Chapter 45
Cui Yunshu felt that she might die.
It wasn't the kind of dramatic death where someone's head is chopped off with a single blow.
It's a slower, more agonizing, and suffocating way to die, slowly worn down by a creature called an "ally."
She sat in the carriage of the Prince of An's mansion, the wheels making a "clatter, clatter" sound as they rolled over the bluestone road, a sound that seemed to urge her to her death.
The city of Beijing is bathed in twilight outside the window.
Golden, red, and purple rays of light, like spilled paint, were haphazardly smeared across the sky, creating a magnificent yet chaotic beauty.
She wasn't in the mood to watch.
She only felt that the color resembled blood.
Like herself, her heart's blood was slowly flowing out of her seven orifices.
When Tang Pu sent someone to invite her, she was on the top floor of Yunjian Pavilion, calculating how much profit she could squeeze out from the "national crisis profiteering" deal in the Northern Territory, and whether it would be enough to lay another layer of teak decking on the "Divine Machine Ship".
It was a pure, joyful, and simple kind of happiness belonging to capitalists.
Then, Tang Pu's personal guards arrived.
With an aura of menace and a solemn expression, he spoke in a tone almost like conveying a military order: "The Prince requests your presence at a top-level strategic meeting."
The highest level.
Strategic meeting.
When Cui Yunshu heard these eight words, the string of "reason" in her mind made a "buzz" sound, a mournful cry on the verge of breaking.
She knew there was no escaping it.
The energetic "revolutionary vanguard" who she had finally managed to get rid of with the job of "disaster relief in the North" has returned.
Moreover, he returned with his "latest research findings".
...
The secret room in the Prince An's mansion was exactly as Cui Yunshu had imagined.
It lacked the elegant, tranquil atmosphere of her study, perfect for slacking off.
It's cold here.
The walls were made of blue bricks, the floor was made of stone slabs, and the air was filled with the cold, war-like smell of tung oil used to wipe weapons and leather protective gear.
On the wall hung not paintings or calligraphy by famous artists, but rows of gleaming, cold-looking weapons.
Knife, spear, sword, halberd.
There was also a huge, stiff bow made from a single piece of cowhide.
Cui Yunshu felt that she was not there to attend any "strategic meeting".
She came to attend her own trap.
Xiang Zhuang's sword dance was aimed at Liu Bang.
Tang Pu wielded the knife, intending to take... her life.
Tang Pu stood in the center of this secret room.
Instead of wearing his cumbersome prince's everyday clothes, he changed into his most streamlined black outfit, his long hair tied up high, making him look like a drawn sword about to drink blood.
His face held a look that Cui Yunshu had seen countless times in the psychological counseling room—a look of fanaticism and unwavering determination unique to patients with paranoid personality disorder when they were explaining their perfect logic.
He looked at her, his eyes burning with passion.
"You've arrived."
He spoke, his voice low and deep, yet like a resounding war drum, making the secret room vibrate.
Cui Yunshu nodded and sat down in the only chair. The chair was made of hard wood and had no cushion, making her bones ache.
She didn't say anything.
She just wanted to see what kind of earth-shattering "rebellion" her "good ally" could conjure up this time.
Tang Pu did not disappoint her.
He took a deep breath, as if he were about to perform the most sacred ritual.
He walked to the wall and dragged a heavy, long wooden box out of a huge, locked iron chest.
He placed the wooden box on the equally cold and hard stone table in the center and opened it.
There was no gold or silver treasure inside.
It wasn't some local specialty he brought back from the North.
It's a picture.
A huge map made of fine leather of unknown origin.[13]
As Tang Pu slowly spread the map out on the stone table, Cui Yunshu felt her temples begin to throb with pain.
She recognized the map.
It was a drawing she made on a whim last time to fool him, a design of the "God Machine Ship" with an absurdly complex structure.
At the time, she just wanted to find an excuse to send him to the East China Sea, so that he and that tech geek, Master Lu, could be together in the vast ocean of shipbuilding, loving and tormenting each other, and not bother her anymore.
But now...
Tang Pu's finger, like a red-hot iron rod, struck the drawing heavily.
His voice, filled with extreme excitement, became somewhat high-pitched, as if he were reciting a magnificent epic that would be passed down through the ages.
"Master strategist!"
He started calling her that awful nickname again.
"Look!"
He pointed to the blueprints, then to the map of the entire Qin Dynasty hanging on the wall of the secret room, his eyes gleaming with brilliance.
"Donghai Shipyard, the capital! I've figured it all out! I finally understand your profound meaning!"
Cui Yunshu remained expressionless.
Inner monologue: No, you haven't. You haven't grasped anything. Please stop trying to grasp anything.
Tang Pu had completely entered the zone. Like a devout believer who had finally deciphered a divine oracle, he began his passionate, logically perfect, and self-conquering "strategic exposition."
"'Royal Maritime Trading Company'! This is the most brilliant move you've made!" His voice was full of admiration. "On the surface, we established the company to make money, to appease His Majesty, and to bind the entire court to our cause!"
"But what actually happens?"
He slammed his hand on the table, making the teacups on it jump.
"In fact, this provides our 'Divine Machine Ship' with the most perfect and legitimate excuse to set sail!!"
Cui Yunshu: "..."
No, I just want it to go out and trade, make money for me, so I can achieve financial freedom as soon as possible, and then I can run away.
Tang Pu drew a heavy circle on the map with his finger, encircling the sea outlet from the capital to the East China Sea.
"Look! The Royal Shipping Company's maiden voyage is imminent! What an important moment this is! This is not only a commercial voyage, but also... the first appearance of our 'new navy'!"
"Therefore, I suggest!" His voice suddenly rose, each word seeming to explode from his chest, "We must use the 'Divine Machine Ship' as the flagship for this maiden voyage!!"
