Nanman, located in the southwest of Wei, is a neighbor that still practices tribal slavery and is barbaric and warlike. It has been a headache for Wei for hundreds of years.
There are five tribes in the Southern Barbarians, each with a noble king. Wuman is one of the five tribes.
The five Nanman tribes had been fighting for many years, and the Nanman King had no deterrent power. In the chaos, the Wuman tribe united their voices, pledged allegiance to the Wei Dynasty, and asked to marry the Wei princess in order to form an alliance.
In order to alienate the five tribes of the Southern Barbarians and prevent them from unifying, the Wei Dynasty naturally agreed to Wu Man's marriage policy. The Wei Dynasty also wanted to support Wu Man to take the throne, let the Wu Man King become the king of the five tribes of the Southern Barbarians, and unify the Southern Barbarians.
In order to show its determination, the Wei Dynasty married the Queen's own daughter, Princess Danyang, who was only fifteen years old at the time, to the King of Wuman, who was already in his early thirties.
Princess Danyang married King Wuman, and King Wuman's original queen was demoted to a concubine.
Because the marriage was between the emperor's own daughter and the empress's youngest daughter, not just an ordinary princess from the royal family, this significance was extraordinary throughout the Wei Dynasty. When Princess Danyang married Wuman, it was a huge event, and the people of the entire Wei Dynasty were blessing and pitying this young princess.
However, just two years later, the King of Wuman was shot by an arrow in a battle with his tribe. When the king was dying, he passed the throne to his successor.
The successor planned to marry his father's original wife, Princess Danyang, and continue the friendly agreement between Wuman and Wei.
But before his successor married Princess Danyang, internal war broke out.
The new King of Wuman died tragically in the civil war. Princess Danyang and her servants fought their way out of the bloody war and returned to the Wei Dynasty.
Today, the Wuman are still in chaos, and the border troops of the Wei Dynasty cannot find out what the current situation of the five southern barbarian tribes is.
-----
Because this matter was of great importance, many people in the Wei Dynasty paid attention to it.
Now in an ordinary country gentleman's house in Shashui Town, Lingnan, it was raining all night. Yan Shisheng, the second son of the Yan family, revealed Mu Wanyao's identity, making the guards who came to look for the princess at night extremely alert.
The guards drew their swords and said sternly, "As far as I know, the princess has never announced her whereabouts since arriving in Lingnan. How did you know she was the princess?"
Yan Shisheng was still standing in the corridor. He was woken up in the middle of the night and was obviously a little tired. His voice was a little hoarse: "Although she never said her identity clearly, there are many clues left. She said her surname was Mu, and she could play the 'You Xianghe' card that was only available in the Chang'an Palace. In addition, the servants around her respected her very much, so I dared to guess that she was a royal relative of the Mu family.
"The Wuman falling into civil strife is no small matter, and Princess Danyang's return to Chang'an is no small matter either. Everyone in the world has heard about it to some extent.
"The biggest event that happened in Lingnan in the past year was that Mr. Li from the Li family was demoted to Nanhai and became the magistrate of Nanhai County.
"With this connection, I have to guess that Princess Danyang came to Lingnan to visit her uncle, the current Nanhai County Magistrate Li Gong, right?"
The guards blocking the door of the Yan family looked at each other in surprise, because Yan Shisheng's guess was exactly right.
Before they could think about it, Yan Shisheng took the initiative to clear up their confusion: "However, since such an important person as the princess is unwilling to reveal her identity, even if I guessed it, I never told anyone. If you don't believe me, you can ask around."
After he said this, the expressions of the guards standing outside the fence became much better.
The guard leader's face changed several times, and he put away his previous disdainful smile towards the scholar. This scholar was thoughtful and had been with the princess for many days... It was hard to guarantee that he was not a powerful person.
Thinking of this, he turned the knife in his hand toward himself when he bowed to show that he had no ill will towards the scholar.
The guard leader said respectfully: "Since you have guessed our identities, can you tell me where the princess is now?"
In the dark night, Yan Shisheng's face was hidden in the rain, and his long eyebrows slightly raised almost invisibly.
His words were still warm and caring: "The princess left my home three days ago. Why didn't the princess go to the South Sea? Can't you find the princess?"
Everyone smiled bitterly.
In this way, the people blocking the gate of the Yan family did not regard these guards as thieves, but invited them to come in and talk. The guards were afraid of the sharp observation of the second son of the Yan family, and did not dare to underestimate the Yan family. The two sides met in a friendly manner and discussed the matter of finding the princess.
Yan's father, who had been hiding in his room, sighed deeply. He was middle-aged, but his face was still elegant and handsome. Through the crack in the door, he looked at his waiter who was leading the guards into the house with a complicated look.
My son is so capable that a small place like Lingnan probably can’t hide him.
Liu Wenzhi, who was hiding in another room, also came out at this time to help Yan Shisheng and other children to entertain the guard.
After a night of tossing and turning, Liu Wenji's heart was also in ups and downs, sometimes horrified and sometimes disappointed. He never expected that the arrogant girl who had lived in the Yan family before and ignored them was actually the famous Princess Danyang.
Then, that beautiful maid must be the princess's maid... She has such a prominent background.
-----
Yan Shisheng entertained the guards, and the two sides compared clues and immediately decided to go together to find the princess.
