The corridors were dyed with a layer of silver and white, and the singing and dancing in the hall had just stopped.
Princess Danyang walked out from the banquet and went towards the officials of the Wei Dynasty and foreign envoys who had stood up, as well as Meng Zaishi who was looking back at her intently.
She walked slowly towards them, her eyes falling on their faces one by one. Perhaps they were overwhelmed by the princess's aura, so they made way for Mu Wanyao to stand in the middle, where she could face the emperor sitting on the throne. Mu Wanyao bowed and lowered her sleeves, looking up: "Father, please allow me to report that it is not that I do not want to marry."
Look up.
In a trance, Mu Wanyao thought of her first marriage when she was less than fifteen years old.
At that time, she couldn't stand here and fight for herself like she does now. When the imperial edict came down, she just accepted it blindly. At that time, she sought help from everyone but no one, and she was very confused, not knowing what fate was waiting for her.
When she was fourteen or fifteen years old, she went to the History Museum to look through history books. She only found a few descriptions of the princesses who were married to the emperor in the past dynasties. She could never return to the court. At that time, Mu Wanyao thought that she would never see her father, the emperor and her mother again. She cried for this. Later, she married to Wuman, and she still held the identity of the Great Wei envoy to make peace between the two countries...
Thinking about it now, Mu Wanyao couldn't help laughing, feeling that he was so naive and stupid in the past.
What Wuman needs is not an envoy from Wei.
What they needed was the noble blood of the Wei Dynasty, and what they needed was the fusion of the blood of the Wei Dynasty. What they needed was for Mu Wanyao and her maids and servants to combine the blood of the Wei Dynasty with that of the Wuman people and give birth to children with better blood.
They need the culture, technology, and knowledge of the Wei Dynasty...
Women are just tools for bearing children.
Back to the present, Mu Wanyao turned to the emperor, the ministers, and Meng Zaishi, and said loudly:
"I am a princess of Wei after all. I shouldn't be willing to marry anyone who wants to marry me. Although you are talking about a 'marriage of peace', it is also my second marriage. I think as a princess, I should have some freedom, right? Shouldn't it be that you can only decide whether to marry someone after he conquers my heart?
"My father and the ministers are here to discuss whether I should stay or go, but it is not something that can be decided in one night. I think the ministers and envoys from various countries will have to discuss for many more days before they can come to a conclusion, right?
"I heard that in Wuman, a man must conquer a woman to marry her. Why can't my princess of Wei do that? No matter what your traditions are, our princesses of Wei can't just marry. I think it's better to be cautious about the alliance between the two countries. You can't just force someone to do something.
"The Wuman people are strong in battle, as they can carry the world on horseback. However, we, the Wei army, have tens of thousands of horses and are well-equipped. We are not cowards, right?
"King Wuman, what do you think?"
Meng Zaishi looked at the swaying dusk.
She raised her chin slightly, her tone casual but with a hint of smile, and when she looked into his eyes, there was also a smile that was seven parts, but three parts of a knife.
Meng Zaishi replied, "Of course. The alliance between the two countries cannot be negotiated in one day. I just fell in love with Your Highness today, and I have no intention of forcing you.
"I would like to ask His Majesty for permission to marry the princess. But of course, His Majesty must be willing to do so."
Seeing Meng Zaishi say this, Mu Wanyao's stiff back was still tense. She looked upwards, knowing that the final say lay with the emperor.
Her father had always hoped that she would go to Wuman and not interfere with the Wei Dynasty.
Although Mu Wanyao knew it might be useless, she couldn't help but plead with the gods and ghosts in her heart, and pray to her deceased mother.
Mother, I don't blame you for wanting me to marry Wuman. But I am your only daughter left. Can you help me in the underworld and help me to speak to my father?
I really don’t want to go to Wuman again.
I will never get married in my life, and I don’t even want to go to Wuman!
Please! Please!
It was unknown whether her prayers had worked or the emperor was not too obsessed with it. The emperor watched for a long time, and after hearing what Mu Wanyao and Meng Zaishi said, he laughed.
The emperor said casually: "The envoy is still in Wei. Let the Secretariat take care of the following matters."
