C201

Riko was about to go up to the pavilion when she heard his confused question. "Who is Miss talking to?"

Xiao Qing laughed, and her fingers that were on the table nodded rhythmically: "He is a stranger that has never communicated with us before, but I think we will get to know him very soon."

Riko was stunned. Just as she was about to ask, a figure flashed in the grass.

Riko subconsciously turned around, her face full of wariness. "Who's where?!"

Xiao Qingran waved his hand to indicate to Li Er not to panic, and then raised his voice: "Since City Lord Zhou has heard our conversation, then I wonder what you intend to do? Do you want to stop us or do you want to stand on our side? "

"Heh, wangfei is intelligent, I'm ashamed." Zhou Zheng stepped out from the grass and stretched out a hand to pull away the grass hanging from his waist. His movements were graceful and did not match the rough man's appearance at all.

"There's still some time before the banquet ends. Does Mayor Zhou want to talk to me?" Xiao Qing raised her eyebrows and twirled her fingers.

Zhou Zheng's gaze darkened, as if he was thinking about something. In the end, he walked up to the pavilion and stood in front of her. Even if the two of us were to stand on your side, there would still be ten cities remaining. "Those old fellows are not idiots. If they are forced into a corner and all of them perish together, then …"

"They wouldn't dare." Xiao Qingran interrupted him with a completely calm tone: "At the very least, they will not act rashly until they truly know the trump card that Qian Han possesses."

Otherwise, Wei Chi wouldn't have sent Wei Lin to probe him out today.

"Even if they don't dare now, what about in the future? "If a rabbit is forced into a corner, it will bite, let alone those wolves." Zhou Zheng's gaze darkened as he took a step forward and said word by word, "What I want is something certain, not empty words."

Xiao Qing Qing pursed her lips and looked at him, and then suddenly smiled: City Lord Zhou is truly interesting, it's fine if you were hiding in the dark and eavesdropping on our conversation, but what qualifications do you have to come here and question me? No matter what, Hua Chengyi showed his attitude towards me, but you did it for no reason, so what benefits do I have from telling you about our capital? "

Zhou Zheng was stunned for a moment. It was as if he did not expect Xiao Qing to retort. He pursed his lips. "If I could see what I want to see, perhaps I would consider going with all of you …"

"Maybe?" Xiao Qing raised her eyebrows and threw his words back at him, "Similarly, I want an accurate answer and not this kind of testing method."

Seeing her act this way, Zhou Zheng became slightly anxious. "But now it is you who want to cooperate with this city lord. If you want me to help you, shouldn't you have some sincerity?"

Xiao Qing Ran laughed, her tone still indifferent: "It is best to be more careful when you speak of it, City Lord Zhou. I have never said that I want to cooperate with you … In fact, whether or not you cooperate with me is not yet decisive for me. "

Zhou Zheng choked and immediately found himself at a loss for words. She had indeed not said anything about asking him to cooperate with her, but …

"Heh, aren't you saying this too early, wangfei? Did you ask for Duke Han's permission before saying those words?" There are some things a woman can't do for a man. " Zhou Zheng scoffed, a little disdainful. "I advise that you consider it carefully before you speak."

"Women can't be a man's master?" Xiao Qing replied with raised eyebrows, "Indeed, but I think it's the same if you react. Otherwise, you wouldn't be standing here and talking to me, right?"

Zhou Zheng stiffened. "What do you mean?"

Xiao Qing Ran glanced at him: "Before I hand over the truth, I would really like to hear your story. It's just that I don't know if City Lord Zhou has the time to tell it."

Zhou Zheng's expression changed abruptly. "How did you know?"

They should not have the time to investigate these matters since they had just arrived here. The most they could find was within Phoenix City, not to mention that they had not appeared in public together for a long time, so even those old fellows probably did not know that there was a relationship between the two of them.

"This isn't difficult at all. I can tell from the way you looked at her." Xiao Qingran laughed: "Mayor Zhou must have forgotten that I also have a lover."

Her words caused Zhou Zheng's eyes to flicker. He looked at her with a complicated gaze for a while, as if asking himself, "Can I trust you?"

"If you think I can't be trusted, you can leave now." Xiao Qing Ran pursed her lips as she said calmly, "Otherwise, you would be wasting your time by staying here."

Zhou Zheng chuckled and shook his head. "What wangfei says is right. I'm the one who is hesitant to make decisions. Since Cheng Yi has already …" I just don't care if I believe you once. "

"This story is a bit long. I hope that wangfei can bear to listen." Zhou Zheng sat across her, his last sentence unusually serious. "Just wait until I finish listening to this story. The wangfei will also be able to give me a satisfactory answer to my previous question."

