Chapter 124
Yuwen Min was not angry. He stepped forward and kissed Lu Hanzhi on the forehead.
He touched his forehead before saying, “Don’t blame them. Their ages are really not much different from ours. Leaving home young, bearing burdens on their shoulders, always ready to be thrown into the fray. Young people yearn for family and love. Some may never have it, but at least they get to see what it’s like.”
Lu Hanzhi, who had always thought of Yuwen Min as a cold, emotionless killer, suddenly saw him differently.
Indeed, given his profound devotion to his elder brother and foster mother, how could he have been born a killing machine?
He was simply forced into circumstances where, if he didn’t kill, they would kill him.
Lu Hanzhi embraced Yuwen Min’s neck and said, “Princess Zhaoyun has given birth to a son. The Crown Prince named him Yuwen Dongliu.”
Yuwen Min nodded. “The next generation of the Yuwen clan truly flows from the water.”
Lu Hanzhi asked, “Then does Ah Chan need to change his name?”
Yuwen Min shook his head. “Not unless the Emperor bestows a name. But Ah Chan is already one year old, and the Emperor hasn’t indicated giving him a name. We’ll still call him Lingxi; no need to change.”
Lu Hanzhi felt a little embarrassed and said, “When I pick names, I just make them up as I go. I pick whatever two characters sound good. Unlike your royal family, where you have to follow generational order and imbue meaning into the name.”
Thinking about it now… what exactly did Lingxi mean?
Lu Hanzhi had no way to explain it.
Dongliu was different—“The great river flows east, the wanderer travels long under sun and moon.”
Tsk… somehow that didn’t sound like a good omen.
Yuwen Min said, “Then I will personally choose Ah Zhu’s name.”
Lu Hanzhi began getting up and dressing. “Do we need to follow the Yuwen family genealogy when naming him?”
Yuwen Min said, “No need. Ah Chan will be called Lingxi, and the little nephew in my elder brother’s household is Lingyu. We might as well continue the Ling-generation naming convention for them.”
Yuwen Min held Lu Hanzhi, not letting him dress.
Lu Hanzhi was speechless. “Did that general agree to cooperate yesterday?”
Yuwen Min kissed Lu Hanzhi’s neck, tickling him. He shrank away slightly and didn’t hear the answer.
Ah, this person was so annoying—what was there to kiss?
Hadn’t they kissed enough last night? For so long! Ahhh!
Yuwen Min kissed him on the mouth next, and Lu Hanzhi didn’t dodge. He puckered up and kissed him back.
Afterwards, he felt foolish—why was he still cooperating when he had to get up?
But as they kept kissing, the feeling of reluctance lingered. The clothes he had just managed to put on were all discarded again.
Lu Hanzhi thought to himself, he really had no self-control. Why, why did he cave so easily?
Afterward, his face was flushed. He felt like Yuwen Min had conquered him, and he simply sank into his arms.
It wasn’t appropriate to lie around all day, so the two of them soon got dressed properly.
The supply troops had brought a fresh batch of fruits from the capital, especially grapes and melons unique to the Western Border.
After a simple meal, Lu Hanzhi went to find Lu Xuzhi.
He hadn’t been joking yesterday when he said he wanted to cooperate with that enemy general.
He needed the terrain maps and their troop organization details.
Knowing oneself and the enemy was key to winning every battle.
In addition, Lu Hanzhi wanted him to deliver a message back.
It was meant to make the enemy believe that they agreed to the peace proposal and to begin implementing the next step of the plan.
Lu Hanzhi had thought a lot over the past two days. He had to combine this with the situation in the capital—this plan had to be carried out.
Yuwen Mingji wanted to kill Yuwen Min and stir trouble in the capital.
Creating trouble in the capital depended on Yuwen Min’s death.
Of all the princes in the capital, Yuwen Mingji only regarded Yuwen Min seriously.
Even the Crown Prince, Yuwen Mingji thought he could handle easily.
Only Yuwen Mingji, who had personally witnessed Yuwen Min’s “cicada escape” strategy, truly understood his abilities.
It had made him see Yuwen Min in a whole new light.
In Lu Xuzhi’s tent, lunch had just finished. The supply troops cleared the table and returned the terrain sand table.
Lu Hanzhi asked, “Second Brother, are we going to fight in the next few days?”
Lu Xuzhi shook his head. “It’s confusing—too hard to see clearly.”
Lu Hanzhi asked, “What about that general yesterday? Still unwilling to cooperate?”
Lu Xuzhi shook his head. “It’s not that he’s unwilling—it’s that I don’t fully trust him.”
Lu Hanzhi asked, “Why not?”
Lu Xuzhi replied, “I’m afraid that if he returns, he won’t follow our instructions. He knows so many of our details—it could end up harming us instead.”
Lu Hanzhi smiled. “That’s all? Second Brother, don’t worry. He won’t.”
Lu Xuzhi asked, “Why? How can you be so sure?”
Lu Hanzhi said, “Because I poisoned him. If he doesn’t follow my instructions, the poison will activate within three days. Every three days, I’ll give him the antidote. If he disobeys, he will die from the poison.”
Lu Xuzhi: …
Lu Xuzhi’s lips twitched. “When did you poison him?”
Lu Hanzhi stifled a laugh. “Second Brother, I was just teasing. I didn’t actually poison him. But what if I said I did?”
Lu Xuzhi: …
Why had he never realized before how cunning this younger brother was?
Lu Hanzhi said, “Later, I’ll give him a clay pill and tell him it’s poison. Do you think he’ll believe it?”
