The night was deep and heavy, with flickering lamplight seeping through the tiled roofs and courtyard walls, casting a warm golden glow over the vast expanse of white snow. The howling wind echoed endlessly across the snow-covered night.
Yang Qian snapped back to reality and asked, "How does Your Highness distinguish those who are treacherous and faithless?"
Yaoying did not answer him immediately. Instead, she turned and boarded the carriage, settling into the compartment. With her delicate hand, she lifted the felt curtain and gestured for him to follow.
Before Yang Qian could react, Yuanjue’s expression shifted first.
Yaoying held the felt curtain aside, her eyes curving into a smile as she looked at Yang Qian and asked, "Are you afraid I might play a trick on you, Young Master Yang?"
Yang Qian glanced around and realized he was already surrounded. He let out a soft snort, straightened his chest, and strode confidently toward the carriage.
Princess Wenzhao was merely a delicate woman, while he was a proud son of the Yang family. If he hesitated out of fear, wouldn’t that make him a coward?
The carriage wheels crunched over the snow as they continued weaving through one deep, shadowy alley after another.
In the darkness, footsteps repeatedly caught up with the carriage. Several guards cloaked in white rushed back from different directions, presenting letters and scrolls of parchment.
Yuanjue received them and passed them into the carriage compartment.
A lantern hung inside the carriage. Yaoying unrolled the parchment and examined it carefully by the lamplight before handing it to Yang Qian, who sat opposite her.
Yang Qian had been shifting restlessly, adjusting his arms and stretching his long legs. The carriage was spacious enough to seat four people comfortably, but he was tall and robust. Mindful of propriety between men and women, he dared not sit too close to Yaoying. Unable to sit upright, he hunched his shoulders and curled his legs, pressing himself tightly against the carriage door.
His awkward posture robbed him of any imposing presence. When Yaoying handed him the parchment, he snorted again, took it, and began reading carefully.
Halfway through, Yang Qian’s face had already turned ashen. By the time he finished all the parchments, his face was purple with rage. His teeth gritted audibly, and his hands clenched into fists as he fumed, "These cowards! So afraid of death!"
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became, wishing he could tear the parchments to shreds.
The letters Yaoying had handed him were all tip-offs, each one reporting to the authorities that the Princess of Great Wei was currently in Gaochang.
"After all the trust Your Highness placed in them, risking danger to meet them secretly in Gaochang, they actually betrayed you!"
Yang Qian seethed with clenched teeth.
…
Some time earlier, a rumor had spread through the Royal Court: a Princess Wenzhao from the Central Plains had fallen in love with the Buddha Prince at first sight and vowed to marry no one else. The Buddha Prince, an enlightened monk detached from worldly affairs, naturally would not marry her. Undeterred, she pledged to emulate the Girl of Matanga, practicing Buddhist Dharma for the Buddha Prince in hopes of winning his favor.
At first, no one paid the rumor any mind.
The Buddha Prince was not only profoundly accomplished in Buddhist Dharma and compassionate, protecting the people under his care, but he also extended his benevolence to the citizens of other kingdoms, regardless of their status. On the northern routes of the Western Regions, merchants encountering bandits needed only to display the Buddha Prince’s banner to travel unhindered. Thus, he was deeply revered by the people of various kingdoms, regarded as a deity in their hearts. Born of noble lineage, with a face like the full moon and eyes resembling blue lotus blossoms, his unparalleled elegance and grace made it unsurprising that women admired him.
Months later, the Royal Court suddenly issued an edict, formally announcing to the city-states north and south of the Cong Mountains that Princess Wenzhao had taken residence in the Royal Court’s Buddhist temple, practicing Buddhist Dharma with unshorn hair for the King.
When the news reached Gaochang, it caused an uproar.
Over the years, countless men and women had admired the Buddha Prince, some even princesses of city-states offering their kingdoms in submission to win his affection. Yet the Buddha Prince had never paid them any heed. Having long transcended worldly attachments, how could he care for mortal passions like love between men and women?But this time, the exalted Buddha Prince actually made an exception for a Han woman!
By allowing Princess Wenzhao to reside in the Buddhist temple, wasn't he publicly declaring to the world that she was under his protection?
For a time, rumors ran rampant, with everyone discussing the matter.
Coincidentally, merchants from the Royal Court arrived in Gaochang to purchase wine grapes, and the locals eagerly questioned them.
The merchants said, "Princess Wenzhao has indeed moved into the Buddhist temple. We heard she listens to the Buddha Prince's sutra lectures daily and shares meals with him."
The crowd was stunned into silence.
