Chapter 147 Offering Myself in Return
You Shun changed into a pure white silk robe, removed the extremely realistic and ugly human skin mask, and slowly walked out.
Through the swaying beaded curtain, Lu Jinlan saw a face that was breathtakingly beautiful.
She suddenly remembered a rumor she had heard long ago. It was said that a people who had lived in the far north for generations would develop deep-set features to withstand the cold and snow.
The Yusang people originated in the far north of the Julong Mountain. Due to the influence of their environment, most of them have high-bridged noses, deep-set eyes, long and thick eyelashes, thick eyebrows, and fair skin.
You Shun's appearance was one of the most outstanding in the You Sang tribe. When he suddenly revealed his true appearance, even Lu Jinlan, a woman who had seen a lot in life, was deeply amazed.
Lu Jinlan paused, then sat back down on the heated kang. "What did you just say?"
You Shun smiled slightly, raised his hand to take off the outer robe he had just put on, revealing his tight and well-proportioned figure.
Lu Jinlan looked up and saw that her naturally fair skin was dazzlingly white, and her well-defined abs were clearly visible. Further down, the crimson chastity mark was particularly striking.
Wearing only a pair of sleeping pants, with his clothes scattered about, You Shun climbed onto the heated kang.
He deliberately brushed against Lu Jinlan's leg with his waist and abdomen, reached for the teapot, poured a cup of tea for Lu Jinlan, presented it with both hands, and said with a smile: "I just said that I am willing to repay the Alliance Leader with my body."
Their eyes met, and Lu Jinlan looked at him with a hint of a smile, while You Shun leaned a little closer.
Lu Jinlan took a sip of hot tea from his hand. The scalding tea warmed her throat and made her feel a little warmer.
Lu Jinlan asked, puzzled, "Why did you need to disguise yourself?"
You Shun sighed and said helplessly, "As a man, it's already very inconvenient for me to show my face in public. If I were to show my true face, it would only bring more trouble. People would only covet my good looks and treat me as a plaything to be taken into their possession at any time. They would never regard me as the clan leader or the head of the family."
"So, my mother taught me the art of disguise from a young age, and I never show my true face except to people I am very close to."
"Oh," Lu Jinlan smiled slightly, "Am I considered someone extremely close to you?"
A smile flickered in You Shun's eyes. "I hope to be very close to the Alliance Leader."
Lu Jinlan smiled. "I'm afraid it's not that simple. You want to repay me with your body, and then what? What are you after?"
You Shundao: "And then..."
He raised his hand to smooth the wrinkles on Lu Jinlan's collar. "Then I will be your man. You and I will join forces to lead the Eighteen Clans Alliance to establish a new dynasty. At that time, you will be the emperor, and I will be your royal consort, bearing you daughters and sons to continue our bloodline."
Lu Jinlan laughed out loud, "I thought you were a smart person. The Eighteen Clans Alliance has such little power, yet they want to overthrow Hua Kingdom and establish a new dynasty. How could Lu Jinlan tolerate that? It's a joke."
You Shun hurriedly said, "Alliance Leader, you misunderstand. I didn't mean to overthrow Hua Kingdom and establish a new dynasty. I meant that we should leave Hua Kingdom and establish a new dynasty. To tell you the truth, my mother is a descendant of the You Sang royal family. Although Wu Cang Kingdom on the border of Hua Kingdom is a small country, it belongs to the same lineage as our You Sang clan. As long as we escape Yaozhou, crossing the border there will not be a problem."
"Now everyone in the alliance obeys you. As long as you give the order, they will be willing to follow us. We will leave Yaozhou, pass through Wucang, and rest and recuperate in the far north. Our ancestors once obtained a treasure. When the time is right, we will take out the treasure, recruit soldiers and horses, and make a comeback."
"At that time, we will join forces with the King of Wucang, and Lu Jinlan may not be our match. Alliance Leader, you will ascend the throne and command the world, wouldn't that be wonderful?"
Lu Jinlan slowly lowered her eyes. "So that's how it is. You went to great lengths to prevent me from submitting to the court. You really had ulterior motives."
Although Lu Jinlan had ulterior motives in getting everyone to submit to the imperial court, he was still somewhat surprised to suddenly learn the secret behind the Yousang tribe.
