Chapter 1 The Underground Secret Chamber

Beneath the artificial hill of Qingfang Study, there was an underground secret chamber. The day Zheng Fan moved in, the Fan family had informed him of its existence.

Now, it was being used to house the princess.

The secret chamber was connected to the artificial hill by a long passage, where no sunlight could penetrate. Moreover, after the princess was moved in, Si Niang had the walls of the tunnel sprinkled with a rather pungent incense ash.

Before going in to see the princess, Zheng Fan was required by Si Niang to take a bath, not in a hot spring, but in the pond, and he had to scrub himself with the mud from the bottom of the pond.

After changing into a set of clothes, Zheng Fan, led by Si Niang, entered the secret chamber and formally met the Chu princess.

The reason for this process was that Si Niang had discerned that the princess's identity was unusual through the scent of the incense. In this era, those who could afford to use incense were from well-off families, and those who could afford expensive incense were naturally from wealthy families.

Furthermore, many places in the Fan residence were blooming with flowers, different from the winter scenery, and the rouge and powder used by the maids in the mansion were also of high quality. Living in the Fan residence, it was inevitable to be tainted with these scents.

At the same time, the scent of some wooden or unique decorations, as well as the smell of animals in the mansion, were often very representative.

Once the princess smelled them, as long as she wasn't stupid and put together a few local snakes in Yong County, it wouldn't be difficult to guess that it was the Fan family.

Although it wasn't clear whether it really mattered to keep the princess from knowing that the Fan family had kidnapped her,

it didn't hurt to be prepared.

Who knew how things would develop in the future?

Being careful and meticulous now

would allow for more room for maneuvering later.

At this moment,

a person was lying in the secret chamber; it was the princess.

A person was sitting; it was Zheng Fan. A person was standing; it was Si Niang.

Lord Zheng tidied his collar

and pointed at the princess.

Si Niang understood, stepped forward, and inserted a needle into the princess's body. The princess slowly woke up.

Zheng Fan couldn't help but say, "It seems very useful. Is this acupuncture?"

"It is and it isn't. If my lord wants to learn, I can teach you. My lord can practice directly on A Ming."

"Hmm, we'll talk about that later."

The princess woke up. Her gaze swept over Zheng Fan and Si Niang. She didn't shout or scream. Instead, she restrained her fear and sat up silently.

The secret chamber fell silent.

After a long while,

the princess asked in a relatively calm tone:

"What do you want?"

A very clever question, not asking who they were or why they had captured her.

This meant that the princess was intelligent.

Intelligence was good; it made communication easier.

Lord Zheng silently took out a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes, pulled out a mint, put it in his mouth, and then tossed one to the princess.

The princess smelled it before her nose. Without much hesitation, she put it in her mouth.

Zheng Fan smiled.

There was only one chair in the secret chamber. He crossed his legs, placed the pack of cigarettes on his knee, gently patted it, and said:

"Let's start with a self-introduction. No, let's do something more interesting first. Guess who I am?"

The fewer times he came to see the princess, the better, because Zheng Fan didn't want to scrub mud in the cold water of the pond every time he came in winter.

But there was no time limit for each visit.

When he and Fan Zhengwen had just returned, a Grand Inner Attendant holding a token had come to the Fan residence. Immediately, Fan Zhengwen had personally ordered hundreds of servants to mobilize the entire Fan family's power to start searching for the princess.

So, Zheng Fan could temporarily ignore the matters outside.

The princess cooperated in playing the game because she knew she had no choice.

"You're not from Chu?"

"Correct," Zheng Fan nodded with a smile.

"You are… from Yan?"

"Correct."

"Are you from Yan's Secret Intelligence Agency?"

Zheng Fan shook his head.

The princess's gaze began to flow up and down Zheng Fan's body as she observed him.

After a while,

she said:

"You are a military general."

Riding a horse for a long time, wearing armor for a long time, and staying in the army for a long time would indeed leave many marks on a person.

"Correct."

"Do you want me to continue guessing?" Xiong Liqing asked.

"Continue."

"Then it's easy to guess." Xiong Liqing smiled, "Since you want me to continue guessing, it means that your name must be very familiar to the people of Chu. You can't be an unknown person or a military general without reputation, otherwise you would be embarrassing yourself and losing face."

"Correct."

"Your age, your style, in fact, I don't know many Yan generals' names."

Zheng Fan smiled slightly.

Xiong Liqing then said:

"Da Chu's Xiong Liqing greets Da Yan's Earl of Pingye."

Hah,

that felt good.

This was a kind of feeling that said, look, I'm still very famous.

It was like when he had first started creating comics in his previous life. He had deliberately screenshotted his own comics and asked on the online forum whose comics these were and how well they were drawn, then desperately and secretly bumped the thread,

and finally,

saw someone reply with his author name below.

Lord Zheng was a person who paid great attention to the quality of life. The previous Q&A game was actually not very useful, but it could increase pleasure, thereby directly improving the quality of life.

Seeing that Zheng Fan was still half-closed his eyes, seemingly immersed in some kind of emotion, Xiong Liqing waited for a while before speaking:

"Earl of Pingye, your visit to my Da Chu must make you a distinguished guest of my Da Chu. My Da Chu will surely fulfill its duties as a host."

