Princess Promotion

Yao Chuguang licked the wine stains on her lips. Her fair skin made the scarlet color look seductive and charming. Her eyes were full of charm and she smiled.

Liu Rushi snuggled in Yao Chuguang's arms, her eyes blurred and her two white jade hands wrapped around Yao Chuguang's neck.

Liu Rushi picked up a grape, propped herself up, and fed it to Yao Chuguang on her shoulders.

Just then, Yan Yunfan pushed open the door and walked in.

His originally calm face instantly became one of astonishment, his eyes widened, his mouth slightly opened, and he was speechless for a moment.

Yan Yunfan has been trained as an heir since he was a child, and the things he usually comes into contact with are all highbrow literature and the teachings of sages.

No one dared to be rude in front of him. Yan Yunfan knew what Baihua Tower was and had been to those brothels before.

But no one dared to play freely in front of him, so in Yan Yunfan's impression, although the business done in the brothel was shameful, at least there was still a layer of fig leaf.

At least they closed the door when doing these dirty things, which was something Yan Yunfan did not expect.

The room was full of women, but the charming atmosphere made people blush.

Yan Yunfan suddenly remembered that Zhou Hui once told him that the Black Widow was not picky about food and that anyone, male or female, who caught her eye would be a guest of honor.

Looking around, Yan Yunfan saw a familiar face. Su Wan'er was curled up in the corner, seemingly having been severely ravaged. Her face was covered with lip balm, and she was holding her collar tightly, huddled in the corner.

Yan Yunfan's face was unfriendly, and his voice became deeper as he said, "Miss An, you're having fun."

Yao Chuguang's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he smiled flatteringly, "Not bad!"

Yan Yunfan's slightly furrowed brows tightened even further as he said, "What we want to discuss doesn't seem suitable for so many people to be present."

Yan Yunfan made up his mind that if this woman kept these brothel girls, he would turn around and leave. There was no need to cooperate with such a person.

Yao Chuguang pinched Liu Rushi's cheek and said, "Take the girls out to play first, and I'll find you later."

Liu Rushi stood up reluctantly, asked the girl in the room to leave, and closed the door.

Although Yan Yunfan's face remained calm, his tone was filled with obvious hostility as he said, "Miss An, you are in such a good mood. I thought you had forgotten that you were here to discuss business."

Yao Chuguang didn't rush to refute, but asked seriously, "Your Highness, do you want to have fun first and talk later?"

Yan Yunfan clenched his fist tightly under his wide sleeves and told himself to be patient. "Let's get straight to the point!"

Yao Chuguang sighed, and said with a look of regret, "What I want to discuss with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince this time is the word 'interest'."

Seeing that Yao Chuguang didn't ramble on, Yan Yunfan's expression brightened a little and said, "Let's talk about the benefits first!"

Yao Chuguang spoke calmly, "In three days, Yan State will hand over all its troops and land tax accounts. Your Highness, the Crown Prince, will be responsible for this matter in Yan State, while Fu Hongxuan and Elder Xiao will be responsible for this in Qi State."

Yan Yunfan instantly understood what this woman wanted to do. She wanted to take advantage of the handover between the two countries to seize some land and property and make huge profits from it.

Merchants often use "rich enough to rival a country" to describe their wealth, but have they ever truly become as rich as a country?

The State of Yan was famous for its grain production and abundant products all year round, so one can imagine how rich it was.

Even if a little leaks through the fingers, it is the wealth accumulated by a prosperous family through decades of hard work.

Yao Chuguang swirled the wine in his glass and said, "All I want is for Your Highness to change the amount of fertile land recorded in the records. I'll take care of the rest."

Yan Yunfan sneered. This woman really has a big appetite.

She cut off a large amount of land from the source, turning it into hidden land and making it her private property from then on.

Because these lands are not registered, they do not even have to pay taxes.

It can be said that this matter is extremely risky, but the benefits are also extremely high.

If this thing succeeds, even if An Tian's property is confiscated and she is deposed, as long as she is alive, she will be able to enjoy wealth and prosperity forever.

"This is not difficult for me! But why should I help you?" Yan Yunfan spoke again in a calm tone.

As he said, gold, silver and money are just data to people like him.

The King of Yan surrendered wisely, and the Queen of Qi had to treat the Yan royal family well no matter what the reason was.

As long as they behave themselves, they will surely enjoy wealth and glory in this life.

Yao Chuguang glanced sideways nonchalantly, tapping the wine glass lightly with her slender index finger as she spoke, "Since I dare to propose this condition, I can naturally offer something that will tempt His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

Yan Yunfan pondered this sentence carefully. To be honest, there weren't many chips in this world that could make him excited.

Yan Yunfan's breathing stagnated, and he felt a chill down his spine at the thought that flashed through his mind.

