Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio!

After returning to the hot spring room, Wei Ci asked the students carefully what happened in order to know the whole story.

He said with a sigh, “Blessings do not come in pairs and troubles never come alone for Feng Huaiyu. He has suffered for nothing for someone else, but it’s fortunate. Otherwise, it may be difficult for the incident tonight to come to an end. The country of Dongqing has been in an extremely precarious situation and it won’t be able to bear the shock.”

Jiang Pengji listened by the side and raised her eyebrows. She asked, “What do you mean?”

Wei Ci did not want to answer. After all, he had some unexplainable resistance against her. In his subconscious mind, he did not want to have too much contact with her.

After a slight hesitation, the words that Jiang Pengji whispered into his ears when she suppressed him on the ground emerged in Wei Ci’s mind.

He could only give up the grudge in his heart and really treat her as a very ordinary person––that was, if he did not want her to pay a particular amount of attention towards him.

Therefore, Wei Ci replied calmly, “If I’m right, these warriors from the Northern Borderline plan to create trouble in the residence of the Count of Zhenbei.”

Lu Zheng, who was standing at the side of the room, reacted swiftly. “Yes. There was someone from the residence of the Count of Zhenbei among the crowd just now. The descendants of the Count of Zhenbei have contributed a lot to Dongqing and some have even lost their lives. They originally had many descendants, but for the sake of guarding Dongqing against the Northern Borderline, some of them died on the battlefield and some died due to illnesses. They don’t have many descendants left… Amongst the many Langjuns today, the eldest prince of the Count of Zhenbei, who lives a secluded life, was also present.

The descendants of the Count of Zhenbei have been guarding against the Northern Borderline and have taken the lives of many warriors. The descendants of the Count of Zhenbei have also mostly died in the battlefield and at the hands of the general of the Northern Borderline. Profound hatred has already been planted between the two parties. It’s not surprising for them to have conflict with each other whenever they meet. The descendants of the Count of Zhenbei are lessening, but they still have significant control over the massive military forces. The government has feared them for a long time and sees them as an eyesore. If anything happens to the eldest prince, I’m afraid…”

The three tribes of the Northern Borderline might be overjoyed. The emperor might look furious on the outside, but he must be elated on the inside, right?

“I’ve heard you say that there’s someone called Wu Liba among the group of people who have come to look for trouble. He’s the wise general, which is rare among the three tribes of the Northern Borderline. He looks stupid and reckless, but he’s a very meticulous person. Now that they’re in Dongqing, they won’t dare to cause trouble even if they’re arrogant. However, if their target is the eldest son of the Count of Zhenbei, the government may be furious, but they’ll secretly defend Wu Liba and his gang…”

In doing so, the people from the Northern Borderline could give the government what it wanted and also sow dissension between the Count of Zhenbei and the government, making them turn on each other.

The residence of the Count of Zhenbei had too much power over the military. The emperor did know about the wild scheme of the three tribes of the Northern Borderline. However, he was even more afraid that the residence of the Count of Zhenbei would have achievements so great that they would make him feel insecure as an emperor!

There was a chill in Lu Zheng’s heart. Although he usually talked about the world with his other classmates, he never felt a chill like that in his heart.

“Besides, there’s also another reason as to why the three tribes of the Northern Borderline are so fearless… Nansheng has been defeated thoroughly, so Dongqing has to dispatch military troops to aid them. By then, the borders of the Northern Borderline will be in jeopardy. Now the government is probably looking forward to the marriage even more. They wish to use their affinity to temporarily suppress the three tribes of the Northern Borderline, but they don’t know that the Northern Borderline has been coveting Dongqing for many years. Why would they care about mere affinity?”

Jiang Pengji snorted coldly. “What you mean is that the government may now be inclined towards the three tribes of the Northern Borderline, willingly suppressing them with all kinds of favorable conditions?”

“It’s not just possible. They’ll definitely do it.”

