Yan Xiao and Shen Muzhi discussed it and decided that now was not the time to acknowledge Lou Guyu.
These are turbulent times, fraught with crises. Lou Guyu is a key figure in the fight against the Miao people. If we were to recognize him now, it might affect his state of mind.
So, to be on the safe side, it's best to wait until he returns to Jiangbei before making any decisions, to avoid causing trouble.
As night fell, Yan Xiao left with others under Shen Muzhi's arrangement.
Yan Xiao and his entourage disguised themselves as ordinary merchants and lived peacefully for several days without encountering any troublesome dangers. The refugees who tried to rob them were easily driven away.
“Madam, we’ve entered Qiliancheng’s territory. To be on the safe side, let’s go along the edge of the city.”
Qiliancheng is a relatively wealthy city. What's most talked about is that the current ruler of Qiliancheng is a woman, and a beautiful one at that.
I've heard that this woman has been hiding in the deep mountains since her father's generation, ruling as a bandit queen. She's a native female bandit.
Later, due to the chaos of the times, she dared to leave the mountain and, with her people, seized the opportunity to occupy Qilian City.
Some people initially looked down on her as a woman, but she managed to hold Qi Liancheng and used her strength to make people not dare to underestimate her.
In the original story, when Shen Muzhi was short of food, this female bandit chose to help him without hesitation.
Because of this favor, after Shen Muzhi succeeded, he directly bestowed upon her the title of Prince Qi, and Qilian City became her fiefdom. She can be considered one of the ultimate winners.
At the time, many readers even shipped her with Shen Muzhi, thinking that she was a confidante arranged by the author for Shen Muzhi.
As it turns out, this character didn't appear much, as if the author didn't know how to resolve Shen Muzhi's crisis at the time and just randomly assigned him as a character.
Yan Xiao is somewhat interested in this future queen, but because of her existence, the timeline is now different from before, and her future path is uncertain.
Not knowing whether they were friend or foe, she didn't have the arrogant habit of sending herself into someone else's territory, so she nodded in agreement with the attendant's suggestion.
As soon as she nodded, some commotion came from not far away. Not only did she sense it, but the experts that Shen Muzhi had arranged for her also sensed it.
They immediately and defensively shielded Yan Xiao in the middle, and at the same time, two men appeared in their field of vision.
The two men were not hiding their whereabouts, nor did they exude any murderous aura; they seemed to have no ill intentions.
But it walked straight towards Yan Xiao, which puzzled Yan Xiao.
As the two were about to approach, Yan Xiao's men drew their swords and pointed them directly at the two opposite them.
The leader was Wu Jian, one of Shen Muzhi's deputy generals. Shen Muzhi had specially arranged for him to escort Yan Xiao.
He stepped forward, raised his longsword, and shouted sharply:
"Who goes there? Stop right now, or my sword won't be so merciful."
The two men didn't show any displeasure upon hearing the voice; instead, they stopped in their tracks, cupped their hands, and said:
"We are from Qilian City. We have been ordered by our city lord to invite our distinguished guests to come and sit down, so as to fulfill our duty as hosts."
Although the two men were quite friendly, Wu Jian not only didn't let his guard down, but became even more wary.
Not many people knew about their trip, but the two men's words clearly indicated that they knew their identities, which set off alarm bells in his mind and gave him a hint of murderous intent in his eyes.
The person opposite clearly saw through it and quickly cupped his hands in greeting, continuing:
"Honorable guest, please do not misunderstand. We have no ill intentions. It's just that my city lord has heard a lot about your lady's deeds and would like to invite you to have a chat with her."
He took an envelope from his pocket and continued:
"This is a letter from my city lord that he asked us to deliver to your lady. My city lord's intention is that if you wish to see her after reading this letter, you may come with us."
If you are unwilling, then it is not meant to be. Madam can rest assured that you can travel through Qilian City without worry. She guarantees that no one will stop you within Qilian City's territory, nor will she reveal your whereabouts.
Yan Xiao became interested after hearing this and wanted to know what the city lord meant, and was even more curious about how she got the information.
Yan Xiao gestured for Wu Jian to take the letter. Although Wu Jian felt it was inappropriate, he dared not disobey and had no choice but to step forward and take the letter.
Because Shen Muzhi had given him a strict order: he must treat Yanxiao the same way he treated him, and he must not disobey in return, or he would be punished according to military law.
Wu Jian took the envelope and examined it carefully, finding nothing unusual. Still somewhat uneasy, he leaned closer and whispered:
“Madam, we have no prior relationship with Qi Liancheng, and he has also been affected by the Gu poison. I am worried that there may be a trap here.”
My subordinate thinks the safest course of action is to kill these two directly and then take a detour back to the city.
Yan Xiao has always been very perceptive of danger, but from the moment she spoke until now, she has not sensed any malice from the two people opposite her.
Even so, she dared not let her guard down. Since the city lord knew her movements, he was very likely aware that the Gu poison incident was related to Jiangbei City.
It's unclear whether they are friend or foe. If we kill these two without distinguishing right from wrong, it would be tantamount to slapping the city lord in the face, and they would become enemies even if they weren't.
Thinking this through, Yan Xiao hesitated for a moment before saying:
"Open the letter and take a look first."
Wu Jian dared not disobey, so he quickly opened the letter and handed it to Yan Xiao after confirming that there was only one piece of paper inside.
Yan Xiao took the letter and opened it immediately. But when she saw what was on the paper, her pupils contracted and her expression went blank for a moment.
Seeing his reaction, Wu Jian was somewhat worried:
"Madam, what's wrong?"
Yan Xiao blinked, but didn't reply. Instead, she looked directly at the two men from Qi Liancheng's group and said:
"Did your city lord say anything else?"
The two exchanged a glance, then shook their heads simultaneously: "No."
Yan Xiao hadn't expected the two to say anything, so she wasn't too disappointed after hearing this.
She nodded and said, "Give me a moment to consider."
The two men had no objections and their attitude remained unchanged: "Please proceed, Madam."
While he said he would consider it, he had actually begun frantically calling for his guardian angel.
After only two calls, the guardian spirit responded:
"What's going on? Is someone going to die?"
"I have a question for you." Yan Xiao was unusually good-natured.
"explain."
"that is......"
He paused, about to utter a joke, then thought for a moment before asking:
"If this world is the world in the book, does its timeline begin from the beginning of the book? How will content not in the book be generated?"
The guardian spirit was speechless, not expecting Yan Xiao to ask such a stupid question.
"Your question is like asking whether the chicken or the egg came first."
Let me give you a simple example. The book begins with the male protagonist being conscripted into the army, so his father, who died early, doesn't exist, and his grandfather is never mentioned. But without them, where would the male protagonist come from?
They all existed from the moment the world was created; that is the wonder of this vast world.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com