The Yusang people established their kingdom hundreds of years ago, yet their descendants still refer to themselves as royal descendants and harbor thoughts of restoring their kingdom.
You Shun said gently, "I don't want you to submit to the court, but it's for your own good. I'm unwilling to let you suffer. After all, we've become rebels. Even if Lu Jinlan doesn't hold a grudge, she won't give you an important position. At most, she'll give you a minor official post because you have talent."
"Though I am not talented, I have a discerning eye for talent. I see in you the countenance of an emperor. Why should you stoop to a subservient position? Marry me, and our entire Yousang tribe will lend you our strength to achieve great things. What do you say?"
Lu Jinlan frowned. "That doesn't sound very believable. Since you've mobilized the entire clan, why did you elect an outsider like me? Aren't you the clan leader now? If you had the chance to become emperor, would you let it go? Don't you want to be emperor? Don't you want to achieve hegemony and rule the world?"
You Shun said sadly, "What's the point of me being emperor, a man? What's the point of having this world?"
Do you think I enjoy being in the spotlight and playing the role of a powerful man? Do you think I don't yearn for a simple, ordinary life as a husband and wife?
"A man's strength is all a facade, a forced performance. It's one thing to fool others, but I can't fool myself. Tell me, which man in the world doesn't want to be the devoted husband behind his wife? Which man doesn't want to be pampered by a woman and live a life free from worries?"
"Do you think I'm happy fighting for power in your women's territory? Actually, I also want someone to love me, to take care of me, and to pamper me."
“I don’t like being a clan chief at all, I don’t want to be the head of a family, and I certainly don’t want to be an emperor. All of this is my mother’s last wish, and it’s never been what I wanted.”
"My lifelong wish is simply to marry a wife who can shelter me from the wind and rain. Just like all ordinary men in the world, I want to be a good husband, doing laundry, cooking, taking care of the children, waiting for my wife to come home every day, and living a simple life."
"Fighting and killing to seize the world is your women's business. I'm not interested. I just want to be the man behind you and take care of our home."
As he said this, he leaned forward and offered a kiss.
Lu Jinlan hesitated for a moment, then pressed down on the back of his neck, intensifying her grip. She then pulled the blanket over him and rolled onto it.
*
The two had just consummated their relationship, and You Shun was lost in his sweet dream when he suddenly saw Lu Jinlan get up and put on her clothes. She turned to him and said two words: "Not good."
"What's wrong with me? Am I not good enough?" You Shun asked somewhat flusteredly.
Lu Jinlan said, "You're alright. I told you your suggestion was bad. I don't want to go to the far north, that freezing cold place where I'd be freezing like a dog all year round. What would I do there?"
You Shun blinked in confusion, "But there, you can be the emperor."
Lu Jinlan retorted, "Then why don't I be the emperor here?"
You Shun was a little confused, knowing that succeeding here before the Emperor was extremely difficult, almost impossible, but he didn't want to offend her, so he only said, "That's something that needs to be planned carefully and done gradually. What do you plan to do now?"
"Right now, of course we should submit to the imperial court first."
You Shun was taken aback. "You still want to submit to the imperial court...aren't you lying to me?"
Lu Jinlan said, "Who lied to you? I didn't agree to that just now."
Lu Jinlan pulled up his pants and his face tightened. "Don't worry about my business. As for you... just listen to my arrangements."
After she finished speaking, she walked out. You Shun was so anxious that she wanted to chase after her, but unfortunately she was not wearing any clothes.
He could only cover himself with the blanket, grab a vase at random, and throw it at her, angrily saying, "Lu Er, you bastard!"
Lu Jinlan was quick and agile. She caught the vase, weighed it in her hand, and laughed, "You poisonous husband, so fierce, who would dare to marry you? Be careful you'll never get married before you die."
Lu Jinlan walked away quickly, leaving You Shun behind, who was so angry that he gritted his teeth and angrily pounded the bed.
*
Before long, someone pushed open the door and came in, draping a coat over You Shun, who was secretly weeping.
The woman's voice was old, and she said in a deep voice, "Stop crying. Your mother is a descendant of royalty, and you have royal blood in your veins. You can't be so spineless."
