The Grand Preceptor remained silent for a long time, as if the girl's words had touched upon his evil thoughts. He turned around, glanced coldly at the spirited girl in black armor, and then walked into the military camp surrounded by the crowd.
"Fifth Princess, why aren't we fighting today?"
The speaker was Mu Feng, the father whose child was almost choked to death by the yellow earth. He is now Da Ni'er's most loyal follower.
"Let's test their strength. Our Grand Preceptor won't fight according to the rules of the grasslands," the dark-skinned girl said.
"What does this mean?" Mu Feng asked, puzzled.
"Before a war breaks out, the people of the Central Plains will issue a challenge to both sides, specifying when the battle will begin. Before the battle, they will clear out all the civilians from both sides. Our national advisor is known for his benevolence and reputation on the grasslands, so he will definitely fight according to the rules of the Central Plains."
"Have the tribes in this area been cleared out?" Dani'er then asked.
"Your Highness, they've all been cleared away."
The dark-skinned girl understood that a head-on confrontation would inevitably result in mutual destruction; in other words, neither side would benefit. But she was not afraid. As long as she could stall, she was certain she would win.
"You insist on fighting by yourself? Can't I take you back to fight?" Huo Xiaolong asked his girlfriend, pouting.
Why bother fighting for that little bit of self-esteem now? What's the point?
"The Grand Preceptor has Loulan's backing, and he has a very good relationship with the King of Loulan. When Loulan sends troops to surround us, we'll all be finished," Da Ni'er said, pointing to Loulan with a map.
"This place is so tiny, about the same size as Beining, let him take it all."
"Huo Xiaolong, do you think we're getting our pickled cabbage from here in the winter?"
The dark-skinned girl had always thought Huo Xiaolong wasn't a good person since she was a child, but now his true colors have been revealed.
The thief is wicked; he loves to fight.
Da Nier then continued...
"I'll fight on the grasslands, I'll go home, you listen to me."
"Then tell me," Huo Xiaolong said, crossing his arms.
“I’ll take some men to stall the Grand Preceptor for a bit, then you can go around from here to borrow passage from Loulan.”
"Borrowing passage?"
"Yes, we'll take the road. You lead your troops around to get to the Grand Preceptor's backside."
"What's the point?" the girl in red armor asked, puzzled.
If we use force, our army is large, and Xiao Lanyi is backing us up. If we use diplomacy, we can teach them how to plant and weave cloth. In any case, we won't need to borrow money.
"I'll do what you desire," the dark-skinned girl said.
She knew that although her friends were warlike, they didn't like seeing casualties everywhere, so this was the best solution.
The moment the red-armored girl led everyone to the gates of Loulan, the people of Loulan hid in their homes, trembling with fear. The King of Loulan asked someone what Huo Xiaolong wanted to do.
The grasslands are too busy to protect them right now. I heard that Hao Lianchen is too busy taking care of himself. The blue fireworks were brilliant and flawless in the night. Da Ni'er smiled as she watched the fireworks.
"Go and deliver a challenge to the Grand Preceptor. If he does not surrender by noon tomorrow, we shall meet with weapons!"
Hao Lianchen was over seventy years old, and without the aid of spiritual medicine, he was already considered long-lived at this time, with weapons clashing and battles raging outside. He still returned to the imperial court and, without any resistance, played the guqin.
"You never hit her?" Dani'er's biological father asked from his bed.
"I told you, she's a jinx, but you insisted on letting her go. Now look what's happened, she's colluded with the Central Plains people to fight back." The Imperial Advisor smiled and shook his head.
"Your calculations are inaccurate. I told you before, stop talking about gods and ghosts all the time."
When the two old people faced life and death, they put aside their past hatred. If they lost, they would die anyway, so they might as well chat.
After all, they had fought for the throne together back then.
“That’s not important. What’s important is that I can’t keep what I promised her.”
"You're about to die, yet you're thinking too much. No wonder you're so tired."
The king lay on the bed, drooling involuntarily. After the imperial tutor finished playing a piece, he even wiped the drool from the king's mouth.
Two young women walked in through the door. One was clad in red armor, her cloak billowing in the wind, with a Green Dragon Crescent Blade behind her back. She was tall and had bright features; she was as beautiful as a fairy descended to earth.
Another dark-skinned girl had long, slender features and was as tall as the person next to her. She held curved knives in her hands, her face was speckled with blood, and her features resembled those of the person on the bed.
The Imperial Advisor helped Da Ni'er's father up and even tucked a cushion under his arm, asking him...
"Can you recognize which one is your daughter?"
"I recognized her...I recognized her." The old man couldn't hold back his tears. Da Ni'er just stood there without saying a word, and he already felt like his heart was being torn apart.
The Imperial Advisor turned and stared at Huo Xiaolong for a while, then clicked his tongue.
It was indeed a miscalculation...
"Imperial Preceptor, a day apart feels like three autumns."
Da Ni'er pointed her curved blade at Hao Lianchen, fearing he might kill her father before she finished questioning him. While she was debating whether to strike first, the Imperial Advisor, holding a red flower in his arms, suddenly coughed up blood and turned to the old man on the bed, saying...
"You're right, I miscalculated."
He struggled to raise his hand, pointing at Huo Xiaolong and saying...
"She is...she is..."
"Honghua, I'm sorry, I didn't keep my promise."
Upon hearing the familiar name, the girl in red armor quickly stepped forward and asked.
Who is Honghua?
But the old man in front of him was already lifeless, which angered Huo Xiaolong so much that he went out to find the little girl again, just in case he could be saved by giving her some medicine.
I first heard the name Honghua more than ten years ago, when her brother had just joined the army and Xiao Lanyi had just arrived in the border town.
Even Wei Ci is still active; the reason the Grand Preceptor sent someone over that time was related to safflower.
"It's no use calling me now that the person is dead. I'm a doctor, not some kind of bodhisattva that people talk about!"
The little girl's white blouse was covered in blood, and she was so busy that she was practically jumping up and down. Huo Xiaolong was just making things worse.
Then they saw the father and daughter looking at each other in silence. Hou Xiangxiang was still the same kind-hearted person she was when she was little. She took Da Ni'er's father's hand, took his pulse, and then handed Da Ni'er a bottle of ginseng pills, saying...
"It can extend my life by one month, one pill a day."
"Can't there be any more?" Dani asked.
"That's it, I'm exhausted, and without medicine, it's only a matter of the next couple of days."
Da Ni'er's biological father reached out and tidied his messy hair, then patted the edge of the bed, gesturing for Da Ni'er to sit down beside him.
"Sit down, Ah Qing."
"You've suffered, haven't you?"
Da Ni'er didn't say much, and went straight to the point.
"Why did you say you didn't want me back then? Was it just because I made you unhappy?"
But back then, he clearly allowed her to run wild on his neck, and the dark-skinned girl wanted to know the reason.
Da Ni'er's biological father was not a fussy person; he quietly recounted the divination the imperial advisor had performed for the grasslands that year.
“But he just said he miscalculated, he’s wrong. You’re not some kind of jinx, you’ll always be Dad’s A-Qing.”
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