Chapter 81
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The people conducting the search outside had indeed withdrawn. When Xie Yixiu went out, he could still see the tail end of the troop.
Not long after the general ordered the search, a rider came galloping in, reporting that there were suspicious individuals to the south. General Chacha Qi had immediately ordered a pursuit and interception. Since there was information now, it made things easier. The opportunity for great achievements was presented, it depended on which group could get ahead.
That general was anxious as well. After putting in so much effort, he wanted to achieve something, gain some benefits. If his group arrived late, they would have no choice but to watch him recieveing all the merits.
Thinking of this, he quickly blew the signal whistle, gathered the troops, and hurriedly set off towards the south.
The humble Han Da, bowed his head humbly, as he had a flash of joy in his eyes. It must be a success; someone had diverted the attention of these people, reducing the danger to Wang Ye and General Xie significantly.
“Alright! Alright! It’s fine now. Everyone can go back and rest!” When the large group of soldiers had gone far away, everyone stood up and gradually returned to their own tents. After causing a commotion for most of the night, things had finally calmed down.
Han Da immediately noticed Xie Yixiu when he came out and exchanged a signal with him. The two of them entered Han Da’s tent, one after the other.
Before entering the tent, Han Da looked around the area carefully, but no one seemed to notice them. Only then did he feel relieved and walked inside.
“Did they find anything during the search just now?” Han Da asked cautiously.
Xie Yixiu shook his head to indicate that everything was fine. “They went south in pursuit?”
Xie Yixiu knew that their undercover spies were not limited to just Han Da. He had already thought ahead. If the pursuers conducted a thorough search, no matter how well they hid, it wouldn’t take long to be discovered. The only solution was to find someone else to divert their attention and lead them in a different direction, giving them a chance to escape.
So, Xie Yixiu had Han Da contact his own people and instructed them to find two people with similar appearances to themselves. These decoys were to head south deliberately, exposing their whereabouts to lure the enemy. Everyone knew that these two people were in a hurry to return to the Great Yan Kingdom. Therefore, abruptly changing direction to the south was in line with common human behavior. No one would suspect they would continue heading north.
Upon hearing about two Han people urgently heading south, without much thought, it was assumed to be the Great Yan Wang Ye and General. Consequently, General Chacha Qi immediately ordered all his soldiers to pursue southward.
“Yes, our plan was successful. They have attracted everyone’s attention, so no one will come to search our area again,” Han Da confirmed. With this kind of diversion tactic, if it were repeated several times, it would surely leave their pursuers disoriented.
“Good job,” Xie Yixiu affirmed. “What about the matter of the tribe’s migration?”
Han Da replied respectfully, “Rest assured, tomorrow I will meet with them to discuss and plan the tribe’s migration to the north as soon as possible.”
Xie Yixiu nodded; this matter indeed needed to be expedited. He was eager to see the plains and valleys that Ming Yu had mentioned.
“Haha, I’ve caught you,” Lan Duo’s voice rang out from behind, accompanied by her tinkling laughter.
Ming Yu snapped out of his myriad thoughts, only to hear Lan Duo asking, “What is Sister Yu doing?”
Ming Yu felt a headache coming on. He had already hidden here, so how had she managed to find him? He had no choice but to accept Lan Duo’s address of “Sister Yu.”
In the tribe, he was known as Ba Lun’s new bride and wore the traditional Suici pastoral attire, which didn’t vary much between men and women. However, women’s clothing was more colorful and intricate, adorned with bells, necklaces, including the agate beads they wore on their heads. All of this made Ming Yu incredibly uncomfortable, but he had no other options. If he stood out too much and was discovered, he would be the one in trouble.
Lan Duo had already copied Ming Yu’s posture, lying back on the grass with her hands behind her head. She couldn’t understand why Sister Yu was so engrossed in looking at the sky?
Ming Yu had sat up, finding it somewhat amusing that this child was so curious about everything.
Their tribe had been migrating northward for almost a month now and had finally found a place with abundant water and grass.
They wouldn’t have to worry about their livestock getting thin this summer. The tribesmen were planning to spend the spring and summer here. They were reluctant to move any farther north. They had heard that the area around the Wuliang Country was desolate, hardly anyone had ventured there. So they had no intention of going there either.
Ming Yu and Xie Yixiu planned to leave the tribe and travel northward alone. They had already prepared their excuses, saying that the newlyweds were going back to visit their families.
Over the past month, Lan Duo had frequently visited Ming Yu. She really liked her open and generous Sister Yu. She had heard that Han women were typically confined to their homes, delicate and soft-spoken. However, Sister Yu broke these stereotypes. She had an elegant and graceful manner of speaking, a gentle temperament, and a personality that suited her taste. Sister Yu also knew many things and had a lot of interesting and strange stories to tell.
Ever since she had heard the stories that Sister Yu had told the tribal children, she had developed a liking for them. She often came to find Ming Yu, asking for more stories. Through these interactions, they had become familiar with each other, and the more Lan Duo got to know him, the more she admired Ming Yu.
Ming Yu turned his head and smiled, asking, “Why did you come here?”
Lan Duo pouted and looked at Ming Yu with a hint of resentment. “I heard you’re leaving. Is that true?”
Despite considering Sister Yu her best friend, she had still heard about her departure from someone else, which made her a little sad.
Ming Yu smiled and reached out to ruffle her hair. “We actually just made this decision this morning. I was planning to come and talk to you about it later. Unexpectedly you already heard of it earlier.”
Hearing Ming Yu’s explanation, Lan Duo felt a bit relieved. She knew Sister Yu wouldn’t leave without saying goodbye. However, the thought of them leaving still made her a little sad, and she couldn’t help feeling a bit reluctant.
