Lu Ningxiang hasn't had a good sleep for three days. As the number of pursuers increases day by day, she can't go to any inhabited place at all and can only survive by hiding in this cave.
But now, even in the valley, the number of people searching for her has gradually increased, so much so that she can already foresee the day when she will be arrested.
"call……"
The cave was extremely cold after the rain. Lu Ningxiang, whose clothes were extremely damp, let out a cold breath and rubbed her stiff hands with all her strength.
However, such rubbing could not bring any warmth to her. Instead, she felt that her body was getting colder and colder.
At this moment, she wanted to light a fire to warm herself, but she didn't dare because it would attract her captors.
In despair, Lu Ningxiang took out a simple stick from her arms.
"If you encounter any danger again, hold this stick tightly and say silently I believe in the light."
When she recalled these words in her mind, Lu Ningxiang didn't want to cause trouble to the stranger who had saved her once, or even involve him in this big trouble.
But she was really desperate. Except for this stranger, she couldn't find anyone willing to help her.
'I'm sorry, please.'
After reciting silently in her heart, Lu Ningxiang held the stick tightly with both hands and recited silently: "I believe in light!"
"Huh...hiss...huh...hiss..."
As she breathed and breathed, Lu Ningxiang didn't feel any change in the stick, it was still as simple and unpretentious as before.
"Crack."
One tear fell on the sign, followed by the second, then the third...
The sign that showed no response was like the last straw that broke Lu Ningxiang's mind, causing her to completely fall into despair. The sadness and pain she had suppressed for many days suddenly came out.
"If you have something to say, don't cry."
Just when Lu Ningxiang was about to lose control of herself and was about to burst into tears, a strange and heartwarming voice suddenly sounded in her mind.
'It's him...it's him!'
Quickly wiping away her tears, Lu Ningxiang replied: "I'm sorry, sir, I... I need your help."
"Tell me roughly your current situation."
"OK."
After taking a deep breath, Lu Ningxiang began to describe her situation.
Halfway through, the voice in her head interrupted her and said, "In short, they haven't found you yet, have they?"
"Yes." Lu Ningxiang nodded and replied.
"Stay where you are."
"Okay, okay..."
After a while, Lu Ningxiang tried to whisper and asked: "Sir?"
There was no response, as if the voice that sounded in her head just now was an illusion.
'No...it must not be an illusion!'
With this belief, Lu Ningxiang waited silently until her body became colder and colder and her consciousness became more and more blurred.
"Sir...are you still here? I want to sleep for a while...just for a while."
"Eat something and then go to sleep."
Hearing this sudden response, Lu Ningxiang, whose eyes had almost been closed, was suddenly startled. She felt that the voice this time was particularly real, and it seemed that it was not ringing in her head.
The next second, she felt a wave of warmth coming over her, driving all the chill out of her body.
Shocked, Lu Ningxiang opened her eyes and shouted in great surprise: "Sir!?"
Lu Ningxiang could hardly believe what she was seeing. The husband who saved her in the inn that day suddenly appeared in front of her, and even started a fire.
'fire!?'
Shocked, Lu Ningxiang rushed forward to put out the fire, but was stopped by Jiang Beiran.
"Don't worry, I've already set up a formation in this cave, so people outside can't see us."
After listening to her husband's words, Lu Ningxiang instantly felt relieved and sat down on the ground.
Throwing a set of clean clothes to Lu Ningxiang, Jiang Beiran hung a curtain for her in a corner of the cave and said, "Change your clothes."
"Thank you... thank you."
Nodding towards Jiang Beiran, Lu Ningxiang held up the clothes and walked behind the curtain.
When changing clothes, Lu Ningxiang still felt like she was dreaming. The next second, the warmth brought by the clean fur clothes made her pray in her heart.
'If this is a dream, please don't let me wake up.'
After a while, Lu Ningxiang, who had changed into fur clothes, walked out from behind the curtain. At the same time, she saw that a pot had been set up on the bonfire, and it seemed that something was being stewed.
At this time, Lu Ningxiang, who had recovered a lot of energy and spirit, bowed deeply towards Jiang Beiran and said, "Thank you for your help. If you hadn't been in time..."
"No need to say this, come and sit."
