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墨書 Inktalez
The servants of Yueya Cottage received a letter from Qingshan early in the morning. When they saw Muer being carried back by Qingshan, they quickly cleared the way and escorted Muer to the main hall of Yueya Cottage.
Everything here remained unchanged; after six months, all the furnishings were just as they were when he left. Yet, despite the familiar surroundings, he himself was no longer the same.
As Muer entered Yueya Cottage, he momentarily forgot to hit Qingshan. Although striking his robust chest would not cause much harm, he felt a deep dissatisfaction within him. How could his brother betroth him to someone like this?
Qingshan set him down, and Muer stood there dazed, until he noticed Zhen Duo kneeling before him, quietly sobbing. His gaze shifted.
Muer approached and helped each of the kneeling servants to their feet. "Zhen Duo, are you... are you alright?"
With red-rimmed eyes, Zhen Duo tightly grasped Muer's arm and choked out, "Your Highness, everything in Yueya Cottage is well, but Your Highness, you have lost so much weight. Your arms are a whole circle thinner than when you left the palace."
"It's fine; as long as you are well, I hope my brother hasn't blamed you."
Muer smiled and then turned to Qingshan standing nearby, saying calmly, "You should leave. As for our engagement, I will have my brother annul it. The current Zuo Mo Lun Grand General cannot marry someone who has already been marked as Erci Kunze."
"No, Your Highness, I am willing; please don't say that. I..." Before he could say more, Muer turned away. "I'm tired; please leave quickly."
Qingshan gazed at Muer's slender back for a long time before finally turning to leave.
Once Qingshan was gone, Zhen Duo dared to ask Muer what he meant by the second marking of Kunze. After Muer revealed everything, she covered her mouth in shock and embraced him while crying bitterly. "It's all my fault! If I had gone with you back then, you wouldn't have suffered such humiliation. Those damned Heavenly Enlightenment People dared to insult our Wolf Tribe's prince like this! Changsheng Tian will make them pay for it."
Muer gently stroked Zhen Duo's head, tears welling in his eyes. If she had gone with him, she might have been given to those soldiers by He Mu Ming and faced an even more tragic fate.
Muer instructed Zhen Duo to fetch the Secret Medicine to cleanse his mark.
This significant matter naturally alarmed his brother's queen, Atirya. She was a princess from a branch of the Wolf Tribe and had been married to Mu Heze for over ten years. Since the passing of the late king, she had watched Muer grow up. As soon as Muer returned to the palace, she came to see him immediately and comforted him for a long time before watching him drink the dark Secret Medicine.
This was the Secret Medicine brewed by the Wolf Tribe's priests. Centuries ago, it was developed for Kun Ze to join the Tian Qian family, allowing him to father more children for the Tian Qian brothers without being affected by the conflicts caused by the Xin Xiang mark. Now, it had become a remedy for him to wash away that mark.
After drinking this bowl of medicine, he would only be marked by blood relatives of the Tian Qian, and the Xin Xiang would no longer linger on him. However, the cost was that his Rain Dew Period would become more frequent. This inferior medicine, created for the sake of reproduction, would turn him into the most despised shared husband among the nobles of the Wolf Tribe.
Shared husbands were a long-standing evil custom of the Wolf Tribe.
In a family, the Tian Qian brothers shared one Kun Ze.
At the Cangzhou border.
Mu Le Sun gazed into the distance, towards the direction of Wolf Court. Muer should have returned to Wolf Court by now. Looking at the secret letter from Shilemod, Mu Le Sun felt a sharp pain in his heart.
Muer was the person he cherished most. He had always wanted to wait until he achieved something significant before marrying him. Little did he expect that Muer would come alone to the front lines, hiding in the Military Camp. By the time he learned of this, Muer's fate was already uncertain. After he and the Wolf King checked all the corpses and confirmed Muer was not among them, only then did he shift his gaze to those Wolf Tribe soldiers captured by the Heavenly Enlightenment People.
They were constantly worried about his identity as Kun Ze being discovered. It took them a long time to realize that he had been captured by He Mu Ming. By then, he had already been marked by He Mu Ming. The entire Tianqi Military Camp was difficult to infiltrate due to the differences in appearance between the Wolf Tribe and Zhongyuan Ren. Eventually, this task fell into Qingshan's hands out of necessity. If it had been him taking on this task, then perhaps he would have become one half of the marriage promised by the King instead of Zhuo Fan.
