GBP Chapter 39 was touching.
Chapter 39 was touching.
Three days later, Su Yuning and the Empress arrived safely at the camp in the northern desert. After waiting for a while, they met the lord.
The lord of the northern desert was truly astonished by the arrival of the Song Dynasty's empress. "Your Majesty, what brings you to this desolate land of the northern desert?"
The Empress smiled slightly to show her politeness, and then replied in a gentle voice, "I'm here to mediate."
The lord was completely bewildered. The Northern Desert and the Song Dynasty had been getting along quite well recently, so why was the Empress showing up uninvited to act as a peacemaker?
At this moment, Su Yuning spoke up, "My lord, I am Ye Beichen's girlfriend. I heard that he was unhappy with the marriage you arranged for him, so you've trapped him here. I've come here to take my boyfriend back. Please, have mercy and let him go."
At this moment, the Northern Desert Lord flung his cloak aside, then angrily sat down in his seat and responded with a serious expression.
"No matter who tipped you off, there's no room for negotiation. He has to marry whoever I tell him to marry!"
The Empress was also angered. "How can you be such an elder? The child should be able to decide who he marries, not make decisions arbitrarily by you."
"I'm sorry, Empress Song, you can make the decisions on other matters, but I will make the decisions on this one!" the lord replied resolutely.
At this moment, Ye Beichen and Nangong Xiawu were escorted to their camp by guards. The two had completely opposite attitudes: Ye Beichen was indifferent, while Nangong Xiawu was beaming with joy.
The lord of the northern desert questioned his son, "Ye Beichen, I ask you, have you decided to marry a noblewoman or a woman from the Song Dynasty?"
Ye Beichen turned to look at Su Yuning, then replied with a serious expression, "I will marry Miss Su from the Great Song Dynasty."
Nangong Xiawu was displeased. She muttered, "Just by looking at how poorly dressed this woman is, you can tell she comes from a poor background. How can she compare to me?"
Now, everyone except the Lord of the Northern Desert was enraged, especially Ye Beichen, who grabbed Nangong Xiawu by the collar and was about to hit her when the Lord quickly stopped him.
"Don't be ridiculous! The Nangong family has made great contributions to our Mobei region, and this eldest daughter of the Nangong family is our benefactor."
At this moment, the Empress, holding Su Yuning's hand, threatened the Lord of Mobei, "This is my adopted daughter, Her Highness the Princess of the Great Song Dynasty. Disrespecting my daughter is tantamount to disrespecting me, the Empress of the Great Song Dynasty. Lord, how should such a person be punished?"
“According to the laws of Mobei, this person should be whipped thirty times. But… her family has contributed money and effort to Mobei, I can’t just disrespect the Nangong family.” The Mobei lord replied with a troubled expression, “Empress of the Great Song Dynasty, why don’t you spare her this time and guarantee she won’t make the same mistake again next time.”
The Empress chuckled, "I never imagined that such a majestic lord would have a soft heart. But a mistake is a mistake, and a right is a right. What's the point of the law if mistakes aren't punished?"
Three women make a drama, and Nangong Xiawu was completely enraged. She ran over and splashed a cup of water on the Empress's face, then angrily shouted, "Who do you think you are! Even my father doesn't dare to lay a hand on me, what right do you have to lecture me?"
The tent was thrown into chaos. Su Yuning quickly took out a handkerchief from her sleeve to wipe the Empress's face. Ye Beichen raised his hand to reprimand Nangong Xiawu. As for the Lord of Mobei, he was so frightened that he fell off his seat.
"Guards! Take Nangong Xiawu away and whip her severely! Fifty lashes, not a single one less!" The Northern Desert Lord was truly enraged and demanded angrily.
"Yes, sir!" the guards replied, and then took Nangong Xiawu away to be whipped.
Next, the lord of Mobei humbly apologized to the Empress of the Song Dynasty, "I'm sorry, I failed to keep a close watch on the people of Mobei. Please forgive me, sir. Please do not mention this to the Emperor of the Song Dynasty."
The Empress replied casually, seemingly unconcerned, "What's past is past, I won't complain."
Only then did the lord of the northern desert breathe a sigh of relief, and then ordered his servants to treat the distinguished guests to fine wine and food.
Herds of cattle and sheep roam freely in the northern desert, as do horse grazing freely, and camel caravans travel to and fro.
There weren't many people at this dinner party. Besides the Lord of Mobei and Ye Beichen, there were Su Yuning, the Empress, and the battered and bruised Nangong Xiawu.
Seeing someone she disliked made her lose her appetite. The Empress questioned her with a displeased expression.
"Why did you bring her here?"
The Northern Desert Lord replied with a smile, "The eldest daughter of the Nangong family comes from a noble background. It would be an honor to have her accompany us at the dinner."
The Empress, furious, slammed down her chopsticks and declared, "I'm not eating anymore!" before turning and leaving without looking back. Su Yuning and Ye Beichen hurriedly chased after her, while Lord Ye of the Northern Desert, feeling embarrassed, quickly chased Nangong Xiawu away from the table. He then rushed over to apologize to the Empress.
On the other side, upon hearing that the Empress had something to attend to and was going on a long trip, Zhao Shouyi hurriedly drove to pick up Nangong Xue'er and bring her home.
Nangong Xue'er responded nervously, "Aren't you afraid of angering Mother? She also made me copy scriptures, which I haven't finished yet. Don't you even consider my feelings? All you do is take me home."
Zhao Shouyi responded with a wry smile, "Don't I think about you? If I didn't think about you, why would I have thought of bringing you back? By the way, I feel like I forgot something, could you remind me?"
At this moment, Nangong Xue'er racked her brains, but after a long time she still couldn't figure it out, so she shook her head to indicate that she didn't know.
