Her entire body soaked in the warm water, as if every pore was opening to breathe. The sweat and misfortune brought on by illness seemed to be washed away along with everything else.

One maid attended to wiping her body while another carefully washed her hair. Both moved with cherishing gentleness, their slender fingers massaging her scalp as if losing even a single strand of her hair would be a sin.

Qin Yining closed her eyes and pondered for a moment. After sorting through the situation clearly, she asked with apparent nonchalance, “Where is this place?”

The two maids exchanged glances, and the more slender one said, “It’s no wonder the Divine Maiden doesn’t know. When you descended from heaven with grain, you were ill. This is Xiyue, an oasis in the no-man’s desert.”

So it wasn’t that she had been taken away alone, but rather the Mino tribe had brought her to find an oasis! But why did these people say she had descended from heaven with grain? And why did they address her as Divine Maiden?

Qin Yining asked again without showing any emotion, “Where are my kinsmen?”

“Divine Maiden, please rest assured. Except for a young master surnamed Lu, all your other kinsmen have been properly settled outside the palace.”

Outside the palace? Then this was a royal palace?

Qin Yining couldn’t help but look around again. She had to admit, this palace was rather modest indeed.

Seeing their careful and cautious attitude, as if they greatly feared her as the “Divine Maiden,” she spoke sternly, deliberately showing displeasure: “Where is Young Master Lu?”

The maid saw that Qin Yining seemed angered and said somewhat uneasily, “Please calm your anger, Divine Maiden. It’s only because Young Master Lu offended the Prince that he was imprisoned.”

“Offended? How did he offend?” Her tone became even more domineering.

The maid panicked and quickly bowed low: “Please calm your anger, Divine Maiden! Your ability to bring grain seeds to our Xiyue must mean you heard our people’s devout prayers! Ever since we arrived here, generation after generation of our people and the Prince have been praying that the Divine Maiden from our holy scriptures would come with grain to save us.

“According to the holy scriptures’ decree, once the Divine Maiden comes to Xiyue, she will surely be our Prince’s principal consort. Young Master Lu firmly opposed the Prince’s announcement of his intention to marry you. In his fury, the Prince imprisoned Young Master Lu. But because he is the Divine Maiden’s kinsman, no one has mistreated him.”

Qin Yining listened with speechless amazement. The Prince the maid spoke of—could it be that middle-aged man she had just seen?

No wonder that Prince had looked at her with such burning eyes!

He wanted to marry her, but had he asked her opinion?

Qin Yining suppressed her anger and confusion, continuing to ask with a stern expression: “I see. Your tribe came to this oasis over a hundred years ago, didn’t it?”

Both maids nodded: “The Divine Maiden speaks truly. We Xiyue people have been here for over a hundred years.”

Seeing how terrified and reverent the two were toward this inexplicable “Divine Maiden” identity, Qin Yining realized she couldn’t be too excessive. She had to match their image of a Divine Maiden, so she didn’t press further with questions.

From the information they provided, she could already analyze that this was still within the no-man’s territory. The Xiyue tribe had been here for over a hundred years. This people’s accent and customs were somewhat similar to those of the Great Zhou’s south, near the border with Great Yan, but their clothing and totems indicated they were a minority ethnic group.

So this tribe should have come to this desert oasis a hundred years ago.

But as far as she knew, this place had already been desert a hundred years ago.

This meant the Xiyue people, like the Mino tribe, had voluntarily entered the no-man’s desert, crossed the sands, and luckily found this oasis.

The Mino tribe had entered the no-man’s desert because they were being hunted and had no choice.

In such harsh conditions, where one could enter but not exit, the Xiyue people surely hadn’t come here as tourists for the entire tribe, right?

Therefore, Qin Yining deduced they must have been forced to come here a hundred years ago for some unavoidable reason.

Considering the complex geographical environment of the no-man’s territory, they probably, like the Mino tribe, couldn’t find a way out. Even with a general direction, it would be very difficult to leave.

This oasis could sustain a tribe for a hundred years, they had the resources to build a palace, and they weren’t stingy with water—this indicated the oasis was quite large and not lacking in water.

But the two maids described her as a Divine Maiden who descended from heaven with grain.

This meant this tribe lacked food.

At least, when they first came to this oasis, they had lacked food.

Qin Yining understood the tactics of those in power. When food was scarce and they feared popular uprisings, they often devised various methods to pacify the people. So they created some legend about a Divine Maiden descending from heaven with grain, giving the common people hope while actually deceiving them.

Even if the common people understood nothing, the Prince surely knew the truth.

Yet the Prince had still called her Divine Maiden, showing he was working hard to twist events according to the “holy scriptures,” attempting to legitimize himself as a rightful king.

Qin Yining temporarily concluded this much. The specifics would require further investigation. Most urgently, she needed to find a way to see her kinsmen and rescue Lu Heng.

Having made up her mind, Qin Yining kept her eyes closed and rested, maintaining an air of mystery.

