That night, Luo Zhen thought a lot. He sat in the study all night, wrote a letter and asked the servant to take it to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. He leaned back in the chair, his back no longer straight, and he seemed to have aged ten years in an instant, as if all his strength had been drained away.
The imperial edict arrived the next day, and along with it came the Chief Justice of the Dali Temple. Luo Zhen and his family knelt on the ground to receive the edict.
"The Emperor, by the Mandate of Heaven, decrees: The daughter of Luo Zhen, Lord of Luobian City, has behaved inappropriately, been disrespectful and disobeyed military orders, and is therefore subject to execution according to the law! Luo Zhen is deposed from his position as Lord of Luobian City, all his property is confiscated, and he is exiled to Ningguta. I hope you will sincerely repent. This is my decree!"
Luo Zhen and his wife knelt on the ground in a daze. Zhihua was also terrified. She had done nothing wrong, so why should she die? How could she be beheaded according to the law?
Guanzhao put away the imperial edict and looked at Luo Zhen's family on the ground with a mocking look, "Lord Luo, accept the edict."
Luo Zhen was in tears, his ears filled with his wife's desperate cries and his daughter's helpless sobs. He took the imperial edict tremblingly, thinking back over his life, wondering what sins he had committed to deserve such an end.
Luobian City was in an uproar. The people didn't know what was going on and gathered at the city lord's house to watch the excitement.
"What's going on?"
"Who knows?"
"I heard it was disobeying military orders. Didn't the Xianbei issue a declaration of war, expecting Lord Luo to send troops for support? Lord Luo didn't send troops, so isn't this..."
"Why? Disobeying military orders is a serious crime."
"That's right, look, look, they've ransacked the entire house."
"What a shame, Lord Luo is a good official."
"But... everyone knows his wife. She's ruthless. I had a distant relative who worked for her two years ago. He was beaten to death for breaking a vase, and he ended up paying money to settle the matter."
"Ah... like this, does City Lord Luo know about this?"
"...I don't know about that. But what good would it do if I knew? What good would it do if I didn't know? Can my wife still pay for her own murder?"
Guan Zhao's men intercepted a letter sent by Luo Zhen. He saw the words "Your Highness's Personal Letter" on the envelope and smiled. "If I had known this would happen, I wouldn't have done it in the first place."
"Sir, what shall we do with this letter?"
Guan Zhao took a look at it and threw it to his men, "Since it is a letter from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, then send it to His Royal Highness."
"yes."
Gu Zhen couldn't describe his feelings when he received the letter. He hesitated for a moment, then calmly opened it. "Your Highness, please don't be upset when you see this letter. I already know my mistakes. I neglected to discipline my family for so many years, which led to this disaster. It's too late to regret. Your Highness still remembers your kindness to me. I hope you take care of yourself and will repay me in the next life with a piece of grass and a ring."
What's the point of coming to his senses at the last moment? What had he been doing before? He had allowed himself to be confused for so many years. Gu Zhen burned the letter after reading it. There was nothing worth keeping.
With the arrival of early winter, the border fortress welcomed the first snow. The air was filled with cold and dryness. The soldiers changed into winter clothes and trained in the training ground. Song Jiaren could not help but pull down her collar, shrink her neck, and stomp her feet on the ground to relieve the cold.
She now began to miss her down jacket and hot packs, wishing she could bring them back to ancient times.
Gu Zhen walked down from the stands and held her frozen hands, wrapping them in his big hands to warm them. "Go back when you've seen enough. It's cold outside."
Song Jiaren was afraid of the cold, but she didn't want to stay in the tent in a daze. She could neither embroider nor write or paint, and she could only recognize a few ancient traditional Chinese characters. Her only entertainment was to go out and watch the soldiers train and to wander around the vegetable shed and chicken coop.
"Your Highness, I also want to learn swordsmanship."
Gu Zhen asked inexplicably, "Oh? Didn't you say before that fighting and killing were too rough and not suitable for a weak woman like you?"
"Well, actually, I have always had a dream of being a hero. I hope that one day I can travel the world with a sword." Song Jiaren actually just wanted to have some self-protection ability so that she would not be like a weak chicken next time she goes to the battlefield.
Gu Zhen looked at her speechlessly as she spoke seriously. "You can learn sword skills, but if you just want to learn some basic skills, sword skills are not suitable for you. They are too conspicuous. You can practice daggers and hidden arrows."
He remembered that when he returned to the camp exhausted, he was afraid of waking her up but ended up scaring her. At that time, she had a dagger hidden under her pillow. She must have been scared and insecure.
Song Jiaren had a dagger given by His Highness, but she had never had the chance to use it. There were so many gems on it, and she had tried to pick them off for a long time but couldn't get a single one off. It would be nice if she could learn this. "Then I'll use the dagger, thank you."
She took out a dagger inlaid with various gems from her sleeve. Gu Zhen's mouth twitched. He had thought that there were too many gems on the dagger and it was dazzling, so he gave it to her. He didn't expect that she had kept it until now and it was still so gorgeous.
"Watch this." Gu Zhen held her hands holding the daggers, and his waist was also fixed. He pressed against her back and said in a low voice, "Remember."
