[ Meng Jiuning's fate line offset: 71% (She escaped to Yi Prefecture to seek help in advance and was not captured by the Tubo, so the sadomasochistic love line has not yet been triggered)]
Gu Moran gently tapped the armrest twice.
The offset value of 71 means that this fate line has already deviated significantly, but it has not been completely severed yet.
If he ignores this woman and lets her continue to flee elsewhere after hitting a wall in Yi Prefecture, she may eventually fall into the hands of the Tubo, and that melodramatic and tragic love story will be reactivated.
But if we keep her here now, we can completely sever the point of intersection between her fate and that Tubo vanguard general...
A line of small text pops up in the lower right corner of the system panel.
[If the destiny line of the chosen one " Meng Jiuning " is completely severed, the estimated rewards are: a detailed map of the entire Kingdom of Dali (including the Tubo invasion routes, mountain passes, waterways, and outpost markings); three secret medicinal formulas of the Dali royal family; and the transformation of the chosen one's Qi circulation—permanently increasing the host's martial arts perception by one level.]
Gu Moran looked at the rewards, picked up the now-cold tea, and took a sip.
It seems that under the pressure of Heavenly Dao, this system has gradually become more sensible and can even predict rewards.
A detailed map of the entire Kingdom of Dali and the routes of the Tubo invasion.
These two items were more valuable to him than ten thousand taels of silver. Zhen Daijin and he had studied the southern flank defense line of Jiannan Circuit for half a month. The biggest blind spot was the mountain pass and waterway in the Dali section, not to mention the miasma forest, which Yi Prefecture's own scouts could not penetrate at all.
Gu Moran put down his teacup and looked at the woman who was still waiting for a response.
Meng Jiuning's posture remained unchanged, her waist bent at a 30-degree angle, her hands clasped in front of her abdomen, and her expression dignified and proper.
But her toes curled up inside her shoes, and her weight shifted slightly between her left and right feet twice; she was already starting to get tired of standing.
Gu Moran glanced at Su Yao.
Su Yao raised her head.
"Please come in, guests." Su Yao's tone was slightly warmer than before. "His Highness said that guests who have come from afar do not need to wait for a number."
When Meng Jiuning straightened up, her back was already soaked with sweat.
She lifted the bamboo curtain and stepped into the private room. The first thing she saw was a map of Jiannan Circuit spread out on the table.
The map was covered with dense markings in cinnabar and ink. She glanced at it and immediately recognized that the area in the southwest corner was the Northern Territory of Dali.
The locations of the mountain passes, waterways, and post roads largely coincide.
She paused for a moment.
Gu Moran sat in the round-backed chair, his moon-white outer robe loosely draped over his shoulders. One hand rested on the armrest, while the other hand was tossing a sugar crystal into his teacup and stirring it to dissolve.
He didn't look up.
Xie Wanqing sat to one side, refilling his tea.
Su Yao sat on the other side, her veil still on. She glanced at Meng Jiuning and nodded slightly as a greeting.
"Sit down." Gu Moran pointed to the empty chair opposite him with the bamboo skewer he used to stir his tea.
Meng Jiuning did not sit down immediately.
She began with a standard courtly greeting—right hand over left, body slightly bent, skirt hem remaining still, head lowered until her gaze fell precisely on the other person's knees.
" Meng Jiuning greets His Prince Yi."
"Your surname is Meng." Gu Moran removed the bamboo skewer from the teacup and placed it on the saucer. "Actually, you're not the daughter of a merchant; it's because Meng is the surname of the Dali royal family."
He spoke casually, as if commenting on whether the pancakes sold by street vendors were made from wheat flour or buckwheat flour.
"Is that right, Princess?"
Meng Jiuning's fingertips curled slightly inside her sleeve, but her face showed no surprise.
She had originally planned to reveal her identity at the appropriate time; being exposed by the other party beforehand simply meant she missed a crucial step in the preparation.
It's likely that this prince had seen portraits of the Dali royal family to guess so accurately.
"Your Highness is wise." She straightened up and sat down in the empty chair, her posture upright, knees together, and hands on her lap.
"Your father died on the first day of the Lunar New Year?" Gu Moran picked up the teacup and blew on the tea foam floating on top.
"Yes."
"A thousand miles of mountain road, covered in ten days, with that guard, traversing mountains and forests." He took a sip of tea and put down the bowl. "You really risked your life."
Meng Jiuning did not respond.
She was waiting for him to ask, "Why did you come to Yi Prefecture?"
But Gu Moran didn't ask.
He simply reached out and turned the map on the table so that the Northern Territory part of Dali faced Meng Jiuning, then pointed to the location of the southwestern mountain pass.
"The road you took?"
Meng Jiuning glanced down and nodded.
"What about here? Have we passed by it?" He gestured with his finger to a marker for another canyon.
"We went around it."
Why go around?
"There are Tubo cavalry stationed at the valley entrance, with at least eighty tents and more than two hundred horses. They dare not force their way in."
Gu Moran's finger stopped on the map.
He glanced at her briefly, his gaze indifferent.
"You remember it so clearly, how long did you observe it?"
"Two hours." Meng Jiuning's voice steadied. She realized that Prince Yi wasn't asking "What do you want?" but rather verifying military intelligence.
This means that the other party is not concerned about the value of her identity, but rather whether the knowledge she possesses is useful.
"There were bushes on the hillside, and I lay down inside to count the tents and horses."
"How many times did the defense switch?"
"Twice, with an interval of about an hour, a bugle call was sounded during the change of guard, and the guards came from the east and went to the west."
"In which direction are the supplies?"
"To the north, on flat land near the stream, there are carts and sheds, and more guards than tents."
Gu Moran picked up a brush from the table, drew a small circle on the map at the location of "eighty tents," and then added a dot in the direction of the supplies she mentioned. He then looked at her.
What else did you see on your journey from Dali to Yi Prefecture?
For the next half hour, Meng Jiuning recounted every Tubo cavalryman she had encountered along the way, every burned-down village, every blocked mountain road, and every detail of the garrison she could remember.
Su Yao and Xie Wanqing listened from the side, occasionally jotting down a number or two.
When Meng Jiuning finished speaking, more than a dozen circles and ink dots appeared on the map. Gu Moran looked at these markings for a while, then picked up a bamboo stick and drew an arc in the air.
"If you connect these garrison deployments in a line, they would effectively block off most of the mountain passes from the Northern Territory of Dali to the southern side of Jiannan Circuit." He put down the bamboo skewer. " The Tubo are planning to devour Dali completely and then encircle Yi Prefecture from the south like dumplings."
Meng Jiuning felt a chill run down her spine.
She only knew that the Tubo were attacking Dali, but she had never connected those scattered garrison positions into a line.
She wasn't a military commander and couldn't discern the strategic intent behind those tents and horses.
However, Prince Yi only used a few circles and a dotted line to clearly see the layout of Tubo's southern front.
"Your Highness," her voice finally carried a hint of urgency, "If Dali falls into the hands of Tubo, the southern route of Jiannan Circuit will have no more protection."
"I know," Gu Moran interrupted her, pushing the teacup aside and placing his hands folded on the table. "So you want me to send troops to save Dali."
Meng Jiuning bit her lip and nodded.
"Yes."
"She can be saved," Gu Moran said.
Meng Jiuning's eyes lit up.
"But I don't do business that loses money."
Her gaze dimmed slightly, but she didn't back down, because she knew from the beginning that there's no such thing as a free lunch.
What does Your Highness desire?