Martial Arts Crossover: It All Started with Hijacking Li Canghai

The journey from the capital to Chengdu was long.

The mountains and passes are numerous.

Qin Keqing sat in the swaying carriage, her heart filled with mixed feelings, looking at the scenery outside through the half-open curtain.

Unlike the bustling capital, everything here consists mostly of rolling green hills.

The road to Shu is more difficult than ascending to heaven.

Qin Keqing had come to understand this sentence most deeply along her journey.

As the group approached Chengdu, they could hear long, drawn-out horn calls echoing through the mountains, carrying an air of solemnity.

"Miss, listen, it's that horn sound again." Her personal maid, Ruizhu, poked her head close to the window from outside.

As he spoke, he glanced around, his expression somewhat timid.

Another maid, Baozhu, gently tugged at Ruizhu's sleeve and scolded, "You silly girl, don't make that big mouth. Be careful you don't run into the soldiers and offend them."

Qin Keqing gave a slightly forced smile to the two maids who had grown up with her since childhood, sighed without saying a word, and slowly lowered the curtain.

The direction from which those bugle calls came was the barracks.

Since entering Sichuan, Qin Keqing had seen no fewer than ten such military camps.

Every military camp was adorned with fluttering banners, all bearing the Qin-character black dragon flag.

The soldiers, all clad in black armor and wielding long spears, patrolled back and forth with strict discipline.

This is completely different from what Qin Keqing imagined—a world ruled by a rough and unruly man.

Before she came, she had heard too many rumors about the man named Qin Han.

Some say he was a tyrannical ruler who killed without hesitation, others say he was a lawless leader of a demonic cult, and still others say he was a powerful and lecherous man who couldn't live without women every night.

Qin Keqing even thought about it that night, wondering if she would be exhausted...

But what I saw before me was a scene of perfect order and military might.

Whether in the prefectures or towns they passed through, the people there were not as terrified or numb as one might have imagined; on the contrary, most of them had smiles on their faces.

Occasionally, when patrolling soldiers pass by, the people will take the initiative to greet them, and the soldiers will nod in response, without the slightest arrogance.

This was all thanks to Li Jing and Xiao Feng's effective military management; even without a shortage of money and supplies, they were able to ensure that they didn't take a single needle or thread from the people.

The Qin and Han dynasties also announced a three-year tax exemption.

In other words, the harvest would be whatever amount of grain the people planted within three years, and any powerful family that dared to interfere would have their hand chopped off to establish their authority.

The current Qin army numbers over 300,000.

It was a fusion of Ming Cult disciples and the original Sichuan army. Although the treasures of Tianning Temple were almost exhausted, there was still a shortage of food and fodder to feed the army.

But ever since they confiscated the Wu and Wang families' property, they have no shortage of food and money.

There's really no need to make things difficult for the poor at the bottom of society.

Although Qin and Han emperors could fight without having read Sun Tzu's Art of War for two days, they knew the principle that whoever wins the hearts of the people wins the world. Such a three-year tax reduction could greatly increase the enthusiasm and labor of the people.

All of this only deepened Qin Keqing's confusion.

What kind of person is the man who is about to become her future husband?

How could someone who can govern a region so well be a tyrant and a lecher?

The carriage fell silent, with only the sound of wheels rolling over the gravel road outside.

"Miss, what kind of person do you think that King of Qin...Shu is?" Ruizhu couldn't help but lean closer to the window and ask in a low voice.

Qin Keqing sighed. How could she have known?

"Miss, I've heard that the Qin Cult Leader is a ruthless killer."

Ruizhu muttered to herself, "This girl is clearly scared, but she still can't resist her curiosity."

Qin Keqing lifted the curtain and poked the girl, signaling her to control her curiosity.

He recalled what Jia Sidao, his so-called godfather, had said to him before he left.

"Qing, once you go to Sichuan, you will become the Princess Consort of Shu, and the future of the Jia family will depend on you. Your godfather will take good care of your adoptive father, Qin Ye, so there is no need to worry about the family. Just serve the Prince of Shu well."

It's called a marriage alliance, but to put it bluntly, it's just giving her away as a gift to a complete stranger.

The so-called care for her adoptive father was nothing more than using him to threaten her.

"Perhaps this is my fate," Qin Keqing murmured in the carriage.

Suddenly, she recalled the undisguised look in her future father-in-law Jia Zhen's eyes when she was in Ningguo Mansion, and a chill ran down her spine again.

In contrast, the Jia family father and son who might be encountered in the future, and the King of Shu who might marry a powerful regional ruler, are perhaps...

It's not necessarily a bad thing.

At least the Qin and Han dynasties were powerful enough that even the imperial court had to bestow titles of nobility upon them, and there were no such sordid incidents as those in the Ningguo Mansion.

It seemed that she had figured things out, and Qin Keqing's mind calmed down a bit.

The convoy traveled for several more days.

We finally arrived at our destination at sunset.

Chengdu.

Soldiers clad in black armor stood guard on the city walls, like rows of statues.

"Sigh."

The convoy slowly came to a stop in front of the city gate.

Jia Zhen and his son Jia Rong jumped down from the carriage behind them, their movements somewhat stiff.

The bumpy journey had already left the father and son, who had been pampered all their lives, exhausted.

Jia Zhen's once plump face now looked somewhat haggard, while Jia Rong had lost even more weight.

The father and son straightened their already wrinkled clothes, trying to regain some semblance of dignity befitting nobles from the capital.

Jia Zhen's gaze drifted toward the carriage where Qin Keqing was, his eyes still filled with resentment.

This woman, who was originally his intended daughter-in-law to marry his son, a beauty he had long coveted, was snatched away and given to someone else.

Jia Zhen was clearly unwilling to accept this. If he hadn't known he was going to Sichuan, he probably would have had some inappropriate thoughts on the way.

"Father, we've finally arrived," Jia Rong said wearily.

Looking at the magnificent city before him and feeling the emotionless gazes of the soldiers on the city walls, Jia Rong, a scion of a noble family, instinctively felt a sense of fear.

This is the territory of that traitor who defies the imperial court.

Jia Zhen took a breath and suppressed the distracting thoughts in his mind.

After all, he was a descendant of the Duke of Ningguo, and his ancestors were founding heroes who followed Emperor Taizu in conquering the country.

Although the Jia family has declined, fortunately, they still have their patriarch Jia Sidao, and the pride inherent in the Jia family remains.

Today, Jia Zhen has come to proclaim the imperial edict conferring the title of prince. We must not disgrace the Jia family, nor diminish the prestige of the court.

He stepped forward two paces and shouted loudly towards the city gate, "We are imperial envoys from the capital, here on the Emperor's orders! Open the city gates immediately and let Qin Han come out to receive the decree!"

He deliberately emphasized the words "Qin and Han" to remind the other party that even if you have received news from the court before the imperial edict is read, you are still not the king.