Princess Promotion

Standing at the intersection, Lord Xiao saw a group of men and women following An Tian, looking just like a group of hooligans.

Elder Xiao resisted the urge to strangle the culprit and walked over.

An Tian naturally saw the old man Xiao approaching with a sullen face, so he stopped and saluted, saying, "Greetings! Lord Xiao."

Elder Xiao nodded and said, "Do you know who I'm looking for?"

An Tian smiled and said, "Mr. Xiao, you are joking. How would I know who you are looking for?"

Lord Xiao certainly couldn't call Yao Chuguang's name in the street, but he didn't expect An Tian to pretend to be stupid and say that she didn't know who he was looking for.

Elder Xiao stopped pretending and pointed at a girl in a pink dress behind An Tian and said, "You, the one wearing a white mask, I'm looking for you."

This heartless thing thought he wouldn't recognize her if she changed her clothes and put on a mask? Even if she turned into ashes, he would still recognize her.

Yao Chuguang was speechless. Does this old fox have a dog's nose? He recognized it like this!

Sure enough, the plot in TV dramas where the heroine can’t be recognized because she wears a veil is deceptive.

Since he had been recognized, Yao Chuguang had no choice but to accept defeat and leave with Lord Xiao wearing the mask.

Fu Hongxuan naturally followed with a mask on. Elder Xiao thought he was Yao Chuguang's guard and didn't pay any attention to him.

Yao Chuguang took off his mask and asked curiously, "How did you recognize me?"

Elder Xiao did not hold back and said, "With your status, you must be standing next to An Tian. There are only a few people next to her. If you remove the men, there are only three left. If you remove the short one, the one with the most expensive fabric must be you."

Yao Chuguang didn't expect that Lord Xiao could find her out by looking at her height.

Seeing Yao Chuguang's carefree attitude gave him a headache, and he advised earnestly, "Your Highness, you are the ruler of a country. Your every move affects the fate of the country and the people's livelihood. Therefore, you must be prudent in your behavior and set an example for the world."

Yao Chuguang said confidently: "No!"

Xiao Ge Lao almost choked on his saliva and cursed angrily: "As the king of a country, how can you be so frivolous in your words and deeds? If this is seen by someone with ulterior motives, wouldn't it damage your majesty's dignity? This concerns the safety of the country."

Yao Chuguang shook his head and said, "What you said is not right!"

Elder Xiao held back his breath and asked, "What's wrong?"

Yao Chuguang: "It's unlikely that the common people will see me. Only the civil and military officials can see me often!"

Elder Xiao was puzzled: "Then what?"

Yao Chuguang: "Does that mean the people can only understand what kind of person I am from the words of the civil and military officials?"

What Xiao Ge Lao Jueyao Chuguang said made some sense, but he also felt that something was not right.

Yao Chuguang: "That is to say, if the civil and military officials tell the outside world what kind of emperor I am, then the people of the world will think what kind of emperor I am!"

Lord Xiao was shocked to realize that there was a trap here. What did it mean that he had to do whatever the officials said?

Isn't this just asking all officials to lie? These conscienceless people are really not human.

Yao Chuguang patted Elder Xiao on the shoulder and said with a bright smile, "As the head of all officials, Lord Xiao should set an example for all officials. I don't ask for much, as long as you don't leave a name of a tyrant in the history books!"

This is simply unheard of. After all, you are an emperor who started his career by rebellion. How can you have such low ambitions?

Even the head of the Wu family has the ambition to become a famous official, but you, an emperor, only ask not to be a tyrant.

Elder Xiao was shocked. He had thought that Yao Chuguang had a low bottom line in some aspects, but he never expected that Yao Chuguang's bottom line was not low at all, but that he had no bottom line at all.

Compared to Elder Xiao's disbelief, Yao Chuguangjue's reputation was like housework.

Housework belongs to the person who can't stand it.

Similarly, reputation belongs to those who love face.

As long as she is more shameless than those old men and lies flat enough.

Those officials who cling to their reputation until their death will consciously clean up the mess for Yao Chuguang.

After all, how can one be a good official if he follows an emperor with a bad reputation?

He's just like the lackey around the villain, how can he be a good person?

Unless the officials have the ability to replace Yao Chuguang, or stop being officials.

Yao Chuguang will make them understand what it means to prosper together and suffer together.

Fu Hongxuan, who was following behind with a mask on: I didn’t expect this woman to be so good at deceiving people!

Elder Xiao knew that he would not be able to defeat Yao Chuguang if he continued to talk about this topic.

There is no way. Anyone with any shame in this regard cannot argue with Yao Chuguang.

Elder Xiao asked, "What are your majesty's plans for Fu Hongxuan of the former Zhou Dynasty?"

