CMWKSD -Chapter 238 Zhuo Mu! How Dare You Harm Me!!!

Jiu Yue looked at Zhuo Mu with suspicion.

She felt that the lump sitting on top of his neck was only there to add to his height.

Otherwise, why would he be saying such bizarre things to her?

Even Shao Qing, who was standing nearby, wore a look of astonishment.

Did these people really try to win someone over without doing any background checks at all?

Shao Qing had long known that Jiu Yue would inevitably be approached and persuaded by people from all sorts of unknown factions.

But judging by Jiu Yue’s temperament—The Fengyuan Emperor treated her fairly well, and Jiu Yue was extremely averse to trouble.

So there was absolutely no chance she would be swayed.

However, Zhuo Mu clearly didn’t know that.

He was even brimming with confidence, believing that this small chest of silver ingots would be enough to win Jiu Yue over.

The Northern Barbarians were far too arrogant.

He had actually said that as long as she cooperated with them, they could ensure Jiu Yue held real power.

Wasn’t Jiu Yue already holding real power now?

If she wanted to ascend to the heavens, the Fengyuan Emperor would probably rack his brains to build her a ladder.

Besides, judging by her demeanor, this “boss” of theirs didn’t look like someone who wanted real power at all.

Because she didn’t want to be a beast of burden.

She simply felt that everyone else should automatically become her beasts of burden.

Jiu Yue glanced behind her.

There were people in the adjoining private room.

And Zhuo Mu was boldly conspiring with her like this—Was he deliberately letting people overhear?

She just didn’t know which high-ranking minister was in the next room.

If the Fengyuan Emperor were to find out that someone wanted to push her onto the throne—Would he whip her again with that horsetail whisk?

It had been a while since she’d been beaten. Her skin was getting a little itchy.

Sure enough, the highest level of political warfare often adopted the simplest, most plain, and unadorned methods.

The Fengyuan Emperor exchanged a glance with the Crown Prince seated beside him.

Both of them pressed their lips together subtly.

These people…

They used a “handsome-man scheme” and found a low-end knockoff of Ji Yiqing.

They tried to bribe her with silver, yet were stingy with the amount.

And now—

They were blatantly trying to push Jiu Yue into becoming the first princess with real governing power?

The Fengyuan Emperor felt that the Chu royal family—Had actually been poisoned and crippled by these brain-damaged Northern Barbarians for so many years.

It was nothing short of a disgrace!

Several ministers standing nearby exchanged looks with one another.

Today’s meeting had been prompted by a certain military general’s sudden whim—Since the other envoy delegations would soon arrive, and since Jiu Yue’s special training camp was already scheduled to spar with the Northern Barbarians’ elite troops, Why not let the two nations “exchange ideas” first today?

Test the waters with the Northern Barbarians.

That way, when the other countries arrived, Great Qi would have a clearer sense of where things stood.

General Shen and the others all felt this person must be insane.

Revealing your tactics in advance—What kind of sparring was that?

Wasn’t that just straight-up telling the enemy your battle strategy?

Only by striking unexpectedly could you catch them off guard.

Who would’ve thought that once the Fengyuan Emperor learned who had made the proposal, he would decisively agree?

And so, they were inexplicably brought here.

Only to inexplicably hear Zhuo Mu, the Northern Barbarians’ First Prince, Say all sorts of outrageous things to their Princess Xuyu.

Those words—If spread outside, would lead straight to execution for treason.

Yet their Princess Xuyu didn’t refute him at all!

Quite a few ministers broke out in a cold sweat for Jiu Yue.

Sure, sure—Jiu Yue was infuriating, truly infuriating.

But with Jiu Yue around,

They sometimes inexplicably felt a sense of security.

So please—Just when Jiu Yue had finally made the Fengyuan Emperor’s health and spirits improve so much—Jiu Yue, you absolutely must not harbor such treasonous thoughts!

At this moment, Jiu Yue wasn’t refusing to rebut him—She was just thinking:

Exactly where did Zhuo Mu see that she wanted to be emperor so badly?

(In fact, Zhuo Mu didn’t mean that at all.)

But Jiu Yue did know about Wu Zetian.

She was perfectly receptive to the concept of a female emperor.

And Zhuo Mu’s words were extremely implicit—A common flaw of ancient people.

So Jiu Yue automatically interpreted it as: Zhuo Mu and the Northern Barbarians wanted to push her onto the throne!

Yet Zhuo Mu, a man who looked down on women, Thought that offering real power and some silver already counted as showing Jiu Yue respect.

Even if he wracked his brains, he’d never imagine that Jiu Yue would think he wanted her to become emperor.

The more Jiu Yue listened, the harder she slammed her hand on the table.

“Zhuo Mu! How dare you harm me!”

Zhuo Mu was stunned. Wasn’t this just a set of persuasion tactics?

Besides, anyone who had tasted power—How could they possibly not be addicted to it?

How was this harm?

“Princess Xuyu, your words are mistaken. The Fengyuan Emperor has few heirs—”

The Fengyuan Emperor: …And whose fault do you think that is, if not you treacherous Northern Barbarians?

“Right now, there’s only the Crown Prince as a son. While the Fengyuan Emperor favors you now, once the Crown Prince ascends the throne, do you dare say he would still treat you as well as the Fengyuan Emperor does?”

Jiu Yue twitched the corner of her mouth.

The Crown Prince would dare.

She tolerated the Fengyuan Emperor whipping her butt only because he was a good emperor—

And an elder.

As for how he treated her…

Well, it wasn’t the same kind of “good” as Ji Yiqing’s.

