Chapter 402: with translation of chapter title

The so-called "selling" of oneself also has its own particular ways.

If it were the former Ouyang An, he would probably think, like Shier, "How can one be so shameless?"

But the present Ouyang An is long since a different person; all he thinks about is...

Whether the other side can actually afford the price.

To have someone as foolish as Shier go and seduce people with her looks—frankly, that simply won't work.

Female clans like the Khmer are extremely rare; he only recalled this clan because of the lady he truly serves, the female lord.

I heard they practice men marrying into the wife's family, while women stay at home.

Ordinary women, if they become pregnant, even without marriage, can give birth at home, and the child is raised by their unmarried brothers, while the women go out to build the family business.

They have seen and experienced things out there; no, even if they haven't, unless they are blind, they probably wouldn't look favorably on a fool like Shier whose thoughts are all written on her face.

What he actually wants is not for the Khmer to take a liking to Shier.

But rather...

He expects the Khmer to understand Shier's "function".

Throughout history, in a world where men are honored, women, no matter how wealthy, can only hold onto a tiny patch of their own.

Once they step outside their own clan, whether in reason, morality, or conduct, they are easily restrained everywhere.

But if Shier is present, then everything changes completely.

Operas always sing that the emperor sends a princess to marry off; but why send a princess, not a prince—has anyone ever thought about that?

Naturally, because in a male‑honored world, the children of a prince can inherit the family name and lineage through the clan register, generation after generation.

Even after dozens of generations, when the family has utterly declined, if one day an emperor truly has no offspring and dies young, he can still smoothly pass on the succession according to clan law...

In other words, men possess inheritance rights.

Unfortunately, even though Khmer women may wield tremendous power on the frontier, they are still only on the frontier and cannot change this.

But if he were to send Shier into Khmer hands, even if they fail to bear her children smoothly, they could rely on the pretext of a "wrongful case" or "clearing the Crown Prince's name" to someday re‑raise their banner and, from the tripartite stand of the old King of An Nan house and others, literally bite out a piece of status.

Shier felt it was selling her looks...

But in truth, looks are forever just the most insignificant chip in the game of power.

Ouyang An lowered his eyes, quietly awaiting the answer of the person before him.

He also doesn't understand why he has become so calculating today.

Or perhaps he was always this kind of person.

But formerly, he willingly, under his elder brother's care, played the role of a clueless little fool.

But now his elder brother needs him to look after, so he must return to his true nature and exhaust his mind and effort.

Inside the shed, it had been dead silent ever since Ouyang An's words hit the ground.

The quieter it was, the more he thought.

The more he thought, the quieter it became.

Shier's anger all over her body finally ebbed away, and her violent intent gradually subsided.

He stood frozen, brows knotted, the hostility in his eyes gone, leaving only deep contemplation.

The boy's words were blunt and harsh, yet every sentence was true, striking his soft spot.

He now has nothing—no troops, no commanders, no money, no authority, no home to return to...

So‑called dignity and decorum are worthless before the obsession of turning the tables from desperation.

If he could borrow the Khmer's might to make a comeback, what harm is there in a little humble submission?

After all, they are just a group of women; could a grown man like him really fall into their hands?

Throughout history, men sleeping with women has simply been natural and proper!

Whoever hears it won't think he's at a loss!

As long as those Khmer women aren't too ugly...

Besides, his wife and children are already dead; if he seeks a force for his own comeback, what's wrong with that?

As the saying goes, a wife is the husband's bond; a fine young man like him, if not temporarily fallen, would never be touched by them in a lifetime!

Now he is willing to give them a chance to serve him; how could they dare not lay down their lives for him???

Thinking this through, Shier felt a great relief; at once she looked upon the oily grime filling the sky with even more disdain, and for a moment wished she could sprout wings and fly right off Heishishan.

Inside the shed, the two half‑brothers had different thoughts.

