The Xiyue soldiers surrounding the camp promptly stepped aside, parting for Qin Yining just as the sea once did for Moses.
Zhou Meng's dark eyes looked deeply at Qin Yining, barely able to conceal the anticipation blazing in his eyes. After clearing his throat, he announced in a hoarse voice, "Let us be off."
Qin Yining nodded and followed behind him. After they left, the Xiyue troops reassembled around the tribe instead of standing down.
Chapter 540.2: Asking For Her Hand (III)
Worried, Harbhara muttered, "What should we do? Clearly, they're forcing Chief Qin to go against her will."
"If we can’t outwit them, all we can do is attack them in a full-frontal assault." replied Lu Heng. "However, she won’t allow that. Just yesterday she said she wouldn’t let anyone lose their lives for no reason."
Harbhara and Caganbhara were deeply moved, but also felt guilty. Having weathered numerous storms together, they trusted each other with their lives. Not only did Qin Yining refuse to abandon them at a critical moment, but she’d even conquered the no-man's land of the desert with them. And now, she was entertaining that old man's empty gestures of goodwill for their sake!
While Lu Heng and the tribe floundered in worries, Qin Yining's horse-drawn carriage was ‘escorted’ to the courtyard outside the palace gates by Zhou Meng's soldiers.
Through the gaps between the curtains, she was surprised to see a sizable crowd of Xiyue citizens gathered in the yard. People both young and old chattered enthusiastically amongst themselves and strained their necks to peek at the approaching line of soldiers.
"Long live the prince! Long live the prince!" Upon seeing Zhou Meng atop his horse, everyone knelt in a gesture of greeting.
Zhou Meng was deeply pleased; as the supreme lord of Xiyue, there was nothing that could escape his grasp. Whatever he wanted, he would get. Brimming with confidence, he looked at the carriage carrying the goddess.
They slowed to a stop once the carriage arrived at the gates. Surnaa and Ulan stepped forth to help Qin Yining alight while Uncle Alham stood by with a somber look.
As soon as she stepped off from the vehicle, Zhou Meng swiftly dismounted and strode commandingly toward her. To the citizens gathered behind him, he announced, "This is the goddess of our Xiyue legends, the goddess who shall bring us supplies and hope!"
Though night had fallen, the courtyard was lit as bright as day. The people were greeted with the sight of a slim yet curvaceous lady cloaked in red. Though half of her face was under her hood, there was no concealing the refined aura emanating from her being.
They were already aware that the goddess had come to Xiyue bearing provisions. Hearing their prince announce her arrival thusly, the gathered citizens’ only reaction was to cheer with delight.
"Long live the goddess! Long live the goddess!"
Their cheers roared as loudly as the sea, resounding with an intensity that surpassed even their greeting to Zhou Meng. It was clear how highly revered the goddess of the Xiyue legends was by the people, as well as how much they desired the provisions.
Even Uncle Alham's brow broke out in a cold sweat at such a reception, while Surnaa and Ulan's faces went white from shock. After a moment of hesitation, Qin Yining removed her hood from her head.
Back in Great Yan, she had once declined to become a part of Yuchi Yan's imperial harem. Having thus incurred his wrath, he bestowed upon her the title of Spiritual Master Xuan Su and assigned her to a royal estate, along with a hundred other actual nuns.
She’d also once become the ‘holy girl who safeguarded the country’s fortunes’ to escape the oppression of the trash emperor and trampress, a title which then inspired the suffering citizens of Great Yan to flood into the estate for aid and succor. That scene had been considerably bigger than the one now before her.
Thus, Qin Yining wasn’t intimidated in the slightest. She adopted a certain aura of mystery and nobility; even the way she walked and held herself was different from usual.
She tilted her chin slightly upwards and addressed the crowd in an aloof, yet gentle manner. "This goddess wishes the people of Xiyue prosperity and peace. May the lands of Xiyue be plagued by famine no longer!"
