Chapter 84 Something Happened
She gritted her teeth, suppressing her reluctance, and said, "Uncle, of course I hate Queen Mother Chi to the core, but I've been bullied by her for too long, and I'm afraid, so I hesitated."
Zhao Zhuo's expression calmed down slightly. "It was my fault for being overly suspicious and misunderstanding my niece. Don't worry, your uncle is here and will never let Queen Mother Chi harm you in the slightest."
Zhao Mingyue looked at him gratefully and nodded repeatedly.
Zhao Zhuo smiled and said, "Then I'll trouble you, niece, with the proclamation to attack Queen Mother Chi."
This time, Zhao Mingyue didn't hesitate any longer and immediately nodded in agreement. "Don't worry, Uncle. No one is more suitable than me to write this manifesto."
After discussing important matters, Zhao Mingyue and Xue Qi said goodbye and left.
Unexpectedly, there was a sudden noise outside the door, and then the door was pushed open with force, with a loud bang, which scared the four people in the room.
"Lord Heihan, the prince is discussing important matters, you cannot go in!"
Zhao Mingyue looked up and saw a man in foreign clothing pushing away the soldiers who were blocking his way and walking into the house angrily.
"Prince Zhao, when can I send you the woman from Rong State that I want?" Heihan spoke in stiff Chinese, and when he saw Zhao Mingyue and Xue Qi, his voice suddenly stopped.
He stared at Zhao Mingyue intently, his eyes squinting. After a long while, he turned to look at Zhao Zhuo, "It's okay if there are no women. I want both of them to be my wives!"
Zhao Mingyue had been feeling uncomfortable for a long time, and her face immediately darkened when she heard this. Could this person be the General Xiqi who asked for women to comfort the troops?
She asked sharply, "Uncle, if I'm not mistaken, this man is from Xiqi, right? Why would there be a Xiqi person in Yuzhou? He also said he wanted a woman from Rongguo. What does that mean?"
"This, this..." Zhao Zhuo, who had just been so dignified, suddenly felt guilty, and his whole aura diminished.
He was afraid that Heihan would say something worse, exposing his collaboration with the enemy and betrayal, so he quickly stopped him, saying, "What nonsense are you talking about? Are you drunk and acting crazy? This is Princess Fuguang, the future queen of Xiqi. Why don't you kneel down and apologize!"
Heihan had known for a long time that Princess Fuguang was going to marry into their Xiqi, but he had not expected that she would arrive in Yuzhou so soon. Thinking of the teasing words he had just said to her, cold sweat suddenly broke out on his bald forehead.
The king has a bad temper. If the princess marries him and says a few bad words about him in front of the king, won’t he be dead?
Thinking of this, Heihan's scalp tightened, and with a snap, he knelt on the ground, begging for mercy: "I was wrong. I didn't know you were Princess Fuguang. Please forgive me, Princess, otherwise my soul will never rest in peace."
Zhao Mingyue said angrily, "You want me to forgive you? Then gouge out your eyes!"
Heihan was trembling with fear. How could this princess be so cruel? He had already knelt down and confessed his crime. Shouldn't a normal person just forgive him?
Zhao Zhuo stepped forward to smooth things over. "Mingyue, let's forget about this little thing. He is a general in the Xiqi King's camp. You don't need to offend him."
Zhao Mingyue's breathing was rapid, and she couldn't suppress her anger at all. "Why let it go? He's just a foreigner, why can't he be killed? Or is it that you, uncle, are colluding with the Xiqi people, so you don't dare to kill him?"
Zhao Zhuo's thoughts were exposed by Zhao Mingyue, and his eyes suddenly became sinister. He said angrily, "Zhao Mingyue! Stop putting on your princess airs in front of me. Get it clear to me, you have something to ask of me now. If you don't want me to tie you up and take you to King Xiqi's tent, then just write your letter. It's none of your business to say what I want to do!"
Zhao Mingyue was so angry that her chest heaved. She glared at Zhao Zhuo hatefully, then slammed the door and left.
