I am the villain in the book

Ten days later.

With a speed that could almost be described as a blitzkrieg, the Da Ning army completely captured the Huailing and Yong'an prefectures of Da Feng in less than a month after dispatching troops. In addition to the 400,000 soldiers at the front line, another 300,000 soldiers from various states gathered in Yuanzhou, ready to advance to the front line at any time.

As before, this was also a “national mobilization”.

Thirty-five of the thirty-six states had dispatched state troops to varying degrees.

Only Liang Zhen, the general of Shu Prefecture, used the excuse that the Shu Prefecture army had no soldiers available and did not send a single soldier.

In addition to the heated national war, the people of Da Ning had recently heard another “minor matter”.

The mastermind behind the assassination of Prince Shun's family last year was not the Xuantian Society, but the current Holy Majesty - Ning Yongnian.

Moreover, Princess Rou'an, the only survivor who disappeared at that time, was not dead, and was in Shu Prefecture!

Of course.

Compared to the war on the front line, such a “royal scandal” was obviously not very attractive, and many people simply did not believe it.

But regardless of whether they cared or believed it, Wei Changtian's purpose had already been achieved.

In the end, this was just a pretext for “establishing a new king”.

On the thirteenth day after leaving Yuanzhou City, Wei Changtian and his party finally returned to Shu Prefecture City.

He did not notify anyone in advance, but went straight home in a carriage.

The vermilion gate, the century-old locust tree whose crown could be seen over the courtyard wall, the stone lions squatting at the door, baring their teeth...

In the blink of an eye, nearly half a year had passed, and everything in the small house was almost unchanged from when he left.

If there was any difference... perhaps there were more maids and servants entering and leaving the courtyard.

“. . . ”

Getting out of the carriage, stepping over the threshold, waving to the surprised doorman, and then walking straight to the maid who was drawing water in the yard...

“Cough!”

Wei Changtian coughed, startling the maid, who then suddenly froze.

Qiu Yun turned her head in disbelief, and the copper basin in her hand fell to the ground with a “clang” the moment she saw Wei Changtian.

“Gong... Young Master!”

“Rea... Really is you?!”

“Haha, what are you asking”

Wei Changtian tilted his head and joked, “Could it be that you can't recognize me after not seeing me for only a year?”

“I...”

Qiu Yun opened her mouth blankly, tears welling up in her eyes instantly, but she didn't know what to say for a moment.

If it were Yuan'er at this moment, she would have pounced into Wei Changtian's arms long ago.

However, Qiu Yun, who was more aware of the rules, would not do such a thing.

A trace of worry and heartache immediately appeared on Qiu Yun's face, but before she could ask in detail, Wei Changtian changed his tone and smiled to complete the sentence.

“Without you by my side, I have no one to warm my bed when I sleep, how can this be good?”

“Ah?”

Blinking blankly, Qiu Yun quickly realized that Wei Changtian was teasing her.

Feeling her cheeks slightly hot, she lowered her head and whispered, “Young... Young Master, why are you still as improper as before...”

“Haha, Qiu Yun, remember, there are only two kinds of men: improper and falsely proper.”

Wei Changtian patted Qiu Yun's head: “There are no truly proper men in this world.”

“Nonsense... Just because Young Master is not a proper person, you assume that others are not?”

Faced with such absurd reasoning, Qiu Yun naturally only took it as a joke.

And Wei Changtian had no intention of explaining further, just looked around and asked with some doubt:

“Where are Wan'er and the others?”

“Oh, the First Madam and Second Madam, and several young ladies are all in the backyard.” Qiu Yun answered truthfully.

First Madam? Second Madam?

Hearing Qiu Yun's address, Wei Changtian was slightly taken aback, but then he understood.

Obviously, judging from the time she entered the family, the First Madam should be Lu Jingyao, and the Second Madam was Xu Qingwan.

Yang Liushi and Liang Qin were temporarily not officially married, so they were both referred to as “young ladies”, and it was estimated that they would become the Third Madam and Fourth Madam in Qiu Yun's mouth in the future.

Good heavens, Wei Xiaobao only married seven wives, and I already have four.

At this rate, becoming a “Wei Xiaobao” is just around the corner...

“What are they doing in the backyard? Playing mahjong?”

Asking casually, Wei Changtian stepped forward and prepared to go to the backyard, preparing to have a good chat with Little Xu, whom he hadn't seen for half a year, and casually say hello to Lu Jingyao, whom he hadn't seen for a year.

However, Qiu Yun, who was following behind him, shook her head and whispered:

“Young Master, no.”

“Sister Su Yue gave birth this morning, and the madams and young ladies are all waiting there.”

“Huh?”

Wei Changtian stopped suddenly, turned his head to look at Qiu Yun: “Li Suyue is giving birth today?”

“. . . ”

Undoubtedly, the saying “giving birth” was a bit too straightforward in this world.

Fortunately, Qiu Yun had long been accustomed to Wei Changtian's style, so she nodded lightly.

“Yes, so Young Master should not go over there right now.”

“Or should I call the madams over?”

“No need.”

His expression became a little complicated, Wei Changtian was silent for a long time, then suddenly turned around and walked towards the gate.

“I'll go out to do something first.”

“. . . ”

An hour later, outside Shu Prefecture City, Little Green Mountain.

Having “drifted” outside for half a year, and running out of the city again without even sitting down at home, Wei Changtian did so naturally because he had important things to do.

Um...

Actually, this matter was not that important.

“Young Master, do you want to engrave words on the monument?”

Beside him, Chu Xianping had already used a knife to cut a bluestone into a horizontal and vertical rectangular stone slab, and Du Chang, not far away, had also led people to bury soil in a large pit.

In the pit was a porcelain jar containing Wang Qian's ashes, which had been brought back all the way from the Western Desert Gobi.

“. . . ”

Looking at the smooth and flat surface of the monument, Wei Changtian did not speak for a long time.

According to convention, the inscriptions on ancient people's monuments were generally divided into three parts: “header, main text, and signature”. In addition to the most basic information such as place of origin, name, identity, date of birth and death, descendants, etc., some words of praise such as “eternal fame” and “loyal and righteous” could also be added.

Of course, Wei Changtian did not know Wang Qian's specific information, but if he really wanted to investigate, it would probably not be difficult.

But...

“I'll engrave it.”

When the last handful of yellow soil completely filled the large pit, Wei Changtian finally opened his mouth softly.

Chu Xianping immediately handed over the long knife and stepped aside with Du Chang to wait for Wei Changtian to engrave Wang Qian's inscription.

Compared to Du Chang, Chu Xianping knew more about Wang Qian, and also learned from several镖师 of the Shimen镖局 about everything that happened in the Western Desert Gobi that night.

Rather die than escape, fight to the last moment.

To be fair, without Wang Qian, Old Zhang and A'Gou might have already died in that vast desert.

If combined with what happened to him before...

Sighing softly, Chu Xianping couldn't help but feel a burst of emotion in his heart.

And Wei Changtian also slowly raised the long knife at this time, and engraved ten characters on the monument, one stroke at a time.

No name, no place of origin, no life story... nothing, just ten characters like a short poem.

Wandering strangers, still dreamers.

“Huff”

The clear wind blew through the mountain stream, scattering the powder on the stone tablet, carrying a man's tortuous life back to heaven and earth.

At the same time, a loud cry also rang out in Shu Prefecture City, dozens of miles away.

It was bright and crisp, bringing a new life to this world in an atmosphere of joy.

This world is full of wisdom and foolishness, faith and doubt, hope and despair.

“Wah!!!”

“Wah!!”

“Wah!!!”