New Song Dynasty: My Wife is an Imperial Princess

Xijing Datong Prefecture.

After arranging the night raid on the mine, Zhuo Luwang quickly withdrew with more than a hundred guards. He waited for more than ten days at the pre-arranged place, but no ore cart came to meet him. His originally relaxed expression finally turned gloomy.

According to the previous plan, after succeeding, Wulinda would completely break up the team, with each squad dispersing into the Yanshan Mountains. Even if Wanyan Xi's guards had three heads and six arms, it would be impossible for them to capture all of his personal guards.

So many days have passed now, it's absolutely impossible that not a single car has appeared.

"Could it be that Wulinda failed? Was he ambushed by Wanyan Xi during the night raid?"

This is impossible.

To ensure the success of the plan, he also brought in the fourth prince, Wanyan Aru, as an ally. Wanyan Xi's army was only about 500 men. Even if she was prepared that night and put all her forces into it, it would still be a situation of 800 against 500, with the enemy in the open and him in the dark. No matter how the battle was fought, he should have been the one to win.

If the Princess's residence doesn't have the strength to completely wipe out these eight hundred elite troops, who else in Youzhou City could?

In just a moment, Zhuo Luwang realized a possibility: "Wanyan Xun, the commander of the Youzhou army! It was actually this bastard who did this good deed."

The Youzhou army has a full strength of 10,000 men. If they were to ambush them in the mountain valleys beforehand, taking advantage of their unpreparedness, only 2,000 elite soldiers would be needed to catch them off guard.

But how could Wanyan Xun possibly know the exact time of his and Wanyan Aru's night raid? Could it be that the Youzhou army was already stationed at the mine, waiting for some foolish thief to take the bait? Or was there some expert in Youzhou City who had already seen through everything?

"I never imagined that such a small place as Youzhou would become such a hidden and powerful place."

With nearly four hundred warriors wiped out, the Zhuolu tribe suffered a devastating loss, thus cementing their feud with Wanyan Xi. However, now was not the time to investigate the cause and effect; he needed to return to the tribe immediately.

"Wanyan Xi, don't be so smug. After I marry you, I'll teach you a lesson. Just wash yourself clean and wait for me to come to Youzhou to pick you up."

Zhuo Luwang, far away in Datong Prefecture, gritted his teeth and stared in the direction of Youzhou City for a long time. The Seventh Princess in Youzhou City certainly couldn't feel it. At this moment, Wanyan Xi was sitting in front of a square table, holding a stack of wooden cards, not knowing which card to play. Her brows were furrowed and her eyes were focused. She was clearly focused on the game in front of her. How could she possibly think that someone was plotting against her?

Since Tang Qian retrieved the members of the Song Dynasty delegation from Wanyan Xun, the city's various management systems have gradually improved. Tang Qian, who only needed to offer advice, had nothing to do, so he locked himself in the quartermaster's office for two days. When he came out again, he presented the Seventh Princess with this deck of newly made playing cards.

Zhao Yingluo is a smart girl, and the two of them work together very well. Wanyan Xi seems to be living for the moment, and before her father sends the imperial decree of marriage to Youzhou, she only plans to live as she pleases. The two of them really do seem to be as close as sisters.

When the two princesses got together, they would either play the zither or paint, doing the same few things over and over again. After all, Zhao Yingluo was a princess of the Song Dynasty, and she was always treated like a courtesan. Tang Qian, as her husband, still felt a little sorry for her.

"The Seventh Princess is not good at music, so I'll play a few tunes to entertain her. It's alright." Tang Qian's complaint made Zhao Yingluo smile. "She likes riding and archery, and my husband wouldn't want me to accompany her hunting, would he?"

Thinking of the terrifying scene of Zhao Yingluo accidentally falling off her horse, Tang Qian felt that he still needed to come up with something to keep Wanyan Xi firmly under control at home.

He did want to carve out mahjong tiles, but that stuff was too profound and the rules too complicated. Tang Qian was worried that the two girls wouldn't be able to learn it, and playing cards would be a better option.

The game set, which Tang Qian called the Qiankun Cards, was placed in front of the girls and immediately aroused their interest. In order to make it easier for them to get started as soon as possible, Tang Qian only taught them the simplest way to play. Even so, the two princesses and two maids still had a great time playing.

Tang Qian pushed the door open from the outside at an inopportune moment, startling the four women who hurriedly tore off the paper strips stuck to their faces. Unfortunately, Wan Yanxi had lost too many games, and even though she frantically groped around, two strips still slipped through her fingers.

Fearing that Wanyan Xi would be enraged, Xiao Li immediately stood up and glared at Tang Qian angrily: "How dare you, Tang Qian! Knowing that the princess is a guest here, why didn't you knock before entering?"

After a brief moment of panic, the two princesses finally composed themselves. Zhao Yingluo, her face flushed with embarrassment, stood up and tried to retreat to the inner room, while Wanyan Xi appeared quite resolute: "It is the rule of the Qiankun Cards that the loser has to put on a sticker. This princess is willing to accept defeat and is not afraid of losing face."

"The princess's gambling etiquette is undoubtedly excellent, but I was also careless. This kind of game requires skill in addition to luck, such as remembering and calculating cards, and how to minimize losses when you know you are going to lose. Without long-term immersion, you can't develop such card skills."

However, if Wanyan Xi and Zhao Yingluo were to become obsessed with such things and lose their ambition, that would be putting the cart before the horse.

"In a couple of days, I'll make another board game that's entirely based on luck, so everyone can rely on their chances, which would be fair."

Take Monopoly, for example. The game involves rolling dice to move pieces and buying land to build houses, which is indeed more suitable for young girls than playing cards.

"Getting back to the main topic." After Wanyan Xi finished getting ready and sat in the main seat in the hall, Tang Qian cupped his hands in greeting to her. "The spinning wheels and the female workers are all ready. We just need Balha to bring back the wool we need, and then the weaving workshop can officially start operations."

In the war-torn late Song Dynasty, the people were only concerned with having enough to eat and wear. Tang Qian solved the city's food problem for Wanyan Xi, and the next issue was how to keep warm.

Youzhou did not grow cotton or hemp crops, but wool from the northern frontier was something that no one cared about at all. Now that someone was willing to exchange goods for it, all the nearby tribes flocked to the area.

Wanyan Xi was naturally delighted to be able to gather the women in the city to work, but although she had complete confidence in Tang Qian, she really couldn't understand how wool could be spun into yarn and then made into clothes.

Tang Qian patted his chest and confidently assured him, "Your Highness, please wait and see."