That night, under the cover of darkness, Di Xiu went home, nearly scaring Wei's parents to death. After receiving a mild beating, the couple were relieved to find that he hadn't lost any limbs.
Upon learning that he was the recently rising star He Ming, Wei's father was so angry that he hit him with the sole of his shoe, but he didn't forget to lower his voice and say, "You faked your death, fine, but you even dared to use your real name. Do you think the emperor is easy to fool? Why don't you just say your courtesy name is Zixiao?"
Mother Wei quickly shielded her son and angrily said to Father Wei, "Don't you also not believe that He Ming is our son? The Emperor certainly won't doubt it either."
Emperor Xiu coughed lightly and said, "As the saying goes, it's darkest under the lamp. Your Majesty is convinced that I am dead, so naturally you would never imagine that I would change my name and join the army."
At that time, Xuanji Pavilion helped to fabricate a corpse. Of course, it wasn't free; it cost one of the tuition fees Yanling paid—a yellow-level commission token.
Wei's father suddenly frowned, looking at Di Xiu with suspicion: "Where did you get this skill from?"
"Practice."
Wei's father was furious and pointed at him with his shoe: "I'm asking how you practiced, don't try to fool your father."
Di Xiu paused for 0.1 seconds before decisively shifting the blame: "General Yan discovered that I had excellent physical constitution and that my Ren and Du meridians were open, so he taught me internal energy and swordsmanship."
How did you two get together?
“His men saved me, and I took the opportunity to fake my death. With nowhere to go, I went to him for help.”
"And what about that corpse?"
"I commissioned Xuanji Pavilion to forge it, to prevent assassins from coming afterward."
"Assassins?" Mother Wei exclaimed in surprise. "Aren't they bandits?"
Mr. Wei put down his shoes, his face darkened, and he picked up the teapot, poured himself a cup of cold tea, and drank it to clear his head.
"Father and Mother, don't panic. I am very safe in the army now."
Wei's father asked him, "What are your plans for the future?"
"Let's take it one step at a time, Mother. Let's leave the important task of carrying on the family line to my younger brother."
The three chatted until late into the night. Di Xiu returned to the Yan residence, but was so frightened the next day that he had to stay at an inn.
Yan's father had more than a dozen concubines, and with so many people in the household, things were bound to get chaotic, especially since Yan's wife often claimed to be ill and neglected her duties.
Yan's father asked Yanling to stay for three days to make it look like a proper stay. During those three days, Yanling never had a moment's peace, as his brothers and sisters would constantly come to ask him for help.
After offering himself up as a bedmate, the unmarried and promising young man, Di Xiu, decisively chose to pay to stay at an inn.
Why not stay at the general's mansion in Yanling? Because someone kept mentioning "Yin'er" every day, so he decided to stay away from Yanling.
The triumphant banquet proceeded without incident, since the female lead, who was most likely to cause trouble, had already turned to dust, and all the other supporting characters had gone on strike.
...
The fall of Ningguo disrupted the existing order on the continent.
The other three kingdoms became wary. The Yan Kingdom and the Canglan Kingdom formed an alliance and actively courted the Dongqing Kingdom. Princess Zhao Yuning from the Dongqing Kingdom, who was sent to marry a foreign ruler, found herself in an awkward position. After the latest news reached Zhaodu, she was quickly banished to the cold palace.
Dongqing Kingdom had previously lost a large chunk of its territory to Tiansheng, but its overall strength was still slightly superior to that of Yan Kingdom and Canglan Kingdom alone. Therefore, it was viewed with suspicion by these two countries within this alliance.
Some courtiers suggested sending envoys to win over the Dongqing Kingdom, first dealing with the two weaker nations together, and then vying for the position of hegemon.
Within a year, they first forced Dongqing Kingdom to bow down and negotiate peace, and then conquered Ning Kingdom. All the Heavenly Saints were brimming with confidence in the army, and the proposal was quickly passed. However, the question of who to send was another matter.
The Chamberlain volunteered for the mission, along with two censors from the Censorate. The three of them, escorted by the Yan family army, traveled all the way to the border between the two countries.
"When two countries are at war, envoys should not be killed" was a rule that everyone tacitly abided by. The three attendants went to see the general stationed on the border of Dongqing Kingdom with high spirits, and then arrived at the capital of Dongqing Kingdom amidst the dangers of tigers and wolves.
Despite their best efforts, they failed to persuade the resolute King of Dongqing, which left the Attendant and the Imperial Censor deeply ashamed, nearly causing them to commit suicide by striking their heads against the steps.
Just then, the Lady of the City Lord of the Mechanized City arrived in Zhaodu with her daughter, proposing that Yanling marry her daughter in exchange for the Mechanized City's help to Tiansheng Kingdom. This was a bizarre condition—the Mechanized City had always been known for its pragmatism and never participated in the struggles between nations. Even when its former master's country was destroyed, it didn't step forward. Now, however, it was doing this. It was unclear whether the City Lord was aware of this.
In this timeline, the city lord doesn't have much of a role; it's just this mother and daughter who are the most active, but they don't all end up well.
The City of Mechanisms is obviously famous for its mechanical arts.
This kind of independent city, like the Xuanji Pavilion and the secluded place, dazzled the eyes of the rulers of various countries. The most irritated by it should have been the rulers of Ningguo throughout the ages, because the mechanical city originally belonged to Ningguo.
Its two most famous wars were a defensive one, in which the Dongqing Kingdom mobilized 600,000 troops but failed to break through, and since then the Mechanical City has been known as an "impregnable fortress".
On another occasion, even earlier, the Ningguo army was lured into the outer city and buried alive by numerous traps.
Both wars were won by relying on the layout of the mechanical city, but that does not mean that their mechanisms could only be used within the city. In fact, in the timeline, when the mechanical city joined the continental conflict, the various weapons they used were terrifying.
The people of the city are very xenophobic; only merchants are allowed to enter and trade, and even then, only in the outer city.
It has never shown any intention of expanding its territory, nor has it formed alliances with any country. It has simply remained there like a holdout, and over time, other countries have tacitly accepted its existence. After all, trying to take it over would require being prepared to break a lot of teeth, which is simply not worthwhile.
Now, the city lord of the Mechanized City has not shown up, but his wife and daughter are waving the banner of the Mechanized City and intend to step into this mess. This is probably the first time since the timeline derailed that someone has tried to return.
Yanling would naturally not agree to such a request, which put the emperor in a very difficult position.
No one is immune to the mechanical arts of the Mechanical City, including the emperor. However, Yanling has already made a marriage agreement with Mu Ruoyin. If he agrees to the demands of the mother and daughter, the marriage agreement will have to be voided. He can't very well let his legitimate princess of Tiansheng become a concubine, can he?
If the betrothal were with Mu Ruoling, the emperor would have refused without hesitation, but this is Mu Ruoyin, a daughter he does not love.
Mu Ruoyin learned about the situation through her uncle and went to Yanling, looking conflicted and confused: "Yanlang, what will happen to Tiansheng if the Mechanized City doesn't help it?"
Yan Ling didn't take the Mechanized City seriously at all. After all, he was one of the protagonists of this world, with the bug-level Xuanji Pavilion and the outside world as his support.
He possessed a map of the secret passages of the Mechanized City and the weaknesses of its defensive mechanisms, which was one of the reasons why he easily dismantled the Mechanized City in the timeline.
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