Such a stunning beauty—one he couldn’t bear to hit or scold. Keeping the beauty happy was what mattered. It wouldn’t be right to keep imprisoning her cousin indefinitely, would it?

As for whether there was anything improper between her and her cousin, though he was angry, he didn’t really care. Even if she knew about such matters, it wouldn’t be a bad thing—it would make her more knowledgeable and understanding!

With this thought, Zhou Meng put on a broad smile and said, “Alright, alright, beauty, don’t be angry. This Prince will comply with everything you say.”

Qin Yining refused to turn around, instead sitting sideways on a wooden stool nearby.

Zhou Meng rubbed his hands together, his deeply-featured face wearing a foolish smile as he paced back and forth behind Qin Yining. Several times he wanted to reach out and touch her, but ultimately suppressed the impulse each time.

No rush, no rush. There would be plenty of time ahead. If he angered her now, how boring would things be later?

After admonishing himself thus, Zhou Meng ultimately didn’t have the heart to put his hands on Qin Yining, instead finding various ways to chat with her.

“Beauty, where is your home? How did you come to bring grain to this place?”

Qin Yining turned her head with a mocking smile: “So I’m no longer a Divine Maiden?”

Zhou Meng was swept by her gaze—sharp yet revealing charming allure—and immediately felt his whole body go weak. He stood there dumbly, taking several deep breaths before forcibly suppressing the restlessness in his heart.

“Ah, you brought grain to Xiyue, so of course you’re a Divine Maiden. But even if the Divine Maiden is born in the mortal world, she would have a celestial hometown and origins, right?”

Qin Yining gave him a light glance and said nothing more.

When she first met him today, she had thought he was a steady, cold, and hard man. Now it seemed that not revealing his true nature from the beginning was perhaps due to his strenuous efforts at restraint.

Qin Yining knew well that the more one spoke, the more mistakes one made. Without a foolproof strategy, she preferred to expose as little of herself as possible. So she simply propped her chin and closed her eyes to rest, completely ignoring the person behind her.

Zhou Meng clasped his hands behind his back, pursing his lips as he gazed at Qin Yining. His eyes burned so intensely it seemed he could see through her clothes to what lay beneath. He appeared dignified on the surface, but in reality made Qin Yining feel as if thorns were pricking her back.

Soon, someone outside the door announced: “Your Highness, the people have been brought.”

“Let them in.”

Zhou Meng turned toward the doorway and saw a group of people led by maids into the spacious hall.

Zhou Meng said, “Beau… Miss Pang, the people you requested have arrived.” In front of outsiders, calling her “beauty” seemed too vulgar, while “Divine Maiden” elevated her too high, so he could only address her this way.

Qin Yining then stood up and said, “Thank you. Your Highness must be tired as well. You have many affairs to attend to, so please go about your business. You needn’t concern yourself with me here.”

Being given an order to leave, Zhou Meng didn’t get angry. Instead, he smiled warmly, his expression so gentle it seemed water could be squeezed from it, saying indulgently, “Good, good, I’ll comply with everything you say. This Prince will leave now.”

He cast several reluctant glances at Qin Yining, and only after confirming she had no intention of asking him to stay did he reluctantly depart.

After the man had gone far, Qin Yining waved to the maids: “You may withdraw as well.”

The maids looked at each other, but ultimately obeyed, curtsying before withdrawing.

Only when the hall contained just their group did Qin Yining quickly walk toward Lu Heng and the others. Though her body hadn’t fully recovered and walking quickly still made her somewhat dizzy, the joy of reunion still made her smile.

“Are you all well?”

“We’re all well, we’re all fine. Chieftain, your health has recovered!” Uncle A’erhan said joyfully.

Qin Yining nodded with a smile: “I’m much better now, thanks to you all not giving up on me.”

Looking at Lu Heng, Qin Yining smiled as she thanked him: “Thank you. I actually saw you before I fell unconscious.”

Seeing Qin Yining had regained her vitality and was no longer the weak and helpless figure she’d been, Lu Heng also smiled: “It’s good that you’ve recovered. At first I didn’t trust the abilities of the physicians here, but surprisingly their doctors are quite capable.”

Qin Yining hurriedly pulled everyone to sit down, asking in a low voice: “Is everyone still well? Are the tribespeople safe? How did we get here?”

Lu Heng spoke quietly: “On the fourth day after you fell unconscious, our group saw the oasis. At first we thought it was a mirage, but then a group of soldiers wearing rattan armor surrounded all our people.

“Seeing the grain in our supplies, then seeing you unconscious in the wagon, those rattan-armored soldiers all said something about the Divine Maiden having arrived. It left us all confused about what to do.”

Thinking of that scene, Qin Yining felt embarrassed on her own behalf.

Uncle A’erhan also laughed: “Yes, but fortunately they worship some goddess here, so our people have been able to live peacefully. Now the tribespeople are all stationed in one place, and the grain supplies remain under our control. I’ve spent these days investigating, and this Xiyue tribe should be from your Great Zhou region. Over a hundred years ago, when the court executed a vassal prince who had colluded with the Xiyue Cult, they were hunted and fled here.

“I’ve been making inquiries from many sources these past days. Piecing together the stories I heard from various people, it seems when these people first arrived here, they had nothing. Everything here was developed over the past hundred years. Because when they initially came to this place, their people were constantly hungry. Fortunately, the Xiyue Cult they believe in said that a Divine Maiden would one day come bearing grain seeds, which gave them some hope.

“These people have also tried to find a way out, but those sent out never succeeded. Most got lost in that desert of the no-man’s territory, with only a few managing to circle back. Through several generations of effort, though they’ve become self-sufficient in this oasis, they still lack sufficient grain.”

After listening, Qin Yining nodded—this matched roughly with her earlier analysis.

Qin Yining asked again: “Approximately how many people are here? How many soldiers do they have?”

Uncle A’erhan said: “I’ve observed carefully. The population here is about four to five thousand, with roughly one thousand soldiers. However, their soldiers are all young men. Think about it—they haven’t fought wars for several generations. These young soldiers who’ve never seen blood would probably be scared witless on a battlefield, incomparable to the brave fighting prowess of our tribespeople.”

Both Qin Yining and Lu Heng nodded in agreement.

Soldiers who had seen blood, compared to those who had always lived in a greenhouse and grown accustomed to peace, still had the advantage of experience making them bolder and able to avoid many unnecessary troubles.

So thinking this through, Qin Yining felt that if fighting broke out, the Mino tribe wouldn’t necessarily be at a disadvantage. They also had the ability to guard their grain supplies.

“So the grain supplies are still in our hands, and the people here haven’t acted rashly?”

“That’s right.” A’erhan nodded: “I can see they don’t want to resort to weapons either. That’s why their leader wants to marry you.”

Qin Yining nodded understandingly. Two tribes that had gotten lost together might have to spend the rest of their lives surviving in the same oasis. If they didn’t want one tribe to devour the other, the best solution was to merge the two tribes, intermarrying to become one.