Chapter 927: Coming Out with Power (Part )

"This……"

Xunzhen's words implied something, which made Yuan Xiao and the other three's expressions change slightly. They looked at each other and the whole room was in an uproar.

"Humph!" Abaolu had long been dissatisfied with the weirdness of Lei Zhen and his men. Seeing Yuan Xiao's support, he could no longer suppress his anger and shouted, "What do you mean by 'suffering hardships'? What do you mean by 'being poor'? The Young Qin King has always been generous to you. He has granted almost all the requests made by the four prefectures in the capital. When has he ever let you suffer? Ask yourselves, for so many years, the Young Qin King has only been gracious and rewarding the four prefectures in the capital. When has he ever told you what to do? As the saying goes, 'raise an army for a thousand days and deploy it for a moment'. Now that the young lady has only asked you to do a few small things, you are complaining and grumbling in every possible way. What is your intention? If you have to refuse even trivial matters, how can you do big things for the Young Qin King in the future?"

"Abaolu, don't go too far!" Hong Si said angrily with a gloomy face, "According to what you said, have we all become pampered and lazy wastes? Have we become flies that see blood and tigers that devour sheep? Although you are a confidant of the Shao Qin King, you can't speak nonsense and slander us maliciously. Right now, we are doing our best to help you, but not only do you not appreciate it, but you throw dirty water on us. This is simply unreasonable? A gentleman can be killed but not humiliated. I will report this matter to the Shao Qin King and ask him to be fair!"

"What a 'help us do things'?" Xiao Yang sneered, "So in your mind, doing errands for the young lady is helping others. The young lady regards you as her own, but you regard her as an outsider..."

"This... was a slip of the tongue. Don't take my words out of context." Hong Si realized that he had made a mistake and quickly defended himself, "I never said that the eldest lady was an outsider..."

"You asked us not to quote you out of context, so why did you quote Abaolu out of context?" Xun Budao teased.

"I..." Faced with the unanimous voice of Xiao Yang and Xun Budao, Hong Si was unable to resist for a moment and subconsciously turned his gaze to Yuan Xiao beside him.

"The weather is dry, and people are very angry. Haha..." Yuan Xiao had no choice but to stand up. He first looked at Abaolu, who was livid, and Xiao Yang and Xun Budao, who shared the same hatred for the enemy, and then looked at Hong Si, who was indignant, and said righteously, "Brother Hong, what you said is indeed inappropriate, no wonder people ridicule you. What about 'love of leisure and hate of work', what about 'flies see blood', these shit pots were not mentioned by others, but you put them on your head. As for complaining to the young king of Qin, it is even more nonsense. The young king of Qin is busy with all kinds of affairs, how can he have the time to pay attention to these trivial matters?"

"But……"

"A real man should stand tall and upright, and admit his mistakes." Yuan Xiao interrupted Hong Si's sophistry and urged, "As long as you sincerely apologize to the young lady, I believe that with the young lady's tolerance, she will definitely not be angry with you."

"Brother Yuan, what you are saying is that this matter... is my fault for being reckless." Having said this, Hong Si, who was feeling indignant, bowed to Xunzhen and said angrily, "Miss, please be magnanimous. I was just angry for a moment..."

"It takes two to tango. You can't be blamed entirely on this. Abaolu also did something wrong." Xunzhen looked at Yuan Xiao, who "understood the greater good", and Hong Si, who "corrected his mistakes as soon as he knew them", with interest, and comforted them, "If you had been idle, how could we have the four prefectures in Shangjing today? It's not that the young Qin King didn't give you tasks to do, but the tasks he gave you can't see results overnight. It takes years and months to make a difference."

"It's still the young lady who sympathizes with our difficulties..."

"Mr. Yuan's analogy just now is very clever. If you only have 80 taels of silver a year, how can you force yourself to do business worth 100 taels?" Xunzhen interrupted Yan Shun's flattery carelessly, looking like he regretted his decision, and repeatedly blamed himself, "On the one hand, you helped me alleviate the urgent need, and on the other hand, you dare not slack off on what the King of Shao Qin told you to do. It's really a bit too much to ask you to tear down the east wall and repair the west wall. This matter is my fault for not thinking carefully and temporarily disrupting your plan. It's not your fault for being so flustered and dissatisfied."

