After suffering a near-annihilating blow, Goguryeo gathered all kinds of treasures, tiger skins, ginseng, antler velvet, and other specialties, and sent the king’s younger brother to the state of Yan to declare allegiance and offer tribute. Murong, however, only returned the corpse of King Meichuan to Goguryeo, still detaining the elderly mother of the former King of Goguryeo and refusing to release her. Afterwards, the Murong Xianbei launched another attack on Goguryeo, easily capturing Nansu City. From then on, Goguryeo retreated to the south of the Yalu River, becoming a professional cash cow for the Murong Xianbei.

It was only after the Murong Xianbei had completely crushed Goguryeo that they began their campaign against their old enemy, the Yuwen Xianbei. Two years ago, the Yuwen Xianbei state was destroyed, and the king fled into the grasslands, his whereabouts unknown.

As Shawn Irwin recounted these events, a faint sneer appeared at the corner of Isaac Hall’s mouth. Given Goguryeo’s current situation, Shawn Irwin was the best gift to curry favor with the Murong Xianbei. Once she entered the Goguryeo royal court, her fate was all too predictable. He snorted coldly and retorted, “After you go to Goguryeo, how do you plan to return to the Murong Xianbei? Will the King of Goguryeo tie you up and send you back? Or will he chop off your head and send it back?”

“No,” Shawn Irwin vigorously scratched and drew on the riverbank, answering Isaac Hall’s question: “My Yuwen clan and Goguryeo have intermarried for generations. As long as I find a few Yuwen aunts, the King of Goguryeo will hide me. The King of Goguryeo is obsessed with revenge. Although our Yuwen family has lost our country, we still have supporters. The Murong army has already begun migrating south; only the old, weak, sick, and disabled remain in Longcheng. This is the perfect opportunity for the King of Goguryeo to take revenge. As long as…”

Isaac Hall shook his head, interrupting Shawn Irwin: “That’s not enough. Between nations, there are no eternal enemies, nor eternal friends. Goguryeo—hmph—right now, you don’t have the strength to negotiate with them, so you can only be a gift, a tribute to please the Murong clan.”

Shawn Irwin gritted her teeth, as if making the hardest decision, and said resolutely, “At worst, I’ll marry a Goguryeo prince. Our two clans have intermarried for generations. As a bride price, he’ll return several thousand slaves to the Yuwen clan. With my status, even if Goguryeo is in dire straits, they’ll at least give us three thousand slaves. That will be the capital for our Yuwen clan’s restoration…”

What a strong woman!

Isaac Hall secretly praised her in his heart. This seemingly delicate woman was so determined. In contrast, he himself had been at a loss and disheartened at the first sign of trouble—failure, such failure!

A matter of character!

“Enough,” Isaac Hall stomped his foot and said, “I have nowhere else to go anyway. If you’re not afraid of being someone else’s gift, what am I worried about? Let’s take a gamble—I’ll play along with you.”

“You agreed!” Shawn Irwin cheered, jumping for joy. But after a few hops, she slowly collapsed to the ground. At first she sobbed, then burst into loud, unrestrained wailing.

She cried without restraint, cried endlessly…

Several Yuwen attendants, hearing their princess’s cries, timidly approached the two of them. Isaac Hall beckoned to the burly man who had once stood behind Shawn Irwin and asked, “What’s your name?”

He asked twice, and only after Isaac Hall slowed his tone did he get an answer: “I have no name, everyone just calls me Nu’er (slave).”

“Then, does any of you have a name?” Isaac Hall asked again.

In this era, knowledge belonged only to a few. Isaac Hall remembered that in the early days of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the illiteracy rate was over 80%, so a nationwide literacy campaign had to be launched. It was not surprising that this guard had no name, but he hadn’t expected that none of the guards here had names.

Damn it! Isn’t this just like Japan? He remembered that before the Meiji Restoration, only a few nobles in Japan had names and surnames. How could it be that none of these guards had names? How did Shawn Irwin usually address them?

Thinking of Shawn Irwin, Isaac Hall turned to ask her, but when he looked back, he saw that Shawn Irwin was already lying at his feet, curled up, with a faint snore coming from her nostrils.

With a “crack,” Isaac Hall felt as if something inside him had shattered. He bent down and gently touched Shawn Irwin; she was still sound asleep, a slight smile on her face, as if she had finally resolved a long-standing worry.

The tide was rising, and the beach was getting very damp. Isaac Hall had stood on the sand for so long that a shallow puddle had formed at his feet. Shawn Irwin was lying on such ground, her hemp clothes soaked through, clinging to her like a shroud, yet she still slept with a radiant smile.

Perhaps, after a long period of fleeing, the third princess’s spirit was already at its limit. Now that someone had stepped up to help plan her future and share some of her burdens, she finally relaxed and fell asleep right there in the water.

“You, from now on, will be called Ben Irwin!” Isaac Hall declared, pointing to the thatched huts not far away. “This place isn’t safe. Murong cavalry were just here—be careful they don’t come back. Take a few people and dismantle those huts. We’ll tie them together into a raft and tow it with my little boat. If possible, we’ll set out tonight.”