Without money, what is the point of being a traitor?

Chapter 196 There is a sky outside the sky
Zhou Chao and two captains were outside Deyue Tower, watching the drunk Pei Yuan and others leave.

Zhou Chao looked at Pei Yuan's back for a long time without moving his eyes away.

Seeing Zhou Chao like this, a captain of Huai'an Guard took the initiative to ask, "How was the conversation between Brother Zhou and him?"

The relationship between the three of them has always been very close, and Zhou Chao has nothing to hide at this moment.

Hearing this, he sighed, "At the beginning, Commander He knew that the tax silver had entered the country in a short time, and he came up with a conspiracy to divide up the 80,000 taels of commercial tax, which shocked me. Now that I have heard Pei Yuan's plan in a few words, I know that there is a world beyond the world."

He came back to his senses and said to the two of them, "I'm going to go see Commander He to report back. Thanks to you two brothers for accompanying me tonight."

The two thousand households laughed and said, "We don't have to talk about this."

While Zhou Chao was thinking about Pei Yuan's subsequent suggestions, he walked towards the camp of Huai'an Guard outside the city.

After Pei Yuan and others left, they went straight back to the Huai'an government office.

The Huai'an government office where they lived had been the government office of Huai'an Guard ever since it was occupied by Hua Yunlong, the Marquis of Huai'an at that time.

Several side courtyards are quite large and are used to house the emperor’s personal guards.

Pei Yuan and his group of Jinyiwei lived in the side courtyard of the government office, responsible for protecting the tax silver.

Hou Qing helped arrange for the gangsters who came with them to stay in a nearby inn.

As for the merchants, when they learned that they had to stay in Huai'an after entering the city and wait for the grain ships to flow freely, they all transported their goods and temporarily went to the local guild of Yangzhou merchants to stay.

Pei Yuan's alcohol tolerance was average, but fortunately during the drinking contest, Zhou Chao kept talking to Pei Yuan, and the others were tactful enough not to interfere, so he didn't drink much.

He had never been a diligent person, and when he saw that several centurions were there, he arranged all the affairs and went back to his room to rest.

Pei Yuan lived in the inner courtyard.

After returning to the room, he turned off the lights and lay down on the bed, still slightly tipsy.

I just tossed and turned for a long time, until everything was quiet and the night was deep, but I still couldn't fall asleep.

Captain Pei suffered from insomnia again.

He lay on the bed with his eyes wide open, looking at the ceiling, slowly thinking about the Bazhou rebels.

The core demand of the rebel leader of Bazhou is not only to save his own life, but also to protect those thousands of elite cavalry.

With Pei Yuan's current power, let alone being able to cover the sky with one hand, even if he really took these people away from the battlefield without anyone noticing, he would have no way to feed them.

Even if you throw all the dividends from Huai'an roasted nuts in, it will not be possible.

They are in desperate situation now, and they will be grateful if they can just have something to eat.

But after the imperial army that was encircling the enemy was dispersed, could we still expect these people with horses under their crotches and knives in their hands to survive by eating coarse food?

What if we disperse these Bazhou rebels and integrate them into the system of the Northern Bureau of Qianhu Suo?

Not to mention whether the subsequent matters can be kept confidential, these outsiders who stick together will erode Pei Yuan’s original interests and consume Pei Yuan’s power space like a spreading virus.

He waits until he has spent all his money, leaving a mess behind, and then walks away.

The more Pei Yuan thought about it, the more annoyed he became. Just as he was getting impatient, he suddenly heard the sound of a door latch.

Pei Yuan was alert and subconsciously reached for the Bazhou sword beside his pillow.

The man who was prying the door open heard some noise inside and thought of Yu Zhenzi who was shot in the head. He felt scared and coughed lightly.

Pei Yuan heard Song Chunniang's voice and couldn't help wondering, why is she here again?

Don’t you want to leave it for Han Qianhu?

But this is the third day of my abstinence from sex, and the issue of the Bazhou rebels has not been resolved yet. My sword is still sharp, so how can I be lazy and make progress?
While Captain Pei was struggling internally, the bolt on the door had already been pulled open.

Song Chunniang lowered her voice and said, "I'm coming in."

Hearing no response from inside the door, Song Chunniang looked around and found that it was quiet around her. She carefully opened the door a crack and came in.

Pei Yuan confirmed that it was Song Chunniang, so he put the Bazhou knife back to its original place and asked unhappily, "Why are you here?"

Song Chunniang did not answer, but was a little surprised, "Why are you still awake so late?"

Pei Yuan looked at the ceiling again with empty eyes, "I can't sleep."

Song Chunniang came to the bedside and pushed Pei Yuan, "It's too cold, give me some space."

Pei Yuan still stared at the roof with a blank look in his eyes and moved his body inside.

