Chapter 1216: This Old Man Can Diagnose Hidden Illnesses (Part 1) [Requesting Monthly Tickets]
Almost immediately after confirming that Kang State had sent people to cause trouble, Qi State decided to strike first and destroy You State. As long as You State was completely deprived of any possibility of restoration, and Kang State had no evidence to prove that their military action was at You State's request, Kang State's military action would no longer be legitimate and might even provoke a united resistance from the southwestern states.
This operation concerns the fate of the nation and can only be carried out by trusted confidants.
Naturally, it has nothing to do with Shen Tang's disguise.
Her undercover agent was still in the probationary period, so such an important task couldn't be entrusted to her; it was naturally entrusted to Qi Cang.
Upon hearing of this, Mei Meng immediately sought an audience with the king.
She said, "Qi Yanqing is no match for Gong Xichou."
Mei Meng had always kept an eye on Kang State. She knew that Gong Xi Chou, a military general who had dominated the Northwest Continent more than a decade ago, was now even stronger. She didn't doubt Qi Cang's ability to command troops, but she was worried that Qi Cang would suffer a loss if he encountered Gong Xi Chou. It didn't matter if he suffered a loss; what mattered was that if he did, the effect of Qi State's establishment of authority would be greatly diminished, affecting the morale of the soldiers and harming the overall situation.
The queen sat by the window, gazing at the moonlight filtering through the dappled shadows of the trees. She took a drag of her cigarette, the swirling smoke blurring the thoughts in her eyes. "Jinghe," she said, "aren't you placing too much importance on Kang? They're better than us in every way, aren't they?"
Mei Meng was taken aback by those words.
She said, "This is a major threat, and we must take it seriously."
If she doesn't pay attention to such a powerful neighbor, who will she pay attention to?
Seeing that Mei Meng had not understood his meaning, the king did not dwell on the matter. He turned his pipe upside down over the ashtray and knocked away the ashes: "I do not know much about Gongxi Chou, but that does not mean I do not value him. If he dares to come this time, he is courting death."
Mei Meng didn't know where the king's confidence came from.
Her intuition told her that the king seemed to be hiding something from her.
Mei Meng waited for a while, but both sides remained silent, an awkward silence hanging in the air. Just as she was about to speak to ease the tension, the king suddenly said, "Jing He, I am indeed quite tired."
"Your subject takes his leave."
Regardless of the king's purpose in saying this, Mei Meng could only treat it as an ordinary complaint.
The king, however, refused to let Mei Meng step down.
"Not long after you stayed home, Cui Zhishan recommended someone to me, a somewhat shy and timid young man." The Queen's topic shifted so quickly that it was hard to tell what she meant, but Mei Meng soon understood. "This young man comes from humble origins, has neither a distinguished family background nor any outstanding talent, and is not particularly handsome... Yet I still value him highly and bestow upon him many generous rewards. Can you guess why? Because he has an ancestor whom I cannot help but respect!"
Someone who might be aiming for the rank of 20th-grade Marquis.
In other words, the other party is at least a 19th-rank Marquis within the Pass!
Given Qi Guo's current status, they could easily recruit a second or even a third Qi Yanqing if they gritted their teeth. As long as they offered him the high-ranking official positions and generous salaries he desired, and met his needs, he would come to serve them, just like Zheng Qiao did back then. But it's different for nineteenth-rank Guannei Marquis or even twentieth-rank Che Marquis. Getting their loyalty is not something that can be achieved with ordinary fame and fortune—with very few exceptions.
It's difficult to get them to risk their lives for you.
Mei Meng assisted her for many years, but failed to achieve her goal.
Cui Zhi accomplished this simply by bringing a teenager with him.
"...His ancestor was born a hundred years ago. He became famous at the age of thirty and reached the highest position of minister at the age of fifty. After the fall of his country, he disappeared without a trace. There were few traces of him outside the country, and it was assumed that he had already passed away."
A fallen general is hardly worthy of public attention; there are countless other brilliant talents who emerge and are forgotten over time. When Cui Zhi mentioned that the young man's ancestor was this person, the king was completely baffled for a long time. Only afterward, upon researching the man, did he learn about his active period and achievements. The king had a guess but wasn't certain, so he confirmed it with Cui Zhi.
Does Minister Cui intend for me to treat this child kindly?
Cui Zhi spoke frankly: "[I recommended this young man to Your Majesty in the hope that Your Majesty could use him to gain a powerful ally. Qi Yanqing is not weak, but he has a grudge against the late King. In recent years, he has been lazy in his duties, arrogant, and domineering. Your Majesty, are you truly without any reservations about allowing such an uncontrollable person to control the military power of Qi?"]
The queen appeared outwardly calm and composed, but her hand was already tightly gripping a dagger concealed in her sleeve. This dagger had never left her side for years, and even her favorite male concubines were forbidden from touching it. It wasn't that the dagger was particularly valuable, but rather that it was used for self-defense.
