Chapter 19: Discussion on Marriage (Part 2)

  Ouyang Yi asked after hearing Xiao Tienu's words: "What about your wife?"

  "She's dead." Xiao Tienu said: "At first she deceived me, but when she died I was still very sad. Never mind, let's talk about Zhao Lao Da's affairs."

  Ouyang Zidao said: "Your meaning is to use you... to deceive your trick?"

  Xiao Tienu said, "It's almost the same as deceiving someone into a bridal chamber and onto a bed. Even if they don't become husband and wife, they'll still end up being like husband and wife. It would be best to make a big fuss about it! I think Old Da is quite responsible towards his brothers. Once things get out of hand, even if he doesn't want to marry her, he'll have no choice but to do so - otherwise, the people from the Wanyan tribe will lose face, and we won't be able to reap any benefits."

  Ouyang Shidao said: "Then what should we do?"

  Xiao Tienu said, "You just leaked the secret to Yang Yingqi that kid, this matter needs to be delayed for a while, let's see if he will say it out. If he doesn't say it out, we can proceed with the next step."

  Ouyang Yi nodded in agreement. More than half a month had passed, and since Yang Yingqi hadn't spoken out about the matter, both of them began to have second thoughts. On this day, Zhe Yan Chong took Cao Guangyi out hunting, but they strayed further and further away, accidentally entering a deep mountain valley. The valley was home to several hundred households, whose residents had dull expressions and were extremely frightened when they saw the intruders, fleeing in all directions.

  Zhe Yan Chong and others intercepted several questions, but they all looked silly and didn't know how to answer.

  "What's wrong with these people? They all look like idiots!"

  Zhe Yan Chong said, "Let's find something to eat first, and then we'll leave. Don't harm them." But they couldn't find any wheat or millet, nor was there any rice. A team leader caught a whiff of fragrance and went in search of it, finding some golden short rods in a pot. He brought them back for Zhe Yan Chong to see. After taking a look, Zhe Yan Chong said, "This is corn, we can eat it."

  "What's corn?" Cao Guangyi said: "What is that thing?"

  Zhe Yan was taken aback and said, "I don't know either. But suddenly I remembered that this is corn." He picked up an ear of corn and took a bite: "You eat it like this." After eating two mouthfuls, he seemed to think of something and said, "There's something strange about this grain."

  "Is this thing poisonous?"

  "Zhe yu mi ying gai mei you shen me wenti." He said, walking towards the largest house in the valley. It turned out to be a dilapidated temple, where many people were hiding and trembling with fear. When they saw Zhe Yan Chong approaching, they all ran away. Zhe Yan Chong felt a pang of sadness in his heart as he entered the temple and found some yellowed book pages. As he flipped through them, he suddenly came across a "Genealogy" written in Chinese characters, occasionally with some unfamiliar strange characters, but it didn't hinder him. After roughly reading it, he said: "So that's how it is."

  It turned out that the residents of this valley were remnants of the Bohai State, who had fled here to escape persecution at the time of its downfall and had been hiding for several hundred years. The genealogy written in detail with neat handwriting at the beginning, but became more and more sloppy towards the end, recording only a few generations before stopping altogether.

  "It seems that these people were not foolish from the beginning, but gradually became like this later. I just don't know why they would become like this."

  Zhe Yan Chong said: "I always feel like there's something very important, but I just can't think of what it is. Guang Bi, I'll stay here on guard, you bring two people and fetch Ying Qi."

  "What's going on? Is there any danger?"

  "It's not a dangerous thing, but it's very important!" Zhao Yan said: "In short, go quickly and come back quickly."

  "Should we call Mr. Di and the others over as well?"

  Zhe Yan Chong said: "No need. It's mainly for Ying Qi, maybe he can see something when he comes."

  Cao Guangyi led the way back in a hurry, making many marks along the road for fear of forgetting the path. When they returned to the village, Yang Yingqi and others asked: "Why did you go this time for so long?"

