After delivering the message to the Great Wei border army, to prevent misunderstandings that could lead to war, the Wuman cavalry retreated down the mountain.

The Great Wei border army’s scouts reported that the barbarians had withdrawn, and only then did the border troops pull back to their camp.

On the Wuman side, Chi Ma descended the hillside with his riders. Following their new king, they didn’t return to camp but instead climbed another ridge. This ridge was at some distance from the Great Wei border—inconvenient to occupy during battle, but now, in peacetime, standing among the dense forest provided a good vantage point to observe the Great Wei border army’s situation.

They watched as the military camp’s fires burned through the night, illuminating ten li without dimming.

The hooded Wuman King sat astride his tall steed, arms crossed as he observed.

A rider behind him asked, “Great King, why not directly demand these Wei people return their princess? Didn’t Your Majesty come here specifically for that princess?”

The Wuman King, his face hidden beneath the hood, gave a sardonic laugh at these words.

His name was Meng Zaishi.

He was the eldest son of the previous Wuman King, to whom Princess Danyang had been married.

A year ago, during the Wuman civil unrest, the heir apparent to the Wuman throne died, and the princess left. Originally, Meng Zaishi should have died in that chaos too.

Meng Zaishi answered indirectly: “The Wei people will surely send someone tomorrow to inquire about the details. At that time, just say I’m merely a clan member of the previous king. Let the Wei people believe the previous king’s family is completely dead, and I’m just a petty thief who seized power during the chaos.”

Someone immediately protested: “Great King is a hero, the savior of our Wuman! How can you be compared to a petty thief?!”

Meng Zaishi stared at the brightly lit direction of the Wei border army, showing no reaction to his subordinate’s flattery.

This left the flatterer feeling somewhat awkward.

Another person shot a fierce glare at the one who had failed in his flattery, then carefully inquired: “If the Great King wishes to deceive the Wei people, why send a message to Princess Danyang? If Princess Danyang learns who you are, won’t the Wei Emperor know as well?”

Meng Zaishi spoke softly: “Not necessarily. Our princess may not be of one mind with her imperial father. I want to see if she’ll tell the Wei Emperor that I’m still alive, allowing him to guard against me early. I bet she won’t.

“Our former queen is no ordinary woman.”

At this, all his subordinates lowered their heads, not daring to speak. Meng Zaishi’s relationship with the former Wuman queen… even as subordinates, they should pretend not to know.

And indeed, they didn’t truly know.

They had only vaguely heard some rumors.

As everyone gazed in the Wei border army’s direction, suddenly they noticed cavalry sneaking stealthily toward the Wei border army’s position below the mountain. There was no sound of hoofbeats, as the horses’ hooves were wrapped in cloth. Though this impeded their movement, they managed to evade the Wei border army’s detection.

This military unit slipped into the forest, clearly intending to do something to the Wei border army under cover of night.

The Wuman King sat high above, eyes narrowed as he observed.

A subordinate behind him excitedly said: “It seems the information Great King received wasn’t wrong! The Southern Barbarian King really couldn’t resist causing trouble for the Wei border army tonight, trying to seize grain and territory!”

Among the five tribes of the Southern Barbarians, Wuman was just one.

The Southern Barbarians had their king, though the five tribes didn’t heed this king’s words. However, Wei’s intelligence was outdated—they didn’t know that in recent years, a young Southern Barbarian King had been diligently building his strength and growing in power. This young king was determined to subjugate all five Southern Barbarian tribes and conquer Great Wei! Moreover, without Wei’s knowledge, this young king had already begun his campaign, sweeping across the entire Southern Barbarian territory!

Tonight was when the young Southern Barbarian King’s troops would harass the Wei border army.

Meng Zaishi merely sat on horseback at his high vantage point. Seeing the battle quietly beginning below, he smiled: “It seems that young king truly wants to subjugate all five tribes. He hasn’t even conquered the tribes yet, but already wants to gain some advantage from Wei? Indeed young and fierce.”

A subordinate said: “Naturally not as good as you, Great King!”

