Soon, a maid's voice rang out from outside, trying to stop them: "Your Excellency, the King and Queen are resting."
"This is a matter of national importance; delaying it will lead to serious consequences," a middle-aged man's voice rang out, sounding very anxious.
"Your Excellency, if I disturb His Majesty at this moment, I too will be condemned to death." The maid was almost in tears.
...
Hearing the commotion outside, Zu An was speechless. He was holding Pei Mianman and whispering sweet nothings to her, enjoying a tender moment, when he was suddenly disturbed.
Pei Mianman hurriedly nudged him: "Hurry up and invite him in. Don't delay important matters. I don't want to become a femme fatale who brings chaos to the court."
Zu An chuckled to himself. He finally understood why there were so many incompetent emperors in history. With their beautiful concubines embracing them all day, getting out of bed to attend the morning court was no easy task.
He told Pei Mianman to get up and get dressed. He couldn't very well leave her lying in bed while others came in. He didn't have the same fetish as the last emperor of Northern Qi, who liked to have his woman's body exposed for his ministers to admire.
When Pei Mianman sat up, her chest heaved, making Zu An stare wide-eyed.
"You haven't had enough of looking yet~" Pei Mianman's eyes sparkled with an indescribable charm and passion.
Zu An swallowed hard: "I could never get enough of looking at him in a lifetime, no, I could never get enough of looking at him in ten lifetimes."
As he spoke, he couldn't help but move closer, and a pair of Lu Shan's claws stretched out.
Pei Mianman spat and pushed him away, her face flushed. Clearly, there were other people outside, and she wasn't in the mood to fool around with him.
She barely managed to escape his clutches, then found some clothes to put on, and her expression turned extremely strange: "These clothes... is that all?"
Zaun had previously seen how the maids dressed to save fabric for the country, and had a general idea of what to do. He glanced back casually and almost had a nosebleed.
As a queen, she certainly had far more fabric in her clothes than her maids, but even that couldn't compare to the advanced textile industry of later generations.
Her attire would be considered daring even by the standards of brothels in later generations.
Similar to the previous maid, she wore a top and a short skirt. However, because Pei Mianman's bust was so large, the top appeared quite short, revealing her fair and tender waist, which looked as if it had been soaked in milk. Combined with her long, shapely legs, the outfit exuded a wild and primal beauty, giving people a great visual impact.
Pei Mianman was a little uncomfortable with such revealing clothing and subconsciously took a step back. However, she immediately frowned and subconsciously bent over.
"What's wrong with you?" Zu'an was shocked when he saw this and hurriedly stepped forward to ask.
Pei Mianman rolled her eyes at him, annoyed: "Isn't it because you just messed with me?"
Zuan then realized that she was still a virgin, and the intense battle just now was bound to have some aftereffects.
"Still laughing!" Pei Mianman scolded playfully, but she was more worried about something else now, "Will my outfit be too revealing when outsiders come in later?"
"No, it looks great. This is how it is these days, so don't mind it too much." Zuan smiled. This outfit was indeed a bit revealing in Mingyue City, but in his world, such clothing was very common in summer, and many women wore much less.
Every world has its own merits.
Overwhelmed with emotion, he ordered the people outside to come in.
The door opened quickly, and a middle-aged man jogged in: "Your subject Fu Shuo greets Your Majesty and Your Majesty."
His eyes were clear, and he didn't glance at Pei Mianman twice, which made Zu An nod in approval. He was an honest man, and his appearance suggested a loyal minister who cared about his country and its people.
“Fu Yue?” Zu An suddenly had some new information in his mind. Wu Ding had once received a dream from a god, asking him to find a good minister sent to him by heaven, and finally he found him.
The man in front of me was a slave in his early years. When he was chosen by Wu Ding, he was building embankments by the roadside to prevent water from washing away the road.
The Mencius mentions that "Fu Yue was raised up among the builders," and the Book of Documents mentions that "Fu Yue built in the wilderness of Fu Yan," which refers to this event.
He was found by Wu Ding and rose rapidly through the ranks, becoming the prime minister of the Shang Dynasty, wielding immense power.
Zuan certainly didn't believe in any divine intervention in dreams. How could it be such a coincidence that a slave found on the roadside was so talented?
Ultimately, it's because Wu Ding spent a long time among the common people during his childhood, and he probably knew Fu Yue long ago, so he deliberately came up with the story of "a divine being appearing in a dream".
When Wu Ding first ascended the throne, he lacked seniority, prestige, and manpower, which is why he remained silent for three years, quietly observing the workings of the court and the country. Later, he brought in Fu Yue, one of his own people, to strengthen his team.
Upon realizing this, Zu'an understood that this was a direct descendant, and hurriedly returned the greeting: "What is it that you are so anxious about, Prime Minister?"
In ancient times, the prime minister held a very high position and could sit and discuss matters with the emperor. It wasn't until the development of feudal dynasties that the prime minister's stool was abolished, and later he even had to kneel before the emperor.
"News has come from the front that the entire army we sent out to suppress the Qiang has been wiped out," Fu said with a heavy expression.
"What?" Zuan had actually begun to embody the role of Wu Ding.
Although he didn't know what this trial was testing, he was certain that making him and Pei Mianman become Wu Ding and Fu Hao was the right thing to do, no matter what, to benefit the Shang Dynasty.
A stream of information flooded his mind. The Qiang people mentioned were a powerful foreign tribe in the northwest of the Shang Dynasty, whose sphere of influence roughly covered present-day Gansu and Shaanxi. They would occasionally send troops to invade and plunder the people of the Shang Dynasty.
The "Fang" in Qiangfang means "fangguo" (方国), and the Shang Dynasty people referred to other surrounding countries as "Fang".
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