He pulled the prince out of the center of power and didn't let him intervene in the matter. The prince, sitting at the desk, holding the wine jar, froze for a moment, and knew that the emperor knew he didn't want Mu Wanyao to marry, so he directly removed his right to speak.
The prince was silent for a while, and his heart was chilled for a moment, thinking that his father was so heartless to his children. But he didn't say anything.
The King of Qin was somewhat tempted, but his uncle, the Minister of Justice, coughed in the seat behind him and suppressed him, knowing that now was not the opportunity to take the lead.
He finally had a chance to seize power from the crown prince, but he dared not step forward because of the unpredictable mind of the emperor... The King of Qin was so depressed that his face turned blue, and he could only drink more.
The Minister of the Central Secretariat, who had been watching the dispute between the two sides for a long time, heard the emperor let the Central Secretariat handle it, and Liu Xianggong and several other prime ministers stood up from the table and accepted the imperial edict helplessly. The four prime ministers looked at each other and sighed in their hearts, knowing that this task would not be easy to handle.
On the throne above, facing Mu Wanyao again, the emperor's eyes were full of light: "You children's affairs should be solved by yourselves, no need to ask me. I am not that kind of unenlightened father. King Wuman and others want to win the princess' heart, then we can talk about the next step. It's also very interesting for me to watch.
"Just discuss it among yourselves."
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief uncontrollably.
This emperor was a man of deep thoughts and unpredictable mind. In front of the imperial power, everything could be measured and traded, no matter if it was any emotion, any interest, or anyone he liked or had a crush on.
The only advantage of this cold-blooded and heartless emperor was probably that he liked to delegate power and push many government affairs to the princes and ministers to gain experience.
The emperor was not power-hungry.
Only then will the people below have the opportunity to operate.
However, it was precisely because he was not power-hungry that the ministers and princes fought each other to the point of bloodshed, and their respective interests were strangely balanced.
So, the singing and dancing continued, and the wine and food were toasted. The previous discussion about the marriage was so short-lived that it seemed like an illusion to everyone.
-----
In the alley where Princess Danyang's mansion is located, a thin layer of snow covered the ground, and more snow was still floating in the night sky.
The lanterns were placed next to the bushes in the corner of the wall, and half of them had been hung up. Yan Shang and Wei Shu sat shoulder to shoulder in the corner, watching the snow falling from the sky.
Wei Shu's eyes were as black as lacquer and as clear as ice and snow: "I like your highness very much, too."
Yan Shang turned his head to look at him, his eyes were warm. He reached out and brushed the snow off Wei Shu's shoulders, his movements were gentle.
Wei Shu hugged his knees and recalled slowly: "My teacher was the princess's uncle. Before he was demoted to Lingnan, he passed by Luoyang. At that time, I ran away from my home and was sulking outside, and then I met my teacher. My teacher treated me very well. I wanted to go to Lingnan with him, but he sternly rejected me. He said he had no future and I couldn't ruin my own future.
"So the first time I came to Chang'an, I ran away from home secretly with the money my teacher left for me before he left. My mother was a concubine of the Wei family, and I couldn't even get the status of a bastard at first. I was studying in the Wei family, and they didn't like me and excluded me. When I first arrived in Chang'an to look for the princess, I was very nervous and scared."
Wei Shu blushed slightly and drooped her eyelashes.
He whispered: "Because the teacher asked me to go and marry the princess. Although the teacher told me to go two years later, I was afraid all the way to Chang'an... I was afraid that the princess would bully me and oppress me. If it weren't for repaying the teacher... I wouldn't want to go to the princess's mansion.
"Then I met Her Highness. She really... would not humiliate me, just as the teacher said. But I was still very scared at first. I was always afraid that Her Highness would get close to me, and that Her Highness would suddenly ask for marriage."
Yan Shang sighed and put his hand on Wei Shu's shoulder.
Wei Shu, who had just arrived in Chang'an, was about 14 years old. It was not easy for a 14-year-old boy, who was not talkative and did not like to communicate with others, to meet the princess who was four years older than him and who might be his future wife...
Yan Shang said: "So do you often go to see His Highness?"
Wei Shu said: "After she asked me my age, her expression was very strange. But she didn't hate me, and she still took good care of me. She helped me find a house to live in Chang'an and helped me to find servants. She personally went to check for me, for fear that the servants would bully me because I was young and that I would not live well in Chang'an.