  Cao Guangyi said: "We mistakenly entered a mountain valley, two or three days' journey from here. That valley is a bit strange, Lao Da asked me to come and pick you up to take a look."

  "Me?" Yang Yingqi said: "Why was I specifically named to go?"

  Cao Guangyi said: "There are some things in that valley that we can't understand, Zhe Lao Da said you might be able to see through it."

  "What's strange?" Yang Yingqi said.

  Cao Guangyi said: "For example, the people there are all stupid, and for example, some of the food there is something I don't recognize either. Zhao Lao Da said it was corn. And..."

  He hadn't finished speaking when Yang Yingqi jumped up: "Corn! Good heavens! How can there be corn here? Has something gone wrong somewhere? Quick! Take me there!"

  Ouyang Shidao said: "I also..." but was pulled by Xiao Tienu, and hastily stopped speaking.

  Yang Yingqi followed Cao Guangyi on horseback, galloping for three days before arriving at the secret valley. By this time, the residents inside the valley had gradually become accustomed to it and were no longer afraid of Zhe Yan Chong, daring to return home and live normally, but when the sound of horseshoes rang out again, a wave of panic still arose.

  Cao Guangyi saw Zhe Yan Chong and said: "Boss, have you been free these past few days?"

  "There's nothing going on."

  Yang Yingqi didn't even ask, he just shouted and ran towards the fields: "Heavens! It's really corn!" He ran to another place, digging in the soil: "Sweet potatoes... Potatoes... Heavens!" He ran around wildly, finally pointing at a plant and exclaiming: "Is this tobacco? Heavens! What's going on?"

  Cao Guangyi saw that he was a bit abnormal and was worried, so he walked over and said: "Ying Qi, you haven't been possessed by an evil spirit, have you?"

  "What poison? I haven't been poisoned!" Yang Yingqi said: "Even if you have been poisoned, it doesn't matter! Here! Here! And here! They're all treasures!"

  He soon calmed down and hurriedly inquired about the location of the ancestral hall, entered the ancestral hall, and Zhe Yan Chong handed him the family tree he wanted to see.

  Yang Yingqi read it carefully and sighed, saying: "So that's how it is!"

  Cao Guangyi said: "I've also flipped through this genealogy, but I didn't get much out of it."

  Yang Yingqi said: "Because some things you don't know the reason for, so you ignored them. Hmm, let me tell you one by one."

  He thought for a moment about how to phrase it, then said: "What I'm going to say next is partly what I originally knew, partly what I saw in this genealogy, and partly my own speculation. The ancestors of this valley were originally five families, with the leader surnamed Li, who was a general of the Bohai State hundreds of years ago. He sailed out to sea, chasing after the rebellious minister to the farthest north...

  Cao Guangyi said: "I know all these things, they are written in our family tree."

  Yang Yingqi said, "You saw it, but you didn't notice the key point. The Bohai State's navigation capabilities are actually quite advanced, and their ships are built very well. This General Li chased after the rebellious minister, taking advantage of the seasonal wind to head north, until... hmm, looking at their records, plus what we've seen in the valley, I estimate they coincidentally crossed the Bering Strait and ran to... the eastern continent!"

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  Note: The Balhae Kingdom, which existed roughly at the same time as the Tang Dynasty, was a vassal state of the Tang in the northeast. Its maritime capabilities were quite developed. Later, after the fall of the Balhae Kingdom, the Jurchen people inherited their maritime technology and set sail from the Tumen River estuary area, raiding Japan, Goryeo, and other countries along the coast, becoming the earliest pirate nation on China's northeastern coast. This is somewhat similar to the Vikings in Northern Europe. However, the Jurchen people inherited the Balhae Kingdom's maritime technology but failed to develop it further, instead becoming conservative and declining with each passing day. Later, as sea raids gradually subsided, the Jurchen people turned to plundering on land.