"Of course not."

Receiving her reply, Zhou Zheng let out a long sigh of relief, his eyes half closed as if he was deep in thought. "When we met, we were only in our teens. At that time, we were still young and did not understand many things.

"At that time, I thought that we would continue to be like this until something happened in the city that year." Zhou Zheng's gaze grew cold. "That year, many people died in our village due to natural disasters. My father sent someone to the capital to deliver a letter to ask for reinforcements, but he did not reply. Nearly half of the people from the twelve cities died, and many starved to death.

Xiao Qingxi knitted her eyebrows in puzzlement: "Although this place is remote, it is still a summoning territory. His Majesty isn't the kind of person who doesn't care about the lives of the commoners. Why would such a big thing happen here that no one cares?"

"Yeah, that's why everyone thought we'd been abandoned. After the disaster had passed, the twelve cities' masters had secretly crossed paths, making it so that the twelve cities were living in a state of mutual respect." As Zhou Zheng spoke, he dipped his finger into the cup of tea and drew a horizontal line on the table. "Our location is at the border of the Great Summoning. The terrain is extremely steep and few people come here. As long as we seal off the entire city, I believe you should be very clear about what this represents."

Xiao Qing lowered her eyebrows, "To become a small country under the cover of a great summons is different from a great summons."

"That's right." Zhou Zheng said in a low voice: "It's because the calamity that happened back then was too great, leaving behind a shadow in the hearts of all the citizens. So whatever the city lords do, it is only right for them, because they are already completely disheartened towards the imperial government."

"But the truth doesn't seem to be as you think?" Xiao Qing suddenly narrowed her eyes and guessed.

Zhou Zheng nodded his head, "I only found out later. The trusted aides that my father sent did not send the letter to the capital or to the Emperor of the Great Summon. They were kidnapped along the way." Back then, it was not the imperial government that abandoned us. Rather, it was the imperial government that did not know about this from the very beginning. "

"What's more, even the so called 'natural disaster' back then had been premeditated." Zhou Zheng's eyes darkened coldly. "The drought that year was indeed severe, but the severity of the drought was far from enough to cause such a tragic state that year. Furthermore, the so-called plague was premeditated."

Xiao Qingyi knitted his brows: "There is someone who has the intention of using this method to cut off the citizens' retreat, and even more so has an excuse to come from the imperial court and realize their ambition to become local emperors."

Zhou Zheng nodded his head, "That's true. It's just that it was too late for Cheng Yi and I to take over the city. The events of that year have left a deep impression in the hearts of the people. All we can do is change our futures."

"What does that have to do with the 'request' that Hua Cheng Yi told me about? You could have gone on with your lives, but why would you want to join hands with me? What gave you the idea? "

So what if there were people who wanted to be local emperors? After all, so many years had passed, and the livelihood of the commoners had gradually improved.

Do not tell yourself that these two people made this choice because of patriotism, they dare to say that they do not dare to believe it.

"I can't tell you right now. That's all I can say. But one thing is, what these people want is not the same as what everyone wants. " Zhou Zheng's words seemed to mean something, but because Xiao Qingran did not understand the specifics of the matter, she was unable to determine the deeper meaning of his words.

Zhou Zheng sat upright and looked at the person opposite him. "Now it's Princess' turn. Can Imperial Concubine give me a satisfactory answer to the question I just asked?"

"Of course." Xiao Qing smiled but didn't say anything. She reached out her hand and drew a simple map on the table, just like how he did before.

It was a map of Phoenix City. The areas she had drawn were key points that could be attacked and defended. They occupied an extremely high geographical position.

Zhou Zheng was also familiar with the military manual. To be able to execute such precise plans in such a short period of time was not an easy feat.

With just this much knowledge, Zhou Zheng stood up and cupped his fist in a respectful salute. He no longer had the slightest hint of contempt as he said with a frown, "I'm the superficial one. Please do not blame me for offending your consort just now."

It could be seen from the map that the woman in front of him was definitely not someone to be slaughtered easily. With such a woman by his side, even Duke Han would not be a nobody.

Cheng Yi had always been a good judge of people, so he definitely wouldn't be bad this time.

Xiao Qingran only smiled without replying, indicating that she did not care at all: "I have an appointment with Mayor Hua to have tea together the next time. If Mayor Zhou has nothing else, we can also have tea together."

Zhou Zheng understood her meaning and returned the greeting with a cupped fist. "Of course, I will definitely be there when the time comes!"