0036 A Fit of Jealousy

A-Zi turned her head and saw Jiang Mingzhe staring at the princess. At first, she felt quite pleased; after all, she was the one who had brought him to see this, and his rapt attention was a testament to her excellent taste.

However, when she noticed the sheer wonder and amazement in Jiang Mingzhe’s eyes, her mood soured instantly.

She yanked the princess’s cloak hood up and stomped her foot, snapping, "Stop looking! I’m the one who let you see her, but who gave you permission to stare at her like that?"

Jiang Mingzhe snapped back to reality, feeling a jolt of surprise.

In his mind, even the prettiest girl from his own era, if placed in ancient times, would be considered a rare beauty; if she were a campus queen, she would be enough to topple cities and kingdoms. After all, women in the future ate well, used skincare, and did little manual labor—they would crush the ancients even without makeup, not to mention the various "sorceries" of modern beauty enhancements.

Given how well-traveled and experienced he was, how could he possibly be stunned by the appearance of an ancient woman?

But reality sometimes defies all expectations.

A woman with refined features and delicate skin is already a rare beauty, but the girl A-Zi held captive was truly as beautiful as a painting. Her skin was fairer than snow, and looking at her felt like drifting into a dream.

Of course, such a description was too abstract. Jiang Mingzhe had a more precise description in mind—

A younger, paler, "beauty-filtered" version of Tong Liya!

Or perhaps... Guli Nazha?

Acting in a "responsible" manner, Jiang Mingzhe took another look.

Confirmed. Definitely Tong Liya!

"Ahhh! You’re still looking!"

This second glance caused A-Zi to lose her composure completely. She stomped her feet and cried, "Is your gaze stuck on her? Hmph, I’ll slash her face to ribbons, let’s see if you keep looking then!"

With a nimble flick of her fingers, the small gemstone dagger shifted from a reverse grip to a forward one. She hovered it over the princess’s face, seemingly contemplating the most effective angle for the cut.

A wave of intense reluctance surged in Jiang Mingzhe’s heart, like seeing a mischievous child reaching out to tear apart a rare and perfectly blooming flower. But he knew that if he pleaded for mercy, A-Zi would only cut deeper.

With a forced "ha," Jiang Mingzhe let out a careless laugh, though his eyes glared sharply at the maid, Sangzhu, standing to the side.

"Ah!" Sangzhu shrieked, scrambling forward on her hands and knees. She threw herself at A-Zi’s legs, looking up with tears streaming down her face. "Beautiful lady, please, I beg you not to cut our princess’s face. If you’re unhappy, cut my face instead!"

A-Zi looked pleased. "You say I’m beautiful? But..."

She glanced at the princess, and her joy vanished instantly. "How could I be as beautiful as this spoiled princess? Besides, why would I want to cut your face? Look at you, all dark and dingy—you’re not even as pretty as me."

Sangzhu shook her head repeatedly, stammering, "No, no, you are far more beautiful than our princess. Someone as beautiful as you must have the kindest heart. Please, do not cut her face, I beg you."

A-Zi laughed. "Even though I am quite beautiful, who says beautiful people must have kind hearts? Kind-hearted people are just fools, and fools only deserve to be bullied. My heart is the meanest and cruelest of all. Haven't you seen how many people I've killed?"

Sangzhu spoke rapidly, "No, no! Except for Uncle Dorje, those other monks... they weren't good people anyway..."

At this, the princess frowned and snapped, "Sangzhu, you are forbidden from begging this evil witch! I have no desire to marry that old man Dezu Gun anyway. Let her slash my face; killing me is fine."

Seeing the princess so defiant, A-Zi hesitated. Seizing the opportunity, Jiang Mingzhe laughed, "Oh? It seems there’s an interesting story hidden with this princess. Well, it doesn't matter much—she’s going to die anyway."

Seeing that Jiang Mingzhe didn't care about the girl's life or her threat to slash the princess's face, the burden in A-Zi’s heart lifted. The sky seemed bluer, the grass greener, and she suddenly had no desire to kill or hurt anyone.

With a smile, she said, "Big Ginger, do you want to hear a story? Let’s let her tell it, then we can kill her later."

The princess retorted angrily, "Who would tell stories to villains like you? Kill me now! The descendants of Gushila have no cowards who fear death."

"Gushila? Oh, the founder of the Qingtang Tibetan regime. Let me think..." Jiang Mingzhe spoke up, tilting his head as he recalled the guide’s lecture.

Since the timeline wasn't too far off, he could remember the gist. Jiang Mingzhe said calmly, "Gushila, a descendant of the Tibetan Tsanpo. His original name was... what was it? Never mind. He changed his name to Gushila, which means 'Son of Buddha.' He established a regime in Qingtang (modern-day Xining) and was even enfeoffed by the Song Dynasty as the Prince of Xiping, Great General, and Jiedushi, helping the Song against Western Xia... After he died, his son took the throne. What was his son's name? Felt?"

