Southern Chu was located in the southwest of Great Jin. Its territory was not large, but because a family of divine physicians had lived there for generations, Southern Chu was the weakest of the four kingdoms, yet no one dared to offend it.
However, the Great Jin Dynasty is currently beset by internal and external troubles and is not at peace. In addition, the emperor is becoming increasingly incompetent, and the northern and western barbarians are already showing signs of launching a joint attack on the Great Jin.
Because of their marriage alliance with the Western Rong, the Southern Chu naturally sided with the Western Rong.
His purpose in coming to the Great Jin Dynasty was not only to kill the Great Jin Crown Prince Wei Jingzhuo, whom everyone feared.
There is an even more important matter: to find the jade pendant that the family of divine healers had lost and to find that person's daughter.
The high priest only knew that the person would appear in this area, but he did not know the exact location.
But he had been here for a month and had not seen the unmarried woman the high priest had mentioned, let alone found the whereabouts of the jade pendant.
Thinking back on the past month, he had searched every corner of the quarry, but still couldn't find the person the high priest had mentioned.
Perhaps he should try looking in the nearby county towns.
Thinking of that woman from earlier, a smile crept onto his lips. It was rare to find such an interesting woman in the Great Jin Dynasty.
If he had more time, he would have liked to stay here longer.
Chu Yi glanced at the five taels of silver in his hand, then tossed it to the guard behind him without turning his head.
He dusted himself off, led over a horse, mounted it, and said, "Let's go find a place to clean up first."
Before leaving, he took one last look at Su Wan's dilapidated thatched hut.
Su Wan returned to the room and saw Wei Jingzhuo leaning against the bed reading a book. Seeing her depressed expression, she asked indifferently, "What happened?"
She walked to the table, poured herself a glass of water, and after taking a few sips, said, "It's all because I met a strange person outside who took away the five taels of silver that I had worked so hard to get."
Wei Jingzhuo paused, holding the book, and looked up at her.
Then, casually, he asked, "Who is it?"
“It was a man,” she said after thinking for a moment. “He looked like a beggar, but he didn’t have the demeanor of one. I don’t know what he was doing in this godforsaken place, but he seemed to know who you were.”
Wei Jingzhuo took the bamboo teacup and sipped it. He lowered his eyes slightly to hide the cold glint in them, and said softly, "Stay away from him in the future."
Even without his reminder, she wouldn't have any interaction with that person.
However, judging from Wei Jingzhuo's tone, he seemed to know who that person was.
She asked, "Who is that person?"
Wei Jingzhuo glanced at her, his eyes darkening for a moment, "It should be the seventh prince of Southern Chu, Chu Yi."
The Southern Chu emperor appeared to be neutral, but he knew that the man had always been a fence-sitter. Now that the Great Jin was teetering on the brink of collapse, he would surely side with the Western Rong and the Northern Frontier.
Recently, the princess of Southern Chu married the prince of Western Rong, and the situation in the world has already begun to descend into chaos.
It's likely that the Western Rong will no longer just come to plunder in the future.
Linyuan Village may soon be captured by the Western Rong.
But now that he has come, he will not allow this place to be occupied by the Western Rong. If the Western Rong were to move south, then Youzhou City would be in grave danger.
Su Wan didn't understand the affairs of the court, but after hearing what Wei Jingzhuo said, she immediately realized the danger here.
She asked, puzzled, "Then why do we have to come here again?"
Is there not a place under heaven where they can find refuge?
Wei Jingzhuo replied coldly, "When the nest is overturned, how can the eggs remain intact?"
Su Wan was taken aback. She had almost forgotten that this was the Crown Prince of the Great Jin Dynasty. Although he had been deposed, no country would tolerate him. Moreover, if the country were to fall and the mountains were to crumble, there would be no place for him to stay for even a moment.
She felt the topic was too heavy and not suitable for her, so she changed the subject, "Do you have any way to contact my younger brother?"
He replied calmly, "I've already sent Qingfeng to pick them up."
"That's good," she nodded, turned and left, "I'll go to the kitchen to get something to eat."
Wei Jingzhuo watched her departing figure, his slender fingers remaining motionless for a long time.
He squinted, seemingly lost in thought, and took out the dagger, examining it closely for a long time.
A cold smile curled at the corner of his lips. Chu Yi did not reveal his identity, presumably because he had other important matters to attend to.
Since its founding, the Southern Chu Kingdom has always maintained a marriage alliance with families renowned for their divine physicians.
However, this emperor of Southern Chu did not marry the eldest daughter of a family of renowned physicians, supposedly because the eldest daughter of the family of renowned physicians disappeared while she was away on training.
This broke the precedent of marriage between the Southern Chu royal family and a family of renowned physicians.
According to the information he had, the Southern Chu had never given up searching for the missing eldest daughter of the renowned physician family.
This time, Chu Yi has probably found out where that person is.
Su Wan only realized how poor they were when she got to the kitchen.
Before setting off yesterday, Granny Cui was fortunate to have bought some rice and flour, otherwise people would have starved to death.
Although there was food in her apartment, there wasn't much left.
She took some pots and pans out of the apartment, and then took a piece of meat out of the refrigerator.
On the shelf where vegetables were placed, potatoes were the most abundant item, filling a whole bag. She took all the potatoes out, picked out a good one, and kept the rest, some of which had already sprouted.
After cutting the potatoes and meat, she found the lighter she had bought along with the cake for her birthday.
With a click, the flames shot up.
After adding firewood, put water in the earthenware pot, put the meat in, and then add some seasonings to cook.
After the meat was cooked, she took it out and retrieved a wok from the apartment.
There was no oil in the kitchen, so she had to take out another bucket of oil, open the lid and pour it in. After the oil was heated, she put the cooked meat and potatoes in and stir-fried them.
The rich aroma immediately filled the entire kitchen, and even passing villagers couldn't help but stop, sniff the air, and swallow hard.
It smells so good!
Even the food served at the biggest restaurant in town couldn't be better than this.
Someone tiptoed to peek into the yard.
They all knew that a couple had come to the village today, and they were so poor that they had to go out begging for food.
Now, smelling the delicious aroma emanating from Su Wan's house, I suddenly felt it was incredible.
Who is so poor yet so generous as to give that couple so much good food?
Someone had a sudden inspiration: why don't he also take a broken bowl and wander around outside every day?
The increasingly strong aroma wafted into my nose, and my stomach immediately started rumbling.
They realized they had no choice but to hurry out and beg.
After lingering for a moment, although some people wanted to come in for a treat, they dared not act rashly when they saw Wei Jingzhuo lying in the courtyard with a long sword beside him and the cold aura emanating from him.
They were hungry, but they wouldn't risk their lives for a bite to eat unless there was absolutely nothing left to eat.
A bolder person barged in, only to be met with Wei Jingzhuo's cold, sharp gaze, which frightened the person so much that they had no choice but to turn around and leave.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com