Chapter 20020: Illegally Registering a Household Registration

Shen Tang gasped.

Only now did I understand why Qi Shan's face was dark.

Who could bear such a humiliation?

"The defeated royal family leading their officials to surrender is an honor that the victorious nation should enjoy. Presumably, even if the King of Xin is unwilling, he would not resist. But this Zheng Qiao... has he gone mad?"

Qi Shan sneered, "I think he's just unwilling to accept it..."

He wanted the State of Xin to repay the humiliation he suffered there tenfold, a hundredfold, and to nail the State of Xin to the pillar of historical shame.

Shen Tang exclaimed angrily, "This is too despicable!"

The word "despicable" alone is not enough to describe Zheng Qiao's depravity. Shen Tang only felt that this person was vicious, narrow-minded and disgusting.

What does it mean to have one's face bound and holding a jade disc in one's mouth?

Simply put, it involves binding one's hands behind one's back and holding a piece of jade in one's mouth. In funeral customs, people believe that holding jade in the mouth of a corpse can prevent the corpse from decaying and also to show the deceased's noble status. This image is used to surrender to the victorious country.

In practice, one typically exposes their upper body to demonstrate that they are unarmed, signifying that they are a "lamb to the slaughter." They are truly entrusting their lives to others, allowing themselves to be killed or tortured at their discretion.

Now, Zheng Qiao forced the King of Xin to abdicate in favor of Princess Wang Ji—a woman lacking both literary and martial talents, and also the King of Xin's only daughter—making her strip naked and hand over the letter of surrender, the seal of office, the household register, and the national treasury in public.

This was undoubtedly a complete trampling and humiliation of the remnants of the Xin Kingdom, leaving no room for leniency.

Qi Shan stared coldly at the teacup in her hand, using immense self-control to prevent herself from crushing it. She secretly took several deep breaths to calm her volcanic rage: "Growing up in the deep palace, a sycophant who only knows how to use his looks to please others—how 'gentlemanly' do you expect him to be? Without the Xin Kingdom's seal, the gains from this war will be halved, and given Zheng Qiao's temperament, he certainly won't let it go so easily..."

Upon hearing the words "Imperial Seal" once again, Shen Tang's eyelids twitched slightly: "A person like this can't hold onto his throne."

Qi Shan had previously said that if Zheng Qiao did not die suddenly within five years, the Geng Kingdom would surely perish; this "prediction" was considered conservative.

Given Zheng Qiao's current tyranny and ruthlessness, whether he can survive for three years remains a big question mark.

He also made a very bad start—

He allowed his troops to commit atrocities, including burning, killing, and looting.

Military discipline and loyalty are difficult to cultivate but easy to break down.

Outside the teahouse, the soldiers of the Geng Kingdom, seeing that the teahouse owner was quite beautiful, harbored wicked thoughts. They exchanged glances and deliberately asked the owner to refill their tea. While refilling the tea, they touched her hands and put their arms around her waist. Some even went so far as to pout and try to kiss her, which frightened the owner so much that she screamed repeatedly, while the soldiers laughed heartily.

"Soldier, soldier..."

The teahouse owner tried to help his wife out of the predicament, but was slapped hard across the face, and half of his face quickly became red and swollen.

"Get out of my way! You're ruining my fun, are you looking for death?"

Click—

Qi Shan followed the sound and looked down at Chen Tang's hand.

The teacup in her hand was crushed by her fingers.

Fortunately, Young Master Shen did not slam his fist on the table in anger, nor did he rush out to fight. Instead, he said coldly, "If the troops cannot be disciplined with strict military discipline, these sharp blades that serve Zheng Qiao in his campaigns will one day turn against him because their desires are not satisfied, and eventually they will turn against their master and kill him."

Upon hearing this, Qi Shan looked up and met Shen Tang's eyes.

This was a completely instinctive action.

Her eyes were too calm.