"Yes." Lu Ningxiang agreed and sat on a small bench next to the fire.
"Here, let's eat a piece of cake first to cushion our stomach." Jiang Beiran handed a piece of cake to Lu Ningxiang and said.
The moment she saw the cake, Lu Ningxiang's eyes lit up, but she still did not lose her etiquette. After expressing her gratitude to Jiang Beiran, she took the cake with both hands.
When picking up the cake, Lu Ningxiang took the first bite very reservedly. She just took a light bite, but when she tasted the aroma of the cake, she could no longer hold back. The next second and third bites
, that’s one bite bigger than the other.
Seeing Lu Ningxiang devouring her food, Jiang Beiran opened the lid of the pot and scooped some hot water out of a bowl and handed it to her.
Although a bowl of chicken soup with a few hot meat buns would definitely taste more delicious, for Lu Ningxiang now, having a piece of pancake and a bowl of hot water is already the ultimate happiness.
"Thank you." Lu Ningxiang, who had a mouth full of cakes, thanked her, took the water bowl and drank most of the bowl.
When Lu Ningxiang calmed down a little, Jiang Beiran asked: "Who are you, who is chasing you, and what are you going to do?"
Ever since the system skipped the option when he first met the woman in front of him, Jiang Beiran knew that it was impossible to get rid of this woman easily.
So when this woman asked him for help through the Ruyi Zhuan, Jiang Beiran didn't feel any surprise. It could even be said that she was a little surprised that she didn't ask him for help until now.
Hearing her husband's sudden question, Lu Ningxiang instinctively wanted to take out the brocade handkerchief and wipe her mouth first, but when she touched her sleeves, she remembered that these were not her clothes.
"Here." Jiang Beiran picked up a square handkerchief and handed it to Lu Ningxiang.
"Thank you." Lu Ningxiang blushed a little after taking the handkerchief, but she quickly wiped away the oil stains on her mouth with it, and replied: "This... the little girl's surname is Lu, and her name is Ningxiang. She is the sage of the country, Lu Qianzhen.
Sister."
‘…’
'Another princess?'
Although Jiang Beiran guessed that this woman was most likely the child of a wealthy family, he did not expect that this family would be so big.
Jiang Beiran didn't know much about the political system of the country, but he knew that their emperor was more prestigious than that of the Sheng country. Those who could ascend to the throne were either senior members of the sect or children of big families, and their cultivation levels were not too low.
.
He didn't know anything about how the emperor was elected, the extent of his powers and specific responsibilities.
There are only two reasons why the princess would be reduced to such a situation. One is the palace fight, but what does the palace fight in the country have to do with Jiang Beiran? So it can be ruled out directly.
The second is that a coup is taking place in the country, and some people feel that the head sitting on the imperial chair should be changed.
'But it has nothing to do with me... Why does the system insist on dragging me into it?'
While Jiang Beiran was guessing, Lu Ningxiang continued to answer his questions.
"There should be...many people chasing me. I can't tell who they are." After speaking, Lu Ningxiang took another sip of hot water and calmed down before answering the last question: "I want to ask for help, but
…But I don’t know who to turn to.”
Looking at Lu Ningxiang's no longer trembling body, Jiang Beiran took out another piece of cake and handed it to her and said, "Do you want more?"
"Gudu..." Lu Ningxiang looked at the pancake sprinkled with sesame seeds and swallowed, then nodded and said, "Well... thank you."
Passing the cake to Lu Ningxiang, Jiang Beiran continued to ask: "So the only person you can turn to now is me?"
Lu Ningxiang, who was about to put the pancake to her mouth, paused, lowered her head and nodded: "Well, now...I don't believe anyone."
"Okay, then you can tell me specifically what happened to you and what kind of help you want, and then I will decide whether to help you or not."
After hearing this, Lu Ningxiang stopped eating the pancake, sat upright and said, "This matter is a bit long."
"It's okay. I have some free time today. I have a lot of time. I can listen to you slowly."
"Yes, then... let me start from before my father disappeared."
…
After a night, Jiang Beiran almost figured out the reason why Lu Ningxiang was in such a mess, just as he had guessed at the beginning.
coup.