When everyone put on their straw raincoats and prepared to go out to look for someone, Yan Xiaozhou, the youngest daughter of the Yan family, took advantage of the others' inattention and pulled her second brother into the corner.
Looking up at his second brother's clear and somewhat tired eyes, Yan Xiaozhou said with a straight face: "Second brother, what are you doing?"
Yan Shisheng raised his eyebrows slightly and asked gently, "What are you asking, little sister?"
Yan Xiaozhou stamped his feet.
Among the several children of the Yan family, Yan Dalang is simple-minded and likes to play with swords and guns. Yan Sanlang is studying with Yan Erlang, but the effect of his study is not obvious. At present, it can only be seen that Yan Sanlang has a loud voice... Among these children, the only one who has some ideas is the young Yan Xiaozhou.
Yan Xiaozhou hid from the guards and whispered anxiously, "Second brother, others may not know you, but don't we know? You guessed the princess's identity a long time ago, but you didn't tell anyone. Are you planning something in secret? How dare you plot against a princess?"
She was extremely panicked: "What on earth are you planning? Will it bring disaster to our family?"
Yan Shisheng's eyes flickered slightly as he looked at her.
Seeing that he didn't say anything, Yan Xiaozhou knew that he was agreeing. Yan Xiaozhou was even more panicked.
Her second brother seemed very harmless and kind to others. He never got angry or lost his temper.
But that doesn't mean her second brother is a particularly upright person.
If a person can make everyone who knows him have a very good impression of him... this person himself is terrifying.
Yan Xiaozhou forced himself to remain calm: "Second brother, what do you think? Should we take this opportunity to escape and seek refuge..."
Yan Shisheng chuckled.
He reached out and rubbed the top of his sister's head: "Little sister, how could I let the whole family take refuge because of me?"
Yan Xiaozhou: "Then between you and the princess..."
Yan Shisheng sighed, "I admit that I did make a small calculation."
Yan Xiaozhou's face turned pale instantly.
Yan Shisheng said, "But my strategy is open, not secret. I will never hurt the princess, so you don't have to worry. I am just... trying out some things and seeking a future."
After he said that, Yan Xiaozhou finally felt relieved.
She laughed at herself again, thinking, what am I afraid of? My second brother is a good man.
Wait, second brother is a good person...right?
-----
The rain has stopped.
Princess Danyang and her companions wandered around the forest for another day, exhausted. It was dark again, and the thick fog filled the forest again.
The guards rested tiredly against the tree stumps.
Mu Wan shook her dagger and sat by the fire. After two days of running around, she still hadn't left the forest. Even though she had a strong character, she couldn't help but feel upset.
As time went on, she began to feel unwell, with alternating hot and cold temperatures and a dizzy head.
Fang Tong came to the princess' side. He lowered his eyes to look at her pale face illuminated by the firelight, and whispered, "Chunhua is still having a high fever and hasn't woken up yet."
Mu Wanyao said "hmm" with a somewhat confused look on her face.
Another guard came over and told the princess in an uneasy voice: "Your Highness, we seem to have run into a 'ghost wall'. We have been wandering in this forest but cannot get out."
His voice was neither loud nor soft. Many guards around him heard the words "ghost wall" and panicked for a moment.
Mu Wanyao glared coldly at the guard who said "ghost wall" and said, "It's just that the weather has been bad these days and there is fog in the forest. You are a bunch of useless people who can't tell the direction. Don't make excuses for your uselessness."
Everyone immediately lowered their heads to reflect on themselves. Although they were scolded by the princess, they were not so panicked because they had the princess as their backbone.
Seeing that they were stabilized, Mu Wan stood up. When she stood up, her body swayed slightly, and Fang Tong quickly supported her.
Mu Wanyao gave Fang Tong a look, and the two of them walked aside.
Fang Tong lowered his voice, worried: "As Your Highness said, the fog in this forest is too thick. If we can't get out, and there's no one to cure the 'snake venom' in Chunhua, I'm afraid we'll die here."
I was lost in thought at dusk.
She said, "Chunhua can't wait any longer, let's get on with our journey."
Fang Tong: "She's just a maid. We're all tired..."
Mu Wan shook her head and said calmly: "Not just a maid."
She stared at Fang Tong with her clear and beautiful eyes and said slowly: "I can lead you out of Wuman, so I can naturally lead you out of this 'ghost wall'."
She looked back at the thick fog covering the sky and earth.
The girl's clear voice rang in everyone's ears: "Since the night I left Wuman, I swore that I would never let anyone around me die or get hurt again!"
She stared at all the guards and said word by word: "I will not abandon any of you! Now, follow me!"
Everyone stared at the princess in amazement, then stood up silently, holding up their weapons. They walked silently among the trees and grass, and they followed the princess firmly amidst the rustling of the grass.
They walked in silence for who knows how long. The fog followed them all the time, and they seemed to be circling in the same place, but no one spoke to disturb their minds.
Mu Wan was walking in the front, and she suddenly heard a sound that suddenly stimulated her drowsy brain. She took two quick steps, pulled aside the half-man-high grass in front of her, and saw someone holding a lantern, walking towards them. She watched silently, and the young scholar walking in the jungle with a lantern suddenly raised his eyes.
The two looked at each other.
...It's Yan Shisheng!
Standing among the weeds, he smiled at her, warm and peaceful: "Madam Mu, how are you?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
