The princess was ordained by Heaven.

Chapter 118 Taking in

Inside the canopy, the old woman worried that Ya Ya's feet would cut from the pebbles on the ground since she didn't have shoes. She gently offered to carry her, but the little girl shook her head: "I can do it myself."

The person who was just moments ago so confident and bold suddenly became embarrassed.

The old woman's heart softened at the sight of Yaya's dark, bright eyes: "How did Yaya end up running off all by herself?"

Ya Ya lowered her head, kicked a pebble on the ground, and didn't say a word.

Luo Congzhen explained in a low voice: "Her biological mother's home is in the next county. Because she is mentally challenged, she got lost and wandered all the way to this county. Not long after, she was found by Ya Ya's father, who 'took in' Ya Ya's mother. The following year, Ya Ya's mother gave birth to her first child."

"Take...take in?"

Luo Congzhen gave a self-deprecating laugh: "That's what they said. Ya Ya's mother's parents came here later to ask for her back. They even tried to take advantage of her kindness by demanding money from her parents. The whole village was in the same boat. They couldn't take their daughter with them, and in the end, they died in despair."

Zhao almost burst out laughing, of course, in a mocking way.

She didn't even bother to mention their filthy thoughts; they were clearly driven by lust and had malicious intentions. But guess what? By saying that, they became her benefactors.

If she hadn't retained some reason, she would have loved to go back and break all three of his legs.

“That Yaya’s mother…”

"She died of illness. She had six children, gave two away, and her health had long since deteriorated..."

When Luo Congzhen spoke of these things, her tone carried an almost numb calmness.

The old woman said apologetically, "Ya Ya... I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought this up."

Ya Ya shook her head, but her mood turned somber.

Outside the light screen, Shen Canglan, who had been relatively inconspicuous, accidentally broke the armrest of one of his men. The Crown Prince's face darkened; he couldn't believe these people were subjects of the Great Yong Dynasty.

Emperor: Actually, Yuanjia's opinion is not entirely unacceptable. However, if someone repeatedly tries to educate them but fails to repent, then it's best to send them to the border.

In the light screen, Zhao didn't say anything, but simply led the team to speed up.

Seeing the red indicator on the system fade away, Zheng Xun turned off the light screen, but he wasn't in a good mood.

At this moment, Shen Canglan suddenly said he was leaving.

other people:……

I almost forgot there was another guest.

They wanted her to stay in the capital for a while, but Shen Canglan claimed to have urgent business and firmly refused.

After Shen Canglan left, the Crown Prince wrapped up the arrowhead and dagger: "Father, I'll take these to the Ordnance Bureau first."

The emperor nodded and tossed the dagger to Zheng Xun: "This is small and convenient for you to carry around."

Zheng Xun smiled, his eyes crinkling: "Thank you, Father."

The crown prince shook his head, picked up the small package, and left.

However, the matter did not end there. Three days later, on one night, Zheng Xun received the sequel to the story.

At this moment, she was in the Imperial Study reading the storybook written by Madam Xia.

As expected of someone recognized by both her and the system, her writing is fluent, and the stories she writes are anything but cliché.

The only pity is that it wasn't finished. Only one volume has been published so far. Zheng Xun is still not satisfied and is almost turning into a pouty-mouthed writer.

Since there are no storybooks to read, I can only browse the system.

The emperor and the crown prince were discussing matters when they suddenly saw the light screen appear. They immediately lowered their voices, waiting to see what would happen.

[What? Why is Shen Canglan here?]

The scene in the light screen was the mountain village where Zhao had been last time. It was already dark, and she was standing outside a courtyard wall, holding a sword and listening to the sounds coming from inside.

"You bitch! How dare you talk back! Didn't you used to love hanging out with Shunzi's family? Are you trying to run away too?"

The man's foul-mouthed insults continued unabated, while the woman could only sob and beg for mercy.

“Our eldest son is getting on in years. When are you going to go to the county and bring back a girl? Preferably someone older and more settled.”

"I...I have a niece on my family's side, is that okay?"

"Bring it back and take a look first. If it doesn't work, bury it in the back mountain."

Shen Canglan gripped her sword tighter and tighter. Unable to bear it any longer, she flipped over the courtyard wall and, before the two people in the courtyard could react, sliced ​​off their heads with a single stroke.

The Emperor and the Crown Prince: !!!

Zheng Xun: You stole my kill, sis.

How did she know about this village?

Zheng Xun flipped through the system with a puzzled look. The Crown Prince and the Emperor had experienced similar scenarios several times and were now completely indifferent.

Sure enough, the system provided a reasonable explanation.

[It turns out that the younger sister of one of her disciples from Hidden Sword Manor was kidnapped to this village and died. After learning about this on her way back to the manor, Shen Canglan immediately decided to take revenge.]

However, she didn't know who her enemy was, so she had to search house by house. Then she discovered that none of these families were good people, so she was 'forced' to fight her way through.

To be honest, the master of Hidden Sword Manor is really something; he never gives a pig a chance to squeal when he's slaughtering it.

emperor:……

So he managed to defend against Yuan Jia, but he couldn't defend against the silent Shen Canglan, right?

But he couldn't do anything about him, after all, the man had just made a great contribution, and this matter concerned Yuan Jia's Heavenly Curtain. He also couldn't explain why the man knew everything.

Well, he's a mature emperor now; he should learn to make excuses for himself.

He could only pretend he didn't know.

He convinced his emperor to allow him to watch the show with a clear conscience.

In the light screen, Shen Canglan wiped the blood off his sword with a handkerchief and turned to walk to the next house.

The owner of the house was fast asleep. Shen Canglan found a woman tied up in the pigsty in the back room. She was not sleeping in the middle of the night, but was playing with the dry grass on the ground.

She wasn't afraid when she saw Shen Canglan suddenly appear. She held out a clump of messy hay to Shen Canglan and said, "Eat."

Shen Canglan: ...

"Thank you, I'll take it home and eat it."

The woman chuckled foolishly, picked up another clump of hay mixed with pebbles, and was about to put it in her mouth.

Shen Canglan quickly swatted the lump away.

The woman whimpered twice, but she didn't get angry at Shen Canglan. Instead, she silently gathered the pebbles on the ground together.

Shen Canglan looked closely and realized that her legs had been cleanly severed, the cuts were covered in mud, rotten, infested with maggots, and emitting a foul stench.

Watching her carefully arrange the hay, Shen Canglan asked in a dry voice, "Why...why are you eating this?"

She thought for a moment, seemingly trying to understand her words: "If you eat and fall asleep, the pain will subside."

She said this with a smile. She wasn't particularly beautiful, but when she smiled, her eyes curved like crescent moons, and she looked sweet.

Shen Canglan felt a bittersweet feeling in his heart, unable to describe the exact sensation.

She suddenly opened her arms: "I want to hug you."

The woman tilted her head and looked at her. After waiting for a while and finding no danger, she cautiously reached out and hugged her back.