Through Lu Ningxiang's words, Jiang Beiran had a relatively complete understanding of the political system of the country.
To a certain extent, like the Sheng Kingdom, the emperors elected by the Ling Kingdom were the spokespersons of a certain force.
It's just that the emperor elected by the Sheng Kingdom was solely for the purpose of rectifying the common people, and he was almost the same as ordinary people when facing cultivators.
The emperor of the Xing Kingdom is closer to the political system of the Six Kingdoms, that is, he pays more attention to the imperial power and can supervise and manage every move of all sects and families to prevent them from doing too much.
To put it simply, there must be someone who has the final say and can stand up to mediate or arbitrate when differences and conflicts arise within the country due to interests.
This is also the direction Jiang Beiran wants Shengguo to develop. There must be someone who has the final say, otherwise there will be too many voices, wrangling and wrangling every day, and nothing will be solved in the end.
Under such circumstances, the first condition for a sect to be qualified to appoint an emperor is naturally to be able to convince the public in terms of strength.
The background of the current emperor of the country is Wuya Sect, and this Wuya Sect is second to none in the country in terms of the cultivation of its leader and the number of Xuan Zun.
But not long ago, the first sect of the country suddenly changed, and the reason was due to internal factional split.
You must know that the internal collapse is far more serious than the attack of external enemies. In a very short period of time, the entire Wuya Sect has turned into a mess. And Lu Ningxiang’s father, the current leader of the country, oh no, it should be said now The previous emperor, Lu Huaian, disappeared during this sudden change.
Wuya Sect, which is in the stage of internal strife, of course cannot choose an emperor. After all, they are divided internally, so how can they still choose a spokesperson.
So I randomly picked an insignificant person and gave it a head first.
And this little person is Lu Huaian's youngest son, Lu Ningxiang's brother Lu Qianzhen.
Naturally, this completely puppet-style way of ascending the throne cannot have any real power. However, in this case, there are still people who want to remove him from power and replace him with another puppet.
When he heard this, Jiang Beiran was almost certain of one thing.
That is, this Wuya Sect is indeed a behemoth. Even though it has been internally divided, it has not even been pushed down by the crowd.
Of course, this is only based on Lu Ningxiang's description. As for whether anyone is "pushing the wall", further investigation will definitely be needed to know.
However, for Lu Ningxiang, the result of the internal division of Wuya Sect, the future of the country, and the sects that are eyeing her with eager eyes have nothing to do with her.
Now she just wants to live and take her whole family with her.
As she said, even if it is just a puppet's throne, there are still people fighting for it. The splintered factions all want the puppet they selected to sit on the throne, so her brother will be an eyesore.
Many people want to get rid of it quickly.
'Oh, that sounds big...'
Sighing in his heart, Jiang Beiran added more dry wood to the bonfire.
After a "crackling" sound, Jiang Beiran looked up at Lu Ningxiang and said, "So who do you think you can ask for help, or why do you think others should help you?"
Lu Ningxiang could only remain silent after hearing this.
When the trouble got to this point, she could no longer trust those uncles and uncles who usually seemed so amiable.
She now sees every family member and feels that they are the murderers who caused her father to "disappear".
Unable to ask for help from her own people, she naturally had no choice but to ask for help from others. Although the hope was equally slim, as she said, she was at the end of her rope.
"I...I still have chips to let others help me." Lu Ningxiang suddenly muttered in a low voice.
"What chips?"
Raising her head suddenly, Lu Ningxiang looked directly at Jiang Beiran and said, "Treasure house! My father's treasure house!"
When Jiang Beiran heard about the treasure house, he immediately became interested.
"Tell me more specifically."
"My father has been on the throne for sixteen years and has accumulated a mountain of treasures. Everyone wants to get these treasures, but they don't know where the treasures are hidden."
"You know?" Jiang Beiran asked.
"They think so too, which is why I was able to escape from the palace." Taking a deep breath, Lu Ningxiang continued: "Since my brother took the throne, our whole family has been under house arrest in the palace. Until one day, I found an opportunity to ask my wet nurse for help, hoping that she would help me escape from the palace."
"She... is also the only relative I can still trust in the palace."
When she said these words, Lu Ningxiang had an indescribable look of loneliness on her face.