"I have indeed seen you somewhere," Lu Wanming was certain he had seen this young girl somewhere before, but where? He had forgotten.
"Is that so? Then General Lu must have seen this."
The girl took out a token from her embrace and flashed it before Lu Wanming.
Lu Wanming's body trembled. This... this token was Princess An Guo's princess token.
"You... you are..."
The girl looked at him and said coldly, "Who does General Lu think I am?"
Lu Wanming suddenly bowed low and knelt on the ground, "Your subject greets Your Highness."
Everyone was shocked. Lu Wanming actually knelt before a young girl, calling her Your Highness.
When the people Lu Wanming brought saw him kneel, they also knelt.
"Release them," the girl said faintly.
Lu Wanming frowned and ordered the hostages to be released.
"You all retreat from here. Do not disturb the lives of these people again," the girl said coldly.
Lu Wanming could only retreat with his men. Back on the ship, his副将 (deputy general) walked over and asked in a low voice, "General, who is that girl? Why are you so respectful to her?"
"She is Her Highness the Princess," Lu Wanming said.
"General, Her Highness the Princess is of noble status. How did she come here?"
Lu Wanming was taken aback. The deputy general was right. This place was very hidden. How could the princess find it?
The deputy general thought for a moment and said, "General, this subordinate heard that Princess Anning died of a sudden illness not long ago. Could it be that someone..."
The deputy general did not finish his words, but Lu Wanming understood. "Guards, arrest the impostor princess!"
Seeing Lu Wanming retreat to the ship, the girl quickly walked to Wei Hai's side and whispered, "Quickly take your people and go..."
Wei Hai was stunned. "A Ning, you're not leaving?"
"They will return. I will hold them back. You quickly take them away. If it gets any later, no one will be able to leave," Xue Zi Ning said.
"Li Min, take the villagers and go to sea through the back mountain."
Li Min heard this and asked, "General, what about you?"
Wei Hai looked at the girl. "A Ning, I'll stay here. Lu Wanming came for me. If I'm here, perhaps I can delay him."
Xue Zi Ning did not refuse and nodded, "Alright."
"General, I will wait for you for the time it takes an incense stick to burn. If you don't come, I will take the villagers and leave," Li Min said and left without looking back.
"Father, I don't want to go. I want to stay," Wei Dong said resolutely.
Wei Hai actually agreed. "Alright."
Xue Zi Ning looked at Wei Hai. Wei Hai gave a bitter smile. "A Ning is so smart, she will surely guess."
Xue Zi Ning was stunned. "Wei Dong is..."
Wei Hai nodded. "Sister Ming Jiao thought Lu Wanming had died in battle. At that time, Wan Ming and I had an agreement. Whoever died in battle, the other would protect their family with their life."
"So, you..."
"Sister Ming Jiao was pregnant. If I didn't marry her, people would point fingers at her."
"Why didn't you tell Lu Wanming just now?"
Wei Hai stroked Wei Dong's head and said, "I can't bear to part with this child."
"Father, I can't bear to part with you either..." Wei Dong cried.
As they spoke, Lu Wanming had already arrived with his men.
Lu Wanming ordered his men to surround them and walked up to Xue Zi Ning, looking at the girl, "Your Highness, why are you here?"
"Does my whereabouts require your permission?" Xue Zi Ning said coldly.
Lu Wanming chuckled. "Your Highness, may I ask which princess you are?"
Xue Zi Ning narrowed her eyes and said coldly, "General Lu, you have gone too far."
"You dare to impersonate Her Highness the Princess. Do you know that it is a capital offense, punishable by extermination of the nine generations of your clan?"
"I impersonate?" Xue Zi Ning chuckled softly, threw the token into Lu Wanming's embrace, and said coldly, "Use your dog eyes to see if it's real or fake?"
Lu Wanming glanced at it and sneered, "Your Highness, you may not know, but a month ago, Prince An already announced that Princess Anning died of a sudden illness. So, are you sure you are Princess Anning?"
Xue Zi Ning was stunned. Prince An had actually announced Princess Anning died of a sudden illness?
She actually didn't know.
She couldn't quite describe how she felt, a pang of heartache.
"Take her down! Impersonating Princess Anning is an unforgivable crime!" Lu Wanming said coldly.
"Who dares!" Xue Zi Ning said coldly.
Her clear and cold voice seemed to exude a chill that spread outwards.
Even standing there, the noble and aloof young girl exuded an air of authority.
If she were not Her Highness the Princess, how could she possess such a demeanor?
Lu Wanming was also startled by this aura and took a few steps back.
"General..."
Lu Wanming looked up at the girl. At this moment, the sense of familiarity grew stronger.
"General, these people are trying to escape, and we have caught them."
"Lu Wanming..."
"Will you surrender, or shall I kill them one by one?" Lu Wanming said.
"General Lu, how about I make a deal with you?"
Lu Wanming looked at the girl and asked, "A deal? Are you worthy?"
The girl walked step by step towards him and said in a voice only they could hear, "What if it is in the name of Xue Zi Ning?"
Lu Wanming's body trembled. He looked at the girl before him. If the noble aura from before was indeed that of Princess Anning, it was even more like the Empress of Chang Ning.
No wonder he felt a sense of familiarity. He had seen a portrait of the Empress of Chang Ning.
"You... you are..."
"Yes, I am..."
Lu Wanming took several steps back and said, "How can I believe your words?"
"I will prove it myself!" the girl said word by word.
At this moment, Lu Wanming felt an unprecedented pressure, the majesty of an emperor.
Undoubtedly, it made him unable to refuse to bow and submit.
The girl leaped into the air and landed on the ship's mast by the sea. Her clear and cold voice resounded here, "I am Xue Zi Ning."
Her voice, amplified by internal energy, echoed across the land.
Everyone trembled. Xue Zi Ning?
Wasn't that the Empress Xue Zi Ning of Chang Ning who unified the world?
"Father, who is Xue Zi Ning?" Wei Dong looked up and asked Wei Hai.
Wei Hai lowered his gaze and said, "Does the Empress of Chang Ning mean anything to you?"
Wei Dong nodded. "Of course, I know. Father told me about the unification of the world, the end of wars, the Empress Xue Zi Ning of Chang Ning."
"Yes, that's right," Wei Hai said.
For a moment, everyone stood there in shock. Then, someone started kneeling, "Long live the Empress, long, long live!"
The voices resounded across the land by the sea.
At this moment, Lu Wanming could not help but believe. How could such a girl not be the Empress of Chang Ning?
"Your subject pays respects to the Empress."
"Rise!" Xue Zi Ning leaped down, like a celestial maiden.
"Lu Wanming, there is a cycle of cause and effect. Good is rewarded, evil is punished. You think you are the most miserable, but you don't know that your suffering is only what you perceive yourself."
Lu Wanming was stunned. "Your Majesty, what do you mean?"
"Wei Dong, come here," Xue Zi Ning said.
Wei Dong, not understanding, still obediently came to Xue Zi Ning's side, feeling a little constrained. "Can... can I still call you Sister A Ning?"