"Miss, what you said makes us feel extremely terrified."

"Don't worry! Don't worry! I have learned a lesson this time, and I will take it as a warning. There is still a long time to come, and such misunderstandings will never happen again."

"hiss!"

When Xunzhen said this, everyone was stunned and looked shocked.

"Miss, what do you mean by 'there is a long way to go'?" Hong Si frowned and tried carefully, "Are you referring to Young Prince Qin or... Brother Liu?"

"Of course it's Liu Xunyi." Xunzhen replied, "Why would the Young King of Qin need to do this?"

"Liu..." Yan Shun subconsciously glanced at Liu Xunyi and said awkwardly, "Miss, do you mean... Brother Liu's matter is still unresolved?"

"Of course!" Xunzhen looked at Yuan Xiao who was hesitant to speak, and said hesitantly, "Could it be that Master Yuan didn't tell them what I meant?"

"How dare I disobey the young lady's order?" Yuan Xiao's eyes wandered, and his words were hesitant. "I have told everyone the young lady's order. During this period, we have overcome all difficulties and acted cautiously. However... Hero Liu has made too many enemies in the Central Plains. We overestimated our own abilities and underestimated the determination of those people to hunt down Hero Liu. Therefore, many things are far more difficult to do than we imagined. To date, except for the city of Shenzhou, which has been barely cleared, other places are in chaos. In a short period of time... it may be difficult to resolve."

"So?" Xunzhen's smile gradually faded, and a solemn look emerged between his brows. "How do you plan to deal with it?" "I am not very knowledgeable, and my words are not taken seriously. How dare I act smart in front of the young lady and Master Liu?" Yuan Xiao was embarrassed and said intermittently, "It's just that the situation outside the Great Wall has been in chaos, which is very unfavorable to us, the four prefectures in Shangjing, and even the young king of Qin. As far as I know, many people now secretly suspect that we and Master Liu have some secrets that cannot be revealed. More importantly, some wealthy sects in the Central Plains are no longer satisfied with listening to rumors and judging rain. Being led by the nose, they began to secretly make friends with local officials and gentry, spread their spies and gather information... As the saying goes, 'the greed of the people is like a snake swallowing an elephant'. Although these people usually take our benefits and pay us respect, no one can guarantee that they will not forget their loyalty and be two-faced. If someone can't resist the temptation and moves the whole body, then not only will the hero Liu be lost, but the four prefectures of Shangjing will be dragged into the quagmire. What worries me most is that the young king of Qin has invested countless efforts in the northeast and has worked hard for more than 20 years. If something goes wrong, all the previous efforts will be wasted..."

"Make friends with local officials, civilians and gentry?" Xunzhen immediately understood the point and asked calmly, "The four prefectures in Shangjing have the greatest influence and reputation in the Northeast. If outsiders want to make friends with them...the first thing they should think of is you."

"Miss, you are wise. The four prefectures in the capital have indeed received many visiting cards in the past few days. It is precisely because they have tried every means to get close to us, but we have always been indifferent, that people suspect that we are secretly colluding with Hero Liu."

At this point, Yuan Xiao couldn't help but sigh bitterly. Yan Shun, Lei Zhen, and Hong Si were also overwhelmed with emotions and at a loss as to what to do.

"Since Master Yuan has seen the pros and cons of this matter so clearly, why not come up with a good plan? How can we resolve the current chaos?"

"This……"

Faced with Xunzhen's "humbly seeking advice", Yuan Xiao, who had been talking eloquently, was suddenly speechless. Under the curious and suspicious gazes of everyone, he kept scratching his ears and sighing, seemingly at a loss as to what to do.

"In my opinion, the current chaos cannot be resolved by force. We can only wait for it to subside on its own." Lei Zhen suddenly interrupted.

