Chapter 32

night.

The private room on the top floor of Yunjian Pavilion was deathly quiet.

Cui Yunshu felt that her nerves were like a string stretched to its limit. After the thrilling family meeting during the day, instead of relaxing, they were even more tense, emitting a buzzing, mournful sound in the silent air, on the verge of breaking.

She didn't like the quiet.

This allowed her to clearly hear the sounds within her body: the hissing of blood flowing through her veins; and the dull, weary thumping of her heart in her chest.

She picked up the teacup on the table; the tea had gone cold.

The cold liquid slid down my throat, offering no comfort but instead sending a spasmodic chill through my stomach.

She successfully persuaded her parents.

They used a crazy plan from another world that they had never heard of and could not even fully understand.

She watched them go from despair to shock, and then to a glimmer of morbid hope. She was like the most skillful con artist, using the most beautiful words to depict a dead end leading to hell as the only way out.

She almost believed it herself.

If it weren't for that bone-deep weariness and fear seeping from the very marrow of her bones, reminding her—

All she did was build a beautiful-looking castle out of sand on the edge of a cliff.

It scattered with a gust of wind.

She needs an ally.

An ally with enough power to help her temporarily plaster some cement on this sandcastle.

But she never expected that her ally would make his appearance in this way.

"Bang--!"

The door to the private room wasn't pushed open; it was forced open with someone's shoulder.

The wooden door slammed against the wall with a loud, painful thud, shaking the entire room.

A figure, carrying a scorching rage and chilling murderous intent that could burn a person, charged in like a cannonball.

It was Tang Pu.

He was still wearing the standard armor of the Imperial Guard, stained with night dew and dust. His handsome face was now distorted with extreme rage. His eyes were red, not from crying, but from burning fury, like two branding irons thrown into a furnace.

"How dare they!"

As soon as he entered, before he could even catch his breath, he unleashed his first words with a roar that suppressed thunder.

Cui Yunshu's fingers trembled almost imperceptibly.

The cooled tea rippled in the cup.

She looked up at him.

With a gaze that even she herself found unfamiliar, a gaze so calm it was almost cold.

"sit."

She uttered a single word.

Tang Pu seemed not to hear her. He rushed to the table, slammed his hands heavily on it, and leaned his entire upper body against her. His masculine aura, a blend of sweat, leather, and the smell of metal, mixed with a wildfire of anger, instantly enveloped her.

"I know everything about the imperial edict!" His voice was low, but it sounded like he was sharpening a knife in his throat. "Those are our ships! The foundation of our future great cause! Our navy! The emperor... he's openly robbing us! He's trying to cut off His Highness's arm! He's trying to cut off his lifeline!"

Looking at his chest heaving violently with anger, and at his eyes burning with "revolutionary enthusiasm" due to misunderstanding, Cui Yunshu suddenly felt like laughing.

No.

Not just a little.

I really want to laugh.

A morbid smile that arises from the absurdity and despair of the extreme.

She spent an entire day, exhausting all her energy, to pull her parents back from the brink of collapse and convince them that it wasn't a robbery, but an "opportunity."

Now, the ally she needed most rushed up to her with a despair more intense than her father's and a rage more palpable than her mother's, pinpointing the crux of the matter with unerring accuracy and penetrating insight—

It was robbery.

She felt like a schizophrenic patient.

He plays the role of a savior who turns the tide on one hand, and a strategist with profound foresight on the other.

So tired.

I'm too lazy to act anymore.

"So?" She gently set down her teacup, the bottom clinking against the table with a crisp sound, which seemed particularly cold amidst the burning anger. "What do you want?"

"Counterattack!" Tang Pu declared decisively, without hesitation. "We must counterattack immediately!"

"How to retaliate?"

"I had already thought it through when I came!" Tang Pu's eyes gleamed with a fanatical light. He straightened up and began pacing anxiously in the private room, like a tiger trapped in a cage.

"First, we can't let him get the ship so easily! Isn't the Kunpeng still under repair in the port? We can send men disguised as pirates to set it on fire under the cover of night! Or, we can simply scuttle it in the port! If he wants to take it, let him take a pile of junk!"

Cui Yunshu's eye twitched violently.

Disguised as pirates?