Only she knows who she's wary of.
[Could the "powerful help" Cui Qing mentioned be this boy's ancestor? But at that level of strength, would he care about a descendant from several generations removed?] Powerful martial artists, if they so choose, will never lack descendants, who in turn will have descendants of their own, generation after generation, endlessly. By the time it reaches this young man's generation, that martial artist's bloodline numbers at least several hundred, possibly over a thousand…
Things are valued for their rarity, and the same applies to people.
How much weight can the young man recommended by Cui Zhi carry?
The answer is yes, I care a lot, I care extremely much!
[That Marquis of Guannei only had a brief, fleeting affair with a country washerwoman when he was young and naive. After that, he devoted himself to the pursuit of martial arts.] According to what Cui Zhi found out, when that man was cultivating, his mind was distracted, and the image of a woman kept appearing in his spiritual realm. His mind was not at peace, so his cultivation was naturally hindered. So he found someone to try it with him, and after experiencing what it was like, he stopped thinking about it and focused wholeheartedly on his cultivation. His realm improved rapidly, and he later made great achievements and made a name for himself in the world, and then destroyed a country.
The paragraph above seems fine at first glance.
but--
He only had a blood relationship with the laundry woman in his entire life.
The king was surprised: "That's strange. Minister Cui said he values bloodlines; after achieving great success, how could he lack beautiful wives and concubines? Could it be that he's still thinking about that laundry maid, remaining chaste?"
Cui Zhi said: "No, it's him—he's bad for having children."
King: [...]
Life is full of surprises.
This Marquis of Guannei was only thirteen when he first experienced lovemaking with the laundry maid. How high could his cultivation level have been at that time? His cultivation wasn't even fully developed, so naturally he didn't notice any problems. When he achieved fame and fortune and began to enjoy life, he discovered he had a hidden ailment: none of his many wives and concubines could bear him a child. One woman might have a problem, but it's impossible for all the women in the house to have one, right?
However, he couldn't just say it out loud.
So I came up with a crooked idea.
He deliberately arranged a marriage between his deputy general and his long-neglected concubine, and the concubine gave birth to a daughter the following year. The Marquis of Guannei could only grimace and secretly seek out a physician specializing in men's ailments. He tried everything—praying to gods and Buddhas, seeking medical advice and remedies—everything he could think of.
The doctor also subtly told him that the martial energy he cultivated was detrimental to his offspring; his seed was fragile and was killed before it could take root.
If you want to have your own offspring, you have to abandon your martial arts skills.
The Marquis of Guannei naturally refused, and he even caused a disturbance at the hospital.
Doctors in this field avoid him like the plague.
He toiled for decades without success, and the lack of a biological heir became a lifelong regret, even a stumbling block in his martial arts journey. After the fall of his homeland, already severely injured, he retired into seclusion, changing his name and devoting himself entirely to studying andrology.
Cui Zhi concluded: "We don't yet know how much medical skill this Marquis of Guannei has honed, but he certainly has no children."
The king took a long time to find his voice, a mixture of doubt and excitement in his eyes: "He himself didn't know that the laundry maid had borne him a child, so how did Minister Cui know?"
Cui Zhi said: [I found out after much searching. After her husband died, that country washerwoman went to live with relatives. Because she was living under their roof, and life was difficult at the time, even a lady from a wealthy family had to do the laundry and cooking herself. That day, she went out to wash clothes and saw a young man on the other side of the river. She took a liking to him, and that's how this happened...]
Wild sex was quite common at the time.
In regions plagued by prolonged chaos, men were scarce, leaving women and children to shoulder the burden of household chores. When a family needed someone to carry on the household line, a woman's pregnancy was essential to ensure the continuation of the family line. In this context, it was common for women to have extramarital affairs with men.
In cases of illicit sexual relations, one only knows the mother, not the father.
Even if I knew, I wouldn't tell anyone.
A person's offspring are property, and who would let their property be taken away by a stranger who only provided the seed? This matter was kept secret until the child's biological father became famous and the laundry woman's family's fortunes improved. Only then did she recognize the man as the one from back then.
The laundry woman used her fingers to estimate the other person's age at that time.
Okay, now I'm even less likely to admit it.
This matter remained unresolved until the washerwoman passed away, only revealing this past event on her deathbed. However, many years had passed by then, the washerwoman's descendants were doing well, and the Marquis of Guannei had disappeared without a trace.
Why would you want to claim kinship with a dead person?
In chaotic times, there are too many variables. The descendants of the laundry woman were also ravaged by war, and now only this one surviving offspring remains.
This is the network of connections within aristocratic families.
He can easily do things that Mei Meng cannot.
Mei Meng finally understood what the king meant by "tiredness".
If the Queen hadn't heeded Mei Meng's advice all these years and hadn't been so wary of the aristocratic families led by the Cui clan, perhaps she wouldn't have had to go through so much trouble. She knew these aristocratic families weren't docile sheep, and getting too close to them could turn her into a puppet, but one thing she had to admit—they were useful!
