"I'm good-looking, you'll definitely like me."
*
Just then, a series of hurried footsteps suddenly came from outside the courtyard gate.
A man dressed in Tibetan noble attire strode in, the bronze token hanging at his waist jingling with each step—it was none other than Tashi Dorje, Songtsen Gampo's confidant and commander of the Iron Guard.
"Miss Xu!" Tashi Dorje clasped his hands in a respectful greeting, his expression grave. "The warhorse stable has suddenly fallen into a frenzy, with dozens of fine horses foaming at the mouth. His Highness has ordered me to immediately summon you to provide medical assistance!"
Xu Qingyao's eyes flashed; Songtsen Gampo was involved here. She glanced at the broken medicine bowl on the ground; the brown medicine had seeped into the cracks in the stone, faintly gleaming with an eerie light.
"Please, Lord Dorjee, arrange for people to administer the medicine to these people." As she placed the real antidote into the other person's palm, she glanced at the maid, "Their condition cannot be delayed."
Dorjee's pupils contracted slightly, and he immediately understood: "Someone! Take care of the patient according to Miss Xu's prescription!"
As he turned, his cloak billowed up, cleverly concealing the unidentified crystal that Xu Qingyao had taken from the dregs of the medicine.
Outside the stable, dozens of warhorses were kicking the fence wildly, their blood and foam staining their snow-white manes dark red. Songtsen Yunlie, dressed in a black close-fitting outfit, stood on the high platform. When he saw Xu Qingyao arrive, a glint of light flashed in his eyes.
The second prince, Songtsen Losang, was drinking and chatting with the Western Turkic envoy, with several open sacks of feed lying at their feet.
“Miss Xu, you’ve come at the perfect time.” Songtsen Yunlie suddenly raised his voice, “These warhorses have suddenly fallen ill, I don’t know…”
“It’s snow wolfsbane,” Xu Qingyao interrupted loudly, deliberately letting her voice reach the ears of the Western Turkic envoy. “This poison requires a thousand-year-old snow lotus from the sacred mountain of Tibet as a catalyst.” Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the wine cup in the envoy’s hand suddenly wobble.
“Miss Xu, you are truly remarkable,” Songtsen Losang retorted. “Just now you said you needed my tribe’s Snow Lingzhi to save people, and now you’re asking for my tribe’s Thousand-Year Snow Lotus. Do you think these treasures are just common grass?”
Xu Qingyao remained calm and took out a crystal-like herb from her sleeve: "What a coincidence, I happen to have one here." She lightly twirled it between her fingers, and the herb refracted a seven-colored halo in the sunlight. It was the thousand-year-old snow lotus unique to the sacred mountain of Tubo.
She just redeemed it from the system.
The Western Turkic envoy abruptly stood up, his scimitar flashing half an inch from its sheath: "How could the people of the Central Plains possess..."
“I have a friend,” Xu Qingyao tossed the snow lotus to Songzan Yunlie, but his gaze was fixed on the envoy’s trembling hand. “He knows everything and has everything, so it’s not surprising that he has a thousand-year-old snow lotus.”
System: I feel like I've been praised!
"It's a pity he died young." Xu Qingyao sighed and shook her head. "This is the last thing my friend left me."
System: Okay, that's definitely not what it's talking about.
The horse ranch suddenly fell silent.
Songtsen Yunlie laughed loudly and lightly flicked the jade pendant at his waist with his fingertips: "Miss Xu, I, the Crown Prince, will exchange this snow lotus for three salt lakes."
Upon hearing this, the Western Turkic envoy slammed his sword sheath heavily onto the table: "My Turkic people offer five Ferghana horses!"
"Ten horses." Songtsen Gampo didn't even lift his eyelids, taking out a roll of sheepskin map from his bosom, "plus a ten-year mining right for the Bailongdui Salt Lake."
The envoy's face turned ashen. Suddenly, he tore off the gold bracelet from his wrist: "Add another Khan's gold seal! With this seal, you may freely enter and leave the twelve tribes of the Turks!"
Xu Qingyao toyed with the snow lotus, noticing out of the corner of her eye that Songtsen Yunlie had quietly sealed off the exit of the horse ranch. Suddenly, she tossed the snow lotus into the air—
"Why must you two fight over it?" Amidst the seven-colored halo, the snow lotus split in two. "Why not each take what they need?"