A wine merchant interjected with a laugh, "Not only does the princess see the Buddha Prince every day, but he even expounds the Buddhist Dharma solely for her! The temple specially requested a caravan to bring a cartload of grains from the Central Plains—it must be prepared for the princess!"
The crowd grew even more curious and pressed for more details.
The merchant continued, "My aunt often visits Wang Temple to listen to the Buddha Prince's teachings. She heard from the monks there that the princess can freely enter and leave the Buddha Prince's meditation chamber. Since the princess doesn't understand Brahmi, the Buddha Prince personally teaches her."
Everyone exchanged glances, seeing shock and excitement in each other's eyes.
As the crowd's enthusiasm surged, another person chimed in, "That's right! The Buddha Prince and the princess share a single desk and read from the same scripture scroll every day! A young novice monk witnessed it with his own eyes!"
Another merchant cheerfully told the eagerly listening crowd, "I've seen Princess Wenzhao myself. The princess favors glassware and Bright Moon Pearls. I've dealt with her attendants—all the items she uses were purchased from me! The princess praised my gemstones as the most beautiful and rare in the Royal Court!"
"The makeup powder, gold foil, floral ornaments, and eyebrow pigments she uses also passed through my hands. The princess is as beautiful as a goddess and knows how to adorn herself. Women across the Royal Court are emulating her fashionable makeup."
"Whatever dress Princess Wenzhao wears or hairstyle she adopts, within five days, everyone from the Grand Chancellor's wife to the dancers in the entertainment quarters follows suit."
Initially skeptical, the crowd found their doubts fading as the foreign merchants spoke with such conviction and detail, replaced by burgeoning curiosity.
Nowadays, when Gaochang women discuss the Buddha Prince and Princess Wenzhao in their leisure time, they no longer mock the princess for her so-called delusions of grandeur. Instead, they wonder what peerless elegance she must possess to make the serene Buddha Prince break his rules for her.
Especially after the news that "Haidu Aling, Prince of Northern Rong, publicly declared Princess Wenzhao would eventually become his woman" spread throughout the Western Regions, the people of Gaochang grew even more excited about the topic.
So the Buddha Prince's proclamation to various kingdoms was meant to warn the Northern Rong Prince!
One is the noble and aloof Buddha Prince of the Royal Court, the other a battle-hardened Northern Rong Prince—who will Princess Wenzhao ultimately belong to?
When the princess completes her one-year spiritual practice, will the Buddha Prince truly marry her?
...
While the common people tirelessly discussed the romantic affairs between Princess Wenzhao and the Buddha Prince, Yang Qian and other Hexi natives were also stirred with excitement: Princess Wenzhao came from the Central Plains!
Yang Qian urgently wanted to know the current situation in the Central Plains—had unification been achieved? Was the emperor planning to send troops to reclaim Hexi, Gaochang, and Yi Province?
He dispatched his servants to follow merchants to the Royal Court and investigate Princess Wenzhao's background. Half a month later, the servants returned with disheartening news: Princess Wenzhao had been abducted to the Western Regions by Haidu Aling and could hardly ensure her own safety. The Central Plains dynasty still had not reclaimed Helong.Yang Qian was deeply disappointed, but he still sold off his lands to raise a sum of money, intending to visit the Royal Court to pay his respects to Princess Wenzhao. After all, she was a princess of the Central Plains, now adrift in foreign lands with no one to rely on. As a scion of the Hexi Yang clan, it was his duty to share her burdens and see if he could be of assistance, while also taking the opportunity to inquire about affairs in the Central Plains from her.
To his surprise, before he could set out, Princess Wenzhao herself came to Gaochang.
Yang Qian’s heart raced with anxiety: Haidu Aling’s sinister intentions toward the princess had not waned. While she could remain safe under the Buddha Prince’s protection in the Royal Court, Gaochang was subservient to the Northern Rong. If Lady Yina were to report to Haidu Aling, the princess would be in grave danger!
He thought the princess was acting recklessly and resolved to frighten and warn her, making her understand the stakes.
But he never expected that, barely after they had left the marketplace, someone had already eagerly sent out a letter of betrayal.
Yang Qian’s fingers clenched the parchment tightly, the veins on the back of his hand bulging.
“Since Your Highness has managed to obtain these letters, you must have made thorough preparations. I admire your foresight! Please tell me the names of these traitors. I, Yang Qian, am ashamed to be associated with such people!”
Yaoying smiled faintly, her expression devoid of the anger one might expect after being betrayed. “This is Gaochang, not the Central Plains.”
Yang Qian’s brow furrowed tightly.
