Isolated town in northern border region

With the arrival of Qixi Festival, the entire city of Yongzhou is immersed in celebration.

Just past dusk, the setting sun sank in the west, and the new moon rose in the east.

The streets were filled with meticulously dressed young men, men in brocade robes and jade ornaments, and women in silk skirts and powdered faces. Reflected in the light and shadow on both sides of the street, they resembled an inverted Milky Way, with the Weaver Girl and the Cowherd hanging together.

Xiao Lie pushed the window open a crack and saw servants of noble families wielding sticks and driving away ragged poor people in the shadows on both sides of the street.

It seems their presence taints the innocence of the festival.

Jiang Min, dressed in her finest attire and exuding an air of elegance, stood at the door of Xiao Lie's room, her expression somber.

"Your Highness, do you really intend to do this?"

Xiao Lie gazed out the window and sighed softly.

"Beneath the profusion of flowers lies only filth, soiling my eyes!"

Jiang Min stared at that tall, straight back, and for a moment felt a sense of fear.

She felt an indescribable sense of alienation, something she had never experienced before.

"Your Highness!"

"Our marriage is arranged, and we will share both glory and hardship for the rest of our lives. I must remind Your Highness once again..."

"The support of the powerful families is crucial to Your Highness's struggle against the Chu Emperor. If you were to break ties with them now, you would be pushing this powerful ally to the Chu Emperor's side!"

"In such a momentous event, victory means life, defeat means death!"

"Your Highness, you should think this through carefully!"

Xiao Lie turned around, laughing heartlessly.

"If I truly reach a point of utter despair, will the princess regret it?"

Jiang Min's heart skipped a beat when she was asked the question.

Yes, if that day really comes, will you regret choosing such a troublesome guy as Xiao Lie?

But a moment later, Jiang Min's strong sense of self-respect fiercely dispelled all distracting thoughts.

"Hmph! Always causing trouble!"

"With me here, that day will never come!"

Xiao Lie was stunned for a moment upon hearing this, then blinked and touched his nose somewhat embarrassedly.

"Sigh... I've finally made something of myself, I can even live off a woman now!"

"Very well, prepare to depart for the Wang family's villa!"

The Qixi literary gathering was held at the Wang Family Villa.

Within the high walls, the lights were bright, and the sounds of string and wind instruments filled the air.

The carved pillars are covered with calligraphy and paintings, each one a work by a famous artist.

The host of the literary gathering, Old Master Wang Shouchang, sat in the main seat, stroking his beard with one hand and holding a wine cup in the other, greeting the guests with a beaming smile.

Jiang Min sat at the head of the guest seats, dressed in a plain white dress, her black hair tied up with only a white jade hairpin, appearing elegant and otherworldly under the lamplight.

The young men from prominent families sat around her, some playing the zither, some reciting poems, and some raising their cups in a toast, each doing their best to win a smile from her.

Wang Shoucheng's grandson, Wang Shijie, stood in the hall, holding a cup of wine in his hand, and said loudly.

"Your Highness's talent is unparalleled throughout the land. It is truly an honor for us all to have you here at the Yongzhou Literary Gathering today."

"I am not very talented, but I would like to offer my humble work for Your Highness's guidance."

After saying that, he shook his head and recited a seven-character quatrain, piling up flowery words, but it was empty and meaningless.

The servant boy quickly copied the poem and rushed out of the courtyard as if it were a rare treasure, posting it on the literary gathering's poetry board.

In an instant, cheers erupted from outside the villa.

Jiang Min smiled faintly, took a sip of wine, but her gaze unconsciously drifted towards Xiao Lie.

Xiao Lie was sitting right beside him, but he was like a stone statue forgotten in a corner, holding a cup of tea and not saying a word.

His presence was quite incongruous. The room was filled with people dressed in fine clothes, but he was the only one wearing a dark-colored outfit and a long sword at his waist. He neither recited poetry nor composed couplets; he just sat there.

Jiang Min couldn't help but frown slightly.

Xiao Lie, Xiao Lie, why don't you move a muscle!

But this sense of incongruity is exactly what the scions of aristocratic families want.

