C23

When I first met her, she was still a girl. At Aroma Swallowing City's slave market, she was my big brother's playground. Although I don't like her, I really couldn't do anything to him. Originally, he didn't want to go. There was a saying among the phoenixes: "The blind will not see".

But Ge Ya kept on making a ruckus to join in on the fun. This half-sister had never seen her mother before in her life. She was brought up by an old lady and lived in the fallen King Xiao's Palace. She was so lonely that she didn't have many friends. She and I had always been very close, and at least I had the open and unreasonable children in front of me. Maybe it was because I spoiled her so much that I couldn't do anything to her, so I promised to go and visit her before coming back.

The slave trade has always been a very normal thing in the West Cold, so there's nothing strange about it. I also have a lot of them in the palace, but I always thought that it was unintentional on their part as well as their servants. What was even more hateful was that most of them had come from the common people, and some of them had even come from the Great Phoenix captivity. If they wanted to resist, they would be drugged and dragged out for business.

I knew that my brother had always been ruthless, but I didn't know that he would actually be able to get involved in such a terrible business.

Those who looked pretty or had a strong body were naturally ranked at the front, and the price was even more expensive, until at the end of the sale, most of the children were scrawny and weak, this is the first time I saw Zhuang Li. She was very small, and her body was lifted above her head by the big man. She was splashed with water in her coma, and her wet hair was stuck to her face. She couldn't see her face, so when she called out a price halfway, she moved a little, as if she was trying to struggle free from the faint state she was in after using medicine.

The corner of her mouth twitched as if she was saying something. Ge Ya also noticed her and started to bid.

Suddenly, she opened her eyes and struggled to free herself from the hands of the burly man who was holding her and fell to the ground. I couldn't tell what happened from that fall, so I quickly headed in the direction she fell, but that burly man had already kicked her and then grabbed her neck and lifted her up.

There were too many people, so I was trapped in a pile of people. I could only rely on my lightness skills to fly over the heads of those people and finally wrapped the whip around the big man's arm the moment he raised his hand to land on her.

I heaved a sigh of relief, followed by Ge Ya who also squeezed over.

Later on, I found out that her name was Zhuang Li.

She was brought to the King Xiao's Palace by Ge Ya. I think this arrangement is also good, as there are many men in my palace, so it's not convenient at all. In the end, there are still some pretty good maids by Ge Ya's side …

In the beginning, she could not be considered to be cheerful. Compared to Ge Ya who was around her age, she seemed to be very old. She didn't seem like a teenage kid. Finally, after a long time, she let out a breath of relief and started to make trouble for Ge Ya. She followed Ge Ya and called me Big Brother Xi Cuo. Honestly speaking, she wasn't that beautiful, but from start to finish, I felt that those eyes were exceptionally clear, as if they were the early spring sunshine.

She learns West Cold very quickly and her figure is very fast as well, but I became very strange as I kept thinking about her. It was as if she came from another world and I had to do my best to protect her from harm in this world, at least in the land of West Cold. And the other world I'm talking about doesn't seem to be the Great Phoenix.

I knew she came from the Great Phoenix, and yet she was different from all the Great Phoenix people I knew. She was sometimes strong and brave as a warrior on the prairie, and sometimes she was like a lady of a great family as the Great Phoenix called her.

My father taught me more and more things, and my elder brother doted on my elder brother a lot. Although my elder brother's ability to lead soldiers to war was far stronger than mine, my father had begun to let me learn more about politics, allowing me to be in charge of the interactions between West Cold and other surrounding countries.

I travelled to various cities and traveled to distant countries to visit them, bringing their wishes and gifts to the father. They also paid their respects to the loyal subjects and their gifts in return. After a long time, some people began to propose marriage to the father, hoping to betroth their country's cities and daughters to me.

My first reaction was actually to think of Zhuang Li, afraid that she would know. Why should I be afraid of her knowing? It suddenly dawned on me at that time

I like her. And I care if she likes me.

Of course, the result was that she didn't like it …

So, no matter how many people mentioned my marriage to father, he would always ask about it. I'll hoodwink them all. In my subconscious, my wangfei should be the little Zhuang Li in the King Xiao's Palace.

The Jingshui nanny said that when the Great Phoenix marries, she would cover the bride's head with a red cloth and sit properly there, waiting for her beloved to pick up the red cloth with her weighing rod.