Song Chunniang sat on the edge of the bed, took off her shoes and socks, and quickly got into the ready-made warm quilt, and without any hesitation, she leaned against Pei Yuan to keep warm.

As Song Chunniang's icy little feet rubbed against his calves, Pei Yuan couldn't help but hiss, "You want to freeze me to death!"

Song Chunniang did not say anything. She waited for a while until she was warm. Then she started to ask, "What happened to you today? Are you targeting me on purpose?"

"What?" Pei Yuan was pulled back to his senses and looked at Song Chunniang in confusion.

Song Chunniang said angrily, "Why do you want to embarrass me in front of so many people?"

Pei Yuan was stunned for a moment before he reacted.

It turned out to be something that happened during the day.

Pei Yuan realized the urgency of the situation and was afraid that indulging in women would affect the speed of drawing his sword, so he quickly pushed Song Chunniang aside.

As a result, he did not consider Song Chunniang's feelings and offended her.

But how should Pei Yuan explain it?
Seeing that Pei Yuan didn't say anything, Song Chunniang asked again, "And tonight, the people of Huai'an Guard invited us to dinner. All the centurions and generals of our side went to drink, why didn't they invite me?"

Pei Yuan asked unhappily, "What kind of wine are you drinking?"

It’s not that Song Chunniang can’t drink. They have drunk together in private several times, and Song Chunniang’s alcohol tolerance is much stronger than Pei Yuanqiang.

The main reason is that the men in the army are inevitably rude when they are together, and taking her with her may not be a good thing.

Song Chunniang immediately said angrily, "Why can't I drink?"

Seeing Pei Yuan's indifferent look, he finally stroked Pei Yuan and said resentfully, "Do you know how the people below will see this?"

Pei Yuan finally reacted.

It turns out that Song Xiaomei felt the crisis in the workplace.

Thinking about it carefully, it seems that it is indeed the case.

Originally, Song Chunniang deliberately tried to offend Pei Yuan in order to get by with ease in front of Cheng Leixiang and others. However, Pei Yuan's sudden change in attitude will inevitably lead his subordinates to interpret it in a way that they did not expect.

All the high regard she had enjoyed before now began to backfire on her.

Pei Yuan secretly laughed at the unfortunate girl's plight and showed no sympathy for her at all.

When Pei Yuan saw her jumping around in front of Cheng Leixiang, Chen Toutie and others, he felt a little wronged.

He hasn't even gotten to eat the fox yet and he's already in trouble.

However, it would be embarrassing to explain this kind of thing.

Because if you say you really haven't done it, others won't think you respect the workplace, but will assume it's because you're not good enough...

Pei Yuan had tried it before, looking for an opportunity to take down his good friend.

But Tiezi now has great ambitions against Han Qianhu and his attitude is quite resolute.

Pei Yuan also had some ideas of his own. At this time, if one's own people were to attack one's own people, it would be easy to lose the big picture for the small.

Therefore, Pei Yuan not only had no sympathy for Song Chunniang's experience, but even felt secretly happy about it.

As a man, instead of getting entangled in love affairs, it is better to do a set of math problems.

Pei Yuan was too lazy to pay attention to Song Chunniang, and even wanted to turn over and roll up the quilt. Seeing that Pei Yuan had no intention of paying attention to her, Song Chunniang continued to rub Pei Yuan's calves with her smooth little feet.

"Tell me, what do you think?"

Pei Yuan said leisurely with a serious face, "I am thinking about the general situation of the world and the suffering of the people."

"Heh." Song Chunniang had always been annoyed by Pei Yuan's hypocritical attitude from time to time.

The cold little hand slowly slid over.

Pei Yuan: “…”

Today is the third day of abstinence!
Pei Yuan felt that his righteousness was under extreme pressure.

He asked in a mysterious way, "Is it okay today?"

Song Chunniang was lying on her side looking at Pei Yuan, and a smile appeared on her face, but her answer was still firm, "No!"

He pinched it lightly.

Pei Yuan took another breath.

It is early spring now and the air is still very cold.

Pei Yuan felt that if he continued like this, he might have a stomachache in the morning.

Song Chunniang, who was lying on her side and looking at Pei Yuan, said softly, "Tell me again, what are you thinking about?"

Although Pei Yuan's weakness was caught, he was still very tough at the critical moment, "I'm thinking about the rebels in Bazhou."

Song Chunniang was speechless. She felt that Pei Yuan was just trying to fool her. She asked, "What do the Bazhou rebels have to do with you?"

Pei Yuan snorted coldly, folded his hands and put them behind his head, "It's a very important matter. Even if I tell you, you won't understand."

Song Chunniang did not believe Pei Yuan's stubbornness. She moved a little faster. After a while, she said confidently, "You are definitely not thinking about the Bazhou rebels now."

