RWNEFE -Chapter 246 In Extreme Urgency, They Ran Straight into a Soft Wall!

After a long silence—

“Even if General Shen is a woman, she’s no ordinary woman!”

“That’s right—can just any woman lift that huge saber?”

“No, no. Women won’t do. Mixing women in with male soldiers—what kind of sight is that?”

“Women are the root of corruption in the military camp! We must jointly petition to stop General Shen!”

Sun Zhong said, “Aren’t you all leaving in a few days?”

At once, there was another stretch of silence.

After a while—

“No, we’ve guarded the northwest for so long. We can’t let it be ruined by these women!”

“General Sun, among us your rank is the highest. You should lead us in jointly petitioning to stop General Shen.”

A woman with a bit of strength thinks she can fight wars?

Ridiculous. If that were the case, they might as well invite strongmen to be great generals and see whether those strongmen could really drive back the foreign tribes.

A large group surged toward the place where Shen Lanxi handled official business. When they arrived, they learned she had gone to the recruitment office—so they surged off again to the recruitment office.

By the time they arrived, many women were already lined up to enlist.

Cheng Zheng and the others had set up six tables, registering everyone.

“General Shen!” More than a dozen military officers greeted Shen Lanxi, their gazes immediately falling on the women who were signing up.

They’d been delayed only a short while, and already so many clueless women had enlisted. This wouldn’t do—they had to disperse them quickly.

“General Sun, Deputy Commander Hou, Adjutant Jiang…” Shen Lanxi greeted them.

Aside from Sun Zhong and Deputy Commander Hou, the others were somewhat surprised.

They usually stayed in the army. Counting it all up, they had only seen her once when welcoming the envoy, and never again after that.

Yet she called out each of their names and ranks without the slightest hesitation. This woman had something in her head.

“General, how can you recruit female guards? There’s no such rule in the army!” Adjutant Jiang, impatient by nature, couldn’t hold back any longer when Sun Zhong and the deputy commanders stayed silent, and spoke up first.

Shen Lanxi replied, “I want to recruit male soldiers too—but there have to be some available.”

That single sentence stunned everyone.

They had thought Shen Lanxi would strongly defend women, that she would tear into them fiercely for opposing the recruitment of female guards.

Instead, in their extreme urgency, they had slammed straight into a soft wall!

Shen Lanxi swept her gaze over them. “If you are willing to stay, I’ll immediately disband the female guards and never recruit them again in the future.”

The military officers all looked as if a giant goose egg were stuck in their throats—choking them so badly they could barely breathe.

Wei Dongzhu pointed toward the male recruits and said, “The men coming to enlist are either old or young.” Just then, an old man came carrying his grandson to sign up. Asked why, he said they couldn’t survive anymore—if they weren’t accepted, they were just waiting to die.

Shen Lanxi said, “Gentlemen, tell me—if we recruit them into the army, what can they do?”

The officers were left speechless. Their throats moved several times, but no sound came out.

There was no way they could stay!

They hadn’t expected that Shen Lanxi’s recruitment of female guards was a strategy to force them into submission—somewhat…

They were men of Prince Zhennan. With Shen Lanxi so openly trying to poach them, wasn’t she afraid of offending Prince Zhennan?

“I think… let’s forget it,” Adjutant Jiang, who had shouted the loudest earlier, said with his head lowered in embarrassment.

Though a warrior would die for one who truly understood him, Shen Lanxi was a woman. Working under her—word would spread, and it wouldn’t sound good.

Moreover, one servant does not serve two masters. No matter what methods Shen Lanxi used, they would not stay.

“General Shen, we came too rashly.”

“General Shen, we take our leave!”

The men who had arrived so aggressively departed in the blink of an eye, lonely and crestfallen.

“General, what’s wrong with them?” Xiao Fang asked, utterly puzzled.

Shen Lanxi also found it rather amusing.

…

In the blink of an eye, Liu Yanhui and the others arrived in Huangtu City, braving fierce winds and drifting snow.

Shen Lanxi had long prepared a welcome banquet, with the main dish being bighead fish caught from Azure Dragon Lake.

The kitchen had already been taken over by the women of Liu-Zhao Village. Having learned many exquisite skills from Nanny Li, they prepared a feast that was no worse than the finest restaurants in the capital.

“General, on the road here I happened upon this grape wine. It’s sweet in flavor and doesn’t easily intoxicate,” Liu Yanhui said, personally opening a wooden barrel and ladling a bowl for Shen Lanxi.

In the hall stood three huge wooden barrels, each as big as a water vat. Once the lids were opened, a refreshing sweetness instantly spread through the air.

Liu Yanhui then poured wine for the others as well. Compared to the respectful two-handed offering to Shen Lanxi, the others were treated more casually.

A big ladle, fill it up and that’s it—how much you got depended entirely on his mood.

Ban Sicao nodded after tasting it. “Authentic.”

Shen Lanxi also took a sip, then ate fish and discussed matters at the same time.

When the banquet was nearing its end, the maids brought up bowls of sobering soup.

Ban Sicao lightly tapped the tabletop twice with his finger. Shen Lanxi glanced over casually, then drained the bowl in one go.

Those who had long followed Shen Lanxi all understood what it meant.

After the banquet ended, Sun Zhong and the other officers, along with the members of the marriage alliance envoy group, departed one after another.

Shen Lanxi, reeking of alcohol, was escorted to her room by guards from Peach Blossom Valley to rest.

Not long after, several heavy thuds sounded outside, followed by a creak as the door was pushed open.

“Shen Lanxi, everything you’re suffering today is of your own making. You can’t blame anyone else!”

“Originally, Her Ladyship didn’t want to deal with you so quickly. But since you pushed me out to die, you have only yourself to blame!”

The sound of someone being dragged echoed through the room.

“Which Ladyship? The Empress?” someone asked.

Another heavy thud sounded, then the door was flung open. Two teams of people filed in from outside.

Shen Lanxi took the strong tea Autumn Frost handed her and drank a few mouthfuls.

Chunxue reached out to pull off the black-clad person’s face covering, but the person dodged nimbly.

“Yinxing, don’t struggle. We all know it’s you!”

A look of grim resolve flashed through Yinxing’s eyes. Just as she was about to bite down on the poison capsule hidden in her teeth, she realized her body had no strength at all.

With a bang, Yinxing collapsed to the ground, her face covering falling off as well!

Shen Lanxi looked at Yinxing coldly. “I don’t need to know who’s behind you. If that person wants me dead, they’ll definitely send someone else!”

“I’m not the kind of person who returns what others do to me in equal measure. I return it ten, even dozens of times over!”

“You put an aphrodisiac in my sobering soup. Ban Sicao, you know what I mean!”

Ban Sicao grinned wickedly. “I know. Both the people and the ‘items’ are ready!”

A satisfied expression appeared on Shen Lanxi’s face, and she also saw terror flood Yinxing’s eyes.

“This person is a spy sent by the three Turkic tribes. Don’t let her die. The people of the northwest may not be able to avenge themselves yet, but they can vent their anger!”

“Yes!”

Yinxing was already trembling all over in terror.

No—she said. She would say everything. She didn’t ask to live, only for a swift death!

In extreme fear, Yinxing was dragged away.

“General, you’re really not going to ask anything at all?” Shen Yuanhao felt it was a pity not to find out who had sent her.

Shen Lanxi looked at him faintly. “You—if you’ve got nothing better to do, you can eat more walnuts. Fish too!”

Shen Yuanhao: What does that mean?

Was Eldest Sister… showing concern for him?