Her calm demeanor made one wonder if she was watching a group of dying ants—this thought crossed her mind, and Qi Shan momentarily lost her composure, using the act of drinking tea to conceal a subtle emotion: "But before that, who knows how many innocent people and wise men will lose their lives... Alas, the situation is like this... Young Master Shen, what can we do? We can only be spectators."

"Yuan Liang."

Qi Shan raised an eyebrow.

Don't be fooled by the fact that Shen Xiaolangjun always addresses him as "Mr. Qi" or "Mr.", which sounds respectful. He can tell whether the respect is genuine or just empty talk. On the contrary, the "Qi Yuanliang" that he blurted out in anger earlier was more genuine.

Now they call him "Yuanliang" directly...

He didn't feel offended; in fact, he was somewhat looking forward to it.

"What is it?"

Shen Tang sat down, controlling herself from paying attention to the commotion outside the teahouse—the soldiers were only at the stage of groping and taking advantage of her, and since they were escorting prisoners, they probably wouldn't do anything more outrageous. If she jumped out to "stand up for justice," it would only bring trouble upon them.

So she could only try to distract herself and suppress the frustration of being unable to do anything.

"I'm curious, who exactly are you?"

Qi Shan knows too much.

Furthermore, the timing of his appearance was too coincidental.

How lucky does Shen Tang need to be to encounter such an amazing person who knows everything after starting in hell?

To everyone's surprise, Qi Shan didn't answer but instead asked a question, passing the buck back to Qi Shan.

"Before answering this question, shouldn't Young Master Shen also reveal his true identity? That would show his sincerity."

And why would there be a national seal?

He didn't ask that question aloud, because he believed that with Young Master Shen's cunning, he would surely understand the unspoken meaning behind his words.

This is perhaps the unspoken understanding between the two of them.

Shen Tang: "..."

Asking her won't help.

If she had a safety net and possessed the memories of the body's original owner, would she still need to linger around Qi Shan to subtly gather information?

"Who does Yuanliang think I am?"

Shen Tang used a versatile, cryptic retort.

She can play dumb and pretend to be profound, too!

To everyone's surprise, Qi Shan fell silent after she finished speaking, her eyes filled with a complex expression that was impossible to decipher. Suddenly, she sighed and said, "I thought... yes, Chen, your surname is Chen!"

For some unknown reason, his expression suddenly brightened!

Shen Tang was completely bewildered, three question marks flashing across her forehead, but she couldn't lose face: "My surname is Shen, didn't Yuan Liang already know that? Wen Xin wouldn't lie, unless I have Yuan Liang's ability to disguise himself."

but--

So what if her surname is Chen?

The next sentence left Qi Shan speechless.

"So, young master is 'Gong Cheng'?"

Shen Tang: "..."

Who is Gong Cheng?

She suddenly wanted to know what Qi Shan was imagining this time.

Qi Shan continued speaking, her gaze fixed on Shen Tang, and began to recount a scandal: "The King of Xin is a womanizer and extremely cold-hearted towards women. Perhaps it is retribution, but for many years he has only had one daughter, the Princess, yet his affection for her is far less than his affection for Gong Cheng, the eldest son of the Gong family. Some busybodies once suggested to him that Gong Cheng become the Princess's husband, but the King severely reprimanded him and even demoted him... Thus, rumors began to circulate..."

Shen Tang automatically completed the sentence: "You mean—the King of Xin planted a green hat on the head of the Gong family? No, I mean he slept with the wife of the Gong family head?"

Is Gong Cheng the son of the King of Xin?

Has the Gong clan patriarch been a cuckold for many years?

etc--

Shen Tang was stunned for a moment, and it took her a while to react.

Looking at his own Wenxin and then at Qishan, whose eyes seemed to say, "I've seen through your secret," he almost coughed up blood.

She asked, her voice trembling slightly, "What is the royal surname of the Xin Kingdom...?"

Qi Shan said, "Sink."

Qi Yuanliang has a wild imagination, but the truth...

(End of this chapter)