The moon was bright in the sky, and under the cover of night, a group of men in black were traveling quickly.
They held daggers in their hands and all had their faces covered with black scarves. The leader was tall, with sword-like eyebrows and fierce eyes. He looked behind him and nodded to the masked man behind him.
Dozens of people dispersed. They only knew that Chen Hou was here, but they didn't know which dormitory or tent Chen Hou slept in.
Therefore, they had to act separately.
The leading man in black walked to a tent with a dagger tightly in his hand.
No entrance?
The man in black stood there, lost in a brief moment of confusion, but he quickly walked around the tent twice and found a fold.
The man in black carefully reached out his hand and touched the joint. He frowned. Even though he didn't know what it was or what it was called, he knew it was very sophisticated. He had never seen it before, let alone heard of it.
It seemed that they could not just open the tent and go in directly, so the man in black pointed the tip of the knife at the tent, ready to cut a hole and open a door for the tent with his own hands.
As the tip of the knife approached the tent, something cold pressed against the back of his head.
The man in black froze—he thought it was Ge.
Then came a pleasant voice. Just by listening to the voice, one would think that the person who could make such a voice must be a gentleman as clear as the breeze and bright as the moon, with a heart as broad as a mountain.
But the man in black was not in the mood to appreciate it. He calmed himself down and realized that the other party had been on guard for a long time and they had fallen into the trap.
He cursed himself for being stupid in his heart, but said, "Why don't you take another step forward, sir?"
Ye Zhou was a little curious: "You are about to die, but you are still so calm?"
Ye Zhou raised one of his hands and snapped his fingers crisply.
He originally thought that he would have to fight these people with real guns and swords, but things became extremely simple after he gained the upper hand.
It's not that the other party is out to assassinate them, but that they are luring them into a trap.
In an instant, the lights came on and the entire yard was as bright as day. All those wearing night clothes were exposed under the beams of light.
Chen Hou, wearing a long coat, arrived late. He did not sleep in the tent like Ye Zhou and the others, but stayed indoors under the protection of his personal guards.
He almost lost his balance and fell down the stairs, but just as he stood firm, he was shocked by the scene in front of him -
Those "employees" who were chatting and laughing with him in the "supermarket" and looked lazy, now had a piece of iron in their hands. Even the most delicate woman used the iron lump to press against the assassin's head.
But this was not what shocked him the most. What shocked him the most were these beams of light.
This light makes the night as bright as day. Even the daytime may not be so bright, and it hurts people's eyes.
Chen Hou couldn't help but raise his hand to block the light. He trotted to Ye Zhou's side, but before he could say anything, he saw the man in black being held hostage by Ye Zhou.
Those were familiar features. Chen Hou's hands were shaking slightly. He forced himself to calm down and slowly walked up to the man in black.
Yes, such eyebrows...
Lord Chen raised his hand and pulled off the black scarf that the man in black was using to cover his face.
A heroic man's face came into Chen Hou's eyes. He seemed to be strangled by the throat. After several breaths, he asked tremblingly: "Why? Ah Ru, why? You are my brother!"
Ah Ru looked at his brother and sneered, "If we are not born from the same mother, how can we be brothers?! Ridiculous!"
Lord Chen: "Since we have the same father, we are brothers!"
Ah Ru grinned and said, "You were born to the Marquis' wife, so you were born a prince. I was born to a palace maid, so I was born a slave. You're talking to me about brotherhood? Aren't you afraid that your father will come back from underground and beat you into a pig's head?"
Ah Ru's smile quickly faded, and he said calmly, "There is no point in saying more. Since I have already done this, please forgive me for the sake of our so-called brotherhood."
Chen Hou took a few deep breaths and asked, "Who sent you?"
A'ru's lips were tightened into a straight line and he raised his chin slightly. Although he was a prisoner, he acted with disdain, as if even the king, Chen Hou, was not worthy of his attention.
"Your Majesty, there is no need to ask any more questions." Aru, "Since I failed, I should die."
Ye Zhou was confused at first, but now he understood everything.
The Warring States Period was a slave society, and in a slave society, children followed their mothers. It was not like in feudal society where the mother was honored by her son, but the son was honored by his mother.
