Chapter 49: The Women of the Imperial Family

  I haven't had time to go online, and when I finally did, I suddenly discovered that a brother named "Big Swordsman" actually cast 120,000 update votes!! Unbelievable! I'd vomit blood if I tried to write that much! How about we make a deal, would 60,000 votes be okay? That way, I can still manage to code without resting.

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  What a vivid and lifelike picture is unfolding before Di Lie's eyes!

  In a space of less than forty square meters, nearly twenty beauties were squeezed in! Judging from their attire, some seemed to be palace maids, while most appeared to be concubines of the deposed Emperor Zhao of Song, and it was even possible that one or two princesses were mixed among them. They were all under twenty years old, each at the prime of youth, radiant with beauty, and at their most lethal to men.

  So many people with stunning beauty gathered together, slender and plump, icy skin and snowy complexion, fragrance all around, making one's heart drunk... truly a soul-stirring sight.

  Unfortunately, as soon as Di Lie, this big scene-stealer, entered the tent, the inside of the tent erupted into a cacophony of shrill screams. The women were frightened to the point of losing their composure, some embracing each other and trembling, others sobbing quietly, some falling to the ground, and others running wildly in all directions, completely chaotic, with all the romantic atmosphere vanishing... The scene was like a big grey wolf bursting into a flock of sheep.

  Di Lie regained his composure from the initial shock and stood silently, unable to help but sigh at the chaos before him: if the person standing here was indeed Guo Lu, it wasn't hard to imagine what awaited these women...

  The sigh of Zhu Huanghou sounded from behind: "Great hero, take off your disguise, don't scare the girls to death."

  Di Lie tore off his large beard and removed his thousand-household attire, asking: "Does Guo Lu often barge in like this?"

  Zhu Huanghou took a step forward, standing shoulder to shoulder with Di Lie. With an eye that seemed to smile but not quite, she glanced at him: "That Thousand Households Lord may be a lustful ghost, but he only dares to harass the palace maidens in other tents, and would never dare set foot in this tent. Compared to him, your courage is much greater."

  Under Di Lie's astonished gaze, he didn't bother to dwell on the subtle jabs in Zhu Huanghou's words: "What's going on? Could it be that you're afraid of this Empress... No, that can't be right either. If Guo Rong truly had any misgivings, today wouldn't have..."

  The Empress's face turned red, and she hastily interrupted: "This palace doesn't have that much charm. Guo Lu is indeed being cautious, but the one he's being cautious about is someone else... Xuanxuan, come here."

  A sixteen or seventeen-year-old palace-dressed girl emerged, timidly and curiously staring at the young man in front of her with a pair of clear eyes, who had transformed from an evil-looking "Golden Tiger" to a handsome youth in the blink of an eye.

  When Di Lie saw the girl, his eyes widened as much as hers. Although there were many beauties in the felt tent, making one's eyes dazzle, this girl stood out with her slender and elegant figure, exuding a fresh and pure youthful charm that was mixed with a soft and cute air that came from within her bones, making one's heart skip a beat. Especially those big eyes, which seemed to be covered with a layer of mist, as if they could drip water at any time.

  Although the girl was wearing a palace dress with long trousers, covering her slender legs and plump buttocks, the waist that was tied up by silk ribbons and the chest that was lifted high still outlined her figure as elegant as ever. She stood out from among thousands of beautiful women, surpassing even the mature Empress Zhu who stood beside her. Perfectly interpreting the later saying that was widely circulated: "Angel's face, devil's body."

  "At just over ten years old, she's already like this. In a few more years, when she's fully ripe, that will be something else. Absolutely a national treasure-level beauty. Even someone like Di Lie, who has been bombarded with all sorts of beauty pageants in modern society and is aesthetically fatigued, can't help but feel his throat dry up at the thought. He thinks to himself that those legendary beauties from ancient times, the ones who drove emperors crazy and led to the downfall of dynasties - like Daji, Bao Si, and Yang Guifei - were probably around this level too."

  Zhu Empress beckoned with her hand, gesturing for the palace-dressed beauty to come closer. Then, holding the girl's porcelain-white jade palm in one hand, she smiled lightly and said: "Xuan Xuan, aren't you always clamoring to see the great hero who made several tens of thousands of Jin soldiers restless and frightened, the 'Evil Spirit' that Jin Wu called? Isn't he standing right before your eyes at this moment?"

  Suddenly hearing this, the beautiful palace maiden called Huán Huán's eyes widened even more, almost comparable to that "swallow" of later generations. It wasn't just her, but also the 30 or 40 pairs of eyes inside the felt tent, all staring at Di Lie's face with shock and incredulity.

  She slightly furrowed her slender eyebrows (Di Lie couldn't help but admit, this was truly a born beauty, even such a subtle movement looked exceptionally good). She hesitated and glanced at Di Lie again, then shifted her gaze back to Zhu Huang Hou's face: "Your Majesty the Empress, you shouldn't have been deceived by him, right? Based on his appearance alone, how could he possibly defeat the Golden People, who are as fierce as wolves and devils, so miserably that even their leader, Wanyan Zongwang, and those several big kings couldn't eat or sleep peacefully?"

