Chapter 18: Your Flattery Is Deafening

Chapter 18 Your Flattery Is Deafening

It was already the second day of the journey, and Chang Chun sat blankly at the front of the carriage, watching the soldiers pitch camp.

Dad should be home by now, right? Has Second Brother been keeping up with his martial arts practice? Big Brother should be keeping an eye on him.

Mom must have made my favorite eight-treasure rice. I wonder if my little dog Huahua misses me.

As she thought about it, tears spilled from the corners of her eyes onto her skirt.

"Ah, what a shame."

A passing soldier let out a sigh and slowly walked off.

"Miss, you should eat something."

Yuanyang crouched beside Chang Chun, holding out some dried rations.

"You eat it. I can't eat."

Yuanyang grew anxious.

"Miss, you haven't eaten all day. At this rate, your body won't be able to take it!"

Chang Chun couldn't bring herself to say anything.

She wished she could just die right there on the road. Going to another country to be bullied all over again—she didn't even dare to imagine a life like that.

Dusk fell, and a few bright stars suddenly appeared in the eastern sky. Gradually, more and more stars appeared until they filled the whole sky.

The stars were like fine drifting sand, stretching out into an entire Milky Way.

Back in the city, Chang Chun had never seen a sky so full of stars.

So many, so bright. She looked up, staring at the sight in a daze.

"Miss, I've heard that when stars come out, wishes are especially powerful."

Yuanyang munched on a flatbread as she tried to comfort Chang Chun.

"Really? I don't buy it."

Chang Chun said that, but her eyes betrayed her and closed anyway.

Her hands, hidden inside her sleeves, quietly pressed together as she made a silent wish.

"If there really are immortals, Chang Chun begs you—please let me go home. Even if I die of illness on the road, even if only my bones make it back—I don't want to leave Yanchi and die in a foreign land. I'd be scared."

After making her wish, Chang Chun opened her eyes and waited quietly for more than ten minutes.

But it was all silent. Nothing happened. In the desert, there was still only their group.

Well, how stupid of me.

She let out a bitter laugh, glanced at the still-bright stars, and turned back to the carriage.

But her tears came flooding out, and she couldn't stop them.

...

"Your Majesty, this isn't right. We should have caught up by now. Why is there still no sign of them anywhere?"

Eunuch Yuan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and cautiously glanced at Yun Ran, whose face was as black as the bottom of a pot.

Chang Yuan was feeling anxious and embarrassed too.

"Who's leading the way?! Get over here!"

The guide soldier came crawling over.

"Spare my life, Your Majesty! During the day, I could tell direction by the sun, but once it set, I couldn't find my way."

Yuan Bao also whispered from the side.

"Yes, Your Majesty. At night, the wedding procession usually stops to rest. We set out late, and once we got into the desert, we could only rely on gut feeling."

Rely on gut feeling...

Yun Ran's fist tightened again.

"If you didn't know the way, why didn't you say so?! You led me around in circles for an hour!"

Yun Ran looked up and saw stars in the sky above.

"Isn't that the Big Dipper right there?! Follow me!"

After figuring out which way was north, Yun Ran gave everyone a lesson on navigating by the stars.

"Amazing! Your Majesty is a genius!"

Minister of Rites, Lord Jiang, was just about to butter up the emperor when he realized Yun Ran was still fuming over the wrong turn.

"Who asked you?! Get on your horse!"

With that, he snapped the reins and rode off ahead of the group.

Poor Lord Jiang stood there in the wind, completely bewildered, deep in thought.

Why doesn't it work with me? Is His Majesty picking on me? Am I really that ugly...

Chang Yuan also shrank his neck, since the unlucky guide soldier was one of his men.

"Did you write it down? Big Brother!"

Chang Jiu stared at his elder brother Chang Qing anxiously, urging him on.

The navigation method the emperor had just taught was genuinely useful for military campaigns. Chang Qing, as usual, pulled out his little notebook and jotted it down.

At this point, everyone's admiration for the emperor's brilliance had reached new heights.

"Who knew His Majesty knew so much? Seriously impressive."

"Exactly. He's truly worthy of being the Son of Heaven. With an emperor like this, we in Yanchi are blessed!"

Two soldiers whispered nearby, but their voices were anything but quiet. Seeing this, Yuan Bao rolled his eyes, his brow twitching in exasperation.

Yun Ran, up ahead, naturally heard them, and the corner of his mouth twitched upward ever so slightly. Chang Yuan immediately caught that faint trace of a smile.

Grand General Chang felt joy well up in his heart.

When it comes to brown-nosing the emperor, I'm the real pro. Good thing I picked the two smoothest talkers from the army camps. Heh heh.

Eunuch Yuan clenched his fists so hard.

You're such a suck-up—why don't you just join the palace?!

Why is my life so hard? Even at my rank, people are still trying to take my job as Chief Eunuch!

I hate it!

The whole entourage followed the emperor, tearing through the night.

Luckily, Yun Ran had a good sense of direction.

An hour later.

"Your Majesty! I see lights! Over there! That's gotta be it!"

"Sis!! Big bro's coming!"

The excited second brother, Chang Jiu, smacked his horse's rump, sped up, and hollered.

Chang Chun had already fallen asleep.

In her sleep, she was restless, like she was having a nightmare.

In the dream, she didn't get her wish and die on the road. Instead, she ended up in Beixiang. The Crown Prince of Beixiang was only sixteen, but he already had a bunch of wives and concubines.

Every woman in the dream bullied her, humiliated her, and called her a foreign spy.

The Crown Prince also let everyone bully her and was always suspicious of her.

Even after she got pregnant, a few women ganged up on her, tied her up, and threw her into the lake. She couldn't swim.

When they fished her out, she was covered in blood, and the baby was already gone.

Chang Chun dreamed she was dragged out and dumped on the ground, with the imperial physician's voice in her ears.

"Your Highness, the child... is lost."

The Crown Princess's cold voice rang out.

"Useless thing. We were just messing with her, and she goes and loses the imperial heir. Forget it, throw her back. Don't give her any medicine—it'd be a waste."

Chang Chun frowned hard, murmuring to herself.

"My child, my child..."

She felt herself being carried by a few matrons and tossed into a freezing woodshed. Her whole body shook, her head spun, and she was about to pass out...

"Sis! Big bro's coming!"

From somewhere in the distance, her second brother's voice reached her. Even unconscious, Chang Chun shed hot tears from the corners of her eyes.

I'm dying. Big bro finally came to take me home.

If Chang Chun died, she could leave this place.