Chapter 214 Schemes

"Commander Ren makes it sound so easy. How about we discuss it with Lan Ying and change the hostages to your wife and mother? Would you agree?"

General Liu was formerly a subordinate of Commander Ren. Now that their official ranks are equal, Ren Yang feels a bit resentful and likes to argue with him. This time, Liu caught Ren Yang in a wrong, so he immediately made amends.

"What are you saying? Of course not."

Ren Yang was so frightened that he immediately refused.

He knew that the hostages wouldn't be moved around easily, but he was still quite frightened by those words.

I felt ashamed of what I had just said. I was arrogant when it wasn't my turn, but when it was, I felt like the sky was falling.

The other new generals were still speaking freely, arguing fiercely about whether or not to agree to Lan Ying's request.

Wen Zhiming replied, "I rejected Lan Ying's proposal directly. Firstly, I am unwilling to provide hostages, and secondly, Lan Yu Kingdom's proposal is clearly a trap. You all know that I may not recognize this contract after it is done. Do you think Lan Ying didn't think of that? They are people who break their promises, so how could they not be wary of others?"

"That's because their goal isn't a peace treaty. They just want to incite me to fight against General Leng of the Golden Moon Kingdom. They want to use minimal forces to make us both suffer heavy losses, and then they can reap the benefits."

These words jolted everyone awake from their daze.

They were all tempted by the imperial throne offered by the other side and almost fell into the trap set by the Blue Feather Kingdom.

Ren Yang said angrily, "This Lan Ying is indeed treacherous and cunning. Now that he is in our hands, we might as well kill him and send his body to Lan Yu Kingdom so that they will know the price of playing tricks on us."

“But if we do that, our feud with the Blue Feather Kingdom will become much bigger. If the two armies fight, wouldn’t General Leng be the one to benefit?” The young general pointed out the obvious.

Ren Yang said helplessly, "This won't work, that won't work. Are we supposed to feed Lan Ying well, or are we supposed to politely send him back?"

Everyone chimed in with their own opinions, arguing endlessly.

No one is talking about cooperating with Lanyu Kingdom anymore; everyone is discussing how to deal with Lan Ying, this hot potato.

Many suggestions were made, but they were ultimately rejected for various reasons.

The meeting went on until noon, but still no suitable solution was found. Wen Zhiming then said that the matter should be put aside for a few days and discussed again, and that the problems that had arisen in the military camp in recent days should be resolved first.

The group discussed everything from military supplies and provisions to daily training and defense, each addressing their own challenges and then working together to find solutions.

With Du Yuanhua's financial assistance, the material issues are easier to handle than before, and daily training and defense have also been readjusted. All these issues combined have been resolved faster than the Lan Ying incident.

When the drums signaling lunchtime sounded in the military camp, the meeting was drawing to a close.

The generals gradually dispersed, and Wen Zhiming and Meng Lingge returned hand in hand to his tent, where guards had already placed their meals on the table.

Today's meal consisted of meat porridge and flatbread, which was considered quite good for the food in the military camp.

Before Meng Lingge and the others arrived, in order to save money, they would only add some vegetables to the porridge, and would never add minced meat.

These two bowls were clearly prepared specially by the chef; there was more minced meat than grains of rice in them.

If it were just Wen Zhiming alone, he would definitely have warned the cook not to do that, because he wanted to share weal and woe with the soldiers. But with Meng Lingge there, he tacitly approved of the cook's behavior.

Even with all this, he still felt very wronged by Meng Lingge. His wife was pregnant, but the conditions in the military camp were indeed limited, and Meng Lingge wouldn't allow him to go hunting in the mountains, so for the time being, they could only do this.

He poured half of his meat porridge into Meng Lingge's bowl until the small bowl was full.

"My dear wife, eat more. You can't afford to lack nutrition right now."

Meng Lingge nodded obediently and gave her pancake to Wen Zhiming.

"This is a bit hard, I don't like to eat it. You eat it for me."

She felt that she and Wen Zhiming were like a poor young couple in the city, understanding, caring for each other.

They cherish the simplest sweetness together.

Seeing that Wen Zhiming always had a smile on his face, Meng Lingge couldn't help but ask, "Lan Ying's matter hasn't been resolved yet, aren't you worried?"

"I'm happy no matter what I do with my wife." Wen Zhiming saw that Meng Lingge had some porridge on her lips and gently wiped it away. "Besides, I already have a plan for Lan Ying's matter."

He had a plan when he saw Wen Weizhu sitting on Lan Ying's lap.

However, there was still a chance of things changing, so we wanted to see if other generals had a better solution.

Unfortunately, after discussing it all morning, no good solution was found.

Meng Lingge said, "You told them that this matter would be discussed in a few days. Are you afraid of leaking information? Is there anything I can do to help them?"

“Yes, we must not make a fuss about this before it is accomplished,” Wen Zhiming said. “Moreover, whether it can be done or not depends on whether my second sister will make a foolish mistake this time. You don’t need to do anything. If Wen Weizhu comes to sound you out and asks you how I plan to deal with Lan Ying, just say that you don’t know anything about such important military matters.”

Meng Lingge whispered, "You mean to send Wen Weizhu..."

She had a guess in her mind, but she wasn't sure.

Wen Zhiming nodded and said, "Yes, if she stands in my shoes, she will be fine. If she has other intentions and wants to seek her own death, I don't mind taking advantage of her stupidity to achieve the result I want."

Meng Lingge recalled that she had asked Wen Zhiming earlier whether she should remind Wen Weizhu about Lan Ying's unusual behavior, and Wen Zhiming immediately replied that it was unnecessary, adding that Wen Weizhu's recklessness would only lead to her own demise.

It turns out that Wen Zhiming had other plans in mind back then.

He wasn't worried that Wen Weizhu would implicate him; in fact, he immediately thought of how to use Wen Weizhu's reckless behavior to achieve his goals.

Despite how he treated his blood relatives, Meng Lingge couldn't say he was wrong.

After all, Meng Lingge remembered that Wen Zhiming had said that when he was mentally impaired, his second sister often bullied him, and Wen Weizhu only had a false sense of affection for her eldest brother.

Moreover, as Wen Zhiming said, if Wen Weizhu remembered her identity and did not make a mistake, then such a disaster would naturally not have befallen her.

Wen Zhiming couldn't use her either.

It's a pity for Consort Jiang; she is still serving Prince Anshun diligently, but her only daughter may be facing a great calamity.

Whether Wen Weizhu will be safe or in danger next depends on her own choice.

Meng Lingge nodded without saying anything more. After the couple finished eating, they asked the guards to clear away the dishes and leave.

The two left the tent hand in hand. Wen Zhiming first took Meng Lingge to Qiu Lan and Lu Shui's residence, and then went to the military camp to handle military affairs.

Meanwhile, in the capital of Jin Yue Kingdom, the bridal sedan chair carrying Meng Xiyao had successfully entered the palace, paid respects to the Emperor and Empress, and moved into Yaojiao Courtyard.

At this moment, it was the turn of the palace matrons to do her makeup. Before they even touched the bridal veil, the matrons simply took Meng Xiyao's hand and were so shocked by the dense red swelling and ulceration below her wrists that they took several steps back.