Blame the Villain – Chapter 71

Villainous Crown Prince (13)

Nie Qianyu is not a person who speaks but does not act.

As time passed, Song Xuyi became increasingly worried that Nie Qianyu had met with an accident. However, the system reassured her, telling Song Xuyi that it could sense that Nie Qianyu was still alive.

Since Nie Qianyu did not have an accident, where did she go?

Song Xuyi begged Empress Wang and Wang Mian to search for Nie Qianyu, but it seemed like Nie Qianyu had suddenly disappeared from the world, and they could not find any trace of her.

At the same stage in the plot summary, Nie Qianyu was still living in the palace, admired by the original owner and other women like Liu Rumeng. She was always surrounded by people wherever she went and there was no possibility of her going missing.

Where could Nie Qianyu be?

Over the next two years, most of Song Xuyi’s energy was focused on improving the livelihood of the people. Confined to the palace by the emperor, Song Xuyi could not leave, so she carefully wrote down the methods of inventions from her era, such as the compass, papermaking, and printing, and through special channels, she informed Wang Mian of these methods. Wang Mian, knowing the emperor’s aversion to the aristocracy, only claimed that these were inventions of someone under his patronage.

The emperor did not suspect anything, secretly resenting the growing power of the aristocracy but unable to do anything about it.

With Song Xuyi’s deliberate support, the Wang family’s influence grew stronger day by day.

However, the Wang family did not act arrogantly, becoming more low-key instead. They not only reduced the rents for tenant farmers but also sent experienced farmers to teach farming techniques regularly. Furthermore, they even gave a small piece of land next to the Wang family’s land to the tenant farmers to cultivate for free…

As more and more people were drawn to the kindness of the Wang family, talents began to flock to them.

Meanwhile, Song Xuyi never gave up on asking the Wang family for help in finding Nie Qianyu because she was ultimately a hostage from Wu Country. The emperor also sent people to search for Nie Qianyu.

However, despite the joint search efforts of the two largest powers in the Lishui Country, they still could not find any trace of Nie Qianyu. They only discovered that the last few people she met were from Wu Country…

Perhaps Nie Qianyu had returned to her homeland.

Song Xuyi, however, felt that there was something suspicious about this whole matter.

The wise men petitioned the emperor, advising him not to raise dangerous tigers and urging him to send troops to attack Wu Country. However, the emperor was solely focused on dealing with the aristocracy within the country, suppressing all the war recommendations.

Days passed by, one after another, and soon Song Xuyi turned eighteen.

Under the interference of the emperor, the married life of the male and female leads was a mess. Empress Wang initially found it amusing but gradually became anxious.

Song Xuyi had not yet been engaged, and openly admitted to Empress Wang that she had no feelings for any particular suitor. Most women of her age were already married.

Empress Wang was extremely anxious and began arranging suitors for Song Xuyi to consider. However, Song Xuyi had been too low-key in recent years, with a not-so-good reputation, causing many well-off and handsome men to be unwilling to enter the princess’s residence. Those who volunteered to become in-laws were either unsightly or had hidden illnesses. Not to mention Song Xuyi, even Empress Wang found them unsuitable.

Empress Wang wanted to request the emperor for a marriage decree, but as the Wang family grew stronger, the emperor became increasingly cold towards Empress Wang and her daughter in the past two years. It was difficult for Empress Wang to even see the emperor, let alone ask for a marriage decree.

After realizing the reason for the emperor’s indifference towards the mother and daughter, Empress Wang was sorrowful but eventually decided to no longer rely on the emperor. She stopped thinking about selecting young talents from Lido to marry Song Xuyi and instead wanted her father to choose suitable young talents from Zhongzhou for consideration.

While Wang Mian was arranging to select young talents for Song Xuyi, a thunderbolt struck – news came from the border that troops from Wu Country were mobilizing, intending to attack the Lishui Country .

The plot of Wu Country’s new crown prince revitalizing the country and seizing the opportunity to invade the border was almost identical to the script summary, with the new crown prince being smoother and more adept at winning hearts than the villain in the summary.

All of this gave Song Xuyi a strong sense of familiarity.

Who is this new crown prince…?

However, this new crown prince is extremely mysterious. Due to health issues related to snake venom, he rarely appears at court and keeps himself hidden in the palace, with very few people having seen his true face.

Everything seems to be spiraling out of control.

Wu Country seems to have divine assistance, almost predicting all the strategies of Lishui Country in advance, gradually encroaching on its borders. Lishui Country has enjoyed peace for too long, and facing the formidable Wu Country, there are few moments of victory.

It was only when Wu Country captured several cities that the emperor realized Wu Country was the foremost enemy threatening his reign. He took the initiative to unite with the aristocracy to resist the enemy. However, by the time the aristocracy arrived, it was too late. Wu Country came prepared, and Lishui Country was forced to retreat step by step, causing panic and turmoil among the people, with the land and rivers in a state of chaos.

At this moment, Song Xuyi stepped forward and requested to go to the front lines to research and develop weapons.

The emperor didn’t believe that a mere woman like Song Xuyi could contribute anything to the deteriorating war situation, so he ignored her request. However, Wang Mian submitted a petition to the emperor, hoping that the emperor would agree to let Song Xuyi go to the front lines.