I have thought countless of it. If Zhuang Li marries someone, the man who used a scale to pick up the red cloth on her head will definitely be me.

But she's too young, she doesn't know what it means to like. She's still a child, and only knows how old she is to mess around with Ge Ya, how could she possibly expect her to like me?

I, Xi Cuo, have always been a patient person. Although I am not able to become the Sovereign King, I can still let her live a happy life. I feel like I have a lifetime to spend with her.

And over the years, she had grown even more beautiful from a little girl.

The first person who knows about this secret is naturally Ge Ya. My sister is a ghost, so it's naturally not easy to hide it from her. I had vaguely sensed that she already had someone I liked. I had already grown up as a child, so even father couldn't control me.

It was just that Zhuang Li, even Ge Ya had someone that she liked. What about you?

She was still light, and she even avoided me a little. Perhaps it was because as she grew older she felt more and more awkward with me, but at the same time it also meant that she didn't like me.

At the annual banquet of West Cold, father's birthday and the time for the envoys of the various nations to come and pay their respects had arrived. At this time, they prepared a grand national banquet, which was a little drunk, and seeing her smiling and chatting merrily, with charming and graceful words, she grew up, becoming even more capable, she always had many thoughts, and was busy taking care of Ge Ya, and also Qing You. Although she was her servant, she treated her as if she was her own little sister.

In my heart, it seems that she hasn't grown up at all. She is still the same as back then, a child who needs my protection. The weak ones have an incomparably strong heart, and I definitely won't let her suffer even a little bit.

The huge matter of forcing the palace was truly strange. After all, it was obvious that no one was fighting him for the throne, so I couldn't figure it out, and at the moment I was furious. When I followed Old Third out to guard the capital, my mind was filled with thoughts of Zhuang Li at the palace. If she is safe, why can't I use my flesh and blood to block my brother's cold arrow outside the palace?

Suddenly she took my hand and tried to say something, but she couldn't seem to speak. What was different from usual was the anxiety on my face. Although it didn't mean that I liked it, it had already moved me to the extreme.

I was extremely surprised at my brother's death. Even though I wasn't close with him, I was, after all, still a blood brother. Even though he hadn't been close with me since I was young, he was strict and even a little harsh. But in the end, it was my brother who did it. She didn't want to see him end up like this.

The weirdest thing was that although the Yun Feng Cavalry were valiant and tenacious, I was unable to stop them for a few times. The weirdest thing was that I did not manage to find my big brother among the rebel soldiers.

Yet, he received news from the Old Third that he had been shot to death by an arrow.

Afterwards I sent someone to examine my brother's body. It was exactly as Old Third had said. Big Brother did indeed die when I was fighting with Yun Feng.

father was very sad about this. He seemed to have aged more than ten years in a single night. He closed his eyes and sat on the throne, which made me feel lonely. I knew that he had many things in his life that he wanted his brother to do. This may be something Third Brother and I will never be able to do.

And now his desolation began to make me feel his heartache.

He took my hand and looked at me for a long, long time. Although someone said that he wanted to hand over the West Cold to me, he didn't say anything.

I never thought of being king one day. "I don't have much ambition to become a king. I only think that with my persistence and dedicated support, I might be able to make life better for the people of Xiliang.

Happy New Year, Happy New Year...

In the first snowfall of this year, West Cold delivered a message to me.

Fighting for power is not my business, father has always liked me and doted on Big Brother. He likes me because I'm steady and calm, and pampered big brother because of the special characteristics he possesses. It just so happens that this is father's request to the Sovereign King and the future of West Cold.

The Old Third had his servants bring me two horses. They are a rare good horse of the Da Yue family, and are known to have good legs. He probably already guessed that the father was going to send me to the border.

Old Third had always been attached to Big Brother since young. He was the clearest about everything regarding Big Brother. Even though he was always subservient to Big Brother, his thoughts were not as simple as one or two. I had never believed that he would not know whether my brother had made a decision or not. Not only did he know this, he must have been the most important of them all. Before he had revealed himself, I could do nothing but be wary of him.

Ge Ya has gone to the palace, and Zhuang Li has instead come to send me off. It doesn't matter if she is's replacement or not, since she has come, I can look at her properly. This year's winter is especially cold, and what she said to me is still the same as usual, far from half of what she said to Ge Ya. It really wasn't that hard for me to get to the border.

The only difficult matter was probably the fact that he would not be able to see Zhuang Li for a very long time.