Female-dominated society: My husband is clingy and I can't shake him off

Chu Xiaohuan frowned as he looked at the bloodstains on the envelope. He subconsciously wiped the bloodstains with his hand, but the bloodstains had already dried.

After much hesitation, he gently tore open the envelope, which contained a negotiation document sent by Great Britain.

According to the diplomats, everything had been settled.

But that night, as he passed the diplomats' tents at the military camp where he was stationed, he saw diplomats talking to people from the United Kingdom.

Although they were far apart and I don't know what they were talking about, their private meeting must have meant something shady.

So he secretly took out the British negotiation documents, intending to send them to Kyoto so that the Queen could have them re-translated.

He sneaked out of the military camp under the cover of night, but was discovered by the diplomat and her men.

So he was chased all the way to this mountain.

He should have been a general fighting on the battlefield, but because he was just a man, he was looked down upon by the soldiers in the army. After finally establishing his authority, his power was undermined by a series of actions by diplomats.

Therefore, he has no choice but to go to Kyoto himself, otherwise the country will fall into war.

He carefully took out the negotiation document, and only felt relieved when he saw that the bloodstains had not stained the words.

At this moment, Li Mo'er quietly stood behind him, looked at the words on the paper, and murmured, "English?"

Unexpectedly, Britain was just that Great Britain. She was completely illiterate when reading the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's text, but when reading the British text, she could only be considered semi-illiterate.

After all, although her English wasn't good, she still knew quite a few words.

As Li Mo'er read, she kept nodding. There weren't many unfamiliar words, and she could understand the general meaning.

"Our village is going to become British territory?"

When Li Mo'er saw that the United Kingdom was demanding that Los Angeles be ceded to them, she couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

Upon hearing this, Chu Xiaohuan immediately turned to look at Li Mo'er.

"You...can you understand it?"

Chu Xiaohuan asked in a hoarse voice, now he could barely make a sound.

Li Mo'er quickly shook her head, "I don't understand."

Seeing Li Mo'er's reaction, Chu Xiaohuan became even more puzzled. She clearly understood, so why did she say she didn't?

Could she be from Great Britain?

Thinking of this, Chu Xiaohuan's eyes revealed danger. He quickly reached out and grabbed Li Mo'er's neck, gradually increasing the force.

"Cough, cough..."

Li Mo'er quickly patted his hand, signaling him to let go, as she was about to suffocate.

Her face turned bright red, and all her strength was gradually draining away. Just as she was about to see her great-grandmother, Chu Xiaohuan let go of her hand.

Li Mo'er sat on the ground, breathing heavily. When she saw Chu Xiaohuan, she immediately stepped back. The pain in her neck was still there, and she hadn't forgotten the feeling of suffocation.

No wonder Su Yanli told her that safety was the most important thing; she never expected that she would save such an ungrateful person.

Chu Xiaohuan noticed Li Mo'er's fear and handed her the negotiation document. "What does this say?"

His tone was much gentler, but it made Li Mo'er feel even more dangerous. This person was extremely mentally unstable and could go crazy at any time, trying to strangle her.

She didn't speak, but just sat quietly in the distance, watching.

Chu Xiaohuan knew he had frightened her, so he stuffed the negotiation paper into an envelope and threw it not far from Li Mo'er.

"I was offended just now, but this concerns our country, so please help me take a look, my wife."

Even while lying down, Chu Xiaohuan still managed to bow to Li Mo'er with great effort to show his sincerity.

When it comes to the nation, everything else is trivial.

Li Mo'er noticed the anxiety in his eyes, so she carefully took the envelope and quickly returned to where she had been.

"Hmm... It says on this that we should cede land to him, and he will give us gold."

Li Mo'er summarized the long passage into just these two sentences; she couldn't understand the other more sophisticated sentences.

"Which parts did they want to cut?"

Based on this information, Chu Xiaohuan was completely certain that the diplomat had betrayed them.

She even told herself that the United Kingdom only asked them to provide some animals like cattle and sheep, as well as crops, and to teach them how to grow them each year.

There was absolutely no mention of the need to cede territory.

Li Mo'er paused for a moment, then began to look at the words one by one, "Luocheng, Maocheng, and Yancheng seem to be there too."

Li Mo'er wiped away the non-existent sweat from her forehead. Fortunately, these were all pinyin, which she could recognize.

Afraid that Chu Xiaohuan would ask her something else, she quickly put the negotiation agreement into an envelope and threw it back to him.

Chu Xiaohuan didn't speak, his teeth grinding together, he actually wanted so many places in their country.

Even Yancheng, a major salt-producing area, is where 80 percent of the salt in the entire Celestial Empire is transported.

Because Yancheng is located by the sea, it has a relatively mature salt production industry and is the richest place in the entire country except for Beijing.

I never imagined that the United Kingdom had such great ambitions, actually wanting to seize control of the Celestial Empire's lifeline.

Hearing the sound of clenched teeth and the cracking of Chu Xiaohuan's joints from clenching his fist too tightly, Li Mo'er felt a chill run down her spine.

She only wanted to change his dressing, but she almost lost her life.

She no longer wanted to meddle, so she tiptoed slowly closer to the cave entrance, intending to slip away.

The Li Mo'er at this moment is completely incomparable to the Li Mo'er who was so cruel to Wang Xian that night. If Li Lin were here, he would doubt whether this was really her.

So cowardly, so indecisive, so afraid of death.

“My surname is Lin, and I am a soldier. The general ordered me to deliver this letter to the capital, but I was attacked on the way and ended up here injured. I am grateful to you for saving me, madam.”

Chu Xiaohuan concealed his real surname, since the surname Chu is not common in China, and given that he was in the military, it was easy to guess who he was.

So he forged an identity.

Upon hearing this, Li Mo'er froze in her tracks as she moved away.

She knew she should abandon him and run away, but hearing the helplessness and sorrow in his voice, she couldn't help but stop.

"My name is Qian Duoduo, and I'm just an ordinary farmer."

When Li Mo'er heard Qian Duoduo's name, she felt a sense of unfamiliarity, as if an eternity had passed.

Facing Chu Xiaohuan, Li Mo'er dared not completely trust him; she only felt sympathy for him.

She gave him her real name, partly because she was afraid he would find her in Lijia Village, and partly because she wanted to get to know other people again under her original name.

Chu Xiaohuan was somewhat surprised to hear her say her name. Shouldn't she know the meaning of telling others her name? Or was it all a lie, just like his?

Li Mo'er didn't bring up the English topic herself; she didn't know how to explain it. Chu Xiaohuan didn't ask either; he was still confused about Li Mo'er telling him her full name.