Chapter 20

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“No.” The Green King’s voice was light and expressionless.

After the visitor left, he remained silent for a while, then threw the double-headed golden-winged bird token into the depth of a drawer, and never looked at it again.

These wild Icemen, who knows where did they got the news so fast; knowing that Kongsang’s political situation is about to change, unexpectedly came out of nowhere to use this and try to blackmail him!

Although Shi Ying has made an unusual move, the Green Clan is still in control, how can he agree to these people’s strange request?

However, when the Green King thought he was the first to discover the secret of Shi Ying, he did not expect that the White King, who was far away on the other side, had learned the same secret from different channels at the same time. And the one who revealed this secret turned out to be Da Si Ming himself.

“What? Shi Ying decided to resign from the priesthood?” On the other side of the water mirror, the White King could not help being shocked, “He … What does he want to do? Did he finally figured it out that he wants to go back to the Imperial Capital and take back what it belongs to him?”

As the brother of Queen Bai Yan, Bai Wang was Shi Ying’s uncle in name, but because Shi Ying was sent to the temple since childhood, the two did not have much contact to each other, so he didn’t know what this lonely young man was thinking. Hearing this sudden news, it was natural for him to be shocked.

“No… Ahem, he is as clear as snow and has no material desire.” Da Si Ming coughed a couple of times in the temple, holding a glass of wine in one hand and shaking his head drunkenly. “I think he did it for something else…”

The White King was a little surprised: “For what then?”

“For the sake of…” Da Si Ming shook his head, and stopped talking, “Forget it. Anyway, it’s very surprising.”

“Are there things in the world that worth giving up being a Priest?” The White King gave a bitter smile, shook his head in a deep thought, knowing that now was too late to say anything… “As you know, Shi Ying’s personality is almost the same as his mother.”

“…” Da Si Ming went silent abruptly, and the hand holding the wine glass trembled slightly.

“I don’t want his life to be delayed by the wrong person like it happened to Ah-Yan.” After a long time, the old man raised his head and drank all the wine in his glass, then muttered, “No, I should say, I will do my best not to let his life be the same as Ah-Yan’s!”

His tone was firm and as sharp as a knife.

“Thank you.” As if knowing that he had touched some taboo argument that should not be mentioned, the White King sighed, “Although I am his uncle, I don’t know him as well as you do. Over the years, you have been treating him like a son, taking good care of him, and even spending money to teach him magic skills. I am deeply grateful.”

“Alas, it should be…” Da Si Ming’s voice was dry and old, and suddenly drank up the wine in his hand, muttering, “This is how it should be.”

“However, no matter what’s the reason for Shi Ying to leave the priesthood, once he takes off his white robe, the Green King will not give up, will he?” The White King lowered his voice, his tone became faintly fierce, “You also know the methods of these brothers and sisters… At that time, we were unable to save Ah-Yan, this time, in any case, we can no longer let the people on the side of the Green King succeed!”

“…” Da Si Ming remained silent for a long time, and his thin fingers trembled violently.

“I thought you would form an alliance with the Green King.” Suddenly, he whispered, “Aren’t you planning to marry Princess Xueying to Green Concubine’s son Shi Yu?”

“That was before. Shi Ying is coming back now, isn’t it?” Bai Wang paused, his eyes changed slightly, and he looked at the highest religious leader of Yunhuang on the other side of the water mirror. “The key is, Da Si Ming, what do you think?”

Da Si Ming sighed quietly and looked up at the sky on top of the roof. He was lonely all his life, far away from the political struggle, and dedicated his life to the Gods. But this time…

“As long as I live, I won’t let anyone hurt Shi Ying.” After a long time, he finally put down his wine glass and uttered a promise in a low voice, “I won’t let anyone harm Yunhuang.”

“So, we are allies?” The White King’s eyes were burning, showing a trace of eagerness.

“No, we are not allies.” Da Si Ming murmured, “You want to fight for power and profit, I have no interest in that.”