Cui Yunshu's eye twitched violently.
flagship?
Brother, that ship's deck isn't even finished yet! The keel is still sticking out! You want to use it as a flagship? Or a submarine?!
"Not only that!" Tang Pu didn't give her any chance to refute; he was completely immersed in his grand logic. "We also want to take advantage of this maiden voyage to conduct a large-scale, combat-oriented... military exercise in the East China Sea!!"
"Under the guise of 'escorting merchant ships and suppressing Japanese pirates,' we will test the true combat capabilities of our 'Divine Machine Ship'! At the same time, and most importantly!"
He turned his head, his eyes burning as he stared intently at Cui Yunshu, his gaze so intense it seemed to scorch her.
"Using this exercise, we will select a group of battle-hardened veterans from the Northern Army whom we absolutely trust, and place them into the fleet under the guise of 'escort sailors'! This will allow us to achieve complete and absolute control over this fleet, from top to bottom, inside and out!!"
exercise……
Planting people...
Absolute control...
As Cui Yunshu listened to these words, she felt as if her mind had turned into mush.
She looked at Tang Pu's face, flushed with excitement, which was filled with thoughts of "I'm so smart" and "Praise me!"
The dignified and elegant noblewoman inside her, dressed in fine clothes, finally broke down.
She knelt on the ground, clutching her hair with both hands, screaming wildly.
"Exercise my ass! I just want to run a trade route! What the hell are you talking about?! Those are all shipwrights and sailors I hired! I just want to make money! Make money! And then run away! Who the hell wants to control your fleet?!"
"Help! I can't live like this anymore! When will this traitorous ally finally wake up?!"
However.
In reality.
Cui Yunshu slowly picked up the cup of tea on the table, which had already gone cold, and took a small sip.
The tea was cold and bitter.
Like her life right now.
She had to, she absolutely had to find a way to calm him down.
She raised her head, and on her face was the same unfathomable, inscrutable expression that Tang Pu knew best—the damned, chief strategist's expression, as if she had everything under control.
"Yuanzhi".
Her voice was soft and calm.
Tang Pu immediately stood up straight, like a soldier waiting for a general's inspection, looking at her with anticipation.
"Your plan... is excellent."
Cui Yunshu, against her conscience, managed to squeeze out a compliment.
Tang Pu's eyes lit up instantly.
“But,” she changed the subject, beginning her desperate, final struggle, “you haven’t considered things thoroughly enough.”
"Please enlighten me, sir!"
"Where is the commander of the navy for such a large-scale exercise?" She posed the first question, which she thought would stump him. "We can't expect a prince like you to personally lead a merchant fleet's escort, can we?"
"What's so difficult about that!" Tang Pu said without hesitation, patting his chest and exclaiming with great pride, "I'll go myself! Not only will I go, but I'll also ask my father for a decree to bestow upon me the title of 'Grand General of the Royal Shipping Company'! I'll have him personally hand over command of this fleet to me!"
Cui Yunshu: "..."
That's it, the first line of defense has been breached in seconds.
Undeterred, she posed a second question.
"Soldiers. How can we guarantee the absolute loyalty of those Northern Border warriors you mentioned? Are they loyal to the Northern general, to Great Qin, or... to us?"
"You needn't worry about that, Master!" Tang Pu's face showed an expression that said, "You underestimate me." "Who provides the food and clothing for the 100,000 soldiers in the Northern Border? It's you! It's the Cui family! In their hearts, you are their 'Goddess of Wealth,' their second parents! Don't even mention making them sailors; even if you asked them to charge into the palace with swords right now, they wouldn't bat an eye!"
Cui Yunshu felt her heart skip a beat.
It's over.
It seems she dug herself an even bigger hole.
She took a deep breath and posed the last, and what she considered the most fatal, unsolvable problem.
“Your Majesty,” she said, her voice even lower, “such a grand display, the extraordinary nature of the ‘Divine Machine Ship,’ the murderous aura of those battle-hardened veterans… do you think we can hide this from His Majesty’s eyes? What if it arouses his suspicion?”
She thought that this problem should finally make him back down.
However.
Upon hearing this, Tang Pu showed no fear whatsoever. Instead, he revealed a smile of sudden realization, even greater admiration, and near-fanatical enthusiasm.
He looked at Cui Yunshu with an expression that said, "So you were waiting for me here."
He stepped forward, his voice brimming with barely suppressed excitement.
"Master strategist! I understand! I finally understand your ultimate meaning!"
"These aren't questions you're asking! They're...testing me!"
"You are testing me, to see if I, as a qualified 'vanguard general,' have the ability and determination to stand alone and solve all problems!"
Cui Yunshu was completely speechless.
She looked at him, her eyes empty, her heart utterly desolate.
Destroy it.
Hurry up.
I'm tired.
Tang Pu was completely unaware of her despair; he was already moved to tears by his own imagined scenario.
He knelt on one knee, clasped his hands in a fist, and roared in a hoarse voice, as if about to be executed:
"Master strategist! Give the order!"
"Commander-in-Chief, I'll take the role!"
"I'll pick the soldiers!"
"I will bear the full weight of His Majesty's suspicions!"
"If you give the order, I, Tang Pu, will gladly die a thousand deaths!!"
He raised his head, and in his bright black eyes burned a blazing flame called "Great Cause," and a man's most fervent, purest loyalty to his ideals and... to her.
Cui Yunshu looked at him.
Looking at this handsome, passionate, foolish, and hopeless ally kneeling before him.
She slowly closed her eyes.
She felt that she wasn't being placed on the throne of some kind of "rebel leader".
she is……
He personally bound him to the most luxurious prison cart leading to the guillotine.
Moreover, even the car doors were welded shut, damn it.
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