You Shun quickly wiped away her tears and said dejectedly, "Aunt, I... I couldn't persuade her."
You Xiu is You Liang's younger sister and You Shun's aunt.
At this moment, You Xiu sighed, "She is no ordinary person; your beauty is naturally not enough to sway her. However, we have painstakingly planned and schemed for years to form the alliance of eighteen tribes. If we let her lead all these people to submit to the court, wouldn't we have been doing all the work for someone else?"
You Shun said helplessly, "It's come to this, there's nothing I can do."
You Xiu thought for a moment, "There's another way. You can lure her out again and kill her when she's completely off guard."
You Shun exclaimed in shock, "How is that possible? She's highly skilled in martial arts; I'm no match for her at all. Besides... besides..."
His face flushed slightly, and he said in a low voice, "Besides, I'm already hers, how could I kill her?"
You Xiu frowned deeply. "You're so foolish, child. She took advantage of you, and you actually accepted it."
You Shundao said, "As the saying goes, a loyal minister does not serve two emperors, and a good man does not marry two wives. Whether she deceived me or was sincere, things have already turned out this way, and I think I have to accept my fate."
You Xiu looked at him with a face full of disappointment and anger, "Nonsense! How can you face your deceased mother if you degenerate like this?"
“Aunt!” You Shun argued, “It’s not that I’ve chosen to be depraved, but that we simply can’t do anything to her.”
You Xiu glared at him. "It's not over yet. How do you know I can't do anything to her? Although she is the leader of the alliance, she has only been in the alliance for a short time. The people in charge of the eighteen tribes are all old acquaintances of mine. Many of them were persuaded to join by me. Now, I still believe that I can persuade them to refuse to submit to the court."
"Lu Er, you're asking for trouble. She refuses to join forces with us and is still entangled in some messy affair with the Emperor's concubine. I'll see how she shuts up the gossip tomorrow."
*
Meanwhile, Lu Jinlan was discussing tomorrow's arrangements with Yan Wuxin.
Yan Wuxin said, "The ceremonial guards and the Ministry of Rites and Music have arrived, and Sui Zhi has also brought the musketeer corps from the Divine Machine Battalion. Lord Guan is leading officials of the fourth rank and above on horseback, and they should arrive around tomorrow. Everyone is prepared, but after keeping this from everyone for so long, how are we going to bring it up at the last minute?"
Lu Jinlan sighed, "We have to say it no matter how tactfully we do it, so we might as well just be direct."
Xu Lin hurriedly said worriedly, "Your Majesty, aren't you afraid that these uncouth men might get angry and become enraged?"
Lu Jinlan shook his fan. "Let our people go up the mountain first. When we have a knife to their throats, let's see who dares to mess with us. Tomorrow morning, pass on my order to have Ji Yun Tieshu guard the mountain gate. She'll know what to do."
Yan Wuxin hurriedly said, "Then I will go down the mountain tonight, and tomorrow morning Ruzhen and I will bring people to escort you."
Lu Jinlan nodded, and everyone made their own arrangements.
*
The next morning, everyone gathered in the council hall. Lu Jinlan frowned slightly; although she was prepared to confront everyone today, the atmosphere was so tense before she even spoke.
Xu Lin stopped her at the door and whispered, "Something seems wrong inside. Grand Commandant Yan isn't here, and His Majesty the Prime Minister hasn't arrived yet. I'm too weak to protect His Majesty. Why don't you find an excuse to run away first? I can block the door and maybe buy you some time."
Lu Jinlan laughed and said, "There's no need for you to protect me. Just don't get in the way. If a fight breaks out later, find a corner to hide in. When you hear the music, that means our people have arrived."
Lu Jinlan patted Xu Lin's shoulder reassuringly, strode into the hall, took his seat in the main seat, and calmly said, "You all arrived early today, and everyone is here. Is there something you need?"
Before he could finish speaking, You Xiu stood up and said, "Reporting to the Alliance Leader, there is something important that must be said."
Lu Jinlan's gaze turned cold. "Tell me about it."
Xu Lin stood at the doorway, swallowed hard, and spotted a table, ready to slip inside at any moment.
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