The White King was a little surprised: “What does the Chief Commander want?”

“I hope the luck of Kongsang will last for a long time. But the power of the individual is small, how can he fight against fate?” The old man looked up at the stars in the sky, shook his head for a long time, lowered his head and said, “Forget it. In fact, I just want to fulfill my promise to Ah-Yan and protect the child.”

“Then at least in this respect, we are allies.” The White King laughed, showing his neat and white teeth. “We all support the succession of the eldest son, don’t we? Unfortunately, there is still the young boy of the Green Clan standing in the way.”

“That little boy is not worth mentioning, but it is the Green King’s brothers and sisters who are difficult to deal with.” Da Si Ming shook his head and drank a glass of wine. “To deal with them, I’m afraid it’s not going to be enough to rely only on me and the White Clan. You need a helper…”

The White King replied solemnly: “Yes, I’m aware. I have been working for a long time, trying my best to win more support among the Six Families.”

Da Si Ming suddenly asked, “I heard that your eldest son hasn’t been married yet?”

The White King was stunned for a moment. He didn’t understand why Da Si Ming mentioned this point suddenly, and nodded: “Yes. Fenglin is over 20 years old, and he hasn’t been married yet. I can’t force him either.”

“Bai Fenglin can be regarded as the outstanding one among the Princes of Bai Clan, not only because he is your eldest son, but he is the governor of Yecheng, he will also inherit the title of the White King in the future.” Da Si Ming shook his head and looked at the White King with insight. “It’s a big deal, so you don’t want him to marry anyone, is that so?”

The White King did not expect that this seemingly detached old man was also concerned about this kind of worldly children’s affairs. He was stunned for a moment, but he also knew in his heart that there must be a reason for Da Si Ming to sudden mention this matter. He could not help but sat down solemnly and asked respectfully, “I don’t know what Da Si Ming great advice is?”

“There is no such thing as a great advice.” The Chief Commander nodded slightly, showing a meaningful smile. “The Red King was just about to come to the Imperial Capital to have an audience. And he brought his only daughter with him.” He looked at the White King at the other end of the water mirror and said in an unfathomable tone: “In my opinion, if you can manage to get your son married to her, it will be of great help to you.”

“Is this your prophecy?” The White King was stunned for a moment, and hesitated. “But isn’t the only daughter of the Red Clan family a widowed wife? It’s really ominous.”

Da Si Ming said nothing more, just smiled and said, “It’s up to the White King to make your own decision.”

“…” The White King didn’t speak, his eyes changed for a long time, and finally nodded, “If it’s really like what Da Si Ming said, then let’s proceed with the arrangement… In any case, among the Six Clans, the Red King has a good relationship with us, and I have long planned to meet him.”

“Go ahead and proceed.” Da Si Ming poured another glass of wine and stared at the ally on the other side of the water mirror. “Anyway, in some respects, we still have the same interests, don’t we? I won’t harm you.”

The White King nodded and finally remained silent.

The stormy and intricated situation on this side of the Imperial Capital is completely unknown to outsiders.

In March, when the wind rose in the Dynasty, Zhu Yan was already on her way to the Imperial Capital. The blue wind from the south brought the smell of spring, moist and cool, lingering around her cheeks, like the touch of gentlest fingers.

“Well, even the wind is much more comfortable here than in the Western Wilderness!” She leaned over the window of the carriage, poked her head out and looked at the green earth in front of her. She was impatient. “Momo, how far is Yecheng?”

“It’s not far away. We’ll probably be there by nightfall. Little Princess, come down quickly!” Granny Sheng said, pulling her down from the window, “Can’t you see that everyone is looking at you all the way? How can the daughter of the Red King and the Princess of the Six Clans appear in public so casually?”

Zhu Yan sighed and sat in the carriage obediently, without talking back.

