Teasing the First Dragon at the Start

"The so-called monarch is just an alliance leader, responsible for calling on nobles from all over the country to come to the meeting. He has little control over the local counties and districts. It is a place where factions are everywhere and people are scheming against each other."

"Of course, most importantly, they are still a religious country with a slave system..."

Zhengjie frowned slightly, her delicate eyebrows furrowing as she asked with some curiosity, "What is a religious country with a slave system?"

Bai Su explained, "They couldn't unify household registration, measure land, or unify taxation to manage the counties and prefectures. They could only let nobles and gentry continuously annex land, and countless people were reduced to destitute vagrants and slaves."

"In order to stabilize people's hearts and make them willingly endure suffering, they created the ethereal Buddhism, allowing countless suffering refugees and slaves to place their hopes on cold stone statues."

"I pray that I will honestly endure the suffering in this life, so that I may be reborn into a better family in the next life."

"As a result, a large number of people donated their remaining money to temples to build all kinds of magnificent and spectacular buildings and huge Buddha statues. Countless people did not engage in production, farming, herding, or joining the army. They just sat in front of the stone statues all day long, chanting scriptures."

"Using these charlatan tricks to deceive people, they joined forces with royalty and nobility to stabilize public sentiment while simultaneously extorting money. The nobles' money was returned in full, while the common people's money was split 30/70..."

Zhengjie parted her red lips slightly, her phoenix eyes momentarily stunned.

After a long while, she couldn't help but murmur, "Spectacularity is rampant, superstition and ghosts and gods are everywhere, slaves are everywhere, land is being annexed, and countless powers are at stake. My God, any one of these factors could easily lead to the downfall of a country, and they have accumulated so many. It's amazing that they have survived to this day."

Bai Su smiled, if he hadn't interfered.

The Yuezhi people, having been relentlessly pursued by the Xiongnu, fled in disarray from the Western Regions to Central Asia. This remnant of the East Asian monsters would be completely wiped out decades later, along with the Mauryan Empire.

They established a Kushan Empire in the region.

Unfortunately, due to his scheming, the Yuezhi Kingdom was annexed by the Great Xia at a young age and brought under the jurisdiction of the Western Regions Protectorate. A rising empire was thus cut short.

Bai Su smiled and said, "We can first have the caravans from the Central Plains pave the way and establish trade relations. Firstly, we can make money, and secondly, we can also let these merchants establish relationships with the local nobles and infiltrate all aspects of society."

"When His Majesty mobilizes his troops in the future, these merchants will also help us pass on some intelligence and guide the royal army of Great Xia."

Zhengjie wore an elegant black palace dress with gold thread embroidered on the hem. Her long, smooth black hair cascaded down her shoulders, making her appear dignified and noble, like a snow lotus standing high above the iceberg.

A smile appeared on her delicate face: "You are truly a master strategist, able to win battles from afar. It is my great fortune and the fortune of the people of the world to have such a talented person by my side."

Bai Su smiled faintly: "To be able to meet a beauty as stunning as Your Majesty is the greatest fortune of my life."

Zhengjie couldn't help but curl the corners of her lips, and glanced at Bai Su with interest in her phoenix eyes: "You damned sycophant, still so glib-tongued, no wonder so many women are attracted to you."

Bai Su chuckled: "What do I care if they favor me? Of all the beautiful women in the world, I only want His Majesty."

Zhengjie asked with amusement, "And what about Lu'er?"

Bai Su coughed awkwardly, "Ahem, those two ladles."

"More than two scoops, I heard that your two maids are infatuated with you. Besides them, the Queen of Yuezhi seems to have some unclear relationships with women. You've got quite a few scoops."

Zheng Jie looked at Bai Su with a half-smile.

Chapter 277 I'll Help His Majesty Warm Up

Bai Su coughed awkwardly and said, "If this ladle weren't a little bit bigger, how could I possibly hold Your Majesty's hand? Your Majesty, besides, what I'm doing is all related to Your Majesty."