Brother, are you afraid the people in the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review are too idle and have no cases to investigate? Such a big ship was burned by "pirates" in our own port, and the first family to be investigated is our Cui family, okay? Is this retaliation? You're practically sticking your neck under their guillotine!

She remained expressionless, picked up the teapot, and poured herself another cup of cold tea.

"The risk is too great, and it's easy to be exposed," she said calmly.

“Then let’s go with the second plan!” Tang Pu clearly didn’t take the risk seriously. He immediately proposed Plan B. “I’ll contact my uncles in the North immediately and have them submit a memorial to the throne tonight, saying that the northern border defenses are under strain and that a powerful navy is urgently needed to contain the barbarians from the sea flank! I request His Majesty to allocate the Cui family’s fleet directly to the border troops! If we can’t have it, we can’t let the emperor get it so easily!”

Cui Yunshu felt her temples begin to throb with pain.

Give the boat to the border troops?

Do you think the emperor is a fool? The northern border and the eastern sea are separated by a vast distance. What would the border troops need a navy for? To sail in the desert? If this memorial is submitted, the emperor will either think you're crazy or that you're trying to use the border troops' name to turn the fleet into your own private army! At that point, it won't just be a charge of "reducing the power of the vassal states," it will be "plotting rebellion"!

She pinched the bridge of her nose, feeling as if she wasn't discussing strategies with an ally, but rather intervening in the suicidal behavior of an overly enthusiastic intern who had absolutely no political common sense.

"His Majesty will not agree, and it will not pass in the court either." Her voice already carried a hint of weariness that she herself did not realize.

"Then we'll have to resort to our last resort!" Tang Pu suddenly stopped, turned around, and his eyes were as fierce as a wolf ready to devour its prey. "Cut off the fuel supply! I'll send men to infiltrate the East China Sea Shipyard and secretly sabotage all those new ships under construction! Even if he manages to establish some damn shipping company, all he'll get is a pile of scrap metal that can never be repaired!"

Cui Yunshu was completely speechless.

She looked at Tang Pu's face, flushed with excitement, and at his impassioned declaration, "I offer my poisonous scheme for the greater cause."

She suddenly realized that the emperor's edict wasn't so scary after all.

What's truly terrifying is the guy in front of her, a complete idiot who's single-mindedly trying to "help" her.

No, you can't say that.

He's not a bad teammate.

He's the kind of ally who would burn down your entire house without hesitation just to help you swat away a mosquito—the most loyal, the most passionate, the most deadly… ally.

She took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled, as if she wanted to expel all the absurdity, helplessness, and suicidal urges from her chest.

She finally understood why the profession of psychological counselor is associated with a shorter lifespan.

"Tang Pu".

She called his name, her voice calm, yet carrying an unprecedented solemnity.

Tang Pu immediately stood up straight, like a soldier waiting for a general's order, staring intently at her.

"What you said is all very good," Cui Yunshu said, forcing out a compliment against her conscience. She saw Tang Pu's eyes light up instantly. "But it's all too direct."

"Shouldn't we use swift and decisive measures to deal with an open conspiracy?" Tang Pu asked, puzzled.

“No.” Cui Yunshu shook her head, stood up, walked to the window, and opened it.

The cool night breeze swept in, dispelling the restlessness and anger that filled the room, and clearing her confused mind a little.

She needs to repackage her plans.

Use a language he can understand, that he is willing to believe, and that will excite him.

"Why did we destroy the ship?" She didn't turn around, but looked out at the blurry night outside the window and asked softly.

"Because...that's us..."

“No,” Cui Yunshu interrupted him. “From today onwards, that is no longer our ship. It is the Emperor’s ship, the Second Prince’s ship, the Duke of Ying’s ship, and the ship of all the officials. Our goal is not to destroy it.”

She slowly turned around, and in the moonlight, her dark eyes shone with a deep and cold light that Tang Pu had never seen before.

"Our goal is to infiltrate it, control it, and finally... make it work for us."

Tang Pu was stunned.

“This isn’t called submission, Tang Pu.” Cui Yunshu walked back to him step by step, her voice extremely low, as if sharing a shocking secret. “This is called a ‘Trojan Horse’.”

Trojan horse?