This old woman from Zhongzhou is a Nanny who has been in the Red Mansion for more than 40 years. She has served four generations of the Red Clan. Even Zhu Yan was brought up by her, so although she was not afraid of her since she was a child, but she was still having respect for this Nanny.

After the Red King transferred away Yu Fei and Yun Man, he invited the old woman who was no longer in charge, and asked her to accompany Zhu Yan into the Imperial Capital and take good care of her all the way.

Granny Sheng was almost sixty years old, and she had spent her whole life in the Red King’s Mansion. If she hadn’t been worried, she wouldn’t have fought her way to take care of carts and horses with her old bones, only to accompany her to the capital. Although Zhu Yan is a naughty person with a stubborn character, jumping around impatient, she was not ignorant, she has reined in a lot along the way.

“Come, have some mutton soup,” said Grandma Sheng, handing over a plate of snacks, “and some honey marzipan.”

“Well,” she was bored, twisted a piece into her mouth, and asked vaguely, “Father… Is he already in Yecheng?”

“It should be.” Grandma Sheng said, “His Highness said that there is something important to discuss with the White King.”

“Is there… is there anything important?” Zhu Yan was a little dissatisfied, she murmured, “Unexpectedly he departed in the middle of the night and left me behind! Hmph… If I use the magic spell, I will catch him in no time!”

“Don’t mess around!” Granny Sheng frowned. “You have to be honest when you enter the Imperial Capital this time, don’t use your half-tricks casually; the Heavenly family is dignified and strict, even the Kings of the Six Clans dare not act arbitrarily in front of the emperor. Don’t get into trouble as a child.”

“Huh,” she could not help retorting, “I am not a child anymore! I’ve already lost a husband!”

“You…”

Grandma Sheng was stunned by her big mouth; she couldn’t recover for a long while.

The carriage rumbled along the official road for a long time; there were not many pedestrians on the road in the beginning. However, after passing the Hanhai Post, the road suddenly became crowded. There were horse teams all the way, crowding into each other, almost filling the road, carrying bags of goods, pulling carts of containers and cages.

“Huh, why it is so lively?” Zhu Yan couldn’t help but sat up again and opened the curtain to look out. However, after glancing at the expression of Grandma Sheng, she put the curtain back, and only carefully opened a corner, hiding behind and peeking outside at the horses traveling on the road in the same direction.

These are obviously caravans coming from all parts of the Western Wilderness, with the badges of the four clans printed on their horses, including the Saqi, the Manergo, the Datan and the Huotu. These caravans came from all directions, but at the moment they all gathered on the same road and headed towards the same destination: Yecheng.

Yecheng, located at the mouth of Jinghu Lake in the south, is the business center of the entire Yunhuang. Whether it’s merchants from the Yunhuang local area or Zhongzhou Qihai, if they want to sell their goods at a good price, they have to travel thousands of miles. After a winter rest, these caravans in the Western Wilderness have a large reserve of cattle and sheep with scimitars and iron tools, traveling across the remote desert, driving the horses to go to Yecheng to exchange salt, tea and cloth.

Their convoy planted the flag of the Red King’s Mansion in front, and scouts rode their horses to clear the path, so wherever they went along the way, the caravans stopped their carriages, leaned quickly on the side of the road, and respectfully made way. But they still couldn’t go fast for a while.

“Oh, Momo, look!” Zhu Yan looked all the way behind the curtain, curious and jubilant, and suddenly cried, “Oh, my God, look! A whole cart full of Sarang Eagles!”

Pointing to a carriage parked on the side of the road outside, one or two white horses with gold stars on their foreheads were towing the car. It was a huge cage with many thick crisscross wood beams, full with snow-white eagles, about a hundred of them. Each eagle had its beak and claws sealed with tin rings and locked to the crossbar, leaving only a pair of eyes spinning around angrily and helplessly.

Zhu Yan couldn’t help being surprised: “Where did they get so many Sarang Eagles?”

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