Are you crazy? Trying to trick him into military service? He's the number one dragon on the fro

Zhou Kang's actions startled everyone, especially Emperor Dehong, who stood up abruptly, took a few steps forward, grabbed his hand, and demanded:

"But has something happened on the frontier? Or...?"

"His Majesty!"

Before Zhou Kang could answer, an official glared at him angrily and impeached him on the spot:

"Zhou Xiang has no respect for the monarch and should be executed!"

"Your Majesty, please summon the Imperial Guards immediately, seize this scoundrel, and punish him severely!"

Upon hearing this, the other officials nodded subconsciously.

They have suffered under Zhou Kang for too long!

It's one thing to see Zhou Kang acting arrogantly and domineeringly on ordinary days, since although he is a bit eccentric and domineering, he is genuinely doing what's best for the Great Zhou.

Now, in their shock and anger, they feared that this fiend wanted to force a coup, so they jumped out to stop him.

Zhou Kang ignored their voices and focused intently on Emperor Dehong:

"Your Majesty, please dismiss all attendants!"

For a moment, the only sound in the hall was the breathing of the people inside.

Emperor Dehong looked at Zhou Kang with a solemn expression, and after a long while, he directly addressed the other officials besides Qian Yi:

"What are you standing there for?"

"Why aren't you getting out of here?"

"Wang Fu, anyone who dares to disobey this order will be punished with twenty strokes of the cane!"

Within a few dozen breaths, the officials outside the door began to wail and cry out in despair, but the sounds stopped abruptly after Wang Fu closed the palace gates and blocked anyone from entering.

Inside the hall, Zhou Kang, without waiting for Emperor Dehong to ask, directly handed the letter to the other party, and then excitedly said:

"The Marquis of Champion is truly a pillar of our Great Zhou Dynasty! To think he could devise such an astonishing plan!"

"Your Majesty, Xiong Zhao was a famous general of the Chu Kingdom, but because he rebuked Zhong Min, who was then a minor official, outside the Chu palace years ago, Zhong Min has held a grudge against him ever since!"

"If it weren't for Zhong Min, Xiong Zhao wouldn't have been able to defend the northern border of Chu for over ten years!"

"Now, the golden opportunity to turn Xiong Zhao against his side has arrived!"

At this point, Emperor Dehong no longer cared about what the Prime Minister had said. As the contents of the letter gradually came to mind, his breathing became increasingly rapid, and finally he laughed loudly:

"good!"

"That's wonderful!"

"If the Marquis of Champion's plan succeeds, the State of Chu will have nothing to fear!"

"Indeed, the fewer people who know about this, the better. Thank you for your hard work, Prime Minister!"

Qian Yi, standing to the side, looked completely bewildered, not understanding what kind of riddle the two were playing. At this moment, he could no longer contain his confusion:

"Your Majesty, what exactly are you and Prime Minister Zhou discussing?"

"If it concerns me, why didn't you tell me?"

Emperor Dehong only then noticed his presence and immediately smiled and said:

"Let's discuss matters that will make our Great Zhou Dynasty strong, but let the Prime Minister explain them himself, since you and the Prime Minister are both key figures in this matter!"

After Zhou Kang finished speaking, he turned to look at Qian Yi:

"After arriving at the Zemeng camp, the Marquis of Champion only fought one battle with the Chu general Xiong Zhao. They met several times afterward and were always able to drink and chat happily. That's why there were rumors in the city that the Marquis of Champion was loyal to the Chu state!"

"Now, the Marquis of Champion has obtained Xiong Zhao's personal jade pendant."

"With this, our Great Zhou can bring Xiong Zhao's wife, daughters, and family all to the country, directly crushing Chu's defenses without losing a single soldier, and even bringing Xiong Zhao under our control!"

Upon hearing this, Qian Yi was instantly shocked and rushed forward without regard for anything else, snatching the letter and examining it closely.

