Xiao Miao had no money to buy those flatbreads. All the money on her person was completely used up. Gou Zi’s money was also scraped clean by her. As for Qu Zhuo’s money, Xiao Miao knew it still had uses and couldn’t be taken. Hei Feng offered his money to Xiao Miao, but Xiao Miao wouldn’t accept it. In her view, Hei Feng was also a poor person.

The thing Qu Zhuo most feared had happened. The lord of Suiye City had suffered the most terrifying torture. When the city lord’s wife woke up in the morning, she saw a bloody and mangled body lying beside her. Only after careful identification did she discover it was her own husband.

The city lord could no longer speak. His four limbs couldn’t move either. His two eyes were as hollow as two dry wells. His entire body had suffered the most terrifying attack. A wild beast’s claws had nearly torn his body apart. But despite suffering such severe injuries, the city lord was still alive. The shaman lit wolf dung, and white smoke circled above the city lord’s manor, like a phantom.

Everyone said this was the Heavenly Wolf God descending upon Suiye City. Two broken wolf claws remained on the city lord’s body.

Xiao Miao had money to buy food again. Early in the morning, she carried her basket with two maidservants and went out. The little beggars were all eagerly waiting at the alley entrance. Seeing Sister Anji come out, they obediently lined up in a queue, urgently hoping to receive food.

One flatbread and one piece of meat for each child—this was Sister Anji’s charity. Soon, the three baskets were empty. Seeing the children who hadn’t received anything looking somewhat aggrieved, Xiao Miao called out, and those selling flatbreads and mutton immediately surrounded them. They knew where they could sell their food at the fastest speed.

At this rate of charity, Xiao Miao’s money was quickly used up again. So Xiao Miao crouched on a rooftop staring at the tall temple in a daze. She had heard that Brahmin monks were very wealthy.

At dinner time, Qu Zhuo clanged a bag of silver coins down onto Xiao Miao’s table with a loud sound, then returned to his own room without saying a word, continuing to study the official documents Xiao Miao had brought back from the city lord’s manor. That damned city lord was actually a tough guy. Even under Xiao Miao’s interrogation, he hadn’t revealed anything useful. Qu Zhuo believed this city lord knew nothing. To learn their true intentions, they needed to find people with higher status.

“Your Highness, your charity in this manner will lose too much money. It’s not what a family head should do.” Moarth raised his head to look at Xiao Miao and offered counsel. These past days, he had figured it out—his little master was a goddess kind-hearted to the extreme, and moreover had no concept whatsoever of money. This required admonishment from old retainers like himself.

Xiao Miao put down the money pouch, propped up her chin and recalled how much money she had. Thinking of that large pile of jewels, gold bricks and such things Wu She had placed in the Yun family warehouse, she felt that thinking about such matters was rather boring. Master’s money only filled one small shelf. The Marquis’s household seemed to have even more money—more than ten rows of shelves stacked full. Could this stuff ever be used up? She had casually taken a small pearl the Marquis had given her and exchanged it for a large squadron of brave warriors. Thinking of this, she said to Moarth word by word: “It doesn’t matter. My family’s money can’t be used up. Even if I spend like this for my entire life, it won’t be used up.”

Moarth was extremely shocked. He hastily looked at Gou Zi’s reaction. He discovered that Gou Zi also seemed to hold this opinion, only grumbling that this wasn’t at home and they couldn’t be extravagant.

Such expenditures would be fatal for a small family, and would also cause a financial crisis for a medium-sized family. Only those most top-tier wealthy families could barely afford such casual spending. Moarth once again lowered his head and continued eating his own meal. He discovered that what Her Highness and that family general were eating was a type of noodles with broth.

The Sun God had broad connections in the Western Regions. Hei Feng had taken Xiao Miao to worship at the Sun God’s temple, and also went to worship at the Fire Worship temple. This gave everyone an impression—that Xiao Miao’s ancestors must have been native Western Region people, because only they would revere these ancient deities.

Her flaxen hair and fair skin indicated her ancestors came from the Hot Sea, while her jet-black eyes indicated that Tang people’s blood still flowed in her body. The Turks speculated that this beautiful, wealthy, and noble Highness might come from their own ethnic group, because only their own ethnic group was most likely to produce such a noble person.

“We need to go to Talas City. If possible, we also need to go to Almaty. Only there can we contact the uppermost levels of Western Region ethnic groups. What the Marquis wants is solid evidence. Only then can he send an alert to the court requesting support. Speculation is utterly useless. Come spring next year, I dare assert the situation will certainly be even more complex than now. Only by going to Talas and Almaty can we obtain the most accurate intelligence.”

Hei Feng had already risked his life, so naturally he didn’t care. Xiao Miao and Gou Zi cared even less. But Qu Zhuo had Hei Feng take the camel caravan back to Loulan to inform Xu Jingzong of the situation here. He also needed to deliver some intelligence collected here to Xu Jingzong for review to see if there were any new discoveries.