Finally, Shier gave a light cough and spoke:

"According to your opinion, where should we launch a surprise attack to leave this place?"

Ouyang An could find them; although the other people of An Nan might not be as clear as Ouyang An, they also had a rough idea of Shier's escape route.

These days, at the foot of Heishishan, patrols would occasionally appear, faintly forming a siege.

Now that Shier can ask such a question, given his former temperament...

Leaving aside the commanding tone in his words, at the very least he must have thought it over.

Upon hearing this, Ouyang An showed no hesitation at all.

He slightly lowered his head, bent over, and with his frost‑cracked hand picked up a dry, thin twig, slowly sketching on the soft ground.

As the soil turned, the rough outline of the Heishishan range gradually appeared, the mountain ranges unfolding one by one.

Heishishan's terrain is extraordinary: steep cliffs on three sides, jagged rocks, extremely perilous; only the western slope has a gentler grade, a relatively level path—the sole feasible descent in people's eyes, and the most conventional, safest route.

Shier leaned over to look at the ground‑drawn map; his gaze unconsciously fell on the western gentle path, and he already had a guess in mind.

But the next instant, Ouyang An's twig suddenly turned and struck heavily on the outline of the eastern cliff that drops straight down, a wall rising thousands of feet.

"We will descend from here."

The boy's voice was clear and calm, without a ripple; when it reached Shier's ears, it was like a thunderclap out of the blue.

Si Er's face suddenly changed, his brows knotted tight, his eyes filled with shock and disbelief—

The eastern cliff wall was as smooth as a mirror; below, mist swirled, the depth unfathomable—this was precisely the most perilous dead zone of the entire Heishishan.

Not to mention us outsiders; even the mountain hunters would steer clear of it......

How could they possibly want to go down the mountain from here?!

"There is absolutely no way out here!"

Si Er rebuked in a low voice, his tone full of incomprehension:

"How could you choose this death trap?"

Ouyang An raised his eyes, his expression unchanged, lightly tapping the ground with the branch in his hand, and said slowly:

"Your Highness, do you know that you've been trapped in Heishishan for months, with heavy troops besieging the mountain below, yet the imperial army has remained idle, unwilling to enter the mountains to suppress you?"

Si Er startled, followed his line of thought, pondered, and asked:

"Why?"

"Why?"

"We've been trapped for several months already!"

"How come you only think to ask why now!"

Ouyang An felt helpless in his heart, yet he did his best to reply:

"First, Heishishan is vast and secluded, its terrain complex. If the imperial army launched a full-scale assault, its mighty presence would only alert the enemy. Once you hide deep in the mountains' interior, searching for you would be like looking for a needle in a haystack—futile."

"Second, this mountain is barren and desolate. You brought few supplies with your entourage; living off the land will soon run out. They need only hold the mountain's lower passes, waiting at ease while you exhaust yourselves—no need to send a single soldier up the mountain to encircle you. When your ammunition and food run out, with no retreat, you will have no choice but to descend voluntarily, walking straight into their encirclement."

These words hit the nail on the head, completely exposing the Old King of An Nan's scheme.

Upon hearing this, Si Er shuddered all over, and suddenly everything became clear.

He had been holed up in the mountain for months, his heart filled with the frustration of defeat and the obsession to turn the tide, yet he had never seen through these layers of scheming.

The imperial army appeared to surround but not attack; in fact, they had laid a net of heaven and earth, waiting for him to walk into the trap on his own.

"Therefore, the entirety of the imperial army's forces must be concentrated on the western gentle path."

Ouyang An lightly tapped the branch, trying to 'wake up' the fool before him—oh no, the mighty and extraordinary Crown Prince Si Er:

"That is the sole path of life in everyone's eyes, and naturally also the death road they heavily defend."

"The safer a place seems, the greater the killing intent!"

"On the contrary, this east-side cliff that everyone avoids...... might be our only chance."

?? came came, recently coastal cities natural disasters are truly severe, babies also take care of yourselves~