Chapter 51: Cheng Yu
The Wei Assistant Secretary used to think he just had bad teeth. Ever since the Prince arrived at the borderlands, he realized his heart was also not good.
Every day, there were several times when it would leap into his throat.
Jin Sui said to the Wei Assistant Secretary with a serious expression that this eatery must be run well, not for selling fish balls; the fish caught from the river were not even enough for the brothers to have a good meal.
It was preparation for selling seafood, potatoes, and tomatoes later.
Furthermore, your border city has always talked about opening trade, but if you don’t even open a shop yourselves, will others come?
Only when shops are opened will the nearby commoners, merchants from the prefecture city, and even the reindeer people living in the forest come to trade animal hides for salt, tea, and such.
And what is most effective at attracting people to a shop? It’s an eatery.
Although the Wei Assistant Secretary always felt the Prince’s actions were not befitting an Imperial Prince, he took the tasks assigned by Jin Sui very seriously.
He immediately stated that he would lead people to run this eatery well and asked the Prince to rest assured.
Jin Sui then asked the Cheng Assistant Secretary to tidy up the warehouse to store the grain and supplies sent by the Yan Clan.
Cheng Yu, however, felt that Yan Jiu would not send too much:
“Don’t look at how he treated the Prince as a friend last night; he’s at the border military camp and dares not disrespect the Prince. He’s worried about leaving the border city!”
“Once they react back at the Yan Clan, a single Military Strategy Book cost him Ten Thousand Taels. For a Glazed Glass jar, how much grain do you expect him to send?”
“Prince, you must not be careless with these gentry! It’s best to make double preparations and convert those Ten Thousand Taels Silver Notes into Silver as soon as possible to buy some supplies.”
Jin Sui rested her chin on her hand and said, “You have a point. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
How about this: you and Han Xing will each lead people to Yanzhou, Shunzhou, and Zhuozhou, and exchange them for cash in batches to buy supplies.”
“The speed must be fast, don’t let these gentry get wind of it and raise prices.”
The news of the Military Strategy Book selling for Ten Thousand Taels yesterday had spread throughout the military camp. Today, the soldiers treated the Military Strategy Books in their hands with exceptional importance.
The fellow who lost his Military Strategy Book was crying with regret because his handwriting was too ugly, so he had to entrust the Cheng Assistant Secretary to copy it for him.
The Cheng Assistant Secretary only agreed after he promised to buy him wine for a month.
Upon hearing that the Prince had gifted another treasure to the Yan Family Head, exchanging it for grain and supplies.
The soldiers, who were already loyal to the Li King, increasingly felt how fortunate they were to be under the Li King.
In all these years, the Li King was the only one who had worried about winter supplies for the border soldiers.
Only Hei Hu, while others were talking about how valuable the Glazed Glass jar was, regretted the full jar of Brown Sugar Cubes.
No matter how much grain the Yan family members sent, before the border city became lively, Jin Sui still had one thing to do.
That is, our ‘Lord Niu’ still hasn’t changed his tune, and the Black Feather Camp and Tuntian Soldiers don’t believe him, seeing him as a madman.
But it’s hard to guarantee that outsiders who hear this news won’t become suspicious! As long as one person becomes suspicious and finds someone who has seen the Li King to look at her, the deception will be revealed.
She took some grape sugar water from her Space and asked Hei Hu with a smile, “Can you kill people?”
Hei Hu patted his chest: “Yes!”
He added, “Whoever the Prince wants to kill, I dare to kill!”
Jin Sui laughed heartily: “You don’t even ask who I want you to kill?”
Hei Hu grinned foolishly and scratched his head: “Whoever the Prince wants to kill, it doesn’t matter who it is!”
Jin Sui was both touched and amused, and faintly worried.
When Gu Changxiao arrives, if I return the title to him, will Hei Hu and the others prefer to be the ‘Ling Clan Army’ rather than the Li King’s Personal Guards?
At the same time, she felt a sense of pride, indicating that her role as the Li King was very successful! In such a short time, a group of people were willing to do anything for her.
Jin Sui’s lips curved into a smile, but her eyes were icy cold; she truly did not want to kill.
But she had to be responsible for herself, as well as Grandpa Ling, Jin Sui, Gu Changxiao, Hei Hu, and Han Xing.
If the news of her impersonating the Li King got out, none of them would survive.
I hope the person surnamed Huo is smart enough to spare your life and continue to be ‘Lord Niu’, instead of forcing me to kill.
She tossed an Energy Bar to Hei Hu and winked at him, “Eat it secretly, don’t let others see.”
