Your Majesty said that my life is worthless, so why are you crying when I increase my troops?

Cuiwei Tower.

Miss Shuiyue kept massaging her lower abdomen according to the acupoints Xia Mingyuan taught her, and the pain was relieved a lot.

At this moment, her brows were furrowed and her expression was a little dazed.

Thinking back to Xia Mingyuan's persuasion that day, he was struggling in his heart.

She knew in her heart that no matter whether she agreed to Xia Mingyuan or not, since she had already entered the brothel and was targeted by a nobleman like Geng Ruhuai, there was no way she could escape.

However, becoming a tool for others to sow discord is still too risky. The former will at most be toyed with by Geng Ruhuai for a few days and can still survive in this brothel in the future.

But if she chooses the latter, once the truth is revealed, death will be the only way waiting for her.

Tears welled up in Xu Shuiyue's eyes. She felt that her fate was like the weeds swaying in the wind, and she saw no hope.

"Miss Shuiyue, there are not many opportunities in life to change your destiny. Once you miss it, you may regret it for the rest of your life."

"If you choose my path and the plan succeeds, I, Xia Mingyuan, swear to heaven that I will never treat you unfairly. If the plan fails, your name will appear in future plays."

"I won't force you on this matter. You make your own choice."

Xia Mingyuan's voice echoed in her mind, and Xu Shuiyue felt as if she saw Xia Mingyuan's resolute face again.

"Forget it, just for those few massages, I might as well give it a try this time."

Xu Shuiyue gritted her teeth and finally made up her mind.

She stood up, pushed open the door, and walked resolutely to He Sanniang.

"Shuiyue, according to the date, your period should be over today."

"How about I help you consummate your marriage with Lord Geng tomorrow night? Even though it's your virginity, as a woman, this day will come sooner or later."

"This Lord Geng doesn't know you're a virgin yet. If he gets a surprise surprise someday, he might just wave his hand and reward you with a large sum of money."

He Sanniang held Xu Shuiyue's hand and comforted her softly.

"Mother, I understand." Xu Shuiyue lowered her head, trying hard not to let her tears fall. After a long while, she said, "Commander Xia left a message yesterday, asking me to send someone to look for him once I figure it out."

He Sanniang was stunned and asked in confusion, "Girl, what did Commander Xia want you to figure out? I'm telling you, don't do anything stupid."

"Whether it's Commander Xia or Mr. Geng upstairs, neither of them can afford to offend Cuiwei Tower. So please don't cause any trouble."

Xu Shuiyue just nodded but didn't say anything else.

Xia Mingyuan had told her not to let anyone know about this matter. Since the matter had to be kept secret, she naturally didn't dare to tell the loudmouthed He Sanniang.

When He Sanniang saw that Xu Shuiyue didn't answer, she was so angry that she was about to hit her, but when she thought that Xu Shuiyue might be involved with Xia Mingyuan, she stopped abruptly.

"Oh, I really invited back a group of living ancestors."

"Go back upstairs and wait. I'll send someone to notify them."

He Sanniang cursed a few words, waved her hand to call the turtle man, and told him to hurry and notify Xia Mingyuan.

Seeing this, Xu Shuiyue finally breathed a sigh of relief, thanked He Sanniang, and then went back upstairs.

……

On the other side, after listening to Xia Mingyuan's story, Pan Yue's eyes were full of horror, as if he was looking at a monster.

After a long time, he shuddered violently.

"Xia Mingyuan, you actually made up all those words just now, and you even calculated every step. You are such a terrifying person."

"I want to be your ally, but sooner or later you'll eat me until there's nothing left but bones and scraps."

"No, this matter is too serious. I should report it to the higher-ups as soon as possible."

"Just by reporting one merit, I can advance further in my position."

As he spoke, Pan Yue stood up from his seat and was about to leave in a hurry.

The smile on Xia Mingyuan's face slowly froze, "Pan Yue, did you get kicked in the head by a donkey?"

"You're going to report the Xu family. Do you have evidence?"

Pan Yue pointed at Chen Qing in the cell and said, "Isn't this a certified crime? He's the third in command of the Poison Dragon Gang. If we just hand him over, the higher-ups will definitely send someone to track him down."

"Childish!" Xia Mingyuan slammed the table and stood up, saying harshly, "I finally understand why you worked so hard to climb the ladder, only to end up as a captain in this tiny city of Hanyang."

"With your brain, the fact that you can sit in your current position is all thanks to the good deeds of your Pan family ancestors."

Pan Yue was stunned and looked at Xia Mingyuan with confusion.

"Xia Mingyuan, what do you mean?"

Xia Mingyuan sneered, "General Pan, I advise you to wake up. Back then, the Xu family did business with the border troops and were so ruthless and treacherous that they almost provoked a mutiny. Was their family punished?"

"In the end, all that happened was a few words of reprimand from the current emperor and a fine paid. Now you actually think a bandit leader can bring down the Xu family?"

"Based on your limited skills, I might as well tell you that the Xu family has a hundred ways to exonerate themselves, but in the end, they might even bite back and send you to prison, making it impossible for you to even be a thousand households!"

Pan Yue was shocked and stared at Xia Mingyuan blankly.

After a long while, he finally sighed and said helplessly: "But I'm afraid we can't bring down the Xu family just by ourselves."

"If we can report this matter and make the Xu family restrain themselves, the Poison Dragon Gang will no longer prey on the people."

Xia Mingyuan said calmly: "Your courage is commendable, but it's still too stupid."

"We can't touch the Xu family now, but can we still eradicate the Poison Dragon Gang? As long as we can eradicate the Poison Dragon Gang, the Xu family can only grit their teeth and endure it."

"Eradicate the Poison Dragon Gang?" Pan Yue smiled and shook his head. "Commander Xia, I know you made a bet at the county government office to wipe out the bandits within a month."

"But you really underestimate the Poison Dragon Gang. They have a total of 7,000 to 8,000 people, including 5,000 well-trained soldiers."

"There are no orders for the city defense camp to mobilize. Unless the Xiongnu come knocking on the gate, I cannot mobilize more than ten men to join the battle."

"Even if you have soldiers, they are only a mere 2,000. Even if they are all brave, the Poison Dragon Gang is located in the narrow gap of Poison Dragon Mountain. The stronghold there is easy to defend but difficult to attack. One man can hold the pass against ten thousand."

"Without ten times the number of troops, it's simply a pipe dream to uproot them!"

Xia Mingyuan smiled and did not argue with Pan Yue.

"Master Pan, in my eyes, the Poison Dragon Gang is nothing more than a mob. They are not as evil as you say."

"As long as you do as I say, we can take advantage of the fact that the Poison Dragon Gang and the Xu family are secretly communicating with each other, and then we can destroy most of their combat power without having to spend a single soldier."

Pan Yue's expression froze when he heard this.

He hesitated for a long time before finally speaking through gritted teeth: "Then tell me, how can we use this to take action against the Poison Dragon Gang!"