Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons

This was the first time Wencheng spoke in several years, and his voice was as dry as old tree bark that had been exposed to the sun.

Who would have thought that this voice belonged to a woman less than 30 years old, a princess who was famous in Manzagang for her beauty and compassion eight years ago?

His lowered eyelids hid his deep hatred. His throat, which had been silent for a long time, released a few wisps of sweet and fishy smells due to the vibration of the airflow. Wen Cheng endured the severe pain in his throat and said respectfully: "The queen is wise and powerful, and majestic. It was I who was foolish eight years ago. How can a mountain bird overshadow the glory of a golden peacock?"

These words were said in a gentle and charming manner, and they praised Wen Jiao by self-deprecation. If they came from the mouths of those flatterers under her command, it would have gone smoothly, but coming from the mouth of Princess Wencheng, it was truly amazing.

Wen Jiao stared at the white clouds moving over the snowy mountains in the distance: "Think carefully, your children and you haven't seen each other for eight years."

Princess Wencheng shuddered slightly, and her tone became softer: "But I don't expect to see them."

"Oh?" Wen Jiao turned around and looked at her.

Princess Wencheng still kept her head down and said, "Of course the throne of Manzagang belongs to the queen, and in the future it will belong to the princes born to her. Compared to the queen's children, my two children are like sparrows to hawks, they are simply incomparable. It's best for them to scatter into the grassland like dandelion seeds and never come back. So it is a great blessing for them that I can't see them."

"Smart Dakini." Wen Jiao sighed. Seeing her humble attitude of letting others bully her, she couldn't help but despise herself.

Wen Jiao - no, Ha Xiang - you are such a shameless person. Look at what you have done to the lovely fairy princess.

Although this respectful and submissive attitude was probably fake, she didn't believe that Wencheng had been holding his breath for so many years, not waiting for his child to come back and restore order.

Sleeping on straw and tasting gall is the true nature of Han women. Even at this moment, Wencheng still thought that she was the princess Zhuowasangmu in this misty country.

"I brought you out this time because I was hesitating whether to give you a chance." Wen Jiao walked closer and looked down at the bright red coral makeup on the top of Wen Cheng's head.

Wencheng's eyes lit up, but she wanted to decline verbally. However, before she could open her mouth, farmers from nearby gathered around and offered them fresh hot milk tea, delicious dried meat and tsampa.

"Queen, thanks to the oxen you gave us, our family's harvest last year doubled compared to the year before. My mother said that she had never seen so much food since she was born!" said a farmer with a smile.

"There are also oxen." Another gray-haired woman said, "We slaves have only been able to dig for food with our hands since we were born. We have never been blessed to use oxen. Only masters can afford to raise such precious treasures as oxen. How can we have a turn? Last year, we saw more oxen in the fields than we have seen in this lifetime. This is all the blessing brought to us by the queen!"

"You are not civilians?" Wen Cheng was so shocked that he couldn't help but ask.

In Manzagang, commoners who could afford to raise cattle were considered wealthy. Most of the cattle were in the hands of nobles and raised by countless slaves. The food, fur, and flesh produced were hardly distributed to the slaves. She had thought that these people should be commoners or even small nobles who had been forced by Ha Xiang to farm by themselves. She never expected that, from their tone, they were actually slaves!

She glanced at the clothes on these people. They were thick and complete, not too worn out. Some were even embroidered with flowers. They were very different from the impression she had of the ragged and shapeless slaves.

The people of Manzagang were not rich, and they often had to go hungry. As a princess, she had often advised the king to take money from the treasury to help the people. In Wencheng's memory, those who could afford such clothes were considered well-off.

How could these people be slaves!

The old man who was asked smiled widely, revealing two rows of teeth with a few missing teeth: "We were slaves under the name of Lord Gongga in the past. Lord Gongga concealed the amount of his land and committed a serious crime, so our queen chopped off his head. We became the queen's slaves, and from then on we lived a good life with plenty of food and drink! Now the slaves of other families are jealous of us."

They were so jealous that they often secretly spied on their masters, wishing that their masters would make some mistakes and be beheaded so that they could be confiscated by the queen. After all, they were all slaves, so who wouldn't want to live a life of plenty?

Of course, the old man didn't dare to say these words out loud.

Wencheng forced himself to suppress the urge to tremble. Gongga, that is the king's loyal minister who grew up with him!

Another middle-aged woman held up a magic box devoutly and said, "Queen, this is the auspicious magic box I asked for from the guardian deity. Please pass it to the kind little Prince Dorje. If he hadn't come to our pasture to hunt last time and let the doctor who followed him treat my daughter, my daughter Zhuoma would have died of a high fever."

Doji is Wen Jiao's "eldest son". He likes reading and is learning various knowledge from senior monks. He has a pair of eyes as clear as a lake and has a good reputation in Manzagang.

And his biological father was the minister who was chopped off by Wen Jiao some time ago because of obscene sacrifices.

Of course, Doji also didn’t know the latter sentence.

Wencheng's breathing was also a little rapid, and she clutched her clothes anxiously. Her son Leba was only five years old when he escaped from the palace. Because he was deeply loved by the king, he was not allowed to show his face in public, fearing that he would be looked down upon. Therefore, he did not earn much reputation among the people. Even if Leba came back now, he would not have much advantage over this little prince who was quite famous for his virtue.

The young peasant woman next to her saw that she looked pale and asked with concern, "Madam, are you feeling unwell?"

Wen Cheng tried to calm down and said, "It's too windy here. I have a headache."

The peasant woman immediately poured a cup of steaming hot milk tea and held it with both hands, "Hurry up and drink a bowl of milk tea to warm yourself up."

Wencheng took it and swallowed a few mouthfuls. It tasted rich in milk and slightly bitter in tea. When she was a hunter's daughter, she had lived a hard life for a long time. She knew that tea was a kind of fragrant leaves from the East, brought by merchants from afar, and was very expensive. In the past, her parents would not be willing to make such a strong milk tea unless it was a festival. And she actually drank such tea from a slave.

"This tea is brewed very well, fragrant and strong." Wencheng said tentatively.

The peasant woman immediately smiled and said, "I put a whole handful of tea leaves in when I brewed it!" She added, "In the past, that handful was enough for our whole family to drink for two days. Thanks to the queen who asked everyone to build a road, many caravans came after the road was built, and the price of tea dropped all of a sudden."

Is this still the cruel and bloodthirsty queen in my memory? Wen Cheng frowned.