"I don't like to talk much, and after she figured it out, she wouldn't let anyone talk to me easily. And she always smiled when she saw me, and she was very happy every time she saw me... She was so happy every time, so I was happy too.
"She treated me very carefully at first, just like a sister. She had a bad temper, but she didn't let me know at first. The first time I saw her get angry, I was shocked, but she comforted me instead, afraid that I would be traumatized, and assured me that she would not get angry with me for no reason. At that time, I thought... this sister is very good."
There was snow on Wei Shu's eyelashes, and the snow melted into water, making his eyelashes sticky.
He turned his head to look at Yan Shang.
Wei Shu said: "In fact, I have long been willing to listen to my teacher and become the prince's consort. I know more and more that it is not easy for the prince. If the prince needs me, I will certainly stand on the side of the prince. But probably because I am too young and I was born in the Luoyang Wei family, the prince is very close to you, second brother Yan, and doesn't let me help her much.
"Brother Yan can be your Highness's retainer. But I can't."
Wei Shu leaned against the wall, raised his head and said quietly: "Even if I have a bad relationship with my family, as long as my surname is Wei, I can't get rid of the benefits provided to me by the Wei family. If I get the benefits, even if I don't help the Wei family myself, others will stand on their own side.
“So the Li family wants to form a marriage with the Wei family, and they want to use me and the princess.
"I think Her Highness likes me... because she smiles when she sees me, and gives me this and that. She gives me whatever I ask for. But her love for me is not the kind of love between a man and a woman, right?"
Yan Shang said softly: "Juyuan, you are a very good...brother. Whether it is to me or to His Highness. We all like you very much."
Wei Shu was a little puzzled, wondering why he liked him? He didn't say anything.
Wei Shu pursed his lips and said, "Because you are all good people."
He was a little unconvinced: "If someone else told me that they liked His Highness, I would definitely be angry and think that person was not worthy of His Highness and did not understand His Highness. But if it was you, Second Brother Yan... I think that Second Brother Yan would do better than me. Only someone like Second Brother Yan can truly open the knot in His Highness' heart and make her live happier. If I were a woman, I would also like Second Brother Yan.
"I've seen the way His Highness looks at Brother Yan. I don't quite understand... but that look is very different.
"Her Highness will smile when she sees me, but she will blush when she sees Second Brother Yan.
"But if Second Brother Yan wants to be with His Highness, will Second Brother Yan object to me coming to see His Highness often?"
Yan Shang looked at him sideways, shook his head, and said softly: "Juyuan, don't say that. No matter what happens between me and Your Highness, no matter whether Your Highness and I can achieve a positive result... Your Highness and I will not hate you. You can always find Your Highness, and you can always find me."
He apologized, "I was on good terms with His Highness in private, but I didn't tell you. I was wrong... but I really didn't know how to tell you. Because our matter is too complicated... Her Highness is not willing... I feel guilty about you... I..."
He paused for a long time, frowning, and was unable to continue speaking several times.
He didn't want to say that Mu Wanyao had some psychological problems, nor did he want to say that he couldn't handle the situation. He was getting more and more unsure about how to deal with Mu Wanyao's affairs, and he was getting more and more worried. If he told Wei Shu... maybe Mu Wanyao would break up with him the next day after she said it the day before?
What a joke.
Wei Shu couldn't help but laugh: "It's rare to see Second Brother Yan looking so troubled, I feel relieved. Only His Highness can make you so embarrassed."
He brushed off the snow on his body, stood up, and looked back at Yan Shang, who was taller than him and stood up with him. Yan Shang also shook his head and smiled, feeling helpless.
Yan Shang said: "Okay, let's not talk about that between brothers. Let's just finish hanging these lanterns."
Wei Shu: “Yeah.”
-----
The palace banquet was over, and Mu Wanyao had performed without any mistakes throughout the whole night, except for that small episode during the banquet.
Her abilities were recognized, and according to the plan, she could have expanded her influence among the Wei court officials... However, if she returned to Wuman, all this would be meaningless.
Mu Wanyao's face was as dark as ink. Fang Tong, Xia Rong and others followed Mu Wanyao at the gate of the palace, and they all went towards the direction of the carriage of the mansion.