The mother is the Marquis’ wife and the child is the Crown Prince.
If the mother is a palace maid, the child will either become a slave when he is born or become a eunuch after he grows up a little.
The Aru in front of us was a slave. In order to preserve his health, his mother sent him out of the palace and turned him into a slave doing hard labor. Later, Lord Chen found his half-brother and arranged him to live with him - but he was still a slave.
Ye Zhou put himself in the shoes of the other party and thought that if it were him, he would probably not be grateful that Lord Chen had found him, but would instead hate him for it.
Or, you just let me know nothing. I will be a slave from birth to death, and I am destined to live a hard life in this life.
Or, if you take me away, don’t make me a slave, and let me stand upright between heaven and earth.
But you tell me, you and I have the same father, you are the king, and I am a slave. You found me, took me away, and continued to make me a slave under the banner of brotherly love and respect?
So this brother named Aru did not die in silence, but exploded in silence.
Ye Zhou put away the gun. He saw that Chen Hou did not want to kill the assassin leader.
As expected, Lord Chen looked at Aru, remained silent for a long time, and said, "Come here, lock him up."
Ah Ru suddenly looked up, and asked Chen Hou with a smile: "Your Majesty, do you think I am the only one who doesn't want you to go back? How many loyal ministers do you think there are in the court? Everyone has selfish motives! Everyone is greedy!"
The Duke of Chen finally exploded. He roared, "Enough! Ah Ru! How have I wronged you? You are a slave, but what can I do?! There is no precedent for slaves in the State of Chen to become commoners! I feed you, clothe you, teach you to read and write, and make sure that even as a slave you live no worse than a noble family son. How have I wronged you?!"
Aru also shouted: "Do I want it?! Have you asked me?! I would rather be that illiterate slave! A slave who knows nothing and understands nothing!"
"Reading?" Aru laughed crazily. "May I ask, Your Majesty, what can I do with studying? Can I become a general after reading 100,000 volumes of military books? What do I do with studying? What?! Apart from letting me know that I am a slave once and a slave for life, what else can it let me do?!"
Chen Hou yelled, "Drag him away! Drag him away!"
Chen Yan stepped forward and took Aru away with his men.
Ye Zhou looked at Chen Hou, who was bent over, holding his chest and breathing heavily. He said calmly, "Chen Hou, everyone has left. There's no need to pretend."
Lord Chen froze there. Ye Zhou walked over and patted him on the back considerately. He said in a calm voice, "You want me to know that you are a kind and noble man, but I think that kind and noble men cannot be good kings."
Chen Hou turned his head and looked into Ye Zhou's eyes.
Ye Zhou did not look away. He smiled and said, "It is not easy to be a gentleman. All virtues will eventually become shackles that bind you. If you are not that kind of person, don't pretend. Otherwise, if someone finds out that you are not that kind of person one day, betrayal will come sooner than you think."
Ye Zhou patted Chen Hou on the shoulder and said, "Go to bed early. Tell me if you have anything to say tomorrow."
After saying this, Ye Zhou didn't look at Chen Hou again. He winked at Wu Yan, and Wu Yan pulled the trigger.
As soon as the gunshot ended, gunshots rang out one after another.
Except for Aru, all the assassins fell to the ground, leaving no one alive.
Ye Zhou turned his head as he unzipped the tent and looked at Chen Hou, whose face was pale. "I don't like others lying to me. Chen Hou should understand."
After saying that, Ye Zhou walked into the tent, and the employees put away their guns and returned to their own tents. Only Zou Ming walked up to Chen Hou and whispered something in his ear.
Lord Chen was struck by lightning and fell to the ground after Zou Ming left. The soldiers were hesitant and did not have time to help him up.
Seeing Zou Ming walk into the tent where Ye Zhou was, Chen Hou supported himself on the ground with one hand, waved away all the soldiers who came to help him, and slowly stood up.
His face was pale and he walked up the stairs in panic.
As soon as Zou Ming entered the tent, he saw Ye Zhou losing his temper.
