"Miss, it seems...the prince is determined to marry you."
Lu Tong accompanied Shangguan Wan Ning to Yaowang Valley. On the way, she heard the traveling merchants enthusiastically discussing the divorce of Prince Zhennan.
"Oh, this former Princess of Zhennan is such a ruthless person. Even a war god like the King of Zhennan can't do anything to her."
"That's right. Tell me, if she gets married again, what kind of hero will be able to manage her?"
Shangguan Wanning listened silently, a variety of emotions flooding her heart.
Mu Jingrui has gone to great lengths to make up for his debt to Yin Yuqing, and is willing to suffer more grievances.
besides……
Shangguan Wanning could sense that Mu Jingrui was willing to do this in order to give her an explanation.
Suddenly, Shangguan Wanning missed Mu Jingrui even more.
"Miss, are you okay?" Lu Tong asked with concern when she saw Shangguan Wanning looked unwell.
Shangguan Wan Ning forced a smile. "It's okay, let's continue on our way, otherwise we won't be able to make it to the next inn before dark."
"yes."
The guards went outside and packed up the carriage again, and Shangguan Wanning walked up with the help of Lutong.
After the group walked for a while, the sky gradually became gloomy and dark clouds in the distance floated over.
"Miss, it's going to rain soon. I'm afraid we won't be able to get to the next town in time. Do you want to find a place to take shelter nearby? At least we can avoid this heavy rain first?"
After listening to the guard's report, Shangguan Wanning lifted the curtain of the carriage and looked out.
Sure enough, the scene in front of her made her feel chest tightness and shortness of breath, and her mood became even worse. Before she had time to think, heavy rain poured down.
It was too late to find a place to hide.
Everyone had no choice but to move forward in the rain.
Soon, the sky became completely dark and the rain became heavier. The guards had no choice but to slow down their pace.
"Whoa!"
The horse suddenly lost control, and Shangguan Wanning and Lutong, who were sitting in the carriage, were caught off guard and fell to the ground.
Shangguan Wanning hit her head against the wooden board and grimaced in pain.
Fortunately, the guard who controlled the carriage had good skills and pulled the reins in time, so the carriage did not rush into the ditch nearby.
Lu Tong lifted the curtain of the carriage and asked angrily, "What's wrong with you? If the young lady falls, can you bear the consequences?"
"Please forgive me, Miss. Someone suddenly rushed out just now... The horse was frightened..."
"Miss, there is a girl fainted in front."
Shangguan Wanning's thoughts calmed down, and she was slightly startled when she heard that someone had fainted.
She asked Lu Tong to get off the carriage holding an umbrella.
Sure enough, in the muddy road, there was a girl lying, covered in mud.
Her clothes were tattered and her face and arms were covered with bloody marks from being whipped.
Shangguan Wanning stepped forward and sniffed the girl's breath. "She's still breathing. Lutong, help her onto the carriage and I'll take a look at her."
"yes."
Lu Tong didn't care that the girl was dirty. She handed the umbrella to Shangguan Wan Ning, bent down and helped the girl into the carriage.
Shangguan Wanning told the guards to continue moving forward. She simply cleaned and applied medicine to the girl's wound in the carriage, and then changed her clothes.
"Eh? Miss, what is this?"
Lu Tong found a peculiar sachet from the girl's changed clothes, which had a strange flower embroidered on it.
"Miss, what kind of flower is this? I have never seen it before..."
Shangguan Wanning took it and looked at it carefully, and was stunned.
She couldn't help but look at the girl, frowning.
It was not until late at night that they entered the town and found an inn to stay in.
Lu Tong fed the girl some rice porridge.
The next morning, the girl slowly opened her eyes.
"Miss, she's awake." Lu Tong ran to Shangguan Wan Ning excitedly with a bowl in hand, "Look, she's awake."
The girl looked around and barely managed to get up. She looked at Shangguan Wanning with a pair of frightened eyes, seemingly full of vigilance.
"Who are you?" The girl pulled the quilt to wrap herself, stepped back, and shivered.
"Hey, how can you be so ungrateful? If my young lady hadn't saved you last night, you would have frozen to death on the roadside."
Lu Tong was very dissatisfied with the girl's behavior.
Tears welled up in the girl's eyes. She curled up in the corner of the bed, lowered her head and bit her lips, her body trembling slightly.
"Girl, the little girl is ignorant and speaks nonsense, don't take it to heart. Don't be afraid, we are not bad people."
Shangguan Wanning walked to the bedside, reached out and held the girl's hand, and said with a smile: "Where is your home? I can ask my followers to take you back..."
"No... No... I can't go back. I don't want to implicate them..."
"Girl, what happened?"
"I..." The girl burst into tears suddenly and pulled back the hand that Shangguan Wan Ning was holding. "Sister, thank you for saving me last night. But... I don't want to hurt you. Please go away and don't worry about me."
Shangguan Wan Ning hesitated slightly when she saw this, then took out a sachet from her bosom and handed it to the girl.
"Is this the girl's own thing?"
The girl snatched the sachet back and held it tightly in her hand.
"If this is really yours, then... I think I should send you to the nearest government office."
The girl looked at Shangguan Wanning in surprise. "Sister, do you recognize this sachet? Could it be that you do the same?"
Shangguan Wanning chuckled and shook her head.
"I know. This is a sachet bestowed by the royal family. Every girl who passes the selection and is eligible to enter the palace for selection will have one."
Now it was Lutong's turn to feel surprised.
All along the way I have been hearing people talking about the Emperor selecting concubines to enrich his harem, but I never expected that the selected concubines would be in such a miserable state.
"Don't send me to the government... Don't... I escaped with great difficulty..." The girl knelt down and pulled Shangguan Wanning's sleeve, begging bitterly.
"Girl, I don't understand. Although you haven't entered the palace yet, your status is different now. Why do you..."
The girl stopped crying and wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes with her sleeves.
"Since you have such insight, sister, you must also know some specific matters of the selection of concubines."
Shangguan Wanning nodded.
The girl raised her head and looked at Shangguan Wan Ning, and continued, "I am from Shouchang County, my name is Li Min'er. My father is the chief clerk of Shouchang County. Shouchang County is originally a small place, and there are only three people who meet the requirements."
"The three of us were sent to the provincial government office, along with twelve girls from other counties, and were sent to the capital. When we passed Wenrong County, our escort, Captain Liu, went to visit Old Lady Xiao... Unexpectedly..."
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