The little slave "A Chou".
The closer to the border, the harsher the natural environment, the constant fighting and friction, and the bloodshed on icy rivers and iron horses.
The extreme environment and the ravages of war have instilled a sense of carefree living among the people living on the border, who embrace the mundane and live for the moment.
Inside the building, male prostitutes sang and danced gracefully, their figures slender and elegant, adorned in purple gauze and red silk, exuding a vibrant and alluring charm.
The woman sitting with her knees bent in the middle of the group had long legs and a narrow waist, and her posture was relaxed. The male prostitute who came forward to pour wine glanced at her and couldn't help but blush.
The woman's striking eyebrows framed deep, dark eyes beneath low-set brows, which held a playful, nonchalant air as she looked at people. Her high, straight nose accentuated her delicate features, and her thin lips completed the look of a dashing, romantic figure straight out of a play.
The wine was poured, and the young man, with his long hair tossed back, knelt beside the woman and whispered something in her ear. It was unclear what he said, but the woman smiled and pulled him into her arms.
The sliding door, decorated with clusters of peonies, was opened, and a soldier in brown soft armor hurried in. The scene of extravagance and debauchery made the messenger blush, and he lowered his head, not daring to look around.
Her good mood vanished in an instant. Jiang Yan frowned and clicked her tongue impatiently.
The young man, now fully awake, discreetly stood up, lifting his robe without a word. His affectionate eyes swept over the innocent soldier, and with a soft laugh, he swayed his slender waist and left.
The soldier knelt on one knee, clasped his hands in a fist and said, "General, Lieutenant Lang requests your return. He says someone from above has arrived."
Jiang Yan glanced at the half-full pot of wine left on the low table. "Here you go."
The soldier was flattered and before he could even express his gratitude, a gust of wind blew across his cheek, and when he looked up, the general was nowhere to be seen.
The sound of horses neighing came from downstairs. The soldier chased after them on all fours to the window, only to see their backs receding into the rising dust.
A massive and sturdy fortress rises from the desolate, barren sand, solemn and imposing, exuding an aura of menace.
Jiang Yanhui spurred his horse without stopping, his robes billowing wildly in the air, and the dust kicked up by his horse's hooves creating a cloud of mist.
He twisted his wrist to tighten the reins, pulled the horse back, raised its forelegs, let out a thunderous neigh, and landed steadily in front of the central command tent.
The woman who emerged from the tent wore silver soft armor, with black fabric covering her slender limbs. Her upturned phoenix eyes added a touch of heroism. She stepped forward and used her weight to weigh down the swaying horse's head, stroking its mane to soothe the frightened horse.
"Go in quickly, the general is waiting for you inside." Lang Rong took the reins and handed them to a soldier beside him. He grabbed Jiang Yanhui's arm as she was about to step in, leaned closer and whispered, "No matter what happens, keep your temper in check. We'll talk after he leaves."
He twitched his nose slightly, smelling the strong smell of alcohol on her, frowned, opened his mouth, and suddenly let go of her hand.
The curtain was lifted again, revealing a woman in her early thirties dressed in court attire, her sleeves gathered, her deep eyes scrutinizing her.
The woman lowered her gaze, bowed, and said, "Your Highness, I am Deng Jiajin, the military supervisor appointed by His Majesty."
Jiang Yanhui was half a head taller than her, and his thin eyelids lowered as he stared at her with a hint of coldness before walking past her into the tent.
The central command tent is the main general's camp, where sand tables and maps are kept, and it is an important place for discussing military secrets.
Jiang Yan glanced out of the corner of her eye at the imperial edict on the table, as well as the five unfamiliar civil officials who had come with Deng Jiajin.
“Jiang Yanhui, you all know her.” Dou Yao walked around the sand table to Jiang Yanhui’s side, patted her on the shoulder to signal her to look over, and said to Deng Jiajin who came in, “This is Deng Jiajin, the supervisor sent by the Emperor. We met outside the tent earlier.”
