Chapter 176: The Mystery Unveiled By Wu Tong
“You laid an egg?”
Zhang Min stared at an egg being cradled by E Ji, about to scream again, but E Ji jumped up and covered her mouth.
Yun Ce rolled over, glanced at the bored E Ji, then at the equally bored Zhang Min, yawned, and prepared to go back to sleep.
At night, after he fell asleep, E Ji sneakily hugged an egg and crawled into the covers, deliberately placing the egg between them, saying she wanted to get used to it in advance, so she wouldn’t be unprepared when she laid an egg later.
Yun Ce, who had fought three battles with fierce beasts during the day, only wanted to sleep. What did he care about an extra egg in the covers? Just as he fell asleep, Zhang Min’s scream woke him up.
E Ji naturally would not tell a concubine about the secret that only she and Yun Ce knew. Therefore, no matter how much Zhang Min questioned her, she remained silent, only telling Zhang Min to get out.
Zhang Min was a very magnanimous woman before. Ever since E Ji dressed her up as a concubine, she wouldn’t let go of anything related to Yun Ce, insisting on fighting for it at all costs.
She went out for a moment, and when she returned, she was holding an egg as big as an ostrich egg from Earth. Judging by the color of the eggshell, it had been washed very clean before being brought in.
The two women, who usually acted with great discipline, became like they had lost their minds once they entered the bedroom, each holding an egg and sleeping close to Yun Ce.
“There’s news from Wu Tong.”
Yun Ce, who was drowsy, immediately woke up when Zhang Min said this and quickly asked, “What did he say? How much grain and supplies can we get?”
Zhang Min hugged her egg and snuggled closer to Yun Ce, then said with satisfaction, “The point isn’t grain and supplies, but that a group of Fire Tribe people have come out of Danwang Mountain.”
Yun Ce asked confusedly, “Fire Tribe people?”
Zhang Min directly let go of the egg in her arms, hugged Yun Ce’s neck, and said, “Yes, Fire Tribe people. The ironware and swords we use were exchanged for things with the Fire Tribe people.”
Yun Ce frowned, “Don’t the Great Han people forge iron?”
Zhang Min sighed, “They do, but the best things are crafted by the Fire Tribe people.”
Yun Ce got up, pulled E Ji off his back, pushed Zhang Min aside, went to the desk, lit an oil lamp, and spread out a silk brocade scroll. The map of the Great Han territory appeared before him.
Soon, he found Danwang Mountain, less than a thousand li from Jingkou Pass and very close to the East Sea.
E Ji got out of bed and draped a robe over Yun Ce. Zhang Min, however, had already gotten down. Her hands fell on Yun Ce’s well-defined abs, pinching and stroking them.
E Ji slapped away Zhang Min’s unruly hand and said to Yun Ce, “Is something wrong?”
Yun Ce sighed, “This is likely what Cao Kun wanted me to do under the guise of a friend.”
Zhang Min smiled, “The Fire Tribe people live with fire their entire lives, mining and forging iron for generations. I heard before that this group of people are exceptionally united. I never expected that now a branch of the Fire Tribe has emerged from Danwang Mountain. I wonder if they were expelled or left on their own.
Or, is this the final result of some people’s persistent efforts to poach talent?”
Once Yun Ce confirmed certain matters, he lost most of his curiosity. After all, they were just blacksmiths. No matter how skilled, could they be better than Doggy?
No one knew how powerful Doggy’s iron smelting skills were, with Shehuo as his friend.
“The six suspension bridges in Chang’an City are the masterpiece of the Fire Tribe. Back then, King Huo wanted to build Chang’an City, and the Fire Tribe sent a thousand craftsmen who spent six years building the six suspension bridges. Now, a thousand years later, those six suspension bridges are still indestructible.
The reason I am telling you this news, my lord, is because you need the help of the Fire Tribe to build Yun City.
If this group of Fire Tribe people can fall into our hands without a sound, let alone building a city, their armor and weapons alone can more than double the combat power of your subordinates.
The reason Wu Tong told me this news is that he hopes I can go to the vicinity of Danwang Mountain to inquire about which force this group of Fire Tribe people has ultimately fallen into.”
“Danwang Mountain is in the East Sea Protectorate Prefecture. Cao Kun feels his own strength is insufficient, which is why he wants to drag me into this. Looking at his arrangements from Ghost King Mountain, the departure of this group of Fire Tribe people is very likely the work of his Cao Clan.
Did Wu Tong not say how to end it if the matter fails?”
Zhang Min smiled, “He gave my boss a packet of poison, the kind that kills instantly upon contact with blood. Although he didn’t say it explicitly, I understood the meaning: if things go in the worst direction, use this poison to kill the Fire Tribe people.”
“What if you fail?”
“If I fail, I fail. The court’s forces along the Great Wall were completely sold out by Zhao Shu, leaving me as the only concubine of the Yun Clan. It’s already a great feat that I can go to Danwang Mountain to check for him. What more can he ask for?
Last time I went to Panxing Tower, he separated me from Panxing Tower so cleanly. He was afraid I would use Panxing Tower to help the family again. I haven’t forgotten that.”
