On the mountain there is a tree, and on the tree there are branches; one, three, four, searching.

  The night color disappears, and the dawn light of the morning dispels the thin fog, shining inch by inch on the whole person.

  Walking among the small courtyards and mountain rocks, Xu Fu sent Zhang Yan and Temira to the front door. "After this farewell, it's uncertain when we'll meet again." She smiled and instructed, "Please take care of yourselves after you leave."

  "Queen sister," Xiaoming's daughter pulled Xu Fu's hand and looked up at him, saying "Remember to come visit me in the future."

  Zhang Yan couldn't help but smile, bent down to touch Mingniang's cheek, and suddenly had a strange idea. If in the future she and Liu Ying could become loving companions and have a little daughter, would she also be as lovely as Mingniang?

  She sighed and mocked herself, saying that she still had a long way to go, and that she was only half-grown herself, where did she learn how to be a mother?

  "Ah Yan," Timiriona pulled her hand, walking along the Wei River, suddenly looked at her and asked, "There's something I wanted to ask you last night, but you were asleep. I thought we women who crossed over from later generations wouldn't be willing to share a husband with others. I don't value love myself, so that's that. How about you? You deeply loved the Han Emperor, can you bear to share him with other women?"

  Zhang Yan turned back to look, not far away, Xu Fu's courtyard had slowly disappeared into the misty color, leaving no one, as if she had never stayed there for a night.

  She took a deep breath and said solemnly, "I never intended to share a husband with anyone."

  "Never have."

  "Hehe." Timirouna smiled and said, "Don't tell me that the Weiyang Palace doesn't have any other concubines nowadays."

  Zhang Yan shook her head and said softly, "Mutual deep love is my goal, not a condition."

  "What does it mean?" Artie asked in confusion.

  "Even you said it, didn't you? This world has its own rules, customs, and ideas. I can't shake them off, so I have to acknowledge them and then take my time to deal with them. Don't mention the person I love is the emperor. In this era, which man doesn't consider having three wives and four concubines as a matter of course? My father married the elder princess, who was the emperor's own sister, and they loved each other dearly, but he also had more than one concubine, and people didn't think it was wrong. Even if I were to marry another man, I would still face this problem. How can you promise me that you will not take any concubines after we get married? Although women in the Han dynasty are not as confined as those in later generations, who only leave their homes twice a year, I am still a woman from a good family and cannot always be outside. In the past, I was close to my uncle, but we only met three or four times a month."

  "I don't believe in love at first sight, emotions are real. But without the opportunity to rely on each other, there is no possibility of further development. If I must get Liu Ying to agree not to take a concubine before I marry him, let's not talk about whether he will regret it later. Our years would have been wasted anyway."

  Moreover, he is after all the Emperor, and it's impossible for the Emperor to reach twenty years old without establishing an Empress. If I didn't marry him back then, the Great Han would still have many meritorious officials and nobles, and those officials had daughters of their own. The position of Empress wasn't something that required me specifically, but rather I was the one who required him. When I married him, I was only thirteen years old. Do you think I didn't want to wait a few more years, at least until I was fifteen or sixteen, when it would be suitable for us to develop feelings for each other? But alas, it couldn't be helped. After all, only the Empress is the Emperor's legitimate wife. If I hadn't married him back then, he would have definitely married someone else and lived with her day and night. Who knows, maybe they would have developed feelings for each other. Even if not, in the future when I truly fell deeply in love with him to the point where it had to be him, what if he already had another legitimate wife? Would he abandon her just to hurt people's emotions? He is a kind-hearted person after all, and he definitely wouldn't bear to do that.

  "So," Zhang Yan raised her chin, "since I've already made up my mind about him, I naturally want to take the position of empress first, and then, as his wife, let him get used to my company. Then, love me, and not be willing to look at anyone else again. Let him promise me exclusivity before marrying me. Or marry him first, and then in the future years, let him love me and understand my intentions. Among three thousand weak waters, I only take one scoop. I treat him with this heart, and also want him to treat me with this heart. No change ever. It's just that times are different, so the approach changes too."

  Tiemiruona listened with a dizzying gaze, suddenly smiled and patted Zhang Yan's face, sighing, "Who says Ah Yan is still a child? In fact, your heart is very calculating, no one is more clever than you."

