TAB Chapter 108

A thin voice penetrated Shan Qihuan’s ears.

Shan Qihuan, who was still working overtime in the company the night before, was a little sleepy, so he leaned on his office chair and squinted for a while, somehow he fell asleep, and when he opened his eyes again, he became the third prince of the Chu Kingdom.

He relies on dozens of alarm clocks to wake up, and there’s never anyone around, so who’s going to wake him up?

Assistant Qu’s voice wasn’t like that.

“Your Highness, are you awake?”

When Shan Qihuan opened his eyes, what he saw was a young man with a very tender face calling him, and he was also quite close.

He jerked sideways and distanced himself from the other party.

When encountering an emergency, Shan Qihuan’s first reaction is naturally to keep a distance from the other person and see if they have any special demands.

This young man was also wearing Hanfu, Shan Qihuan quickly looked at everything around him, there was no filming machine, and there was no camera either, so it shouldn’t be a prank scene, right?

But he was just working overtime at the company, who did he offend? The people from the third house sent someone to drug his tea, and move him here?

“Your Highness? You have to get up quickly, you have to leave for Qi Kingdom today to pick up the bride.” When the young man saw his strange reaction, he thought he was angry because someone woke him up, so he couldn’t help but remind him again.

“Pick up the bride?”

Shan Qihuan’s mind was racing, one only going to pick up the bride if they were getting married, right?

“Yes, Your Highness, you’ve been traveling a long way, and haven’t recovered yet, you are here to pick up the bride on Your Majesty’s behalf.” The young man still dutifully answered the question and didn’t notice that something was wrong with Shan Qihuan.

Shan Qihuan still followed the other party’s wishes to get up and wash up, and then wait for the opportunity to act.

Not long after, he found himself in a quaint and antique residence, this place should be a relay station¹驛 (yì): posthorse; relay station (for posting horses); (Taiwanese Hokkien) train station, bus stop, or similar; a place where in ancient times officials who delivered military intelligence could eat, stay, and change horses on the way., and the people around him all went about their business with heads bowed, when they saw him, they naturally paid their respects, without any awkwardness or pretense, they had a natural sense of reverence towards authority.

After a brief look around, he was arranged to sit in a carriage and set off, carrying out tasks befitting his current status.

There were people following in front of him and behind him, in addition to the people around him, there were also two generals who were about thirty years old.

Doesn’t this mean he’s transmigrated?

Judging from the clothes of the servants, he should have transmigrated into the Han Dynasty.

Shan Qihuan didn’t dare to say more or ask more questions, he just observed it with his own eye for a few days, he was originally born with an innate superior temperament, and he could still fool the people around him, moreover, he even found out the purpose of his trip from the young man’s servant mouth.

That’s right, he went to the Qi Kingdom on behalf of the elderly ruler of the Chu Kingdom to welcome his bride, it is said that the bride is the number one beauty of the Qi Kingdom.

There have been constant wars between the Chu Kingdom and Qi Kingdom all year round, the Qi Kingdom is weaker than the Chu Kingdom in terms of national strength, the Chu Kingdom captured two cities of the Qi Kingdom this time, but the geographical location of these two cities was very average, neither in front nor behind, Qi Kingdom could still take it back if it accumulated more troops, so Chu Kingdom decided to give them the number one beauty of the Qi Kingdom in exchange for the two cities.

Shan Qihuan said to himself, this ruler of the Chu Kingdom is really good at calculating.

He is still riding in the carriage today, the interior of the carriage is extremely luxurious, he can sit and lie down, the cushions are soft, and he can also make tea and drink in the carriage, which is much more comfortable than riding a horse.

They had to go to the border to greet the bridal procession, after settling down at the border relay station, they waited for two days but no wedding party arrived, logically speaking, the gap between the two was only three to five days, so it shouldn’t be so slow.

Shan Qihuan asked the officials from the Ministry of Rites who were accompanying him: “Why don’t we cross the border and take a look, maybe something happened on the road.”

He had a strange premonition, if he didn’t go beyond the border this time, he might regret it.

The official hesitated for a long time, then discussed it with the two generals, and they all agreed with Shan Qihuan’s decision.

The group disguised as merchants entered the border of the Qi Kingdom, they had a map of the other side’s traveling route, just following the official road.

After two days of traveling, the scouts came back in a hurry to report the situation to Shan Qihuan.

The scouts said: “Your Highness, a group of mountain bandits, totaling 300 men, are ambushing ahead, they must have learned that the Qi Kingdom’s wedding party would pass through there, and were preparing to grab the dowry items, they are also planning to disguise this incident as something done by our Chu Kingdom.”

“When are they going to take action?” Shan Qihuan couldn’t help but frown, this ancient people was too unsafe.

The scout said: “As soon as the wedding escort team reaches their ambush range, they will attack.”

Shan Qihuan asked: “Where is the wedding escort team now?”

