Dressed as the prince's substitute? I took the throne

Zhou Chuxuan clapped his hands nonchalantly. "If an enemy comes, we'll fight him. If a flood comes, we'll block it with earth! I never intended to cooperate with this so-called King of Wei!"

Even if he wanted to seize the Wu Dynasty, he wanted a safe and stable Wu Dynasty, not a Wu Dynasty that was torn apart by internal and external troubles!

"That gold..."

"What gold? I don't know, I haven't seen it! Have you seen it?" Zhou Chuxuan shrugged his shoulders. His rogue look made Murong Xue swallow a few times, and finally gave a thumbs up.

In the evening, Zhou Chuxuan's mansion once again welcomed an uninvited guest - Yang Li!

Murong Xue narrowed her eyes slightly, drew her sword directly from its sheath, and held it in front of Yang Li, looking at him vigilantly, with a look that seemed to want to cut him into pieces.

Yang Li, however, remained calm and unperturbed. Instead, he chuckled and said, "Your Highness, why don't you take care of General Murong? I'm really afraid that one day when you're not around, she'll pierce me with her sword!"

Zhou Chuxuan leaned against the door frame and sneered, "Your Highness, I think it would be better if General Murong beat you up. Maybe that would calm her down!"

"Cough cough!"

Yang Li coughed lightly to cover up his embarrassment: "Your Majesty, I came to you to discuss something important. Would you please let me go in first?"

Zhou Chuxuan didn't comment, just turned around and walked into the house.

Murong Xue followed Yang Li closely into the house. The room, which was not very spacious to begin with, was now filled with four people.

Su Qiaoer looked at Yang Li with a timid look and slowly stood up: "Your Highness, I'd better leave first!"

"No, Qiao'er, come back!" Zhou Chuxuan smiled, pulled Su Qiao'er back, and then looked at Yang Li: "Your Highness, if you have anything to say, please tell me quickly. I still need to sleep!"

"Haha, Your Highness goes to bed really early!" Yang Li laughed dryly, pulled out a chair and sat down, his face solemn and said: "Today, the King of Qi's special envoy came to see me, saying that I should cooperate with them in raising an army. If successful, the Wu Dynasty will be divided again!"

"Oh? So what? Your Highness the Crown Prince is here to drag me into this?" Zhou Chuxuan spread his hands and pretended to know nothing.

The corner of Yang Li's mouth twitched slightly. "Your Highness, you and I are allies now. Can't we share any news? The King of Qi's envoy came to see me, but the King of Wei's envoy didn't come to see you?"

"found!"

Zhou Chuxuan said neatly: "But, he was killed by me!"

"what?"

Yang Li was shocked and looked at Zhou Chuxuan in astonishment. "You killed him? He was the special envoy of the King of Wei? Do you know how many soldiers and horses the King of Wei has? No more, no less, a full 150,000!"

"If the King of Wei raises an army for revenge and Father is truly unable to resist, you will most likely be thrown out as a condition for a ceasefire!"

Zhou Chuxuan took a sip of tea and said softly, "So what if we have 150,000 soldiers? That damned special envoy of the King of Wei plotted against my people on my territory. Killing him is the least of my worries!"

"Your Highness, the situation in the Wu Dynasty is very delicate right now! The King of Qi and the King of Wei in the south both control large swathes of the southern region. If they raise an army, it's no exaggeration to say that half of the Wu Dynasty would fall immediately!"

Zhou Chuxuan looked at Yang Li in surprise: "That's right, Your Highness. You are not from the Wu Dynasty, but you know more about the Wu Dynasty than I do!"

Before this, he had no idea that the two vassal kings of the Wu Dynasty actually occupied half of the country.

"Your Majesty, please stop interrupting me all the time, okay?"

Yang Li said helplessly that the adult was not with him, and such an important thing happened in Wu Dynasty, so he could only try his best to find allies and then make countermeasures.

Zhou Chuxuan smiled softly. "Then, what can His Royal Highness the Crown Prince do by calling me here? I have no power or influence, and I don't have many men under my command. I can't resist the armies of the King of Wei and the King of Qi!"

"Shouldn't you go and discuss this matter with your father?"

Yang Li snorted softly, his voice low and hoarse, "Your Highness, even at this point, can't you see how our father treats us? He doesn't care who is the crown prince! All he wants is the stability of the Wu Dynasty and his own throne. Anyone who poses a threat to that will be ruthlessly eliminated!"

"The envoys of the King of Wei and the King of Qi have come to us. We might have already been discovered by him. In this case, even if we approach the Forbidden City, we will be regarded as treason. How can we still go to the emperor?"

Zhou Chuxuan leaned back in his chair, enjoying the comfort of Su Qiaoer's shoulder massage. "Your Highness, I feel like you're still a little overly worried. The King of Wei and the King of Qi are far away in the Southern Territory. How could they possibly reach the capital in a short time? Even if they did, there would be elite troops from the capital region to resist them. What does that have to do with us?"

"you!"

Yang Li stood up suddenly, looking at Zhou Chuxuan's lazy appearance with burning eyes, his brows furrowed deeper and deeper, and he didn't speak for a long time.

"Your Highness, I am sorry for the intrusion. Farewell!"

After Yang Li left, Zhou Chuxuan finally opened his eyes, his previously lazy gaze changing. "General Murong, immediately rush to the Fuling Army camp outside the city and tell General Han and General He that they must practice with their muskets and repeating crossbows day and night. In addition, I will allocate 500 taels of gold to them, all of which will be used to build heavy armor!"

"Yes!"

Zhou Chuxuan had tested it before and found that the heavy armor made with modern technology could not only resist arrows, but also block about 80% of the damage from muskets.

He has not yet told anyone about this iron-making technology. He plans to visit the gunpowder factory and the iron foundry tomorrow and pick out a few good ones to bring back.

"Your Majesty, I'll go boil some hot water for you to wash your feet!"

Su Qiao'er was about to go out with the basin when Zhou Chuxuan stopped her, "Qiao'er, you don't have to go! Don't go out for the next two days. If anything happens, I'll have General Murong handle it!"

Qiao'er blinked and said in confusion: "Your Highness, Qiao'er will be careful!"

Zhou Chuxuan smiled and said, "Qiao'er, be obedient and stay in the yard. When this storm is over, I will take you to the most prosperous market in the capital!"

"it is good!"

Su Qiaoer agreed obediently.

Not long after, Murong Xue arrived at the Fuling Army camp, conveyed Zhou Chuxuan's words to Han Bin, and handed them a box of gold.

Ma Sandao stared at the golden gold with wide eyes and couldn't help swallowing his saliva: "Your Highness is really generous! With so much gold, our military expenses will no longer be a problem!"

"This gold is not for you to use as military expenses. The prince said that he will bring people from the iron foundry to make heavy armor for you tomorrow!"

Han Bin weighed the gold, his eyes flickering with doubt: "Heavy armor?"