The Virgin Mary in the Book: I Decide My Life with Two Swords

Cang Yue Kingdom - Capital - Eastern Palace

Midnight had long passed, but Nangong Xuan still hadn't rested. He sat motionless behind his desk, his eyes full of anger.

The door opened with a creak, and a eunuch entered, setting down a cup of hot tea. He then spoke carefully, "Your Highness, Concubine Han has sent someone to ask when you will be lifting your veil on our wedding night tonight?"

"Get out..." Nangong Chen said angrily.

"Yes, I'll get out of here right away." The eunuch quickly withdrew and went to Han Yu'er's courtyard to report, "My Lady Concubine, you must rest up tonight. His Highness has been reprimanded by His Majesty and is under house arrest. He's... in a bad mood, so I'm afraid he won't be coming."

Han Yu'er was unhappy, but she remained gentle on the surface: "Thank you, eunuch, Cui'er, for the reward."

"Yes." The maid Cui'er took a piece of silver and gave it to the eunuch.

Eunuch Hu immediately smiled happily: "Thank you for your reward, Your Majesty. You should rest early. After today, Your Highness will be less angry and will naturally dote on Your Majesty."

"Thank you for your good wishes, father-in-law," Han Yuer smiled.

After Eunuch Hu left, Cui'er immediately spoke up, "Your Majesty, I've inquired about it. It seems that because it's a letter to all people, it's related to the disaster in Nanlai last year. I can't find out the details."

Han Yuer was extremely angry: "A bunch of damned lowly people, they ruined my wedding night, damn it."

"My Lady, please don't get too angry, there's still a long way to go."

"That bitch Ye Yun will be coming home in five days. Before that, I must get the right to manage the backyard."

"Yes, this is our top priority. Previously, it was managed by Li. Her brother is a general, and I heard that he was recently transferred back to the capital."

"He's just a military general, no big deal. Take a rest! Let's just spend the night like this." Han Yuer still felt resentful.

On the other side, the prince still did not rest and continued to sit like a clock.

His personal bodyguard Zhan Ye walked in: "Your Highness, he's here."

Nangong Xuan didn't say anything. A man in a black cloak walked in. "General Yutong pays his respects to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

"Get up. In the past few years, King Beichen has managed the Imperial Guards very strictly. All the generals, big and small, are his confidants, including the troops stationed in the city. I spent a lot of effort to get you into the Imperial Guards. You also worked hard and made yourself the position of cabinet leader. Now, I need you," said Nangong Xuan.

"Your Highness has ordered me to die for you."

"Those corrupt officials in Nanlai were so corrupt that they caused public resentment. My father reprimanded me for my incompetence and handed the disaster relief funds to Prince Beichen, asking him to quell the public resentment. He already has hundreds of thousands of troops under his command, and Leng Aoyun is his favorite general, with several great military achievements to his name. If he succeeds in pacifying the public resentment this time, he will be both a man of culture and a warrior. Then it will be time for me to abdicate and let someone else take over."

"Your Highness, why do you say that? I am willing to serve you at my utmost." Yu Tong bowed. He probably understood what Nangong Chen meant. "Your Highness, I am included in the list of the Imperial Guards accompanying the Zai Yin and King Beichen to protect them."

"It seems to be God's will, Yutong. As long as King Beichen reigns, my position will end. Do you understand?"

"I understand, but... Prince Beichen is a master on the Langya List, and I... am unable to do the same."

"Don't worry, someone will contact you when you arrive in Nanlai. Your mission is only to provide information, accurate information about the whereabouts of King Beichen, that's all. After that, I will grant you the title of Commander of the Imperial Guards."

"Thank you, Your Highness. I will definitely complete the mission."

"Leave quietly and don't let anyone find you." Nangong Xuan was very satisfied.

"Yes, I will retire at the end."

After Yutong left, Nangong Xuan said, "Zhanye, tell me, am I a bad person?"

"Your Highness, only one person can sit in that position since ancient times. You know how His Majesty got there back then. This has been the case for emperors of all dynasties," Zhan Ye said.

"You're right," Nangong Xuan said, trying to find a plausible excuse for himself. "When I entered the palace a few days ago, my mother asked me to take better care of my seventh brother. Little did she know that the current Prince of Beichen doesn't need anyone else's care. My father has always been biased. I worked so hard, but only got an empty crown prince, while my seventh brother, without fighting or competing, has everything. This is unfair. It's my father's injustice that has led to the current situation. So, it's their fault."

As the sky gradually brightened, at the Beichen Palace, Nangong Chen gave the commander of the imperial guards and the general of the garrison troops some precautions and prepared to set off.

Meng Shishi pursed her lips: "Brother, just take me with you!"

"We're on a forced march this time, and we're going to appease the people and rescue the victims. Why would we bring you along? Last night, I told you to either wait for me at the palace or return to the mountains first."

"I don't want to go back." Meng Shishi looked at the man tidying up the saddle and paused for a moment: "Brother, I heard... you have a crush on that country girl Ye Ling?"

"Who did you listen to?"

"Many people know about this. You accompany her to pay respects to her father in the middle of the night."

"I'm not accompanying her. I'm paying my respects to General Ye myself."

"A military general has been dead for several years. Senior brother, a prince, goes to pay homage to him?" Meng Shishi muttered in a low voice.

