Chapter 227: Chapter 175 Are You Trying to Rebel?_3
Translator: 549690339 |
“The only reason I want to understand her is because I’m worried she might become a great enemy of North City in the future.”
“Mr. Wang, you actually think of me as the kind of man who only thinks with his lower half; you’re maliciously speculating about me.”
In this era, the status of women is quite low, and they are expected to follow the Three Obediences and Four Virtues, but this is all relative.
All rules are made by those with power in their hands, and when women hold power, they can completely disregard those rules.
Men in this era may have three wives and four concubines, and women with power can have several men just the same.
Not to mention the Empress, even the married princesses of the Capital city of Great Sum indulge in affairs, and keeping male consorts is nothing out of the ordinary. As for the princess’s husbands, they dare not speak out unless they are from great families; otherwise, they just have to bear it and move on.
Even a princess, used by the Emperor as a tool for political marriage, keeps male consorts. What more can be said about an Empress of a dynasty?
An Empress of a dynasty has such great power that she can have any man she wants. If someone says she is still pure and untouched by men, who would believe that? Especially since the Yue Emperor is already in her thirties, unless she’s entirely devoted to martial arts training.
Only martial artists would abstain from sexual desires, and even they do so for a lifetime.
However, Lu Chen doesn’t believe the Yue Emperor is the type to abstain. A woman at the center of power, surrounded by such temptations, could she abstain from men? That’s highly unlikely.
It was clear that Lu Chen did not visit the Yue Emperor for her beauty, but Wang Qingci actually thought of him as a man who would have improper thoughts as soon as he heard of a woman, which greatly angered Lu Chen.
He, a gentleman, was actually being mistaken for a lecher.
Such insolence from a mere female slave, to dare to slander him; she must be severely punished!
If she dares to slander him today, who knows what she might do tomorrow!
Hearing Lu Chen’s words, Wang Qingci’s face changed slightly, and she quickly said, “Prince, this slave knows her mistake… mmm…”
Lu Chen, without a second thought, tossed the intelligence report aside, then leaned over and sealed Wang Qingci’s red lips.
The snow outside the window was still falling, though it had lessened significantly.
The servants of the Prince’s Mansion had begun to clear the snow when they heard noises coming from a certain courtyard, and wisely chose to avoid that courtyard.
Yelv Nanyan and Xiao Wenyao were still in the room tasting Dragon and Phoenix Tea. Hearing the noise from next door, Xiao Wenyao said, “Nanyan, do you think that girl will be killed by the Prince?”
Yelv Nanyan took a gentle sip of her tea and said with a smile, “Don’t worry, the Prince knows his limits. This is just the beginning, the night has not yet fallen.”
Xiao Wenyao’s voice carried a hint of regret as she said, “Oh.”
It seemed that Lu Chen wouldn’t be visiting any other courtyards today, probably not even their Spring Sound Court.
Winter is a long season for most, with many only able to stay indoors; this era lacks entertainment.
But for Lu Chen, time flies quickly because the political affairs in North City are less during winter. He spends his mornings reviewing intelligence in his study, then goes to teach Xiao Wenyao how to ride a horse at Spring Sound Court and tastes tea with Yelv Nanyan. He would stay there the entire day.
In the evenings, Lu Chen would return to his main courtyard to sleep with his beloved consort, living every day to the fullest.
Half a month later.
Great Sum, Capital city.
Imperial Palace.
While North City is covered in snow, the Capital city of Great Sum still feels like autumn, with no signs of winter’s approach.
The Sum Emperor, dressed in a yellow dragon robe, stood in a pavilion in the Royal Garden, frowning as he listened to the report from the leader of the Shadow Guards.
After the Shadow Guard leader finished reporting, the Sum Emperor turned to a eunuch and said, “Go see if the two Prime Ministers have arrived.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
At that moment, in the pavilion, State Preceptor Situ Ce said, “Your servant believes that this news is very likely to be true.”
Hearing this, the Sum Emperor replied, “Are you joking, State Preceptor? Last time at Wanning Valley, North City was able to defeat Sky Wolf King’s army of three hundred thousand. Now, facing the North Ere King’s army of two hundred thousand, not only did they fail to win, they even lost fifty thousand Heavy Cavalry.”
Situ Ce said, “Your Majesty, have you forgotten the last incident at Wanning Valley where a Grandmaster was suspected to have appeared?”
“Your servant believes that if North City truly has a Grandmaster, it’s very unlikely that he would stay in North City all the time.”
“The great victory at Wanning Valley could be largely due to that Grandmaster’s aid. Without the Grandmaster, North City’s Heavy Cavalry is still vulnerable.”
“These Heavy Cavalry have only appeared recently. Their combat effectiveness and whether they can compare with the court’s Heavy Cavalry is still an unknown. We focused too much on their armor and thus overlooked their true strength.”
“Even if North City has the armor for Heavy Cavalry, training an effective Heavy Cavalry force is not something that can be done overnight, something Your Majesty should be well aware of.”
The Sum Emperor didn’t say a word after hearing Situ Ce’s statement, but his expression kept changing.
Situ Ce’s words were sensible; they were all taken in by the sudden appearance of the Heavy Cavalry in North City, mainly because they subconsciously equated North City’s Black Cavalry with the well-trained two thousand Heavy Cavalry of Great Sum.
Although they had received intelligence about the Black Cavalry of North City, neither Lin Xiuming’s battle report nor Bai Qingqing’s intelligence mentioned the strength of these Black Cavalry.
They never considered whether these newly formed Heavy Cavalry had the same combat effectiveness as the Heavy Cavalry of the Great Sum court.
Now, thinking about it, if those Heavy Cavalry were not soldiers directly entering North City from other forces but were recruited from North City and simply donned heavy armor to form a Heavy Cavalry unit, then their combat power definitely couldn’t match that of real Heavy Cavalry..