What Mei Meng had painstakingly worked to solve was no problem at all in Cui Zhi's eyes, and could be resolved with just a few words!
That's why she said she was a little tired.
They were seduced by the comfortable path that the aristocratic families had disguised.
Why choose a thorny path when there's a broad, smooth road to walk on? Over the years, she's been wounded and scarred, swallowing all the bitterness and exhaustion. She didn't feel the hardship then, because she believed Mei Meng was a fellow traveler who could support her on this journey.
However, is Mei Meng that kind of person?
The controversies of the past few years have made her question this.
The broad road paved by the aristocratic families has hidden dangers. Could the thorny path that Mei Meng is leading her on lead to the mountain peak?
In the past, the queen had unwavering faith; now, she only trusts herself.
Mei Meng swallowed the sour saliva that welled up in her throat.
Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of the captivating Queen Dowager sitting silently in the corner, like a puppet—the fiancée of Cui Xiong of the Cui clan, and the niece of the king's favored male favorite. She had openly sat there and listened to the entire conversation. Mei Meng's patience was unparalleled; she calmly said, "Has the lord already arranged for this person to intercept and kill Gong Xi Chou?"
"He will step in at crucial moments."
Gongxi Chou dares to show his face; his death is imminent!
Mei Meng said, "In that case, I am relieved. I will take my leave."
Watching Mei Meng turn and leave, a hint of struggle flickered in the Queen's eyes. She seemed to want to keep her there, but ultimately remained silent. Only after Mei Meng had completely departed did she say, "I and Jing He shouldn't have acted this way… She is my benefactor, but this kindness is too great, too great to know how to repay…"
Without Mei Meng's support, there would be no her.
It was Mei Meng who told her that a woman could also ascend the throne.
To live with dignity, to escape the status of a pawn to be manipulated, one must possess the ambition to think and act boldly. The King has upheld this principle for years. From then until now, his resolve remains unchanged—he does not want to be a pawn of his father and brothers, nor a pawn of Mei Meng.
Youbao's responses are always thoughtful, gentle, and compliant.
This greatly comforted the king's heart.
Little did they know, the other party's inner response was—
Before even learning how to rule the world, he's already mastered the heartless and ruthless ways of an emperor. The saying goes, "Great kindness can turn into great enmity"—such is the way of human nature. Mei Jinghe is truly unlucky.
Her face was gentle as water, and her eyes were so bright they could melt anyone's heart.
The king was completely satisfied with her understanding and reasonable nature.
Qi Cang's troops departed later than Gong Xi Chou's, but the former's marching route was shorter, and preparations were made at the border in advance, so they could set off as soon as the orders were given. The two armies moved in unison toward the same destination. Gong Xi Chou led three hundred elite troops, traveling day and night, and finally crossed the border of Kang State, taking a short break for fifteen minutes along the way.
Eat some food and drink some water.
"This place is unfamiliar..."
Before leaving the borders of Kang, Gongxi Chou could still travel using accurate maps. But once beyond the borders and into unfamiliar territory, the map provided by the You Kingdom envoy was so rudimentary that it infuriated him. Following such a map, it was difficult not to get lost, and sure enough, they did.
Gong Xichou: "..."
After crossing the border, he and his three hundred elite troops split up and disguised themselves, leaving him with only a small team of about a dozen people.
The map was completely different from the actual terrain.
"We can't have gone the wrong way, can we?"
Gongxi Chou took to the air several times to compare the map with the terrain beneath his feet, but very few places matched up, and he couldn't figure out which direction to take. He managed to barely determine where the You and Kang states were based on their locations, but even that wasn't enough.
The disguised lieutenant said, "Why don't we ask someone?"
Isn't it normal for a traveling merchant to get lost and need a guide?
Gongxi hated that he couldn't bear to slap the deputy general.
"In the deep mountains and forests, where are you going to ask someone for directions?"
First, get out of this area and then find your way.
Gongxi Chou wasn't in a hurry at all. The You Kingdom was doomed anyway, and one royal woman would be enough. Seeing his indifference, the deputy general also became unconcerned. After much deliberation, the deputy general caught a strange sound in the wind…
"Is it a wild animal from the mountains?"
Gong Xichou said, "It's a person, down there."
After searching, they found the source of the sound in a patch of dense vegetation that had been crushed by something. Pushing aside the vegetation, they discovered a hidden cliff below, where a middle-aged man dressed as a traveling doctor stood. He had a small goatee, rough, dark brown skin, and a weathered face.
When he was rescued, he was preoccupied with a basket of medicine, ignoring his joy at surviving the ordeal. He didn't recognize a single one of the lieutenants.
Gong Xiqiu knew him.
They are all for treating men's hidden ailments.
|ω`)
Clothes are so cheap in Guangzhou, but unfortunately, it's hard for a fat person to buy clothes anywhere.
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