Chapter 82
Everyone followed her movements, turning around and kneeling in worship.
This left Si Yanmo, who was standing in the middle, somewhat at a loss.
Even after all this, their first reaction upon receiving food was not to feed themselves or their families, but to offer it as a sacrifice to the gods, muttering prayers for Yun Ji's blessing.
Si Yanmo was stung by the absurdity before her. She turned to look at Zhou Yanqing, and thankfully, she caught the same complex emotions in his eyes as she did.
The pancake was never eaten. Like the many moldy objects next to it, it was quietly placed in front of "Yun Ji," seemingly waiting for her "favor."
Si Yanmo silently put away the remaining cakes.
She knew that even if she gave it to them, they wouldn't eat it.
She and Zhou Yanqing went to Sano to find out what was going on.
It turns out that after the Sak frost disaster, although the Sak king at the time provided disaster relief, he also exterminated the Sawa people, who were his adversaries.
In Sak, the Sawa people now face only one path: leaving or death.
Many Sawa people had no choice but to flee south, and the only place they could go was Qin.
Some people chose to stay on the border of Qin, content with just a bowl of disaster relief porridge each day, while others with some money ventured further south.
Most of the people in this group were brought back by the men they had just captured.
The man was originally a nobleman of the Sava tribe, Sachi, but after the current Sak king came to power, he was stripped of his official position and could only make a living by doing business. He was also a good friend of Sano's parents.
The freezing weather didn't have a big impact on Sachi; he was able to get through it with the money he had saved over the years.
What he didn't expect was that even before the frost disaster arrived, King Sak had already begun to secretly eliminate dissidents, and after the frost disaster, he intensified his actions.
He received news of the frost disaster before it occurred and fled Sak with his family.
He initially planned to take a boat towards Qigu, where he owned a shop and could support his family. However, the thought of his old friend made him change his plans.
Sano's parents are now in King Sak's hands, their fate unknown. He doesn't know if the king will take this opportunity to kill them as well and then blame it on the Frosts.
Now he's barely able to take care of himself, and while he can't do anything else, he at least has to go and tell Sano.
He didn't know whether Sano was doing well in Qin as a hostage.
If things don't go well, he'll have to help his old friend's only surviving child. At worst, he can escape to Qi Valley and take the child with him, then come up with some fake death plan to fool them.
So he headed south with his family towards the Qin region. Along the way, he was a kind-hearted man and couldn't bear to see his fellow clansmen suffering. He took some children with him on the road so that they could look after each other.
It took them a month to reach Qin'an City.
Sachi was lucky; he met Sano in that shop and was relieved to learn that Sano was doing well.
However, along the way, he had spent most of his savings, and with so many disaster victims still needing to be fed, he thought of borrowing some money from Sano.
Sano followed him to the temple and, seeing the scene before him, felt the same pity as Si Yanmo, and began to help take care of his fellow tribesmen there.
He had originally intended to ask Zhou Yanqing for help, but then he realized that these people were his own clansmen and had no connection with the Qin region.
Now, with the freezing weather in Sak, the border areas of Qin have also been affected to some extent, and the autumn harvest will inevitably suffer. As more and more disaster victims arrive, Qin will naturally be overwhelmed.
He didn't want to cause trouble for Yan Qing, so he decided to take care of his own people.
After listening to the two of them, Zhou Yanqing's eyes showed relief.
"So what do you think now?" he asked.
“I want to go back, but…” Sano lowered his head.
He wanted to go back, but with his current abilities, what good would it do?
If they can't save their parents or their own people, they'll be lucky if they don't get themselves killed.
"No buts, I'll take you back right now."
When he said this, both Sano and Si Yanmo were stunned.
Si Yanmo leaned close to him and whispered, "With Sano's abilities, it's not possible right now, is it?"
Sano nodded. It had only been a few months. Let alone seizing the throne, he didn't even dare to think about rescuing his parents.
Zhou Yanqing smiled mysteriously and waved to the soldiers beside him to take the others to a safe place. He then led Sano and Si Yanmo into the carriage, preparing to return to the Prince of Qin's residence.
Inside the carriage, both Si Yanmo and Sano were filled with doubts, but Si Yanmo couldn't help but ask first, "Do you really think it's okay now?"
"Didn't you already calculate it for him? Since he's destined to be King Sak, and the other side is also the chosen one, how could he fail so easily?" Zhou Yanqing rested one hand on his temple, leaning against the carriage window, looking calm and composed.
He was quite confident, but Sano had no confidence in himself at all. "Even if I really do know nothing right now, how could I possibly beat that old man?"
"The important thing isn't what you know, but your heart." Zhou Yanqing looked up and tapped his chest. "Right now, during a severe frost disaster, this fool actually wants to drive half of the Sak people out and leave them to fend for themselves. So what do you think is most likely to happen at this time?"
