Professional Ethics of a Concubine

Many Zhao soldiers rushed into the city gate and were about to raise their swords to kill the enemy, but the Yan soldiers on the opposite side dropped their weapons and knelt down.

"Please spare my life! I surrender. I don't want to die! I want to eat meat!"

Zhao Jun,...

Fine.

Then don’t kill him.

Find the next one, and he will still surrender.

When they looked for the next one, it turned out to be a pretend surrender. The enemy counterattacked and killed the soldiers of Da Zhao.

However, he was soon killed by the Zhao army that surrounded him.

However, the appearance of this kind of fake surrender soldier made many Zhao soldiers tense up instantly. When they encountered surrender again, they dared not ignore it and scolded him.

"Then get out of the way, kneel down and don't move. If you dare to attack us from behind, not only will we kill you, but we will also kill your entire family!"

At the same time, someone will be there to look after the surrendered soldiers.

"No, no, I really surrender. I was the one who put down the bridge just now!"

Zhao Jun,...

Good boy, you have a future!

Xie Wenyuan rode over and happened to hear this. He immediately asked, "What's your name?"

"General, my name is Shuisheng." Shuisheng immediately said in fear and trepidation.

"I've been looking forward to it for many days, waiting for our Zhao army to come and attack us. I'm so happy to see you. Thank you Zhao army for saving my life."

Xie Wenyuan immediately smiled and pointed at Shuisheng and said,

"Yes, yes, he is smart and can speak well. Do you know all the generals of the Yan army? Do you know who they are loyal to?"

"General, I know, I know!" Shuisheng realized that this was an opportunity to make a contribution, and immediately said,

"I used to be General Du's personal guard, and I often heard General Du nagging about military affairs. A few days ago, General Du was beaten with fifty boards by his superiors because he opposed the attack on Zhao. Maybe General Du was upset and died before he could make it."

Shuisheng couldn't help wiping away his tears as he spoke. He felt very upset and said with a choked voice,

"General Du often said when he was alive that if the monarch was cruel, the people would not be able to survive, and the soldiers would also have a hard time surviving. The Yan army is no match for the Zhao army, and they will die if they fight head-on."

Xie Wenyuan nodded. "The General Du you mentioned is a smart man. It seems that you are not stupid either. You can stay with me for the time being. When you capture those generals, you can introduce them to me."

Shuisheng was stunned for a moment, then kowtowed in surprise, "Thank you, General, thank you, General!"

Shuisheng knew that his fate had changed. He knelt on the ground, raised his head slightly, and shed tears of joy.

-

Because most of the Yan army surrendered, was defeated, or fled, the siege ended in two hours, and the border city of Yan was also controlled by the Zhao army.

Among the 70,000 Yan troops, more than 10,000 who were loyal to the new emperor Ji Wu died, and the rest were captured.

These are all normal, but what touched Prince Su and Xie Wenyuan was the situation of the people in the city.

Many of them were so hungry that they were exhausted and lay dazed on the ground or in bed. Many elderly people even starved to death at home.

After further questioning, I learned that three days ago, the Yan army went into people's homes one by one to search for and rob food. Anyone who dared to hide it would be killed.

Before this, the Yan army had already robbed food once, and many people had run out of food before, so this time they were completely cut off from food.

Moreover, in order to prevent unrest, the generals of the Yan army did not allow them to go out to find food. They had to stay at home and all shops in the city were closed.

The generals of the Yan army said that they would launch a war soon, and once they captured the border towns of the Great Zhao, they would have more food than they could eat, and then they would distribute the food to the people.

Even if we failed to conquer Da Zhao, we still had food shipped in from outside.

If we can hold on for two more days, new rations will arrive.

But if we don’t grab the food now, the Yan army will have no rations for tomorrow!

This border town has become half a dead city.

Even Prince Su and Xie Wenyuan found this situation unbelievable, not to mention the Ninth Princess and the Seventh Prince.

The Ninth Princess looked at the people who had fainted from hunger and burst into tears. She felt like she was in hell and was about to suffocate.

They should have attacked earlier.

Faced with this hellish scene, the Seventh Prince knelt on the ground, covered his face with his hands, and trembled. He did not stand up for a long time.

"Bring our stored grain here and make some porridge quickly to keep these people alive first." Prince Su said in a deep voice.

Although he won the battle, Prince Su did not feel happy at all. Seeing the miserable plight of the people, he suddenly felt that the Yan-Zhao War was not an invasion, but a salvation.

Most of the fear and disgust towards war that had been pent up in Prince Su's heart just dissipated.

Because at this moment, he saw the just side of war, which was liberation, salvation, and rebirth, not all death.

Prince Su inexplicably had a feeling that by the time he finished the Yan-Zhao war, his mental illness would be cured.

The food was delivered quickly and porridge stalls were built. The people who were still able to move brought their own bowls to drink the porridge.

Those civilians who were so hungry that they had no strength to walk were fed and treated by soldiers or female doctors.

Thanks to the rescue of the Zhao army, the people of the whole city were able to survive. Afterwards, they were naturally grateful to the Zhao army and hoped that the Zhao army could destroy the Yan State and make them their own people.

After staying in the city for three days, the Seventh Prince became more silent and seldom spoke. He really became a little autistic.

"Royal brother, the army will set out to attack Gaoshan City tomorrow. Will you go with the army or stay here?" The Ninth Princess found the Seventh Prince and asked him.

"I will follow the army." The Seventh Prince said immediately.

"Han Yan, I wish I could attack the capital right now and kill Ji Wu and all those nobles who exploited the people!"

The Seventh Prince said this with gritted teeth, a hateful expression on his face.

"My brother and I feel the same way." The Ninth Princess sighed, "But some things need to be done step by step."

