Chapter 384 Eat your fill and go back to have a baby
Wanyan Zonglie proposed that the Second Prince and several ministers exchange prisoners with the Great Zhou.
When the Great Zhou captured Dingzhou, they captured several soldiers of the Great Jing.
The news spread throughout the entire Great Zhou Dynasty as soon as it was released. Whether or not to make the change was no longer up to them. Even Zhao Xuan in Lin'an had no choice but to make the change.
He cannot be branded as a heartless man who doesn't even care about his brothers.
The most aggrieved were the soldiers of the Great Zhou, especially some of the former members of the Xiao family army who knew the truth, and who colluded with Wanyan Zonglie to kill their prince.
They have to exchange the prisoners they've captured with all their might for them. It's so frustrating, so incredibly frustrating.
Xiao Xuance and several of his confidants were drinking and roasting sweet potatoes over a fire inside the house.
Lu Xiao cursed angrily, "No exchange! That bastard Wanyan deliberately let them go. He must be up to no good. They must be afraid of us and dare not fight back. They have to come up with this dirty trick to muddy the waters so they can fish in troubled waters."
Gu Huai's expression was also not good. "Whether we switch or not is not up to us. We will definitely have to go through Dingzhou to bring the person back."
The Xiao family army has already been harmed once by the Second Prince.
On the battlefield, if a prince who doesn't know how to lead troops gives blind orders and the soldiers have no choice but to obey him, he will cause their deaths.
His uncle was indirectly killed by the second prince, and he hated it!
"You mean..."
Lu Xiao didn't say the last few words, but instead made a throat-slitting gesture.
That's great! The Emperor himself said to switch them. Switch them back and then disguise yourself as an assassin to kill them.
They not only avenged their personal grudges, but it also benefited the Great Zhou. The Great Zhou was almost destroyed and could not withstand any more setbacks. If the emperor were to be taken captive to the north again, the royal family would be left without anyone, and the Great Zhou would become a disorganized mess.
The group looked at the silent Xiao Xuance.
We await his final decision.
Xiao Xuance said in a deep voice, "Don't make a fuss yet; we need to plan this carefully."
The men nodded vigorously. "Don't worry, Your Highness, we understand."
The Crown Prince and the Second Prince had a blood feud over the murder of their fathers, and he wanted revenge more than anyone else.
"Hey, you two good brothers, where did you get that weapon? Could you get another one? We can blast them to death during the hostage exchange."
With so many members of the royal family in their hands, it's rare for them to win. Trading hundreds of people for a few is both frustrating and a loss.
That second prince is no good; they should all die.
Zhuiying said, "It's really gone. We bought it from a foreign merchant in Lingnan for a lot of money. There were only two. We used one to test it and blew up a low mountain. If we had more, we would have taken it out and captured Baozhou long ago. Why would we have waited until now?"
Gu Huai also asked, "How much did you buy it for? Can we buy a few more? Even one will do."
"Several...hundreds of thousands of taels."
Zhuiying made it up. Yun Zhaoxue gave it to them, and promised not to tell. How would she know how much it cost? She deliberately exaggerated the amount to dispel his idea and prevent him from thinking about it all the time.
Lu Xiao was shocked. "Hundreds of thousands of taels? That's robbery! Is it made of gold? Even gold isn't that expensive! And you're using one to blast a mountain? What a waste! You should save it for attacking Baozhou!"
An army of over 100,000 only receives a few hundred thousand taels of silver in monthly pay.
Zhu Feng helped cover up the lie, saying, "Buy one get one free. Try the first one to see its power; it's free."
"Yes, that's it."
Lu Xiao looked them up and down. "You bought this? Where did you get the money? I've noticed you've been wearing the finest silks lately, cloaks, mink coats, fox furs—you don't wear the same thing twice a day, and leather boots. Could it be that you...?"
Zhu Feng and Zhui Ying straightened their backs and pulled their cloaks tighter around themselves.
That's right, they made a fortune!
Just when they thought the other person was going to praise them, they heard a voice that broke their defenses: "You married into a wealthy widow's family?"
Zhuiying glared at him, "You're the one who married into a widow's family."
Lu Xiao continued to unleash his powerful imagination, "That means selling your body to wealthy widows... at night, well, relieving their worries, just like the 'worry-relieving man' in storybooks."
It's not good to marry into another family if it gets out, but it's fine in private. As long as you do it discreetly and no one knows, it's not shameful. That's how it's written in storybooks.
He got up and moved between Zhu Feng and Zhui Ying, putting his arms around their shoulders from behind, grinning lewdly. "Good brothers, there are no outsiders here, so just tell the truth. If you're brothers, you should share the good times. You can't just focus on making money for yourselves, introduce me to some good-looking girls too. I want to find some good-looking ones."
The imperial court hasn't paid the soldiers for two months, and they can't even afford to drink alcohol. They're so poor that they've used up the money they've saved for years to get married, and now that money is almost gone. They have to find a way to earn money.
He was illiterate, but had plenty of strength. This job was too slow to make money, so he wanted to take a shortcut and ended up in that line of work.
For the sake of money, it's not unacceptable to suffer for a few nights. Only with money can one buy warm clothes, enjoy good wine and meat at every meal, and win battles.
The two men simultaneously elbowed the man away. "Shut up! You can't expect anything good from a dog's mouth. You're the one who's selling yourself! We've invested in the princess's business and made several thousand taels of silver. And this dress is made from fabric given to us by the princess. It was hand-sewn for us by Miss Hongzao and Miss Lvzhi."
Lu Xiaoshang's eyes lit up, he couldn't believe it at all, "How much? Several thousand taels? Did I hear that right, Old Gu? How much did you hear just now?"