After a long while, he murmured blankly:

"The Marquis of Champion is truly... truly a celestial being descended to earth to help my Great Zhou unify the world; otherwise, there is absolutely no way to explain this matter."

"However, the family of Chu General Xiong Zhao is far away in the Chu capital. I'm afraid we can't accomplish anything with just a jade pendant, can we?"

"Minister Qian, don't forget that the King of Chu is prone to suspicion, and the Chancellor of Chu is jealous!"

Zhou Kang placed the jade pendant on the table in front of the three of them and laughed loudly:

"Zhong Min is a petty and narrow-minded man. He holds a grudge against Xiong Zhao simply because of Xiong Zhao's contempt back then. After seizing power in the court, he even went so far as to slander Xiong Zhao to the Chu Emperor, resulting in Xiong Zhao being banished to the northern border of Chu!"

"For the generals of Chu, this was tantamount to exile, because before Lu Xiao appeared, the military of our Great Zhou was weak and could only exchange human lives for border territory."

"The State of Chu does not want to destroy my Great Zhou in one fell swoop, lest it directly border the Northern Hu and the Western Rong, and have two more powerful enemies for no reason."

He paused, his words brimming with excitement:

"Zhong Min's greed and lust are common knowledge throughout the Chu Kingdom, and have already reached our Great Zhou."

"If we can bribe him to continue slandering Xiong Zhao before the Emperor of Chu, his family will surely be detained or even executed!"

"The brilliance of the Marquis of Champion's strategy lies precisely in this!"

"That's right!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than Emperor Dehong couldn't help but say:

"If this succeeds, Xiong Zhao's family will surely come to visit our Great Zhou. And he is a man of great filial piety. At that time, as long as his mother and wife personally persuade him, coupled with Zhong Min's slander, he will have no choice but to either join our Great Zhou or commit suicide to fulfill both loyalty and filial piety!"

"If it doesn't work out, it doesn't matter. The thorn planted in the heart of the Chu Emperor has already been sown. Given the Chu Emperor's suspicious nature, he will definitely change generals on the spot. At that time, the Marquis of Champion's war in the southern border will be much smoother."

"Whether we succeed or fail, we can conquer the State of Chu!"

Upon hearing this, Qian Yi took a deep breath and thought to himself, no wonder the Emperor and Prime Minister Zhou were overjoyed after reading the letter and the jade pendant, and at the same time forbade more people to know about it.

This is a crazy, daring, and highly successful scheme.

With a large number of people, there is a risk that the news will leak out!

After regaining his senses, he hurriedly bowed to the two of them.

"Does His Majesty and the Prime Minister mean that my Ministry of Revenue should pay as much money as possible?"

"After all, Zhong Min is insatiable; he's practically impossible to bribe with less than a million taels of silver."

"That's right!"

Zhou Kang nodded heavily:

"Although one million is too much, with the Champion Marquis's prowess, it's enough to exchange one million for a famous general of Chu, or even the entire Chu Kingdom. No matter how you look at it, my Great Zhou won't lose out!"

After calming down, Emperor Dehong said loudly:

"Prime Minister, Minister Qian, you two immediately affix your seals, prepare the silver, and dispatch a reliable person to send the silver and jade pendant back. At the same time, order the left and right border counties of Yun County to strengthen their city defenses!"

"We must be wary of Xiong Zhao, for he is willing to fight to the death with our Great Zhou!"

"Yes, sir!"

……

In mid-June, Zhou Qi appeared outside the north gate of the Ze Meng camp. Lu Xiao, who had been waiting for a long time, saw him return and immediately went forward to help him down from his horse, praising him at the same time:

"Brother Zhou, you've worked hard. Please rest first. Leave the rest to me!"

"My lord, I entrust this matter to you!"

Zhou Qi nodded, and then fainted.

He traveled back and forth between the capital and Zemeng camp repeatedly, barely getting any rest. Coupled with the hot weather, he had reached his limit.

Lu Xiao quickly ordered his men to carry him inside to rest, then looked at Fang Dahu:

"Please summon Prefect Fan!"