Wang Shoucheng walked up to Xiao Lie with a wine glass in hand, a beaming smile on his face.

"Your Highness has come from afar, and I have failed to greet you properly. My apologies."

"At today's literary gathering, Your Highness, if you are in the mood, would you also like to leave behind a piece of calligraphy?"

"If a truly excellent work is produced, I would like to take this opportunity to spread it and bring fame to Your Highness!"

Wang Shoucheng spoke politely, but his words were full of sarcasm.

Xiao Lie picked up his teacup and took a sip; it was neither salty nor bland.

"I am not good at poetry."

"Oh dear, that's such a pity."

Wang Shoucheng laughed even harder.

"But it doesn't matter. It's already quite an achievement that Your Highness has made such great contributions in the northern frontier."

"Poetry and songs are for scholars and literati."

"Your Highness is but a warrior; there's no need to take it to heart."

"However, as a prince of my Great Chu, I should still study the classics more in the future!"

The room erupted in soft laughter.

Some people lowered their heads and covered their mouths, some raised their glasses to clink, and some deliberately spoke loudly.

"Old Master Wang is too kind. His Highness and Princess Minyue are already engaged. With the princess by his side, His Highness will surely be able to generate a flood of inspiration in the future!"

"Absolutely! Absolutely!"

"But Your Highness is illiterate; how will you enjoy romantic moments with Her Highness under the moon and flowers in the future?"

"Watch your words! Your Highness has no need for affectations; mere strength is enough!"

The tone of everyone's voice was full of disdain.

Xiao Lie didn't reply, his expression unchanged, his gaze sweeping over Wang Shoucheng's face as if he were looking at a noisy fly.

The less he talked back, the more the scions of powerful families thought he was easy to bully, and their laughter became increasingly unrestrained.

It's easy to imagine that from today onwards, Xiao Lie will likely be branded as an illiterate, especially since his fiancée is the most talented woman in the world. This pairing will probably become the talk of the town.

Jiang Min was incredibly intelligent; he saw through the aristocratic families' scheme at a glance!

She slammed her wine glass on the table, about to erupt in anger.

Unexpectedly, Xiao Lie took the initiative to pick up a piece of fish sashimi and feed it to him.

"You really can hold back?"

Jiang Min asked in a low voice.

Xiao Lie shrugged.

"Didn't you advise me not to escalate things?"

"Haven't I been cooperating quite well?"

Jiang Min rolled her eyes at Xiao Lie and took a big bite of the fish sashimi, looking as if she was biting Xiao Lie himself!

Having spent so much time with Xiao Lie, Jiang Min knew Xiao Lie's temper all too well.

The more Xiao Lie endured at this moment, the more ferocious his prepared revenge would be!

At that moment, the butler came to report.

"Master, the program for the literary gathering is ready."

Wang Shoucheng nodded and clapped his hands.

"good!"

Then he turned to look at the princess and Xiao Lie.

"Princess, Your Highness, horse racing is popular in Yongzhou, but a horse race inevitably produces dust and smoke, which is uncivilized."

"This old man is not very talented, but he has come up with this idea. I hope the princess and the prince will enjoy it together."

As soon as the words were spoken, someone immediately lifted the curtain on the side of the hall, revealing a spacious courtyard. The courtyard was surrounded by lanterns and tables and chairs, and a straight running track was dug in the middle, like a miniature version of a polo field.

But what's running on the track isn't horses, it's people!

A dozen young women were tied with ropes and knelt in a row at the starting line of the track.

They were wearing clothes so thin they were almost transparent. Some were trembling, some had their heads down, and some had tears streaming down their faces but dared not cry out.

They were tied together with ropes, number tags around their necks, and waited to "go on stage" like livestock.

Several servants stood nearby, holding leather whips, with amused smiles on their faces.

Wang Shoucheng explained to Jiang Min with a smile.

"Princess, you may not know this, but it is a tradition of horse racing in Yongzhou."

“Bring out the daughters of the tenant farmers who are in debt, and make them act as ‘horses’ to run a lap. Whoever reaches the finish line first will have their debt forgiven.”

"The loser..."

He smiled nonchalantly.