Deng Jiajin wore a half-smile, her thoughts unreadable. She gathered her sleeves, returned to the ranks, and slowly said...
"The late emperor's twenty-first princess, the current emperor's most valued sister, was stationed in Lingzhou and repeatedly repelled the You tribe. At sixteen, she was honored as the Prince of Jiangbei and enjoyed the blessings of a prince."
Jiang Yanhui curled her lips into a playful smile, her eyes growing even colder. "Supervisor Deng knows me very well."
Deng Jiajin said, "I have traveled thousands of miles to Lingzhou on His Majesty's orders. All my actions are for the purpose of getting along well with Your Majesty and not failing His Majesty's expectations."
Lang Rong, who was closest to Jiang Yan Hui, keenly sensed that the situation was spiraling out of control. If they continued to talk in a sarcastic and indirect manner, the group of weak civil officials might have to be carried out.
"You've had a long and tiring journey. Let me take you to your lodgings to rest first. We can talk about anything else tomorrow."
He decisively spoke up, breaking the tense atmosphere of a head-on confrontation.
Jiang Yanhui stared at Deng Jiajin's departing figure with her dark, deep eyes. She tapped her fingers on the sword at her waist, her displeasure written all over her face.
Dou Yao understood her feelings, and his tone was filled with a knowing helplessness. He comforted her, "I know you're unhappy, but that's the Emperor's decree. Even if you tear Deng Jiajin to pieces, he'll just send a new supervisor."
Jiang Yan withdrew her gaze and naturally picked up the tea from the general's table to moisten her throat. "I know, that's why I didn't do anything."
Thinking of something, Dou Yao raised an eyebrow and said, "Even riding back on horseback, you can't shake off the smell of alcohol on you. If you go out and fool around in the brothel again, you can forget about leaving the military camp."
The general's reprimand would have terrified anyone who heard it, but Jiang Yanhui squatted down and poured herself another cup, laughing as she said, "Are you using your authority as a general to intimidate me, or are you disciplining me as my aunt?"
Words of admonition were pointless; Dou Yao still couldn't understand how his gentle brother could have such an unruly daughter.
Like the gyrfalcon soaring over the grasslands, it is independent, free, and possesses a strong rebellious wildness.
As Dou Yao rubbed his brow and sighed, she gulped down the entire pot of the finest Junshan Silver Needle tea like a cow drinking water. He quickly waved her away, saying, "You should just drink plain water. Drinking tea is a waste of the tea leaves."
Jiang Yan moved her lips and spat out the tea leaves she had just drunk.
Seeing that the people were about to leave, Dou Yao reminded them again, "Don't provoke Deng Jiajin. Just treat them like they're invisible."
"Okay," Jiang Yan replied reluctantly, then disappeared in the blink of an eye.
A moment later, Lang Rong entered. The aroma of tea filling the tent could not dispel the worry between his brows. He said with concern, "General, King Jiang has just gone out again on his black cloud."
"Let her be." Dou Yao brewed a fresh pot of tea, poured a cup, and pushed it forward. "You have much better taste than Jiang Yanhui. Try it and see how it tastes."
With his mind preoccupied, the drink tasted bland. Lang Rong finished it in one gulp, his sorrow undiminished. He wanted to try again to get Dou Yao to restrain Jiang Yanhui a little, so that she couldn't continue to act so recklessly.
When he looked up and saw Dou Yao's blank expression, he belatedly gripped his teacup and blinked innocently.
Dou Yao sighed helplessly, "You're just too worried, and Jiang Yanhui is too lawless. You two grew up together, how come you can't find a way to balance each other out?"
—
The setting sun burned fiery red on the horizon, its golden light spilling across the vast mountains and rivers. The rolling sands exuded a desolate and bleak atmosphere, a solemnity unique to Lingzhou.
A group of merchants dressed as members of the You tribe entered the city before the gates, setting them apart from the usual trade caravans.
Behind the procession were seven or eight slaves chained together. Upon closer inspection, one could see iron rings fastened to the chains, with the other end of each ring hooked onto the slave's collarbone.