Upon freezing from the shock of a direct address, the crowd immediately dropped to their knees and frantically cheered wildly. "Long live the goddess! Long live Xiyue! Long live the prince!"
Uncle Alham, Surnaa and Ulan found themselves utterly dumbstruck by the sudden shift in her bearing.
Zhou Meng stared at her silhouette from behind, mixed emotions he couldn't quite put into words stirring inside. Perhaps her beauty had blinded him into only seeing her as a beautiful face to possess. Now seeing her address such a large crowd without any fear or weakness and putting forth the due bearing of a goddess, winning over the people with a single concise statement… well, it left a very sour aftertaste in his mouth.
He was the true master of this land, but it seemed as if the people revered the goddess even more than they honored him!
Pursing his lips, Zhou Meng called Qin Yining away and led them all to the main hall. As they moved away, the crashing waves of the citizens' cheers continued.
Inside the main hall was a long table with seat cushions and smaller tables on either side. Dozens of court officials and their families were already kneeling beside the table to greet the prince.
Qin Yining was seated right next to the prince, while Uncle Alham and her two maids stood behind her. The final thing she noticed was that Zhou Meng had more than twenty guards subtly encircle half of the room, surrounding her and Zhou Meng.
The banquet began in the midst of court officials curiously sizing her up. Though it was supposedly a party, Xiyue admittedly didn’t have much to offer in terms of cuisine as they didn’t grow a wide variety of food here. Qin Yining took only a few cursory bites and thrice declined a toast from Zhou Meng.
"I have received the prince's good intentions, but am truly unwell. What’s more, I cannot hold my liquor."
Chapter 541: Asking For Her Hand (IV)
Multiple rejections in a row highly displeased Zhou Meng. The two officials sitting beside him were very familiar with his temperament and could tell that their prince was on the verge of flying into a rage.
In Xiyue, his word was law, especially when it came to women. No woman in the oasis would ever reject becoming his. Hence, Qin Yining’s repeated refusals build his mounting frustration. He’d wanted to be charming and gently woo her, but continual failure had completely sapped his patience. An abrupt return to his overweening, tyrannical ways was in order.
“Fine then, forget it since you don’t want to drink or eat. This prince invited you to this banquet tonight as there is a matter to be explained to you in front of all of the officials.”
The hall stilled into utter silence when his voice rang out. Fully aware of the situation, families of the court officials tactfully withdrew, leaving only Zhou Meng and a dozen or so officials in addition to Qin Yining and the three people she’d brought.
Meanwhile, Zhou Meng’s two dozen soldiers placed their hands on their sword hilts, spreading themselves out in a semicircle around Qin Yining and ready to spring into action at any time.
Her bright eyes scanned the room before she smiled. “Pray tell, Your Grace.”
“Your arrival was just as described in our sacred texts, so everyone truly believes you are the ‘goddess’ who can bring us food and a plentiful harvest.” Zhou Meng didn’t beat around the bush. “I don’t refute that notion, but there’s no denying that for some explicable reason, you and your tribesmen were chased into this no man’s land. This is a truth that no one can deny, am I right?”
“The truth is whatever you choose it to be.” Qin Yining only chuckled softly.
“Then I will be frank. Our tribe has occupied this land for a hundred years and we have always worried that the oasis’ resources are finite. Sooner or later, we will consume all of what this land has to offer. Because of that, we’
ve always been searching for a way out.
“We’ve been at it for a hundred years to no avail, so what are your chances when you’ve just arrived? So, I’ll say something that probably no one wants to hear: I’m afraid that you and your tribesmen will never leave.”
Qin Yining’s heart pounded fiercely; she knew that Zhou Meng was speaking the truth. When they’d been harried into this no man’s land by the Tatars, she’d already known that it was highly unlikely that she’d ever be able to leave or see her family again. But although she understood that, it was still different when someone actually said it aloud.
She’d been numbing herself to the future. Ever since waking up from her feverish delirium, she’d forced herself not to think about things, to just take each day one at a time.