If Lord Xiao was worried about the fate of the former Zhou Dynasty's old ministers in the past, he would definitely ask indirectly and would not ask so directly.

As a civil servant, he has to follow rules and regulations when doing things. He must not overstep the line, but must also get things done properly.

But that was all in the past. Ever since Lord Xiao met Yao Chuguang, his way of guessing the emperor's mind has never been right.

Moreover, the direction of the guess cannot be said to be very different from what Yao Chuguang wants to do, it can only be said to be completely irrelevant.

Elder Xiao decided not to guess and just ask directly, mainly because he was afraid that he wouldn't ask again.

Yao Chuguang would just do it directly, which would be more unexpected.

Yao Chuguang smiled and said, "Fu Hongxuan is a military commander, so naturally he should be allowed to lead the troops into battle."

Lord Xiao thought: Yao Chuguang really doesn't play by the rules. She has generals at her disposal. Duke Li's family and General Park are all talented people.

Why let a military general from the previous dynasty lead the troops to fight? Wouldn't it be better to just keep the former ministers' hearts at ease?

Elder Xiao considered it for a while, mainly because he felt that if he directly opposed it, Yao Chuguang would not pay attention to him.

Elder Xiao: "Do you trust Fu Hongxuan so much? Aren't you afraid that he will lead his troops to defect to the Western Territory and declare himself king?"

Fu Hongxuan looked at Lord Xiao, then at Yao Chuguang and thought: This woman really doesn't care about the old man's life or death.

Just say bad things about him in front of him without any scruples!

Yao Chuguang looked back, stopped and looked straight at Elder Xiao.

Yao Chuguang raised a faint smile at the corner of his mouth, leaned forward slightly and put his left hand on Elder Xiao's shoulder.

From a distance, it looks like a naughty girl smiling and whispering in the old man's ear. The sunlight shining on the two of them makes the picture look warm and beautiful.

Yao Chuguang whispered softly, "What gave you the illusion that I'm easy to manipulate?"

In the sunshine, Yao Chuguang had a smile on her face and spoke in a gentle tone, but even this seemingly gentle and harmless Yao Chuguang made Elder Xiao feel a chill spreading from the soles of his feet.

Yao Chuguang's eyes were cold. Even though she was smiling, there was no emotion in her eyes.

Yao Chuguang looked away and continued walking forward. "I really can't guarantee everyone's loyalty, but I can make those who dare to betray me pay the price."

Elder Xiao quickly followed up and asked, "For example?"

Yao Chuguang: "All the surplus food in the Western Zhou Dynasty is under my control. Fu Hongxuan is leading a large army on the expedition. Without rear supplies, the army will starve to death within half a month."

Xiao Ge Lao: "What if the Western Territory and Yan State provide him with food and fodder?"

Yao Chuguang shook his head. "The Western Territory can basically be ruled out. The grain production in the Western Territory is not abundant. Over the years, they have relied on other regions to transport grain and grass to the Western Territory. They don't even have enough food to eat themselves, so how could they share it with Fu Hongxuan?"

"The possibility of Yan State is even lower. Yan State is still some distance away from the Western Zhou Dynasty. The transportation route is too long. I only need to send a few teams to harass the team delivering the grain, and the grain will not be delivered to Fu Hongxuan."

"Unless the King of Yan mobilizes the entire nation and sends a large army to escort food and fodder to Fu Hongxuan, do you think that's possible?"

Lord Xiao secretly complained in his heart, how is it possible? Delivering food and sending an army to escort the food are two completely different concepts.

If only food and fodder are sent, then only the cost of food for the escort personnel will be paid. If a large army is escorting food and fodder, the large army also needs food, then the King of Yan will have to pay double or even triple the food and fodder, after all, the large army also needs to eat, drink, defecate and urinate when it returns.

Yao Chuguang: "So now you understand, if we give Fu Hongxuan one or two small teams, he might actually run away with his soldiers. Only a large army can ensure that he won't defect easily."

After thinking it over, Elder Xiao decided to ask about his worst-case scenario: "Your Majesty, if you only cut off Fu Hongxuan's food supply, then if Fu Hongxuan joins forces with the Western Border, our army will be stationed at the border."

"There's no time to return to defend. What if Fu Hongxuan attacks the imperial capital within half a month?"

Yao Chuguang: "Then let's retreat back to Qi!"

Elder Xiao: "Just give it up like that?"

Yao Chuguang smiled and said, "Didn't I say before that all the food and supplies for the Western Zhou Dynasty are in my hands?"

Just as Lord Xiao was about to say that he knew, he realized something the next moment: all the food and supplies were in Yao Chuguang's hands.

If Yao Chuguang had burned all the food before leaving, the people of the Western Zhou Dynasty would soon suffer from famine. It would be a terrible thing for people to have no food.

