Смертная любовь в эпоху Северной Сун

Глава 17

"No need! Um, is my brother here?"

"Your Highness, the Emperor is in the Imperial Study."

"Then, do you know where my wife is?"

The prince's wife? The guards looked at each other and shook their heads: "We did not know, Your Highness, please forgive us."

"Well, I'd better go ask my elder brother!" With that, Dongfang Yao strode towards the Imperial Study like a gust of wind.

"Brother Yao, what are you doing here?" Dongfang Lie had just finished reviewing the memorials and stretched wearily. He was about to go back to his palace for a nap when he saw Dongfang Yao rushing in. His exquisitely handsome face was covered with a thin layer of sweat from his recent run.

Upon seeing Dongfang Lie, Dongfang Yao's eyes lit up with smiles. She happily ran over and, as usual, wrapped her arms around his neck, acting coquettishly: "Royal Brother—"

"You're all married now, how come you're still acting like a child! What brings you here today? You know, since you got married, you've hardly ever come to see your brother! You've really forgotten your brother now that you're married, it's so hurtful to your brother!" Dongfang Lie's eyes were full of resentment, his acting was so convincing that he successfully fooled the naive Dongfang Yao.

Seeing his elder brother's forlorn and sorrowful appearance, Dongfang Yao panicked: "No, elder brother! Yao'er hasn't forgotten you. Although Yao'er likes his wife very much, Yao'er still loves his elder brother the most..."

"real?"

"Really! Your Majesty, you must believe me. In my heart, you have always been the biggest one!" Afraid that Dongfang Lie wouldn't believe him, Dongfang Yao hurriedly stretched out his hands to show his feelings. His eagerness to explain made Dongfang Lie laugh out loud.

"Yao-di, you really are a treasure! Haha..."

My brother is really something else; one minute he's sad, the next he's laughing. I really don't understand if he's angry or happy. Sigh, never mind, finding a wife is the most important thing!

"Brother..."

"What's wrong, Yao-di?" With his previous fatigue gone, Dongfang Lie patted Dongfang Yao's head and asked in a good mood.

Where is my wife?

"I thought you came here specifically to see your elder brother! Turns out it was just your brother being presumptuous. You came to see... uh, Yao-di, you came to see your wife?!" The hand on Dongfang Yao's head suddenly stopped, and the roguish smile froze on his face.

But Dongfang Yao was completely oblivious, his face full of resentment: "That's right! My wife hasn't come back since she went to the palace yesterday morning, and I couldn't sleep all night thinking about her! Royal brother, where is my wife? Tell her to come out quickly, I miss her so much..."

"Someone come here!"

"Your subordinate is here!"

"Pass down the order to seal the city gates immediately!"

"twitter!"

...

The area around the port city was the most prosperous and bustling region of the Eastern Dynasty. Merchants flocked here, goods were abundant, official roads crisscrossed north and south, and canals were scattered throughout, facilitating rapid commercial development. Over time, the port city became the second largest city in the Eastern Dynasty, second only to the imperial capital. The Murong family was a highly influential clan in the port city, its commerce permeating almost every corner, controlling the economic lifeline of the city. All the other prominent families in the port city looked to the Murong family for guidance; simply put, the Murong family was the leader of all the prominent families in the port city.

Sadly, it seems the Murong family committed some terrible sin in their past life, as almost none of Master Murong's children survived to adulthood. Now, he is in his seventies, yet he only has one beloved daughter, Murong Yuyan, who is only sixteen. Yuyan appears to have suffered from a chronic illness since childhood; rumors suggest she has heart palpitations. All the renowned doctors in the city have been consulted, and the prescriptions written are nearly as tall as a house, but Yuyan's illness has not only failed to improve but has worsened with age, causing her health to decline. It is said that Murong Yuyan's health is deteriorating rapidly; a few days ago, she even coughed up blood, which frightened Master Murong so much that he spent a fortune and pulled strings to bring in the imperial physicians from the palace.

The greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. When the imperial physician shook his head, vaguely suggesting she wouldn't survive the coming spring, Old Master Murong was truly heartbroken. Being childless in his old age was bad enough, but why was fate so cruel, taking away even his only daughter?!

He's spent his whole life traveling all over the country, putting in so much effort to develop the Murong family into what it is today. Is all his hard work going to go to waste? He's old, physically old, and even older at heart! He's too lazy to manage the vast Murong family anymore, because there are no children to inherit it. No matter how hard he tries, he'll probably just end up making dowry for someone else!

Seeing Murong Yuyan's health deteriorate day by day, Master Murong was frantic with worry. Just then, his tenth concubine remembered the wandering Taoist priest she had met a few days ago. The priest had said that if they could find a strong young man to bring good fortune to Yuyan, perhaps she could prolong her life a little longer. Desperate for a cure, Master Murong, in his desperation, had no choice but to try anything.