Hei Hu’s expression instantly turned ecstatic. How to describe it?
Right, it was like a child waiting for their parents at the kindergarten gate, suddenly seeing their mother arrive with a sausage.
Exactly, that kind of smile, so innocent that one would overlook that he was a six-foot-tall Strong Man.
Jin Sui walked with her hands behind her back, humming a tune, occasionally waving to the border soldiers working in the fields, and occasionally asking the soldiers digging river mud how many fish there were today.
Seeing the crazy Dave who was hauling manure, she didn’t show any disgust and called out from a distance:
“Dave, did you receive the manure? Have you used up the thousand coins I gave you?”
Dave: “Jirijirila…”
Hei Hu quickly translated: “The money has only been used for one hundred and twenty-eight coins, and there’s too little manure. Also, why does the Prince always call him Dave? His name is Niu Da.”
Jin Sui smiled and said, “Dave is a respectful title for someone skilled in growing vegetables. No matter where they are from, as long as they bring manure, we will accept it.”
Dave’s face instantly turned red with joy, and he bowed to Jin Sui and thanked Hei Hu.
Looking at his figure as he hauled manure, his back was straight. The Prince praised him as ‘Dave’!
When they arrived at the barren land cultivated by Lord Niu, Jin Sui’s mood calmed down considerably. This time, she didn’t say anything extra.
She walked directly to Huo Zi’an, who was exhausted and slumped over, and asked with a smile, “Who am I?”
This person felt so weak that he only had air going out, not coming in, but he still firmly said:
“You are not the Li King at all!”
Jin Sui clapped her hands: “You have backbone! Come, drink this.”
Huo Zi’an sneered: “Are you going to poison me?”
Jin Sui scoffed: “Does it take wasting a bag of sugar water to kill you? I see you are too weak, so I’m giving you some nourishment.”
Huo Zi’an knew that whether it was poisoned or not, he had to drink it. Now, he was the butcher’s knife and they were the fish; what could he do?
It’s a pity that he couldn’t send out the news that this person was a fake Li King; everyone in the entire border camp was sick and completely disbelieved him.
He grabbed the sugar bag and drank it down in large gulps. Tasting that it was indeed sugar water, he licked his lips with some lingering desire.
He hadn’t eaten a full meal in days; he was too weak and desperately needed to replenish his energy.
Jin Sui watched him drink with a smile and said, “Look how dirty Commander Huo is. Hei Hu, strip his clothes.”
Even though Huo Zi’an was extremely weak, he was still panicked and tried to escape: “What are you doing? A scholar can be killed but not humiliated…”
Before he could finish speaking, Hei Hu had already stripped off his upper garment in a few swift movements.
Jin Sui pointed at his pants, and Hei Hu tore them off as well, leaving him with only his underpants.
Instantly, Huo Zi’an was left with only a pair of shorts and the padded cotton clothes wrapped around his shoulders; he had no other clothing on his body.
Jin Sui showed no feminine shyness; instead, her eyes were cold and hard as she slowly opened a bag of grape sugar water and poured it over his head.
One bag was too little; she poured three bags in succession until Huo Zi’an’s entire body was covered in sugar water.
At this moment, no one knew what the Li King was doing.
Hei Hu was lamenting the sugar water, while Huo Zi’an thought the fake Li King was sick, and not lightly so.
The border soldiers nearby watched the spectacle with smiles, thinking the Prince was tormenting this assassin for amusement.
“Alright, push him into the grass.”
Huo Zi’an started cursing: “Madman! You madman impersonating the Li King!”
Jin Sui hugged her arms, a blade of grass in her mouth, and slowly waited for time to pass.
As long as Huo Zi’an crawled out of the grass, she would have Hei Hu drag his Ankle Chain and force him to roll all over the grass.
Half an hour later, Huo Zi’an’s curses turned into pained groans.
An hour later, he began to roll on the ground, wailing in agony.
Hei Hu and the border soldiers’ eyes widened, filled with disbelief.
Because at this moment, Huo Zi’an’s entire body was covered in ants and other insects, from head to toe, biting him and causing red welts all over his body.
He rolled on the ground trying to shake the ants off his body, but it was useless; even more ants crawled towards him.
Ten Thousand Ants Devouring the Heart.
The Li King, with his friendly smile, thus employed the most cruel form of torture.
“Now, answer this King, who am I?”
Jin Sui’s voice was still calm and gentle, but everyone could hear the killing intent within it.
Lord Niu, this is truly your last chance.
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