The Seventh Prince was silent again. After a long while, he said, "Han Yan, you are right. Father and our Ji royal family are no longer worthy of being supported by the people."

The Ninth Princess didn't say anything, because she had said everything she needed to say. She just reached out and patted his shoulder to comfort him.

"I don't know whether General Wei and his men have arrived in the capital, and whether everything went smoothly?" the Seventh Prince said again.

"My royal brother really hopes that they can kill Ji Wu." The Ninth Princess said with a smile.

"Of course." The Seventh Prince nodded. "Han Yan, you don't know how cruel Ji Wu is. If he stays in power for one more day, it will bring disaster to everyone."

"Then I will also pray, hoping that everything goes smoothly for the King of Qi and his men." The Ninth Princess immediately said seriously.

-

Capital City, Imperial Palace.

Inside the Qiwu Hall.

Ye Qingzhi was leaning over the desk, holding a thin brush, concentrating on carefully outlining the outline of the lotus. At this moment, a loud voice came from the door:

"The Emperor has arrived!"

Ye Qingzhi was startled by the noise, her hand trembled, and a long string was pulled out, and the beautiful lotus was instantly ruined.

Ye Qingzhi,...

She looked up outside with a bit of depression, and saw the emperor walking in with brisk steps, his face full of joy.

"Your Majesty is so happy today. Has he recruited another talented person?" Ye Qingzhi put down her pen and asked him.

"No, we just received a victory report from the border. They have broken through the Yan army's border defenses and captured 60,000 Yan soldiers.

Our army lost 800 men and over a thousand were seriously injured, so the casualties were not serious.

The Yan army has no food in stock. If this happens, the pigs, sheep and food at the border will all be eaten up. We are running out of food and fodder, so we need to send more people to transport food and fodder."

Ye Qingzhi couldn't help but laugh when she heard the last part. "I can understand the shortage of food and grass, but why did you bring up the issue of pigs and sheep?"

Xie Jin explained their meat cube plan to her, and Ye Qingzhi was happy again. "The fact that we can use this method is enough to prove that our Great Zhao army is not short of money."

"How can we not be short of silver? In this war, the silver and grain in the national treasury have been spent like water. Fortunately, we can replenish them after the summer harvest, otherwise my national treasury will be empty."

Xie Jin immediately cried poor, "Fortunately, once we pacify the State of Yan, there won't be any major wars."

"Didn't the people below report a few days ago that a silver mine had just been discovered in Yuzhou? Your Majesty, are you still crying poor?" Ye Qingzhi wanted to roll her eyes at him.

"It has been discovered, but it is not easy to mine," Xie Jin said. "Besides, we don't know how big the silver mine is. It may just be useless."

"It can't be too bad. This kind of mineral resources have never been mined. I heard that there are other metals around silver mines, such as copper and zinc. They are all good things. Let them explore it carefully."

Ye Qingzhi spoke.

"Then I'll send Xiaoliu to take a look. He's the most reliable one and I can rest assured that he can do the job without me having to worry about anything else." Xie Jin said immediately.

"Look at what Your Majesty said. The other princes are not bad either. They all work hard and have no bad intentions. Your Majesty, are you a little too proud?"

Ye Qingzhi pointed at him without hesitation.

It’s already like this, and you’re still not satisfied? What else do you want? That’s enough.

"In addition to the victory report, Wenyuan also said that the Prince of Qi used my name to assassinate the Emperor of Yan." Xie Jin rubbed his forehead, "I didn't assign him this task."

"...I don't think you can blame the King of Qi. You previously asked him to assassinate the Crown Prince of Yan. Although the Crown Prince of Yan has ascended to the throne and become the Emperor of Yan, he is still the same person. There is no problem with continuing the mission."

Ye Qingzhi was stunned for a moment, and immediately spoke up, focusing on one person to go against him.

Xie Jin also discovered that today's imperial concubine was not a caring little cotton-padded jacket, but a leaky little sack.

How did I offend her?

Xie Jin looked at her, then at the scroll on the table, and immediately understood.

"Qingqing, why are you in such a refined mood today? The lotus you painted is, well... very unique."

"You still say that it was you who ruined it all, you have to compensate me for the lotus!" Ye Qingzhi patted his chest, pointed at the ruined line, and complained to him,

"When the emperor comes back, don't let them pass the message. I'm often startled by his sudden shouting, and this time he even ruined my painting."

"Okay, okay, don't let them shout anymore in the future. I will paint you a new picture now. Will it be a lotus painting?" Xie Jin grabbed her hand and asked in a good mood.

"Yes, the lotus flowers in the lotus pond in my yard seem to have bloomed early this year." Ye Qingzhi said, "I went to admire them yesterday and thought they were beautiful. Today I was inspired to paint this beautiful scene."

"It's not too early. It's almost June, the height of summer." Xie Jin said with a smile, "Do you want to go with me to the palace to escape the heat?"

"I don't care. I don't want to go out anyway. There are ice cubes in the room, which can barely serve as air conditioning. The strong sun outside doesn't affect me much." Ye Qingzhi said.

"But the kids will probably want to go. The palace is shaded by trees and the temperature is low, so they can go out for a walk instead of staying in the room all day."

"Then let's pack up and go to the palace in a few days." Xie Jin said.

"Where is the emperor? Will he go with us?" Ye Qingzhi asked.

"Of course we'll go together." Xie Jin said, "It's too hot today. Even if he wants to go to the Western Regions, I won't allow him to. It would be troublesome if he gets heat stroke on the way. Let's wait until the weather turns cooler."

Ye Qingzhi smiled and said, "I'm afraid that the emperor won't appreciate your filial piety and will think that you are deliberately restricting his freedom."

Xie Jin, ...

Not really, his father still knows what’s good for him!

However, Xie Jin was soon slapped in the face.