Teasing the First Dragon at the Start

Even when Prime Minister Li Si came, he still had to bow to her politely on the surface.

However, Ying Bu, who was standing in front of him, clearly felt that he had made great contributions to Xianyang, and apart from being a little restrained when facing Bai Su, who held a high position and great power, he was not.

No matter who he met, he never paid any attention to them, and would often act as if he and the other party were acquaintances with a close relationship.

Liu Ji glanced at her with a half-smile, and couldn't help but sneer inwardly, thinking, "What a pathetic woman."

Her family treats her well only because of temporary needs; she really thinks she's something special.

Don't you even know how to think? You're a traitor who sells out his master for personal gain. What makes you think you can stand on equal footing with adults? Do you even have the right?

If she surrenders and behaves obediently, the court will not be stingy with rewards in order to set an example for the world, and she may well live the life of a wealthy man.

But if someone thinks they've made a great contribution, they can be so arrogant and disdainful of others.

Once such a person has no further use, they basically have no reason to exist.

Just then, footsteps came from outside the door.

"Lord Liu, this is a letter of surrender from the rebels."

Fan Kuai placed the letter of surrender from the State of Chu on Liu Ji's desk and clasped his hands in greeting.

Liu Ji glanced at the contents of the surrender document with interest and said with a smile, "Has it finally happened? Someone, quickly draft a report of victory and send it to Xianyang. I want to report this good news to the lord."

Upon hearing this, Ying Bu hurriedly said, "Lord Liu, when you send the victory report to the Grand General, please don't forget me. Be sure to mention my name. Without me, how could you have besieged Shouchun?"

Fan Kuai's beautiful brows furrowed involuntarily, and she felt an urge to curse.

But Liu Ji, who was standing to the side, stepped on his toes, interrupting him before he could even speak.

Liu Ji smiled and said, "General, rest assured, you are our greatest contributor this time. No one's name will be missing, but yours will be too."

Yingbu nodded slightly and said with a smile, "Thank you very much, sir."

Liu Ji bowed respectfully, then, together with Fan Kuai beside him, lifted the curtain and went out.

Only after they had walked a distance did Fan Kuai finally ask, "Hey, boss, why didn't you let me speak? That Ying Bu was just too arrogant."

Liu Ji smiled and said, "But just as she said, without her, our attempt to besiege Shouchun would not have been so successful."

Fan Kuai spat lightly, his face full of disdain, and said, "Pah! She's just a traitor who has served three masters. What's there to be proud of in someone like that? Sister, are you really going to recommend her for credit in the victory report?"

Liu Ji glanced at her with his large, almond-shaped eyes and asked, "What, you're not convinced?"

Fan Kuai muttered, "Anyway, I'm not convinced. Why is it that we fight bloody battles on the battlefield, and in the end, she gets the credit?"

"You wicked woman..."

Liu Ji stomped hard on her toe, and looking at Fan Kuai who looked aggrieved in pain, he explained helplessly, "You've been by the young master's side for quite some time now. Don't you know what kind of person he is?"

Fan Kuai rubbed his aching foot, blinking his clear black and white eyes in confusion: "Big sister, you mean..."

Liu Ji smiled slightly and said, "Young Master is a smart man, and the greatest advantage of a smart man is that he will not ask you to give him any reward he is entitled to. Even if you refuse, Young Master will find other ways to give you some benefits."

"When dealing with such intelligent people, you must understand one thing: what is given to you is truly yours; what is not given to you, you cannot actively ask for, otherwise..."

"This is tantamount to constantly pushing oneself toward a dead end."

Fan Kuai, seemingly understanding but not quite, said, "Big sister, you mean, Ying Bu, she..."

Liu Ji nodded slightly, his large, almond-shaped eyes looking at the clouds slowly drifting across the distant sky, and said with a smile, "The more you want, the faster you die."

Chapter 367 Dressed in white, they left the city to surrender.

Xianyang City.

Inside the Bai residence.

Yu Ji sat upright before the guqin, her lush fingers gently plucking the strings, and a moving melody echoed through the long corridor.

She wore a red silk dress, her expression focused, and every move she made exuded a gentle and noble temperament, like a snow lotus on a high mountain, only to be admired from afar and not to be touched.

Bai Su sat upright to the side, holding a cup of tea in her hands, and couldn't help but nod gently to the beautiful melody.

At this moment, a guard walked in, took out a letter, and said softly, "Sir, there is good news from Chu."

Bai Su glanced at it and casually put it aside, looking rather uninterested.

Yu Ji paused in her movements, and asked somewhat strangely, "Sir, won't you take a look?"

Bai Su took a sip of tea and said nonchalantly, "Even without reading the letter, I can roughly guess its contents. It will probably start with Liu Ji rambling on and on about small talk, and then end with a report that the Chu army is preparing to surrender. There's nothing else worth reading."

Yu Ji blinked her dark eyes and asked curiously, "My lord, may I...may I take a look?"

Bai Su did not refuse and handed the letter to her directly.

Yu Ji took the letter, opened it, and her eyes, as clear as autumn water, widened in surprise.

Because, surprisingly, Bai Su actually guessed it correctly.

The conversation began with Liu Ji's cheesy, overly familiar greeting: "Young Master, we've been separated by a thousand miles and haven't seen each other for a long time. I wonder how you've been lately? I bet you've gained quite a bit of weight, otherwise..."

Why has your importance in my heart become so great, filling my heart completely, leaving no room for anything else?

Looking at the teasing ink marks, Yu Ji couldn't help but picture a carefree woman with big, flirtatious eyes.

