Chapter 50: The Brotherless Version of Her Song Youning leaned on the soft couch, pointing...
Song Youning leaned against the soft couch, his fingertips unconsciously kneading his sore temples, and the pale face of Li Funing when he left echoed in his mind.
She didn't understand why every time they met, they always ended up quarreling. She had done so much for him, but she always received his cold questioning in return.
Did she really go too far?
"Your Highness!" When Song Youning hesitated, a voice interrupted her thoughts.
She looked in the direction of the voice and found Jiuxiao kneeling in front of her bed without her noticing. She had told him before that he had a special status and did not need to be notified. If he had any problems, he could just come to her tent directly.
She looked at Jiuxiao who was half-kneeling on the ground with a gaze as sharp as a blade, and all her hesitation was swept away.
She suddenly sat up from the couch, her eyes scanning every corner until she was sure no one was around: "Is it done?"
Jiuxiao knelt on one knee, his black nightgown blending in with the shadows within the tent. The hazy moonlight obscured most of his face. "Your Highness, I have followed your instructions and spread the news of the beast attacking people in the Cedar Forest. I believe the Northern Territory will send someone to the Cedar Forest to deal with this matter soon..."
"Okay!" she nodded.
"What's going on with King Zhenbei recently?"
Jiu Xiao lowered his eyes. "My subordinates have been disguising themselves as hunters from the Northern Territory and conducting night raids on the Dagan border guards stationed in the cedar forest for over three months. They haven't been bothering us much. I think the conflict between Dagan and the Northern Territory will intensify soon... A while ago, the King of Zhenbei was furious and petitioned His Majesty several times, wanting to send troops to the Northern Territory, but His Majesty stopped them each time..."
"Ever since His Majesty issued the decree to purge the northern border of rogues, the King of Zhenbei has been normal, staying in the barracks every day to train his troops."
"It's just..." Jiuxiao hesitated to speak, his eyebrows as sharp as a knife furrowed into a ball.
Jiu Xiao has always been a sensible person, and he would never ask questions that he shouldn't ask. It was rare for her to see him like this. "Just what...you say, I won't punish you."
Although Song Youning had already guessed what he was going to say, he still wanted to wait for him to speak himself.
The moonlight outside the window was obscured by clouds, leaving only the flickering candlelight inside the curtains, stretching the two people's shadows very long. Song Youning glanced at Jiuxiao who was half-kneeling on the ground, looking stiff and submissive, and felt uncomfortable.
Ever since she rescued the brother and sister from the streets of the east city in the cold winter of that year, Jiuxiao and Chuntao have become her most loyal confidants.
Chuntao is lively, but cautious in doing things, bold and careful. Occasionally, when she is in a good mood, he will playfully tease her, like a cheerful little bird.
But Jiuxiao is different
He was like a sword drawn from its sheath, cold, sharp, and without any warmth.
He did whatever she said, without asking why or distinguishing right from wrong, like a tool with its soul sucked out.
She didn't like him doing this. It was obvious that the two of them who saved her brother and sister didn't do so to use them. If she really brought them from one pain to another for her own selfish interests, and turned them from flesh and blood people into puppets who could do whatever they wanted.
What was the point of her saving both of them?
"Why did Your Highness provoke conflict between Dagan and the Northern Territory? I do not understand..."
Indeed, as a princess and the future empress, she should not ignite conflicts between countries, and should even try to stop them.
As a result, not only did she not do so, she was in the middle, fanning the flames and causing unrest on the border between the two countries. She even disguised herself as a northern Rong person to harass her own army... This behavior did not seem like something a crown princess who was about to succeed to the throne would do.
What he instructed them to do recently seemed like he felt that his power was too stable and he wanted to give himself some stimulation.
If the people of Dagan knew about this, calling her a traitor would be a concession... If her father knew about this, he would definitely scold her...
Song Youning smiled, and said confidently: "This war cannot be fought..."
Jiuxiao stole a glance at her and saw that she looked confident of winning. He didn't know what to say. He wanted to dissuade her, but then he remembered that she was always calm and experienced in doing things and never let herself suffer any loss, so he swallowed the words back.
Instead, he carefully reviewed the situation in his mind, wondering if he hadn't understood something and therefore hadn't touched His Highness's intention.
He lowered his eyes in thought, recalling some of the things he had done in the past few months. Putting aside other things, just this month, he and others disguised themselves as Rong soldiers and hunters to harass the Dagan camp no less than eleven times.
According to her plan, she always took action when the army was soundly asleep.
His Highness had already ordered that only harassment be allowed, not a prolonged battle. They would burn food and fodder, beat drums and gongs, or light signal smoke signals. By the time they were ready to march, they had already vanished into the night, leaving no trace.
Not to mention the main force, even this small team responsible for harassment could hardly hold on. Every time they took action at night, they wanted to sleep soundly the next day, let alone them.
Not only do we have to be on guard against the other two nations’ invasions during the day, but we also have to be on guard against their harassment in the middle of the night...
During the last dark night raid, he had seen with his own eyes the soldiers stationed in Dagan drooping with eyelids and yawning non-stop. When they set fire to the granary, several soldiers guarding the grain were so sleepy that they almost fell into the haystack and fell asleep.
Seeing them coming again, there was a piercing hatred in his eyes, and he wanted to skin them alive and beat them...