Wei Ci sighed softly. He had feelings towards the royal family of Dongqing as well, but they could not stand up to the people of the Northern Borderline who were good at stirring up trouble. The more disappointed he felt towards the royal family of Dongqing, the more he missed the woman who made him suffer for half his life.

Not to mention that she, a woman, shook the world by becoming the emperor… At least she could stabilize the country, not let her people be humiliated, not mess up the imperial regime, and not make her people live in terror and uncertainty… Thinking about those things, the sufferings he underwent seemed to be nothing.

The power of the emperor was not given by the gods, but it came from the people. The people were more important than the ruler… As an emperor, if one lost his dignity by making peace with rulers in the border areas through marriage, survived on a meagre existence by ceding his territories, exploited his people by making them pay tributes, and humiliated the country and forfeited its sovereignty by paying indemnities, how could he rule the country with prestige? An emperor should protect his country and die in his country!

If he could do it again, he wished that he could truly assist her as a strategist, instead of a…

Jiang Pengji felt a little dejected and snorted. “Ha. The group of people from the Northern Borderline have achieved at testing our patience with the trouble they’ve caused.”

Wu Liba’s move seemed audacious. In fact, thinking about it carefully, there were a lot of conspiracies and schemes behind it.

If the government decided to be inclined towards the Northern Borderline in the end, then Wu Liba had achieved his goal of sounding out their intentions. He would be even more fearless in the future.

“However, you don’t have to worry too much. As long as your father is still around, the government won’t easily lay a finger on you.”

Wei Ci’s facial expression was somewhat entangled in a strange way, but he hid it quickly. How could he escape a dilemma? Liu She had clearly been hindered by the person in front of him… Tsk. How could he become the county chief of Hu County?

If Liu She was capable, he would not end up like that. Wei Ci did not know what went wrong, but he did not intend to get to the bottom of it because it was not necessary.

He knew very well that people would change. From the moment that things changed, everything one knew would become useless. Being earnest and down-to-earth was the right thing to do.

Jiang Pengji was not happy that Wei Ci said that. Only the weak had to be protected by the strong. If she was safe because of Liu She, that meant that she was not strong enough.

Thinking of that, an unusual light flashed across her eyes and there was a sudden impulse in her heart, which she forcibly suppressed in the end. Jiang Pengji smirked and said expressively, “…Ha. It’s best if he won’t lay a finger on me…” If they dared to lay a finger on her, she would let the emperor regret that he was born!

Wei Ci was silent. He was familiar with Jiang Pengji’s facial expression, but he was surprised that his hands were breaking out in cold sweat.

Wei Ci managed to calm down and was about to get up and leave when Jiang Pengji suddenly asked him, “Do you know very well about the situation in the palace?”

He was about to say that he knew a little, but the slow-witted Lu Zheng exposed him directly. “Lanting, you have no idea. Let me tell you about it. Zixiao’s discourse on politics and political comments has always been excellent. He has a deep understanding of what’s going on in the world and he always has his own opinions. Although he doesn’t go out, he knows all of the situations of the outside world. Even the Master says that he’s as good as Prime Minister Jiang of the former dynasty. It’s a pity that he’s stubborn. I don’t know what he’s dwelling on. He keeps refusing to become the Master’s disciple.”

Lu Zheng praised Wei Ci very highly, but then he said, “…Fortunately, he hit his head as he fell down from the mountain half a year ago and finally got rid of his stubbornness. He greed to become the Master’s disciple.”

Jiang Pengji and Wei Ci did not say a word. I dare you to say it again, Lu Shaoyin! Who did you say was out of his mind?!

Lu Zheng suddenly massaged his arms. Although he was in the hot spring room, he felt a chill on his back.

“Shao Yin, I suddenly feel like playing chess. Let’s play a game.” Wei Ci dragged Lu Zheng, who was very unwilling to leave, away without giving him the chance to speak.

Looking at the bright moon hanging in the sky, Jiang Pengji abruptly licked her lips and looked down at the cards in between her fingertips. She was determined to win Dongqing over.