snake statue
Shen Yao never expected that Pei Heng would take this opportunity to hastily marry Shen Zan without even a betrothal gift.
Only the bride's tears of fulfillment, Prince Jing's jubilation, Princess Jing's inexplicable emotion, and Pei Heng's furrowed brow and restless mind.
Prince Jing probably thought that since his daughter had married into a good family, he and his entire family would also benefit. But Shen Yao felt that there would be endless trouble. Even if the Marquis of Zhennan retained his title in the original story for his meritorious service in protecting the male protagonist, what could he do in this life?
Even if the ending of this life is good, what does the achievement of the Marquis of Zhennan and his heir have to do with the bride?
She couldn't understand the Marquis of Zhennan's joy, but Shen Yao also knew that she really couldn't interfere anymore.
She hadn't even had time to confirm Pei Heng's identity yet; everything would have to wait until Lan Yunyi returned from hunting snakes.
When all the guests' servants returned, each of them had several energetic snakes turning in their cages. Shen Yao then sent someone to help extract the gallbladders, and everyone was overjoyed.
But Lan Yunyi did not return for a long time.
Shen Yao's heart sank.
As the sun dipped below the horizon, Shen Yao sat at the head of the table, resting her chin on her hand, gazing wistfully into the depths of the woods. Suddenly, Pei Heng spoke from below, "The Prince Consort hasn't returned yet?"
Shen Yao hummed in agreement and nodded.
Pei Heng said, "I am unworthy, but I hunted these twelve snakes in order to marry Zan'er, otherwise..."
"That's enough, it's so dangerous..." As she spoke, Shen Zan seemed to be on the verge of tears again.
Pei Heng smiled and put his arm around her shoulder, comforting her, "Alright, alright, a few snakes are nothing to trouble your husband, right?"
"It seems that the young marquis has hunted the most snakes so far!" someone among the guests suddenly blurted out.
Pei Heng smiled and cupped his hands, saying, "I have tried my best to preserve my strength, but it is still the same. I have disappointed you all."
After he finished speaking, flattery poured in from the audience.
Shen Yao didn't care at all about how many snakes she had caught, nor did she care much about whether the spirit snake had appeared. All she wanted now was for Lan Yunyi to come back quickly.
The mountain where snakes are hunted isn't very big, and it wouldn't take long to ride back and forth, but Lan Yunyi hasn't returned yet, so something must have happened to her.
The real tragedy would be if a dignified general, who had not died on the battlefield, lost his life because of a princess's selfish desires.
Shen Yao: "A Yuan".
A-Yuan hurried over, her face also filled with anxiety. Shen Yao asked, "...Where is Captain Zhou?"
A Yuan said, "Commander Zhou is on duty in the border region and has not returned this time."
Shen clenched his fists, gritted his teeth, and stood up, saying, "Bring the horse here, I'll go take a look."
A-Yuan looked up at her, and Shen Yao scolded, "What are you still standing there for!"
A-Yuan nodded hurriedly and ran away.
At this moment, everyone suddenly realized the seriousness of the situation and began to panic.
At this moment, Pei Heng said, "This Ling Snake Village is flat, without any strange rocks, cliffs, or ferocious beasts. How could the general have met with such an accident...?" As he spoke, he looked at Shen Yao meaningfully.
Shen Yao met his questioning gaze with a glance, then looked away and said coldly, "Young Marquis, it would be best to refrain from making sarcastic remarks today."
But his words were really suggestive, as if he was implying to everyone that if Lan Yunyi had an accident today, it was caused by Shen Yao.
This is not entirely unreasonable, since the heavily guarded troops around the area were all under the princess's command.
While A Yuan went to fetch the horse, time seemed to stand still. Suddenly, a commotion arose from the spot, and Shen Yao looked in the direction of those people and saw a huge black dot in the woods.
Someone rushed over and shouted to Shen Yao, "Princess! The general is back!"
Shen Yao's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally settled down. She hurriedly asked, "Are you hurt?"
The servant boy ran over and said, "See? The general is perfectly fine!"
Shen Yao sat back down, her body tense.
As the figure drew closer, the object he was dragging became clearer. Shen Yao stood up again, walked up to him, and discovered that he was dragging a large black bear…
"Princess!" Lan Yunyi waved to her from afar.
Shen Yao was momentarily at a loss for words when she started to complain, but finally couldn't help but yell, "Where did you go?!"
Lan Yunyi smiled without any remorse and said, "...Of course I went to find good things for the princess."
Having confirmed with her own eyes that he was not injured, Shen Yao finally relaxed. Her attention turned to the bear, and everyone around her stared at it with considerable astonishment.
Someone asked directly, "General, where did this bear come from?!"
Logically speaking, there shouldn't be any bears around here. Before Shen Yao could ask, Lan Yunyi knelt down on one knee in front of her and said, "When I rushed out just now, I was indeed hunting snakes like everyone else. But as I walked, I don't know where I ended up, and I got separated from everyone."