This can't be fought? Why is he so unconvinced...
"What's going on in the southern border recently?" Song Youning didn't tell him the reason directly, but just told him not to worry, picked up the teacup on the table and took a sip.
Jiuxiao paused, as if he didn't expect her to change the subject. After thinking for a while, he said, "The king of Southern Xinjiang is celebrating his birthday right now, and the whole country is celebrating. I think he has no time to take care of other things, but..."
"But what?"
"According to urgent reports from spies lurking in Southern Xinjiang, the Southern Xinjiang Emperor has been frequently summoning important officials at night lately, ostensibly to hold birthday banquets to celebrate his birthday and to celebrate with his officials...inviting officials to the palace."
"But I ordered my men to secretly monitor him and discovered that after the summoned ministers returned, the palace was completely deserted. I'm afraid they've used a trick to escape, using the birthday banquet as a pretext to discuss important matters... His Majesty's health won't last much longer."
"I'm wondering if the King of Southern Xinjiang is discussing the appointment of a successor with his ministers. After all, his time is running out... The most important thing right now is to decide on the next King of Southern Xinjiang..."
"Oh?" Song Youning narrowed his eyes, thinking, "Who did he meet?"
"The Great Shaman Murong Ze, the Great General Wei Jin... and the eldest princess Hua Nishang"
Song Youning raised his eyebrows, "Hua Nishang?" There was an intriguing smile on the corner of his mouth.
"I remember that, judging by the hierarchy between legitimate and illegitimate children, this eldest princess is the only legitimate daughter in Southern Xinjiang, right? I've heard that her brother's reputation in Southern Xinjiang rivals mine... Do you think a legitimate daughter would be willing to give up the throne to her unworthy illegitimate brother?"
Song Youning knew Hua Nishang and had also heard a little about her younger brother Hua Manlou.
She had been carefully cultivated by her father as the Crown Princess since she was young. Her father had mentioned a few things to the royal family members of the two neighboring countries, but her real understanding of these two people was when she went to the southern border to collect jade as a Golden Branch Prince.
When talking about the southern border, we have to mention its geographical location and the situation of the Three Kingdoms. Its great Gan is the richest in the world, merchants gather here, the people live and work in peace and contentment, and the national strength is strong.
The North is famous for its cavalry. Wherever the cavalry points, the mountains and rivers shake. The soldiers are brave and good at fighting, but the area is desolate and mostly desert.
Although the Southern Territory is the weakest among the Three Kingdoms, it relies on natural barriers. It is surrounded by mountains and has many passes, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack. However, there are piles of gold mines and jade. She also loves to buy gems from merchants in the Southern Territory. They are not only rare but also affordable.
At that time, she tied her hair up and went to southern Xinjiang as a young master of the Golden Branch to collect jade. She happened to hear the story of the eldest princess from Lanzhenge, the largest merchant in the southern Xinjiang at that time.
It can be said that this person is the unfortunate version, and also the version with a younger brother, of Song Youning.
Her mother's family was originally the eldest daughter of the Xie family, the head of the southern Xinjiang family. She controlled most of the jade and gold mines in southern Xinjiang and made a lot of jewelry. Even the jewelry of the entire Three Kingdoms came from her Xie family.
Later, for some unknown reason, she married the unpopular King Qin, who was the king of southern Xinjiang, and gave him full power over the gold mine to compete for the throne.
Later, it developed like an ordinary storybook.
This Qin Wang successfully ascended the throne, and his wife was abandoned. Xie became the queen, but somehow she fell out of favor. Not only that, she only gave birth to one daughter, Hua Nishang, resulting in no son to inherit the throne.
Later, the King of the Southern Territory took in many concubines, but they all died suddenly, leaving only Hua Manlou's biological mother, Bai. Therefore, Hua Manlou had only one son. The trick behind this was obvious.
She heard from the merchants in the southern region that Hua Manlou was the male version of Song Youning in the southern region, a frequent visitor to brothels who were fond of eating, drinking, gambling, and whoring.
The King of the Southern Territory has only one son, so he loves him like a treasure. A few years ago, he even proposed to make him the crown prince.
But for some reason, the high priest observed the celestial phenomena at night and made a divination that "Mars is in conflict with the purple planet, and the young dragon will break its horns." If he forcibly succeeded to the throne, Hua Manlou would suffer a bloody disaster within three years, so the matter was suppressed.
"This..." Jiuxiao hesitated and did not respond. This matter involved the secrets of the southern border, and he could not answer it. He could only answer based on the actual situation.
"She has no choice but to accept it... In the Three Kingdoms, if one wants to inherit the father's business, men are given priority, and then the distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children is made... Although this eldest princess is a legitimate son, she is a woman and naturally cannot inherit her father's position. Of course, not everyone is like your highness, who is blessed by God and brings blessings to the world..."
"oh?"
Song Youning's eyes suddenly turned fierce, and her voice suddenly became cold. "Jiuxiao means...I succeeded to the throne because I don't have a younger brother, so this blessing fell on me?"
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The author has something to say: I always write the southern border as southern Xinjiang, and the conspiracy line that has been buried for a long time has been opened from now on... Suddenly I feel that the line of the third female lead is very interesting, and I want to write it [smirk]
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