Rumors are circulating that Xie Zhu is unhappy with the Hun ships chasing the prisoner's ship. So, knowing that the Prince of Anshan is most afraid of snakes, she still puts a water snake into the Northern Palace, scaring the fragile prince into fainting.
“Fragile?” Xie Lanzhi laughed angrily. “The Prince of Anshan is fragile? People outside spread rumors without distinguishing between truth and falsehood.”
Si Xitong comforted her: "You don't need to be angry. The person who did it didn't expect this fire to spread to you."
"When I have time, I'll collect some protection money elsewhere."
Upon hearing this, Xie Lanzhi immediately widened her eyes: "Could it be..."
Chapter 124 The Dog Is Blocking the Way
This honest man is still so childish when he gets physical.
Xie Lanzhi could tell An Yi's true nature at a glance; she was a simple person who couldn't hide any secrets.
Now that she is being cared for by Little Phoenix, she, as his partner, should at least consider his role.
"Alright, you just keep in touch with Huayin Nan. I'll go to the palace more often to keep an eye on her."
Si Xitong was slightly surprised: "Lanzhi."
“I know you’re looking for a friend for me. The person you’ve chosen must have some good points. They might be a little silly, but they shouldn’t be hard to get along with.” Xie Lanzhi put her arm around her waist and pulled her into her embrace. Si Xitong immediately winked at her, signaling her.
Xie Lanzhi decisively dashed her hopes: "From now on, you're not allowed to drive during the day!"
Si Xitong immediately scoffed, "You said it yourself, so don't beg me for anything in the future."
"No, no, it's just not possible right now." Xie Lanzhi was instantly defeated by her earnest nature. For the sake of future happiness, she immediately backed down: "You can't fire a driver just because he's been absent for a few days."
"Besides, this car really can't be driven without me."
Si Xitong's brows relaxed and her smile warm: "Then I'll trouble Master Xie to improve your driving skills to an even higher level."
Xie Lanzhi's expression froze.
This woman is complaining that she doesn't read enough pornographic films!
At noon, Xie Lanzhi specially went to the main palace of Huayin to have lunch with Anyi. Anyi was quite happy and was about to go to greet her when she encountered the Hu Xiongnu envoy with two guards who surrounded her and blocked her in a courtyard for a while, punching and kicking her. Finally, the envoy did not forget to step on her face and warn her: "The prince told you to be careful when you sleep at night. Don't think that you can turn your life around just because you have made friends with the southerners."
"Even your own family won't help you, so why should an outsider like her help you?!"
"I, I." An Yi lay on the ground, shrinking her legs. This wasn't the first time she'd been beaten like this; her cousin always liked to use servants to humiliate her.
The Hun envoy felt the battle was over, and he left the garden with two guards, satisfied.
The palace servants and guards around her did not dare to help her up. Only after the Huns had gone some distance did they dare to step forward and help Anyi up.
"Master, why are you doing this?"
"The Queen said she doesn't mind at all, but you insist on provoking those barbarians. Isn't this just making trouble for nothing?"
"Master, please let me see where you are injured."
Chaos erupted in the garden. An Yi wiped his face and tried to calm everyone down: "You did a good job just now. From now on, don't come near them before they leave, or you'll be killed like A Cui and the others. I've already lost a group of trusted men, I can't lose you all too."
"Master!" The guards and palace servants all had tears in their eyes. Their master was being trampled on, and everyone was filled with grief and indignation, driven to desperation by the bloody reality.
They all have their own families behind them. If they are not careful, they will die, and their families will not survive either.
A banquet was set up in the main palace, with fine wine and food. Xie Lanzhi sat and waited for a long time, but the giraffe did not come over.
She ate a salted duck egg and two bowls of porridge for breakfast, and it was almost completely digested long ago.
Just as she was about to ask someone...
An Yi's voice rose sharply, then he coughed violently. "Marshal, you, you've kept me waiting."
Xie Lanzhi noticed that she was walking with a slight limp, and her hair was stuck to her forehead, damp as if she had just taken a bath.
"Since you don't have time, you don't need to come to the appointment. I'm the one causing you trouble."
An Yi was surprised by her politeness today, and her attitude seemed a little friendlier. She nodded after a moment of hesitation, "Yes." Then she quickly shook her head, "No! I have no official business. The ministers handle all the official business."
