Chapter 146: Wanwan's Identity

You had better rest first, and we will set off tomorrow. Although your leg looks fine now, if you do not pay close attention to recovery, it will cause big problems in the future. It is still better to rest for a night.

The day was already getting late. If it were just herself, Tang Wei would not have cared about the timing, but now there were Wan Wan and Sang Ye with her. It was better to wait. Matters could not be rushed. She would consult Wan Wan again later and deliberate carefully; perhaps there was an even better solution!

"But, Miss Tang Wei, my leg is truly fine now. Look, I can even walk by myself. Let us hit the road earlier!" To prove she was completely recovered, Sang Ye even bounded off the bed and walked back and forth a couple of times. Her gait was indeed quite normal, which at least proved that Tang Wei's medical skills were quite formidable!

Tang Wei understood her own methods. Injuries healed with wood-type spiritual energy would indeed be fine with a short walk like that, but embarking on a long journey would still cause significant damage to her future mobility. Not wanting to argue with her over this, Tang Wei simply and directly said, "Even if you are fine now, it is useless. We still have some business to attend to, so we must leave tomorrow."

Hearing Tang Wei say this, Sang Ye had no choice and could only quietly accept it. After all, this matter depended entirely on Tang Wei. Since the other party still had matters to attend to, she could not unreasonably throw a tantrum and demand immediate help! Tang Wei was only willing to help her out of regard for the hospitality she had received in the Sang family for so long. If Tang Wei chose not to help, no one could force her.

Seeing that Sang Ye had calmed down, Tang Wei told her to get some rest and turned to go to Wan Wan's room. She was unfamiliar with the rules here, and as for how this matter should be handled, it was better to consult the local know-it-all Wan Wan before taking action! Tang Wei had her own family and still needed to return to Earth. She could not stay here forever, nor could she constantly run errands for Sang Village. Besides, she still needed to find a way to travel to the cultivators' planet! She could just take this opportunity to find out where the planet's teleportation array was located.

"Tang Wei, why did you come over? How is Sang Ye's leg injury? Is it feeling a bit better?" Wan Wan was just about to check on the situation over there when she opened the door and happened to see Tang Wei lingering at the threshold. Seeing that she seemed to have something to say, Wan Wan turned sideways to let her in while knowingly asking about Sang Ye's condition.

"Her injury is of no major concern. We can set off tomorrow. I came here to ask for your opinion. What do you think I should do now?" Tang Wei asked with a furrowed brow.

Wan Wan thought pensive for a moment, then asked, "Tang Wei, do you want to help them? Can you tell me first to what extent you want to help, and what your own plans are? I need to understand these before I can help you think of a way."

"I want to rescue the people of Sang Village first, and after settling them down properly, I must leave. You know I am not from this planet; I have to find a way back."

"But have you ever thought about it? In our world, the state of affairs is like this. There are countless people like those in Sang Village. Can you possibly settle every single one of them properly? Fine! Let us assume that since you happened to run into this, you cannot simply ignore it. But where do you plan to settle them after you rescue them? It seems none of them would be accepted by this Tang Kingdom. Above, the ruler of Tang is foolish, incompetent, and brutally ruthless; below, the nobles seek only their own pleasure, completely disregarding the lives and deaths of ordinary citizens while lining their own pockets. Pressuring the lower classes and bullying the vulnerable, the lives of the common people are utterly miserable. Every day is a struggle where they never know where their next meal will come from. What can you do in a world like this?"

Wan Wan was also a sensible person. Although she had not grown up in a socialist society like Tang Wei and could not harbor the same deep-seated sympathy for the bitter lives of the common folk here, she was well aware of the intricate complexities beneath the surface.

"I do not know what to do about this either. Isn't your world divided among five nations? Are there really no upright and benevolent kings who cherish the people? Are not all kingdoms the same as this Tang Kingdom? Wan Wan, you travel extensively year-round, so you should be very clear about the situation here! Where is life a bit better? Let's send the people of Sang Village there, alright!" Tang Wei had no idea what she ought to do now and could only try asking Wan Wan.

"Tang Wei, honestly! I think you are far too naive. I truly do not know what kind of environment you grew up in to have fostered such a naive personality! Leaving that aside, I will only ask you this: even if there were a good place, with so many people in Sang Village, how do you intend to lead them through numerous checkpoints and endure unimaginable hardships to send them to another place? I am afraid even more people would suffer along this journey, and could you bear not helping them once you saw it? If so, the number of people in your procession would grow larger and larger. Would the upper echelons of the Tang Kingdom really turn a blind eye to the mass migration of ordinary citizens? Do you intend to fight and kill your way through? Your martial prowess is exceptional, but if you were faced with the encirclement and suppression of tens of thousands of troops, under a ceaseless barrage of attacks, would you still have absolute confidence in victory?"

Wan Wan reeled off a long speech, leaving Tang Wei utterly speechless. She had to admit that her own ideas were indeed far too naive.