Ye Zhou would never lose his temper. He would not smash things or make a scene. Even if he did lose his temper, he would just sit there with a frown on his face.
When others lose their temper, they only bother others, but he only bothers himself.
"You knew it a long time ago, why are you still so angry now?" Zou Ming took out a thermos and poured a cup of warm water for Ye Zhou.
After Ye Zhou took it, he couldn't help but sneered: "I originally thought that if I wanted to do business here, it would be best to do it with the royal family, it would be easy to make money. It just so happens that this Chen Hou is the king of a country, so it would be more convenient to do business. But he became addicted to acting and treated me as a fool."
"If he can act just right, I can turn a blind eye and pretend I didn't see it."
Ye Zhou took a sip of water and suppressed the discomfort in his chest: "He gets more and more excited about acting. Why don't you ask him to play the role of Bai Lianhua?"
During this journey, Ye Zhou had already figured out what kind of person Chen Hou was.
He is neither a gentleman nor a villain, but he is not an ordinary person either. He knows clearly that the two thousand people under his command are nothing.
What can two thousand men do? Attack Linzi?
He could only rely on Ye Zhou, but he was unwilling to tell him directly. Instead, he acted several times and let Ye Zhou take action himself.
He wanted benefits, but didn't want to owe anyone a favor. In other words, he felt that he had nothing to repay Ye Zhou, so he simply didn't repay him, and he had to find a reason for himself not to repay him.
Along the way, Ye Zhou used a drone to explore the steep mountain roads, and when there were obstacles that were difficult to pass, Ye Zhou took out a long ladder to build a ladder.
Even when they encountered wild beasts, it was Zou Ming and Sarah who took action.
Although these things were indeed trivial to them, even jumping into the city gate was easy for Sarah.
But there is a difference between the other party sincerely requesting and intentionally taking advantage of you.
Ye Zhou could turn a blind eye to it before, but the scene he played in front of Aru tonight was too much.
He was just short of having the words "he is a good man who has always been cheated and bullied" written on his head.
Ye Zhou knew that once he believed it, he would be just a "fairy" who could be deceived in the eyes of Lord Chen.
The more Ye Zhou thought about it, the angrier he got: "Forget it, let's just part ways with him and go to another country."
During the Warring States Period, there was no shortage of monarchs. If one monarch was gone, there would be another one. Scholars could change their monarch to be loyal to. So was he, an alien, really going to hang himself on a tree?
Zou Ming had no opinion on whether to change the country to do business. His voice was very soft, and it sounded more like coaxing than suggesting: "If he makes you unhappy, I will kill him later, how about it?"
Ye Zhou looked at Zou Ming. He could tell from Zou Ming's eyes that he was not joking.
Ye Zhou: "I'm angry now. It's not suitable to make any decision whether it's angry or late at night."
Ye Zhou still remembered that he had heard before that one should not make any decisions late at night, otherwise one might regret it when he woke up the next day.
This kind of decision, which concerns human life or a country, Ye Zhou's reason told him that no matter what, he had to wait until he woke up the next day to make it.
"Are all the assassins dead?" Ye Zhou asked.
Zou Ming nodded: "No one is alive."
Ye Zhou suddenly smiled with all his strength: "Zou Ming, I feel like I don't recognize myself anymore."
In the past, he would never let Wu Yan and the others kill anyone.
But he was very clear just now that once he asked Wu Yan and the others to stop and let go of those who were preparing to assassinate them, he would be regarded as weak and could be bullied.
Kindness is so precious, so precious that it needs to be protected with layers of armor and sharp weapons.
Without armor and weapons, kindness is worthless garbage.
Zou Ming sat down next to Ye Zhou. Ye Zhou sighed, closed his eyes, and said softly, "Let me lean on you."
Zou Ming stood still like a mountain, obediently playing the role of a human backrest, with all the muscles in his body as hard as rocks.
Ye Zhou leaned on Zou Ming: "Actually, now that I think about it, what Lord Chen did was not wrong. He didn't know my background, so of course he couldn't teach me everything he knew. It's normal for him to be wary. For someone like me, there's no way I could trust him and tell him who I am and where I come from."