A-Zi said admiringly, "Big Ginger, you know so much! Haha, how could anyone have a silly name like 'Felt'?"

The princess, hearing him recite her family history with such ease, was secretly shocked. Hearing A-Zi mock her grandfather’s name, she glared fiercely at A-Zi. "He is merely spouting nonsense! My grandfather’s name is Dongzhan."

A-Zi glared back, refusing to back down. "Big Ginger wouldn't be wrong! Your grandfather is named Felt—Felt, Felt, smelly Felt!"

The princess’s eyes blazed with fire; A-Zi’s were full of provocation. The four large eyes seemed to be in a competition, neither side willing to blink. After staring for a while, A-Zi felt her eyes drying out and, fearing she might lose, immediately issued a threat: "If you dare look at me like that again, I’ll drink you up!"

Jiang Mingzhe was startled. He looked at A-Zi, who was standing with her hands on her hips in a staring contest, and wondered if this girl was a fellow transmigrator.

He couldn't help but probe, "Senior sister, are you talking about Wangzai milk?"

A-Zi took the opportunity to quit the contest, looking at Jiang Mingzhe in confusion. "What? Do you want to drink milk? But why would you want to drink the milk of a 'cub'?"

Jiang Mingzhe sighed in relief and laughed, "You heard wrong. I was saying that you, the great snake demon Bai Suzhen of Kunlun Mountain, even if you’re angry, you should eat her, not drink her."

A-Zi glanced triumphantly at the princess and said arrogantly, "I’ll drink her! This little girl is so white and soft, like rice porridge made with milk. I, Bai Suzhen, will slurp her right up!"

The princess cried out in anger, "Witch, if you want to kill me, just do it! Don't try to scare me. The descendants of Gushila..."

Before she could finish, Jiang Mingzhe interrupted, "Miss, stop bragging to us. Since Dongzhan is your grandfather, your father must be Aligu, the third ruler of the Qingtang Tibetan regime, right? Everyone knows Aligu was just an adopted son of Dongzhan. What does the Gushila bloodline have to do with you?"

The fact that Aligu was an adopted son was known only to a few high-ranking officials even within the Qingtang Tibetan kingdom. Hearing a Han man state it so casually left the princess stunned, her haughty air vanishing instantly.

Seeing the princess turn pale under Jiang Mingzhe’s retort, A-Zi was overjoyed. She laughed, "Hahaha! I told you, it’s not that easy to run into a real princess. So this girl is a fake!"

Jiang Mingzhe glanced at her with a smile, thinking that running into a princess wasn't that hard—after all, A-Zi herself was a princess of the Dali Kingdom, though she didn't know it.

It was amusing, really. This Qingtang princess was sixteen or seventeen, and compared to the still-childish A-Zi, she was much more mature in both physique and temperament. A-Zi was half a head shorter and much narrower, yet she still boldly called the other girl a "little girl."

Ignoring A-Zi’s mockery, the princess stared at Jiang Mingzhe. "You lie! Where did you hear these rumors?"

A-Zi immediately retorted, "He is a great scholar from Qufu. He knows astronomy above and geography below. He can even write poetry! If you don't believe me, I'll recite one for you..."

Jiang Mingzhe felt his soul leave his body. He had only "composed" two poems in total—one for "Little Ginger," which A-Zi had already claimed copyright for. The only one he could recite now was *Guan Guan Ju Jiu*.

Although this princess was a foreigner, she had an air of refined culture; the chance she hadn't read that poem was practically zero.

"No!" Jiang Mingzhe shouted instinctively. Seeing A-Zi look at him in confusion, he quickly made an excuse: "That’s a poem I wrote for you! I don’t want other women to hear it!"

"That’s right!" A-Zi glowed in an instant, radiating light. Even standing before this princess who looked like a fallen celestial, A-Zi had a radiance all her own.

She nodded her little head like a chick pecking at rice. "You’re absolutely right. A fake princess like her isn't worthy of hearing such a good poem."

The princess looked at Jiang Mingzhe in surprise; she hadn't expected this young bandit to be a poet. Unfortunately, everything he said annoyed her. She replied coldly, "Even if you recited it, I wouldn't care to listen. You’re just a petty thief; who knows where you copied those lines from?"

Jiang Mingzhe broke out in a cold sweat and laughed, "Poems can be copied, but are these secrets of your family also things I copied?"

A-Zi laughed, "Hehe, you don't need to be curious about how he knows your family secrets. I am the great white snake demon from Kunlun Mountain, named Bai Suzhen. As for him, he is a great green scorpion demon from Kunlun Mountain, named... Da Qing!"

She thought to herself that Big Ginger’s martial arts would eventually surpass hers; how could 'Xiao Qing' be stronger than Bai Suzhen? If he were 'Da Qing,' that made perfect sense.

Jiang Mingzhe laughed out loud. He thought it was marvelous—a moment ago he was a scholar from Qufu, now he was a scorpion demon from Kunlun Mountain. Well, they had the snake demon and the scorpion demon; when would the Calabash Brothers show up?