Nangong Chen stopped what he was doing, turned around and said with a serious expression: "Shishi, General Ye can be considered as my master. He taught me how to fight and how to deploy troops. Also, he is a meritorious official of Cang Yue Nation. No matter how many years have passed since his death, he should be remembered."

"Brother, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it. I won't dare say it again." Meng Shishi admitted her mistake but didn't mean it. "Brother, are you concerned about Ye Ling because she is General Ye's daughter?"

"She is an orphan, helpless and very pitiful"

"Is that so! Then why don't you take her as a concubine, so that you can have someone to rely on," Meng Shishi further tested.

Nangong Chen smiled and said, "That requires her consent!"

Meng Shishi immediately sensed something was wrong: "Brother, you mean...she doesn't agree?"

"Your Highness," Shadow Blade walked over and said, "The escorting Imperial Guards have arrived, led by Deputy Commander-in-Chief Zhang Chong."

"Have you sent a letter to Xue Jingchuan?"

"I sent a letter by carrier pigeon last night."

"Tell Zhang Chong that it's time to go."

"Senior Brother, you haven't answered me yet. Is it that Ye Ling doesn't agree to be a concubine?" This is what Meng Shishi is worried about.

"Almost! Okay, you can go in." Nangong Chen jumped on the horse and said, "Let's go."

Looking at the team in the distance, Meng Shishi's face was distorted with anger: "The rumors are indeed true. Ye Ling is a vixen. She seduced the prince before, and now she has deceived my brother."

"Miss, what should we do?"

"Hmph! I heard that the bitch ran away from home. Let the spies in the mountain gate find out where she is immediately and then kill her directly. No need to report it," said Meng Shishi.

"Yes, I'll send a pigeon to deliver the letter right away."

At the same time, thousands of miles away at the Tangzhou Shunyang Inn, Ye Ling and others were pulling their horses and preparing to leave.

"Hey! Girl, are you leaving too?" Xue Jingchuan also pulled his horse to the door.

"Yes! We are in a hurry to get on the road," said Ye Ling.

"No carriage?" Xue Jingchuan was curious.

"Isn't there a horse here?" Ye Ling asked back.

"Women riding horses...is indeed rare"

"You've only met two today, Blood Prince. Goodbye," Ye Ling said as she was about to leave. She didn't plan to pretend to be a lady anymore.

"Let's go together! I'm leaving the city too." Xue Jingchuan planned to follow Ye Ling to Nanlai and get acquainted with them. On the one hand, he wanted to see if there were any surviving members of the Ye family's cavalry around him, and on the other hand, he wanted to see if he could get any clues from Jiuyou about why the Ye family's cavalry was wiped out. This was his biggest headache in the past five years, and it was also the only unfinished task in his life.

"Is Prince Xue going the same way as us?" Ye Ling asked with a smile.

"I don't know about that, but at least we can go together to the city gate," Xue Jingchuan replied with a smile.

"Let's go!" Ye Ling was too lazy to say more.

As they walked and talked, Xue Jingchuan asked, "I haven't asked for your name yet, young lady."

"Ye Ling, of the night"

"Ye?" Xue Jingchuan pretended to be surprised: "Is... is it the Ye family in Beijing?"

"good"

"That's not right! How could Ye Taibao let his female family members go out on horseback? Impossible, you are kidding me." Xue Jingchuan acted very realistically, without any flaws.

"My young lady is not her daughter," Qian Qing said.

"No? That's even more wrong. Ye Tingmo, the second son of the Ye family, has no daughter. Everyone knows that he is a loser who has accomplished nothing."

"Does the Ye family only want these two things?" Ye Ling was unhappy.

"The Ye family..." Xue Jingchuan pretended to think, then was surprised: "You...you can't be...the orphan girl of Ye Tingzhan General Ye?"

"Don't they look alike?" Ye Ling didn't realize at all that the blood shadow was acting.

Xue Jingchuan looked Ye Ling up and down. "Um, are you really that orphan girl? Weren't you taken back by Grand Tutor Leng? Aren't you... aren't you going to marry the Crown Prince?"

"Bullshit, who wants to marry that duck?" Ye Ling was really angry. The damn former heroine made her notorious.

"Duck? No, that's what people in the capital call it."

"Haven't you heard the saying? It takes only one mouth to spread a rumor, but it takes a lot of effort to refute it. Even if I don't get married in this life, I will never fall for that dead duck Nangong Xuan."

"Miss" Qianqing reminded me not to swear.

"What does duck mean?" Xue Jingchuan was very curious.

"It's just a face-shou or a minor official."

"what?"

"Ah what? He has a group of women, isn't that a duck?"

"Well... forget it. I'm too lazy to talk about him. Miss Ye, do you know? General Ye is the person I admire the most. Back then, I almost joined the Ye family's Iron Cavalry Battalion, but unfortunately... alas, some things interrupted me." Xue Jingchuan's words were absolutely true. Back then, he wanted to join Ye Tingzhan's personal Iron Cavalry Battalion, but because he liked freedom and could not stand the constraints of the military camp, he did not join the army. And because he and Nangong Chen were brothers in the same school, he helped him do some things.

"What's the point of your admiration? God has always been jealous of talented people, and he's still dead."

"That's not important anymore. By the way, where are you going?"

"Nanlai" Ye Ling did not intend to hide it, because once they entered the territory of Nanlai, they would definitely be discovered. It would be better to just admit it and see what these bastards wanted to do.