Chapter 281: Small Victory
The people of the entire border city were busy.
Although the notice said that people above fifteen and below fifty years old could all participate in the battle, in fact even children of a few years old and old folks in their sixties all contributed their efforts.
The children didn’t know much else, but they could always tend the fire. The old folks had experience, directing the young people to carry the red-hot charcoal to the city wall and directly pour it onto those enemies climbing the ladders, turning the entire area outside the city into crying and wailing ‘fireballs’ everywhere.
Several thousand people couldn’t withstand such consumption from them, so they began throwing poison into the city.
Those enemy country people were skilled at raising eagles; they tied poison to the eagles’ claws, and when they flew into the sky, directly invested it into the city, poisoning the people in the city.
Su Yaoguang saw the situation was bad and immediately called upon the doctors in the city to detoxify the people who had accidentally been hit.
“Since they want to play like this, we won’t be polite—immediately have the doctors prepare medicine…”
“Eldest daughter also wants to give them a taste of their own medicine? But we don’t have poison that can poison someone just by smelling it. Even if we have the doctors mix it on the spot, it won’t be this fast…”
“We don’t have such poison, but we have this sleeping smoke, right? Poison is too costly, but sleeping smoke isn’t—that should be something many clinics have, right?”
Since the opponent wasn’t following the rules and ethics of the battlefield, they didn’t need to follow them either.
This was their home turf; calling upon things in their home turf wasn’t hard? The opponent had come prepared with poison, they hadn’t prepared in advance, but they could counter them in the same way.
All the people covered their faces with wet cloth towels.
They threw out torch after torch, those torches landing outside the city and billowing thick black smoke.
“Cough… cough… despicable… shameless…”
“General, what do we do? The brothers can’t hold on.”
When one soldier after another fell, the enemy country general in charge of the strong assault on their city issued the order to retreat.
But it was too late.
The city gate swung wide open, and the people inside rushed out, wielding all sorts of weapons and ruthlessly killing those enemies.
Su Yaoguang charged at the very front.
She was the daughter of the Great General Who Protects the Nation and also the planner of this battle response. Wherever she was, morale was there. The more enemies she killed, the more those people who had never been on a battlefield could charge forward bravely.
“The Great General is back! Look, that’s the Great General’s army.” A bloodshot-eyed commoner looked ahead and shouted loudly, “Fellow villagers, kill! We’ve already won.”
The Great General appearing here meant the border war was over—they had won.
Su Rende saw Su Yaoguang in the crowd.
His daughter was too dazzling to ignore.
“Worthy of being my seed—look at that heroic spirit, even stronger than those boys.” Su Rende said loudly.
While the great battle was raging at the border, things weren’t quiet in the capital city either.
The Emperor was ill.
The Emperor’s illness came on suddenly; the Imperial Hospital was at a loss, so the Imperial Court could only post an imperial edict calling for talented people from all over the world.
Many folk doctors entered the palace every day, but only one could control the Emperor’s condition, so he was kept in the palace.
“Lord Zhou, how is His Majesty’s condition exactly?”
The ministers exited the palace and asked Zhou Wangshu, who frequently entered and exited the Imperial Palace.
Ever since Su Rende went to the border, Zhou Wangshu this son-in-law had taken Su Rende’s position, frequently entering the palace to keep the Emperor company with tea.
If talking about who the Emperor trusted most now, it was naturally Zhou Wangshu. Now that the Emperor was ill, everyone could only ask him.
“My lords, stay calm—His Majesty has the protection of heaven and will be fine. You all just tend to your duties and don’t lose your composure. Look at Prime Minister Wang—he’s completely unperturbed!” Zhou Wangshu looked toward Prime Minister Wang.
Prime Minister Wang said: “As Lord Zhou says, His Majesty has the protection of heaven and will naturally be fine.”
Zhou Wangshu left the palace and returned to the General’s mansion.
With the Great General Who Protects the Nation and Madam both away, he this son-in-law living next door naturally had to come back often to check on things.
Peach Blossom Workshop’s business was proceeding normally as well.
Zhou Wangshu had just spoken with the butler for a bit, confirming everything was normal at the General’s mansion—except there was no letter from Su Yaoguang’s side.
“Zhou Wangshu, Zhou Wangshu…” The Heir of the Duke of Zhenguo strode into the General’s mansion.
“Young Master, you can’t barge in here—this is the General’s mansion.” The servant tried to stop him but failed.
The Heir of the Duke of Zhenguo pushed aside that servant and strode toward Zhou Wangshu: “Zhou Wangshu, with your wife not in the capital city and no one to rein you in, how about I take you drinking?”
Zhou Wangshu dodged his pull and looked at him with a strange expression: “What does Young Master want to play today?”
“Isn’t it Jiang Jing? I kindly sent her gifts, and she threw them back at me. Zhou Wangshu, isn’t she your wife’s sworn sister? Tell me what she likes exactly—afterward, your alcoholic beverages are on me.”
“Doctor Jiang is a famous doctor—doctors, well… you need to know what appeals to her. Do you think all the women in the world like gold and silver jewelry? If so, then why do you insist on pestering Doctor Jiang instead of other women?”
“You’re right—why didn’t I think of that? Put your drinking on my tab, I’ll cover it.” The Heir of the Duke of Zhenguo left.
The butler said: “Son-in-law, why are you giving him advice?”
“The things we’re going to do next are very important—we don’t have time to deal with him.” Zhou Wangshu said.
With the Emperor’s illness, half a month passed without attending the morning court.
In the Imperial Palace, Prime Minister Wang stood before the dragon bed, looking at the Emperor on the verge of death, and said to the masked man beside him: “How’s your drug testing going?”
“Prime Minister, rest assured—there’s no problem now.” The masked man said, “If you’re still worried, I can show you my drug subjects. In the last half month, I’ve done it ten times, all successful, not a single one with issues.”
“Good, then we’ll proceed tonight.” Prime Minister Wang said, “If it fails, as long as you guarantee I can return to my original state, I won’t blame you.”
“Yes.”
In the secret chamber, the masked man looked at Prime Minister Wang and the Emperor lying on the bed, holding a small knife ready to begin.
Suddenly, firelight appeared at the doorway.
Seeing this, the masked man hurriedly woke Prime Minister Wang and said to him: “There are enemies outside.”
Prime Minister Wang, having inhaled sleeping smoke, was forcibly awakened by the masked man and looked toward the doorway; upon seeing those firelights, his eyes filled with fury.
“What’s going on? I clearly arranged some men outside—are those men all dead?”
Zhou Wangshu’s voice came from outside: “Prime Minister Wang, face-swapping isn’t fun—better to play with fire, fire’s more fun.”
“Zhou Wangshu! With your father-in-law away, you’re actually ruining my plans. But the Emperor is inside— you don’t care about his life anymore?”
“Are you sure the one inside is His Majesty?” Zhou Wangshu said. “Want to take a closer look?”