But what use was there in saying all this now? It was too late.
Opening the second secret letter, Mu Le Sun continued reading. It detailed Muer's daily life at Yueya Cottage, and he read it with great care.
Until he saw the line about Muer taking the Secret Medicine; his pupils constricted as he stared at those words for a long time before managing a faint smile.
The Wolf Tribe had evolved from nomadic people into what is now known as Wolf Court over centuries, changing countless rules along the way, yet one rule remained unchanged.
That is, brothers could share wives but could also marry a Kun Ze who had taken the Secret Medicine.
Even though the noble youths of the Wolf Tribe are now capable of marrying multiple Kun Ze, this custom has been upheld through centuries of tradition.
It seems necessary for him to write a letter to the King as well.
However, whatever he could think of, his half-brother Shilemod could likely think of too. It was probable that his proposal for Fire Stick had already made its way to the desk of Wolf King Mu Heze.
The border between Lan Prefecture and the Wolf Tribe is where their territories intersect.
Mu Heze stared at the open Fire Stick on the table, taking a long time to resist the urge to throw it away.
Shilemod's Fire Stick stated that he and Zhuo Fan are half-brothers. According to Wolf Tribe customs, a Kun Ze who has taken the Secret Medicine can marry a Tian Qian brother with whom they share blood relations.
This rule has always existed but has not been seen in royal circles for a long time. Even if those nobles play around privately, he does not take it seriously. However, if it were to involve his full-blooded brother Muer, he would find it hard to accept. Yet if he refused, Shilemod might use the excuse of violating ancestral customs to bring trouble upon him from Changsheng Tian.
Shilemod grew up alongside Muer, but for some reason, they never got along. Mu Heze had privately asked Muer several times, only to receive responses indicating that Muer did not wish to marry Shilemod. No matter how much Shilemod had tried to win him over in the past, Muer remained silent.
Now, however, he had bestowed Muer in marriage to Qingshan. He valued Qingshan's loyalty and bravery toward Muer; after all, he had safely brought Muer out from Tianqi's Military Camp, which earned him the title of warrior.
Giving Muer to him was also for Muer's own good. After all, a Kun Ze who has already been marked would not be treated well by those Wolf Tribe nobles even if he were married off to them. Thus, marrying Muer to Qingshan, who genuinely loved him, might be the best choice.
Yet unexpectedly, Shilemod presented the Fire Stick at this moment, putting him in a difficult position.
He had considered marrying Shilemod to Muer as well, but Muer did not like him. If he did that, his brother would surely be upset and might never want to see him again.
Seeing this, Mu Heze reluctantly replied to Shilemod that as long as Muer agreed, he would allow it.
In the distant Wolf Court, Muer sat on the swing at Yueya Cottage, a swing crafted by his brother and father during his childhood. Such a privilege was rare in the history of the Wolf Tribe, yet he had enjoyed many.
Growing up pampered by his family, his spoiled and willful nature led him to silently enter the Military Camp, where he was captured by Tianqi soldiers and became a pawn to threaten his brother, ultimately bringing shame to the Wolf Tribe. Even though this incident was kept under wraps, it wouldn’t be long before the entire Wolf Tribe would know of his disgrace—an existence that should never have been.
But could he truly face death with generosity?
Muer looked up, lost in thought as he gazed at the sky. The soaring eagles flew freely, yet he could never grasp even a sliver of that freedom.
He wondered how Mu Le Sun was doing.
No one knew of his feelings for Mu Le Sun. Two years ago, during a spring outing, he had secretly admired the Tian Qian of the Wolf Tribe, who had single-handedly tamed the magnificent horses sent from Dayuan.
It was only after he was injured in battle against Tianqi that he had sneaked to the front lines, leading to the disaster that followed.
Now, in his broken state, he was no longer worthy of becoming the matriarch of the Saqiya Tribe and had lost any chance of marrying Mu Le Sun.
He couldn’t help but wonder what kind of Kun Ze would become his wife in the future; however, it would never be him.
Muer lowered his head and let out a self-deprecating smile.
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