With most of the front lines supported by the Wang family’s army, the emperor, in order to appease the Wang family, finally granted Song Xuyi’s request.

When Song Xuyi departed from Lido to the border, Wu Country captured several more cities.

Seeing the imminent fall of Lishui Country, the anxious emperor decided to surrender and become a vassal state of Wu Country in exchange for a glimmer of hope.

Who could have imagined that in just a few short years, the situation between the two countries would undergo such a dramatic reversal?

Almost as soon as Song Xuyi arrived at the border, messengers sent by the emperor to surrender arrived at the border with a large amount of gold and silver treasures, beautiful women, and a treaty offering land and compensation.

While Song Xuyi was experimenting with gunpowder at the border, she looked at the messengers seeking surrender. Even though she had long known about the emperor’s incompetence, she couldn’t help but feel a surge of anger. What enraged her even more was the Wang family, who had been valiantly defending against Wu Country at the border. The Wang family generals and the private army of the aristocracy had been fighting bravely for so long, sacrificing countless lives. They, more than anyone, understood the ambitious nature of Wu Country – losing face was one thing, but Wu Country would never agree to surrender!

The Wang family tried their best to stop it, but the emperor seemed determined to surrender. In the end, the messenger presented the surrender treaty to Wu Country.

Within a few days, news came from Wu Country that in the border city of Wanhua, the Wu Country crown prince would host a banquet to meet with the messenger.

The key to whether there will be peace talks or continued warfare lies in this banquet!

At this moment, Song Xuyi also successfully developed gunpowder.

After demonstrating the power of gunpowder, the Wang family was overjoyed. They immediately discussed attack strategies with Song Xuyi – they would surprise the remaining Wu Country camps with gunpowder while also infiltrating the banquet to assassinate the Wu Country crown prince.

Once everything was planned out, Song Xuyi met with the emperor’s messenger. On the day of the banquet, Song Xuyi planned to disguise herself as a maid and blend into the crowd to observe the Wu Country crown prince.

There have always been rumors in the capital that the infamous princess who never married was pining for the missing Wu Country hostage. When the messenger heard Song Xuyi’s request, thinking she wanted to reminisce, he subtly prodded her. However, Song Xuyi appeared resolute, and in the end, the messenger agreed to let Song Xuyi disguise herself as a dancer and blend into the banquet.

Song Xuyi was unsure of the messenger’s intentions; her actions were purely driven by unease.

Although she knew rationally that the new crown prince had nothing to do with Nie Qianyu, Song Xuyi still wanted to see for herself. In case it was truly Nie Qianyu who had become the new crown prince, given their past acquaintance, Song Xuyi couldn’t bear to witness Nie Qianyu dying at the hands of the assassin she sent.

Unknown to Song Xuyi and others during their discussions, two colorful little birds perched on a branch overhead, listening intently to their entire conversation…

Soon, the day of the banquet arrived.

The dancer’s attire was extremely revealing, accentuating her curves. Song Xuyi had never worn such clothing before. The girl in the bronze mirror blushed cheeks, adorned with a charming and alluring makeup look, appearing pure yet stunning, with a well-defined figure that was neither too thin nor too plump.

Afraid of being detected by the Wang family, Song Xuyi suggested that all the dancers wear face veils. This successfully deceived the Wang family members, and she pretended to be a dancer, riding in a carriage to Wanhua City.

Song Xuyi did not know how to dance, but fortunately, the messenger had arranged for her to have a non-essential dancing position where she just needed to wave a fan in place.

After a day of training, the banquet finally began.

However, the main seat remained empty until the second half of the banquet when the new Wu Country crown prince arrived.

The new crown prince’s stature was not very tall among men, and his figure appeared slender like green bamboo. At first glance, he seemed to fit the description of being frail and sickly, as rumored, but the new crown prince did not show his face – he wore a delicate silver mask that covered the upper part of his face.

From Song Xuyi’s perspective, she could only see the snow-white skin, spotless crimson lips, and perfectly curved jawline of the new crown prince, whose collar was buttoned up high, concealing whether he had a visible Adam’s apple.

After years apart, Song Xuyi had no idea what Nie Qianyu looked like now. She only felt that the “crown prince” before her seemed taller and leaner compared to the previous Nie Qianyu…

It probably wasn’t Nie Qianyu…

Despite the messenger’s elaborate flattery and speeches, the new crown prince at the main seat leisurely enjoyed the performances, seemingly unfazed.

Song Xuyi wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but she felt the new crown prince’s gaze intentionally or unintentionally lingered on her.

Throughout the night, Song Xuyi was on edge, her palms sweaty with anxiety. Unknowingly, her head began to spin…

Her vision blurred gradually, and in her fading sight, the crown prince on the throne leisurely set down his wine cup, clapped his hands, and guards captured the assassins sent by the Wang family, surging from the palace’s sides. A soldier reported from afar, “The enemy forces in the sudden attack had formidable weapons. The ambush troops from Wu Country narrowly won, and the enemy has retreated…”

“Disaster, we fell into a trap—”

This is Song Xuyi’s final thought before she loses consciousness.

The author has something to say:

Last night, we had a sudden power outage in our area, and there is still no electricity. My typing speed is slow on the phone, so that’s why the update is delayed. T_T

LP: Re-translated on April 17, 2024