Moreover, she rarely had access to such matters. In the three years since her ascension to the throne, she had never touched the affairs of Huayin Kingdom. All official business was decided by the Hu Xiongnu, went through the procedures with her, and was then issued. She never inquired about it, nor did she dare to.
"How could a ruler of a nation like you not have official duties?" Xie Lanzhi sensed something amiss. This man, as expected, couldn't hide anything.
An Yi secretly hid her hands in her sleeves. After taking her seat, she intended to raise her wine cup to toast the marshal, but the moment she lifted the cup, her hand suddenly trembled uncontrollably, spilling the wine all over the table. She tried to wipe it up quickly, but fortunately, a palace servant helped her out of the embarrassment by replacing the wine cup and wiping the table clean.
Xie Lanzhi frowned slightly: "What happened to your hand?"
"I got too excited and couldn't control myself." An Yi laughed awkwardly, trying to smooth things over: "Marshal, please have some plum wine. Although it's not as delicious as Huayin wine, it's still very good."
Xie Lanzhi didn't ask any further questions. She noticed that her hands were clean, but no matter how clean they were, her expression couldn't lie. An Yi had clearly gasped when she picked up the wine, as if she was in pain.
“Plum wine is indeed harmless to people’s livelihoods and is readily available everywhere.” Xie Lanzhi drank it voluntarily and did not ask her to offer another toast, nor did she offer her a toast herself.
She said, "This meal is quite good. Are these specialties from your royal court?"
An Yi introduced her to roast beef. The grain of Huayin Kingdom all came from the north. There were grain fields in the country, but not many, so there were not many restrictions on draft cattle. If the number of draft cattle exceeded the limit, slaughtering was allowed.
Xie Lanzhi ate beef not far from Tianjing, which shows she knew the importance of a cow to agriculture.
When she tasted the beef today, it still tasted familiar, even fresher and sweeter. It truly lives up to its reputation as a natural, additive-free food.
The two ate in silence, except for An Yi who forced himself to swallow rice, pretending it was delicious even though he couldn't swallow it. And there wasn't a single grain of rice left in his bowl.
Xie Lanzhi's gaze fell on the bowl and chopsticks that she had put down. She was very proper and only touched the food on the corner of the plate, without touching anything else.
Xie Lanzhi, on the other hand, ate all the food she had, leaving not a single dish on her plate. Soon, the palace servants skillfully removed the remaining dishes and bowls from Anyi's table and distributed them to the other servants.
"I ate very well. Anyi, if you need anything, come to the Dongguo Guest House to find me." Xie Lanzhi stood up, but she did not stay long and quickly left the main palace.
Before An Yi could reply, she stood up, leaning on the dining table. The palace servants immediately came to help her, their voices filled with surprise and delight: "Your Highness, did the Marshal just say... did he agree with you?"
An Yi was completely dazed, and after a while, the pain in his waist made him break out in a cold sweat: "It seems so, and also, please don't let A Zi know about me..."
After Xie Lanzhi left the palace, she encountered Hu Xiongnu envoys who were also leisurely walking out of the gate, along with two guards. However, the three of them did not notice her. They were arrogant and haughty, as if they were wagging their tails, and they boasted as they walked: "Envoy, in this world, apart from our masters, only we have the right to beat up a king."
"Who told Anyi to dare provoke the prince! She deserves it. If you ask me, that kick should have landed on her stomach, but the kid was curled up in a ball and I couldn't have hit him at all."
"It's a blessing for the queen that the prince has taken a liking to her. How dare she tell the prince that one should not covet one's brother's wife? Does she even deserve to be called the prince's brother?"
"Don't even mention one queen, even if there were ten queens, would the prince dare to refuse him if he took a fancy to him!"
"With his outwardly strong but inwardly weak physique, it's no wonder the prince felt the queen was lonely. Hahaha!!"
The three of them laughed and joked in the street, making no attempt to hide the fact that they had beaten the king from outsiders.
The envoy even mimicked Anyi's actions, hunching over and shrinking into a ball, panting heavily: "I, I... I dare not."
"Hahaha, the envoy's imitation is too perfect!"