Qu Zhuo had now become good friends with quite a few merchants and tribal chieftains. Among the goods brought from Loulan was a batch of Yun family perfume. Western Region people had strong body odor and liked perfume very much. They had heard that only Tang had the most authentic goods, and only one or two Tang merchants’ caravans could occasionally bring a little, priced comparable to gold.

People with extensive social connections were most popular among merchants. Just because Qu Zhuo could obtain perfume was enough to make these merchants worship him. A bottle of perfume in a crystal bottle could easily open the commercial route to the Arab interior.

Hei Feng left, returning directly to Loulan. Qu Zhuo and Gou Zi took thirty war slaves to Talas. He prepared to continue gathering intelligence there, leaving only Xiao Miao in Suiye City as a transit station, existing carelessly.

The days passed very lonely, so Xiao Miao began embroidering flowers. The two maidservants saw the beautiful flowers Xiao Miao embroidered and were extremely envious. They also followed along learning. Moarth stayed by Xiao Miao’s side to protect her. This period of peaceful days almost made him infatuated.

Xiao Miao never managed what they did. She simply counted heads at the dining table. As long as the number of heads was correct, she didn’t inquire about anything. Even the war slaves’ wages were distributed by Moarth himself.

Sister Anji’s reputation spread far and wide. All hungry children could receive food from Sister Anji. They could also huddle under Sister Anji’s eaves to sleep for a night. Her reputation not only circulated among little beggars, but even began circulating among adults.

Rumors, when spread, would change flavor. When Sister Anji transformed from a kind-hearted woman into an angel, countless suitors came one after another. If not for Moarth’s obstruction, Xiao Miao would have long since beaten all these shameless people to death.

Before, when she heard the maidservant tell her she was an angel, she still thought it was pretty good. When the maidservant told her she was a goddess who specially spread kindness in the mortal world, she was also very happy. When the maidservant told her angels had a pair of beautiful wings, she laughed happily. Only when the maidservant told her that angels were all spheres of light with no distinction between male and female did her face turn dark. Looking at her own flat chest, then looking at the maidservant’s full chest, she finally exploded, believing these people describing her as an angel were mocking her for having no feminine charm and being indistinguishable between male and female.

Those people surrounding the door singing love songs, as the first batch of unlucky people, experienced Xiao Miao’s tyranny. Each person had one leg broken and was thrown out. For people the Yun family disliked, breaking one leg was the custom.

Moarth’s good days had come to an end. His Highness had offended almost all the nobles, to the extent that people coming to the door to challenge her came in an endless stream. Thirty-three warriors were on careful guard all day long, responding to all challenges that came to the door.

Moarth used his sword and shield very well. Even Suiye City’s most formidable warrior stopped before him. Watching his opponent leave resentfully, Moarth wiped away the sweat beads on his head. These days of uninterrupted fighting had almost drained his energy. However, he didn’t feel weary in his heart. Protecting his innocent Highness was his sacred duty.

The longer he spent time with Xiao Miao, the more Moarth liked this Highness. This was an angel. Those people weren’t wrong. This was a kind-hearted angel. As long as you didn’t anger her, she was the most brilliant snow lotus on the snowy mountains. At least Moarth had never seen Xiao Miao harm others without reason, much less any talk of venting anger on others.

Breaking those people’s legs was a means for top-tier nobility to maintain their honor. Moarth also felt that those people like mongrel dogs wanting to marry his Highness was itself an insult to Her Highness.

Because when mongrel dogs propose to a lion, no matter how sincere the mongrel dogs appear, for the lion it’s all endless humiliation.

The household settled down once again. Xiao Miao still brought maidservants every day to deliver food to the children. In this severe cold winter, without enough food, these children couldn’t survive the bone-piercing ice cold.

“Eat slowly. I just gave you a flatbread yesterday—enough for you to eat for a day. How are you still so hungry today? No amount is enough for you to eat.” Xiao Miao rapped a chestnut on a little boy’s head. Seeing the little boy lower his head aggrievedly, she pulled out half a flatbread from the basket and stuffed it into his hand, compensating him a bit.

The maidservants’ baskets were empty. They returned home to continue getting flatbreads. Today was Xiao Miao’s birthday, so she had specially prepared a lot of food. When she herself was small, no one had given her such food. So Xiao Miao wanted to give all these things to these pitiful children. Xiao Miao knew the feeling of being hungry—it was almost a punishment sent down from heaven.

Urgent hoofbeats sounded—dense and heavy. This was cavalry. Xiao Miao was startled with alarm. When she raised her head to look, she discovered that young son of the Ashina family whose leg had been broken, leading a hundred-some cavalrymen charging over crazily. Under the horse hooves everywhere were the little beggars’ small figures.

Before Xiao Miao could cry out in alarm, Ashina Botan pointed at Xiao Miao and roared: “Seize her! I want her!”