"Keep paying. If you can't pay it back, then let these young girls pay it back slowly."

"Oh, by the way, I heard that Your Highness was helping the people on the street yesterday, and I admire you greatly."

"Those guys on the left received the prince's silver on the street yesterday!"

"These unruly people, they don't even know how to be grateful for the reward they received, they actually dare to come to my Wang family to redeem the land deed!"

"I'm kind-hearted, so I didn't make things difficult for them, I just added a few percent interest..."

Jiang Min's expression changed slightly, and the fingers holding the teacup tightened slightly.

She looked at Xiao Lie and found that he was still motionless, but his expression had clearly darkened.

In the courtyard, the sound of whips rang out, and the women were forced to run.

Some people fell after running a few steps and were dragged for a while, their knees covered in blood, but they dared not stop and could only grit their teeth, get up and continue running.

Some people were slow runners and were whipped from behind, leaving their backs covered in bloody welts.

Someone cried out, "I'm not running anymore," and was whipped across the face, falling to the ground and never getting up again.

The young men from prominent families watched with great interest, some clapping, some whistling, and some placing bets on who would reach the finish line first.

A young woman finally reached the finish line, knelt on the ground panting heavily, covered in blood, and muttering to herself.

"I won... I won..."

No one helped her up; only a servant came forward to untie the rope around her neck and threw her a steamed bun, as if tossing it to a dog.

Xiao Lie's Adam's apple bobbed as he gripped the hilt of his sword.

He desperately wanted to chop off Wang Shouchang's head with a sword, but he had to hold back.

If things were to break down at this point, these parasites would lose face, and the girls acting as "horse racers" might be targeted with their anger.

Jiang Min watched Xiao Lie's every move closely. When she saw that Xiao Lie's hand, which was gripping the sword hilt, was turning white, she quickly put down her teacup.

"Sir, is this how your household treats its guests?"

Wang Shoucheng quickly smiled apologetically.

"Princess, you flatter me. These are just some crude and vulgar things, not worthy of being presented in a refined manner."

"However..."

He glanced at Xiao Lie, who was silent in the corner.

"Your Highness has seen life and death many times on the battlefield, so I suppose you won't care about such trivial matters."

Xiao Lie did not answer.

The yard was quickly cleaned up, and the next "show" began immediately.

The scions of wealthy families pushed and shoved a dozen or so ragged men out of a side door. Most of them were barefoot, with disheveled hair, their hands bound with rough hemp rope, and their eyes filled with despair.

A middle-aged man was pushed to the ground, his knee hitting the bluestone slab. He curled up in pain, but a servant stepped on his back.

"Stop playing dead! Get up!"

Wang Shoucheng pointed to the courtyard with a broad smile.

"Gentlemen, this is the final duel!"

"Our Great Chu was founded on military strength, and we, as citizens of Great Chu, naturally dare not abandon military affairs for civil administration."

"Therefore, this literary gathering should naturally also have some spirit! That's why this program is called 'A Harmony of Literary and Martial Arts'."

"These are all tenant farmers who can't pay their debts. Just pick two of them and give each of them a knife!"

"Whoever steps forward standing up will have their debt forgiven."

A scion of a prominent family responded with a smile.

"The old man is incredibly kind and righteous! He gave them a way to live."

Another echo.

"That's right, that's right, we've been good enough to our tenants."

Xiao Lie held a cup of tea that had long since gone cold, his eyes slightly narrowed.

He saw the two men being pushed out, a rusty knife shoved into their hands. They looked at each other, their eyes filled with despair.

Then they moved!

To leave a way for his family to survive!

Xiao Lie gently put down the teacup in his hand.

The sound of the bottom of the cup touching the table was so faint that it was almost inaudible amidst the noise of the room.

But Jiang Min heard him, and she subconsciously turned to look at him. She saw him slowly standing up, his dark-colored outfit gleaming coldly in the lamplight, like a sword finally drawn from its sheath.

"stop!"

Xiao Lie called out softly, but the suppressed anger in his voice overflowed.

Wang Shoucheng turned his head, feigning surprise.

"Oh? What advice does Your Highness have?"

"Could it be that besides being illiterate, you can't even bear to see blood?"