Ten days later, the envoys from Daqin arrived in Jingsheng again.
This time they brought the betrothal gifts of Emperor Wu of Qin, including gold, silver, jewels, goose jade, horse and silk, and countless antiques and rare books. When they went to Jingsheng Palace to betroth, the ten-mile red dress formed a wonderful sight.
At this time, Princess Jingxuan went to Tianlan as an envoy of Jingsheng, to congratulate Empress Tianlan on her accession to the throne and to discuss border trade issues between the two countries.
On the way, they received information from Kyoto, and their subordinates described to Mu Lin the grand scene of the marriage proposal in vivid detail. She did not comment and did not say much.
Ever since agreeing to Emperor Qin Wu, Mu Lin has been in a state of indifference, thinking that he can do whatever he wants.
The journey was smooth. Tianlan Regent Xiao Muyun would personally welcome Princess Jingxuan at the border, adding a lot of ambiguity to Princess Jingxuan's mission.
Over the past month, the news of this marriage dispute has spread all over the country, and Princess Jingxuan's reputation as a stunning beauty has spread throughout the world.
Everyone knows that Emperor Qin and Prince Tianlan proposed to Princess Jingxuan at the same time, and the beautiful princess finally chose Qin. The poor regent returned home sadly after losing his beloved, but he remained loyal and declined the empress's arranged marriage.
Unexpectedly, the rejected Princess of the Southern Region turned her love into hatred and dared to assassinate the Empress! At the critical moment, the Regent spilled the poisoned wine, saved the Empress' life, and threw the Princess of the Southern Region into the Sky Prison.
The new King of the Southern Territory, Kuza'an, immediately wrote a letter to apologize, trying his best to distance the Southern Territory from the matter, and publicly announced the abolition of Ni Ke's status as a princess, requesting Tian Lan to deal with her severely.
The Empress and the Regent were broad-minded. Instead of blaming the Southern Territory for its mistakes, they comforted them with gentle words, which deeply moved Kuzaan.
Leaning against the carriage, Mu Lin just smiled after hearing this.
She underestimated Xiao Muyun. A cup of poisoned wine killed three birds with one stone. Not only did it shock the empress, making her speechless and unable to speak out her bitterness, but it also forced her to renege on the imperial decree issued earlier and personally deal with Ni Ke. At the same time, she used both kindness and force to completely conquer the Southern Region.
Mu Lin believed that the thirteen-year-old empress would remain quiet for a long time. When she was still immature, lying dormant was the best way to preserve her life and accumulate strength.
At the same time, Mu Lin was able to get a glimpse of the situation in Tianlan - Xiao Muyun was a man of his own in Tianlan. If it weren't for the Queen and Emperor Qin Wu joining forces to take advantage of his absence, he wouldn't have been forced into this situation.
Unfortunately, he made a wrong move and lost everything. Mu Lin smiled self-deprecatingly.
After leaving the Jingsheng border, the envoys walked for about an hour and arrived at Mingri Pass on the border of Tianlan. The carriage suddenly stopped, but the surroundings were very quiet. Mu Lin seemed to have sensed something and lifted the curtain, meeting the eyes of the man in crimson clothes not far away.
Under the gray sky, the man looked in her direction from afar, his wide crimson sleeves swaying in the wind, warm and deep.
Day after day, she deliberately avoided him and thought that the pain had been diluted. But now, staring at him motionlessly, she felt like she was on the verge of suffocation. Mu Lin pressed her chest unconsciously, as if she was hit by a meteor hammer. The dull pain that tore her heart apart spread for a long time.
Mu Lin was helped out of the carriage by Linglan. She stood there as if frozen, watching him approach step by step.
There were too many complexities suppressed in Xiao Muyun's pair of black eyes. Mu Lin felt suffocated even more when he was stared at by him. His eyes and nose were sore, and his throat was so sore that he couldn't speak.
So this is what it feels like to lose a loved one.
The man who was so close to me could no longer be touched. After giving up, being too close to him was an act of usurpation.
"Princess... are you okay?" Xiao Muyun stopped about ten feet away from them.
It starts from emotion and ends with etiquette.
Mu Lin nodded slightly and asked, "Where is the prince?"
"Not good." Xiao Muyun said without hesitation.
"… "
"Princess, you must have traveled a long way. The post station in Qingyang Town has already been prepared. Please go there..."
Mu Lin nodded. Even though he had a thousand words to say, he couldn't express a single word.
Although the posthouse in the border town was simple, it was not shabby. It was obviously carefully cleaned and not only was it very clean, but it was also very comfortably furnished.
Every blade of grass, every table and every chair are all arranged according to her preferences, which shows the care put into the arrangement.
Mu Lin walked around the inn, feeling more and more uncomfortable. The moment she saw Xiao Muyun coming in, she wanted to throw herself into his arms and sniff the familiar scent on him.
But now she is Emperor Wu of Qin's fiancée, she can't do that.
Xiao Muyun also adjusted his mood a little and arranged everything carefully and appropriately.
"Feel sorry."
Mu Lin placed the jade token on the table.
Xiao Muyun lowered his eyes and looked at the well-preserved jade, and whispered, "Elope?"
