Free Web NovelChapter 1746: Chapter 1355: Only with Confidence Comes Fearlessness!
"Why is that? Heh heh..." Zhou Mu, hearing this, let out a low chuckle twice. Looking ahead at the two opposing forces already locked in confrontation, his face like a Divine Residence, the corner of his lips hooked as he spoke with a cold smile, "Because we have something to rely on, so we fear nothing!"
"What do you mean?" Borjigin Nian asked, somewhat at a loss.
"Only with something to rely on can one be fearless! In Borjigin Lvchi’s hand, he pinches your Father King’s life, so he has something to rely on and thus fears nothing. But behind you, you have us, you have a million troops of the Southern Country, a million soldiers of the Great Zhou. Little Junior Sister, in truth, you too can have something to rely on and be fearless!" Zhou Mu, having said this, turned his head, looked at Borjigin Nian, and said in a deep voice, "From the moment this king and Changsheng stepped into this Northern Mongolian land with you, we already became your backing! Little Junior Sister, you can bend and endure humiliation for your Father King, but we cannot! We are the rulers of the Central Plains; every word and deed of ours is watched by the common folk under heaven! You can swallow your anger, you can bow your head, but we cannot. If we behaved the same as you, then why would we disregard the stares of everyone in the world and boldly come to this Northern Mongolian land?"
"Senior Brother..." At these words, Borjigin Nian suddenly felt a wave of warmth surge into her eyes.
"Little Junior Sister, in the eyes of the world, wherever this king and Changsheng go, it represents a campaign of war. When all under heaven think that we intend to set our hands on Northern Mongolia, how could we possibly endure the slightest bit of cowardly humiliation?" Zhou Mu looked at Borjigin Nian and said, "For you, you are doing this to fulfill filial duty, forced and with no choice. But for us, as far as Northern Mongolia is concerned, we are intruding bandits. Little Junior Sister, Borjigin Lvchi is, by rights, a man who deserves death. Yet the only good thing he has done is using the King of Northern Mongolia to threaten you, thereby luring us to enter the realm in such an open and aboveboard manner!"
"It is easy to invite the gods but hard to send them away; he will pay the price for his miscalculation!" Zhou Mu let out a soft laugh and slowly said, "Little Junior Sister, rest assured. If the matter is not made big, how will the common people of Northern Mongolia ever know to what extent you have bent and endured humiliation for your Father King? How will they know what kind of fierce tiger Borjigin Lvchi has lured into the realm? Only by making a great uproar, making it so the whole world knows, letting everyone know that your Father King is that final bargaining chip, will he become truly safe and free from harm..."
"Senior Brother..." For a moment, Borjigin Nian did not even know what to say. Tears fell from her eyes of their own accord as she shook her head and said, "But it was not supposed to be like this. You are not supposed to be like this..."
What setting their hands on Northern Mongolia?
It was not supposed to be like this!
How could Senior Brother and Gu Changsheng ever go to set their hands on Northern Mongolia?
In this world, anyone might give rise to the desire to covet Northern Mongolia—for a thousand li of pastureland, for herds of cattle and horses—but Gu Changsheng and Senior Brother alone, they would not...
They came only for her sake, and yet, have they actually borne such a foul reputation?
"This is exactly how it is... Little Junior Sister, in a while you go and ask Changsheng; she will tell you what you should do..." Zhou Mu looked at Borjigin Nian, gave a faint smile, picked up his Longsword, and walked toward the two opposing forces ahead...
Left behind at the very rear, Borjigin Nian was momentarily a little dazed...
She actually did not know what she ought to do...
As the saying goes, those involved are muddled while bystanders are clear. Senior Brother and Gu Changsheng are bystanders; their hearts are as bright as mirrors. But she is the one in the game, and now she is still muddle‑headed...
"Borjigin Lvchi, give me an explanation, or else, today, we’ll meet each other with weapons on the battlefield!"
From the front came Gu Changsheng’s voice of rebuke, actually carried by Inner Strength, transmitted very far; most likely the entire Yanmen Pass could hear it distinctly...
"You used the King of Northern Mongolia as a threat, forcing the Legitimate Princess of Northern Mongolia, Borjigin Nian, to accept a marriage alliance, to humble herself and marry you, a cripple. Yet she is, after all, the Legitimate Princess of Northern Mongolia, my Southern Emperor Changsheng’s comrade who has lived and died together with me on the battlefield, my fiancé’s Little Junior Sister. And you actually dare to treat her so harshly—never mind that you keep her under house arrest and deny her freedom—but you even refuse to give her food. What is it you are trying to do? Is there such a way under heaven to welcome a bride? You are relying on the fact that the King of Northern Mongolia is trapped in prison, his power seized by you traitorous ministers and thieves, and thus unable to stand up for Borjigin Nian, is that it?"
"I tell you, don’t even think about it! Even if it means throwing away the friendly relations between two nations and plunging them into war, I, Southern Emperor Changsheng, will not allow Borjigin Nian to suffer the slightest grievance! On the battlefield we have shared life and death together; if you bully her, you are bullying me, Gu Changsheng! I, Gu Changsheng, stand crowned above the world and have never swallowed such cowardly humiliation!"
Even with Gu Changsheng’s voice being so loud, although the confrontation between the two forces was confined to the Guesthouse within Yanmen Pass, all the residents of Yanmen Pass, as well as the Merchants traveling north and south, heard every word clearly!
After hearing these words clearly, Yanmen Pass instantly erupted into an uproar!