Xue Qi glanced at Xie Qinjian who was watching coldly, then quickly caught up with Zhao Mingyue.
Xie Qinjian was feeling very proud. Now Zhao Mingyue should know who to choose to cooperate with. Zhao Zhuo could not be trusted. The only person who could save her from the dire situation was Xie Qinjian.
He looked at Zhao Zhuo and said with feigned worry, "Your Majesty, it's not good for you to offend the princess like this, right?"
Zhao Zhuo sneered, "She's just a princess, not an emperor. What's there to be afraid of? Once she enters Yuzhou City, she'll be like a little bird in my hand. No matter how hard she flutters, she won't be able to fly out of my palm."
Heihan didn't understand his riddle. He only knew that Zhao Zhuo saved him and angered the princess, so he quickly stood up and thanked him.
Then he complained again: "Your Highness, my soldiers have been stuck in the mountains for days. There's no wine to drink, no place to ride horses, and even no women to play with. If this continues, they're going to make trouble!"
Zhao Zhuo laughed heartily. "General, don't worry. I've already sent my men to find a woman for you. I'll definitely have her delivered tomorrow."
He was afraid that this incident would cause a stir and lead to the discovery of the secret of Laoya Mountain, so he deliberately did not look for prostitutes in the city, but went to the countryside to capture the most powerless farmers.
He knew the moral character of these soldiers too well. As long as it was a woman, it would be fine. He was not picky at all.
Heihan's resentment immediately dissipated after receiving his assurance. However, his lust was still burning, and he felt an unbearable itch in his heart, wishing he could find a tree hole to vent his desire.
At this moment, a palace soldier hurried into the house. He tripped over the threshold and nearly fell. "Your Highness, this is bad! Something terrible has happened!"
Zhao Zhuo's uprising was imminent, and he hated the word "accident" the most. He immediately glared at the problem and shouted, "What's going on?!"
The guards were so frightened that their legs went limp, and they fell to their knees, saying in a trembling voice, "Lord Wang Ba and the one hundred soldiers he led who were sent to suppress the bandits were all killed on the official road!"
Zhao Zhuo's eyes widened, "What did you say?!"
Heihan asked anxiously, "Does that mean those women were also killed?"
The palace soldier looked puzzled, "No, there is no woman."
Zhao Zhuo was in no mood to pay attention to Heihan. He himself was sweating profusely. "These are a hundred well-trained soldiers. There is no way ordinary bandits can kill them! Who is it? Who did it?!"
The more he talked, the angrier he became. He paced around the room like an ant on a hot pan and forgot what he was supposed to do.
Xie Qinjian couldn't understand it either. Logically speaking, there was no such force in Yuzhou that dared to go against the government.
He couldn't figure it out.
————
At this time, Zhao Mingyue returned to Fuxiang Garden, and the anger on her face disappeared instantly.
She sat down on the chair and let out a long breath, "I finally managed to get through tonight."
Otherwise, if she stayed any longer, she was afraid that it would reveal that she had already known about Zhao Zhuo's collusion with Xiqibing.
Xue Qi, who had entered the room later, closed the door, walked up to her, and sternly warned her, "Princess, you must learn to conceal your thoughts in front of others in the future. You can't let others see through your thoughts so easily."
Zhao Mingyue was slightly startled, a hint of hurt flashing in her eyes, but she quickly put away the sadness of being criticized, raised her eyes to look at Xue Qi, and said firmly, "Master Xue, I understand, and I won't do it again."
Next time, if she encounters such an emergency, she will definitely be able to handle it better.
She thought for a moment and said, "I'm angry today. If I apologize to Zhao Zhuo tomorrow, he'll definitely think I can only beg him and look down on me even more. After that, no matter what we do in Yuzhou City, it won't be easy to arouse his vigilance."
Xue Qi softened his voice, smiled and nodded, "It's good that the princess thinks this way."
