Second Marriage

Chapter 47.1

Xiao Youning felt it was unfortunate that Ye Shen was not really a Daoist Priest. He said that they might have to break into the mountain bandit’s lair, and they really did enter the “mountain bandit’s lair” through his smooth plans to attract her father to the open.

In the night wind, she turned around. She was halfway up the mountain. The torch was blazing, and there was a wonderful shock in the dark. Perhaps it was because she realized that there were actually 30,000 soldiers stationed here!

“The wind is cold, don’t look at it any more.” Ye Shen was at her side. His palm gently pressed against her lower back, nudging her a step forward.

Next to her was her father. Xiao Youning blushed from his action and quickly caught up with everyone’s footsteps. She did not know that Ye Shen was behind her with a pair of eyes flickering with happiness.

They were only halfway to the stockade. Marquis Ningyuan heard his daughter gasping for air and wanted to ask if she wanted to be carried up. But then there was the sound of footsteps running towards him. It was Xiao Qiye, Marquis Ningyuan’s son. He ran all the way down to meet them, and when he saw them under the torch, he shouted, “Ningning!”

Xiao Youning was startled upon hearing this voice. A smiling young man appeared in front of her.

“Brother…” Her eyes were hot when she saw the young man who was a head taller than herself.

Xiao Qiye was also moved to see that the little girl under the torch was still very bright and beautiful. He turned around and bent down into a squat. He said, “Come on, Brother will carry you up.” He hid the tears that were about to well up.

When he and his father went into hiding, the hardest thing about it was missing his sister. When he saw her, he was full of guilt that could not be expressed.

Xiao Youning directly climbed up and let her brother steadily carry her up to the stockade.

Ye Shen raised an eyebrow. He really didn’t know that the little girl had such a good relationship with her elder brother. From his own experiences, his brothers and sisters would not even support each other in walking a few steps.

After being happy for her, he vaguely felt uncomfortable seeing her being carried by another man. His sharp eyebrows began to wrinkle. Under the moonlight, his expression became colder and colder.

Marquis Ningyuan glanced sideways at this time and the corners of his mouth silently pulled into a smile.

Look, an outsider is still an outsider. My daughter has left him behind.

However, before his thoughts could be completed, he heard his daughter’s joyful voice shouting at them, “Fifth Master, hurry up!”

Ye Shen let out a low chuckle. The unpleasant feeling dispersed with the night wind. He quickly followed while Marquis Ningyuan’s face turned black like the bottom of a pot.

This stockade was already very well-known. It was called Black Hawk Stockade. The courts had tried several times to capture it and failed. Later, after the war, the residents of this place ran away, and it fell into the hands of the bandits. Their power grew as the border turned into chaos. With the mountain bandits close by, Marquis Ningyuan made a decision. Alone, he hid his identity and took more than half a year to find the opportunity to behead the leader. It then allowed his soldiers to attack the mountain.

Everybody was under the impression it was a simple mountain bandit lair, but it was only when they went into the stockade that they found it was well-organized and established inside with secret passageways everywhere. This helped keep the army in the main room under control at all times.

After Marquis Ningyuan captured this stockade, his future plans were successfully implemented. Currently, he was waiting for the last ambush, but he did not expect that the emperor would send Ye Shen over.

When they reached the stockade, Xiao Youning was attracted by this place with Seven Stars and Eight Trigrams1. Having received a signal from his father, Xiao Qiye led his sister around to have a look. He was still sizing up Ye Shen before they left.

Even if no one told him, he could see that Ye Shen had a special relationship with his sister.

Marquis Ningyuan sent his daughter away so there was no need to do superficial kung fu with Ye Shen. He sat down first and poured a cup of tea for himself.

Ye Shen’s shortcoming was his pickiness. The tea would certainly not be to his taste, but he still sat down politely.

Marquis Ningyuan’s eyes were gradually becoming icy. Ye Shen’s expression had reached a calmness and he spoke first. “His Majesty sent me to go through the Wala people2 to look for someone. It is the most important thing to do, so I will stay here for one day at most. I brought Ning’er here because I cannot bear to let her live in worry and panic every day in the capital. When I return to the capital, I will explain the situation to His Majesty that I am the one who forced the Marquis to show up.”

He started speaking but only made his point before he stopped. Marquis Ningyuan put the cup down heavily and had probably guessed what he was talking about.

Ye Shen did not disappoint him and followed with: “As for my second purpose here, it is my selfish motive to see the Marquis. I have asked His Majesty for a decree to take Ning’er as my wife as long as we return safely. His Majesty has agreed.”