A strong and robust young man? Which aristocratic family's son practices martial arts? Ever since tacitly agreeing to the suggestion of a marriage to ward off bad luck, Old Master Murong had been secretly pondering the matter. The Sima family had five sons, but it seemed none of them practiced martial arts… The Shangguan family seemed to have three sons who did… And the Xue family had four sons… Who should he choose? Who was the most suitable? And whose martial arts were the strongest… the strongest, the strongest… In a flash of inspiration, Old Master Murong had a brilliant idea: Why not just have a martial arts contest to choose a husband!

Speaking of Rongyue's ordeal of evading the royal pursuit, it's truly a story of bitter tears and unspoken suffering! It's said that on the day Rongyue escaped the capital in the rain, she tragically discovered that she had no money! Money isn't everything, but without it, you can't do anything! After removing all her jewelry, she was once again heartbroken to find that, because she usually disliked the jingling and clanging of jewelry, she always preferred to be completely bare-handed. Only now did she realize that besides a hairpin in her hair, she had absolutely nothing! You only realize how much you regret not wearing jewelry when you need it! Whose fault was it?

In the pawnshop, the opportunistic owner was trying to extort money from a woman in distress. A hairpin worth a thousand taels of gold was being sold for fifty taels, no matter how much she pleaded. Fine, fifty taels it is. After all, he owns all the pawnshops within hundreds of miles. Sigh, this is the exorbitant profiteering of monopoly!

The snowflake silk she was wearing was too conspicuous, so Rongyue went to a clothing shop and changed into five sets of ordinary men's clothes. Although she didn't know the exact value of the snowflake silk or the five sets of men's clothing, seeing the shopkeeper drooling as he saw her to the door and smiling as he said, "Come again next time," she knew she was definitely going to lose a lot of money! But oh well, being new here, suffering a little loss is inevitable! Besides, a loss is a blessing in disguise!

Having just pawned her jewelry, she dared not linger in this place, nor dared she take the official road, for she knew that many soldiers were already waiting to ambush her! Good heavens, was she a notorious bandit? Did they need such a large force to capture her? Carrying her bundle, eating hard, dry rations, walking along the deserted forest path, she felt like a wandering entertainer! If she had a guitar in her hand, she would surely have belted out at the top of her lungs: "Where is the road? The road is under your feet—"

Traveling south, Rongyue did everything she could to stay away from the capital. Just as she finished spending all her money, she arrived at the outskirts of the city.

“Wow, it’s huge!” Rongyue used her two hands, which were as black as black chocolate, to lift her loose hair to the sides, revealing her face that looked like it hadn’t been washed for centuries.

"Gurgle—" Its stomach, which had been hungry all day, began to protest, expressing its dissatisfaction with its owner's mistreatment.

Tightening her belt, Rongyue patted her shrunken belly, her little face scrunched up: "Stop yelling! I know you're hungry, but what good is yelling? Your master is penniless right now. Even if you yell louder than thunder, I can't conjure up any food for you! Sigh, 'a penny can drive even the heroes of Liangshan to their deaths,' that's probably exactly what your master is going through now!"

"Meat buns! Freshly baked hot buns! -- Oh, miss, would you like some meat buns?"

How much does it cost?

"One copper coin each."

"Why is it so expensive?"

"It's not expensive at all, Miss. You can ask around. My steamed buns, made by Qin Er, are packed with meat filling, juicy and fragrant. Who in this town doesn't come back after eating my buns? Miss..."

"Alright, give me two."

"Okay, here's your steamed bun. Be careful not to burn yourself."

"Here, take your money."

"Thank you, miss. Please take care, miss. Come again next time..."

With teary eyes, Rongyue watched the plump beauty, holding her favorite large meat bun, open her blood-red mouth and take a big bite, tearing off a corner of the tender white bun. The rich, fragrant juice slowly dripped down the missing piece, landing on the plump beauty's swollen white hooves. The plump beauty quickly covered the missing bite with her mouth, and with a slurp, the once-plump bun was flattened, just like Rongyue's lower abdomen. The plump beauty, savoring the taste, brushed past Rongyue, who seemed to catch a faint whiff of the meaty aroma in the air…

It's dog meat! Sniffing the drool that was drooling, Rongyue licked her lips, the aroma alone quenching her hunger...

Glug glug—this isn't stopping hunger, it's making it worse!

With tears in my eyes, I looked at the bundle on my shoulder. Alas, I'm sorry, food is the most important thing. I'm at my wit's end, so I have no choice but to pawn you all! I don't need to change my clothes, but I can't go without food!