A dazzling arc of multicolored light traced through the air. Songtsen Gampo's body darted about like a hawk, displaying the Tibetan royal family's lightness skill, "Flying Goose in the Snow Region," to its fullest extent; the Western Turkic envoy roared, his curved sword slashing through the air towards the trajectory of the snow lotus.
Taking advantage of the chaos, Xu Qingyao slipped into the stable.
[The host has more than just Snow Wolf Venom...] the system notification appears.
She pried open the mouth of a black horse, revealing unidentified crystals between its teeth: "And alfalfa from the Western Frontier."
He lightly sniffed the horse feed with his fingertips, his brow furrowing suddenly. "It's mixed with the Central Plains' Hundred-Day Intoxication—this will drive the horses to madness and death!"
She quickly wrote down the prescription, and the handwriting on the parchment seemed to glow with a faint golden light:
Three qian of snow lotus is used as a guide, combined with wolfsbane root to neutralize the medicinal properties, and supplemented with...
Suddenly, a heavy thud was heard behind them. The Western Turkic envoy collapsed in the fodder pile, his face covered in blood. Songtsen Yunlie walked steadily towards them, holding half a broken snow lotus. His black battle robe was torn in several places, but it could not hide the sharpness in his eyes.
"Miss Xu," he said, handing her the blood-stained snow lotus, "has the prescription been prepared?"
Xu Qingyao handed over the prescription, not forgetting to ask for payment: "I hope the eldest prince will keep his word regarding the three salt lakes, the ten Akhal-Teke horses, and the ten-year mining rights to Bailong Salt Lake."
Songtsen Yunlie took out a sheepskin land deed from his bosom and handed it to Xu Qingyao: "Please keep the land deed for the three salt lakes, young lady. The rest of the consultation fee will be sent to your room later."
He glanced at the unconscious Western Turkic envoy and frowned slightly: "I was a bit too heavy-handed just now. Please take a look at his injuries. After all..." He paused slightly, "The Western Turkic delegation came to discuss business with Tibet. It would be inappropriate for them to die on Tibetan territory."
Xu Qingyao took the land deed, ran her fingertips along the edge of the deed, and confirmed the authenticity of the seal.
She crouched down to examine the messenger's injuries, and gently applied silver needles to several acupoints to stop the bleeding.
"It's nothing serious, just a superficial wound." As she stood up, she discreetly concealed a silver needle as thin as a hair into her sleeve. "Have someone carry me back to rest for three days."
Songtsen Yunlie nodded and beckoned two guards: "Escort Miss Xu back to her room, and make sure there are no mistakes along the way." He then added in a low voice: "The palace has been rather unsettled lately. If Miss Xu has nothing else to do, please stay indoors for the time being."
Xu Qingyao bowed slightly and followed the guards out of the horse farm.
***
In the flickering candlelight of the Sixth Prince's study, the scout knelt on one knee: "Reporting to the Sixth Prince, although the Western Turkic envoy was injured in yesterday's incident at the Tibetan horse farm, the secret talks between the Tibetan Crown Prince and the Turks are still ongoing."
A fine crack appeared on the bronze wine vessel in Yuwen Heng's hand with a "crack". On the sheepskin map hanging below, the black flags representing Tibet and the Western Turks had already formed an encirclement.
“Songzan Yunlie is quite cunning.” Xiao Zhouyan’s fingertips swept across the sand table, and three white jade chess pieces suddenly pressed down on the positions of the three salt lakes in the western region. “On the surface, he is giving away the salt lake land deeds, but in reality, he is paving the way for the Turkic cavalry to advance.”
Yuwen Heng suddenly swept half a chessboard aside with a flick of his sleeve: "That fool Mu Kun! Does he really think he can seize the throne by colluding with the Turks?" He turned to Xiao Zhouyan, his eyes filled with murderous intent: "It's time to close the net."
At midnight, the elite Xuanjia Army sneaked into Mu Kun's residence like ghosts. When Yuwen Heng kicked open the hidden door to the study, Mu Kun's personal guard commander was burning a secret letter. The words "Snow Wolf Poison Formula" could be faintly seen on the sheepskin remaining in the brazier.
"You..." The commander's hand, which had been drawing its sword, was pinned to the wall by Xiao Zhouyan, who was masked.