Someone followed behind him: "Your Highness!"
The frivolous voice, filled with laughter and inquiry, rustled behind Mu Wan's ears.
Mu Wanyao suddenly turned around and saw Meng Zaishi, who had put on his mask again. Facing the fang mask, Mu Wanyao looked even uglier. She was about to strike him with her palm, but Meng Zaishi grabbed her wrist.
Meng Zaishi smiled and said, "So generous?"
Mu Wanyao said in a cold voice: "You disturbed my life, and you still expect me to be nice to you?"
The hatred in his voice could barely be concealed.
Meng Zaishi was silent for a moment, then released her wrist. He took a step back and said, "When you used my brother and my father to kill me, you didn't look like this. I managed to survive, and I need an explanation from you."
Mu Wan shook her eyes and they suddenly turned red.
She took a step forward and tried to lower her voice. In order to lower her voice, her whole body could not help but tremble slightly, forcing her voice to be hoarse and choked with sobs:
"What kind of explanation? I was in Wuman for two to three years, and your father used me as a prostitute and used me as a reward for others. Isn't that an explanation? You used my body, and I gave you information. Isn't that an explanation?
"Yes, you taught me a lot, but didn't I repay you? You got the stimulation and hidden pleasure from me, do you dare to say that you never did?
“And the sacrifices I made for you… aren’t these an explanation?
"Can't I want to kill you? Don't I have a reason? The last one was your father, the next one is your brother, and after your brother is killed by you, it will be you... Anyway, I am the unchanging Queen Wuman, can't I resist, can't I want to leave? I want to get rid of you, is it wrong for me?"
Every word was dripping with blood, every word was as sharp as a blade, approaching Meng Zaishi's heart inch by inch.
He suddenly felt so painful that he couldn't breathe. It was as if he saw those days in the past, when he saw her crying in his arms...
She stopped crying now, but she looked at him with red eyes, which made him even more heartbroken.
Behind the mask, Meng Zaishi no longer laughed jokingly as before. He said calmly, "My father has wronged you, but I am not the same person as him. You plotted against me and wanted to kill me, but I don't care. Our old grudges are written off.
"Just like you said in the temple... let me pursue you again. Let's start from the beginning, okay?
"Little princess... come back to Wuman with me."
The corners of Mu Wan's lips trembled. She wanted to say many things, but she knew she couldn't.
At least at this moment, she couldn't let the road between her and Meng Zaishi end. If this road ended now... Meng Zaishi became ruthless and conspired with her father, she would still go to Wuman. She couldn't force this person to become ruthless all of a sudden.
Now Meng Zaishi has something to discuss, but it's just, it's just... he thinks she will come back and remember the old love between them.
Mu Wanyao lowered her eyes, did not answer Meng Zaishi's words, and turned away. This time, Meng Zaishi stood quietly and looked at Mu Wanyao's back, and did not chase after her.
He knew that Mu Wanyao was not having a good time in Wuman... but everything is different now.
Now he is the king.
As long as she comes back, as long as she looks back, they will still have a result. After all... they were really good before, he didn't believe that she didn't love him at all.
-----
Following Mu Wan's shaking hands, Fang Tong kept his head down, not allowing himself to look up at Meng Zaishi, for fear that a look of hatred would reveal his true identity.
He still remembered how many of his brothers were killed by Wuman... In the end, only a few of them survived when they returned from Wuman.
Fang Tong was afraid that if she looked up, she would be tempted to kill someone for the princess. This was certainly not Meng Zaishi's fault, but... Meng Zaishi was the Wuman King.
On the other side, Xia Rong, the maid who followed the princess, was confused throughout and did not dare to ask more questions.
From the few words between the princess and the Wuman King, she heard that there seemed to be some hidden story. The Wuman King seemed to like his own princess...but why was the princess angry?
Xia Rong didn't dare to ask more questions, so she could only follow Mu Wan away in a daze.
They arrived at the carriage. Mu Wanyao stood on the ground and watched them drive. When Xia Rong was about to get on the horse, she suddenly pulled Xia Rong down. Amid the maid's exclamations, Mu Wanyao stepped on the stirrup and jumped onto the horse's back.