  "But, don't you really consider," she whispered close to Zhang Yan's ear, "using seduction on him?"

  Zhang Yan glared at her, her cheeks slightly flushed, and said in a low voice, "I'll think about it."

  "Hmm----" Ati was intentionally teasing, seeing Zhang Yan really responded, but instead reacted slowly, after a while, he burst out laughing and clapping, "This is interesting. Ah Yan, you don't have to be afraid, you're so beautiful, no man would dare to refuse."

  "Oh, Ati," someone said suddenly, "what you just said is interesting."

  A group of people emerged from the reeds on the banks of the Wei River, led by a man in black clothes and a felt hat, with a refined yet rugged face, a wispy mustache on his upper lip, standing with his hands behind his back, exuding an aura of majesty without being angry.

  Ati slightly shrugged her shoulders and called out in a low voice, "Modu."

  Zhang Yan was also taken aback.

  In the territory of the Han people, countless northern soldiers searched for the missing girl along the Wei River, but in the end, it was a group of Xiongnu who found them first.

  Zhang Yan was still feeling frustrated, but she couldn't deny that deep down, she had let out a slight sigh of relief.

  She and Luomi have a deep relationship, but she is also the queen of the Great Han. Modun is the wise lord of the Xiongnu now, and Temiruo has some knowledge of future technology and advanced vision. They are all irreplaceable figures in the Xiongnu. Now, if they dare to sneak into the Han territory secretly, if they are captured, the Xiongnu will inevitably have internal strife, and later when the Great Han deals with the Xiongnu, it will be half the effort with twice the effect.

  If the Han army found her first, would she point out Temir and send people to search for Modun's group along the Wei River?

  After leaving Xu Fu's hut, Zhang Yan has been hesitant.

  If she betrayed Timiria, she would also betray this friendship. But if she really wanted her to swallow this secret, wouldn't she also betray her duty as a queen and fail to live up to Liu Ying's deep love for her?

  She had not yet made up her mind when she met Modu and his group.

  So, at least. Then she doesn't have to make a choice again. All she needs to do is for Zhang Yan to slowly and imperceptibly retreat to the Wei River.

  Wait for a while. It's good if you can escape when you see an opportunity.

  "The Shan Yu." Atai made a Xiongnu bow.

  Modun nodded and didn't ask her where she had gone that night, letting the Han and Xiongnu armies of thousands search all night without finding any trace. He only said, "There are large numbers of Han troops gathered on both banks of the Wei River. Since we've found A-Ti-Yan-Shi, it's not suitable for us to stay here any longer. Our fine horses are tied up in that forest over there; let's immediately return to Xiongnu."

  "Agreed."

  He slightly curled his lips into a faint smile, turned around, and faced the rising sun, gazing at Zhang Yan standing by the water's edge.

  This year, Zhang Yan was only fourteen years old, but because she wore her hair in a man's style, she looked like an eleven or twelve-year-old. She fell into the hands of the robust and healthy Xiongnu people, looking even more slender and weak. However, her face was as beautiful as a spring mountain, and her skin was crystal clear like jade.

  Modu was slightly startled and asked with a smile, "Which family's young master is this? Hmm, it's desolate here, do you want me to escort you for a while?" He took a step forward.

  "I dare not." Zhang Yan smiled and said. "The Khan's intention is good, but I dare not accept it." When Modu was still several meters away from her, she turned around and jumped into the Wei River for the second time with a clean and neat movement.

  With a splash, a string of bubbles emerged from the clear and cold river water. After a brief pause, he hurriedly chased after her, but Zhang Yan had already swum to a place some distance away from the riverbank.

  "Sly Han barbarians." Egede stamped his foot and sighed, "If we were on shore, ten of them couldn't outrun us."

  The Huns were unfamiliar with water and if they jumped into it, all they could do was stare blindly.

  Mengtian hugged his elbow. Looking at Zhang Yan's wandering figure getting farther and farther away, Fang turned his head to ask, "Who is that girl?"

  Temira was taken aback and smiled, "Did the Khan realize she's a girl?"

  "If I couldn't even tell male from female, then all these years of reading countless women would have been in vain!" Modun said proudly. "The Han people are making such a big fuss searching for her, she must not be an ordinary person. And you spent the night with her, so you should know her?"