She lowered her eyes to hide the emotions in her eyes, and couldn't help but doubt, is this woman really so brave?

Yao Chuguang uttered a number in a calm voice: "One hundred thousand!"

Yan Yunfan was shocked, but his expression became calmer. He asked as if he didn't care much, "It's a good idea, but do you have the ability to do it?"

For someone like Yan Yunfan who has money but no power, the greatest attraction is military power.

For Yan Yunfan, having no army is like meat on the chopping board, at the mercy of others.

But his current sensitive identity means that the empress will never allow him to have his own private army.

Originally, Yan Yunfan had no intention of handing over all his troops to the State of Qi.

But firstly, the time is short, and secondly, the Qi State is not just sitting there doing nothing.

The operation is very difficult, and Yan Yunfan can only hide tens of thousands at most with his own ability.

Otherwise, he would not have resorted to any means to try to win over Fu Hongxuan, the commander of the Qi army.

This woman must have guessed that he was planning to station troops.

Yan Yunfan was not surprised that his thoughts were guessed by others.

After all, it was normal for him to have this idea. Not to mention that this woman could guess it, even the empress suspected that he had this idea.

That's why the empress left behind Fu Hongxuan and Xiao Chengen, the civil and military ministers, to be in charge of the handover matters.

Although Fu Hongxuan and Xiao Chengen were respectively responsible for the handover of military and land affairs.

But the two of them also restrained each other. For example, when the number of troops to be handed over was small, there had to be someone from Lord Xiao supervising.

After counting the number of people, Lord Xiao must also sign and stamp it to confirm that it is okay.

Similarly, Lord Xiao must also have Fu Hongxuan’s signature and seal.

They supervise each other, and as long as one of them notices something wrong, they will report it immediately without any room for maneuver.

Moreover, these two candidates are also subtle. They can be said to be representatives of the new elite and the old party in the court.

Even though the Empress was around, no one dared to cause any trouble openly.

But if they can find someone's mistake in secret, they will definitely not hold back to drag the other party down with them.

If you want to take advantage of the loophole, you have to find a way to win over these two people at the same time and make them your helpers.

But how easy is it to achieve this?

These two people are not easy to deal with. They each have strong strength and background. If we cannot find the right methods and strategies, we will not get their support and cooperation at all.

There is even a high possibility that you will be betrayed by people from both sides.

The reason is simple. When you offer to bribe one of the parties, they will definitely refuse on the grounds that the other party may notice.

If you claim that the other party has been bribed, they will most likely agree on the surface, but then turn around and report you to the empress in order to gain credit and take the opportunity to eliminate their competitors.

The fact that this woman dared to propose this condition showed that she had already dealt with Fu Hongxuan.

The question now is how this woman plans to deal with Lord Xiao. You know, Lord Xiao has been keeping an eye on Fu Hongxuan.

Yao Chuguang took a sip of wine and said indifferently, "It's very simple. Repair the plank road in the open while secretly crossing Chencang."

Yan Yunfan said nothing, ready to see how this woman would deal with Lord Xiao.

Yao Chuguang's expression was cold, and his voice was indistinguishable from his emotions as he said, "Grand Master Xiao is only responsible for inspecting the number of troops, but he has no right to inquire about where these people will eventually be dispersed."

Yan Yunfan looked calm, but his heart was filled with turbulent waves.

Yan Yunfan had thought about this method, but it involved great risks. How could he ensure that the troops that joined the Qi army could eventually evacuate intactly?

You have to know that these are not a few hundred or a few thousand people, but tens of thousands. Once they enter the Hou Qi army, they are likely to be dispersed.

Do we really have to search for the missing people one by one?

If they were not dispersed, it would be impossible for Lord Xiao not to notice that an army of 100,000 people suddenly broke away from the main force since he is not blind.

This method is very risky and can easily lead to failure.

Yan Yunfan lowered his eyes and asked casually, "How do you ensure that my troops incorporated into the Qi army can leave smoothly?"

Yao Chuguang curled her lips and explained leisurely, "Your troops don't need to join the Qi army. The Yan army has a total of 600,000 troops. Your Highness, you only need to contribute 500,000. I have a way to make up the remaining 100,000."

Yao Chuguang pulled out a sheepskin map and pointed to the road they had planned to take into Yan territory. "This is our Chencang," he said. "There are hills on both sides of this road. If an army were to pass through here, we could simply set up an ambush there and inflict casualties on more than half of the troops."

"We chose this route because it was the shortest way to enter Yan territory. However, if we find signs of an ambush on this hillside, Fu Hongxuan will have a legitimate reason to change the route and take a detour into Yan territory."

As Yao Chuguang's plan unfolded step by step, Yan Yunfan's heartbeat became faster and faster.

Yao Chuguang pointed to the route along the coast and said, "Even though the army has chosen a detour, they can't possibly abandon their original route. After all, the possibility of an ambush is also a possibility."