Aside from the border garrison soldiers, the faces of the ordinary common folk were all filled with fear and dismay.
"What? The first warrior of Northern Mongolia, Borjigin Lvchi, on his mission to Linyuan City, actually used the safety of the King of Northern Mongolia to threaten the Legitimate Princess into marrying?"
"Godfather! The Legitimate Princess actually bent and endured humiliation to such a degree for the King of Northern Mongolia, and has even been put under house arrest? She doesn’t even get enough to eat?"
"Didn’t you hear? The Southern Emperor called Borjigin Lvchi a useless piece of trash..."
"Wasn’t he the First Warrior? Could something have gone wrong on this diplomatic mission?"
"..."
"Now this is serious. The Southern Emperor is hurling insults at our lines, and won’t let it go. I fear this won’t end peacefully. If anything goes wrong, we’ll be at war!"
"No way, right? If the marriage alliance succeeds, our Northern Mongolian internal chaos will naturally settle down. How could there be war?"
"Didn’t you hear what the Southern Emperor said? She’s standing up for the Legitimate Princess! And who is the Southern Emperor? She’s the one who trampled the Southern Border on horseback, slaughtered Southern Chen, leaving war blazing everywhere she passed! Borjigin Lvchi invited the Southern Emperor into our lands, and yet let the Legitimate Princess be bullied right under her nose. How could this possibly be smoothed over? The Legitimate Princess is the Southern Emperor’s closest friend—everyone in the world knows this. Bullying the Legitimate Princess is slapping the Southern Emperor in the face. And is the Southern Emperor’s face something you can just slap? That’s the Southern Emperor! She’s the ruler of a country! Just making her lose face is enough for the Southern Country to have a perfectly good reason to send troops!"
"Godfather! Are we really going to war? This is Yanmen Pass—if war breaks out, the fighting starts here first!"
"What do we do? What do we do? Is Borjigin Lvchi stupid? How could he mistreat the Legitimate Princess? She’s still the Legitimate Princess, at the very least!"
"We’re done! We’re really done this time! This is going to blow up big! What are we supposed to do?"
"..."
In an instant, all of Yanmen Pass, this southern border fortress of Northern Mongolia, was thrown into chaos. The timid ones, upon hearing Gu Changsheng’s shout, had already started packing their bundles, planning to take their families and hurry away to escape the coming war...
Even those with slightly more courage chose to sit tight and watch, but what they kept muttering under their breath was all condemning Borjigin Lvchi for his mistreatment of the Legitimate Princess...
Now the trouble at the Guesthouse had truly become the talk of the whole city!
Meanwhile, on that street hung with red lanterns, inside a little servant house where little meat bun was mixing like a fish in water, he was happily gnawing on pastries he’d swindled from the Procuress, when he heard his own mother’s roar thunder from above his head. The fury in that voice was about to explode. Little meat bun and the other three kids all froze mid-bite, then immediately stood up...
"Whoa! My mom’s about to have a big group brawl!" Little meat bun said, face full of excited delight, even clapping his pair of chubby little paws.
"How do you know the Witch Lord is going to fight a group battle? Maybe she’s just proclaiming to the world that Aunt Nian cannot be bullied?" Wuchang Yue frowned at his words.
"No way. Aunt Nian’s dad is still in their hands, so of course Aunt Nian can be bullied!" Little meat bun shook his head at once, absolutely certain. "My mom is telling the people of Northern Mongolia that she’s here now, and that she’s the one who can’t be bullied..."
At that, Wuchang Yue exchanged a look with Xiao Han Mo; both their small faces were full of helplessness. They could only ask, "So what do we do now? Are we going to watch the Witch Lord fight?"
"No, no, no! There’s nothing interesting about watching a fight! My mom sent me out here for serious business!" Little meat bun shook his head at once, stuffed the food in his hand into his mouth, swallowed, and said, "My mom’s making such a big scene that everyone in Yanmen Pass is going to be scared out of their wits. The place is sure to descend into chaos. We’ve already dug out all the information we wanted from this little servant house; we can’t keep wasting time here. It’s time to move on, and see what holes show when Yanmen Pass is in chaos..."
"What do you mean?" Wuchang Yue’s voice dropped as he asked.
"I mean we need to get out of the city, get ahead of my mom and the others, and rush on to the next place..." Little meat bun sniffled, then said, and started looking around. "I need to leave a good letter for my mom, so she doesn’t worry. A smart kid like me is definitely of great use. I have this feeling that once Yanmen Pass is in chaos, something will slip through! We’ll go block the road going north right now, and lie in wait like a hunter under the tree!"
"What are you talking about? What tree, what rabbit? Don’t tell me you still think the King of Northern Mongolia is actually here in Yanmen Pass?" Wuchang Yue asked at once.
"I’ve always thought he was somewhere close to Borjigin Lvchi. Otherwise, with all the old grudges between them, he wouldn’t have the guts, or the confidence, to go to Linyuan City to meet my mom, and even travel with her!" Little meat bun nodded firmly. The short note in his hand was already written and pressed beneath his own pillow. Then he called Wuchang Yue, Xiao Han Mo, and Little Monk Bu Jie to slip away amid the chaos...
Just as the people of Yanmen Pass were in a panic and little meat bun set out once again, the two opposing sides in the Guesthouse had already entered a white-hot stage of confrontation. From the Guesthouse, with shoving and shouting, they had already spilled out into the city streets...