She glanced at Bai Su, who was calmly drinking tea beside her, and a sense of curiosity arose in her heart.

Based on her woman's intuition, she felt that Bai Su and her subordinate named Liu Ji might have an unusual relationship.

This made her gaze gradually become strange.

So, is the master a lecherous man?

However, this can be considered a good thing. After all, if the master is too devoted to her and dotes on her alone, her frail body will not be able to handle it.

The thought of those indescribable scenes brought a tempting blush to her fair and pretty face, making her cheeks burn.

Seeing that Yu Ji remained silent for a long time, Bai Su asked with a puzzled expression, "What's wrong with you? Why are you staring at me like that?"

"No...it's nothing."

Yu Ji blushed and said shyly, "I just saw that the State of Chu chose to surrender, and I'm a little curious about how you intend to deal with them, sir."

Bai Su gave her a strange look, then stroked her chin and said, "Since the King of Chu has decided to surrender the city, I will not raise the sword and implicate others."

"But no matter what, they committed the heinous crime of treason, and the punishment they deserve is essential, otherwise it will not be enough to appease the people."

Yu Ji breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Bai Su hadn't noticed anything amiss with her.

She couldn't help but ask, "So, what does Your Excellency mean...?"

Bai Su pondered for a moment and said, "Send the rebel leaders, King Chu and Xiang Liang, to Xianyang for His Majesty to decide their fate. As for those who supported the Chu uprising, the gentry, and the former nobles of the six states, send them to perform corvée labor. The canal is being dug, and there is a shortage of labor, so these people can be put to good use."

Yu Ji wasn't too surprised, after all, it was a tradition in the Great Xia Dynasty for prisoners of war to perform corvée labor.

When Zhengjie was short of labor to build the Great Wall, she mobilized prisoners of war, inmates, and even sons-in-law from all over the country.

They were escorted to the frontier and forced to work on the Great Wall.

Bai Su has only implicated the local gentry and the noble families who attempted to rebel, without affecting most of the ordinary people in Chu. This is already considered very merciful.

Bai Su put down her teacup, looked up at the distant sky, and said, "Hu Yi will be very happy."

Yu Ji was taken aback and asked with some doubt, "Is Hu Ji the current young princess? It is said that she is the master's wife."

Bai Su nodded slightly and said, "She was determined to surpass her sister, but she never had any outstanding achievements, and her prestige and connections in the court were always insufficient. But now it's different."

"During her reign, foreign threats were quelled and the rebels surrendered. When the rebel leader was escorted to the capital, she could lead all the civil and military officials to issue orders in a grand and glorious manner in front of everyone."

"Let her experience the feeling of having the people's hearts as a gift, with the admiring gaze of all."

Looking at Bai Su in front of her, Yu Ji couldn't help but say with some envy, "My lord truly dotes on this virtuous wife. It's truly enviable that His Highness Hu Yu has such a husband."

Bai Su smiled and said, "Why do you need to be envious? I can be your husband right now..."

As he spoke, he wrapped his arms around Yu Ji's slender waist, pulled her into his embrace, and stroked her smooth, white skin.

"My lord, that's not what I meant..."

Yu Ji gently bit her red lips with her pearly teeth, and a mist rose in her eyes, but her body did not resist at all, as if she was letting Bai Su do whatever she wanted.

........

........

Shouchun City.

A heavy horn sounded, and the city gates, which had not been opened for a long time, slowly opened.

Dressed in white, with no makeup or adornment, and her bare white feet touching the cold earth, Mi Xiongxin led the generals, nobles, and civil officials of Chu out of the city gate.

Green Pearl and Xiang Liang, dressed as subjects, one carrying the royal seal and the other carrying the emperor's sword, accompanied Mi Xiongxin.

The other generals removed their armor, the soldiers laid down their weapons, and everyone's face turned pale, especially the ministers behind Mi Xiongxin.

Among the group were many elderly people with gray hair.

More than a decade ago, Xia destroyed Chu, and they surrendered once. Little did they expect that the same scene would be repeated today.

With each step they took, their faces grew paler and their hearts ached.

The most esteemed king of Chu, now dressed in plain white robes and barefoot, leads his ministers in surrendering with the imperial seal—what a humiliation this is!

Black armor stood like a forest, and iron cavalry stretched as far as the eye could see.

Liu Ji rode a chestnut-red warhorse, her slender jade hands holding the reins. She stood at the front of the army, her large peach blossom eyes glancing with some surprise at Mi Xiongxin, who was slowly walking towards her.

She never imagined that the legendary King of Chu was actually just a thirteen or fourteen-year-old girl.

Even more unexpectedly, this young King of Chu possessed such magnanimity.

Ordinary people would probably be too scared to move in the face of this situation, but this young King of Chu was able to endure this humiliation and fear for the safety of his ministers and take the initiative to walk step by step.

“King Mi, Xiong Xin pays his respects to Lord Liu Ji.”

Mi Xiongxin took the royal seal from Xiang Liang's hands, slowly lifted it up, and presented it to Liu Ji. Behind her, a group of officials knelt down in obeisance.

"Guards, arrest him!"

Liu Ji waved his hand lightly, and the situation instantly became tense. The Xia army guards behind him picked up chains, preparing to handcuff Mi Xiongxin.

Seeing this, Green Pearl hurriedly stepped in front of Mi Xiongxin, her almond-shaped eyes glaring at Liu Ji: "Liu Ji, what are you going to do to the King?"

"Your Majesty?"