After hearing Zhang Min’s words, E Ji patted Zhang Min’s butt with satisfaction and said to Yun Ce, “Considering her wholehearted consideration for the family, from now on, she will be a noble concubine in the family.”
Zhang Min asked confusedly, “What is a noble concubine?”
E Ji revealed a mouth full of white teeth and smiled, “Still a concubine.”
Zhang Min sneered, “It’s useless even if my lord favors you for a lifetime. I have internal breath, and the hidden dangers in my body have been dealt with by my lord. You, an ordinary person, can never outlive me. After you’re done, I will be the legitimate first wife in this household. At that time, don’t blame me for tormenting your son, daughter, or anything else, making it so you can’t even close your eyes in death.”
Seeing that the two were about to start fighting again, Yun Ce quickly asked Zhang Min.
“How much supplies and grain did Wu Tong promise? Also, wasn’t he planning to do farming north of the Great Wall too? Why is there no movement?”
Zhang Min let go of E Ji’s hair, and E Ji also released her hand gripping Zhang Min’s chest, returning to the state of conversation among the three.
“Wu Tong is prepared to give gold. He doesn’t plan to send supplies. He says that after a great upheaval, supplies in Chang’an City will be scarce and expensive. He hopes we will use gold to exchange for grain and supplies with caravans from the Northern Territory. Moreover, there isn’t much gold, only fifteen hundred taels. Given the bad habits of the Great Han government officials, we’d be lucky to get five hundred taels.
As for Wu Tong’s previous plan for farming in the Northern Territory, with Zhao Shu’s meddling, the court has lost more than half of its control over the Northern Territory. Now, it’s not easy for him to bring ten thousand slaves to farm in the Northern Territory. The constraints from various states in the Northern Territory alone can prevent him from accomplishing anything.”
Yun Ce nodded and said to Zhang Min, “In a few days, I will secretly go to Danwang Mountain. You should not go. It’s more important to watch Jingkou Pass. This pass is currently the only important passage connecting the inside and outside of the Great Wall for our family. It cannot be lost.”
Zhang Min smiled, “Since Qin Shu’s five hundred cavalrymen have been stationed at Jingkou Pass, the scouts who had nothing to do but inquire about the defenses of Jingkou Pass have disappeared.
The feat of five hundred cavalry annihilating two thousand elite Gui Fang soldiers has ultimately made many ill-intentioned individuals abandon their plans to target Jingkou Pass.”
Yun Ce smiled, “Qin Shu is a trustworthy person, but the authority of Jingkou Pass must remain in your hands.”
Zhang Min leaned into Yun Ce’s arms with alluring eyes, pulling his hand to her chest and saying coquettishly, “E Ji grabbed me so hard it hurts.”
Yun Ce, already having a plan in mind, didn’t want to fall into the calculations of the two vixens. He gave each of them an egg and said, “Go and hatch your eggs obediently.”
The two vixens must not be touched now. Even if he endured unbearable pain, Yun Ce would absolutely not touch them now.
Giving birth to a son who is a little dragon person sounds good, and this son might be very powerful. But giving birth to a son is something that should not be done with external help. Even if the son born is mediocre, irritating, and incapable, just the fact that he is a biological son,
is enough to negate countless benefits of a little dragon person son. To put it bluntly, what the father wants is his own gene inheritance. Even if the genes have defects, he doesn’t want a strange-looking son as powerful as Ultraman.
On this point, Yun Ce seemed extremely selfish.
However, wasn’t this also the voice of all men in the world?
When dawn broke, E Ji’s egg fell to the ground, hitting the sharp corner of the footstool. The egg broke, and the egg liquid and yolk were licked clean by the milk dog who had been there for half the night.
E Ji threw away the empty eggshell, looked at Zhang Min triumphantly holding her egg, sneered, and left the bedroom.
As for Yun Ce, he had already gone out to the wilderness again at first light to clear out the beasts that could not be killed and could not be driven away.
The matter of the Fire Tribe people should end within the scope of their family of three. Since he did not agree to Cao Kun’s request to pursue the Fire Tribe people, it would be best for the Yun Clan to avoid too much entanglement with the Fire Tribe people.
Cao Kun could tolerate Yun Ce not helping him, but he absolutely could not tolerate Yun Ce competing with him.
Such a disposition was already a rare good nature among the scions of nobility. Yun Ce, who had also been a scion of nobility, knew very well how vengeful those people were.
In winter, the fur of abandoned beasts was a good thing, as was the fur of doggy. Wild boar hides could be made into armor, and bear skin cloaks were a favorite of many people.
Therefore, Yun Ce was very busy in the wasteland. He killed in the front, and eight horse carriages and dozens of people followed behind, busy bleeding, skinning, and butchering.
With the lightning speed of the Red Date Horse, all beasts that appeared within Yun Ce’s sight, except for those he refused to kill, could not escape death.
Clearing out as many fierce beasts as possible. This way, the number of herbivores on the wasteland would have a large outbreak the following year. Although this destroyed the ecological balance, Yun Ce thought that there were still twenty thousand mouths to feed in the Yun Clan Villa, and no matter how many herbivores there were, they wouldn’t be enough for those mouths.