Zheng Fan opened his eyes, stretched out a finger, shook it,

and said:

"It would be appropriate for your brother to say these words to me. But you? You are in no position to say such things."

Xiong Liqing took a deep breath and slowly exhaled it. There was even a smile on her face.

In fact,

this Fourth Princess of Da Chu was not a stunning beauty.

But that was nonsense.

Stunning beauties were rare, that's why they were called beauties. How could everyone be a beauty?

But she was quite pleasing to the eye, a little chubby, a little naive, especially when she smiled, she had a sweet and cute feeling like he had seen in Japanese girl groups in his previous life.

"I wonder, Earl of Pingye, what is the reason for inviting me here?"

Zheng Fan smiled and said:

"I'm very sorry to inform Your Highness Princess, that inviting you here was an accident. It was my subordinates who happened to bump into you and conveniently brought you over for a seat."

"So, this is a misunderstanding?"

"Yes."

"Earl of Pingye, can I ask a naive question?"

"Since you know it's naive, then don't ask it."

The princess was stunned.

Zheng Fan yawned and continued:

"In fact, we were originally going to meet, but this meeting is more than half a month earlier than planned."

Xiong Liqing's gaze narrowed,

and soon,

the smile on her face began to become strange.

It was a smile that seemed to see through all the truth, and she was deliberately using this smile to tell you, I saw through it.

A very annoying smile.

So,

Zheng Fan said:

"Slap her."

Si Niang stepped forward,

"Smack!"

A slap landed,

loud,

crisp,

with moderate force,

even the bloodstains flowing from the corner of her mouth were just right.

Afterward, Si Niang retreated and stood behind Zheng Fan again.

Xiong Liqing began to take deep breaths, reached out, placed her hand on her cheek that had just been slapped, and then slowly looked up, looking at Zheng Fan.

Lord Zheng's gaze was still peaceful.

"Your Highness Princess, you can be lively within a certain limit, but please don't make me feel uncomfortable."

Xiong Liqing murmured:

"I've never been hit since I was a child."

Zheng Fan opened his mouth,

looked up,

nodded,

and lightly patted his thigh,

and said:

"That's great."

Si Niang stepped forward again,

"Smack!"

"Smack!"

Two slaps landed,

and the princess's hair was already disheveled.

Zheng Fan silently pulled out a cigarette, bit it in his mouth, but didn't light it,

and said:

"Have you tasted it?"

Xiong Liqing licked her lips, tasted blood, lowered her head, and said:

"Earl, you captured me too early."

"Phew…"

Zheng Fan let out a breath. This Fourth Princess of Da Chu, apart from a bit of affectation from a royal noble, was really sharp-minded.

Reaching out and rubbing his eyebrows, Lord Zheng smiled:

"Yes."

Xiong Liqing raised her head, reached out to tidy up her disheveled hair, looked at Zheng Fan, and said:

"Earl, even if you keep me locked up here, the wedding over there will still be held as scheduled."

Zheng Fan nodded and said, "Probably."

"So, Earl, you're very distressed, aren't you?"

Zheng Fan gently rubbed his hair with the fingers holding the cigarette,

and said:

"A little."

"I have a solution."

"Oh? Then tell me."

"Earl, let me go."

"Oh?"

"Arrange a place for me to be rescued, then I can go back and marry Qu Peiluo. On the wedding day, Earl, you can come and snatch me away, in front of Da Chu, in front of the world, Da Yan's Earl of Pingye will kidnap Da Chu's princess."

"That's a good idea."

"Does Earl also think so?"

"Yes."

Zheng Fan waved his hand,

Si Niang stepped forward again,

Xiong Liqing immediately prostrated herself on the bed and immediately shouted:

"I am definitely not toying with Earl!"

Zheng Fan stood up from the chair,

looked down at Xiong Liqing,

and said:

"Let you go back and then snatch you back, are you taking me for a fool or for a cripple?"

After today's incident, Chu's defenses on the wedding day would be strengthened countless times. Not to mention that Zheng Fan had only brought a thousand riders this time, even with five thousand cavalry, trying to snatch someone again in front of the Chu people who were fully prepared would be a pipe dream.

Xiong Liqing bit her lip,

stubbornly raised her head,

and said word by word:

"What if, on the wedding day, I am willing to go with you, Earl? What if I am willing to cooperate? What if I am willing to come out actively on the wedding day?"

Zheng Fan's eyes narrowed.

Xiong Liqing continued:

"Da Chu's Fourth Princess disdains the eldest son of the Qu family. Her heart secretly belongs to Da Yan's Earl of Pingye. She is willing to be with him for the rest of her life, abandoning her clan and betraying her country, willing to enter Yan with the man she loves.

Ten years later,

twenty years later,

thirty years later,

even sixty years later,

it will still be a beautiful tale sung by the people!"

You captured me

to gain fame,

I'll give you a better script.

Zheng Fan smiled,

a silent smile,

in his eyes,

it was impossible to tell if it was sunny or cloudy.

"Still that same question, are you taking me for a fool?"

Xiong Liqing stared into Zheng Fan's eyes,

her body trembling slightly,

but she still insisted:

"Earl, dare you try?"