Golden Branch

Wang Heng's lively lychee eyes were tinged with displeasure.

She looked like a little wife who loved her husband deeply, and she instinctively rejected and was jealous of the woman her husband mentioned.

Lou Yu stared at Wang Heng, his lips curled. "Little girl, have you "gotten"? Are you starting to show possessiveness? Are you starting to feel a sense of crisis?"

Unfortunately, just as Wang Heng was very familiar with Lou Yu, Lou Yu also knew Wang Heng very well.

Wang Heng can see through Lou Yu's disguise at a glance, and Lou Yu can also easily see through Wang Heng's little thoughts.

"Aheng, are you jealous? Or are you insulting me?"

Lou Yu said lightly.

Is he an ordinary man?

Will he be easily fooled by the so-called goblin?

"..."

Wang Heng couldn't help laughing when she heard what insults Lou Yu said.

What love rival?

There will never be a third person between her and Lou Yu.

Wang Heng would not easily fall in love with other men, and Lou Yu would not take any woman other than Wang Heng seriously.

Lovers who know each other well and love each other still have some trust and confidence in each other.

"Brother, what's the situation with that woman?"

Wang Heng laughed for a while, then suppressed her playful thoughts and started talking about business.

"Something weird!"

Lou Yu wasn't really angry.

As long as Ah Heng can recognize her own heart and not make trouble in matters of the heart, Lou Yu will not be angry no matter what she does or says.

The doting and indulgence in his eyes could almost become tangible.

Seeing that Ah Heng had stopped playing around, he calmed down and said seriously, "It seems to be a poison, but it also seems not to be!"

"She always has a way of confusing and controlling others."

Wang Heng's eyes flashed, accurately catching the key point of Lou Yu's words: "Others?" Not just men?

"Correct!"

A smile flashed across Lou Yu's eyes.

His little girl is so smart and sharp.

"Perhaps she's too beautiful, or perhaps too charming, this savage girl is just like the 'Mary Sue' Wang Mian talked about years ago—"

As friends for more than ten years, Lou Yu felt both disdain and curiosity about Wang Mian's strange ideas and nonsense.

Unconsciously, he was influenced and accepted those new words.

“Everyone, young or old, male or female, seems to like her.”

"She only needs to wink at her eyes and snap her fingers to make many people crawl at her feet."

As Lou Yu spoke, his expression became serious.

Wang Heng frowned slightly. "Confused? Controlled?"

"Brother, are you saying that she can control people's minds?"

"Could this also be a Gu insect?"

As Wang Heng speculated, she couldn't help but feel a chill down her spine. "Brother, this is far more potent than the poison the Crown Princess was infected with!"

The Crown Princess was only physically poisoned, but the barbarian woman mentioned by Lou Yu was actually able to be controlled mentally.

One is tangible and the other is intangible.

The former can be seen and seems to be able to be treated.

And the latter... is too strange, seemingly beyond human reach.

"Yes, it is indeed domineering!"

Lou Yu was aware of this, so he paid special attention to Ashlin.

For this reason, they did not hesitate to act respectful and treat him as a guest of honor.

"Is she the same type of person as Ani?"

Wang Heng continued to speculate, and she thought of another Yi people.

"……uncertain!"

Lou Yu carefully chose his words and spoke very rigorously.

To Dayu, Ani and Ashlin are both foreigners.

However, the two are not of the same race.

Ani is a Miao, while Ashlin is a barbarian from the southwestern frontier.

Although the tribe where Ashlin belongs is also subject to Dayu, it has its own king.

They learned the writing system of the Central Plains Dynasty and relied on its salt and iron, but they were more independent and more rebellious.

During the war in the previous dynasty, this tribe established itself as a king and broke away from the rule of the previous dynasty.

After the establishment of Dayu, that king submitted a letter of credence and showed his submission.

However, he still wanted to maintain his status as a "king", and the land he occupied became a foreign country rather than a prefecture of Dayu.

As a top noble and a powerful figure, Lou Yu could not tolerate such a rebellious act of "dividing the territory".

Even though that land is remote and wild and is not a paradise, since it was once the territory of the Central Plains dynasty, it cannot be separated.

The imperial court may not value it, but it cannot tolerate those barbarians who act rashly.

Not to mention, Lou Yu also met Ashlin, a princess with strange attire.

A tribe that already has a rebellious heart, and there is such an heir who can charm the mind... Lou Yu has a strong premonition that this tribe will become a hidden danger for Dayu and bring certain crises to Dayu!

Nipping problems in the bud and preventing disasters before they occur are all things that Lou Yu, as a powerful official, must master.

"There's no need to be too fearful! No matter how strange they are, they are still mortal!"

Although Lou Yu was alert, he was not afraid.

He has done a lot of things in the past few months in Nanning.

He went deep into the mountains and forests and had contacts with several tribes.

And Annie——

"Although this person is a bit presumptuous, relying on some means to dare to violate the superiors, she still has some persistence and is more concerned!"

Ani did use poison and murder innocent people, but she had her reasons and did not commit evil without reason.

It was only when Lou Yu arrived in Yongzhou that he realized how perverse the King of Yong was.

