Chapter One: Exile

  "Boom!"

  The new house with big red auspicious characters suddenly emitted a loud noise, like a dazzling firework.

  Damn it...

  This is Song Guan's final rant in his life

  Damn it, I'll never be a doctor again in my next life!

  Song Guan yelled out this sentence with his life, and then his whole body was blown up by black gunpowder, bloody and mangled.

  Today was supposed to be Song Guan's most triumphant moment.

  The night of the wedding, when the golden list is announced!!

  Today, Song Guan was promoted as expected to be the attending physician in the hospital, and he is about to get married with his girlfriend of two years.

  At the moment of double happiness, a patient's family member rushed into the new house with explosives. The wife of the newcomer died on the operating table, and the family was heavily indebted due to illness. The old father could not bear the debt and drank pesticide to commit suicide. He did not want to live, so he rushed into the wedding and ignited the explosives, blowing up Song Guan and his new wife who were smiling happily.

  But, damn it, Song Guan is just an assistant, okay? The patient's family doesn't go find the chief surgeon to beg for help, why are you screwing me over?!

  Song Guan felt wronged and his consciousness became blurry for a moment...

  Ding dong ding dong...

  Ding dong ding dong...

  Faintly came the tinkling of wind chimes, a melodious sound that summoned back Song Guan's wandering soul.

  "Shopkeeper, shopkeeper wake up!" The voice rang out beside his ear, crisp and clear, with a pleasant tinkling sound.

  Song Guan slowly opened his eyes, his body aching and his eyelids heavy. Hmm? Didn't he die after all?

  "Shopkeeper! Wake up quickly!"

  A small hand patted its own face, accompanied by a jumbled dialect.

  Song Guan slowly opened his eyes, and his field of vision gradually cleared. Finally, the lines of sight from both eyes converged on what was in front of him. In front of him was a woman wearing a green long robe, with a small servant's hat, her skin as white as snow. A woman dressed as a man, and moreover, a beautiful woman wearing Tang Dynasty attire.

  "Stop taking pictures, you're going to get me killed," Song Guan muttered, then looked around in confusion and panic. Where was this? It wasn't the wedding venue or the hospital... what the hell was this ancient-style inn?

  In front of me was a pear-wood counter, surrounded by empty guest rooms. Then in front of myself, there was a crazy girl.

  "Shopkeeper, hurry and let me hide! They're going to catch me! If they catch me and take me back, they'll whip me to death!" The girl withdrew her arm, and on her wrist was tied a string of small silver bells, which were the source of the tinkling sound.

  "Huh?" Song Guan was puzzled, "Who are you?"

  "I'm from... anyway, I'm a decent girl, I don't want to be sold into slavery. Please hide me quickly." The young girl said in one breath, "In the future when I become successful, I will definitely repay your kindness of saving my life."

  "Ah!" Song Guan nodded and looked around, "Where are you going to hide?"

  "Behind the counter," The girl's eyes stared at Song Guan, seemingly still disbelieving. She too had been forced into this broken-down inn, and yet the owner was so magnanimous as to dare defy the laws of the Tang Dynasty to shelter her.

  "You're a good person, and when I get back on my feet, well, what I mean is, I'll definitely repay you," the girl emphasized again, her slender body shrinking behind the counter.

  "Is this the one? Don't get it wrong!" came an impatient voice from outside.

  "It's absolutely true! That servant girl ran into this inn, the Red Dust Inn. I, Zhou Wuhou, guarantee it with my life."

  "Go in... huh? Isn't this Song Kai's inn?"

  The sound fell, and five people entered the hotel. The first person wore a cyan embroidered long gown, holding a Tang knife, with a wide waistband around his waist, with an air of pride.

  The four people behind him were dressed in a family-like attire, wearing green hemp clothes and having a sly look on their faces.

  "Song Kai! What a coincidence, you were just here this morning and now we meet again!" The leading Wu Hou smiled slyly at Song Kai, his Tang knife slightly shaking in his hand.

  Song Kai? Is this really my name? Am I dreaming? Acting in a movie? Or is it that damn egg's transmigration?

  Song Kai slightly cupped his hands and said: Whatever it is, let's just get through this scene in front of us first.

  Their language is similar to the local dialect of Suzhou, but also a bit different. Fortunately, Song Kai has lived in Suzhou since he was young, so he can understand and speak it.

  "Marquis of Zhouwu, what brings you here?" Song Kai asked with a straight face, although he didn't know who the official was, but earlier heard those people addressing him in this manner.

  "The newly bought slave girl of Wang Weng outside the city has escaped, and I am here to investigate by order. Song Kai, have you seen her?" Zhou Meng glanced at Song Kai with a slanted eye, while the four people behind him looked around the entire shop.

  "I've never seen this before." Song Kai was unhappy, and indeed they had come to find the slave, these people were also too immoral, doing human trafficking!

  "Song Kai! You said it yourself, if I find out you're hiding slaves, humph, not only will this shop be confiscated, but even you yourself will be exiled and sent to the border! Search for me!" Zhou Meng coldly laughed and waved his hand.

  Four men with a similar appearance rushed into the hotel and searched every place in a flurry.

  Upon hearing Zhou Meng's words, Song Kai's heart suddenly skipped a beat. He suddenly remembered that during the Tang Dynasty, buying and selling slaves was legal. If a slave escaped or someone hid them, the punishment would be severe.

  Oh no! I won't be caught and thrown into prison right after crossing over, will I?

  Absolutely not!