The two maids, seeing her silent with closed eyes, her exquisite and captivating face showing no expression, felt she possessed an inviolable noble aura, making their movements even more careful.

After the bath, the two maids presented a bright red robe made of fine cotton, embroidered with Xiyue tribe’s intricate totems. The style was similar to what the local women wore.

Narrow sleeves, fitted waist, with a train that swept the ground. On Qin Yining, it made her slender waist appear no more than a handspan, her body’s curves undulating like mountain ridges.

Her long hair was carefully dried and half-pinned up with pure silver tasseled hairpins, the rest flowing down her back, adding several points of ethereal grace.

Such a hairstyle was worn by unmarried girls in both Great Yan and Great Zhou.

Qin Yining guessed they followed the same custom here. But thinking of how the Prince here wanted to marry her as his principal consort, she understood their intention.

However, since the situation wasn’t yet clear, Qin Yining didn’t plan to expose things. She would temporarily let them arrange things as they wished.

When she left the side chamber for the main hall, Prince Xiyue was still in the room.

Seeing Qin Yining approaching gracefully with the support of two maids, her skirt creating beautiful arcs as she walked, her flawless beauty simply left him stunned.

Prince Xiyue stood up, his face flushed, inexplicably excited: “Divine Maiden…”

The words left his mouth, but he didn’t know what to say next, just staring fixedly at Qin Yining.

Qin Yining found his gaze extremely distasteful. However, being under someone else’s roof, she had to bow her head. The safety of the Mino tribe hadn’t been guaranteed yet, so she couldn’t act rashly. She simply said, “Your Highness. May I ask where my kinsmen are now? I wish to see them.”

“Ah! That’s easy! However, the Divine Maiden’s health hasn’t fully recovered yet, so it’s truly inappropriate to leave the palace. Why don’t I have someone bring them into the palace? It’s just that your kinsmen are numerous, so it wouldn’t be good to have them all come together. Why don’t you select a few people to meet?”

Qin Yining raised an eyebrow, then said lightly, “Very well. I want to see my elder brother Lu Heng, and my three guards: A’erhan, Ha’er Bala, and Chagan Bala. Additionally, my maids Surina and Wulan should be brought as well.”

Prince Xiyue nodded and made note, just about to order someone to fetch them, but then paused and said with a smile, “The Divine Maiden’s requests will naturally be granted by this Prince. However, I haven’t yet learned the Divine Maiden’s honored name.”

Qin Yining said lightly, “My surname is Pang.”

Prince Xiyue eagerly stepped forward: “What about your given name?”

Qin Yining raised an eyebrow: “Your Highness may address me as Miss Pang.”

Prince Xiyue became somewhat angry. Perhaps it had been too many years since anyone had defied him. He was more easily angered than those people Qin Yining had encountered outside, and his emotions showed more clearly.

“This Prince is asking for your name!”

Qin Yining said, “Your Highness is a person of propriety and should know that a woman’s given name can only be known by family and her husband’s household, correct?”

Prince Xiyue’s expression darkened, but after a moment he seemed to think of something and suddenly smiled, “Good, good! If you won’t tell this Prince, then let me tell you instead. This Prince’s surname is Zhou, given name Meng, courtesy name Lüshui. Anyway, once we become family in the future, this Prince will also learn Miss Pang’s given name.”

Qin Yining pursed her lips, her eyes flickering, but she didn’t immediately show anger.

Let this man say whatever he wanted—it was just empty talk anyway. She hadn’t yet figured out her situation, so it was better not to act rashly. She had to endure for now.

“Can you bring the people I requested now?”

“Yes. But not Young Master Lu,” Zhou Meng said.

Qin Yining frowned: “He is my elder brother. I must see him.”

“Your surname is Pang, his is Lu. How can you be siblings?” Zhou Meng said mockingly.

Qin Yining’s beautiful eyes turned, looking at him as if he were an idiot: “Does Your Highness not have any male cousins?”

Zhou Meng was stunned. Indeed, with a beauty before him, he had forgotten this possibility.

No wonder when he wanted to marry a princess consort, that Lu fellow had obstructed him at every turn—he was protecting his female cousin!

But since ancient times, relationships between male and female cousins had been ambiguous!

Zhou Meng became even more displeased. Thinking of the behavior of other women in his harem, he changed tactics, smiling gently: “Beauty, don’t be angry. This Prince will have the others come see you, and later I’ll get you the most beautiful gems and freshest fruits, all right?”

Hearing this, Qin Yining’s brow furrowed tightly as she said coldly, “Your Highness, please conduct yourself with propriety. Looking at Your Highness, you should come from a family that values proper conduct and should know about parental arrangement and matchmaker’s words, correct? Your Highness speaks of making me your princess consort, yet cannot accept my family—what is the reason for this? With such an attitude, I’m afraid I cannot accept.”

Having said this, she turned around, leaving Zhou Meng with her back.

But even this graceful silhouette made Zhou Meng’s heart itch, wishing he could immediately press her onto the bed and share intimate moments.