Yaoying regarded him calmly. “Young Master Yang, the Central Plains are in turmoil, and the Western Regions have been isolated for years. How many people, like you, never forget their homeland and yearn to return east?”
Yang Qian clenched his fist. “There are many like me! If I raise the call, they would all be willing to serve you, Princess!”
Yaoying shook her head. “You are a hero, Young Master, and I admire you for it. But not everyone can disregard life and death as you do. Most people strive for wealth, glory, and stability in this world. At present, the Great Wei cannot launch a western campaign, and Gaochang lacks the strength to oppose the Northern Rong. Their betrayal of me is, in a way, understandable.”
She had anticipated that some would betray her and had made arrangements in advance.
This meeting had been a test from the start—to determine who could be trusted, who could be used, and who must be kept at a distance. She had already formed her judgments.
“Your Highness need not make excuses for them. They may fear death and refuse to come to the marketplace to see you, but they should not have sworn allegiance to you only to betray you afterward! That is utterly unforgivable!”
Yang Qian sneered. “How could anyone from Hexi commit such despicable acts?!”
A slight smile touched Yaoying’s lips.
In his youth, Yang Qian had been unruly, arrogant, and wild. The world dismissed him as a profligate. Who would have thought that this dissolute young man, who once rode horses in fine silks and drew admiring glances from every balcony, would prove to have such unyielding integrity?
As she looked at the man before her, she thought of the hardships he would endure, his eventual despair and death, reduced to a bleached skeleton in the shifting sands. Her gaze softened involuntarily.
“It is precisely because there are so many petty people that a hero like you, with your unwavering sincerity, is all the more precious.”
Yaoying spoke from the heart, her dark, luminous eyes fixed intently on Yang Qian.
Yang Qian, sensing her sincerity, was taken aback. He grew flustered, avoiding her gaze. His back, pressed stiffly against the carriage door, ached with tension. A hint of awkwardness flickered across his still-angry face as he murmured, “Your Highness flatters me.”
Yaoying smiled.
Yang Qian was so embarrassed he didn’t know where to put his hands and feet. He sat rigidly for a long moment, then suddenly lifted his head—thump—the back of his skull struck the carriage wall with a loud crash.Ignoring the pain, he frowned and asked, "Princess, do you intend to let this go just like that? What if one of them has already sent out the letter of denunciation?"
Yaoying pointed at the parchments. "Young Master Yang, I came from the Central Plains and know little about the prominent Hexi families now scattered in Gaochang. You should be familiar with all those who reported me—they are descendants of Hexi officials, connected by marriage ties, including your own clansman. If I were to kill them for my own safety, how would their families view me?"
Yang Qian's anger gradually dissipated. Crestfallen and dejected, he muttered, "If we kill them, these powerful families would surely bear a grudge against you."
For influential families, clan interests outweighed all else. The princess was merely an outsider, while clansmen were bound by blood and shared hardships. Even if they disapproved of their relatives' treacherous act of denouncing the princess, they would still choose to shield them.
Thus, these people could not be killed.
But must they stand by and let them curry favor with the Northern Rong by betraying the princess? How could he ever fulfill his ambition of reclaiming their homeland while constantly surrounded by such people?
Yang Qian suddenly felt disheartened.
A cup of warm goat milk was offered to him.
He lifted his eyelids.
Yaoying pushed the cup closer, her voice steady. "Young Master Yang, even ants cling to life, let alone humans. I am now stranded in foreign lands with no soldiers or commanders. Helong has fallen, and the Northern Rong are powerful. For your clansmen to betray me for immediate gain is only human nature. Why would they fear a distant authority when Gaochang itself submits to the Northern Rong?"
Yang Qian accepted the cup, staring at the white goat milk inside, and said indignantly, "I, Yang Qian, am a man of honor! I refuse to grovel like them. A true man should wield a three-foot sword and achieve unparalleled feats!"
Yaoying suppressed a smile.
She knew Yang Qian was resolute, true to his word, and would rather die than yield—not some reckless youth who only spouted grand slogans. Yet to others, he appeared somewhat naive and immature, which explained why people in the city called him a wandering knight.
"Young Master, such is the way of the world—do not dwell on it. Right now, I am weak and isolated. Your clansmen may betray me for wealth and status. But what if the Northern Rong were plunged into internal strife, and I had armies at my command, supported by heroes like you, with tribes cooperating from within, and the Great Wei sending expeditions westward? Would they still risk being discarded like dogs after the hunt to please the Northern Rong?"
Yang Qian abruptly looked up, his eyes shining brightly as if ignited by blazing flames.