Zou Ming lowered his head and asked softly: "Then why are you angry?"
Ye Zhou thought about it, not knowing what he thought of, and suddenly laughed: "Maybe it's because his acting is so poor. Because of the poor acting, I feel like he is treating me like a fool."
Zou Ming held his breath and said, "Then what's next..."
Ye Zhou still had his eyes closed. He raised his head and wanted to pat Zou Ming's shoulder, but ended up patting Zou Ming's cheek. However, since he had already patted him, Ye Zhou could only pretend nothing happened. He cleared his throat and said, "Let's see what he says tomorrow. If he can satisfy me, then we'll continue on our way."
"If not..." Ye Zhou hesitated for a moment, "Let's find someone else to do the deal. Isn't that Aru still here?"
"We've already arrived in Chen State, so it doesn't matter who we trade with."
Zou Ming hummed softly, and said softly: "Wherever you go, I'll be there."
Ye Zhou was somewhat touched.
He has made many friends, but never a friend like Zou Ming, who is reliable and always considers him.
He is taciturn, but extremely reliable.
Ye Zhou: "I have invested so much in him, it would be a bit troublesome to change him."
Ye Zhou sighed: "It depends on the situation."
Ye Zhou opened his eyes and happened to enter Zou Ming's dark eyes. He saw his face in Zou Ming's pupils.
·
The next morning, the crowing of roosters broke the silence of the earth.
Ye Zhou slowly opened his eyes.
As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw a handsome face.
Maybe because they had been together for too long, Ye Zhou couldn't really tell what Zou Ming looked like.
Just like he can't tell whether his parents are beautiful or ugly, in his heart, his parents are the best-looking parents in the world.
Ye Zhou's gaze fell on Zou Ming's lips. Zou Ming's lips were very thin, but strangely, Zou Ming was not heartless. Although he had a heartless face, he was a very loyal person to his friends.
Perhaps because Ye Zhou's gaze was too strong, Zou Ming also opened his eyes.
They didn't even cover themselves with a blanket last night and just slept head to head.
Ye Zhou: "Let's go wash our faces and brush our teeth."
Ye Zhou stood up after he finished speaking.
It was still dark outside, and it was still a little cold, probably because it was just the beginning of spring. Ye Zhou shivered when he opened the tent, but before he could finish shivering, he saw Chen Hou kneeling in front of the tent.
Chen Hou was wearing only a loincloth on his body. He was shivering in the cold morning wind, with a bundle of brambles on his back.
Ye Zhou was stunned. Chen Hou raised his head. His cheeks were red from the cold. When he saw Ye Zhou coming out, he raised his hands above his head and bowed to Ye Zhou: "Ji! I am ashamed!"
"I dare not ask for forgiveness from the Immortal, but I beg the Immortal to give me another chance."
The king of a country stood in front of his tent and apologized.
After a night, Ye Zhou was no longer so angry. Now seeing Chen Hou's appearance, he felt a little less angry.
Chen Hou knelt for most of the night. There were many cuts on his back caused by the thorns. Blood was oozing out and his back was covered with blood. It looked very scary.
The soldiers who got up in the morning also saw this scene, but they did not dare to get close and could only watch from a distance.
Ye Zhou asked him: "Does Lord Chen know what he did wrong?"
Chen Hou smiled bitterly: "The immortal is right, I am not a gentleman, not even a villain, but my heart to strengthen the country is not empty talk!"
"I never thought of fooling the immortals. It was my petty mind." Lord Chen, "I'm afraid the immortals will see through me and stop helping me."
He tried hard to play the role of a benevolent king, hoping that the immortals would help and protect him.
But that was not him, he was not that kind of person, so he couldn't pretend to be real or look like that, and in the end he only shot himself in the foot.
Ye Zhou did not let Chen Hou get up. He asked softly, "Chen Hou, what kind of person are you?"
Chen Hou bit his lower lip. He could no longer hold on. His body was staggering, but he still managed to kneel on the spot. "My immortal, I am my late father's fourth son."
He is the eldest son, but the eldest son does not necessarily inherit the throne.
And his father was a weak and sentimental man. He was weak towards his ministers but sentimental towards the harem.