"Then this black bear suddenly appeared in front of me. After I defeated it without breaking a sweat, I discovered that all the snakes in the forest had already been hunted down by everyone." Lan Yunyi said dejectedly, "Please punish me, Princess."
Pei Heng suddenly said, "Although General Lan didn't hunt a single snake, he at least survived the black bear's attack. It's a stroke of luck amidst misfortune."
Shen Yao ignored him and helped Lan Yunyi up, saying, "It's good that you're alright."
The spirit snake and such are no longer important; it doesn't matter whether it exists or not. As long as Lan Yunyi is alive, that's enough.
Lan Yunyi raised her wrist to cover her face: "I am incompetent and have caused the princess to lose face today."
Shen Yao sighed, thinking to herself that she didn't care about those things at all: "Why so much talk... You can't have both snake gall and bear paw. This bear must be a gift from heaven. General, you don't need to worry about it."
Lan Yunyi said, "The princess is right. In that case, I will cut off the bear paw and present it to Emperor Sheng."
After he finished speaking, he made a move to chop. Shen Yao thought that there was no need to be so impulsive, so she subconsciously reached out to grab his arm, but Lan Yunyi's knife fell swiftly, and before anyone could even see how he brought the sword down, the bear suddenly burst into four pieces with a loud bang.
Perhaps the bear had bled to death on the way, which is why Shen Yao wasn't covered in blood. However, she was still a little annoyed, knowing all too well how much Lan Yunyi cared about her image.
This failure, coupled with Pei Heng's mockery, will definitely make him extremely unhappy.
Shen Yao: "That's enough..."
She sighed and rubbed her forehead, then gently tugged at Lan Yunyi's arm. Lan Yunyi suddenly crouched down in surprise and began digging into the bear's carcass with her sword.
Just as Shen Yao was feeling like she was about to collapse, someone suddenly shouted out something.
Shen Yao looked over and saw Lan Yunyi suddenly pull out a bright golden yellow line from the bear's flesh. Immediately afterwards, countless medicinal snakes burst out of the bear's wound and scattered in all directions.
Before Shen Yao could even panic, the world suddenly spun around her, and she was lifted off the ground by Lan Yunyi, who hoisted her onto his shoulder. Meanwhile, Shen Yao's guards quickly dealt with the snakes. A rough count revealed there were over thirty of them.
Everyone gasped in shock.
However, before everyone could react, the servant who had brought the good news suddenly shouted, pointing at the thing in Lan Yunyi's hand, "Snake... Snake King statue!"
Lan Yunyi looked bewildered. She raised the object in her hand and discovered that it was a majestic golden snake head with a gaping maw.
The snake statue's eyes and fangs were stained red with blood, exuding a sacred yet eerie beauty.
As soon as Shen Yao landed, she immediately realized what was going on and said, "Heaven above, it was Emperor Sheng's actions in Xiliang that moved the heavens, which is why the Snake King statue was sent down."
Lan Yunyi put the statue down, and everyone realized what was happening. They all disregarded everything else and quickly knelt down in front of the statue.
Pei Heng stared at the five-foot-tall golden statue, speechless for a moment. He gritted his teeth, knelt down, and joined the crowd in shouting "Long live the Emperor!"
Perhaps some people also felt something was wrong, but everyone watched as Lan Yunyi dragged the bear out of the forest. Besides, the statue—a statue of such size and exquisite craftsmanship could not be made even in a year.
The only explanation for all of this is probably what Shen Yao said just now.
Others might not know, but Shen Yao could guess where the statue came from.
This was probably a New Year's gift that Lan Yunyi planned to give to the Emperor and Consort Lan next year, since next year is the Year of the Snake, and Consort Lan was born in the Year of the Snake... Because Shen Yao suddenly brought this up, she took this gift out as a convenient idea.
Moreover, Emperor Sheng is incompetent. After hearing about this incident, he will value Xiliang even more, and his attitude towards Shen Yao and Lan Yunyi will become more complicated. But in any case, he will definitely not easily order their execution.
Shen Yao didn't know what to think, but she felt that Lan Yunyi had really gone to great lengths.
The Sheng Dynasty did not favor sea routes. However, after the previous dynasty opened up a Silk Road similar to the one in Shen Yao's time, the Sheng Dynasty's exchanges with other countries in the central part of the continent became increasingly frequent. Xiliang was an important city on the Silk Road. After this event, the mood at the banquet became even more excited. Everyone felt that Xiliang was a place of great fortune, and that more and more people would probably do trade in Xiliang in the future.
In addition, Shen Yao felt that Lan Yunyi might have found the two snakes. Judging from his triumphant and smug appearance, Shen Yao knew that he must have done everything very well.
Shen Yao gently grasped Lan Yunyi's hand from the shadows, raised her cup, and continued drinking, saying calmly, "Your Excellency has worked hard and made great contributions. You have brought great honor to me and His Majesty today. Tonight, you will be richly rewarded."
Lan Yunyi said softly, "Who cares about that dog of an emperor? It was originally a gift for my sister. I never thought that my sister would give it away like this."
Shen Yao's eyes widened: "..."
Lan Yunyi: "Never mind, never mind..."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