"Wan Wan, let me tell you, I really have never lived in a world like this! The authorities in my world are not limited to just a single person; when making a certain decision, they have to gather everyone together to hold a meeting and vote, and even ordinary citizens have the right to speak. In our world, every single ordinary citizen has clothes to wear and food to eat at every meal, and basically every household has surplus grain. As long as you are not missing hands or feet, supporting yourself is fundamentally not a problem. Even if you are missing hands or feet, the state provides funds to sustain you. Therefore, seeing the ordinary people here suffering so deeply in such dire straits, I truly could not bear it out of sheer human sympathy! When encountering such a thing, I do not know what the proper course of action is, yet I cannot bear to truly abandon them and leave them to their fate. So, Wan Wan, please help me! In your opinion, what on earth do you think I should do?" Tang Wei pleaded with Wan Wan in a gentle and amicable tone.

"That place must truly be paradise on earth!" Wan Wan murmured softly after listening to Tang Wei's account. Lifting her head and seeing Tang Wei looking at her with an expectant gaze, she realized she had been spacing out, smiled apologetically, and said, "Tang Wei, given your personality, I have known all along that you could not possibly ignore them. I will also be honest with you: I am a princess of the Ning Kingdom. Although my brother, the King of Ning, is benevolent, loyal, steadfast, diligent in government, and loves the people, and is deeply cherished by the people of Ning, our nation's power is weak. Meanwhile, the King of Tang is odious, constantly provoking wars. Unable to defeat them and wishing to avoid the misery of warfare, our Ning Kingdom is forced to send countless beauties and jewels as tribute to the Tang Kingdom every year just to secure peace on our borders. Yet even this is enough to make the lives of Ning's subjects utterly wretched. To reduce the burden on the people, the Royal Brother had no choice but to order nationwide tax reductions and exemptions, strictly command the nobles to cut down on banquets, and prohibit the harassment of ordinary citizens' lives. Without those special privileges, the martial artists in our Ning Kingdom are pitifully scarce; no martial artist is willing to submit to such conditions, and there is simply no basis to speak of any path to national strength. Furthermore, my Royal Brother's daily meals are essentially prepared by his own hands, with only three dishes per meal, meat only served during festivals and New Year celebrations, and no more than two attendants serving by his side."

If what Wan Wan said was true, then compared to the living standards of the nobles here, the life led by Wan Wan's royal brother was enough to make Tang Wei shed a sympathetic tear.

"Wan Wan, I don't understand these things you are telling me. Just tell me directly what you want to do!" Tang Wei was not a fool; she knew that since Wan Wan had said so much, she must be asking for something.

"Tang Wei, I won't beat around the bush with you! I'll be blunt: as long as you help my brother seize the territory of the Tang Kingdom, I can guarantee you that I will treat everyone in Sang Village kindly. Moreover, guided by my brother's philosophy of governance, the Ning Kingdom will undoubtedly become a country of wealth and military power, and the people here will also be able to lead good lives. While I cannot promise they will live as well as they do in your homeland, nor can I guarantee that not a single person will ever go hungry, at least I can guarantee that by then, there will absolutely be no more forcible seizure of commoners as slaves or the practice of using young boys and girls for alchemy." Wan Wan promised Tang Wei with absolute solemnity.

"Do you know something? Is the incident in Sang Village this time related to the forcible seizure of commoners as slaves and the use of young boys and girls for alchemy?" Upon hearing this, Tang Wei could guess the intricate details and asked uncertainly.

"Indeed. I overheard some rumors about this in the capital, and upon entering the village and seeing the conditions here, I managed to guess most of it. But I was still hesitating whether I should tell you. The favor I am asking of you—if you are unwilling to do it, I am afraid the people of Sang Village will be hard to save. These young boys and girls are probably already on their way to the capital. Because this matter was ordered by the King of Tang himself to requisition young boys and girls from all regions specifically to refine his elixir of immortality, but this Town Magistrate Wei has been paying lip service while acting in secret opposition, plundered Sang Village thoroughly. Since Sang Village mostly consists of young children, and this is something everyone here knows can be done without resorting to force, he was naturally very willing to do it. Seeing that we had not returned for so long, he assumed we had already left, which made him even more bold and carefree! The able-bodied men and women can be sold off to do hard labor or whatever else, and the elderly can be killed to silence them. When the time comes, even if we return, we will find no evidence and simply have no way to hold him accountable." All of this was Wan Wan's speculation; what the exact situation truly was still required finding that Town Magistrate Wei to clarify.

The more Tang Wei listened, the angrier she became, her two fists clenched so tightly they could squeeze out water. This King of Tang was utterly lawless; to think he would actually issue an order to use so many adorable little children for alchemy! Such cruelty was simply hateful. Even without Wan Wan's plea, she would have killed him to vent her anger! However, as for Wan Wan's request, she still needed to consider it further.

Seeing that Tang Wei's face was twisted with anger yet she still had not agreed, Wan Wan could not help but ask once more, "Tang Wei, isn't this the most effective way to save them? Why are you still unwilling to help me?"