If only children born to ladies could be called princes, then who knows how many princes there would be in the State of Chen now.
Since childhood, Marquis Chen knew that his position as crown prince was unstable. His brothers were eyeing him covetously, and his mother was a weak and indecisive woman. He lived under deep conspiracy and intrigue, and tried every means to keep his position as crown prince before the death of his king and father.
So he married a woman from the largest family, won over his brothers from the royal clan, and even spared no slaves like Aru.
It was precisely because Aru was a slave that he trusted him more.
However, before he learned how to be a gentleman, he became a king.
One moment he was mired in intrigue and conspiracy, the next moment he was about to become a benevolent monarch.
Chen Hou looked up at Ye Zhou, his mouth half open, revealing an expression that looked like he was crying but not laughing, and said with difficulty: "Immortal, I still haven't learned how to be a gentleman."
Ye Zhou looked into Lord Chen's eyes for a moment, and finally said when Lord Chen was about to bow to him again: "Lord Chen, please take down the thorn stick and come in to talk."
Ye Zhou walked back to the tent and said to Zou Ming, "Pour two cups of warm water."
Zou Ming nodded slightly and passed by Chen Hou who was staggering into the tent.
When the two men passed each other, Chen Hou couldn't help but shiver.
Ye Zhou sat cross-legged on the ground, while Chen Hou was kneeling.
The two sat face to face, and Ye Zhou spoke first: "Marquis Chen wants to return to Linzi and resume his position as marquis. You want me to help you, but didn't I help you? Why do you have to act innocent over and over again?"
Ye Zhou sounded a little heavy when he said "again and again".
Chen Hou smiled bitterly and said, "My Immortal, it's not that I can't, but that I don't dare."
"A person like me is not worthy of being a monarch. A monarch should care about the people, the country, and be a gentleman." Lord Chen, "I am afraid that the immortals will see that I am not a gentleman and will no longer help me."
Ye Zhou said softly: "No wonder."
No wonder when he told Marquis Chen that a gentleman might not necessarily be a good monarch, Marquis Chen looked at him that way.
The Marquis of Chen said again: "The immortal saved my life, so I should treat him as I would treat my king or father. However, I was short-sighted and cowardly, so the immortal thought I was deliberately deceiving him. This is my fault. No matter how the immortal punishes me, I will accept the punishment."
"I only ask the immortal to spare my life, let me return to Linzi, and kill me after I have cleaned up the court."
Ye Zhou looked at Chen Hou and he could tell that Chen Hou was not lying.
He came to ask for forgiveness with the intention of dying.
Then Ye Zhou's last bit of anger disappeared, and he said with a smile: "Don't worry, Lord Chen. If I wanted to kill you, why would I save you before?"
"No one is perfect. Even a saint dare not say that he has no flaws. I hope that Lord Chen can be honest with me in the future."
"Even if you can't be honest, it's better to keep silent than to lie."
Chen Hou knew that he had passed this test, and he bowed his head again: "I will never do this again. If you do this again, the immortal will kill me immediately without hesitation."
Ye Zhou nodded: "Lord Chen, go wash up, and ask someone to treat the wound on your back."
He comforted her, "After this incident, I feel that the current Lord Chen is more like a monarch."
Lord Chen looked at him in surprise.
Ye Zhou: "The Warring States period is not a peaceful period. A ruler of a country must behave like a wolf. If you insist on imitating a gentleman, you will be bullied by everyone. If you wear the gentleman's coat for too long, it will not be easy to take it off."
Lord Chen: "I will receive your instruction."
Ye Zhou personally escorted Lord Chen out, and only went back after watching Chen Yan put a coat on Lord Chen.
After this incident, all the natives, including Chen Hou, will know that he cannot be bullied.
Even though it was an accidental hit, at least it hit the target.
It was not until now that he truly established his prestige.
Ye Zhou sighed.
It's really not easy to do business in troubled times.
Not only do they have to act mysteriously, but they also have to show off their military power and establish their prestige.
Thinking about it this way, changing to another country would indeed be a bit of a loss.
It all depends on how much he can earn in the end.
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