The grain was burned and there was no way to remedy it in the short term because grain could not grow overnight.

Relying on the food from Yan State is simply a drop in the bucket.

It was impossible for the State of Yan to empty its granaries for the Western Zhou Dynasty.

Yao Chuguang said casually, "Fu Hongxuan, or any of the former Western Zhou generals, if they dare to betray me, they will be dragging the people of Western Zhou to their deaths. We can just go back to Qi and wait for them to starve to death, and then come here to collect their bodies."

Lord Xiao thought that if it really came to that, Yao Chuguang could take back the Western Zhou Dynasty without bloodshed.

No one can compete with Yao Chuguang.

It's not that Yao Chuguang didn't give them opportunities. If they wanted to counterattack, it would be impossible for Fu Hongxuan alone to do it, just like one person cannot command thousands of troops.

If Fu Hongxuan defected after leading the army out, it would only mean that most of the generals from top to bottom had rebelled.

Since we each serve our own master, we must pay the price if we lose. It is a joke to talk about mercy on the battlefield.

Once you enter the battlefield, there are only two outcomes: life or death.

Elder Xiao felt that the retired emperor's defeat was not unfair at all. Yao Chu was smart but also cruel and ruthless.

Look at the retired emperor and then the former Zhou emperor. When dealing with powerful generals, they always use the same few methods.

Either it's a marriage alliance or loyalty, filial piety, righteousness, integrity and shame that they talk about every day, or they target the person who is the supreme commander.

The commander-in-chief is replaced every now and then, and often times he cannot be replaced, which leads to a lot of chaos.

When it came to Yao Chuguang, even Lord Xiao felt that the method was too cruel and he probably didn't dare to give Fu Hongxuan and the others a chance, because the result of betrayal was nothing more than dragging hundreds of thousands of people to death with him, with no possibility of winning.

At this moment, Lord Xiao felt that it was simply a waste of time to compete with Yao Chuguang in cunning.

If you lose even after this, you can only accept it.

Xiao Ge Lao sighed sincerely: "I am narrow-minded. It turns out that Your Majesty has been prepared for this."

Yao Chuguang said, "Now that I have answered Lord Xiao's questions and resolved his doubts, let's get down to business!"

After years of serving as an official, Lord Xiao's intuition told him that something was wrong!

Is this heartless guy planning to set a trap for him again? What's the point of just answering his questions and resolving his doubts?

They just discussed the life and death of hundreds of thousands of people, how can it not be considered business?

Could it be that the real business to discuss is more than these hundreds of thousands?

Yao Chuguang seemed to see that Elder Xiao was puzzled, and smiled, "I just said so much, just to tell Lord Xiao that there is no need to worry about Fu Hongxuan's rebellion. I have cut off all his escape routes."

Yao Chuguang's implication was that as long as Fu Hongxuan was not mentally ill, he would not betray her.

Elder Xiao cursed in his heart, who cares about Fu Hongxuan, he is obviously most worried about his own well-being now.

Fu Hongxuan's situation was much better than his, because Yao Chuguang had only one request for Fu Hongxuan, which was not to rebel.

As long as Fu Hongxuan doesn't commit suicide, Yao Chuguang will basically not touch him.

But I'm different, damn it!

When I think about how I worked diligently day and night for this heartless thing a while ago.

In the end, they threw dirty water all over him. Who can he turn to for justice?

Fu Hongxuan watched the old man and the young man fighting with each other in a battle of wits and courage, and his fists clenched involuntarily. This woman Yao Chuguang was simply insane!

Plotting against him right in front of him, that’s not enough!

Fu Hongxuan knew that Yao Chuguang was telling the truth.

Damn it, because all the food and supplies that were used to check and balance him were escorted all the way to the imperial capital by him and his brothers to give to Yao Chuguang.

He sold himself!

At this moment, Fu Hongxuan just wanted to curse. This woman had endless ways of scheming against people.

You don't even know at which step she started to plot against you, and the most infuriating thing is that she even let you get involved.

Fu Hongxuan was shocked when he thought that Yao Chuguang had let him participate so openly, and that he could not find any way out except to follow Yao Chuguang's plan throughout the whole process.

Just say that he escorted An Tian to negotiate for food and supplies. It would be useless even if he ran away with the box of deeds.

Because he had no spices, the deeds were just a pile of waste paper in his hands.

As soon as they left, Yao Chuguang exchanged the food for spices, and no one knew where they transported them.

At this moment, Fu Hongxuan counted all the losses he had suffered since childhood, but none of them were as much as Yao Chuguang's.

Fu Hongxuan never thought of himself as a petty person.

If you lose, it’s because you are not as skilled as your opponent.

But every time Fu Hongxuan faced Yao Chuguang, he would be furious even if he lost.

He refused to accept the defeat, thinking it was unfair.