But if the Crown Prince dared to whip her butt—

Forget all the hidden guards filling the beams and the Eagle Eyes everywhere—

No matter how many people there were,

If the Crown Prince dared to hit her once, She would hit him back ten times!

Jiu Yue was absolutely capable of whipping each other back and forth with the Crown Prince!

Zhuo Mu continued his gentle persuasion, pushing the full chest of silver ingots toward Jiu Yue again.

“A small token of our sincerity. I hope the Princess will accept it.”

Jiu Yue looked utterly disdainful of that pitiful amount of silver.

It wasn’t even as much as what she earned by selling paintings of the Minister of War cross-dressing to Eagle Eye.

Just how little did they think of her?

Zhuo Mu truly did look down on women.

After all these years among the Northern Barbarians, it was impossible for him to change that.

In their eyes, once they spoke,

Women were obliged to obey.

So he already considered himself exceedingly condescending.

Giving Jiu Yue a chest of silver was already a great show of respect.

Without considering the opinions of the rest of the envoy delegation at all,

He arrogantly came to Jiu Yue to say these things.

Jiu Yue’s prestige in Great Qi was extremely high.

Especially after recent investigations showed—

She had produced something called penicillin.

It had miraculous effects on treating battlefield sword and blade wounds.

It must be this penicillin that earned her the Fengyuan Emperor’s favor.

And then there was Hua Nu…

After the failed assassination of the Fengyuan Emperor, Hua Nu had disappeared.

Did he know how difficult it was to cultivate a poison human in the Northern Barbarians?

How much effort and silver it took?

Yet Hua Nu had vanished.

Every time Zhuo Mu thought of these women, He hated them so viciously that he wished he could throw them all into a pot and boil them alive.

Only by boiling and eating them, Would women finally become obedient.

So Zhuo Mu felt that earning his favor was Jiu Yue’s good fortune.

And today, not only did he intend to win Jiu Yue over, He also wanted to drive a wedge between her and the Fengyuan Emperor.

If Jiu Yue knew what Zhuo Mu was thinking, She would only say one thing:

You can keep that “good fortune” for yourself!

This man actually wanted her to become a beast of burden.

His intentions were truly vile!

“Isn’t that harming me?” Jiu Yue stared at Zhuo Mu in disbelief.

This man’s ability to lie through his teeth was truly impressive.

“You actually want me to become emperor? Isn’t that harming me?!”

Fengyuan Emperor: Pfft—

Crown Prince: What the hell? Who’s becoming emperor?

Zhuo Mu: Huh???

Shao Qing: !!!

Their boss’s way of thinking was always this avant-garde.

Shao Qing was already starting to feel numb to it all.

Both private rooms fell so silent you could hear a pin drop.

Then Jiu Yue suddenly stood up and strode straight over to Zhuo Mu.

Her finger almost poked directly into the top of his forehead.

“Why exactly do you want me to become emperor?”

Zhuo Mu was sweating profusely—this wasn’t what he meant at all!

Besides, since when could women become emperors?

This was absurd!

Just as he was about to open his mouth to argue,

Jiu Yue had already begun her heartfelt, sorrowful exposition on the bitter realities of being emperor.

“Do you know what time the emperor has to wake up?”

Zhuo Mu knew this—reflexively, he answered, “Middle of the Yin hour?”

Jiu Yue snorted. “The Yin hour!”

The Yin hour was four in the morning in modern terms!

Four a.m.!

When Jiu Yue wasn’t on a mission, she hadn’t even started sleeping at four!

Yet the emperor had to get up and start working then.

That was the ultimate beast of burden among beasts of burden.

“Getting up early and not being able to sleep in is bad enough. Three meals a day are prepared by specialists using the finest ingredients—but!”

“But you can’t eat more than three bites of any dish.”

“Every move—walking, sitting, lying down—has all kinds of rules.”

“Every day you have to deal with mountains of memorials until your eyes go blind.”

“You have to face a bunch of ministers, each with their own agenda, constantly fighting wits with them until you’re mentally exhausted and your hair falls out.”

The Fengyuan Emperor subconsciously touched his hair.

He wasn’t bald! His hair wasn’t falling out!

“Oh, and at night you can’t even rest. You have to ‘nurture feelings’ with this consort, then ‘nurture feelings’ with that consort.”

“Because the front court and the rear palace are closely connected.”

Both Jiu Yue and the Fengyuan Emperor simultaneously recalled—

That Consort Rong, dressed in bright pink riding attire during the autumn hunt, seeking praise.

Just imagining it gave Jiu Yue chills.

The Fengyuan Emperor would never be able to look at pink the same way again.

This was all Jiu Yue’s fault!

“And most importantly—every so often there are assassinations. Your life could be gone at any moment.”

…

Jiu Yue listed countless disadvantages of being emperor in painstaking detail.

“And yet you still want me to be emperor?”

“What exactly are your intentions?”

“Think carefully—do you really think being emperor is something an ordinary person can do?”

Zhuo Mu swallowed.

Why did Jiu Yue’s words sound… so reasonable?

In the adjoining room, the ministers—

Why did they suddenly feel that His Majesty was a little… pitiful?

The Crown Prince sneakily glanced at the Fengyuan Emperor.

Then said with great difficulty, “Father Emperor, you must live to a hundred.”

Just hearing all that made him not want to be emperor at all.

So Father Emperor absolutely had to reign for a few more years.

He was immediately smacked on the back of the head by the Fengyuan Emperor.

“Get lost!”

He was so angry that even coarse language came out.

That showed just how badly this little brat Jiu Yue had infuriated him.