruit cooks and grooms. To escort two carts of tribute to the Kingdom of Qing, the escort team must have at least ten people.
A guide, guards, grooms and cooks are all indispensable. The Emperor of Donglin did not send helpers to the King of Wu, so the King of Wu had to recruit them on his own.
It is easy to find a guide, guards and grooms, but it is not easy to find a cook. The cook of Prince Wu's mansion knew that going to the Kingdom of Qing was tantamount to committing suicide, so he knelt on the ground and kowtowed to the King of Wu, saying that he had elderly parents and young children at home and he really didn't dare to embark on this one-way journey.
The day of departure was approaching, and the cook had not yet been found. Just when the King of Wu was feeling a headache, the guard came to report that a little boy came to the door and said he was willing to be a cook.
The King of Wu was surprised.
Someone was sent to bring the baby over. King Wu took a closer look and found that it was Yuanfu from Yuanjia Fishing Village.
King Wu felt a throbbing pain in his temple, and he said unhappily, "Don't mess around, little brat. Go home and take care of your sister."
Yuanfu felt a sore nose and fell to his knees, crying loudly. He cried and said, "My sister...she is dead, wuwuwu."
The young boy cried heart-wrenchingly, with tears and snot all over his face.
The King of Wu felt pain in his ears and handed a plate of sugar cakes on the table to Yuanfu: "Don't cry, don't cry. Your sister was fine two days ago. How could she die?"
Yuanfu lowered her head, wiped her tears with her little hands, and told King Wu everything about how the old bachelors in Yuanjia Fishing Village coveted her sister.
Yuan Xier lost her parents, was bullied by the old bachelor in the village, and was insulted by the King of Wu. In despair, she committed suicide by jumping into the sea.
The King of Wu was stunned when he heard this.
He put his hands behind his back and walked around the house: "How can such evil things happen in this broken fishing village? Someone, go check what's going on!"
Wu County was small, and the guards quickly found out about Yuanjia Fishing Village. The King of Wu had never expected that such an ugly and despicable thing could be hidden in such a small fishing village.
He thought that being oppressed in the royal family was bad enough.
Unexpectedly, Yuan Xier was even more miserable than him.
The King of Wu had mixed feelings and was secretly annoyed. Yuan Xier’s death was also related to him. King Wu thought for a moment and ordered his guards: "Catch those old bachelors in Yuanjia Fishing Village, beat them with thirty sticks each, and put them in the county jail for hard labor. I will deal with them when I return from Qing Kingdom."
"Also, tell the head of Yuanjia Fishing Village that if there is any bullying of an orphan girl in the village, the seafood from Yuanjia Fishing Village will not be sold in the county town. They will all be out of business."
The King of Wu sent his guards to deal with the fishing village.
He looked at Yuan Fu, whose eyes were filled with tears, and patted his shoulder in a comforting manner: "Which sea did your sister jump into? I will send people to search the beach later and try to find her body."
Yuan Fu's tears fell like beads from a broken string, and he choked up and said, "She can't come back... Woohoo, my sister will never come back..."
Last night, when Shen Wei decided to disguise herself as a man and enter Prince Wu's mansion, she had already told Yuan Fu the truth.
Yuan Xier is dead.
Now it was another person living in her body.
Yuanfu was surprised to hear this, but he actually already had doubts in his heart. After all, he and Yuan Xier are siblings. They have been together for many years and understand each other's nature. After the elder sister woke up, she was no longer cowardly and greedy, but became brave and resolute. Yuanfu began to have some doubts in his heart.
After Shen Wei told the truth, Yuanfu accepted it with tears.
"Your Majesty, the fish soup I cook is very delicious, and I can cook many other dishes." Yuan Fu knelt in front of King Wu, "I am willing to be the cook of the palace, please give me a chance to live."
Wu Wang frowned deeply and patiently told Yuan Fu: "Do you think I am going to Qing Kingdom for fun? I am in great danger of death on this trip. I may even lose my life in Qing Kingdom."
Yuanfu: "Then I want to go with you. I can't go back to the fishing village."
We are leaving tomorrow and there is not much choice right now. King Wu looked at Yuanfu's tearful eyes and thought of his past self in a trance. When his sister was forced to marry a foreign prince, he cried even more miserably than Yuanfu.
The King of Wu had no choice but to nod in agreement.
King Wu patted Yuanfu's head and said, "When we get to Qing, I will send you to my sister's house. She has lived in Qing for a long time and she really wants the food from Donglin. You will have a place to stay with her."
King Wu was also indirectly responsible for Yuan Xier's death.
Just take care of Yuan Xier's younger brother a little, and that will be considered as the King of Wu's forgiveness.
...
...
At dawn the next day, the carriage was ready at the gate of Prince Wu's palace. There were three carriages, two of which were loaded with tribute, and one carried the King of Wu.
The team had a total of eleven people, and they set off in a hurry.
Shen Wei was the guide, riding a skinny horse and walking at the front. When they walked out of Wu County, Shen Wei spread out the map of Donglin in her hand and studied which official road was the shortest.
Just as she was about to continue walking forward, the guard on horseback stopped her: “Brother Shen, take a break first, the prince has something to do.”
Shen Wei wondered: "Brother Zhang Wu, it's important to hurry on your way, what else does the prince want?"
The guard named Zhang Wu Ge sighed, as if he was used to it: "The prince is bidding farewell to his homeland."
Shen Wei: ...
Shen Wei turned around and saw King Wu solemnly stepping out of the carriage. The King of Wu had long dark brown curly hair that was braided into a long braid with pearls at the end. He smoothed the wrinkles on his slightly worn purple-gold robe, then leaned forward to the bronze mirror held up by the guard and carefully looked at his handsome face.
After making sure that he still looked elegant and handsome, the King of Wu slowly stepped onto the land of Wu County.
He bent down to pick up a handful of yellow earth, and looking at the dilapidated appearance of Wu County, he suddenly felt sad. Facing the bleak wind, he began to recite passionately: "After so many years, the good times and beautiful scenery are gone. Even if there are thousands of customs, who can I tell them to?"
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