Zhou Meng had callously thrown back the curtains for the harsh rays of truth to pierce into her heart. The despair that she’d kept carefully under wraps rushed out uncontrollably like the tides. It was as if she’d suddenly been tossed into the frigid ocean. The freezing chill around her and feeling of drowning suffocation made it seem better to just die.
However wracked with pain and suffering, she didn’t reveal any of it. She would never give them any leverage they could use.
Her only outward reaction a slight smile, Qin Yining rebutted, “Your Grace’s analysis is only one side of the story. Just because you can’t doesn’t necessarily mean that we can’t.”
“Stop trying to act calm, no one here’s an idiot.” Zhou Meng gave a short, mocking laugh. “You won’t be able to leave this patch of desert!”
He rose and strode down the stairs before turning around, his long robes flourishing open behind him as he spread his arms wide.
“You say you can walk out of the desert? If you can, why would you have aimlessly run here? Let me tell you something, this desolate place claims at least a dozen of our tribespeople every year! Those who are lucky enough to return say that the landforms outside change in the blink of an eye. Flat land one moment and sandy dunes the next!
“The environment is hellish and capricious. Sandstorms whip up at the drop of a hat, turning the world into such a blur that not even the color of the sky can be seen! The wind will force you to shut your eyes tightly and when you reopen them, you won’t be able to tell which direction you came from. There is no such thing as orientation or a sense of direction!
“You’ll have no food, no water, and no direction! All you’ll have is an aimless wander in a vile environment. Are you afraid yet? You’ve already experienced it once and nearly lost your life, but now you have the courage to boast you can leave the desert? How truly admirable, ahaha!”
Qin Yining knew that everything Zhou Meng said was true. Yet still the expression on her face didn’t change, and her cape hid how her hands clenched into fists so tight that fingernails dug into skin to form crescent-shaped marks.
It was because she knew this odious prince was speaking the truth that each and every sentence stabbed into the heart. What she’d said about leaving the desert was indeed a boast, an attempt to raise her own spirits.
She just couldn’t believe that she would be forever separated from her family like this, forced to spend the rest of her life in an oasis isolated from the rest of the world.
When Zhou Meng saw Qin Yining remain as indifferent as before, completely unmoved, he launched into his next spiel.
“You are their chief, so you are responsible for their wellbeing. Since you can’t leave, you are foreordained to stay here for a lifetime. Why not consider my proposal from earlier?
“The best way to connect two tribes is through marriage. The only way to have my tribesmen accept yours and share the desert’s resources is by us marrying first. You won’t disregard your tribesmen’s lives just for your own selfishness, will you?”
Upon saying that, Zhou Meng threw a meaningful look at the soldiers behind Qin Yining. The twelve immediately unsheathed their sharp swords and struck a stance, ready to fight.
Ulan and Surnaa cried out in fear, but dashed in front of Qin Yining to shield their chief. Uncle Alham’s stance was even more clear as he prepared to wrest a weapon for himself by force. His own had been confiscated when they entered the palace.
“You’d best agree right now. Otherwise, my soldiers will raid your tribe’s camp and the three by your side will be killed.” Zhou Meng struck a pose with his hands behind his back, loftily looking down at Qin Yining.
A frosty gaze boring into her from the side, Qin Yining turned calm in the face of a crazed Zhou Meng.
“So Your Grace means for me to marry you?” Her voice was soft and gentle, a complete contrast to the tense, hostile state of the palace hall.
Zhou Meng’s face lit up as he nodded. “Precisely. If you marry me and become my princess consort, your tribespeople will further intermarry with mine and our two tribes will fuse into one. We will live and thrive in the oasis together while searching for a way out. This way, we will no longer have to guard against one another and can jointly share the resources. Even if we can’t leave, the supplies you brought are enough to continue farming and become self-sufficient. That would be just as well!”
If Qin Yining wasn’t already married and didn’t love Pang Xiao, such an arrangement would indeed be the best way to maximize mutual gain. It wouldn’t be displeasing to her either, because she used to hold the notion that marriage was something arranged by the parents and matchmaker.
