CH 61

Villainous Prince (3)

The Empress was reluctant to let her daughter go out at first.

The Wang Clan has been based in the central region of Jiangnan for generations and is 10,000 miles away from Li Du, which takes several months to travel back and forth, plus the time spent in the Wang Clan adds up to almost a year.

But the Emperor’s considerations were not the same as those of the Empress.

Now that Song Xu Yi’s reputation in Hua Du is bad, it would be better to go to Jiang Nan to avoid the storm and come back when things settle down.

So even though Empress Wang was reluctant, Song Xu Yi set off for the south of the Yangtze River, thanks to her hard work and the Emperor’s tacit approval.

The country of Lishui has been in existence for nearly a century now and although the country seems to be strong, there is no peace in the country.

The clans held a monopoly on the economy and livelihood of the provinces. In the case of a facetious family such as Song Xu Yi’s grandfather Wang Mian’s, the people of the province were able to live and work in peace and contentment, but in the case of a mean-spirited family, the people living in the province were displaced and suffering, and many were forced to become roadblockers.

The Emperor was aware of this situation, and so were the clans led by the unexpected Lord Wang Mian of Song Xu, but if the Emperor were to take action against such a black-hearted clan, the balance would be upset and the clans, which had formed a united front, would rise up against him; and if Wang Mian were to take charge of the clans, it would be very easy for the Emperor to take advantage of the situation.

Therefore, both the Emperor and Wang Mian chose to ignore the oppression of the people by the clans for political reasons.

Because of the unpredictability of the journey, Empress Wang was extremely uneasy when Song Xu Yi was on her way and went to the extent of using her own private army to arrange a well-equipped escort for her.

With Empress Wang’s ties, Song Xu Yi took Nie Qian Yu with her on her way to Zhongzhou.

It was better when they first left Li Du, as the clans were still restrained by the proximity of Li Du, but after three or five days, the road began to gradually become obstructed, and hordes of ragged, muddy-eyed stragglers appeared on the road.

Song Xu Yi’s group was so large and powerful that they could not afford to mess with them. The stragglers did not dare to stand up to them and could only beg along the line in a pitiful manner, which Song Xu Yi knew would increase as the journey continued, but when she encountered old and young women and children, she could not resist giving some of the money and food.

The news soon spread, and before long, Song Xu Yi’s carriage was surrounded by more old and young women and children, and the wailing of the stragglers was so loud that it slowed down the carriage’s progress.

“Princess,” the General who was escorting Song Xu Yi was quite disturbed by this situation and stopped by Song Xu Yi’s carriage during one of the preparations to draw up their camp: “If we keep delaying like this, we might miss the birthday of the family head, should we kill a few peasants to make an example of them?”

This was a common perception in the world: in the eyes of the majority of the clan-born elites, stragglers were not considered people, but objects to be slaughtered at will without reprisal.

In this General’s opinion, Song Xu Yi’s almsgiving on this journey was just the kindness of this little Princess, who was the darling of thousands, but rumour had it that this little Princess did not have a good temper and had beaten and killed palace maids and eunuchs from time to time in the palace before, and having reached this point, he guessed that the little Princess was tired of this game of hypocrisy.

However, to the General’s surprise, the young Princess was not as furious as he thought she would be, she was sitting upright in the carriage looking at the map, and after hearing the General’s words, she lifted her head and bowed towards him in a coy and shameful manner: “I have been troubling General Wang for some time, it is my fault for not thinking carefully.”

“There is no need for us to hurt anyone’s life. As for the road after that,” Song Xu Yi handed the map to General Wang, the corners of her mouth pursed up, “perhaps we can take a detour by water and arrive directly at the Wenzhou ferry.”

Wenzhou is right by Zhongzhou, the home of the Wang family, and the two places are not far apart, so it would indeed be much faster to take the water route.

Originally, when General Wang planned the route, he also planned the water route, but Empress Wang rejected this proposal on the grounds that Song Xu Yi was too frail to take a ferry, and now that Song Xu Yi had taken the initiative to mention it, General Wang couldn’t help but glance at Song Xu Yi.

This Princess is actually adapting to the situation, she is not the same as her rumoured brutal and brainless image…

However, this thought had only just popped into his head when the young princess stood up and called for her maidservants to put on the curtain and get out of the carriage: “Let’s go and see Prince Nie! I haven’t seen him for a little over half a day…”

Song Xu Yi didn’t know what was going through General Wang’s mind about her, she had been in an extremely uncomfortable mood for some time and going to see Nie Qian Yu was just an excuse to get out of the carriage and get some air.

Nie Qian Yu’s carriage was just behind Song Xu Yi’s, and it was only a few steps away.

Nie Qian Yu was reading a book when Song Xu Yi lifted the curtain. He looked as quiet and calm as ever, as if he was trying to reduce his presence. When Song Xu Yi entered, two brightly coloured birds were hovering beside him, chattering and making noise, Song Xu Yi had no idea where these two birds had come from as the roots of the trees around the area had been dug up by stragglers during the recent famine.

