noffsinger Chapter 15 The Alliance Leader's Defeat
Chapter 15 The Alliance Leader's Defeat
That evening, the princess sent people to inquire, only to learn that the grassland leader, Kade, had been defeated by another tribe, and the grassland leader had now changed. The other side gave Princess Wan'er two choices.
One option was to leave her dowry behind and return the way she came, never to set foot on the grasslands again. The other was to marry the new leader of the grassland alliance, accepting the loss and missing out on a better future. Princess Wan'er answered without hesitation, "I choose to return the way I came!"
Given this situation, and perhaps due to the imposing power of the Song Dynasty, they were reluctant to stop her, and after confiscating her valuables, they allowed Princess Wan'er to pass.
The more glorious their departure, the more wretched their return. Although the number of people remained the same, the lavish dowry was confiscated, and the princess's luxurious carriage was left behind. While the band's instruments were still there, they dared not play their drums and gongs in this situation. The group, like wilted eggplants, walked back listlessly. It took them about ten hours to return to the palace.
When the Song emperor learned of this, he was so angry that he almost fainted. His precious daughter had been pampered since childhood and had never suffered such humiliation. He immediately wanted to issue an imperial edict to raze that grassland tribe to the ground.
At this moment, the Empress hurriedly came over and advised, "Your Majesty, please think twice before you act. We must consider the bigger picture. If we were to fight with the grasslands, innocent people on both sides would be implicated, and the consequences would be unimaginable. Let's be patient and let things pass."
"Woman's perspective! You only care about the plight of the common people, why don't you think about our daughter? The whole city saw her return this time, how terrible will that be for her? What if it ruins her life's important matter!" The emperor was so angry that his face turned red, veins bulged on his forehead, his eyes widened, his mouth opened wide, and a low, angry roar came from his throat.
The Empress answered truthfully, "To be frank, others might really mind that Wan'er broke off the engagement. But, as the saying goes, things always turn around when they reach their extreme. There is definitely someone who would be willing to marry our precious daughter, and he can even become a son-in-law of our family. In this way, our family can still live together, and our daughter won't be wronged. Why not?"
The emperor looked at the empress with a mixture of belief and doubt, and asked, "Who is it? Who wouldn't care about Wan'er's plight?"
The Empress replied confidently, "Su Muyang."
"Him?! Fine, fine, things have come to this. As long as he agrees to marry Wan'er, I'll give him the title of Imperial Son-in-Law, and I'll try my best to meet his other conditions." The emperor had truly changed his mind this time. It wasn't that he accepted Su Muyang, but rather that he was afraid his daughter wouldn't be able to get married and would be the subject of gossip.
"Very well, Your Majesty's word is law, and you must not go back on your word!" the Empress solemnly reminded him.
The emperor replied helplessly, "It's a deal."
"Alright, Your Majesty, calm down and attend to your own affairs. I'll go have a heart-to-heart talk with Su Muyang." The Empress said this and then left the main hall with a group of palace maids.
The teahouses in town were bustling with customers. Zhao Shouyi, beaming, came to find Su Muyang.
"Young Master Su, are you free today?"
Su Muyang was busy serving tea and water and completely ignored him.
Zhao Shouyi followed him like a shadow, wherever he went. Zhao Shouyi asked him again, "Are you free today? Can we go out and talk?"
Su Muyang replied coldly, his face showing impatience, "It's rare that my boss is so kind, which is why I've returned to work at the teahouse. I just want to focus on my work and nothing else. Please don't bother me again!"
Just then, the teahouse owner arrived, and he angrily reprimanded him.
"Young master, could you please leave? My employees have been delayed because of you."
Mr. Zhao explained helplessly, "I have something very important to tell Su Muyang. Boss, you're such a good person, just give him a vacation!"
"I'm just baffled. Who's so busy? Always having important things to do? Su Muyang is just a waiter. Please leave him alone!" the teahouse owner retorted.
At this moment, Young Master Zhao whispered something in Su Muyang's ear, and Su Muyang immediately beamed with joy, his eyes sparkling, leaving the boss next to him completely bewildered.
Then, Su Muyang said to his boss with a smile, "Boss, my life's most important matter is settled. I'll take a day off and bring you wedding candy later!"
The boss was delighted, "Great! Go on ahead! I'll be waiting for your wedding banquet!"