It was commonplace to not know if one’s husband was a hero or an idiot before the wedding day. If one ended up marrying a brute, that was just bad luck. That was why she’d never really cared about who she was going to marry.
But the problem now was that she had someone in her heart. No proper woman would serve two men, so how could she just marry somebody else?
Refraining from an immediate reply, she asked, “Your Grace makes sense, but you already have four consorts. Your sacred texts say that the ‘goddess’ is to be the princess consort. Shouldn’t that mean being the official wife?”
Zhou Meng was delighted to see that she was actually considering it. “That’s easy! If you agree to marry me, I don’t want any of them! I’ll drive those four and all of the concubines out, how about that?”
The officials in the hall drew in a sharp breath. They hadn’t expected the prince to go so far just for a woman! He was going to disband the royal harem for her!
Goosebumps rose on Qin Yining’s skin when she noted Zhou Meng’s ardent stare; she forced the disgust off her face with great effort.
Zhou Meng sneered when the woman remained silent.
“You can refuse, but let me go one step further with the truth. Your tribe’s camp is already surrounded and I’ve arranged for an ambush. I’m also ready with large quantities of oil to burn it all to the ground! Why else do you think I selected the most desolate campsite for you?
“I will call it off if you agree to my proposal. If you don’t agree, I will make your tribe pay the price. I’ve never run into any trouble in my life and always get whatever I want! There’s no need for me to continuously bow my head and fawn over you. I’d rather forgo those supplies of yours and rather that none of you ever appeared!
As he said that, Zhou Meng took a few steps forward and placed his hands on the table in front of Qin Yining to lean forward. “Try it if you don’t believe me!”
The soldiers behind Qin Yining also brandished their swords, nearly stabbing into Ulan and Surnaa.
Large beads of anxious sweat rolled down Uncle Alham’s face as he shouted angrily, “You bastards! I’ve never seen a man so shameless as to threaten a woman to marry him!”
“You’d better keep that mouth of yours clean! All of your lives are in my hands!”
Mouth open for another retort, Uncle Alham’s words were cut off when Qin Yining made a calming gesture. She was analyzing the present situation.
Zhou Meng was mercurial and accustomed to being overbearing and arrogant. He was certainly used to everyone fa
lling in line and the world catering to his whims. He was the center of his world, and from the two days she’d known him, he was the type to dig in his heels for a moment’s petulance and care not a whit for the bigger picture.
In order words, he really would kill numerous people and burn down all of the supplies to obtain her. Even if it would make the people suffer, he would still be the grand and stately prince. As long as he could go through his days happily, he wouldn’t care if anyone else lived or died.
Chapter 542: Dashing Grace
The tension in the air was so thick that one could cut it with a knife. Qin Yining couldn’t help a frown; it would seem that Zhou Meng was well and truly stirred up this time.
If she tried to oppose him now, the two groups would immediately break out into open hostilities. Disregarding how their chances of success weren’t nonexistent if Lu Heng led a stubborn defense, what if the common people of Xiyue suddenly decided to make a move on the supplies? What then?
If that happened, the Minuo wouldn’t be facing just a thousand soldiers, they’d face the entire insatiable Xiyue tribe! The consequences would be unthinkable. Furthermore, it was impossible for Uncle Alham to protect the four of them here into a safe retreat.
If she resisted, regardless of how Lu Heng’s side fared, the small group here tonight would be in dire straits. At the same time, it would be the precursor to a massacre and a raid on the Minuo.
If she agreed, no matter how she truly felt, at least the innocent Minuo would be safe.
At this point, Qin Yining was ready to make her decision. She could see that Zhou Meng wanted her more than the supplies. Could she really throw away the tribe’s lives for herself?
She shut her eyes. When she opened them again, they were filled with resolve and determination.
“I understand Your Grace’s intentions. However, marriage is a momentous event and Your Grace forcing me to make a decision on the spot is simply too much. You must give me some time to think it over.”
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