  Song Kai was really getting scared at this time.

  In the previous life, I worked hard for three years to take out a loan and buy a 90-square-meter house. In this life, I finally have a house and it can't be confiscated or taken away.

  Zhou Meng looked at Song Kai with a cold smile, rubbed his hands together, and deliberately sighed: "Song Kai, if you ask me Zhou Meng for a favor, give me some benefits, maybe I'll cover up this matter and not report it."

  Song Kai lowered his head, and the girl dressed as a boy raised her head, looking at him with pitiful eyes.

  "Hmph, I didn't see any slaves or servants anyway! Zhou Meng, don't be too arrogant!" Song Kai slammed his hand on the table, imitating characters from TV dramas. "You barge into my store, trying to extort and frame me? Don't worry, I'll definitely report this to the county magistrate and let him make a decision!"

  Zhou Meng was startled, looking up and down at Song Kai. This kid had always been a softie, a bookworm, and never dared to resist, so why today did he suddenly speak with such confidence?

  Blackmail? Framing? Entrapment?

  Zhou Meng's body shook, and he said in a cold voice: "I am the Martial Marquis of this Western City, I naturally have the right to investigate every household. Song Lang, don't spout nonsense."

  Although he said so, Zhou Meng did not dare to be presumptuous again.

  Soon, all four servants rushed over, shaking their heads.

  The hotel is quite large in size, but there are not many places where people can hide. The two-story building has only a few private rooms that can be hidden.

  "None?" Zhou Meng asked in a cold voice.

  "Yes... yes, it's not there, but, but, Lord Zhou Wu, we really saw that servant girl run into this inn," one of them replied in a trembling voice.

  "Oh?" Zhou Meng's voice drew out, his eyes fixed on Song Kai and the cabinet in front of him. "Song Lang, I wonder what kind of wood this counter is made of?"

  As he spoke, Zhou Meng walked towards the counter.

  The girl's fingers turned white with fear, her two hands tightly covering her small mouth. If she was caught, being beaten to death was a certainty. Moreover, she would probably become the old king's concubine, and her body would never be able to escape unscathed again.

  Song Kai's expression didn't change, but his heart was filled with panic. In this era, being a good person is truly impossible. Even if he handed over the girl now, the other party would definitely not let him off, and would pin a charge of harboring and hiding a slave on him. His life in this new world had just begun, yet it seemed like it was already going to end.

  What's wrong?

  Zhou Meng stared at Song Kai's face, his eyes burning with intensity. As a martial marquis, he had seen all sorts of prisoners, and it was said that those who were guilty would always be nervous. If Song Kai showed even the slightest hint of fear, Zhou Meng would be convinced that he was lying.

  Song Kai took a deep breath, stepped to the left with one foot, and then lifted his long gown with both hands, covering the girl who was trembling all over on one side. Song Kai's legs also naturally clamped the girl's slender body.

  "Zhou Wu Hou, in the end, you still want to frame me, humph. Go ahead and investigate, but if I have the chance, I will certainly speak of your crimes today in front of the county magistrate," Song Kai said with an unchanged expression, his voice cold.

  The girl under the robe was even more panicked, she never thought that she would crawl into a man's ***, and what's more, it was an unfamiliar man's ***!

  However, at this moment, she couldn't care about too much. The girl stretched out her hands and hugged Song Kai's left leg, sticking to the side of his legs, afraid of being exposed.

  Zhou Meng furrowed his brow, at this moment he had already arrived in front of the counter, his eyes quickly glanced inside the counter, and there was only Song Kai inside.

  "Haha, Song Langjun joked, how could I not believe Song Lang?" Zhou Meng laughed and turned to leave. Although he was an official, he was only a low-ranking one, and with just one word from his superiors, he would lose his job. Although the Song family had declined, they were still a prominent family in Suzhou a few years ago, so it's possible that Song Kai had connections with someone in the official circle.

  "Get out! You four bastards! How dare you try to frame Song Lang, I won't let you off!" Zhou Meng shouted while kicking and punching the four house servants.

  Out of the door, the servant looked around in a daze and muttered: "Could it be that he didn't enter through the main gate of the inn, but instead slipped away from this small alley?"

  "Weren't you very sure just now?" Zhou Meng kicked over the house servant who had spoken.

  Jia Ding cried out in defense, "At that time, there was a horse carriage passing by, please don't blame Zhou Wuhou."

  "Come on and chase," Zhou Meng shouted as he ran down a small alley beside the Hongchen Inn.

  In the tavern, a young girl emerged from Song Kai's **, her face flushed with red.

  "Considering you saved me today, I won't punish you," the girl said, sitting down on a wooden stump. "However, if you dare to reveal even half a word about what happened today, I'll have your head chopped off."

  "You ungrateful wolf! I just saved you, didn't I?" Song Kai said with a bad tone. "Forget it, let's not talk about this... Hmm? Princess? What princess?"

  "You're scared, huh?" The girl shook her wrist with the silver bell. "But since you're on the same boat as me now, I suppose it's no harm telling you - I'm a princess of the Turkic Holy City, and my background is quite impressive."

  Song Kai responded with an "oh", for a modern person like him, the terms "junior master" and "young lady" were just used to address someone in a polite manner, without any real respect.

  "What's your attitude?" The girl saw that Song Kai only responded with a faint "oh", extremely dissatisfied, stretched out her small foot and kicked it on Song Kai's calf.

  Song Kai sighed and had no choice but to ask: "Miss, oh, Princess, what time is it now?"