"I've completely grasped the essence!"
The two guards burst into laughter.
The messenger even jumped up and stepped on the man's toes. The man's boots were adorned with an expensive piece of ruby, and his foot was so domineering, refusing to go where it should and insisting on interfering. It was infuriating!
The other party even casually remarked, "Where did this roadblock dog come from?"
"How dare you speak ill of our envoy..."
A resounding punch, loud enough to make teeth ache, slammed into the guard's face. Instantly, the guard was sent flying five meters away, with flying stones and dust trailing behind him, blood spurting from his mouth and nose.
The Hun envoy's eyes widened in shock, his face filled with terror, as he recognized the person he had stepped on as Xie... Xie Ying!
That murderous...madman!
Another frigate crew member was knocked away. He made a slight movement, even taking a step back, but he still attracted attention.
Xie Lanzhi thrust out her right fist, striking him squarely in the face with a crack—the sound of his nose breaking. The man flew through the air without a sound.
"Thank you, thank you, Marshal. I, I didn't mean to step on you." The Hu Xiongnu envoy's legs went weak. He was used to being arrogant and domineering in Huayin Kingdom. This was the first time he had seen such a scene. He was so frightened that he almost lost his soul. He didn't even have time to beg for mercy. He was about to bend down and kneel down.
"Then you're deliberately provoking me." The boot adorned with red jade swept across his abdomen, kicking him three meters away, causing him to roll on the ground like a twisted rope.
Just as the Hun soldiers who had come to reinforce were about to counterattack, several hundred Xie soldiers arrived with muskets and cannons.
The soldiers surrounded Xie Lanzhi, finally making the Hu and Xiongnu soldiers realize that the woman who kicked their envoy away was the overlord of the south.
"What are you all doing? Get out of the way!" The Hu Xiong captain who arrived from behind immediately ordered his men to put away their weapons. Xie Bing then put away his weapons and politely clasped his hands in a fist salute to Xie Lanzhi: "Marshal Xie, those ignorant fellows offended you. Please forgive them."
"It's our fault."
"Please, please," Hu Xiong Commandant hurriedly said to Xie Lanzhi.
Xie Lanzhi reacted indifferently, as if she hadn't kicked the person. She turned around with her hands behind her back before leading her troops away.
When had the locals of Huayin Kingdom ever seen such a scene? The Hu and Xiongnu, who roamed freely in foreign lands, actually reacted like mice to cats.
I had long heard that the southern overlord hated the northern Hu and Xiongnu, and today I saw that it was indeed so. He attacked with deadly force, leaving no chance for mercy. Many people in Huayin Kingdom secretly vented their anger upon hearing this.
Inside the main palace of Huayin, Azi was wiping away tears while applying medicine to the bruises on Anyi's back.
“He deliberately said some lewd things to embarrass you. I usually tolerate it, so why did you take it out on me today?”
Anshan had humiliated them, women and wives, more than once or twice, but this time Anyi couldn't hold back and released snakes to disgust him. Anshan immediately sent an envoy to beat her mercilessly in front of the palace servants.
As luck would have it, she heard that the messenger who had assaulted her was used to being domineering outside, and today he stepped on Marshal Xie's foot and was killed by Marshal Xie with a single punch.
"My sister's husband is indeed as mighty as the rumors say." An Yi looked at him with admiration, and even the injury on his back didn't hurt so much.
Seeing that she had regained some spirits, Azi, with red eyes and a hoarse voice, reminded her, "Have you completed the task your sister assigned you?"
An Yi gently grasped his beloved wife's hand on his shoulder. Her eyes were dim as she said, "I'm a coward..."
"She can't even protect the people right next to her; she doesn't deserve to be your friend!"
A note from the author:
Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 18:23:23 on January 6, 2022 and 18:45:19 on January 7, 2022!
Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Kangaroo with Eye Bags (20 bottles); Grand Marshal Huo Qubing (13 bottles); Ye (3 bottles);
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
Chapter 125 The Anti-Xiongnu Rebellion in Huayin
Si Xitong was quite surprised to hear that Xie Bing and the Hu Xiongnu had almost clashed at the palace gate. Lan Zhi was not usually the type to act rashly. If she had actually fought, it meant she no longer needed to be careful.