Mu Lin shook his head: "Emperor Qin Wu is a madman."
She ran away. No matter whether he could find evidence or not, as long as he got angry, the world would be in chaos.
"Lin'er, you can't be cautious all your life."
"Eight years. He agreed to set me free after eight years. By then... are you willing to wait for me?"
Mu Lin looked away uncomfortably, feeling extremely shameless.
Why should a married woman let another man remain chaste for her for eight years
"Do you believe him?"
"He will definitely keep his promise... But maybe I will give him a ride." Mu Lin said softly.
After eight years of living together, her influence is bound to penetrate him, and she will consider taking action against him.
"What if there is blood relationship between you?" Xiao Muyun's words hit the nail on the head.
When you are connected with him by blood, would you be willing to give up everything
Mu Lin thought about it and said seriously: "Unless it is necessary, I will not breed blood. Even if there is, I will leave."
This is the heartless truth and also a promise to Xiao Muyun.
After hearing her perfect reply, Xiao Muyun had a very complicated expression. Mu Lin thought he would not say anything, but after a long while, he suddenly said, "Lin'er, you don't really care, do you?"
"You don't care about the continuation of your bloodline, or who the other end of your marriage is, or even me..."
Mu Lin's hand holding the teacup paused in mid-air. She was obviously stunned for a moment. "Do you think I'm cold-blooded?"
Hearing this, she suddenly felt a little chilled.
It turned out that in his eyes, she was a cold-hearted person who looked at everything without warmth.
"No, you just ignored it." Xiao Muyun's voice suppressed his emotions.
Mu Lin knocked the teacup on the table lightly and said in a cold voice: "Xiao Muyun, anyone can think of me like this, but you can't."
"You and I have both been plotted against. Even if we try our best, we are still powerless to change the situation. You can maintain the status quo and remain free, or you can enjoy the happiness of having a beautiful wife and concubines. It's up to you! But I am forced to leave my hometown and live with the enemy who tore us apart. I am suffering day and night. Should I be indifferent? What should I do when I can't change the facts? Should I cry, make a scene, or even hang myself?"
Since this fact cannot be changed, we can only go with the flow and take it slow. Mu Lin thought about it for days and nights, and came all the way here to find him, and told him all his future plans. The two of them could not cross the line of etiquette, and did not say a word of comfort, but ended up with the evaluation of "indifferent"...
Mu Lin was really wronged.
Xiao Muyun took a deep breath, "Lin'er, that's not what I meant. I just can't feel that you care about me." His eyes became extremely dim.
He heard her cold analysis but didn't get even a trace of warmth from her. He felt aggrieved, very aggrieved.
Mu Lin was so emotional that he didn't feel that Xiao Muyun was showing weakness at all. He asked softly, "You care about me, so you proposed to elope? Do you think you are great enough to abandon everything?"
Every word was as sharp as a blade, cutting Xiao Muyun's chest, cutting it to pieces until blood was dripping. As the man, Xiao Muyun had no intention of continuing to argue with her even though he was hurt by the stab. Instead, he said calmly: "Lin'er, I think you need to calm down."
Mu Lin sneered: "I am very calm, otherwise the tea in the cup would be spilled on you. You need to calm down, Linglan, show me out!"
Xiao Muyun turned away.
Both of them were very angry with each other.
Mu Lin rarely got angry at Xiao Muyun, and she was filled with resentment. She knew she owed him a promise, so she tried every way to make up for it. Not only did he not appreciate it, he also called her cold-blooded!
She was forced into marriage by Emperor Qin Wu, threatening the people of the world. Forced marriage! Was she willing to marry? No, absolutely not! If she were in the fairy world, she would have refused the marriage long ago. But in order to maintain the order of the mortal world, she had no choice but to suffer.
Instead of being understood and comforted, he was accused of being cold-blooded and indifferent. Mu Lin was very disappointed and sad.
Xiao Muyun's mood was not much better than hers. He Tan was lured away from his hometown, and his fiancée was remarried in an instant... It was a bolt from the blue, a heart-wrenching pain, and her letter was so simple and cold. As soon as she arrived, she returned the token of love, rejected his proposal to elope, and criticized his intentions.
In his opinion, her planning and promises were just routine comforts, without any care or attachment. Xiao Muyun suspected that her feelings for him were so shallow, not as deep as his.
The problems in their relationship were exposed for the first time. They were both trying to solve the problems and find solutions in their own way, but they didn't take the other person's feelings into consideration.
After staying at the post station for one night, Mu Lin set off for the Tianlan Imperial Capital, Yueyang City.
From beginning to end, she did not say a word to Xiao Muyun, and Xiao Muyun did the same. The people accompanying her felt that the atmosphere recently was very tense and depressing, and even a little bit hot and humid.
No one dared to offend the two great gods, and they were trembling with fear every day and as quiet as a chicken. Finally, they made it to Yueyang City, where Mu Lin was placed in the Honglu Temple. After Xiao Muyun sent them there, he returned to the palace to report. The atmosphere became a little more normal, and everyone couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Unexpectedly, an hour later, Xiao Muyun came back again. The regent came to deliver a message.
"His Majesty summons the princess."