Song Jiaren widened her eyes and her body involuntarily followed him forward. She couldn't see what moves he used, but she saw the dagger shining with a cold light and moving lightly and swiftly.
Gu Zhen let go of his hand and stood aside. "Do you understand? Try practicing it again."
Song Jiaren tried hard to recall the action just now, but found that she could not remember the action at all. She only remembered the feeling of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince hugging her on her back.
She started gesturing left and right a few times, looking confused.
"I forgot... Can you do it again?"
Gu Zhen shook his head and smiled. "When I was learning sword, my master would practice once and I could perform it exactly as it was. But you didn't remember anything at all."
He sighed again and said, "Forget it, I will teach you step by step."
He leaned forward and hugged Song Jiaren's waist from behind, wrapped her delicate little hand holding the dagger, and whispered in her ear, "Come...pay attention to the dagger..."
Song Jiaren was surrounded by a lonely and cold aura, and it was difficult for her to concentrate. She could only try her best to follow his movements.
After practicing for half an hour, she was sweating all over. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was like a furnace. She felt a little hot after being held by him for a long time. Could this be the legendary internal force?
"Your Highness, do you have internal strength? The kind where you can sink your energy into your dantian and slap someone away with one palm, or the kind where you can climb walls and fly over rooftops?" Song Jiaren asked excitedly.
Gu Zhen raised his eyebrows and looked at her face. Suddenly, he sighed, "Read less storybooks. Even a three-year-old wouldn't ask such a question."
Song Jiaren really didn't know, and she kept pestering him, asking, "Then can you do it?"
Gu Zhen glanced at her, then at the withered branches in the distance, and said calmly, "Internal force is Dantian force. It's a kind of overall force that martial artists use to generate strength through their abdominal muscles. It's not as magical as you imagine. Martial artists have been carrying heavy loads since childhood, so they can jump higher and run faster, but they are far from being able to fly over eaves and walk on walls. What you said is only in storybooks."
Song Jiaren was stunned and said "Oh", her fantasy was shattered. She thought that ancient martial arts were very powerful, but it turned out to be just like this.
Seeing her look of disgust, Gu Zhen added, "But don't underestimate martial artists. Their speed and strength are beyond the reach of ordinary people. It's easy for them to fight three or five people at once."
Song Jiaren reacted and realized that after all, dealing with a weakling like her could be done with just a flick of the finger.
Gu Zhen and Song Jiaren returned to the tent to rest. There was a small stove in the tent with some charcoal burning.
When Song Jiaren returned to the tent, she would sit around the stove to feel warmer. If she sat further away, she would feel the cold. The winter in the north was really cold.
Why not connect a stove and a kang?
She suddenly grabbed the Crown Prince who was drinking tea nearby and said, "This stove...can you connect a pipe from the side and extend it upwards? That way the heat can go up and warm the whole tent."
Then he said, "It would be even better if we could build a kang (fire bed). We could put charcoal or firewood underneath and the whole kang would be warm. It would be so comfortable to lie on. But this tent might not be suitable. It's not heat-resistant. I guess the kang won't burn the tent for more than a few days."
Gu Zhen said, "It sounds good when you say that, but I've never seen anything like this before. Can you draw it? I'll give it to a skilled craftsman to study and see if they can make it according to your description."
Song Jiaren picked up a brush and drew the stove and kang. "The internal structure is roughly like this. The overall idea is to let the heat circulate, so that the whole body is warm."
Gu Zhen picked up the simple blueprint and said, "This thing is quite novel. It would be nice if it could be made. However, your drawing skills are a bit..."
"My skills are pretty good, okay? I've used the simplest lines to outline the main idea." Song Jiaren picked up the brush and drew a few more strokes, and drew a cute version of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, holding a sword with an expressionless face. "This is for you."
Gu Zhen looked at it for a long time and said, "This... is me?"
“Isn’t it very vivid?”
"Although the lines are simple and uneven in thickness, they are indeed quite interesting." Gu Zhen asked doubtfully, "Did you learn all this from travel notes?"
Song Jiaren was stunned for a moment. Has she become a little too proud of herself recently?
First it was antipyretics, then hot pot, later it was dynamite and now stoves and kangs. Could it be that they were all seen in travel notes?
But if she didn't say that, she really couldn't think of any other excuse.
Will His Royal Highness the Crown Prince believe it?
Song Jiaren said with a wandering look, "...Yes."
Gu Zhen held up his head. Song Jiaren watched him trembling with fear as he rubbed his forehead with his fingers. His voice remained gentle as he said, "I won't ask for now. You'll tell me when you want to. Things like stoves, kangs, and hot pots can benefit the people, are simple to make, and won't cause any trouble. But you must never mention the explosives you mentioned before. I'm afraid you'll become a target for someone with ulterior motives."
Song Jiaren regretted saying it that day, and later realized how great an impact this incident had on ancient people. In modern times, everyone wants to be the first to try something new, but in ancient times, she had no ability to protect herself and would become cannon fodder in the face of absolute power.
She nodded solemnly, "I understand."
His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has been very good to her and always considers her safety. These words touched her heart and she felt safe around him.
A few days later, the stoves in the camp were reworked and an upward pipe was added to the side. They burned the same charcoal fire but it was much hotter than before.
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