Zheng Jie was stunned. If it were anyone else, being stared at like this would either make them feel guilty and apologize or make them nervous. But she had never encountered someone as shameless as Bai Su who turned the tables on her.

She glanced at Bai Su with amusement, her phoenix eyes sweeping over him: "What does the mistake you, this treacherous minister, have to do with me?"

Bai Su said in a serious tone, "Your Majesty is unaware of this. Ever since I was born, the image of a woman has always been in my mind. I have spent my whole life trying to find her."

"I finally caught up with one, only to find it wasn't His Majesty. I tried to catch up again, only to find that the woman wasn't His Majesty either. I searched so many times before finally finding His Majesty in the vast sea of ​​people. It can be said that three thousand glances were exchanged for a single brush in this life."

"I have paid such a high price and searched for so long before I finally met Your Majesty, the woman who has captured my heart."

"Your Majesty has only met me once, and I am the man you can spend the rest of your life with. It is truly a blessing from heaven that has spared Your Majesty much of the pain of unrequited love."

"Compared to Your Majesty's good fortune, my life has been so difficult..."

Zhengjie looked at Bai Su with a strange expression and a half-smile in her phoenix eyes. After a long while, she couldn't help but sigh, "What a silver tongue you have! You made such a shameless thing sound so upright and touching. Your shamelessness is truly unprecedented and unparalleled."

Facing the gaze of the political sister, Bai Su scratched her cheek somewhat awkwardly.

As the two were chatting, a sudden cry of surprise came from outside the main hall from a palace maid.

Zheng Jie's delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly: "What happened?"

Bai Su looked at the group of palace maids rushing towards the outside of the main hall and said, "It seems someone has fainted, Your Majesty. Shall we go out and take a look?"

Zhengjie nodded slightly and said, "Alright."

The two walked outside, where a group of people had already gathered and were whispering among themselves.

She suddenly fainted, what should I do?

"Are you sick?"

"That shouldn't be the case, she was just talking to me normally..."

"His Majesty has arrived..."

As the palace maids saw Bai Su and Zheng Jie approaching, they hurriedly bowed and greeted them: "Greetings, Your Majesty, Grand Master of Ceremonies."

Zhengjie frowned slightly, looking at the unconscious palace maid lying on the ground, and couldn't help but ask, "What happened to her?"

"I...we don't know either, everything was fine just now..."

Several palace maids stammered nervously, unable to say anything for a long time.

Bai Su raised an eyebrow and asked, "What was she doing just now?"

One of the younger palace maids raised her hand and whispered, "Sister Ling'er was tending the stove and adding coal when she suddenly fainted for some reason."

"Coal, and this reddish reaction, could it be because of that..."

Bai Su stroked her chin, pondered for a long time, and then couldn't help but mutter to herself.

Zhengjie looked at Bai Su curiously: "Did you perhaps discover something?"

Bai Su nodded: "I have some ideas. Let me ask you, has any of you recently experienced symptoms such as weakness in your limbs, chest tightness, or nausea?"

As he finished speaking, all the palace maids stared wide-eyed in astonishment at Bai Su.

Could it be that the Grand Master of the Palace has some kind of precognitive ability? They didn't mention a single word, so how did the Grand Master of the Palace know?

Zhengjie couldn't help but glance at Bai Su in surprise. Although she didn't know what had happened, judging from the reactions of these people, Bai Su had obviously guessed correctly.

Several palace maids looked at each other, and one of them stepped forward: "What the Grand Master says is absolutely right. I wonder what happened to Sister Ling'er?"

Bai Su stroked her chin, pondered for a long time, and then said, "If I'm not mistaken, she's most likely poisoned."

"Poisoned!!!"

The palace maids' faces turned deathly pale instantly.

The guards outside the palace also turned sharp, placing their hands directly on the swords at their waists and watching the palace maids warily, as if they would be killed on the spot if they made the slightest move.

Bai Su was taken aback when she saw that everyone looked like they were facing a formidable enemy: "What are you all doing?"

The guards did not relax in the slightest, keeping their eyes fixed on the palace maid in front of them: "My lord, we do not know who the poisoner is. We will arrest him and bring him to the palace immediately."