The scout said: “They will arrive tomorrow morning, the bandits are still relatively relaxed now, which is why I was able to find out what they were up to.”

Shan Qihuan said: “Alright, you tell me the location and position of their ambush, then send someone to inform the wedding escort team, let them rest on the spot for two days, and wait for our order before they set out again.” He believe they are all afraid of death, and will not move forward rashly.

They didn’t bring many people with them, only 500 people before and after, most of their men and horses stayed at the relay station.

On the contrary, the two generals who were arranged to pick up the bride became excited, originally, they were quite indifferent to Shan Qihuan, but now they suddenly became enthusiastic and even made a request to Shan Qihuan at the same time.

General: “Your Highness, why don’t your subordinates take people to wipe out bandits, so that the wedding escort team can pass through the mountain pass smoothly tomorrow.”

Shan Qihuan said: “But we don’t have enough men.”

General: “We don’t have enough troops, but we should be able to fight off ten bandits with one, most of the bandits are a ragtag group of refugees who don’t have enough to eat.”

Shan Qihuan said: “How do you know they are refugees? Besides Chu and Qi Kingdom, there is also Liao Kingdom, they may also be Liao people in disguise.” Although he had never served in the army, Shan Qihuan is also a person who had read history, a seemingly trivial matter could not be that simple.

The general looked at Shan Qihuan hesitantly, the Third Prince used to know nothing but eat, drink, play, and be merry before, why did he suddenly become so perceptive?

The general felt that his speculation was reasonable: “This subordinate is not thinking carefully, Your Highness, would you like to send more people to investigate?”

Shan Qihuan had no objection to this: “Okay.”

When the scouts came back again, the content of the report was exactly what Shan Qihuan had speculated, it was really people from the Liao Kingdom who had disguised themselves, the purpose was to once again cause disputes between the Chu Kingdom and the Qi Kingdom, and disrupt the peace marriage.

The people of the Liao Kingdom were all brave and good at fighting, but that was when they were on horseback, however, on the ground, they were not as good as the Chu Kingdom, and they were suppressed by the Chu Kingdom’s army all year round.

At this time, the two generals looked at Shan Qihuan differently.

What they have to do now is to first deal with this group of Liao people pretending to be Qi Kingdom’s bandits.

The three of them sat down together and discussed countermeasures.

That night, the two generals took their scouts and a small group of soldiers to burn the ‘bandits’ nest.

There is a saying that goes like this, before the troops move, fodder and provisions go first²兵馬未動，糧草先行 (bīng mǎ wèi dòng , liáng cǎo xiān xíng): before the troops move, fodder and provisions go first (idiom); logistics comes before military maneuvers; an army marches on its stomach; prepare food and fodder before sending troops. It is a metaphor for making preparations in advance before doing something., it is easier to destroy their food than to kill them all, the two generals couldn’t be more impressed by Shan Qihuan’s idea, they thought they were going to go to war, but they didn’t expect that they would burn their food, it was a pity that they lost a batch of food, but if the dispute between the two countries breaks out again, what will be lost is not just food and grass, but more people will be displaced from their homes.

Shan Qihuan used to give instructions to his subordinates, and all they did was the company’s affairs, however, now he was directing others to do things related to life, he didn’t sleep well all night, after all, he was a modern man, he had never even killed a chicken, so he still felt a little uneasy.

He stayed up all night.

The next morning, the two generals came back with their travel-worn and weary³風塵仆仆 (fēng chén pú pú): having endured the hardships of a long journey; be travel-stained/-soiled; be fatigued with travelling; look travel-worn and weary. men, although they looked tired, it was clear from their eyes and expressions that everyone was in a happy mood.

The general said: “Your Third Highness, it was fortunate we have lived up to your command.”

In other words, they had completed the mission.

Seeing them come back unharmed, Shan Qihuan breathed a sigh of relief, losing anyone would put a psychological burden on him, after all, they are all human lives, perhaps in the minds of those currently in power, human life is like a piece of grass, but he was a thoroughly⁴徹頭徹尾 (chè tóu chè wěi): lit. from head to tail (idiom); thoroughgoing; through and through; out and out; from top to bottom; downright; to the core. modern man, and doesn’t have this kind of natural mentality.

After the general rested, he told him the specific situation, the group of thieves ran towards the north, at the same time, they were also keeping an eye on the places where the bridal procession passed, hoping that the Liao people would not come back.

Shan Qihuan didn’t waste any time and took people directly to pick up the bridal procession.
They received the bridal procession in a mountain pass.

The young servant beside him, Zhi Shi, said to Shan Qihuan: “Your Highness, we’re here, the bridal procession is ahead, it is said that the bride is the number one beauty of the Qi Kingdom.”

Shan Qihuan glanced at him: “Is that so?” He was also curious about how beautiful the number one beauty of the Qi Kingdom really was, however, considering that he was here for a peace marriage with the ruler of the Chu Kingdom whom he had never met, he suddenly lost interest.