Tang Pu's face was full of confusion; he had never even heard of this word before.

Cui Yunshu was too lazy to explain Greek mythology to him.

She explained her "open scheme" in the simplest, most direct, and most in line with his understanding.

"If the emperor wants a ship, we'll give it to him. If he wants a company, we'll help him start one. If he wants all the officials to watch us, we'll just drag everyone down with us!"

"We proactively petitioned to establish the 'Great Qin Royal Maritime Trade Co., Ltd.' We told the Emperor that we don't want the 30% profit anymore, we only want 10%! For the remaining 90%, we welcome the royal family to invest, and we especially welcome His Highness the Crown Prince, the Second Prince, the Prince of An's Mansion, the Duke of Ying's Mansion, Minister Zhang, Vice Minister Li... anyone who wants to make money to invest! Let's all become shareholders and make money together!"

Tang Pu's mouth slowly opened wide.

The anger and fanaticism on his face gradually faded, replaced by a huge, incomprehensible shock.

“This…isn’t this aiding the enemy?” he managed to utter.

"Yes and no." A cold, slightly manic smile finally appeared on Cui Yunshu's lips. "We'll share all the profits with them, letting them make a fortune. But the company's management must remain in our hands. Because only we understand navigation, trade, and how to build the best ships. If they want to make money, they can't do without us."

“Think about it,” she coaxed, like a devil tempting mortals to fall, “when the crown prince is our shareholder, when half the ministers in the court are our shareholders, when their annual profits depend on our fleet going to sea… whose fleet is it really?”

"We use the emperor's money, the officials' money, to build our own ships, support our own people, and open up our own shipping routes! We've turned the entire court into an ATM for our 'great cause'! Tell me, what's the difference between this and directly owning a fleet?"

boom--

Tang Pu felt as if a bolt of lightning had struck his mind.

All the anger, all the resentment, all the confusion were replaced in that instant by a profound and enlightening realization.

He looked at Cui Yunshu, at her face, which appeared somewhat pale in the moonlight, yet possessed a strange charm due to her frighteningly bright eyes.

He suddenly realized how naive and ridiculous his plans to burn ships, sink ships, and destroy docks had been.

A head-on confrontation is the act of a reckless fool.

And the person in front of me, what a grand, insidious, and... ingenious scheme she has devised!

This is not surrender!

This is reverse devouring!

She wants to turn the emperor and the entire court into playthings in the palm of her hand!

"I understand..." Tang Pu murmured to himself, his voice trembling slightly from overwhelming excitement, "I...I completely understand..."

The way he looked at Cui Yunshu had changed from that of an initial ally to that of a fanatical believer.

“Princess…no, Master Strategist!” He suddenly knelt down on one knee, looking up at her with an unprecedented, heartfelt reverence. “Tang Pu was foolish! I almost ruined your grand plan! Please forgive me, Master Strategist!”

Cui Yunshu: "..."

She looked at Tang Pu kneeling before her, at his eyes that had reignited and were ten times brighter than before, and felt her stomach begin to ache again.

It's over.

It seems... things have gotten bigger.

"I...I'll get on it right away!" Tang Pu didn't even wait for her reply before standing up, his face flushed with excitement. "I'll go back to the Prince's Mansion right now and gather all the silver! Our Prince An's Mansion will be the first shareholder! The largest shareholder! I'll also contact the brothers in the army! I'll get them to sell their pots and pans and invest as well! For this great cause, we'll do anything!"

After he finished speaking, he turned around and rushed out like a gust of wind, just as he had come.

He even thoughtfully closed the door for her.

The private room fell silent again, as if dead.

Cui Yunshu slowly, very slowly, sat back down in her chair.

She picked up the cup of cold tea, which had already cooled down, and drank it all in one gulp.

The icy tea chilled me from my throat all the way down to my stomach, and then to every part of my body.

Looking at the waning moon outside the window, she suddenly felt that her future might be even colder than this cup of tea.

She just wanted to make some money, build a ship, and then find a place where no one knew her and live a peaceful life.

How could this be...?

How did he become the leader of a rebel who was going to lead the entire court in rebellion?

She buried her face in her hands and let out a barely audible sigh, almost a groan.

There's no way to get off this pirate ship now.