  "Enough of your nonsense!" Empress Zhu hastily interrupted, casting a cautious glance at Di Lie, seeing that he was calm and composed, without any signs of displeasure. She forced a smile, her eyes scanning the women inside the tent before finally settling on Huanhuan's delicate face. With a serious expression, she continued, "This brave warrior is named Di Lie, not from our Great Song Dynasty, but rather... a descendant of the remnants of the Han Dynasty, who have settled overseas and established their own island nation... a prince of the Sea Kingdom..."

  It's settled! Di Lie's face remained calm and expressionless, but in his heart, he let out a long sigh of relief. If the kings of Pu, Xin, and other vassal states had reluctantly acknowledged his fabricated identity with some reservations and lack of credibility, then after Yu Chi's confirmation, his "prince" status was now nailed down, equivalent to being officially recognized by the state, just short of a public proclamation to the world.

  If Di Lie was just a commoner, then the nearly ten thousand people who followed him in the mountains would also be nothing but "bandits". But if he had the identity of a prince, no matter which small country's prince, even an exiled prince, the subordinates he recruited would also be government troops, wouldn't they? This difference is really not ordinary.

  Di Lie, who had just arrived in the noble realm, initially didn't have any concept of this aspect. The so-called "Island Country Prince" was only a casual remark at first. However, after the incident where Old Man Zhou and the other craftsmen escaped, Di Lie truly realized how important status was in this era. Without a dazzling title and identity, even an old fellow who had half his body buried in the ground didn't want to associate with you.

  Not bad, it was worth taking the risk this time, and getting this "true name" is also worth it.

  As Empress Zhu narrated, including Huanhuan, a group of imperial women, one by one, first had their eyes wide with excitement, their faces flushed; then tearfully misty-eyed, embracing and sobbing——originally already hopeless, resigned, and heartbroken. Who would have thought that there was still an opportunity to escape the cage and regain freedom!

  The Empress Zhu gazed at the crowd of women who were overjoyed to tears, and after her eyes reddened, she also felt deeply relieved in her heart. She had given up the opportunity to gain freedom alone and re-entered the tiger's den, but this ordeal was worth it after all.

  In her excitement, she took a step forward, grasped Di Lie's sleeve with one hand, and her crystal-clear eyes shone with boundless joy: "So you're that incredible great hero! Even the evil spirit-like Jin Yu is afraid of you... Can you really save us all?"

  If there were only Di Lie and Huan Huan in this account, Di Lie would be very happy with Huan Huan's behavior, and even better if they could go further, holding hands or something... But under the gaze of so many girls, Di Lie felt a bit embarrassed, yet couldn't (and didn't want to) push away the girl's slender hand, so he just shrugged his shoulders at Zhu Huang Hou. His face showed an expression of "I'm not taking advantage of her on purpose, she came over herself..."

  The Empress Zhu's eyes flashed with a hint of profound meaning, and she smiled lightly: "Huanhuan is the most favored imperial princess of the Supreme Emperor (referring to Song Huizong), who was once praised by the Taoist Heavenly Master as a fairy descending into the mortal world. Although she is already seventeen years old, the Supreme Emperor still cannot bear to marry her off. It is also because Huanhuan is the un married daughter of Yunying, and with her heavenly beauty, the two great Jurchen chiefs, Chongwang and Chonghan, intend to offer her to the Jin ruler Wanyan Zong. Therefore, people like the Great King of True Pearl, the Great King of Precious Mountain, and Guolü, dare not offend us..."

  Di Lie finally understood, no wonder in this tiger's den, there was still an unswallowed "delicacy", it turned out to be a sacrificial offering for the largest "wolf". This situation is just like Ye Die'er, as an unallocated spoil of war, fortunately preserving her chastity. Only, if she hadn't been lucky enough to meet Di Lie, their chastity would have been unknown how long it could have lasted...

  It seemed as if she could sense Di Lie's thoughts, Zhu Huanghou glanced around the tent at the various women with a discerning eye, and said in a soft voice: "Among them, there are still three imperial princesses, four county masters, and many imperial concubines and palace maids, most of whom are icy and pure. At present, they have just crossed the Yellow River and have only recently left Bianjing, and along the way, there have been many disturbances, so Jin Yu has no time to pay attention to them. However, as they journey north, the closer they get to the Jin state border, the more at ease the Jin army will be, and they may start to have other thoughts about these women... after all, not everyone is like Xian Xian, who cannot be touched..."

  Di Lie nodded and said, "Understood, I will safely take them away."

  Empress Zhu nodded deeply: "Great kindness doesn't need to be thanked, in the future if there's anything you ask for, this palace will not refuse."

  Di Lie's eyes flashed, and he smiled: "Mm, I'll really need to ask the Empress for help later. But for now, let's just escape first——please have the Empress send a palace maid to invite those 'personal guards' of mine at the camp gate to come in, saying it's my order, and let them all enjoy themselves together......Hm, I shouldn't have only that many personal guards, have them inform all the personal guards to come together, we'll have an unbridled gathering..."