Su Muyang nodded in agreement, then left with his arm around Zhao Gongzi's shoulder, addressing him as a brother.
In the Imperial Garden of the palace, the Empress had prepared fine wine and food, and soon Zhao Shouyi and Su Muyang arrived together. Upon seeing the Empress, Su Muyang quickly bowed and greeted her, "Greetings, Your Majesty! May Your Majesty enjoy boundless blessings and peace!"
"No need for formalities! Please sit down!" The Empress waved with a smile in her eyes. Just as the two men sat down, Princess Wan'er arrived.
Seeing her daughter arrive late, the Empress scolded, "Did you waste time putting on makeup? You're a grown woman now, all you do is dress up!"
"There's an old saying, 'A woman dresses up for the one she loves!' Since Young Master Su is here today, my sister has to dress herself up nicely!" Zhao Shouyi said with a smile, speaking favorably of his sister. The Empress didn't say anything more.
Princess Wan'er blushed and lowered her head. Before the Empress could greet her, she straightened her skirt and took her seat.
Seeing the stunningly beautiful Princess Wan'er sitting beside him, Su Muyang could hardly believe his eyes. He had clearly gone to the grasslands for a political marriage yesterday, so why was he back today? Although Young Master Zhao had told him beforehand that he wanted to bring him and Princess Wan'er together, he never expected that Princess Wan'er would actually give up wealth and status to return to his side.
At the dinner table, the Empress set aside her airs and, like a friendly aunt, gave Su Muyang some instructions.
"My child, Princess Wan'er gave up her dowry and the title of the Alliance Leader's wife in order to be with you. She chose to walk back with her entourage. Will you despise her?"
"Of course I don't mind!" Su Muyang blurted out without hesitation.
"That's wonderful! Lovers are finally united! I propose we raise a glass and have a good drink!" Zhao Shouyi cheerfully enlivened the atmosphere.
And so, the group raised their cups to toast the Empress, and then happily drank the fine wine.
Then, when the Empress's gaze fell upon his handsome face, the first thing that caught her eye was his pair of bright, star-like eyes, deep and mysterious. Looking further up, she saw his sharp, sword-like eyebrows, their slightly upturned curves exuding a spirited and heroic air. These bright eyes and sharp eyebrows combined to give him an air of both refined elegance and masculine beauty.
"It's good that you don't mind. According to His Majesty's wishes, you two should live in the palace after your marriage, so that the family can see each other every day. However, if you have other ideas, we will understand."
At this moment, Princess Wan'er stood up and expressed her opinion, "I don't want to live with my father and mother. You have your ideas as the older generation, and we, as the younger generation, have our opinions. It's inevitable that we'll have disagreements if we live together, so it's better to live separately."
Su Muyang, who was standing next to her, also stood up and echoed, "I agree with Princess Wan'er's opinion. I will listen to her."
The Empress frowned, feigning nonchalance, "Oh dear, I just agreed to let you two be together, and you're already moving out. You've really forgotten your mother now that you have a boyfriend."
At this moment, Zhao Shouyi quickly smoothed things over, saying, "Alright, alright, Mother, I will come back often to accompany you and Father. The princess and the prince consort will also come back every now and then, so don't be sad."
"Alright, you guys go ahead and eat. I'm going to discuss something with the Emperor."
"Take care, Your Majesty!" Zhao Shouyi and Princess Wan'er bowed. "Take care, Your Majesty the Empress!" Su Muyang also hurriedly followed their example and bowed.
The Empress waved goodbye to them and then turned to leave.
At the foot of the winding, undulating mountains behind Xinghua Village lies a vast, lush forest. Sunlight filters through the dense foliage, casting dappled shadows and adding a touch of mystery and allure to the entire forest.
Zhou Xi had been waiting in the woods for a long time, and finally, Zhou Dong managed to get Su Yuning to come over.
Upon seeing Su Yuning, Zhou Xi excitedly ran over, grabbed her hand, and asked her with concern, "Little Su, have you eaten? Aren't you cold wearing such thin clothes?"
Su Yuning shook off her hand and coldly replied, "No need to be so polite, we can't be friends anymore."
"I'm sorry, I was wrong! I shouldn't have been jealous of you just because Young Master Zhao likes you, and I shouldn't have lied to you. I will definitely change in the future. I still want to be your friend, and may our friendship last forever!" Zhou Xi said very sincerely.