"How about this, I'll take you out to eat, and we can talk about other things later," Zhao Shouyi suggested with a smile.
"Alright then, I want to eat freshly steamed xiaolongbao," Nangong Xue'er replied haughtily.
"Alright, let's go!" Zhao Shouyi readily agreed and then took her with him to the market.
The city markets were bustling day and night, with not only acrobatic troupes and storytelling stalls, but also countless vendors selling clothes and jewelry.
Here, Nangong Xue'er finally got to eat the steamed buns she had been longing for, and Zhao Shouyi also got to eat hot tofu pudding. Nangong Xue'er offered him the steamed buns, but Zhao Shouyi waved his hand and refused.
"Thank you for your kindness, but I don't like xiaolongbao. You can have it."
At this moment, Nangong Xue'er, who was pregnant, became emotionally unstable. Her nose tingled and she burst into tears, "Waaah, you hate me, you even hate the food I like, you're such a bad guy!"
Zhao Shouyi panicked. He clumsily wiped Nangong Xue'er's tears with his sleeve and then patiently coaxed her not to cry, "Okay, okay, it's all my fault. From now on, I'll eat whatever you eat and I'll never make you angry again."
"That's more like it. If you dare to make me angry again, I'll tell Mother." Nangong Xue'er replied with a smile through her tears.
Immediately afterwards, the two of them said in unison,
"We forgot to pick up our mother from home!"
Zhao Shouyi quickly apologized, "I'm sorry, I forgot. You eat your food and wait for me. I'll go to the palace to bring my mother back."
"Go quickly!" Nangong Xue'er readily nodded in agreement.
In Xinghua Village, the village chief kindly suggested, "Nephew, you and Chestnut Girl should get married as soon as possible. While your aunt and I are still young, we can help take care of the children."
The village chief's nephew, who always wanted to get married, surprisingly shook his head and refused.
The village chief couldn't understand why he wouldn't get married when the perfectly good girl was right beside him. Was it because the girl had a defect that he wanted to get a wife for free?
“I want to take Chestnut to see a doctor first, and we can get married after she recovers,” the village chief’s nephew replied resolutely.
The village chief laughed in exasperation, "Heh heh heh, she can't speak and is mute, and you can cure that kind of problem?"
The village chief's nephew nodded in agreement.
The village chief said sternly, "Alright, stop beating around the bush! Are you refusing to hold a wedding for the girl because you think she can't speak well?"
The village chief's nephew shook his head helplessly. "How could that be? Am I that kind of person? I heard from Chestnut's grandmother that Chestnut used to be able to speak, but she fell ill when she was four years old and couldn't speak anymore. It's not a congenital disease. I think if we meet a famous doctor, we can definitely cure her illness."
Upon hearing this, the village chief quickly replied, "I know someone who can cure rare diseases. You should take Chestnut to see him right away!"
"Who is it?" the village chief's nephew asked curiously.
"Fatty's father," the village chief confirmed.
Now, the village chief's nephew was in a dilemma. "But I just rejected Fatty. If I bring another girl to her house, she will most likely kick us out. Why don't you and Auntie help us out? Just say that Chestnut is your relative and ask Fatty's father to help treat her."
The village chief shook his head and refused, saying, "There is no hurdle that cannot be overcome in this world. Some roads you have to walk yourself and cannot rely on others."
Left with no other option, the village chief's nephew brought Chestnut Girl to the Su family. When he explained his purpose to the eldest son of the Su family and his wife, Yang Yuyan immediately arranged for the eldest son to accompany them and hurried to see a doctor for Chestnut Girl.
And so, the three of them took a bus to Fatty's house. When Fatty's father saw that the person he was supposed to meet for his daughter had brought another girl, he felt immediately displeased and questioned her in a harsh tone.
"What are you doing here? Speak up!"
The village chief's nephew explained his purpose: "Uncle, I've come to treat Miss Chestnut. I hope you can help me."
"You don't even like my daughter, why should I help her?" Fatty's father replied reluctantly.
“That’s right, Dad’s right, don’t get involved in their business!” the chubby girl urged from the side.
"Uncle, please forgive us for our bad attitude towards Fatty." The eldest son of the Su family hurriedly apologized, afraid that he would not treat Chestnut to medical treatment.
At this moment, Fatty's father responded coldly, "Unless you kneel down at the door and wait for Fatty to calm down, I won't get involved in this."
The two young men looked at each other, then knelt down at the door to apologize. The girl, Chestnut, knew they were trying to help her, so she followed suit and knelt down as well.
At this point, the chubby girl was still a little smug, thinking that her father was really awesome and had successfully helped her get revenge.
Time passed second by second, but the people inside did not come out, and the people kneeling outside did not get up either, and the two sides remained deadlocked.
"Fatty, are you still angry?" Fatty's dad asked.
The chubby girl waved her hand in response, "That's not enough. They stood me up and made fun of me all the time, so let them suffer a bit!"
Fatty's dad knew that at this moment he had to stand by his daughter's side, otherwise she would definitely cry feeling wronged, so he could only let things take their course.
"Over in the northern desert," the lord suggested.
"Empress of the Great Song Dynasty, I know you want to bring Ye Beichen and Miss Su together, but Nangong Xiawu here is no less beautiful or from a better family than Miss Su. So we must find a reasonable way to help Ye Beichen find someone suitable to marry."
The Empress of the Song Dynasty raised an eyebrow and asked curiously, "Then what do you think should be done?"
"Let's have one person cook three dishes. Whoever cooks the best will be the Crown Princess. The other person will be eliminated," the lord proposed.
In fact, the lord had ulterior motives. Because Nangong Xiawu had studied cooking, he believed that Miss Nangong was fully capable of winning, so he deliberately set this difficult problem for her.