Crossing the Mountains

Chapter 7: The Bride Keeps Vigil
The valley was filled with screams and wails.

Caizhu'er, overcome by grief, grew increasingly drowsy, too weak to run. Seeing an overturned cargo box in the corner, she took refuge inside, hoping against hope. Lifting the sand-proof sheet, she groped her way to the lower level, where she hid among the debris. Suddenly, her fingertips felt slippery.

At the same time, a faint voice of Mo He was heard from the pile of debris: "There's no room left. Move to the side."

Cai Zhu'er was startled: "Princess Alan?"

The two girls huddled here together, temporarily isolated from the fighting outside.

They were trembling with fear.

It gradually became quiet outside, and the sounds of fighting became weaker and weaker. Only the sounds of assassins' swords falling and the sounds of tents and goods being burned by fire remained.

Cai Zhuer smelled the increasingly strong smell of blood around her and asked with concern: "Princess, are you injured? Are you still bleeding? Can I bandage you?"

A Lan released the palm that was pressing on the wound, smiled bitterly and said, "It's no use..."

"What?" Caizhuer didn't hear clearly.

"I've been wounded in two places. An arrow pierced my shoulder and back, and a knife wound stabbed my waist and abdomen. My internal organs have been damaged, and I'm bleeding too much. I can't stop bleeding here, and I can't run anymore. Don't bother."

"Princess, don't give up. They may not kill you. They may just want to rob you of your wealth..."

"I'm so cold and tired. Let me lean on you for a bit." A Lan leaned towards Cai Zhu'er and analyzed clearly, "They won't let me go. At first, those sand bandits probably really didn't want to kill me, so they just kidnapped me and tried to negotiate with the generals of Daxuan. But these assassins are here to kill me, and no terms can impress them."

"Who are they?" Cai Zhu'er didn't understand. "Alan, aren't you here to marry into a foreign alliance? Why would they want to kill you?"

"I don't know..." A Lan asked, "Cai Zhu'er, where are your family members?"

"Grandfather and brother are..." Caizhuer's eyes were filled with sadness.

"It's me who implicated you, cough cough..." After wiping the blood foam from her mouth, A Lan held her hand and said, "Cai Zhu'er, do you want to avenge them?"

"I do, I do! But those people are so powerful, I don't even know who they are."

"I can help you, but I need you to do me a favor," A Lan said. "I'm afraid... I can't escape. You're the one with the best chance of survival among us. If you promise me one thing, I'll help you find the real culprit and avenge your father and brother."

"what's up?"

"Go find my brother, Prince Aisha of Moh, and tell him that this marriage cannot be annulled, no matter what means are used."

"Marriage? How can you marry someone else when you're like this?"

"We'll find a way." She placed her sapphire beads on Caizhu'er's wrist and instructed, "My brother is also in this marriage procession, but he had other important matters to attend to, so he entered the pass a few days ago. This is my token. After you escape, go look for him inside Daxuan Pass. You can ask the Hu merchants who sell gems. When he finds out, he'll come to see you."

Caizhuer had a bad feeling: "What are you going to do?"

A Lan drew the dagger from her waist and said, "They won't stop searching until they find me. By then, neither you nor I will survive. If the marriage fails, Da Xuan and Mo He... cough cough, never mind, I'm leaving. Cai Zhu'er, live on. No matter how difficult the situation, break free from the shackles that bind you. I will protect you."

After saying that, Alan quietly left his hiding place, dragged his seriously injured body to the other side of the river bank, and then deliberately made some noise to attract all the assassins over.

The wind in the valley was weeping and complaining, carrying the last words of the princess who was to be married off.

She spoke in clear, official language: "I am the most dazzling jewel of the Mohe Kingdom, and I will never submit to you dirty and despicable people!"

The weapons clashed in just a moment.

When the pearl fell to the ground, it was not covered with dust.
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After confirming the princess's death, the assassins ceased their search. However, they didn't rush to leave. Instead, they looted the property and burned the tents and goods, seemingly attempting to eliminate all traces. Caizhuer didn't dare to hide among the goods any longer. Instead, she used her small stature to hide among the corpses by the river, with most of her body submerged.

Unexpectedly, in order to prevent any survivors, the assassins sent several more people to clean up the pile of corpses, stabbing each corpse repeatedly with their sharp blades.

They were getting closer and closer to Caizhuer.

"And that Great Prince Mohe, why haven't we seen him?"

"We've been following him for so long and haven't seen him. He must have left the team early. It's really troublesome."

"Humph, the princess is gone, and he can't get married. What can he accomplish alone?"

Seeing them approaching her, Caizhuer lay motionless. She thought tiredly, it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter if I can't escape, the worst that can happen is that I die in this valley with my grandfather and brother, and our family can be reunited in heaven.

At this moment, the sound of horses neighing was heard again in the distance.

The assassins suddenly withdrew their attacks: "The Zhenxi Army is here for inspection! Retreat!"
-
Caizhuer didn't know when she fainted. When she woke up, the valley was in ruins.

Overnight, she lost everything.

Kneeling beside the bodies of her father and brother, Caizhuer was heartbroken.

Revenge... I want revenge!
My father and brother died in mysterious circumstances, and I want to avenge them! I want to find out who those assassins are and make the murderers behind them pay the price!

At that moment, the flame of revenge ignited in her heart and became her belief in living.

After leaving the valley, she headed to Yangguan alone, but she collapsed halfway and fainted again.

This time she woke up in the hands of a human trafficker.
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Caizhuer finally entered Yangguan and set foot on the territory of Daxuan.

——As a Hu slave.

The silver and money she carried with her, the passbook of the Hu merchant, and the sapphire beads on her wrist were all sold by human traffickers.

Caizhuer refused to be a slave and tried to escape several times, but was caught by the traffickers every time and beaten until her body was covered in bruises. The traffickers locked her in a cage and sold her like an animal in the market.

Until the daughter of a wealthy businessman chose her.

Across the cage, the woman pinched her chin and looked her up and down: "Hu girl?"

The trafficker had seen her past and said politely, "She's half a Hu girl. Her family is all dead, so pitiful. Young lady, you have good taste. This Hu slave is not stupid. She can speak Daxuan dialect. Judging from her appearance, she will definitely be a smart girl if you buy her back."

The woman scoffed, "Just right, he's a bastard too." She bargained with the trafficker, "He doesn't seem very obedient, he's skinny and stupid, how can he be worth so much money? I'll make it cheaper."

In the end, she was bought by Tan Anfu.

Not long after, Caizhuer became the concubine's daughter "Tan Huaike" brought back from the countryside, and married into the Shentu Mansion in place of her "sister".

At this moment, she was guarding this green hut, facing her husband's tablet and coffin.
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　Next chapter: Open the coffin and see you.

　　Thanks to Jiang Jiang Jiang Jiang Han and Xia Xi Chan Ming for their recommendations~
　　

(End of this chapter)