  Ati was silent for a moment, then looked up and provoked him, "It doesn't matter if I say it. She is the Zhang Yan who you once sought to marry but failed, and later became the empress of the Great Han."

  "Her?" Meng Dong was taken aback.

  "What's wrong?" Although there was no real emotion, but in front of himself, Mo Dun was concerned about another girl, although that girl was his good friend, Ati couldn't help but feel a little sour, "Regretting it now?"

  Modu did not look back, walked towards the horse in the forest, and sighed, "At first, Liu Xiang boasted that his beauty was more than Zhang Yan's, but there were unrealistic places. This girl is pure and beautiful, and she should be more than Liu Xiang. If it weren't for the envoy being born at that time, this girl would have belonged to the Xiongnu. Hmm," he suddenly said with a sneer, "With such a beauty seeking favor, that little emperor of Han really has boundless good fortune."

  "Ah." Arti muttered, "Did Shan Yu eavesdrop on our conversation just now?"

  Modun mounted his horse, "Did you hear that? I heard it when I walked over. If Atirai likes it, after returning to Longcheng, I won't need you anymore, can I just swallow you?"

  Roaring with laughter, "In terms of beauty, Zhang Yan is also a beautiful woman, and you, A-Ti, each have your own strengths. Just like the Han people say, spring's apricot blossoms and autumn's chrysanthemums are both beautiful in their own way. How can our Xiongnu's number one beauty lose to a Han person?"

  Ati opened her mouth to speak, but Modu had already stopped paying attention to her. He cracked his whip and shouted, "The Great Han's land may look good at first glance, but living there for a long time will make one's bones soft. Our Xiongnu grasslands' fierce winds are better, let's go back."

  The crowd cheered and whipped their horses, shouting as they galloped northward. Before long, nothing was left but a cloud of dust.

  Along the Wei River, drifting downstream was effortless, but rowing upstream was laborious. Zhang Yan had been paddling for a while and estimated that the Xiongnu people were no longer in sight. She then landed on the other side of the riverbank. The autumn wind blew by, and she shivered with cold, her lips frozen white. The scorching sunlight shone on her body, making up for some warmth.

  She gathered dry branches and lit a fire.

  Before long, a team of Han soldiers came along the smoke and fire. The leading school lieutenant ordered the soldiers to guard far away, and then stepped forward to worship, "I am the Northern Army Lieutenant Lu Zhi... Your Excellency."

  It turned out to be an old acquaintance.

  Zhang Yan forced a smile and said, "Lü Xiaowei, please... ah-choo" Before she could finish speaking, she couldn't help but let out a sneeze.

  "On a cold autumn day, you've been caught in the rain for so long." Lu Zhan's eyes didn't leave hers as he took off his own outer robe and handed it to her, saying, "Although it's not quite proper, but please put it on anyway, lest you catch a chill."

  She hesitated for a moment, and another gust of autumn wind came, feeling as if she had fallen into an ice cellar, so she took it over.

  He barely smiled and continued, "I have already ordered someone to report back. Don't worry, Your Highness, I instructed him to go directly to where the Emperor is, the Emperor spent a night guarding by the Wei River, he was worried about you all along, probably in a little while he will come over personally."

  Zhang Yan let out a sigh of relief.

  This time she fell into the water, it's not a good thing, and it shouldn't be spread everywhere. The fewer people who know about it, the more room there is to maneuver. And yet, Lü Bu clearly recognized her, but didn't call her Empress in front of everyone, and instead directly bypassed his superior officer, Zhong Jun Qi Yun, to report her news to the Emperor, with very subtle intentions.

  Thinking like this, and listening to the words of Lu Yan in his speech about Liu Ying's self-protection, she felt a little sweet in her heart. She sat on the empty riverbank, with sunlight shining on her body, warm and cozy, although the temperature under her outer garment was damp, it couldn't stop the feeling of drowsiness, at the moment when she was about to fall asleep, she suddenly heard a familiar voice calling her name, "A Yan."

  It's finally a weight off one's mind.

  I've kept my word.

  This chapter indeed ends with Liu Ying finding Zhang Yan.

  But about what was said yesterday at noon, sweat...

  Is it because of an accident?!

  This chapter is basically today's update.

  I'll continue to code and make it even better.

  I don't know when I'll finish coding and submit it.

  Also, please support the pink ticket.