I am the villain in the book

The next day, early in the morning, outside Yuanzhou City.

Green grass formed a lush carpet, dotted with various wildflowers, their dewdrops glistening in the morning sun.

"Princess, someone's coming!"

A guard clad in embroidered fish scale armor reported in a deep voice, and the others standing beside the carriage all turned their gazes towards a man and a woman rushing towards them from a distance.

Most of them looked wary, but Wei Changtian frowned slightly.

After hearing Li Wutong's "riddle" last night, he had decided to go to Fengyuan.

And since he was going to the enemy's capital, the military advisor Chu Xianping would definitely have to come with him.

So, after "waking up", he sent a "telegram" to Chu Xianping, asking him to come and meet him.

But he didn't expect You Jia to come along too.

"Young Master Wei."

Li Wutong turned her head and asked, "Are these the people you're taking to Fengyuan?"

"Yes."

Wei Changtian nodded: "Princess, the three of us need to ride in the same carriage."

"Alright."

Li Wutong, determined not to let Wei Changtian "escape", quickly added, "But I want to ride in the same carriage with you!"

"Fine."

Wei Changtian pursed his lips, too lazy to make any more promises, and took a step forward to meet Chu Xianping and You Jia, who had already arrived nearby.

"Young Master."

The two stopped and bowed slightly to Wei Changtian.

The former looked rather helpless, while the latter was a little apprehensive.

Clearly, You Jia must have insisted on coming along, and Chu Xianping couldn't dissuade her, so he had to let Wei Changtian make the decision.

"Sigh, let's get in the carriage first."

Wei Changtian sighed and didn't send You Jia back: "We'll talk about other things on the way."

"Yes!"

Two days later.

The Capital, the Imperial Palace, the Shiqu Pavilion.

"Wei Qing, you must have heard about the matter of Yuanzhou."

Standing in front of a huge map, Ning Yongnian looked at Wei Xianzhi, his expression and tone very calm: "Wei Changtian is probably already on his way to Fengyuan, do you have anything to say about this?"

"Your Majesty, I just learned about this matter."

Looking at Ning Yongnian, Wei Xianzhi's voice was neither humble nor arrogant: "My son disregarded his own safety and rescued Lord Liang from the midst of the army, I am very gratified!"

"Gratified?"

Ning Yongnian smiled: "I am also very gratified, but I am not asking you about this."

"Hmm? What is Your Majesty asking about?" Wei Xianzhi asked knowingly.

"..."

Ning Yongnian did not answer immediately, but took a deep look at Wei Xianzhi, and then slowly moved his gaze back to the map in front of him.

"Wei Qing, now that Yuanzhou City has been breached, Wen Wen has led his troops to betray the enemy."

"Although our army has already deployed defenses in Feng County, it remains to be seen whether we can hold it."

"At this time of war between the two countries, your son has traveled thousands of miles to Fengyuan with the Princess of Da Feng."

"Tell me, what do you think I should feel?"

"This..."

Wei Xianzhi touched his nose, and then exclaimed in a "sudden realization": "Your Majesty! Could it be that you think my son will also betray the enemy?!"

"I did not say that, and I understand that Changtian must be acting against his will."

Ning Yongnian shook his head: "However, what the people of the world will think is not something I can decide."

"..."

Incense was burning in the incense burner, and the memorials on the table were neatly arranged, one stack for those that had been reviewed and one stack for those that had not.

Looking at Ning Yongnian, Wei Xianzhi frowned slightly, and after a long silence, he said something quite irrelevant.

"Your Majesty, now that Da Ning is beset by internal strife and foreign enemies, at such a critical juncture, the most important thing is to protect the safety of Da Ning's empire."

"Yes..."

After a pause, Ning Yongnian let out a long sigh, as if in agreement.

"The safety of the empire, that is the most important thing."

"Wei Qing, I remember that you also have a daughter, is her name Qiaoling?"

"How old is she now?"

"This..."

Wei Xianzhi was stunned and answered truthfully: "Your Majesty, eight years old."

"Eight years old is indeed a little too young, in that case..."

Ning Yongnian turned his head and smiled: "Wei Qing, when Changtian returns from Fengyuan, I plan to betroth a princess to him."

"What do you think?"

"..."

An imperial marriage.

Wei Xianzhi naturally knew that Ning Yongnian wanted to ease the relationship between the two families through marriage.

Since Wei Qiaoling was too young to marry into the royal family, then Wei Changtian could only marry a daughter of the royal family.

To be honest, Wei Xianzhi was not opposed to Ning Yongnian's "delaying tactic".

Although such a marriage could not establish any solid relationship, Ning Yongnian could catch his breath and the Wei family could also breathe a sigh of relief.

Moreover, if he refused, strictly speaking, he would be committing the crime of "great disrespect".

It's just that...

"Your Majesty, I'm afraid I have to ask my son about this first."

"Hahaha, Wei Qing, since ancient times, such matters have been decided by parents and matchmakers, why ask more?"

Ning Yongnian jokingly asked: "Could it be that the Wei family is now ruled by your son?"

"..."

Faced with this question, Wei Xianzhi unexpectedly did not evade the issue, but looked at Ning Yongnian and calmly cupped his hands.

"Your Majesty."

"Yes."

Jizhou, Jizhou City.

After more than a month of continuous siege by the imperial army, Jizhou City, although not broken, was already desolate.

In ancient times, there were two ways to besiege a city in battle.

One was to surround the city completely, leaving no room for anyone inside to escape.

The other was to surround the city on nine sides, leaving a glimmer of hope, thereby weakening the morale of the defenders to fight to the death.

The imperial army chose the latter. Although the Xu family and the Jizhou army had not escaped so far, many of the people in the city had already fled.

As for those who remained...

Some people didn't want to escape, and some people didn't have the money to escape.

And there were very few like Old Zhang, who didn't take the war seriously at all.

"Grandpa, what are you thinking about?"

In the dilapidated wooden house, Agou, who had just tiptoed to pour a bucket of water into the water tank, turned her head and looked at Old Zhang, who was sitting on the kang in a daze, and asked:

"Didn't you say you were going to take me to eat roast goose today?"

"The roast goose can wait."

Old Zhang came back to his senses and asked blankly: "Agou, what day is it today?"

"It's April 22nd."

"What year is it?"

"This..."

Agou blinked, obviously not knowing the answer either.

"Forget it, forget it, I'll ask someone else."

Old Zhang waved his hand, turned over and got out of bed, put on a tattered shirt and walked out of the house: "You wait at home, I'll buy roast goose for you when I come back."

"Okay!"

Agou immediately perked up when she heard this, and soon after Old Zhang left, she moved a small stool and ran to sit at the door, her mind full of images of fragrant roast goose flying into her mouth.

However...

"Agou!"

About half an hour later, a familiar shout rang out from the alley.

Agou suddenly stood up, the smile on her face instantly freezing when she saw Old Zhang's empty hands.

She was just about to question her grandfather why he hadn't brought back the roast goose she had been thinking about, but the latter's hurried shout came first.

"Quick! Quickly pack your things!"

"Let's go find your senior brother!"