Of course he would! People always prefer to err on the side of caution.
Life is precious!
Besides, this general cared about his life. Otherwise, the day he was captured, he could have ended it all with a dagger.
At that time, the Great Zhao soldiers hadn’t confiscated his dagger. If he truly valued honor above all, he could have taken his own life.
The people of Great Zhao didn’t understand concepts of honor, let alone the Western barbarians.
Lu Xuzhi gave Lu Hanzhi a thumbs-up. “Han’er, it’s a shame you didn’t enter the court as a minister.”
Here we go again.
Being a minister in the court meant too many restrictions. It was freer to earn money and amass wealth.
Lu Hanzhi waved his hand. “Second Brother, I won’t be staying here long. We must strike fast and finish quickly.”
He had snuck in secretly, and the Empress Dowager was still shielding him.
Lu Xuzhi understood. “Alright, let’s follow the plan then.”
By evening, Lu Hanzhi gave the enemy general from the Western Fan Kingdom a black clay pill.
The pill smelled foul, a stench only found in the world’s most potent poisons.
The broad-shouldered, burly general gagged and retched for a long time, but no matter what, he could not vomit it out.
Lu Hanzhi sat calmly in a chair and said, “Stop struggling. This is a ‘Stretch Legs, Stare Eyes’ pill. It dissolves in the mouth, not the hands.”
Everyone: …
The general looked confused. “What… is that?”
Lu Hanzhi lifted a teacup and replied, “It means that if no antidote is taken within three days, the poison activates, causing death with legs stretched and eyes wide.”
“You…”
Zack trembled, clutching his chest, and sank to the ground. He shouted hoarsely at Lu Hanzhi, “You malicious Wang Fei!”
Lu Hanzhi: …
Tsk. Isn’t your love of drama a little excessive?
He put down his teacup and said, “Hey, don’t get so worked up. This thing isn’t impossible to resolve. I’m just here to discuss terms with you. What did you decide about our last cooperation?”
The general’s expression softened a little. “Discuss terms, fine. But why poison me?”
Lu Hanzhi chuckled. “We’re all sensible people, aren’t we? It’s just caution. This matter requires your cooperation, General. At most, it’ll take two days to settle. Once it’s done, I’ll give you the antidote—absolutely safe, no life will be at risk.”
Finally, the general could speak properly. He sat on the straw heap and asked, “So, how exactly do you want to cooperate?”
Lu Hanzhi smiled. “That’s easy to discuss.”
Soon, a stack of intelligence reports was sent from the prison.
Lu Hanzhi inspected them with satisfaction, comparing them against the known information Yuwen Min and the others had gathered—and there wasn’t a single mistake.
He smiled. “I guess the Six Kingdom Alliance didn’t expect this. They thought they could use this bait to fish, but we ended up stealing the bait instead.”
Yuwen Min and Lu Xuzhi were impressed. Lu Xuzhi said, “Even under severe interrogation, they probably couldn’t have gotten this much intelligence.”
After all, soldiers are somewhat immune to harsh torture by nature.
Lu Hanzhi tapped the table. “It’s actually easy to understand. Everyone tries to maximize their own interests—civilians, soldiers, even this general. Simply put, even if he brings the greatest benefit to the people of the Western Fan Kingdom, if he lacks enough national loyalty, why would he risk his life for someone unrelated? Why give up my life for a stranger?”
This was human nature.
Yuwen Min, after hearing this, fell silent in thought. He began reflecting on the words Lu Hanzhi had spoken to him yesterday.
He realized Wang Fei was right: cultivating a sense of national loyalty from an early age was indeed extremely important.
Lu Hanzhi lifted his head again. “If it were me, I’d also choose to cooperate with the side that had the greatest chance of winning.”
Perhaps at first, they thought cooperating with Yuwen Mingji could yield enormous benefits.
But after repeated battles, they would begin to reconsider.
The key was that the Western Fan Kingdom had already been pushed into the front line as mere pawns. Standing with them now would probably yield very little in the end.
At most, others would get the meat while they drank the soup.
Better to work with the tangible benefit right in front of them.
Yuwen Min nodded. “Then summon that Zack here.”
He realized that ever since Lu Hanzhi arrived, the whole battle had become increasingly unpredictable.
From the start, both sides had fought like they were on adrenaline, to the Six Kingdom Alliance being passively beaten, to everyone just staring each other down.
Now, the generals on all sides were holed up in their tents, scheming in secret.
It was like rolling dice—just waiting to see whose number would come out highest.
The capital city, Crown Prince’s Residence.
The residence was brimming with joy. After months of gloom, the Crown Prince’s Residence finally felt lively.
Princess Zhaoyun had given birth to a son, and officials and their families flooded the residence.
Although the imperial eldest grandson, Ah Chan, already existed and enjoyed the Emperor’s favor, having been granted the title of Prince Qinxiao at a young age,
strictly speaking, the Crown Prince’s son was the true legitimate firstborn.
The distinction between legitimate and secondary heirs in the royal family was stricter than ordinary families, so the birth of the Crown Prince’s firstborn drew intense attention from the capital.
The Crown Prince’s Residence finally had a moment to shine, and Princess Zhaoyun’s attention in the residence even surpassed Su Wan’ning’s.
Previously, everyone knew Su Wan’ning well, but now they seemed to forget her. Zhaoyun was the official consort of the Crown Prince.
Your favorite BL chaos wouldn’t be possible without coffee… lots of coffee….
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