Bai Su said with amusement, "They are all innocent; this matter has nothing to do with them."

The guard was taken aback: "But... but if it has nothing to do with them, then why would someone be poisoned and faint?"

Bai Su smiled and said, "The murderer is both far away and right in front of us."

Following Bai Su's gaze, everyone saw a furnace that was burning fiercely.

Zheng Jie frowned slightly and asked tentatively, "Bai Su, is the culprit you're talking about this coal?"

Bai Su nodded and said, "As expected of His Majesty, your words hit the nail on the head. The murderer is none other than the inconspicuous coal on the ground. When using this for heating, you must pay attention to ventilation, otherwise you will easily be poisoned."

The palace maids looked at each other, their faces full of surprise.

They never imagined that this small piece of coal could be poisoned.

Bai Su stroked her chin, lost in thought for a moment.

As the saying goes, firewood is always a precious resource, and many poor people, in order to avoid waste, would often stay by the stove and even close the doors and windows tightly to prevent the heat from escaping.

However, many people don't know that poor air circulation often leads to poisoning.

If this had happened to an ordinary person, they would probably have died long ago. Fortunately, Zhengjie's bedroom was very large, so the impact was minimal.

Unfortunately, this palace maid was quite unlucky; she had been standing by the stove the whole time, and that's how she accidentally got poisoned.

Zhengjie frowned slightly and pondered, "I see. I remember some scholars who were on their way to Xianyang to take the imperial examinations died inexplicably at the post stations. The government sent people to investigate for a long time, but they couldn't find any clues."

"I thought it was some kind of congenital disease, but I never imagined that the murderer was right under my feet, in that inconspicuous brazier?"

Bai Su said helplessly, "No one would pay attention to this on ordinary days. By the time someone goes to investigate the day after the incident, the fire in the basin has already burned out, the evidence has disappeared automatically, and naturally no clues can be found."

The palace maid couldn't help but mutter under her breath, "It seems that the only way to prevent poisoning is to open the windows for ventilation. But with snow falling and cold winds blowing in winter, how will we keep warm?"

Even Zhengjie's delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly.

After all, she often had to sit at her desk and review memorials on weekdays. If her hands and feet were freezing cold, she wouldn't be able to write properly, and how could she possibly do her job?

She raised her head, her phoenix eyes looking at Bai Su: "Do you have any way to keep warm?"

Bai Su stroked his chin and said, "Well, there really is a way to keep His Majesty from getting cold."

Zhengjie couldn't help but feel a surge of curiosity and asked, "What method?"

Bai Su smiled and whispered in His Majesty's ear, "Let me help Your Majesty warm the bedding. Your Majesty will be warmer lying in my arms..."

Zhengjie's elegant and beautiful face froze slightly. She gave Bai Su a charmingly disdainful look and said, "No."

Bai Su was taken aback and couldn't help but ask, "Why?"

Zhengjie brushed a strand of hair between her brows with her fair hand, and said with a slight parting of her lips, "Have you ever heard of entrusting meat to wolves for safekeeping?"

Bai Su was stunned for a moment, but after understanding what Zheng Jie meant, she couldn't help but laugh.

Indeed, with Sister Zheng's body, which is like a perfect creation, full of human desire, her round and slender thighs, and her delicate waist, it would be strange if she didn't do something naughty while lying in his arms.

"Cough cough..."

Zheng Jie coughed twice, interrupting Bai Su's thoughts, and asked, "Do you have any way to get rid of this charcoal poison?"

Bai Su came to his senses, stroked his chin, and said, "I do have a method, but it's a bit troublesome to implement. I wonder how Your Majesty will reward me?"

Zheng Jie tossed her jet-black hair aside, her phoenix eyes glancing over: "What do you want?"

Bai Su rolled her eyes, leaned close to Zheng Jie's ear, and whispered a few words.

Zhengjie's phoenix eyes widened in surprise, her elegant and beautiful face turning red. She glared at Bai Su with some embarrassment and anger: "You damned treacherous minister, how could you make me do such a thing?"