Pei Yuan felt that this girl underestimated a man's ambition to succeed.

He slowly loosened his hands that were folded behind his head, and his left arm just rested on Song Chunniang's shoulder.

Song Chunniang tactfully moved closer to Pei Yuan and moved her head from the pillow to Pei Yuan's shoulder.

Pei Yuan didn't say anything. He slowly placed his left hand on Song Chunniang and touched her gently.

Pei Yuan remembered that Song Chunniang had always worn a chest wrap for ease of movement.

The last time Song Chunniang was caught in the cold rain, Pei Yuanyi accidentally saw her when she was changing clothes.

Usually she wore the cotton armor of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, so Pei Yuan had no way of judging.

But at this moment Pei Yuan could feel that there should be nothing in the clothes.

So, did she change her clothes before coming, or was she already wearing light sleeping clothes?
No wonder her body was so cold when she came in.

The room was dark, and Pei Yuan knew there was no point in looking closely, so he just didn't bother.

Either of these two answers seems to mean the same thing.

This coincides somewhat with Pei Yuan's last inference.

Territories that have been occupied will receive a certain degree of tacit approval.

Pei Yuan boldly put his hand back again and rubbed it slowly.

He didn't say anything, and Song Chunniang didn't say anything either.

After a while, Song Chunniang asked again, "Are you still thinking about the Bazhou rebels?"

Pei Yuan paused for a moment and replied, "I do."

After realizing his own slowness, Pei Yuan couldn't help but clench his hands. The beauty of women really affected his speed in drawing the sword.

Song Chunniang felt pain, but she didn't indulge Pei Yuan. She twisted her fingers quickly and flexibly.

He continued to ask, "Are you still thinking about the Bazhou rebels?"

Pei Yuan did not expect Song Chunniang to understand his thoughts, and replied, "They have at least 3,000 elite cavalrymen, and they have been fighting for more than a year and have fought with troops from all over the country. Who wouldn't want such an army?"

Seeing that Pei Yuan was really thinking about the rebels in Bazhou, Song Chunniang slowed down speechlessly and started to talk more gently.

"You are only a captain of the Jinyiwei, and you are only a fifth-rank official. The rebels in Nabazhou have gone through so many battles, but they are not easily defeated. What can you use to defeat them?"

Pei Yuan was somewhat confident that he could subdue this rebel army, but he was completely unsure about what would happen next.

Although this army is useful, it may become a negative asset that drags him down.

Perhaps because Song Chunniang had thrown him off guard, or perhaps because his mind was indeed a little slow, Pei Yuan casually spoke out his thoughts, "It's not that I can't get it, but the price is a bit high."

Song Chunniang thought for a moment and asked, "Is this what you are worried about?"

Pei Yuan replied vaguely, "I guess so."

Song Chunniang was a little annoyed.

Her mood gradually dropped, and she planned to quickly get rid of Pei Yuan and go back to rest early.

Pei Yuan couldn't stand it anymore and quickly stopped her, "Stop!"

Song Chunniang chuckled, leaned close to Pei Yuan's ear, and whispered, "Wasn't it good just now?"

Pei Yuan naturally knew that this guy did it on purpose.

He could only say awkwardly, "Sometimes, not being so good may be better."

Song Chunniang smiled and slowed down her pace a little, "Is that so?"

Pei Yuan did not answer.

Song Chunniang raised her head to look at Pei Yuan again, only to see Pei Yuan looking at the roof, slowly repeating what he had just said, "Not so good, maybe it will be better..."

“Not so good…”

Song Chunniang didn't know what Pei Yuan was thinking, but she felt a little unhappy about being ignored.

She had no reason to always accommodate Pei Yuan.

The legs that were wrapped around Pei Yuan slowly tightened, and the movements of his hands also became a little faster.

However, this time Pei Yuan was even tougher than before. His eyes, which were originally staring at the roof without a life, began to become smart, as if he was thinking about something quickly.

Song Chunniang tried for a while, but saw no results. She approached Pei Yuan curiously and asked, "What are you thinking about this time?"

Pei Yuan's voice was very clear as he answered, "It's still about the Bazhou rebels."

Song Chunniang was a little confused. "Didn't you say that there was nothing you could do to them?"

Pei Yuan turned his head to look at Song Chunniang. They were lying on the same pillow, looking into each other's eyes.

Song Chunniang still had work to do, and they felt a little awkward when they looked at each other.

However, Pei Yuan didn't care about these things, but said, "Just now I suddenly realized one thing. Even if I can't completely subdue the Bazhou rebels, it doesn't mean that I can't extract value from them."

Song Chunniang's hands moved slowly and gently.

The two discussed national affairs, "So what are your plans?"

Pei Yuan smiled and replied calmly, "I can't get the Bazhou rebels, but I can sell them!"

(End of this chapter)