The two birds seemed to be extremely humane, and when they saw Song Xu Yi coming, they didn’t avoid her like the previous ones around Nie Qian Yu, and one of them even rested on Song Xu Yi’s shoulder.

Nie Qian Yu handed Song Xu Yi a cup of tea and glanced at the little bird on Song Xu Yi’s shoulder.

Song Xu Yi had just turned her head to tease the bird when it fluttered away from her shoulder…

Song Xu Yi sighed regretfully, took the tea from Nie Qian Yu’s hand, and began to instil the same concept of “benevolence and love” with Nie Qian Yu as usual.

“How does Prince Nie feel when he looks at these stragglers these days?” Song Xu Yi looked at the young villain opposite her, perhaps because he was too young for her to be wary, and some of her thoughts came out unconsciously, “I feel terrible in my heart. These stragglers are so pitiful. I have been fed by their taxes, yet I can do nothing to help them now…”

“The Princess is above all, why should you worry about a group of people who are less than… grass? It is an honour for them to provide for the royal family…”

For the first time, Nie Qian Yu, who had never expressed an opinion, took Song Xu Yi’s words, he looked up at Song Xu Yi, his gaze as gentle as ever, but the words that came out were extremely cold: “Not only the Lishui Empire, but also the whole world is like this. My father, for example, deliberately cut open the stomachs of several women in labour because he had a bet with his favourite concubine, and my… mother, who believed in partial prescriptions to obtain a son, sacrificed the blood of hundreds of people…”

“You see, all the world is like this, everything is predestined.”

Song Xu Yi didn’t expect the palace of the Wu Empire to be so bloody and decadent, even the Emperor had such a disregard for human life, no wonder their power had declined so quickly!

And yet…

“Just because everyone is doing it and taking it for granted doesn’t mean that it’s all right.”

Song Xu Yi took a sip of the tea Nie Qian Yu handed over and looked at Nie Qian Yu seriously, bent on correcting Nie Qian Yu’s three views that seemed to have been tainted by Emperor Wu’s palace: “It’s the world that’s wrong!”

“We are all born and raised by our parents, there should never be a distinction between the so-called noble and the inferior.”

“More than the so-called birth and family, I believe that man will prevail over heaven.” Song Xu Yi said to herself, and gradually clarified her future path, fighting with a twelve-point spirit, looking at Nie Qian Yu with eyes that grew brighter: “Prince Nie, after all, you have nothing to do in Lishui Empire, perhaps we can work together and try to improve the lives of these stragglers…”

Song Xu Yi was deliberately pulling Nie Qian Yu into the water.

Nie Qian Yu was still young, he had stayed out of things because he didn’t feel involved in everything, but when he got involved himself, whether he was willing or not, he had put his energy into it, and later on, if he still had those thoughts of bloodshed in the Lishui Empire in his head, he would think of these efforts and weigh them up a little more.

However, Nie Qian Yu avoided Song Xu Yi’s gaze.

He reverted back to the cautious, out-of-the-way Prince of Wu, hanging his head and speaking softly, his voice flat and emotionless: “As you command, Princess.”

Song Xu Yi had never expected Nie Qian Yu to willingly join her in her plans, nor was she shocked by Nie Qian Yu’s attitude, as she sat quietly and began to plan her future path: although she might not be able to turn this suffocating world upside down, she could do her best to give the suffering people of this world more room to survive…

Song Xu Yi didn’t stay long afterwards before saying goodbye to Nie Qian Yu.

She was so intent on writing down her thoughts that she didn’t notice Nie Qian Yu’s scrutinising gaze as he looked at her back.

Almost as soon as Song Xu Yi left, the two birds that had flown away flew back to Nie Qian Yu’s shoulders and began to chirp.

“Not a bad person?”

Nie Qian Yu inclined his head, his expression changing from his previous icy coldness, the corners of his lips taking on a few moments of obvious mockery: “A stupid princess raised by gold and jade, how many days can her plan last?”

The little bird chirped again.

“I like looking at her?”

Nie Qian Yu’s eyes grew colder. Nie Qian Yu slowly poured a drop of water into his hand, and the next moment, the water droplet hit the fleeing bird’s head with a not-so-gentle force.

The bird cried out and fled even further away!

The surroundings were quiet again.

Nie Qian Yu hung his head and tried to continue reading, yet he couldn’t get into it, and Song Xu Yi’s childish but determined face kept appearing in his mind, along with those bright, seemingly ever-vibrant eyes.

The messenger bird had been right.

Nie Qian Yu pursed his lips, he probably liked watching her!

The golden little princess had never suffered any hardships, so she still had some unrealistic fantasies, and he had to admit that she had a beautiful, sun-like light in her eyes every time she poured out those bullshit ‘benevolent’ truths and talked about what she wanted to do.

And because of that, it wasn’t hard to spend time with the little princess.

And Nie Qian Yu had been looking forward to that…

Thinking of what he had heard from the birds, Nie Qian Yu curled his lips maliciously.

How much longer could the light in the little princess’s eyes last?