In reality, Su Yuning was also struggling internally. On the one hand, she still wanted to be friends with Zhou Xi, but on the other hand, she felt that Zhou Xi was unreliable and prone to doing things that would harm others and himself for his own selfish interests.
Just then, the woman arrived and stood under a tree not far away, waiting for her daughter.
At this moment, Su Yuning suddenly remembered her mother's earnest advice, so she decisively rejected Zhou Xi's request for reconciliation.
"We can't go back to the way things were. If a button falls off a garment, even if you sew it back on, it'll never be the same again. From now on, let's leave each other alone and wish each other well!"
"But... I really know I was wrong! Please give me a chance. Let's be friends again!" Zhou Xi pleaded.
"No good!" Su Yuning said, then turned and left without looking back. Afterwards, the woman followed Su Yuning home with a relieved expression.
Zhou Xi couldn't understand why a good friendship had fallen apart just because she said the wrong thing. She stood there dumbfounded, not knowing what to do.
Zhou Dong quickly comforted her, "Alright, alright, don't be sad, sis. It's the same as before, we still have to hunt to make a living. Anyway, Su Yuning doesn't have time to hunt with us."
Zhou Xi retorted sullenly, "What do you know?! If I lose this friendship, I won't have any best friends anymore." Zhou Dong could only remain silent, letting Zhou Xi have a good cry to vent her emotions.
On the grasslands, the previous leader of the alliance received a tip from the herdsmen that the dowry of the Song princess had been withheld and she had been expelled from the grasslands. He was furious and immediately ordered his men to outwit the new leader's men in an attempt to get Princess Wan'er's dowry back.
That night, the tents of the new grassland tribe caught fire, and the horses all ran away. Everyone was busy putting out the fire and chasing after the horses, creating a chaotic scene.
Cade and his men carried away the princess's dowry box by box. By the time someone noticed what was happening and rushed to chase after them, it was too late; Cade and his party had already vanished without a trace.
With the treasure stolen and old injuries aggravated, the new leader fell seriously ill and never recovered. However, Cade did not give up. He trained his men day and night, secretly vowing that one day he would reclaim everything he had lost!
The next day, Su Muyang had transformed from a shop assistant into a prince consort. He changed into a new dark gray suit, the fabric of which was sturdy and durable. The belt around his waist was tightly fastened, highlighting Su Muyang's tall and upright figure and agile gait. Paired with a pair of black leather boots, he looked even more dashing and imposing.
When he returned to work at the teahouse, the owner said to him,
"Our little temple can't accommodate such a great Buddha as you, Su Muyang. You are now the prince consort, of noble status. You can't be doing menial work anymore; it's beneath your dignity!"
"I don't care about any of that, as long as I get paid," Su Muyang replied nonchalantly. But the boss did care, and he patiently explained to Su Muyang...
"Muyang, your words and actions now represent the face of the royal family. If I keep you here doing odd jobs, it would be disrespectful to the emperor. If he blames us, my whole family will have to leave the city. Even if the deal falls through, we can still be on good terms. I've treated you well over the years, so you can't abandon my business."
"So I'm going to be a kept man who lives off his wife? That's so boring!" Su Muyang asked, puzzled.
The boss gave him a suggestion, "It's not entirely like that. You can open your own shop and do business. That way, you can shut people up and also pass the time."
"Alright, let's go back and discuss it with the princess before making a decision!" Su Muyang agreed, then walked out of the teahouse with a heavy heart.
In the palace, when the princess heard that Su Muyang wanted to open a shop, she immediately threw a tantrum, "What's the point of opening a shop? Aren't the gold and silver treasures that Father and Mother gave us enough? Why do we have to suffer and toil?"
Su Muyang's goodwill towards her vanished almost instantly, and then he solemnly instructed her...
"If you agree to let me open a shop and do business, I'll marry you. Otherwise, forget it, go and marry that grassland leader!"
This angered Princess Wan'er, and she responded with a furious outburst.
"I came back to you because I love you and can't let you go, and you actually want to kick me out? Su Muyang, do you have any conscience?"
At this moment, realizing he had said the wrong thing, Su Muyang lowered his head and apologized to her in a low voice, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that."
"It's alright, I didn't do well either, I shouldn't have ignored your feelings," the princess said softly.
And just like that, the two made up again.