Girl, There's Something Wrong With You - Chapter 9

“I don’t mean it that way,” Luling said slowly. “I know you have a peculiar interest in this…”

“Please call it ‘tolerance,’ thank you,” Nankang corrected her.

“Tolerance and perversion are not the same,” Luling said weakly. “You just want to bully them and see the pain on their faces.”

“Don’t make your elder sister sound like a wicked first wife!” Nankang grabbed her sister’s face and kneaded it like dough, making Luling’s subsequent words muffled and unclear.

“Really!” Luling finally broke free from her sister’s grip and complained, “But even if you don’t care about them, you should still refuse to become a concubine, right?”

“Become a concubine?” Nankang’s expression froze slightly.

Although people often lump a certain type of plot under the term ‘cuckold,’ within the community of cuckold enthusiasts, there are actually different preferences: those who favor the cuckolder and those who favor the cuckolded. If the former are perverts, then the latter are perverts among perverts.

Even though Princess Nankang had walked quite far down this path to hell, she hadn’t gone that far yet. If she ended up as a concubine and was played with in front of the first wife… she knew she wouldn’t derive any pleasure from it.

“You have a point,” Princess Nankang nodded, her originally flippant expression becoming serious. “It seems I have to intervene… these young ladies from noble families are really troublesome.”

Falling for someone you’ve taken an interest in, they are probably the truly unlucky ones, Luling thought to herself.

The Shendu Cheng clan’s estate.

“Oh.” Wang Wanrou didn’t look up as she flipped through the pages of her book. “You just thought of this now?”

Chu Qingqing: ……

Back when they first entered the Changxing Island, everyone had calculated that they would be able to advance to the sixth grade in about a week. But who could have thought that Xing Yuanzhi would be so decisive, immediately returning to her clan’s estate to obtain authority as soon as she advanced, and then pushing the marriage through with lightning speed, leaving everyone with no time to prepare.

Of course, in hindsight, all these things could have been anticipated.

However, taking one step at a time might sound easy, but doing it is not. So, Miss Wang’s comment left her with no room to argue—the more she argued, the more she would seem lacking in intelligence.

“In any case, we must stop Xing Yuanzhi from eloping, or the current team structure will be severely disrupted, even destroyed,” Miss Qingqing carefully observed Miss Wang’s expression. “You must have anticipated this.”

This was a trick she learned from Cheng Jinyang, called the “inducing flattery technique,” where one first states the question they want to ask, then flatters by saying, “The wise and brilliant Miss Wang must have already anticipated this,” to induce the other party to respond.

Whether Wang Wanrou saw through their scheme or not, Chu Qingqing inclined to believe she did. But flattery, even when the recipient knows, can still be effective if they appreciate the effort to please them.

“You needn’t worry.” Indeed, Wang Wanrou spoke indifferently, though her face remained expressionless.

“What do you mean?” Chu Qingqing frowned.

Wang Wanrou didn’t speak, simply tossing the document in her hand to her.

Miss Qingqing took the document and found it to be a copy of a confidential letter. As her eyes skimmed the text, her breath got caught.

Su Zigao and Zu Shishao had officially risen in rebellion a few days ago in Liyang, with the slogan “Eliminate Yu Yuan’gui, support the Sima clan.”

On the day of the uprising, Su Zigao declared, “The people of Jiangnan all long for a northern expedition to reclaim the Central Plains, but are hindered by Yu Yuan’gui’s control over the young emperor, making loyal advice impossible,” calling on all righteous men under heaven to “join in overthrowing the Yu clan’s court.”

This northern expedition banner has become a rallying cry for any rebellion… Chu Qingqing thought to herself, her mind growing heavier.

Another war was coming.

Has no one received this news? No, the high echelons of the clans must already know, and it must be that Yu Yuan’gui has ordered the aristocracy not to leak the information to prevent unrest in Jiankang. The painful memories of the last war still lingered in the minds of all the aristocrats in Jiankang.

“What does this have to do with what we were discussing?” Chu Qingqing asked again.

“With war coming, does he still want to get married?” Wang Wanrou scoffed.

…………..

Taicheng.

“General Wen has again submitted a letter, requesting to lead the militia to guard Jiankang,” the attendants reported.

“Wen Taizhen must remain stationed in Jiangzhou and cannot move lightly,” Yu Yuan’gui said while stroking his beard. “Order him to focus on his current duties.”

“Understood.”

Chu Jiye, who was presiding over the meeting, signaled for the attendants to withdraw, knowing that Yu Yuan’gui was wary of the Longxiang Army.

Since Wang Chuzhong’s defeat, the Longxiang Army, stationed in the Jingzhou military district, has been in panic and disarray. The late emperor temporarily dispatched Tao Shixing to Wuchang to restore order, and now the situation on the western front has temporarily stabilized.

After that, the late emperor passed away and destroyed the server. In the ensuing chaos, Yu Yuan’gui hastily helped the young emperor ascend to the throne, and imperial authority reached its historical low point. The central government also lost sufficient control over the regional governors. The previous Sima clan rebellion, and now the revolts by Su Zigao and Zu Shishao, are the best evidence of the decline in imperial authority.

Su Zigao secretly contacted Zu Shishao to raise troops. Who can guarantee that he didn’t simultaneously contact Tao Shixing? If Wen Taizhen were to lead his troops to guard Jiankang, the western defenses would be left completely empty. Should the Longxiang Army then turncoat and join the advancing rebels, the situation would become even more precarious.

The political order of the Jin Dynasty today is like a tower of wooden blocks with many supports removed, relying on the remaining pieces to check and balance each other, maintaining a fragile equilibrium. The Feixiong Army of Jiangzhou and the Longxiang Army of Jingzhou deter each other, the Xiaoqi Army operates in guerrilla warfare against northern demons in the Jianghuai region, and the Shenwu Army guards the Changzhou and Chushui frontlines. None of these forces can move recklessly; only meticulous adjustments can be made.

If the rulers are careless and apply too much force, the entire tower could collapse.

To seize opportunities and advance and retreat with composure in this chaos, Wang Gong’s ruling methods are most suitable. Zhongshu Yu’s character is resolute and stern; asking him to perform such delicate operations is like asking a butcher to carve intricate patterns on a piece of tofu with a cleaver.

Yet now the power has fallen into Zhongshu Yu’s hands…

At this thought, Chu Jiye couldn’t help but glance at Wang Maohong seated nearby.

Wang Maohong remained serene, seemingly having no intention of offering any suggestions.

Chu Jiye sighed inwardly and then said to Yu Yuan’gui, “Zhongshu, if neither the Feixiong Army nor the Xiaoqi Army enters the fray, relying solely on the Shenwu and Yulin Armies might put too much pressure on the front lines. Unless…”

Unless we bring out the Iron Giant from last time.

Yu Yuan’gui also felt troubled at these words because the Iron Giant was their trump card, and one doesn’t play their trump card right from the start.

Moreover, the head of the Cheng family is young but not easily fooled. I offered him a position as son-in-law, but he was unmoved, likely preferring to seek greater benefits for his family over personal gain.

However, the Shendu Cheng clan no longer has a fifth-grade supernatural. Granting them more political resources would inevitably provoke public opinion among the entire aristocracy. With this in mind, he also turned his gaze to Wang Maohong, implying: What is your opinion on this matter among the Five Great Families?

“Zhongshu,” under everyone’s gaze, Wang Maohong leisurely opened his eyes and calmly said, “Previously, Xi Daohui proposed recruiting troops from the refugee settlements in Jingkou to support the Xiaoqi Army’s Jianghuai front. What do you think?”