Yaoying remained calm. "If you wish to achieve great deeds, you should not be disheartened by temporary setbacks. Those who accomplish grand ambitions cannot be bogged down by minor gains and losses. You must unite every possible ally and befriend every potential friend. Your clansmen may fear death, but they also seek fortune in danger."
Yang Qian fell silent, pondering for a moment before straightening his shoulders and revitalizing his spirit.
He understood the princess's implication.
When he was weak, his clansmen opposed him. But if he gained the strength to join forces with the Central Plains and reclaim their homeland, would his clansmen still stand in his way? Which powerful family in the city did not yearn for the peace and prosperity of the past?
Yang Qian tapped the parchments. "These people cannot be killed."
Firstly, their crimes did not warrant death.
Secondly, killing them rashly would only escalate conflicts.
Yaoying nodded. "I will deliver these letters to Yuchi Damo."Yang Qian’s eyelid twitched, and his teeth suddenly ached with a sour sensation.
The princess’s move was truly ruthless.
Although Yuchi Damo and Lady Yina were husband and wife, they were as incompatible as fire and water. For the city’s powerful families to report secrets to Lady Yina was undoubtedly a betrayal of Yuchi Damo. By delivering the letters to Yuchi Damo, wasn’t the princess using him as a tool to eliminate her enemies?
He had thought that after spending so much time with the Buddha Prince, the princess intended to let bygones be bygones and win people over with virtue!
Yaoying met Yang Qian’s astonished gaze with a faint smile.
If she simply let those people go, Lady Yina’s personal guards would be at her doorstep within three days. She had no intention of risking her life to reform such cunning individuals.
Yang Qian narrowed his eyes, pondered for a moment, and then felt a hint of schadenfreude. "The princess’s way of dealing with them is excellent."
Yuchi Damo wouldn’t resort to killing over such a trivial matter, but he certainly wouldn’t let it slide either. Those people were bound to suffer some physical punishment. It was good for them to learn a lesson, lest they eagerly rush to report secrets at the slightest sign of trouble.
Having figured this out, Yang Qian let out a long sigh. Then, thinking of Yaoying’s predicament, his expression turned ashamed. "I’ve been idle all these years, with no troops to my name. I cannot escort the princess back to the Central Plains."
Yaoying had been waiting to discuss this with him. "As the descendant of the Hexi Regional Military Commander, you must be well-versed in military strategy, inheriting your family’s legacy. I have an impertinent request."
"Please speak freely, Princess."
Yaoying straightened her expression, bowed to Yang Qian, and said word by word, "Would you be willing to recruit troops and train a volunteer army for me?"
A tremor rippled across Yang Qian’s face.
Yaoying looked directly at him and said slowly, "A true man should wield a three-foot sword and achieve unparalleled feats. I see that you, Young Master Yang, are no ordinary man. One day, you will surely make a name for yourself and realize your ambitions."
Whatever the outcome, this time, at least he knew that the Central Plains dynasty had not entirely abandoned the lost territories. He would not die in despair and solitude.
Yang Qian’s chest heaved violently, his eyes shining like stars.
…
Yuanjue sat outside the carriage, listening to Yang Qian’s excited, trembling voice from within, and felt his own heart tremble along.
What was this Han man discussing with the princess? Why had they been talking for so long?
His mind wandered, brows furrowed tightly. He felt both irritated and puzzled by his own irritation. When the carriage came to a stop, he quickly composed himself, swiftly scanned the surroundings to ensure safety, and signaled with a sound.
The felt curtain was lifted, and the tall Yang Qian leaped out of the carriage, striding away with an air of confidence and vigor, his eyes brighter than the stars.
Yuanjue secretly rolled his eyes.
They continued winding through the alleys until certain no one was tailing them, then turned back toward the courtyard.
The night was deep, and silence enveloped everything, with snowflakes dancing wildly in the sky.
The carriage entered the rear courtyard. Yuanjue jumped down, turned around to help Yaoying alight, and lifted the felt curtain. He froze at the sight inside.
A faint, flickering yellow lamplight revealed Yaoying curled in the corner of the carriage, arms wrapped around herself, eyelashes lowered as if she had fallen asleep.
She had met with several groups of people today and was utterly exhausted. Her voice had grown hoarse while speaking with Yang Qian.
Yuanjue hesitated, unsure whether to wake her, when a guard stationed at the courtyard strode over.
"Is the princess back? The Regent wishes to see her."
Yuanjue was momentarily stunned. For some reason, he suddenly felt a pang of guilt on Yaoying’s behalf.
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