nucmednet Chapter 228 Threat
Chapter 228 Threat
A moment later, Chu Yunchuan suddenly leaned back in his chair, his index finger rubbing the wooden armrest. He frowned and chuckled, "Did my brother send you to deliver a message?"
"You don't need to ask, and I won't tell you."
"What merit do I possess to deserve such attention from my royal brother?" Chu Yunchuan mocked. "Since becoming king, I have remained content in this corner of the land, never stepping outside the thirteen provinces. Is my royal brother still not satisfied?"
Lu Jiliang frowned: "Prince Jing, you have overstepped your bounds."
"I dare not."
"If there are grudges or resentments, Heaven will show its own justice. When did it become your place to vent your anger on innocent civilians?"
"Many people in the Northern Territory did indeed die because of me, and the charge of treason against the Gu family was indeed framed by me," Chu Yunchuan said. "To help my brother ascend the throne, to clear his name, and to rebuild the thirteen states, I would do the same thing even if I had to do it all over again."
"Stubborn to the end!" Lu Jiliang slammed his fist on the table in anger. "From this day forward, I will oversee the thirteen prefectures! After the war, I will bring Bai Zhi back to the capital!"
Chu Yunchuan gripped the armrest tightly, narrowing his eyes: "You're taking Bai Zhi away?"
“Your Highness Prince Jing, I misjudged you before, and now I will never let her stay by the side of an unrighteous and heartless person.” Lu Jiliang gave Chu Yunchuan one last cold look, then turned and left.
"Lord Lu."
Lu Jiliang did not stop. Just as he lifted the curtain, he heard the sound of a cup shattering on the ground behind him.
A moment later, two long spears suddenly appeared in front of him, blocking him inside the tent.
"Your Highness Prince Jing," Lu Jiliang said through gritted teeth, "what does this mean?"
Chu Yunchuan remained seated, his eyes unfathomable, and said, "Lord Lu, I'm afraid you won't be leaving this room today."
"Where the imperial envoy goes is as if the emperor himself is present. Do you intend to rebel?"
"So what if my brother is here?" Chu Yunchuan straightened his clothes and stood up, walking closer step by step. His dark eyes were fixed on Lu Jiliang, no longer concealing his schemes. "I still have lingering fears about what happened back then. This time you have brought a large army here. You must break it up into smaller units and be subject to the control of my city's garrison in order to be of use to me. Otherwise, don't blame me for repeating what happened in the north and making these 200,000 soldiers rest in peace here."
Lu Jiliang shouted sternly, "You dare!"
Chu Yunchuan stopped in front of Lu Jiliang and suddenly chuckled: "I can obey the imperial decree and let General Qi be the commander-in-chief. However, General Qi is not familiar with the military affairs of the thirteen provinces. I think it would be more appropriate for General Qiao to assist General Qi and temporarily serve as the commander-in-chief of both armies. I would like to ask Commander-in-Chief Lu to step forward and mediate, so as to prevent the soldiers from dying in vain."
Lu Jiliang glared at him fiercely, then closed his eyes tightly, raised his head, and made up his mind to put up a stubborn resistance.
"It's alright. The army still needs to rest. I'll give Lord Lu a few days. Guards! Escort Lord Lu back to his tent to rest."
Two bodyguards entered from outside and took Lu Jiliang away from the left and right.
The tent fell silent for a moment.
Changfeng quietly entered the tent and said, "Your Highness, if you scare Lu Jiliang like this, he will take it seriously."
"It doesn't matter, that's what we want is for him to take it seriously."
"Weren't you planning to make up some stories to fool Lu Jiliang and make the army break up into smaller units?"
"...We can only take it one step at a time." Chu Yunchuan slowly rubbed his fingers, his gaze fixed on the direction Lu Jiliang had left in. "Lu Jiliang is too naive. He already knows that I was the one who orchestrated the events in the Northern Territory. There's no point in saying anything now. My brother knew this was a risky move, yet he still allowed Lu Jiliang to act this way. Perhaps he had already anticipated that I would take this step."
