Chapter 447 Natural disasters and man-made calamities, chaos is about to break out.
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"Ninth Sister, we cannot become sworn sisters!"
Li Shiyue finally spoke these words solemnly to Yan Jiuniang.
She truly considered Yan Jiuniang a good friend here.
Therefore, she cannot deceive her.
She didn't want to deceive her either.
She didn't want to pretend to be sworn sisters with Yan Jiuniang, or to feign being close friends, or to try and take advantage of her kindness.
Although Li Shiyue did consider the pros and cons before rescuing Yan Jiuniang.
But the effort, time, and emotions that Li Shiyue put in were real!
You can't say that just because she was calculating in saving people, she wasn't pure, or that she was fake.
Because the feelings are real, we cannot fake them at this time!
Li Shiyue knew that because of Liu Tan, she could not become sworn sisters with Yan Jiuniang!
Even if she, Yan Jiuniang, and Liu Tan could each have their own arguments, it still wouldn't work!
After saying this, Li Shiyue took out the water pouch from the satchel hanging around the little red horse's neck and handed it to Yan Jiuniang, who turned around to look at her.
After drinking water to quench her thirst, Li Shiyue stepped forward, took Yan Jiuniang's hand, and, facing the wind, explained "why" to Yan Jiuniang little by little.
“Ninth Sister, I am now under the command of the Great General, holding the title of General Ningyuan.”
I already faced some discrimination in the military because of my gender.
Of course, I'm not afraid of these things.
When I embarked on this path, I knew that I would inevitably face discrimination and even malicious treatment because of my identity as a woman.
The wind on the grassland blew their hair, causing it to tangle together in the air.
Taking a deep breath and smelling the scent carried by the wind, Li Shiyue frowned and continued, "Ninth Sister, you are the owner of Xingsheng Restaurant and also manage a caravan. You must have gathered a lot of information in Dalong over the past two years."
Turning to the side, Li Shiyue looked into Yan Jiuniang's eyes and said, "It's only been a few years, and droughts have started again in many prefectures."
I didn't take you to the fields to see for yourself. This autumn harvest, even though we took great care of the crops and had people dig reservoirs and several deep wells in advance, the reduction in grain production was still 15% greater than I had previously estimated.
Therefore, it is clear that the other prefectures in Andong must be even more short of food than our Ruzhou.
"You brought back grain from Jiangnan for the Prince, so you should know better than I how severe the grain shortage in Andong truly is."
Li Shiyue's words made Yan Jiuniang frown.
"And there are Japanese pirates!"
Li Shiyue told Yan Jiuniang about her previous experience of leading troops to suppress bandits in the mountains. "Andong has a long coastline, and several prefectures are located by the sea."
Even if I beheaded that magistrate and found the landlords and merchants who colluded with him, is that all?
Li Shiyue didn't need to continue; someone as clever as Yan Jiuniang naturally understood that this was definitely not over yet!
The reason why the Japanese pirates could be so rampant must be because there were higher-ranking officials, besides the county magistrate, protecting them!
Besides, we haven't even caught those Japanese pirates yet!
How do you catch something in the vast ocean?
Although Andong's navy was not bad, if it were really strong, it would not have allowed the Japanese pirates to land in Xihai Village!
After saying all that, Li Shiyue sighed to Yan Jiuniang.
“Ninth Sister, you know perfectly well how our village came to Andong in the first place.”
Because of the conscription and the drought, we had no way to make a living in our hometown. In order to survive, we gritted our teeth and went on to work hard.
Later, with great difficulty, I boarded your refugee-receiving ship in Dongmu, went to Andong, settled down here, and started a new life.
Now, so many years later, drought has struck again!
Ninth Sister, you must know more about the news in the capital than I do.
I heard about the story of the eldest prince and the third prince vying for the position of crown prince and launching a massive attack on their political opponents in court from the storytellers in the teahouses on the streets of the prefecture.
The water in Kyoto is probably even more murky than we think.
Even though Andong is far from Kyoto, let alone whether the events in Kyoto will affect Andong, the Japanese pirates and drought alone are enough to give us a hard time.
"Ninth Sister," Li Shiyue grasped Yan Jiuniang's hand, looking into her eyes as she said, word by word, "Chaos is about to break out!"
At this point, Li Shiyue shut her mouth and said nothing more.
Yan Jiuniang was a smart woman; she understood things even without Li Shiyue saying them aloud.
Yes, Yan Jiuniang certainly understood the meaning behind Li Shiyue's words.
Natural disasters and man-made calamities threaten to plunge the world into chaos.
When talking about chaotic times, one has to mention death, war, and human lives.
Li Shiyue said at the beginning that she was a soldier under Liu Tan!
Chaos is about to break out. Regardless of the future, Andong needs to suppress the refugees internally and deal with the Japanese pirates or barbarians externally. Both require someone to lead troops into battle.
If Li Shiyue and Yan Jiuniang become sworn sisters, to people outside of Liu Tan, it would be seen as Li Shiyue taking advantage of nepotism!
Even if Li Shiyue is capable of leading troops, she will definitely be excluded if there is a war in the future!
One person, one position. Li Shiyue already occupied one position, so how could she be given another chance to grow bigger and stronger?
She was already limited in the army because of her gender. If she hadn't been incredibly strong and skilled in martial arts, always leading from the front in battle, how could she have secured her position as a general?
For Liu Tan, Yan Jiuniang was his younger sister whom he had watched grow up since childhood. She was his money bag in Andong, a good helper who made money for him and collected information for him.
Li Shiyue was a powerful military general whom he admired, his subordinate, or, deep down, the murderer he secretly believed had used bizarre methods to kill Liu Shu!
Even though Liu Tan was just a prince and not the emperor, he knew that a moneybag with money in his hands and a general with soldiers in his hands should never be put together, so that the two sides could become so close that they became sworn brothers!
Even if Liu Tan, as the person in charge, trusted Yan Jiuniang and Li Shiyue, he still had to think about whether he could still send Li Shiyue to lead troops into battle in the future.
Is it possible?
How could Liu Tan not be suspicious?
Li Shiyue said, "If I were Liu Tan, I would also be suspicious!"
People in different positions will consider the same thing from different perspectives.
No matter how magnanimous Liu Tan is, or how confident he is in managing his subordinates, it's impossible for him to maintain his trust in Li Shiyue when Li Shiyue and Yan Jiuniang become sworn sisters!
If a military general loses the trust of his superiors, that general and his entire family are truly not far from death!
Therefore, Li Shiyue can have a good relationship with Yan Jiuniang, but they cannot openly become sworn sisters!
After a few breaths, and after taking a few deep breaths of the grassland air, Li Shiyue heard Yan Jiuniang say to her, "Latest intelligence: the Third Prince was assassinated in the outskirts of the capital and has gone missing. His fate is currently unknown."
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