Winter, heavy snow.
Jiang Wen walked out of his house draped in a beast-skin cloak, a contented smile gracing his face as he gazed upon the vast expanse of white snow.
Children in thick coats ran past the courtyard, playfully chasing each other, their attire resembling the ancient clothing Jiang Wen had seen in his previous life. These children were diverse in appearance, varying in size and hair color, clearly belonging to different tribes.
One child even had horns on his forehead, revealing pointed fangs when he grinned.
Watching them disappear into the distance, Jiang Wen strolled along the wide street, where people were busy clearing snow.
Some used fire techniques, spewing flames from their mouths to melt the snow. Others, tall and strong, wielded iron tools, sweeping away the snow like bulldozers.
Amidst this bustling and lively street scene, Jiang Wen slowly walked towards the towering palace in the distance.
A year had passed since the Dead Insect invasion. Jiang Wenji had been appointed as a Prince by the royal capital. After the insect plague, Tianyuan City's reputation had spread throughout the entire Great Cang Dynasty. All the princes knew that at the old border, there was a city that could withstand billions of insects without relying on other tribes. And the owner of the city was a royal descendant who had just come of age and was about to develop the old land.
After that, more and more scattered tribes came to Tianyuan City. In just one year, Tianyuan City expanded again and again. Now it was more than ten times larger than when it was first built. From the original nearly ten thousand people, it has now grown to a hundred thousand. Even in Great Cang, it is considered a big city.
The entire Tianyuan City was like a majestic giant, lying across the entire mountain pass, blocking everything on the other side of the mountain range, preventing disasters from stepping into the land behind it.
Meng Yue, who had fled during the battle, was personally sent back by the Meng family, bound and escorted to Jiang Wenji.
Meng Yue cried bitterly, claiming that he had been bewitched by a woman from the tribe, which led him to flee. He felt sorry for the ancestors of the Meng family and for the Princess. As for the woman who bewitched him, she was also brought along. She was indeed a very beautiful tribal woman, with bright eyes, and her temperament and features were very much in line with the aesthetics of people at this time. She stared stubbornly at Jiang Wenji with her big eyes, not feeling that she had done anything wrong.
She looked at Meng Yue contemptuously after hearing his explanation, and sneered, "A coward who wants to push the blame onto me. If you were willing to defend this place, what would be wrong with me dying with you?"
"You!" Meng Yue said angrily. "If it weren't for your bewitchment, how could I have done such a cowardly thing?!"
"Why don't you ask the mermaid and Bai'er clan women you took in?" the woman said calmly. "When I first met you, I saw your heroic appearance. But I never thought that you would become increasingly greedy for pleasure, lazy in military preparations, and even your character would become cowardly. You said you didn't dare to fight, saying that defending this place would only lead to certain death. You even wanted to wait until everyone here was dead before taking the name of a fearless hero. Were these thoughts all bewitched by me?"
"You! You! You witch! I'm going to kill you!" Meng Yue roared, stood up from the ground and rushed towards the woman. But before he could do anything, he was held down by the Tuoba warriors on both sides.
Everyone present looked at him with disgust, all waiting for Jiang Wenji, who was sitting high above, to issue orders.
Jiang Wenji, wearing a fox fur coat, rested her face on one hand and looked at Meng Yue. There was no wave in her eyes, as cold as a monarch. There was no expression on her beautiful face, only the sound of her fingers tapping the armrest could be heard.
"Princess! Princess! No, Heavenly King! Your Highness! Please spare me, for the sake of my desperate efforts for Your Highness in the past." Meng Yue howled, no longer having the heroic posture of daring to fight with cultivators. He buried his fighting spirit in pleasure and lost the heart of a strong man.
Jiang Wenji lowered her eyes, waved her hand towards the outside, and said softly: "Fleeing during battle is regarded as a great crime. Impose stone punishment and nail him to the cold cliff."
"As for this person, demote her to a slave."
Stone punishment is an extremely cruel punishment in Great Cang. It involves tying people to stone pillars, and then pushing another stone pillar towards the prisoner. The stone pillar must not be too heavy or too light, allowing the other party to live and feel the pain.
It is only after hitting it forty-nine times that death can be considered a complete punishment.
This kind of stone punishment is feared by everyone in Great Cang, and ordinary people are terrified when they hear it. Only those who have committed serious crimes will be subjected to stone punishment.
Jiang Wenji sighed, rubbed her tired eyes. When she saw Jiang Wen walking in, a gentle smile appeared on her cold face.
"Did you call me here for something?" Jiang Wen asked.
"Can't I call you over if I don't have anything to do?" she asked rhetorically.
"It's not that, it's just that you are usually busy. Usually, I'm the one looking for you, how come you have time to call me today."
"I miss you a little."
"Is that so?"
"I'm joking, take a look at this." Jiang Wenji restrained a trace of complexity in her eyes and handed him a roll of bamboo slips.
Jiang Wen took the bamboo slips and looked at the words on them. Then he looked at her in confusion: "This was sent by the Nanqi people?"
"That's right. The Nanqi people heard that we resisted the Dead Insect swarm and want to ask us for help. They were defeated in the old land a few years ago, and many of their living areas were taken away by alien races. They still haven't recovered from the defeat. They hope that our Tianyuan City can help them."
As she spoke, Jiang Wenji stood up and walked to Jiang Wen's side. She reached out and took Jiang Wen's hand, looked at him gently and said: "I know you are also considered a Nanqi person, so I wanted to ask you if you would be willing to go on behalf of Tianyuan City. This can also ease the relationship between my Great Cang and the Nanqi people."
"I have no problem." Jiang Wen nodded. He had always been curious about the Nanqi people. According to Jiang Wenji, the Nanqi people may have some kind of relationship with the later generations of Da Gan.
But as for what kind of connection there is, these will have to wait until Jiang Wen goes to find out.
"Then I will thank you on behalf of Great Cang." Jiang Wenji said sincerely. Then she took out something from her waist, took Jiang Wen's hand and placed it in his palm.
"This, you can accept it."
It was a golden token, with the word 'Marquis' of Great Cang engraved on it.
"This is?"
"This is what I promised you. I said that if I were a Prince, I would make you a Marquis." Jiang Wenji smiled. "I always do what I say."
"Then I won't be polite." Jiang Wen squeezed the gold medal and put it into his arms.
In the evening, Jiang Wenji held a celebration banquet for him, wishing him a smooth journey.
Because of the urgency of time, he took Xiu Qi and Xue to the place where the Nanqi people were located early the next morning.
As his figure disappeared into the distance, Jiang Wenji stood on the city wall and watched quietly. Under the vast snow, her figure was as proud as a plum blossom.