Her hair was a mess of tangled, curly strands, and her dusty, tattered clothes looked like a rag. She stumbled and crawled along behind.
In the Central Plains, slaves were bought and sold legally and compliantly, and there were specialized judicial institutions to manage them. However, Lingzhou bordered the Sixteen Tribes of the grasslands, which was more like a barbaric land where the strong preyed on the weak, and where the wild power of the individual was revered.
The two sides, constantly clashing over resources yet unable to sever trade ties, maintained a chaotic and strange balance.
Jiang Yanhui was already used to the practice of reselling cheap slaves. The governor of Lingzhou turned a blind eye to it, so why should she, an idle person, meddle in other people's business?
As I rode past, a fleeting glance caught my eye and I noticed a young boy in the slave caravan. Such a fair-skinned and delicate-looking person was hard to find in this windy and sandy region.
Jiang Yan couldn't help but take another look, and in that one glance, her eyes met his bright, lively ones.
Like a fawn caught in a hunter's trap, powerless to resist, it can only stare wide-eyed in fear at its surroundings, waiting for the day the butcher's knife falls to end its dull and tedious life.
interesting.
Jiang Yan reined in her horse, and the last rays of the sunset kissed her cheek, making her eyebrows and eyes even more flamboyant and dazzling, so radiant that it was impossible to look away.
She gestured with her chin towards the leader, pointing with her whip in hand, "How much is he?"
The team leader glanced back and said, "He's disabled, just give him five taels."
Jiang Yan untied her bulging money bag, tossed a silver ingot to the leader, and chained the boy alone to her saddle. Thus, the slave trade was completed.
Jiang Yanhui never dismounted from his horse from beginning to end, as casually as if he were passing by a street stall and buying something that caught his eye.
Only a small portion of the setting sun remained hanging over the desolate land, its afterglow stretching the shadows infinitely. Jiang Yanhui rode his horse slowly down the street, his boots catching the iron chain, forcing the little slave hanging behind him to stumble forward.
The new master rode a tall, strong, jet-black steed, and the little slave could only look up at her, his clear black and white eyes filled with terror.
Jiang Yanhui lowered her eyes and stared at the man's handsome face for a moment, then suddenly bent down and leaned closer, "What's your name?"
The smell of alcohol on his breath hit her face, and the little slave, feeling dizzy, shrank back and hid, his eyes darting around frantically on Jiang Yanhui's face.
Jiang Yanhui, her patience waning, lowered her eyes and urged, "Speak."
The little slave trembled in fright, defensively covering his chest with his hands, opening his mouth as if to cry but not quite, pointing and shaking his head.
Jiang Yanhui's gaze lingered on the misty eyes, and after a moment she noticed the little slave's actions, raising one eyebrow in slight surprise, "Dumb."
The little slave swallowed timidly, gripped the iron ring fastened to his collarbone, and with a slight tug, the congealed scab around the wound cracked open again. Resigned, he closed his eyes and nodded slightly.
The expected disgust and dragging did not happen. The little slave felt a lightness around his waist and opened his eyes to look.
Before the last rays of sunlight disappeared, the restaurants on both sides of the street lit up, and the flickering light made the strands of hair flying in the wind glow.
Jiang Yanhui held the broken hanging rope between two fingers, and the simple wooden sign that spun in the wind was engraved with the characters of the Youbu tribe.
He parted his thin lips slightly and said slowly, "Ah Chou."
A note from the author:
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Let's start writing!
Update time: 12:00 PM
Note:
1. This story is a bittersweet romance (the female and male leads are 8 years apart in age).
2. Logic serves emotion: love! love! love!
3. I don't know if both characters are virgins (I don't know either), but the male lead is virgin!
4. This book didn't have a natural ranking because I accidentally posted it, so I'm rewarding myself by letting my imagination run wild.
For those who are open to this, welcome! For those who aren't, there are many completed female-centric novels in this column!
Finally, I hope everyone enjoys this story. My next novel is titled "Knocking on the Pearl (Female-Dominated)".
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