"Your Majesty must test whether the King of Yan has truly surrendered, or whether this is all a show, designed to lure the Qi army in and then shut the door on them."

"Next, Fu Hongxuan will send an army of 100,000 men along this route. If this force is attacked, it will mean that the King of Yan is feigning surrender, and we will go to war directly."

"If not, then these 100,000 troops will first arrive in Yan territory and wait to join the main force, which will not cause any losses to the Qi army."

Yao Chuguang tilted his head and spoke slowly, "The original plan was that the Yan army would directly hand over 400,000 troops at the border, and upon arriving in Yan territory, they would hand over the remaining 200,000 imperial guards."

Yao Chuguang withdrew his hand and said slowly, "We'll tell the public that we're sending 100,000 troops to separate from the main force, but the actual force will be 200,000."

Yan Yunfan followed up on Yao Chuguang's words and said, "Because they're taking the shortcut, the 100,000-man advance team will definitely reach Yan territory first. By then, the 100,000 troops from various locations will change their clothes, and together with the 100,000 imperial guards in Yan territory, there will be 200,000."

Yao Chuguang added, "Even if Elder Xiao investigates, he can only find out the food and fodder consumed by the 100,000-man army. Therefore, the Crown Prince will need to prepare the food and fodder needed for the 100,000 troops himself."

If Yan Yunfan hadn't cared about his image as a master, he would have just clapped his thigh and cheered.

This method is very feasible. First, they deliberately set up a maze on the straight road to make the people of Qi suspect that there is a trap on the road. To be on the safe side, they have to take a detour.

But they also had to confirm whether Yan State was feigning surrender, so the troops had to take this route as planned.

At this time, it was announced that 100,000 people were sent, but in fact there were 200,000 people, who took a shortcut and arrived in Yan before the main force.

This is equivalent to 100,000 people registering twice.

Moreover, this method also solved the biggest trust issue between them from the root.

It's like I originally had sixty taels of silver, and I gave it all to you. Then whether you would return me ten taels of silver in the end depends entirely on your mood.

I had sixty taels of silver, and I gave you forty taels of silver. You returned me ten taels of silver, and I gave you another twenty taels of silver.

This way I always have ten taels of silver in my pocket. Even if you want to break the contract halfway, the one who breaks the contract will suffer the greatest loss.

Yan Yunfan hesitated for a moment, then asked in a low voice, "I only have one question now. You contributed the least to this whole thing, but you gained the most. Fu Hongxuan took the biggest risk, so what's his reward?"

Yao Chuguang finished the last glass of wine in the jug and said, "First, this idea was mine. It doesn't mean the more effort you put in, the greater the reward. If that's what you said, then it should be Fu Hongxuan who sits on the throne, not Yao Chuguang."

"Secondly, although Fu Hongxuan's income is smaller, it's definitely not small. The army has lost 100,000 mouths, but the military budget will not be reduced. If there is a war, the casualties can be appropriately consumed. At the same time, he can also get a lot of pensions for the fallen generals."

"These extra 100,000 quotas are like a hen that continuously lays golden eggs in Fu Hongxuan's hands."

Finally, Yao Chuguang said with a warning in his tone, "Your Highness, I advise you not to be too greedy. If you feel like it, you can kick me out and work directly with Fu Hongxuan."

Yan Yunfan stared at Yao Chuguang and asked instead of answering, "What if Fu Hongxuan wanted to kick you out and directly cooperate with me?"

Yao Chuguang dragged out his words and said slowly, "What else can I do? I'll naturally complain to His Majesty!"

Yan Yunfan frowned slightly, and a hint of cold murderous intent flashed across his eyes.

Yao Chuguang said in a rather nasty tone, "You're not trying to silence someone, are you? I advise you not to do that, because I wrote the letter before I came here. If I die or disappear, that letter will appear on your Majesty's desk the next moment."

The hostility in Yan Yunfan's eyes faded, and he smiled and said, "How could that be? I hope we can have a pleasant cooperation."

Yao Chuguang looked Yan Yunfan up and down with a half-smile in her eyes. Yan Yunfan felt uncomfortable with this explicit look, as if he was being stripped off piece by piece.

Yao Chuguang looked straight at Yan Yunfan, stretched out a finger and made circles on the table, saying ambiguously: "Your Highness, if you feel that what I asked for is too much, it is not impossible to ask for less. How about staying with me tonight~"

Yan Yunfan's face darkened, and he said coldly, "No need. Goodbye!"

After saying that, Yan Yunfan flicked his sleeves and left, not wanting to stay for a moment.

Seeing this, Yao Chuguang shouted, "Your Highness, please don't regret this!"

As soon as he finished shouting, Yan Yunfan walked faster as if there was a ferocious beast behind him!