Pouting, she said, “I don’t know when we’ll see each other again after you leave. I’m going to miss you, Sister Yu.”
Ming Yu had a soft spot for Lan Duo. This fourteen or fifteen-year-old girl was full of innocence, playfulness, and cuteness. She was lively and lovable, and Ming Yu genuinely saw her as a little sister.
“Don’t be silly, little one. We’ll have a chance to meet again in the future,” Ming Yu reassured her. He took off a jade pendant he wore around his waist and handed it to Lan Duo. “I’ve carried this with me since I was young. It’s for you now. Whenever you miss me, just look at it, your thought will reach me when you look at it.”
Lan Duo accepted it and looked at it several times, there seemed to be some words engraved on it, but she didn’t recognize them. She quietly accepted the gift, nodded, and, with reluctance in her heart and words, asked, “Will sister be able to come back and see me in the future?”
“Of course I will. When you get married, I want to give you a wedding gift,” Ming Yu teased with a smile.
In this era, girls usually married quite early, now Lan Duo’s family was already looking for a suitable match for her. In another two years, she could probably discuss marriage.
Lan Duo blushed instantly, blaming Ming Yu for teasing her randomly, and reached out to scratch him. How could Ming Yu let her succeed? He easily evaded, Lan Duo’s earlier worries seemed to have dissipated as they started play-fighting.
However, from a distance, Xie Yixiu, seeing this scene, immediately had a dark expression. Didn’t Ming Yu know about the proper decorum between men and women? As a Wang Ye, he should conduct himself with dignity and poise, rather than fooling around with a girl.
He hurriedly walked a few steps, wanting to go over and separate the two, but he hesitated halfway. Recently, Wang seemed to be getting close to this girl. Could it be that Wang Ye had developed feelings for her? Wang Ye was different from him. If this was really the case, what should he do?
But Ming Yu, as a Wang Ye of the Great Yan, couldn’t marry a foreign woman. However, because he was Wang Ye, he would eventually need to marry and have heirs. Women would always appear in his life. Perhaps in the past, it was because of his bad reputation as a foolish prince, so no one had thought about it, but what about the future?
Thinking about how Ming Yu would have a gentle and beautiful woman to accompany him in the future made Xie Yixiu feel a sense of unease. At that time, he should probably let go of the feelings in his heart!
Xie Yixiu stood in the distance, lost in thought as he watched the scene before him. It was when Lan Duo took an inadvertent glance in his direction, and she saw him.
Lan Duo playfully stuck out her tongue, whispered, “Big Brother Ba Lun is here. I’ll go first.” After saying this, she flipped over and hopped away.
Ming Yu turned around and saw Xie Yixiu, standing up and smiling as he asked, “Is your business concluded?”
Xie Yixiu walked over, nodded, his thoughts tangled up, making it hard for him to speak.
“Oh!” Ming Yu understood and casually asked, “So, when should we leave?”
“Tomorrow.”
Ming Yu sensed that Xie Yixiu’s mood was noticeably sour, he couldn’t understand if there was some issue with their plan. He cautiously asked, “What’s wrong? Did something unexpected happen?”
Xie Yixiu shook his head, his words rolling in his throat before he managed to say, “Who was that just now?”
Following Xie Yixiu’s gaze, Ming Yu looked in the direction of the departing Lan Duo and smiled, “She’s Lan Duo, a very cute little girl.”
“Yes, and she’s pretty too!” Xie Yixiu couldn’t help but sound a bit jealous.
“Isn’t she?” Ming Yu glanced at him, then in Lan Duo’s direction again, squinting his eyes slightly. Could it be that this man liked this kind of girl? Unfortunately, Lan Duo was still too young; she was considered a minor. However, if General Xie liked her, he could use this as a reference for his future preferences.
“Do you like her?” Xie Yixiu abruptly asked.
“Ah? Me? Like her?” Ming Yu was caught off guard by this sudden question. She was a cute little sister!
“I mean ‘like’ as in ‘marriage'” Xie Yixiu blurted out without thinking and immediately regretted it. What was he even saying?
“I…” Ming Yu was caught off guard by Xie Yixiu’s question, just as he was thinking about how to play matchmaker for Xie Yixiu. How did the conversation take such a turn? How did it get to his marriage?
Thinking that Ming Yu had tacitly agreed, Xie Yixiu’s face darkened. “She’s a person from a tribe, and you’re the Great Yan’s Wang Ye, the two of you…”
“Wait, wait, wait…” Ming Yu, increasingly baffled by the conversation, interrupted, “What are you talking about? Marriage? How did we get there? I like her, but I like her as a little sister, that’s all.”
With these words, a heavy stone in Xie Yixiu’s heart was lifted, and his previously troubled mood suddenly brightened. “Really?”
Although the future remained uncertain, Xie Yixiu felt an inexplicable joy at Ming Yu’s answer. All the negative emotions he had just experienced seemed to vanish, it was as if a cloudy sky had suddenly become clear and bright. In this world, only Ming Yu could easily control and change his emotional fluctuations.
“Of course, it’s true. Why would I lie to you? You can’t just say things randomly in the future!” Ming Yu warned with a fierce tone. He couldn’t understand why Xie Yixiu had suddenly changed so dramatically. A grown man acting like a child, his mood shifting at the drop of a hat.
Xie Yixiu’s lips curled slightly as he responded, “In the future, you’ll have to marry and have children. Many people with good looks may not necessarily be genuine inside—.”
“Hmph!” Ming Yu waved his hand dismissively. “Marriage is a serious matter, not child’s play. I’m not a shallow person who only cares about appearances. When two people are together, everything has to be harmonious. It all depends on fate. It’s too early to discuss these things now.”
“Well then, have you thought about the kind of person you’d like to spend your life with in the future?” Xie Yixiu looked into his eyes and asked gently.
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