Gu Huai replied, "Several thousand taels."
"Brother, good brother, I knew you guys wouldn't sell yourselves for money. Turns out you're in business. If there's another opportunity like this, could you help the brothers make some money?"
"We don't have the final say, but the princess is kind; she's got money and is leading us to make it too. Many of us have already made money."
"Your Highness, could you allow me to protect the Princess and the two young masters next time?"
Gu Huai also said, "I would like to as well."
He could earn money and have a wife by following the princess, which he lacked, and he wanted both.
Zhuiying objected, "No way! You can't take our jobs."
"Who decided that was your spot? We disagree."
Chasing the Wind: "Let's have a fight, whoever wins keeps it."
"Alright, let's fight then, Lao Gu, fight for your wife."
They didn't fight; instead, they had a drinking contest, and whoever got drunk first lost.
The jar of wine was quickly emptied, but no one got drunk; there was no winner in this competition.
Lu Xiao pulled Zhui Ying's cloak over one shoulder, let out a hiccup, and leaned on his shoulder, "Let's compete again next time, uh..."
"Bro, I want some roast chicken or roast whole lamb..."
Chasing Shadow said, "Buy it!"
"I want to eat every meal."
Half-drunk, Zhuiying shook his head. "I've given all my money to my future wife. I only took a little bit with me when I went out."
“You have a wife, but I’m so poor I don’t even have a cotton coat, sob sob sob…” Lu Xiao wailed, clinging to him.
"Don't cry, don't get my new clothes dirty, I can't dry them. Actually... it was the princess who brought us together."
On the eve of my trip to Dingzhou.
Yun Zhaoxue said she needed red dates and green branches to help others.
He overheard them outside and confessed his feelings to Green Branch.
He promised that after the war, he would return and marry them, and he gave her all the silver and money he had on him.
If they can't go back, they can use that money to find a good family to rely on for the rest of their lives.
The same goes for chasing the wind.
Xiao Xuance wanted to return to his wife and children more than anyone else, clutching the 'portrait' in his hand.
Upon closer inspection, it turned out that he was holding a photograph.
I wonder what Xue'er is doing right now.
...
In Dingzhou, Wanyan Zonglie and a group of generals hosted a banquet for the Second Prince and several pro-peace ministers of the Great Zhou Dynasty, including Prime Minister Qin and his family.
The second prince was accompanied by a woman, his concubine Xiao Liu'er, who was pregnant.
She stayed by the Second Prince's side through thick and thin, and she was also among those being exchanged for hostages.
Xiao Liu'er and Wanyan Zonglie exchanged a glance.
Liu Furou, who was sitting next to Wanyan Zonglie, saw this. Did the two know each other before or have an affair?
Regardless of the reason, her purpose with Zhao Rui was not simple; could she be... a spy?
Da Jing, that beast, lives like he's never seen a woman in eight lifetimes; he won't let any female go.
Not only could Liu'er become pregnant with the Second Prince's child in the enemy camp, but she also managed to escape unscathed. Considering the eye contact between her and Wanyan Zonglie, there must be something fishy going on.
She wanted to find an opportunity to remind Zhao Rui (the Second Prince), but she couldn't find one until she watched them leave.
She rushed out to chase after the carriage, wanting to warn Zhao Rui to be careful of Liu'er.
I had only taken two steps when I was grabbed by the back of my neck and pulled into someone's arms.
"Want to leave? You are already my concubine. You can't leave. Stay by my side and give birth to a son. Then, you will be promoted to a secondary consort."
The man's warm breath brushed against his neck, and his upper body was tightly bound by the man's iron arms, making it impossible for him to break free.
Zhao Furou stomped her foot back, her toe landing on his instep. "Let me go. I have a few words to say to my second brother."
"Your second brother doesn't care about your life or death at all, so why bother meddling? The men of your Great Zhou are all selfish and cold-hearted, only caring about their own interests."
At the banquet, Zhao Rui told Zhao Furou to serve him well and kept calling him brother-in-law.
However, he never mentioned asking her to improve her rank, tacitly agreeing to let Zhao Furou become his concubine. For a princess to become his concubine was a disgrace to Zhao Furou and also a disgrace to the Zhao royal family.
"Where are there no selfish and callous people? Doesn't your Great Jing court have internal strife? Are you and your Second Prince truly brothers? He ran off to Zhuozhou, leaving you to guard Baozhou. When Baozhou fell, wasn't he just going to make you a scapegoat?"
Wanyan Zonglie raised his hand to hit her again.
Zhao Furou tilted her head slightly, not even blinking. The more embarrassed and angry he became, the more it meant that she had guessed correctly.
Even the dignified fourth prince is just a discarded pawn, a chess piece. Who is more noble than whom?
"Quick-witted! Looks like you've had a good meal and regained your strength. Now go back and have your baby."
Wanyan Zonglie gritted his teeth and suppressed his anger. He reached down, grabbed her waist, and flung her onto his shoulder.
"Ah!" Zhao Furou screamed in fright as her body was suddenly lifted into the air, clenching her fists and pounding his tense back, kicking her legs wildly.
He kicked him in the lower abdomen.
The man's steady steps faltered, his expression changing slightly. This woman hadn't held back; she'd almost crippled him...
He slapped her pert buttocks.
"If you don't want to be outside, then behave yourself."
Having said that, he took a big step and kicked the door, throwing the person onto the bed.
The guards standing outside the door silently closed it.
Soon, muffled groans of pleasure from the man and curses from the woman could be heard coming from inside the room.
"Ah! You're crazy! If you want a son, go have one with a sow, she'll have a litter of over ten piglets..."
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