"Rebellion!" Si Yanmo and Sano exclaimed almost in unison.
“Oh, I get it!” She clapped her hands. “You mean, while things are still chaotic and they don’t have a leader yet, let Sano go back, and that way they’ll naturally have a group of loyal men.”
“But… will they listen to me?” Sano was still somewhat unsure.
"Didn't you already get a group of people to listen to you?"
Just now, Zhou Yanqing made a special observation of the group of people in the temple. Although they were brought by Sachi, they were all very respectful to Sano.
He had previously investigated and found that Sano's parents were nobles of the Sava tribe, and the previous Sak king could be considered Sano's great-uncle.
Although he was at odds with Qin, he was a fairly upright person and was considered a good ruler by the people of Sak.
With this connection, Sano possesses a unique appeal that others lack; once the people are gathered, the rest is not a problem.
“We’ll go to the border first. There are a lot of disaster victims gathered there now. You need to start learning how to win people’s hearts.” He patted Sano’s little head with both hands. “Little friend, don’t let me down.”
The group returned to the Prince of Qin's residence and quickly packed their belongings.
Although returning to Sak should be Sano's own business, the child doesn't know anything yet, so Zhou Yanqing naturally has to go along.
He had already prepared a reason for himself, wrote a memorial, and ordered it to be sent to Nandu, saying that he had discovered the hostage was fake and intended to send it back to Sak.
"Is this all?" Si Yanmo watched him finish writing the memorial and hand it to the servant, still feeling a little unsure.
Sak can simply disguise themselves; no one will recognize them anyway. But if the Southern Emperor finds out, it will be considered collusion between the two sides, and both of them will die.
Zhou Yanqing remained calm. "Don't worry, we'll act first and report later. We're just going to deliver the hostages. We'll be back after we're done. As for anything else that happens, it's none of our business."
“Besides,” he raised an eyebrow, “the Southern Emperor is far away. Even if he really wants to get involved, he can only find the nearest person to take a look. So guess who the nearest person is right now?”
Zhou Junsong!
Si Yanmo opened her eyes wide, and after realizing what was happening, a sly smile appeared on her lips.
If Zhou Junsong is now cooperating with them, and if Qin Di and Sak are both his people, it will only benefit him.
only……
“However, he is a suspicious person.” Si Yanmo knows this person best. If he feels that Zhou Yanqing has a chance to compete with him for the throne, he will definitely keep something in reserve.
"Then we'll find a way to drag him down with us."
Upon hearing this, a terrible plan flashed through Si Yanmo's mind. "I do have an idea..."
But she didn't want to use that method.
Zhou Yanqing noticed the difficulty in her eyes and knew what she wanted to say. She took her hand and said, "We will find another way. I will not let you sisters stand on the opposite side."
Yes, Si Yanmo's method was to threaten Zhou Junsong with her sister and child.
She showed it to her sister, who said the baby in her belly was a boy. For a prince vying for the throne, this was an incredible stroke of luck. In addition, Zhou Junsong treated her sister differently than he had treated her in her previous life.
He had feelings for his sister. On one side was his lover and child, and on the other was someone who might betray him. Of course, he knew which one to choose.
But she hoped that Zhou Junsong would believe them this time.
Just this once, Zhou Junsong, don't let it be like in your past life!
Zhou Yanqing originally didn't plan to bring Si Yanmo along, but she still packed her luggage and prepared to go.
"It's too dangerous. Stay home and be a good girl," he gently stroked his lover's hand and coaxed her.
Si Yanmo still insisted on going with him, "Don't forget, I've passed the martial arts test, and ordinary people can't get close to me. If I go, I might be able to help you."
"But……"
"If you really let me stay at home, aren't you afraid someone will take advantage of the situation?" she threatened him, feigning concern.
Zhou Yanqing was completely speechless. He had finally managed to develop some feelings for his Amo, and if someone else suddenly appeared out of nowhere, he would probably be furious.
The man finally sighed helplessly, took her hand, and said, "Then let's go together, my sage."
In fact, Si Yanmo was afraid that Zhou Yanqing would get into trouble in this line of work. She looked at Zhou Yanqing's fate again a few days ago. Unexpectedly, not only was his future not changed, but the time when he would get into trouble was even brought forward.
As she thought, if it was Zhou Junsong, the two of them would eventually meet in Sak, and she had to stay by Zhou Yanqing's side at all times to be on guard.
She didn't know when it started, but she became increasingly afraid that something would happen to Zhou Yanqing, not because of his past promises, but because she was genuinely afraid that he would leave her.
Perhaps she spoke so casually about the divorce that day, but deep down she didn't really want the two of them to separate. That's why she felt relieved when Zhou Yanqing "imprisoned" her...
Without further ado, the group packed their luggage and boarded the carriage.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com