"The Southern Chen Dynasty is in chaos, and the Chen emperor is incompetent. I urge the county lord to raise an army and declare herself emperor!"
"The Southern Chen Dynasty is in chaos, and the Chen emperor is incompetent. I urge the county lord to raise an army and declare herself emperor!"
"..."
Finally, there was movement inside the tent. Everyone saw Shang Shaoyan, dressed in riding attire, walk out briskly, followed by Old Master Xin and Shang Yunlan.
Shang Shaoyan looked at them with red eyes, raised his hand, and everyone quieted down.
Then, Shang Shaoyan bowed deeply to them. When she stood up again, her face was covered with tears. Her voice was a little hoarse, but loud and clear in the silence: "Southern Chen is in chaos, and the Emperor is incompetent—Heyang knows that if it weren't for you all guarding the Northwest, the entire Southern Chen would have perished. We are here to guard the country for the sake of countless families, for the sake of ordinary people like us! We are regarded as abandoned children and ants by the Emperor, but we are also human beings! Why should we be fish on the chopping block, at the mercy of others? But you soldiers love and respect Heyang, how can Heyang not return the favor?"
She paused, then bowed again, and declared in a resounding voice: "Now that you all have chosen me as emperor, I, Heyang, will do everything in my power to pacify the world, protect our land, kill the tyrannical ruler, and unify the north and south!"
Upon seeing this, Zhao Xin immediately shouted loudly: "Purge the world, kill the tyrannical emperor; defend the land, unify the north and south! We swear to follow the county magistrate to the death! Long live the county magistrate!"
Behind him, in the darkness, the eyes of the crowd burned with fierce fire: "We swear to follow the County Princess to the death! Long live the County Princess!"
In the vast darkness of night, on the desolate land, shouts of "Long live the county magistrate!" echoed one after another.
Shang Shaoyan curled his lips into a smile and raised an eyebrow, looking in the direction of Shengjing.
Lu Zhi, your empire is now mine.
...
Shang Shaoyan kept all news under wraps, continuing to train troops daily, while also discreetly taking over several cities in the Northwest, excluding Shuocheng.
All the military forces in the Northwest were in Shuocheng. She didn't lose a single soldier; she just had a meal with the prefects of those cities, and afterwards, she had three more cities under her control.
On the one hand, it was the deterrent effect of military force; on the other hand, it was because Shang Shaoyan was indeed a wise ruler.
Not to mention the current chaos in the Southern Chen Dynasty, you can see that there are many more refugees outside Suzhou and Hangzhou, and they are just short of heading to Shengjing; just considering the current state of the world, sooner or later many people will rise up in rebellion, wouldn't it be better to follow the Princess of Heyang, who has money, food, men and guns?
What? The Princess of Heyang is a woman? She can't be trusted?
That's not true. That meal made several prefects realize that He Yang's talent was absolutely unparalleled in the world, and he would surely rise to a high position in the future.
Shang Shaoyan sent Yu Tan, Hua Qing, and Mo Xing to guard different cities, while Feng Chang... is still being ignored by Shang Shaoyan.
In the Northwest, everyone knew that Shang Shaoyan had started a rebellion, but Feng Chang did not. He was under house arrest in Mo Xing's mansion, guarded by all of Shang Shaoyan's men. He had a feeling that something was wrong in the Northwest, but he could not find out any information.
On a day in mid-May, Feng Chang finally met Shang Shaoyan.
Shang Shaoyan wore a bright red, wide-sleeved, flowing fairy dress with phoenix patterns outlined in gold thread on the hem. Her hair was styled in a flamboyant and luxurious peony hairstyle, adorned with gold hairpins and jade hair ornaments. Around her neck was a red gold dragon necklace, and on her earlobes were a pair of red gold earrings inlaid with moon white stone magnolias. Her already bright and flamboyant features were made even more striking by this red and gold outfit, making it difficult for people to look directly at her.
Shang Shaoyan walked in, carrying a scent of sandalwood. He raised an eyebrow at Feng Chang and asked, "Still pretending?"
Feng Chang's expression remained unchanged, a relaxed smile on his face, as if he hadn't been anxious or impatient all these days. Hearing this, he frowned slightly, feigning ignorance: "What is the county princess talking about?"
Shang Shaoyan leaned against the door, smiling at Feng Chang with amusement in his eyes: "You are not Feng Chang."
She paused, then added, "Or rather, you look just like Feng Chang... Feng Xu, it's been a long time."
Feng Xu stared intently at Shang Shaoyan, then slowly smiled and said, "Xie Huayin was right, you're becoming more and more successful."
Shang Shaoyan shrugged noncommittally: "Maybe."
Seeing that she didn't seem to care about him, Feng Xu's smile faded slightly, and his eyes darkened as he said, "Shang Shaoyan, An'an... is that Qi Lang next to you your current boyfriend?"
Shang Shaoyan scoffed: "What, you're jealous of my so-called first love whom I've been dating for three days?"
She paused, somewhat puzzled, and asked, "Who gave you the nerve?"
Feng Xu: "..."
His expression remained unchanged, his handsome face still bearing that humble smile, only the madness in his eyes inadvertently betrayed much: "Then what about him? And who gave him the nerve?"
Shang Shaoyan blew on his nails, admiring the nail polish Qiao Xiuyu had carefully done for him, and said casually, "He's good to me, he only has eyes for me and in his heart, unlike you who's a lunatic, and he's even more in line with my aesthetic standards than you—he's good-natured, so your jealousy is useless."
Feng Xu suddenly burst out laughing in a somewhat neurotic way: "Ha! He's self-reliant? Shang Shaoyan, I've been by your side for so many years, just waiting for you to turn around and look at me... And you? You only think of me after you lose a game of truth or dare... I just thought you were naturally cold-hearted! If I hadn't come here, I really wouldn't have known that you could be so kind and gentle to a woman."
He paused, licked his slightly chapped lips, and said, "I've never seen that kind of smile before... I really want to lock you up so no one else can see you."
Shang Shaoyan was speechless for a moment, then sneered, "What the hell are you pretending to be, some kind of sickly, obsessive male lead? I told you long ago, I like gentle, handsome men like Qi Lang, who are perfect in terms of male virtue. Do you understand?"
Feng Xu: "..."
His face contorted for a moment, and he was about to say something when Shang Shaoyan suddenly ripped the entire door off, gave him a bright smile, and said, "You're going to lock me up, are you?"
Feng Xu: "..."
He wiped his face, then forced a smile: "No, what I meant was..."
Shang Shaoyan was too lazy to argue with him about these things. He simply raised an eyebrow and interrupted Feng Xu, saying, "Speaking of which, I am really curious... My brother and I came here for a reason. We didn't usurp someone else's body or identity. What about you? What about you and Xie Huayin? Where did you take the original Xie Erniang and the original Feng Chang?"
Feng Xu's pupils contracted, then he laughed and said, "I don't understand what you're talking about."
Shang Shaoyan didn't want to play along and said bluntly, "I don't know what method Xie Huayin, that physicist, used to get you here... but I know you have another purpose. Let me think... what is it?"
...
Southern Chen, Shu Prefecture.
The May night was still a bit chilly. Bai Lu sat at her desk, with stacks of notes beside her, yet she continued to write furiously.
Xu Xian stood outside the door, raising his hand several times as if to knock, but then lowering it each time.
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