As soon as the reins were pulled, the white horse turned its head and rushed towards the palace gate in an instant.
In the chaos over there, all they could hear was Fang Tong quickly riding his horse and chasing after the princess, shouting, "Get out of the way! Open the door! It's Princess Danyang, don't offend her!"
Fang Tong shouted again: "Your Highness! Your Highness!"
Mu Wanyao was an excellent horseman. She didn't even wait for Fang Tong. She leaned on the horse's back, her clothes fluttering like snow, and the horse's speed became faster and faster.
As a princess, she learned to ride a horse since she was a child. Later, in Wuman, because the Wuman people had strong cavalry, she also learned good horsemanship from Meng Zaishi.
Indeed, as Meng Zaishi said, many of the things she learned were taught by him.
However, the more this happened, the more she hated it!
The more I hate!
-----
There was heavy snow.
In the evening, he rode his horse and galloped, and the BMW under him moved as fast as lightning.
She left Fang Tong and the others far behind, and kept riding her horse faster as if she didn't care about her life.
She wants to kill Meng Zaishi! She must kill Meng Zaishi!
The whistling wind is in my ears and the snow freezes into ice on my eyelashes. Only in this way can my brain go blank when I shake it in the evening.
However, in the blank, she couldn't help but think -
Repeating it over and over again, everything will be in vain if you are not careful.
The shame left in Wuman and the abandoned past.
The cold-heartedness of the emperor, the power-grabbing of the queen mother, and the schemes among the brothers.
What did she do wrong to end up with such a life?
Did she commit some unforgivable mistake that caused her life to be so difficult?
-----
The distance between the palace, the imperial city and the princess's mansion is not far.
That day, Mu Wanyao used this as an excuse to let Yan Shang live next door and be her neighbor.
What's more, Mu Wanyao rode so fast tonight that before her anger had even subsided, she had already ridden into the neighborhood where the princess's mansion was located and headed straight for the alley.
At the entrance of the alley stood a man with his back to her, holding a lantern. There was a bamboo ladder on the wall, and a servant was standing on the ladder fiddling with the lantern.
Mu Wanyao didn't react at all to what they were doing. She didn't slow down her horse and rushed straight into the alley.
Hearing the fierce sound of horse hooves, the servant standing on the bamboo ladder turned around first, and was shocked to see a very fast horse rushing towards them. Then the young man standing on the ground holding the lantern spread his sleeves and turned around to look behind him -
Yan Shang and Mu Wan Yao looked at each other.
Mu Wan was stunned, wondering if it was an illusion. Why did he appear in her nightmare?
Yan Shang was always clear and bright, and he smiled at her gently, but at this moment, when she was riding on the horse and rushing forward quickly, she looked at him and saw panic in his eyes.
It was rare for her to hear Yan Shang ignore his gentlemanly manners and shout, "Shake, reins—"
Mu Wan came back to her senses and realized that when she was staring at Yan Shang, the reins had been loosened from her hands. The horse ran into the alley, raising its hooves and running away without caring about anything. How dangerous it was!
Fortunately, Mu Wanyao was an excellent rider. She was distracted for a moment, and when she came to her senses, she clamped the horse's belly, bent her body even lower, and breathed at the same speed as the horse. She lay on the horse and reached out to touch the reins, but then she grabbed them.
The horse's hooves slipped in the snow, and the reins were suddenly pulled tightly.
The horse fell to the ground and knelt down. The girl riding on the horse held the reins tightly, but she finally lost her strength and was thrown into the snowdrift.
Mu Wanyao was buried in the snow, choking and coughing. She had difficulty breathing, and everything in front of her was white. Then the whole white world was opened, and a long and beautiful hand stretched out from outside.
Yan Shang knelt on the ground, dug through the snow, and carried out the person buried underneath. His whole body was trembling, and for a moment he was so shocked that he couldn't speak. He held her face with his cold hands, and looked down at her with snow on his eyelashes.
Mu Wanyao guessed that she had made him worried.
She said, "I'm sorry..."
She was suddenly hugged tightly by Yan Shang.
Mu Wanyao was held in his arms in a daze, listening to his breathing, thinking: What did I do right to meet such a person and have such a good life?
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