"Wait for it to calm down on its own...what do you mean?"

"It's very simple. Arrange for Brother Liu to leave here as soon as possible, so that those Central Plains people who have been plotting so hard will end up with nothing. As long as they can't find Brother Liu's whereabouts, they will feel bored and will definitely go home. In this way, everything will return to its original state, and the chaos will gradually subside."

"That's right!" Hong Si seemed to agree with Lei Zhen's proposal and echoed, "The eldest lady ordered us to find out the whereabouts of Su He, 'Mobei's fastest sword'. Now Hong has found out something. Brother Liu can go to Mobei, first to find Su He, and second to avoid the limelight for a while..."

At this point, Hong Si was worried that Xunzhen and Liu Xunyi would misunderstand him as a coward, so he hurriedly added: "We are not afraid of being implicated by Brother Liu, but because those Central Plains people are in the limelight. If we confront them head-on now, we will inevitably hurt our own 800 while hurting the enemy 1,000. It is really not worth it. What's more, the four prefectures in Shangjing have always been calm and restrained, and they are afraid to avoid the grievances of the Central Plains martial arts world. We have been able to expand safely to this day because we have never waded into muddy waters, so as not to undermine the admonition of "keeping a low profile and accumulating strength for a sudden attack" set by the young Qin King."

"Is that what you mean?" Xunzhen cast a mysterious look at Yuan Xiao and Yan Shun.

Yuan and Yan looked at each other and answered vaguely: "Reporting to the eldest lady, we believe that no matter what the four prefectures in Shangjing do, they should put the cause of the young Qin prince first. All potential dangers that may endanger the young Qin prince should be avoided if possible..."

"I've said it before, we're all family, no one needs to hide anything. Since the four of you have already had this intention, you can just speak frankly, why go around in such a big circle?" Facing the echoes of Yuan Xiao and the other three, Xunzhen smiled instead of getting angry, "You don't have to start with 'Shao Qin Wang's important affairs' or 'Shao Qin Wang's instructions'. I know you are loyal to Shao Qin Wang, and I also know that every word you said today is from the public interest."

"Miss, please understand..."

"Don't be impatient. I haven't finished what I want to say." Xunzhen waved her jade hand and said meaningfully, "It's true that you are acting out of public interest, but I am not acting out of personal feelings. In the end, you just suspect that I acted on my own initiative and used the power of the four prefectures in Shangjing without telling the young king of Qin. Is that right?"

"This……"

"Don't be shy. I know what you are thinking and understand your concerns. You know that I am one of the people that Shao Qin Wang trusts the most, so you dare not disobey my orders, but you are also worried that if Shao Qin Wang is unaware of this matter, the four prefectures in Shangjing will rashly obey my orders. If something terrible happens, it may even cause irreversible consequences, and you will not be able to explain to Shao Qin Wang. Therefore, you are in a dilemma and just hope that this matter will be resolved as soon as possible without offending both sides." Xunzhen looked around at everyone and said quietly, "You are right to be cautious, but you are wrong to not trust me. I might as well tell you the truth. Since I dared to bring Liu Xunyi here openly, I must have obtained Shao Qin Wang's consent in advance. If you are suspicious of this, you can send a letter to the Western Regions to ask Shao Qin Wang for the reason."

"I dare not..."

"Since everyone has already understood this, I'll just get straight to the point." Xunzhen ignored the people who were thinking differently and were obedient, and said in an unquestionable tone, "For your proposal just now, I can answer clearly... No! You don't have to rush to draw a line between you and Liu Xunyi, and you don't have to worry about getting into trouble and being held accountable by the King of Shao Qin. All the consequences will be borne by me, Xunzhen, and the four prefectures in Shangjing will just follow my orders. I know you have been working hard for Liu Xunyi these days, and it's very hard, but our safe return to Shenzhou does not mean that the matter has been resolved. On the contrary, the fate of Liu Xunyi and the four prefectures in Shangjing... has just begun today."

……

(End of this chapter)