By the time the rumors reached the military camp, there were already numerous versions.
Some said that the general's wife had passed away, and in his grief, the general had mistakenly taken a village girl for his wife.
Others claimed that the general's wife had remarried, and in a fit of anger, the general had simply grabbed a girl off the street...
As a result, the story of the village girl and the general became a hot topic in the military camp and even the entire Shiguan City.
The most direct consequence was that whenever Zhao Luoning appeared in the military camp in women's clothing with a veil on, there would always be many "fearless" soldiers who would try every means to remove her veil.
They wanted to see whether she was the real general's wife or just a random village girl that Ji Shisu had grabbed from the street.
If Zhao Luoning was in a good mood on a certain day, she would occasionally switch between the roles of the village girl and the wife.
This only led to even more versions of the already chaotic and confusing legend.
The soldiers in the military camp were used to this ever - changing general's wife - although they were always confused about whether she was a noble lady from Huangcheng or a village girl from Shiguan.
Apart from the fact that General Bai Shaoqing, who would become famous throughout the land in the following years, had "outstanding" scandals as well as military achievements, it didn't have much of an impact.
After this, the Sima Manor attacked the city several more times, but it was no longer as easy as before.
The Bai Family Army led by Ji Shisu, although not as skilled in martial arts as the army of the Sima Manor, was first - class in tactics.
They rarely gathered in a large group for direct combat. Instead, they mostly adopted a guerrilla tactic that seemed disorganized but was actually the result of many discussions.
Once on the battlefield, they were like slippery loaches, making it impossible for the enemy to get a hold of them.
Thanks to the Bai Family Army, Shiguan managed to avoid many disasters.
The situation of this war, which had started with Sima Yi's grand entrance, was becoming increasingly stalemated.
Those who had initially looked down on the four young generals now had to look at them with new respect.
Especially Bai Shaoqing, the leader of the four, who was even regarded as a war god.
In fact, when the Sima Manor first launched the uprising, it had occupied several cities.
This was much better than the tiny state of Wu, which had only occupied a small area at that time.
Liu Qingyun had wanted to persuade Sima Feng to stop, but at that time, Sima Feng was at the height of his power and didn't listen at all.
Now, the situation had changed.
After many unsuccessful expeditions, the soldiers under him were starting to lose heart.
Gradually, some rumors reached Liu Qingyun's ears.
Some said that she, the princess, had no prestige.
Others said that she was a femme fatale who had killed the king and was now harming Sima Feng.
Liu Qingyun endured all these rumors.
She always carried these inexplicable slurs but never enjoyed the so - called "privileges" of a femme fatale.
In fact, the rumors were all false.
When the state of Wu still existed, her father, the king, didn't like her.
The title of Princess Anning was just a joke given to her by one of her father's favorite concubines.
The only reason she had managed to survive was that Sima Feng, the most promising general of the state of Wu, had a crush on her.
If not for this relationship, she wouldn't have been the one to survive.
When her father had decided to use her safety as a bargaining chip for surrender, it would be a lie to say that she wasn't touched.
But later, she realized that she was just a bargaining chip for her father to let Sima Feng restore the state.
The last imperial edict her father had given Sima Feng on his deathbed was:
Conquer the world and win Anning.
On the day he restored the state of Wu, they would get married.
In the end, she couldn't escape the fate of being a pawn.
So, compared to Sima Feng's fanaticism about restoring the state, she was much more indifferent.
Sima Feng had changed. There was only one belief in his heart: to restore the state.
Even if Liu Qingyun was right beside him, even if they didn't have to rebel and could just retire to the mountains and forests.
Liu Qingyun had seen through it long ago.
To Sima Feng now, she, Liu Qingyun, was just a pawn.
An excuse for him to start a war.
After so many years, the upright and elegant young master of the past had changed beyond recognition.
Such a him made her heart cold. The relationship between them was no longer as intimate as it had been in their youth.
She regarded him as a friend with whom she had a past, while he regarded her as a high - ranking princess - a princess without real power.
Without real power, she didn't even have the right to speak.
She was like a jade seal locked in a box, seemingly high - ranking and in control of everything.
But no one would obey a jade seal. They would only follow the person who held the seal.
This kind of war was really meaningless, except for exhausting the people and wasting money.
From beginning to end, it was only the army of the Sima Manor that was fighting. The people of the state of Wu had already settled in other places.
Rather than following the Sima Manor with no future, it was better to hold on to the present peaceful life.
During her five - year stay in the Ji Mansion, Liu Qingyun had seen through the coldness of the world.
She didn't blame the old people of the state of Wu.
They just wanted to survive.
The one who was really wrong was Sima Feng.
His obsession had dragged so many people into an abyss of no return.
...
Since the discovery of Princess Nobu, the Budda Kingdom's attitude towards the war had been ambiguous.
The Budda Kingdom didn't, as the emperor and others had expected, reject the Sima Manor after finding the princess.
Nor did it, as the Sima Manor had hoped, form an alliance with them.
The king of the Budda Kingdom seemed to have his own plans.
The king, who had always been shouting that he would start a war if Princess Nobu wasn't found, suddenly wasn't in a hurry after learning that she had been found.
Using the excuse of verifying the princess's identity, he delayed letting Caixue return to her country.
So, after Zhao Luoning arrived at the military camp, this war dragged on for more than a year.
Caixue, although she had met her brother and mother during this period, didn't return to her country because the king of the Budda Kingdom had shown no sign of letting her go.
It wasn't until the end of summer the next year.
A coup took place in the Budda Kingdom.
Prince Mingyue of the Budda Kingdom, with the help of the strange people he had gathered from all over the land and the popularity he had accumulated over the years, successfully seized the throne.
The first thing the new king of the Budda Kingdom did was to go and pick up his long - lost younger sister, Princess Nobu, who was currently in the Shiguan residence.
This coup in the Budda Kingdom directly affected the war that had been stalemated in Shiguan for more than a year.
The situation changed completely.
Since the Budda Kingdom had come forward to pick up Princess Nobu, it had clearly shown its attitude.
It wouldn't support the Sima Manor's attempt to restore the state.
Moreover, the old forces of the former king of the Budda Kingdom, who had been overthrown, fled to the Sima Manor and asked the Sima Manor to help them restore the kingdom.
This put the Sima Manor in an even more embarrassing situation.
The long - forgotten Princess Nobu was once again pushed into the spotlight, and all kinds of rumors about her started to spread again.
The only one who wasn't very interested in this might be the person involved.
After all, Caixue had left the Budda Kingdom when she was very young. She didn't even have a vague impression in her memory, let alone any feelings.
If there was any feeling, it was only a deeper one for Zhao Luoning.
When she heard the news that she was going back to her country, she was in a bad mood.
Whenever this happened, Caixue would act a bit spoiled. It was the same a year ago, and there wasn't much improvement after a year.
Poor General Lian. Every time Caixue came to cause trouble, that white - haired and extremely brave general on the battlefield would act as if he had encountered a plague god.
He would try his best to avoid her.
What was destined to come could not be avoided after all.