Zhi Shi knew quite a bit: “Yes, he is the most talented ger in Qi Kingdom, it is said that the matchmakers almost break through the family’s threshold, but he’s just a bit older.”

“How old?” Shan Qihuan asked in passing.

Zhi Shi said: “It seems to be about twenty years old, let’s not forget that the ger from Chu Kingdom are engaged at the age of fourteen or fifteen, this Qi Kingdom is really tolerant of this beauty. ”

According to the ancient age calculation method, twenty should be the nominal age, in fact, the actual age should be eighteen, the age when one has just come of age and goes to college.

The ruler of the Chu Kingdom was really lascivious, people were just eighteen years old and should have been enjoying their youth, but instead, that person had to enter the palace to serve that old man for the rest of his life.

The officials from the Qi Kingdom who are giving the bride away have to pay respects to Shan Qihuan, Shan Qihuan gets out of the carriage. It’s really not easy for both parties to meet face-to-face.

The officials from the Qi Kingdom express their gratitude to Shan Qihuan, acknowledging that if it weren’t for the exceptional intelligence of the Third Prince, perhaps their group would have already met their demise at this moment.

Shan Qihuan also exchanged polite words, and then they did not delay any further, intending to rest for an hour before setting off.

During the rest period, the bride sitting in the carriage seemed to want to get off the carriage, and a group of people closely surrounded him, Shan Qihuan only saw a tall figure wearing red and black bridal attire, but not his true appearance, the other person’s face was covered with a gauze hat.

After an hour, they set off towards the direction of the Chu Kingdom.

There were also several hundred people in the bridal procession, making the combined procession quite lengthy.

Before even crossing the border between the two countries, strong winds began to blow, there was always a lot of rain in May and June, so it was expected to rain heavily.

The general said to Shan Qihuan: “Your Highness, there is a temple in front of us, we can go there to take shelter from the rain!”

After arriving at the temple, the bride was also helped out of the carriage, probably because the road was muddy, when the bride got off the carriage, the edges of his clothes and shoes were dirty, a strong wind blew, and the hat on his head was blown off, which happened to fall right at Shan Qihuan’s feet, he picked up the hat, handed it over, and at the same time looked up at the bride.

The other party cast an apologetic look at him, but Shan Qihuan was stunned for a moment and did not respond.

It turns out that this is the number one beauty of the Qi Kingdom?

A sentence flashed through his mind: One glance at this person leads to a lifetime of regret, from then on, no one else can captivate the heart⁵一見此人誤終身，從此再無心動人 (yī jiàn cǐ rén wù zhōng shēn, cóng cǐ zài wú xīn dòng rén): This phrase expresses the idea that after encountering a person of exceptional beauty or charm, one’s heart will never be moved by anyone else. This is not a well-known or widely used phrase in everyday language, but it is often found in literature, especially in the context of describing a person’s extraordinary allure or impact on someone. It conveys a sense of profound admiration or infatuation with someone’s exceptional qualities..

The author has something to say:

This side story is unrelated to the main text, it could be considered a parallel timeline.

Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me between 2021-05-29 15:00:22~2021-05-30 14:26:47 or irrigated me with nutrients!

Thank you to the little angel who threw the grenade: [T/N: username]

Thanks to the little angels who threw the landmine: [T/N: Lots and lots of usernames]; Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!

SQH falls in love at first sight in this parallel timeline as well~ Our SYH is just too alluring~~

• 1
  驛 (yì): posthorse; relay station (for posting horses); (Taiwanese Hokkien) train station, bus stop, or similar; a place where in ancient times officials who delivered military intelligence could eat, stay, and change horses on the way.
• 2
  兵馬未動，糧草先行 (bīng mǎ wèi dòng , liáng cǎo xiān xíng): before the troops move, fodder and provisions go first (idiom); logistics comes before military maneuvers; an army marches on its stomach; prepare food and fodder before sending troops. It is a metaphor for making preparations in advance before doing something.
• 3
  風塵仆仆 (fēng chén pú pú): having endured the hardships of a long journey; be travel-stained/-soiled; be fatigued with travelling; look travel-worn and weary.
• 4
  徹頭徹尾 (chè tóu chè wěi): lit. from head to tail (idiom); thoroughgoing; through and through; out and out; from top to bottom; downright; to the core.
• 5
  一見此人誤終身，從此再無心動人 (yī jiàn cǐ rén wù zhōng shēn, cóng cǐ zài wú xīn dòng rén): This phrase expresses the idea that after encountering a person of exceptional beauty or charm, one’s heart will never be moved by anyone else. This is not a well-known or widely used phrase in everyday language, but it is often found in literature, especially in the context of describing a person’s extraordinary allure or impact on someone. It conveys a sense of profound admiration or infatuation with someone’s exceptional qualities.