Chapter 401
Chapter 401
A large shadow entered the underground chamber, sat down immediately, and spoke.
“Time is short, so speak now!”
The woman lit a candle.
“No, don’t light it.”
As he spoke, the large shadow waved his hand, extinguishing the newly lit flame.
The other person laughed.
“Hahahaha! General Jin Shiying, are you that afraid someone will see your face? Every time we meet, we talk in the dark. You even handle business so furtively.”
The other person was a woman, one with a very pleasant voice. The large shadow was Jin Shiying, the adopted son of Marquis Jin Zhuo and the Lord of Raging Tide City. Here he was, meeting a woman in a secret cellar. The woman insisted on lighting the candle, and Jin Shiying instinctively hid his face. When the candle was lit, the woman who came into Jin Shiying’s view was breathtakingly beautiful, with a seductive, athletic figure. Her waist was as slender as a snake’s, her legs were long and straight, and her curves were explosive. Like Jin Mulan, she wore an outfit made of snakeskin. Holding the candlestick, she slowly walked over to Jin Shiying and sat directly on his lap. Such astonishing elasticity. Jin Shiying turned his face away, looking somewhat unnatural.
“My love, we’ve slept together so many times. Why are you still so shy?”
As the woman spoke, she stuck out the tip of her tongue and licked the inside of Jin Shiying’s ear. Jin Shiying said in a hoarse voice.
“Wasn’t that also your scheme? I thought you were a damsel in distress and extended my hand to save you. But you drugged me, and we ended up sleeping together in my confusion.”
The woman said in a coquettish voice.
“That was only the first time, wasn’t it? Surely you don’t think I drugged you the second time? It’s clear you developed a taste for sleeping with me and took me with all your might, didn’t you?”
Jin Shiying flinched.
“My love, you used to love looking at me. Didn’t you stare intently at my face even when we were doing *that*? Why won’t you even look at me now? Why do you always speak and act as if you’re hiding something?”
“Because the person I’m facing is a liar.”
“Yes, yes, yes. My love is angry. Shall I apologize to you then?”
The woman kissed Jin Shiying’s lips and then began to undress him.
“I’m not in the mood right now.”
Jin Shiying refused her.
“How can you not be in the mood when you’re already like this? Your little brother is more honest than you.”
The woman stripped Jin Shiying naked and seduced him again. Soon, the two were sleeping together once more. In the middle of it, Jin Shiying blew out the candle several times, but the woman relit it, even dripping wax onto her own chest. She was truly a madwoman. She made it impossible for him to stop, even if he wanted to.
* * *
A full hour later, the beautiful woman lay languidly in Jin Shiying’s arms.
“My love, tomorrow, our State of Wu’s grand army will march south. You’re out of time. The moment to choose has come.”
The woman spoke tenderly, but Jin Shiying remained silent.
“Even if you won’t do it for yourself or for me, you must think of our child.”
Jin Shiying’s body shuddered. The woman took his hand, placed it on her stomach, and said in a gentle voice.
“We’ve slept together seven or eight times. The baby in my belly is already over two months old.”
Jin Shiying held his breath.
“What’s wrong? Are you scared? Don’t want to take responsibility?”
the woman asked gently. Only after a long moment did Jin Shiying reply.
“Who are you really? What’s your name?”
“It’s Wu You!”
Jin Shiying asked, startled.
“Your surname is Wu?”
“Don’t misunderstand. I’m not a princess or a lady of the court. Perhaps a few hundred years ago, my family was related to the great king. As of now, you could say I’m General Wu Mu’s cousin.”
“It seems Lord Wu Mu thinks highly of me.”
“Of course he thinks highly of you. You’re an outstanding man, my love.”
“You people truly have gone to great lengths. Using a honey trap on me more than two months ago.”
“My love, you were a very important person, so we placed great importance on recruiting you. We even gifted a great beauty like me to you. You may not be pleased to hear this, but frankly, you aren’t that important anymore. With Jin Zhuo dead, Raging Tide City is headless. Moreover, the State of Yue has no power to support it, and the most formidable person in the Jin Clan, Shen Lang, is currently trapped in the White Night Army, his fate unknown. Raging Tide City has become easy to capture, so your existence doesn’t seem all that useful.”
Jin Shiying said nothing. Wu You kissed his chest and spoke.
“But you’re my man, and I’ve grown fond of you. I want to grow old with you, so I want to see you have a promising future and rise in the world.”
“What kind of promising future and rise in the world?”
“With your martial arts and talent, you could pass the military examination and become at least a fourth-rank military official in the future. But right now, you’re bound by the grace of the Jin Clan. You’re a general in name, but in reality, you’re no different from a slave of the Jin Clan, with no military authority whatsoever.”
“The Marquis showed me immense grace. Everything I have was given to me by the Jin Clan.”
“My love, are you planning to be buried alive with the Jin Clan? There’s no chance for them to win this battle.”
“We have five or six thousand soldiers. And we have the Grand Citadel, which is impregnable.”
“That’s right. The citadel Qiu Tianwei built is very sturdy. It wouldn’t fall even if we attacked with ten thousand men. But what about twenty thousand, or thirty thousand? Most importantly, Jin Zhuo is already dead. Who will you pledge your loyalty to?”
Jin Shiying was silent.
