Chapter 1 (1/2)
33 years into Great Zhou Dynasty, in winter during 12th lunar month…
There is an unnaion Streaentle river At the foot of the mountain, near the river, is a si obliquely stretched out in the wind slightly swaying
It is winter tiently floated down fro everything in a misty world
Within the small shop, there were more than a dozen business travelers seated around the old wooden tables They were frowning as they glanced out of theOccasionally, you could hear the the heavens for the bad weather Placed beside their feet are their dripping inter cloaks
At a corner of the diner, a beautiful young woman sat in front of a s a sand pot Seated beside the woman were two men
One of thereen, with eyebrows far apart like distant h he looked quite fatigued, it could not hide a chivalrous heroic spirit
The other man was dressed in white, with a handsoer without a care in the world
“Boss, I would like to order a pot of wine and two pounds of beef, please” Soreeted
“Wine is in the jar, meat is in the pot!” The woman did not even look back, and continued to intently watch the red pot
That guest did not rinned, placed some silver on the table to pay for his order, and helped himself to the food and wine
The man as dressed in white seeure of the wo on the stove His eyes soften as he took out a jade flute from his pocket He placed the flute on his lips and blew into it A lonely melody sounds out from the flute It was as if loneliness and sorrow filled the whole world
All of the patrons in the shop were all attracted by the sorrowful tune, and stopped to listen Many of the
Suddenly, the face of the reen shi+rt turned pale Without a word, he quickly stood up
Almost the same time, the white man also put down his flute, and whispered: “They have finally come!”
The wo: “It looks like I have implicated the two of you”
She had barely finished speaking when the sound of a large nuradually became louder and clearer
Suddenly, a “boo out The patrons in the restaurant felt as if the earth is shaking Then all 4 sides of the walls of the little restaurant were ripped apart
Outside of the restaurant were rows after rows of cavalry Each the men on top of the horse was cladded in black armor and armed with a halberd The cold blade of the halberd reflected the light, giving off aaura
The businessmen did not knohat had happened They were shocked by the scene and inore the fleeing lare at the woman and two men
The leader of the troop suddenly shouted out, ”Convict Wen Rou! Your father, Wen Shouzhen, was favor by the e thankful for this honor, he used his position to poison the emperor As this is a top-level crime, the emperor has ordered that all members of his family will be beheaded”
“The e, and had taken your contributions to the country into consideration Therefore, he has gifted you with a white shawl that will spare you fro your body in one piece But instead of being thankful for his Majesty’s mercy, you opted to run away How dare you!”
”Hahahaha, what utter rubbish!+” Wen Rou suddenly stood up, and laughed out loud Her face was distorted in rage, as she sneered at the general, ”My father, Wen Shouzhen, was a loyal official He was framed for a crime that he did not coardless if they were young or old, were sentenced to death Why should I be thankful for the '?”
After saying this, Wen Rou glared at the general, and with great confidence, she exclaie on the men who framed my family!”
”How dare you!” The general pointed his finger at Wen Rou, and shouted, ”Men, arrest her!”
”Who dares to do so?” The reen suddenly stood in front of Wen Rou, as to protect her from the troops
”Shen Yaoshan, don't you think too highly of yourself!” The general suddenly used his whip to point at the ot a lot of guts to raid the prison and save Rou Wen The emperor did not want to put Prime Minister Shen in a difficult position, and hence spared your life If you dare to stopa wanted convict today, even if your dad is here, he would not be able to protect you”
Shen Yaoshan sneered He wanted to retort, but saw that the man as dressed in white had also stood up, and stood beside Rou Wen Shen Yaoshan's hands relaxed, and he looked at that man
”Ren Yue, eneral saw the face of the man in white, and he became friendlier
He cupped his fist in greeting, ”I, Gu Changfeng, did not come here today to create difficulties for anyone However, as a soldier, I a Wen Rou out of prison, you had already coreat offense If you take any action to try to save Wen Rou again today, even if your father is the great grand marshal of the army, you will still have to face the wrath of the emperor!”
Ren Yue did not say a single word He slowly kept the jade flute in his hand, and with his other hand, he put out a silver color belt With a ”Cang, cang, cang” sound, the silver color belt suddenly transformed into a flexible sword His expression was deadly calm as he calmly replied, ”General Gu had misunderstoodto do with my father I, and I alone, will take responsibility for my actions!”
The general, Gu Changfeng, was placed in a bind As a soldier, he need not answer to the pri Yaoshan
But Ren Yue's father, the grand rand marshal is the commander-in-chief of the arrandthat would jeopardize his relationshi+p with the grand marshal For a moment, he did not knohat to do
”Hahahaha! What a brave young ant voice rang out in loud laughter The soldiers parted, and slowly, the figure of a , his face and eyes were cold
General Gu ireet this man: ”General Gu pays his respects to the 3rd prince!”
”How dare you! The ened hieneral, you are too careless in your greetings!” An aide following behind the 3rd prince immediately reprimanded General Gu
General Gu felt a chill going down his spine, and iiveness
”The Crown Prince?” Shen Yaoshan spat out as he rebuked, ”Liu Zhang, with a scuue our Great Zhou Empire!”
Liu Zhang was not angry at all He just looked at Shen Yaoshan, and with a smile on his face, he said, ”I hear that Shen Yaoshan, the military examination champion, used to be a brave and valiant warrior, and was able to defeat a 100 warriors But in the prison raid, he was ae number of experts, and injured his Pipa bone [3] and lost all hisbut an invalid”
Then he looked at Ren Yue and sneered, ”And the highly-learned and greatly respected top scholar, Young Master Ren, had been stripped of his post as a court official by the Emperor Despite his literary talents, today he is no better off than a coreat pity!”
Looking at Wen Rou, Liu Zhang's eyes narrowed, ”What a great wo ed to hoodwink these ard their lives, break her out of prison, and fled with her to this desolated place Really impressive! Really incredible!”
Wen Rou could not help but glance at Ren Yue and Sheng Yaoshan
Liu Zhang smirked as he continued to rub salt into Wen Rou's wounds, ”Wen Rou, did you know that my 9th brother tried to speak up for you? His actions infuriated our father, the emperor He was beaten and demoted to a commoner and exiled from the capital!”
Wen Rou was shocked, and stepped back in dis voice, ”What… what did you say?”
Shen Yaoshan desperately pleaded, ”Rou Er [4], do not listen to the lies of this rascal!” He tried to reach out and grab the sword held by Ren Yue, but he could not th in his hand, and involuntarily dropped the sword With ”Da Lang” sound, the sword dropped onto the floor
Liu Zhang sniggered, ”A military examination chareat shame! Even I, the crown prince, feel bad for you ”
At this moment, Ren Yue spoke out in his quiet manner, ”Rou Er, please do not worry You know the character and te the capital would free hile for power Itfor him”
Wen Rou calht! There is no need to listen to the rubbish that this scoundrel spouts!”
Liu Zhang's face turned darker These 3 people in front of hirand plans Today, as the victor, he was looking forward to seeing the look of despair and regret on their faces, but did not anticipate that they would remain calm
”Yi?” Wen Rou's nose suddenly twitched, as a fragrance filled the air around her She ignored the soldiers surrounding her, and begin search a the debris As she pulled out a piece of ht that the red clay stove seemed to effuse hot steam of detectable aroma
She sreat, the claypot is still here!”
Having said that, she ruh the wreak that used to be a restaurant and ed to chopsticks and bowls She then filled the bowls and handed Shen Yaoshan and Ren Yue a bowl of the piping hot food each