Another subordinate added: “The Wei border army was first preoccupied tonight with our arrival, holding emergency discussions. The troops sent by the Southern Barbarian King might truly catch Wei off guard tonight. Great King, although we haven’t submitted to the Southern Barbarian King, aren’t we also Southern Barbarian people? Shouldn’t we join in and take advantage of this opportunity?”

Hearing this, the soldiers behind grew restless with anticipation. Being valiant warriors who loved battle, seeing potential gains before them, they naturally couldn’t contain their excitement.

Meng Zaishi spoke softly: “If you want to go, then go.”

Seeing the king didn’t object, several subordinates immediately stepped forward, mounting their horses and descending the mountain to organize their men.

However, some subordinates were better at reading the situation. Seeing their king’s noncommittal attitude, they gritted their teeth and suppressed their greed, remaining behind their king to observe the nighttime raid below.

Someone asked in confusion: “Great King when there’s an opportunity for gain, why isn’t Great King interested?”

Meng Zaishi dismounted. He stood tall, wrapped in his black robe. His long arm swept up, vaguely pointing toward Wei: “Stealing and plundering are only temporary gains. To live one’s entire life this way is laughable.”

Those behind him exchanged glances, not understanding their king’s words.

They heard Meng Zaishi rest his chin on his hand, thinking aloud: “All these years, we eat when we have food, and when we don’t, we raid Wei. The entire Southern Barbarian territory is like this—because of constant warfare, we’re all skilled fighters. Wei’s strongest troops are their border army, but in our eyes, they’re hardly worth mentioning.

“Since we’re so strong, why can’t we be prosperous like Wei? Why are our people so foolish, why aren’t our houses as sturdy as Wei’s, why do we fight endlessly year after year? Is all we want just Wei’s precious jewels and beautiful women?”

Meng Zaishi turned to face his bewildered followers.

He smiled faintly: “Originally, I hoped to learn the answer from Princess Danyang. But unfortunately, she proved an untrustworthy partner. So I’ll have to try a different approach and let the Southern Barbarian King experiment.

“I swear here and now! In my lifetime, I won’t just be the Wuman King—I will become ruler of all the Southern Barbarians. I will lead my people beyond their current state, make us as powerful as Wei, even surpass Wei!”

Under the starry night, all the riders dismounted and knelt before their king. They worshipped with devout hearts, having a premonition—

The most powerful king, the man before them, would lead them toward a different future!—

The border army being harassed again by those barbarians didn’t draw much attention. As this had been happening for years, it was the very reason for the border army’s existence.

Riding day and night, lists of young talents selected from each province were sent to Chang’an—these were the candidates for next year’s imperial examinations;

Under stars and moon, news of Wuman having a new king was also sent to Chang’an—this marked the beginning of new changes in the Southern Barbarian lands.

Meanwhile, in Lingnan, rain fell again, drizzling like sorrow.

At dusk, Mu Wanyao was still napping. Having been poisoned by miasma days before, her body hadn’t fully recovered and needed sleep to restore strength.

In her drowsy slumber, she had nightmares about the past, leaving her back drenched in cold sweat and her heart racing. Unable to wake from her nightmare, suddenly a clear voice reading aloud startled her awake.

Through the gauze curtains, Mu Wanyao sat somewhat dazedly on the bed, frowning as she listened to the reading outside—

“Great rat, great rat, don’t eat our millet…”

Back and forth, the voice was as clear as rain.

Mu Wanyao gathered her long hair, pulled aside the curtains, and rose with a stern face. She knew it was that annoying Yan Shisheng reading again!

Reading again!

She pushed aside the curtains and got up, opened the window, and sure enough saw the young scholar sitting in the corridor, holding his book and studying diligently. Mu Wanyao was about to scold him for reading too loudly when, in the misty rain, she saw a raindrop fly sideways and splash onto his eyelashes.

His eyelashes trembled slightly as he raised his hand to brush away the water. He looked up, gazing at the endless rain, sitting quietly.

His silhouette was dignified, his profile refined, his bearing as vast and magnificent as distant mountains and clear waters.

Mu Wanyao couldn’t help but stare.

…How could such an elegant bearing, typically found only in sons of noble families, appear in a Lingnan bumpkin? Was studying so magical?

But his studies hadn’t seemed particularly impressive.