“King Ning Yuanxian of Yue appointed you as the Lord of Raging Tide City, but do you have even half the power that title implies? To defend yourself, you didn’t hesitate to humble yourself, even kneeling to a live-in son-in-law like Shen Lang. You are an adopted son, and he is a live-in son-in-law. His status and position are clearly beneath yours. Yet, for you to kneel and pledge loyalty to a mere live-in son-in-law—isn’t that a great humiliation?”
The woman took Jin Shiying’s hand and touched the scar he had gotten from making the oath to Shen Lang, trying to feel his emotions.
“My love, I’ll say it again. Even if you won’t think about your own future, won’t you think about the future of me and our child?”
Jin Shiying still said nothing.
“Once we take Raging Tide City, Wu Mu will become the Prefect of Leizhou and the Admiral of the navy. But since you are my husband, you will become the true Lord of Raging Tide City and a fourth-rank general of the State of Wu.”
Jin Shiying was taken aback.
“In the future, you will rise to an even higher position in Raging Tide City. Perhaps like the lords of Ping’an and Wannian counties in the capital of Yue, a position equivalent to the junior fifth rank!”
Jin Shiying’s breath hitched.
“My love, do you want to be a slave to a single family for your entire life? Do you really want your unborn child to become a slave to someone else’s family? General Wu Mu is the cousin of the great King Wu Qi, but he lacks true confidants. Since you have no foundation of your own, you are the perfect candidate. If you pledge loyalty to General Wu Mu, he will surely make you his trusted subordinate.”
Jin Shiying said nothing, but his heart began to beat faster.
“My love, even trash like Qiu Hu became the Lord of Tianfeng City and the fourth-rank General of Jinhai. Are you satisfied with your current position? You are far more outstanding than him. You could be the Lord of Raging Tide City and concurrently hold the rank of the fourth-rank General of the Raging Waves. Don’t you want such a powerful and high-ranking office?”
“And the price for that position is for me to betray the Jin Clan?”
“The Jin Clan is destined for ruin anyway, so what does it matter if you betray them or not? Nothing you do can save them. You need an opportunity to achieve great merit. You need to present a pledge of allegiance to Lord Marquis Wu Mu.”
Jin Shiying closed his eyes and remained silent for a long time. Wu You said in a sweet, charming voice.
“My love? I am following you with a pure and innocent heart. This may be a honey trap, but it’s the kind where you toss a meat bun to a dog. The giver gives without getting anything in return. I’m the bun, and you’re the dog. You wouldn’t eat the bun and then pretend nothing happened, would you?”
After a long while, Jin Shiying asked.
“In the future, what will you do with the Jin Clan?”
“You’re wondering what will happen to Jin Mulan, aren’t you?”
Jin Shiying did not reply.
“I’m jealous. Jin Mulan is a married woman, yet you still harbor foolish fantasies about her.”
“I harbor no improper thoughts toward the young lady.”
“With Jin Zhuo dead, it’s a foregone conclusion that the Jin Clan will lose Raging Tide City. They won’t be able to hold onto Sorrowlove Isle and Gold Mountain Isle, so the Jin Clan will be left with only their original domain. That’s not enough to support a private army, so they’ll probably become a second or third-rate noble family. We won’t kill Jin Mulan. You know that your country’s Crown Prince Ning Yi is determined to have her, right? The Hidden Yuan Society will likely deliver her, untouched, to the Crown Prince’s bed.”
Jin Shiying clenched his jaw tightly. The veins on his temples throbbed.
“My love, you’re not a savior; you can’t save that many people. Besides, what’s so bad about Jin Mulan going to the Crown Prince of Yue? The State of Yue will suffer a great blow this time, but Ning Yi will still be the Crown Prince. Becoming his concubine is better than being the wife of that commoner, Shen Lang.”
“Master Shen Lang is a remarkable person.”
“He is certainly remarkable, but his vision is too narrow. He’s so blinded by revenge that he only thinks of destroying the Su Clan, leaving Raging Tide City to fend for itself. It’s laughable. It must be because of his commoner origins that he’s so unimpressive. My love, you must never learn from him. You need to have grand ambitions. I’m waiting for you to be enfeoffed as a marquis and appointed as a general. A wife’s status rises with her husband’s, after all.”
Jin Shiying asked in a trembling voice.
“What is it you truly want from me?”
“When Jin Zhuo died, Jin Mulan took supreme command of Raging Tide City, and you became her second-in-command, right?”
Jin Shiying nodded in the darkness.
“You surely have many trusted subordinates and sworn brothers, don’t you?”
“Of course, I have many brothers loyal to the Jin Clan. But if I were to betray them, few trusted men or brothers would follow me. Less than a hundred.”
“That’s enough. You’re the strongest warrior in the Jin Clan right now. So it’s only natural that you’d be tasked with guarding the citadel’s main gate, isn’t it?”
Jin Shiying nodded.
“Yes.”
“What you have to do is simple. Open the main gate of the citadel and allow our grand army to enter smoothly. That will complete your mission. Leave the rest of the battle to us.”
“So the hardest part of conquering the Grand Citadel of Raging Tide City is breaking down its main gate.”
Indeed, it was. That deviant, Qiu Tianwei, had built the Grand Citadel of Raging Tide City to be excessively large and sturdy, with high, thick walls. The main gate of the citadel was even more robust, practically indestructible. In a normal assault, the thirty thousand soldiers of the State of Wu would have to pay an immense price and suffer countless casualties to break down that gate. There would be thousands of casualties at the very least. But once the gate was breached, the rest would be child’s play.