"Your Highness has taken the bait, so it would be better not to lend troops in the first place."
"If we don't lend troops, and the White Tiger Army is decimated by the strange poison, allowing my brother to reap the benefits?" Chu Yunchuan shook his head. "He knows the old emperor's dirty tricks and is wary of me, so I dare not gamble. Rather than living in fear, it's better to involve the imperial army first to avoid being passive."
Changfeng suddenly said, "You can't touch Lu Jiliang."
Chu Yunchuan said matter-of-factly, "I have no intention of touching him."
“If Lu Jiliang goes back to see the Emperor and is still alive, things will be easier to discuss.” Changfeng walked to the table and bent down to pick up the broken pieces of porcelain one by one. “We can’t let things repeat themselves. The Prince and the Empress will worry about you.”
Chu Yunchuan was taken aback.
Changfeng didn't say anything more, and left the tent with a handful of broken porcelain shards in his hands.
Outside the tent, a grand banquet was being prepared in a lively atmosphere. Chu Yunchuan felt a pang of sadness, his upright shoulders slumped, and his gaze wandered aimlessly.
After an incense stick had burned, Chu Yunchuan suddenly shook his head, took a deep breath, lifted the hem of his robe, sat down at his desk, and began to write a letter with ink.
Riverbank in Taka City.
"Aqimuros... Siwuna?"
"Aqimuluosinabuwu!" Nawu angrily pounded the ground with a washing stick. "I learned this the day before yesterday! How many more times do you need to repeat it before you can remember it!"
Bai Zhi rubbed her clothes, on the verge of tears: "This is too hard to learn!"
"You're too stupid! You can't understand what they're saying, so we can't weave clothes! We can only wash their dirty clothes here! We're short on money!"
"Who knew the Cukenu people would be so inflexible, unable to understand the divine language and unable to do any work."
“You are clearly an envoy, why can’t you go back directly instead of using this method?”
"To make money."
"You'll have lots of money when you go back."
"Who doesn't want more money?" Bai Zhi picked up the washing stick and began to beat the clothes.
It actually had little to do with money. If she wanted to infiltrate the enemy's den with this face, she had to make her amnesia a reality. Actively seeking her out was out of the question; a chance encounter under the guise of delivering clothes was the best solution.
However, it's good to earn some extra money now, since she's penniless and her daily wages are barely enough to make ends meet. She'll still need travel expenses to return to Ningzhou after successfully removing the mask.
The barbarian woman working alongside Bai Zhi scoffed at her hard work and began chattering in her barbarian language. Before anyone could finish, Na Wu stood up and angrily uttered "Chilimububugui"—the first word Na Wu had taught her, meaning a bastard born of a pig and a dog.
The barbarian woman shrugged and went back to work. Nau angrily translated for Bai Zhi: "Those people of the Cukenu are not doing this because you can't speak the divine language, but because we didn't give them money! Those who give money can weave clothes, and if they give more money, they can deliver clothes. If they don't give money, they can only wash clothes."
Bai Zhi's eyes widened: "You have to pay to get clothes?"
"Yes!"
I was careless. Barbarians are people too, and this kind of thing happens wherever there are people. Bai Zhi threw down the clothes, shook the foam off her hands, thought for a moment, and asked Na Wu to ask the barbarian girl how much money she needed to send the clothes. She then received the reply "30,000 Na Su".
Bai Zhi silently looked at the clothes on the ground—she only earned 1,000 Nasu a day washing clothes, of which 800 Nasu were needed to make ends meet. This batch of clothes had to be delivered in three days, and hoping to save 30,000 Nasu within three days was no better than hoping the mask would fall off naturally.
"Nawu, ask her again, is this information reliable?"
Nau translated it verbatim, but the barbarian woman raised her voice and cursed twice before turning and leaving.
"She said she went to ask herself and kindly told us, but we doubted her." Nau made a face at the barbarian woman's back and said indignantly, "What's wrong with asking? You're really unfriendly."