Yan Shisheng watched the rain for a while before returning his attention to the book in his hands. Just as he was about to continue reading aloud, a fan flew from behind and struck the back of his head.

Yan Shisheng: “Ah.”

The blow made him stumble. He turned around, hurriedly collecting the fan, and saw it was a feather fan inlaid with many pearls. This was the fan Mu Wanyao often used. Holding the fan, he looked up and indeed saw red robes swaying as Mu Wanyao walked gracefully along the corridor toward him.

She berated him: “When studying, one should seek meaning quietly, not shout like a village student!”

A helpless look appeared in Yan Shisheng’s eyes as he stood and returned the fan to her. He said: “This humble one accepts your teaching.”

…Actually, his reading hadn’t been that loud.

But it had probably disturbed Mu Wanyao.

Seeing the princess had no other instructions, Yan Shisheng sat down again, this time reading his book silently. As the rain pattered, Yan Shisheng sat with his back straight, diverting a portion of his attention to wonder why the princess hadn’t left yet.

What was she doing, standing behind him?

Ripples flickered in Mu Wanyao’s eyes as she unhurriedly fanned herself with her feather fan.

She asked coolly: “Yan Shisheng, you want to go to Chang’an?”

Yan Shisheng answered: “Yes.”

As he was about to stand and face her, Mu Wanyao pressed down on his shoulder from behind, preventing him from turning. She kept him seated, making him talk to her in this position. The lady’s hand rested on his shoulder as she stood behind him, observing. Yan Shisheng’s expression turned strange, feeling somewhat uncomfortable.

Mu Wanyao: “You want to become an official?”

Yan Shisheng paused, then said slowly: “Yes.”

Mu Wanyao asked curiously: “Why? Didn’t you say you don’t care for fame or power? So why become an official?”

Yan Shisheng remained silent.

Mu Wanyao poked his shoulder, a light tap, almost teasing. Her voice was as hazy as the misty rain, containing a hint of allure: “I’m asking you a question. Can’t you tell the truth? Is telling the truth so difficult for you?”

Yan Shisheng gave a low laugh.

He gazed at the rain and sighed: “It’s not that I won’t tell the truth, but that the truth is so laughable, no one would believe it.”

Mu Wanyao said playfully: “Perhaps I’ll believe you?”

Yan Shisheng fell silent.

Mu Wanyao hooked her hand over his shoulder and poked him again. Like a fishtail stirring clear water, starting from his shoulder, Yan Shisheng felt half his body going numb from her touch.

His face reddened, and several times he tried to stand, but she kept pressing him down.

He could only sit stiffly upright, watching the endless evening rain, and answered softly: “Then I’ll say this only once. If Your Highness asks again in the future, I won’t admit to it again.”

Mu Wanyao found it amusing: “Go ahead and speak.”

In the evening rain, she heard Yan Shisheng’s gentle voice: “Has Your Highness ever seen ‘frozen corpses by the roadside,’ ever seen ‘many commoners cold with no hope of salvation’? When I was young and my mother was still alive, we siblings followed our parents studying in the south and encountered great drought, and even saw people eating people. My father said the world was unkind, such suffering of common people was everywhere.

“As I grew older, I saw even more. I couldn’t help but think, what could I do for this world? As a mere scholar trapped in Lingnan’s countryside, if I want to change this world, I have no path but the imperial examinations and becoming an official.

“I want peace and prosperity for the world, want the people to stand tall. Want neighbors to live in harmony, want perfect peace. I have no path but to become an official.”

Scholar’s spirit, youthful passion. Yan Shisheng said gently: “Did the princess hear the ‘Great Rat’ poem I was reading earlier?”

The rain fell like sand as they sat and stood in the rain. The young scholar sat in front, the young princess resting her hand on his shoulder. Their voices overlapped through the misty rain, one after another:

“Great rat, great rat, don’t eat our seedlings! Three years I’ve served you, yet you show me no kindness. I shall leave you and go to that happy land. Happy land, happy land, whose eternal sigh is this?”

—Happy land, oh happy land, where exactly are you?!

Having recited this poem with him, Mu Wanyao’s heart surged with overwhelming emotion. Unable to contain her feelings, she embraced his shoulders, bent down from behind to press against his face, and placed a light kiss on his cheek.