All kinds of tyranny are comparable to those of Jie and Zhou.

He was also an extreme person who did not regard the Yi people as human beings, but as savages and slaves.

The people of the Central Plains Dynasty did look down on the barbarians, but for scholars like Lou Yu, what they should do most is to educate them rather than slaughter them.

King Yong had no kindness to educate, but instead oppressed and abused his people.

When hunting, instead of shooting wild animals, they go to other people's villages and kill them at will.

The barbarians who took the initiative to come down the mountain and actively study the classics of the sages were also discriminated against and bullied in various ways.

Less than a year after he took office, he turned Yongzhou into a living hell, forcing the people to frequent unrest.

Lou Yu: ...He deserves to die!

Lou Yu's anger was not only due to King Yong's cruelty, but also due to his stupidity.

They do evil openly without any cover-up.

He is vicious and stupid, and has caused so much trouble to the saint and the court. Lou Yu will never show mercy to him.

They stormed the palace, captured Prince Yong alive, tried many of his lackeys in public, and then escorted the main culprit back to the capital.

Although they failed to execute Prince Yong in public and completely quell the public anger, in the feudal dynasty, being able to lock the arrogant and domineering prince into a prison car was already a great victory for the lower-class people who were accustomed to being oppressed.

Therefore, the nobles and common people of Yongzhou, as well as the barbarians in the mountain strongholds, were all very happy, and regarded Lou Yu, the governor who dared to overthrow the powerful, as an upright official who stood up for the people and was not afraid of the powerful.

Especially the Yi people, who were not only grateful for Lou Yu's fairness and justice, but also in awe of his magical methods.

Wherever the small porcelain bottle went, the earth shook and the mountains trembled. For the Yi people who worshipped totems and mountain gods, it was the arrival of gods.

Among these Yi tribes, there are Ani’s people.

They were grateful and in awe, and promptly passed the news to Ani in the capital.

Lou Yu understood this very well, and he was more confident that he could use the events in Yongzhou to win over Ani.

"However, the same routine may not work on Ashlin."

Lou Yu spoke slowly.

Wang Heng listened carefully and nodded at the right moment. "Yes, Ani and Ashlin are fundamentally different."

Although both of them are barbarians, Ani and her people are more receptive to the teachings of the dynasty.

They have already been localized to a certain extent.

Ashlin is different. She and her people have long rebelled against the dynasty.

Perhaps, to them, they are not Dayu people. They insist on their own language and writing, forming their own country, and are unwilling to integrate into the Central Plains Dynasty.

Ashilin and others have already regarded themselves as enemies of Dayu in their bones, so how could they be close to them and have good intentions towards them?

Using the same poison, Ani essentially hopes that the emperor of Dayu will make the decision for them. What Ashlin wants to do may be complete destruction!

Lou Yu and Wang Heng are both legitimate Dayu aristocrats, and all they care about is the interests and dignity of the dynasty.

They could recruit Ani, but they didn't dare to trust Ashlin.

"...Let's see what's so strange about her. Maybe Annie can understand something!"

This is also one of the reasons why Lou Yu brought Ashlin into the capital.

Annie is a saint who is good at using poison, while Ashlin is the so-called princess.

Their poisons each have their own strengths, but they should also have certain similarities.

"King meets king", the fierce collision between professionals will definitely bring surprises.

"Brother, is Ashlin beautiful?"

As they talked, the topic became a little serious. Wang Heng blinked her big round eyes and suddenly asked playfully, "How about competing with me?"

In normal cognition, a woman who can confuse the world must have an extraordinary appearance.

Humans are visual animals and are easily mesmerized by beautiful things.

In ghost stories, when goblins want to seduce mortals, they transform themselves into beauties.

A hint of helplessness flashed across Lou Yu's gentle face.

"How do I know?"

"I don't even want to get close to you when you stink, so how can I take a closer look?"

Furthermore, apart from Ah Heng, everyone else is insignificant to him.

Lou Yu doesn't care about these people's appearance at all.

Compared with beauty or ugliness, Lou Yu cares more about whether the other person is stupid or smart, and whether he or she is valuable.

Lou Yu would only devote some of his energy to smart and useful people.

On the contrary, Lou Yu wouldn't even look at it.

"Smelly?"

Wang Heng raised an eyebrow. "Isn't she said to be extremely charming? Then she should be fragrant."

"..." Lou Yu thought about it and really didn't know how to describe it to Aheng.

He could only say: "In a few days, she should be able to arrive in the capital. Then you will know for yourself when you see her in person!"

To others, that smell might be a seductive fragrance that stirs the heart.

But for Lou Yu, Wang Heng and others, it was a suffocating and disgusting stench.

Wang Heng: …even more curious, huh?!

……

On the third day after Lou Yu arrived at Mount Li, Wang Heng packed up and returned to the capital.

The upcoming event is not only her birthday, but also Lou Yu's coming-of-age ceremony. Such an important moment should be spent in the capital.

The day after Wang Heng and his party returned to the capital, the Lou family troops escorting the Princess of Nanbang also arrived in the capital.

Wang Heng met Ashlin immediately...