“Tell Mu Kun,” Yuwen Heng crushed the ashes of the secret letter on the ground, “that his three thousand private soldiers hidden in Bailongdui are now the border guards of Gaochang.” As he spoke, he threw a blood-stained wolf-tooth token on the table, a token bestowed upon Mu Kun by the Western Turkic Khan.
*
Before the morning mist had dissipated, Xu Qingyao was already standing at the horse farm.
The warhorses that had been treated with the medicine last night were now chewing on hay mixed with herbs, and several chestnut horses still had purple dregs of the medicine clinging to their manes. She touched some of the dregs with her fingertips and sniffed them lightly, her brow furrowing slightly; the toxicity was three times stronger than she had expected.
"Are you satisfied with these ten horses, young lady?"
Songtsen Gampo was already standing by the horse stable, his black cloak damp with morning dew.
The Akhal-Teke horses led by his personal guards were as red as flames. One of them, with a white star on its forehead, suddenly raised its head and neighed, its front hooves digging deep holes in the sand.
“The Tibetan Akhal-Teke horses are spirited and need to be trained to recognize their master.” He personally untied the reins. “Where is the young lady’s residence? I will send someone to deliver her.”
Xu Qingyao stroked the horse's neck and told her the location of her mother's former caravan: "Qinglu is thirty miles south of Gaochang City."
“What a coincidence.” Songtsen Yunlie suddenly took a step closer. “The thousand-year-old snow lotus from yesterday, according to the shaman’s examination, grew right above the snow line near Qinglu.”
His fingertips brushed against the jade pendant at Xu Qingyao's waist. "According to the customs of my Tubo, whoever finds the snow lotus should be treated as an honored guest. Do you know, young lady... that this green pavilion was originally the villa of my Tubo High Priest twenty years ago?"
"Oh? That's fate."
“That’s not all…” He suddenly leaned close to her ear, “Twenty years ago, a woman from the Central Plains moved in there with a Golden Lotus Token, and then…”
"What happened next?" Xu Qingyao looked up and distanced herself from him.
“I heard that on a snowy night, she rescued a child who had collapsed by the roadside on the trade route,” he said slowly. “This child was the last disciple of the Tibetan high priest, who had been punished with confinement for making a mistake. He had run away but got lost. She took the child to the high priest’s residence, and to express his gratitude, the high priest gave the woman a bronze token carved with lotus flowers.”
Later, this woman brought many supplies from the Central Plains that Tibet lacked, and presented the bronze token to request trade with Tibet.
"Miss Xu, is there anything you wish to ask?"
Songtsen Gampo smiled gently.
Xu Qingyao glanced up indifferently and said, "No."
“I forgot to mention earlier,” Songtsen Gampo slowly approached, “the Tibetans treat those who collect snow lotus as honored guests, and if they are of marriageable age, they can marry into the Tibetan royal family.”
[Beep—"Escape from Marriage Mode" triggered. Please complete "Escape from Marriage 3" as soon as possible. Generous rewards await.]
Xu Qingyao: ? ? ?
"What do you think, young lady?" The man before her smiled like a fox.
***
Inside the Tibetan royal palace.
Xu Qingyao suddenly pushed open the door, but was stopped by two iron guards with their swords drawn.
"Miss, please return." The guard said expressionlessly, "You are not permitted to leave before the wedding."
She sneered and looked around—the once elegant room was now covered with bright red brocade, and the twin lotus flowers embroidered with gold thread shone brightly under the candlelight. There was even a golden goblet of nuptial wine, which was used for weddings of the Tibetan royal family, on the table.
"Has Songtsen Gampo gone mad?" She traced the eagle totem engraved on the wine vessel with her fingertips. "When did I ever agree to marry him?"
The guard remained silent, but a low laugh came from outside the door: "According to Tibetan custom, a woman who can pick a thousand-year-old snow lotus should be the queen of the king."
Songtsen Yunlie leaned against the door, his dark gold wedding robes accentuating his sharp features. In his hand, he toyed with a blood-red jade pendant—the very one Xu Qingyao had carelessly dropped yesterday.
“Besides…” he suddenly moved closer, the scent of cedar brushing against her ear, “the child your mother saved twenty years ago was me.”
“Your mother once said that if she gave birth to a daughter, she would marry her to me.” He fastened the jade pendant for her again. “She also said that I am good-looking and you would definitely like me.”
"You..." Xu Qingyao had never seen anyone so shameless before.
...
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