Traveling through troubled times: Princess disguises herself as a man and becomes a soldier to earn

Wen Ruosheng chuckled, his eyes full of provocation: "Everyone is polite and courteous. Are you satisfied? Haha, I am quite satisfied. Now that everyone is here, let's go to the City Lord's Mansion and don't keep the Lord waiting for too long."

After saying this, he glanced at Su Yan, shook the folding fan in his hand, and led his men away. His back looked indescribably arrogant.

Su Xuemei rubbed her waist and cursed: "This Wen Ruosheng is really crazy. He tried to hide it before, but now he has completely exposed his disgusting face."

"He's like a damned immortal, petty-minded and mean, not as good as Si Ling. After all, Si Ling is an old and rigid guy, and he still has some shame and restrains himself when it comes to taking advantage of others."

"..."

Si Ling paused, glanced at her calmly, and said in a threatening manner: "I am different from him. There is no need to compare us. That is an insult to me. I hope the Saint will be careful with your words."

He followed behind, ignoring the people around him.

*

City Lord's Mansion

City Lord Ye Rong was very excited. He looked at the slowly approaching figure, bowed his head and saluted, and said respectfully: "I am the City Lord of Jiuyou City. I am honored to meet His Excellency. I am sorry that I failed to welcome you. I hope Your Excellency will forgive me."

Si Ling raised his hand, and a gentle but irresistible force came over him.

"No need to be so polite. I just came out to do something and happened to pass by here. I hope I didn't disturb the city lord."

"No, I won't. It is my honor that the Lord is willing to come. Please come in. The food is ready. After the meal, you can go to your residence to take a shower and have a good rest."

"Well, I'm done."

Jiang Li felt a little envious when she saw this style. She was also a respected one, but why didn't she have such treatment in Qi Kingdom? Her own father was not understanding and always disliked her in this and that. Her life was so miserable.

"Sister Su, do you have such a high status in your own country?"

Su Xuemei looked puzzled and nodded: "Yes, I am the Saintess, and Si Ling is the Saint of Yu Country. We are of noble status. We don't need to perform formalities in front of Your Majesty. Our status is second only to Your Majesty, so we deserve to be respected."

"But those old men had no respect for you and were bossing you around."

"…They are special and it is not convenient to kill them. Let's keep them for now and pretend we didn't see them. They are old anyway and how long can they live? Just bear with it and it will pass."

The elders said: That’s enough. You said it so loudly in front of others. You are trying to irritate me on purpose. The third elder lost his temper and opened his mouth but was stopped by the second elder before he could say anything.

"Third brother, this is Yu Country. If you have any questions, we can talk about it when we get back."

"Hmph, okay, I understand."

After entering the City Lord's Mansion, Jiang Li sat down in the front hall. Looking at the delicious food on display, Jiang Li stared at it without moving his eyes. He was so greedy and hungry that he was almost starving to death.

Ye Rong made a few simple polite remarks and said, "Dear guests, please try some. These are the specialties of our Jiuyou City. Try them and see if they suit your taste. If you like them, you can always tell me."

After speaking, he glanced around and his eyes fell on Jiang Li. His eyes lit up: "This little girl, could she be the little princess of Qi Kingdom and the biggest winner of this competition? She is really amazing."

...Hehe, this guy must be stupid. He is from Yu country, but he openly praises a small country. There must be something wrong with his brain.

Jiang Li pointed at herself, her eyes a little confused: "Uncle, are you calling me? I'm the eldest princess, not the little princess."

Ye Rong looked at her clear, confused eyes and was very happy: "Haha, I was wrong. I just asked casually. I don't mean anything else. I hope you don't think too much about it."

"Eat it while it's hot. Hot water is ready for you."

"My Lord, if there is anything I can do for you during your visit, please tell me. It would be my honor to be of assistance."

Si Ling nodded and said softly, "I need four carriages and some food. I'm going back to Kyoto. I'll have someone send the money over. Thank you."

Ye Rong waved his hands repeatedly and said with a smile: "It's just a small favor. I will send someone to escort you when the time comes. If you want to go to Kyoto, you will pass by the deserted village on the way. That place..."

He hesitated for a moment, with a troubled look on his face: "That place is a little unsafe. If the Lord goes there, I'm still a little worried. I'll feel more at ease if I ask someone to escort him."

"Huh? What's wrong with that place? Why is it called a deserted village?"

Si Ling lowered his eyes and asked with some doubt.

Ye Rong sighed and said slowly: "In fact, the deserted village was originally called Lihua Village. It was a very beautiful village. But later, I don't know what happened. People often disappeared in that place."

"The people were in a panic. The government investigated but found nothing. Then people kept disappearing. Gradually, the people got scared and moved away."

"As time went by, the village became deserted. Everyone called it the Deserted Village. The reason why we arranged to escort the Venerable was because in the past year, people who passed by the Deserted Village disappeared overnight."

"We sent people to look for it, but they only found some bloodstains. The person was never found. Rumor has it that there are ghosts in that place. I'm not telling you this to scare you, but just to hope you'll be more alert and avoid deserted villages."

Si Ling hummed: "Okay, then I'll trouble the city lord to send someone to escort us. I'm not familiar with the route, so it would be better if we have someone we know to go with us."

Ye Rong's smile deepened when he heard him say that, and a hint of inexplicable emotion flashed across his face: "That's good, this way I can feel more at ease."

After finishing the meal, they walked towards the backyard. Jiang Li sniffed and tugged at Si Ling's sleeve. When he shook it off, he said unhappily, "What are you doing? I have something to tell you."

"Men and women should not touch each other, princess, please be more careful with your behavior."

"...No, A Yuan is here. What can I do to you? I ask you to come closer. I have something to ask you. Something is wrong here. Can you come closer?"

Mo Yuan dodged and stood between them, saying softly: "Xiao Li, tell me, I will pass it on."

Jiang Li hummed, looked around, and whispered, "A Yuan, do you smell a strange smell? It's the smell of blood, rot, and sandalwood."

"I smelled a very strange smell on that city lord."

“I didn’t smell that.”

When Si Ling heard her words, his expression was indifferent: "Princess, you must have smelled it wrongly. There is no smell on the city lord. Even if there is a smell, I am closer and I should have smelled it first."

"No, my nose is more sensitive than yours. You have to believe that a woman's nose is definitely more sensitive than a man's."

"...!!"