When Zhao Mingyue felt her gentle gaze, her heart warmed. At least, Master Xue was still by her side.
She stood up, walked to the table, took out the ink block and ground it slowly. She hooked her sleeves with her left and right fingers, not wanting to touch her wrist easily, where there was a rugged scar.
She carved it herself with a dagger when she left the capital.
She wanted to remember the pain she felt at that time, and decided that every time she made a mistake in the future, she would carve a scar on her wrist.
At this time, Zhao Mingyue gently stroked the scar on her hand, and all kinds of emotions suddenly surged in her heart, including love, hate, pain and regret, but in the end, all these emotions returned to calm.
She heard her own calm voice, "I used to think that as long as my mother was around, no matter how big the problem was, it wouldn't matter. I just had to follow in her footsteps. But the facts have proven how naive I was."
"Master Xue, I now understand that my mother and I have different paths to take. Please believe me, for our common goal, for the beautiful world you hope for, I will do my best."
Xue Qi looked at Zhao Mingyue's back, a hint of relief flashing in his eyes.
She now finally understood why Queen Mother Chi asked her to assist the princess, because she had a heart as shining as gold.
She nodded, followed him to the table, and whispered behind her, "I believe you, Princess, but—"
She stepped forward, pulled out a blank sheet of paper, and unfolded it on the table. "Now, let's finish the manifesto Zhao Zhuo requested. There are only ten days left until the oath-taking ceremony, and we don't have much time."
Zhao Mingyue hummed, dipped the brush in ink, and placed it on the paper, but did not put pen to paper.
Xue Qi gave her a puzzled look and said, "Princess, if you find it difficult to write, I will do it for you."
Zhao Mingyue shook her head, a thoughtful glint in her eyes. "No, I was just wondering if I should write one more article."
She tapped her fingers on the table, as if thinking about the possible consequences of this decision.
Xue Qi frowned slightly, and gradually understood what she meant from the slow and steady sound of her words, "You mean—"
Before Xue Qi could finish, the tapping sound stopped. Zhao Mingyue turned to look at her with excitement. "That's right, I'm going to write another article accusing Zhao Zhuo of conspiracy and rebellion!"
————
"I may not be able to escort you to Mangshan."
In the dilapidated temple, in a room covered with cobwebs, Mei Junrong, Zhu Dafeng and Liu Lanhua, the two leaders of the Zhufeng Village, were sitting around a fire.
The crackling of burning wood filled the air with the smell of decay as the night wind blew in through the broken door.
Zhu Dafeng said, "Tomorrow the sisters from the village will come to meet us. If Sister Rong needs anything important, go ahead and do it. Just leave this to me."
According to the rules of their village, everyone calls each other sisters. Since Mei Junrong didn't allow her to call her general, she could only boldly call her sister.
She was also worried about how to deal with these women. She went to great lengths to ask Mei Junrong to save them, but in the end, he didn't appreciate it. She was really ashamed.
Until today, when she saw Mei Junrong asking the women who wanted to leave to pay money to save their lives, she felt relieved, but at the same time she couldn't help but secretly regret it. Why didn't she think of such a good idea?
Zhu Dafeng originally wanted to find a way out for the sisters in the village. She had agreed to Zhao Mingyue only out of desperation. Now that she had seen the skills and actions of the Jinwu Guards, she was finally convinced.
Thinking of this, she asked with concern, "Is it because of the Xiqi soldiers' matter that you want to go to Laoya Mountain to investigate? That mountain is quite difficult to enter. You just arrived in Yuzhou and are not familiar with the conditions there. Why not let my third sister lead the way for you?"
Mei Junrong looked hesitant. After all, she didn't know whether she was familiar with Zhu Dafeng or not, and she didn't know whether she was trustworthy.
However, the princess said in her letter that Zhu Dafeng was already hers, and asked her to keep a few soldiers who were familiar with leading troops and train them well.
It seemed that the princess trusted her quite a bit, so she didn't need to doubt anything and nodded, "Okay."
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