Settling Down Blindly

Shen Tang gasped.

Only now did she understand why Qi Shan looked so grim.

Who could endure such a profound humiliation?

"A defeated royal family leading their officials in surrender is an honor the victor should enjoy. I doubt the ruler of Xin Kingdom would resist, no matter how unwilling. But Zheng Qiao... has he gone mad?"

Qi Shan sneered, "I think he's unwilling to accept it..."

He wanted to repay the humiliation he suffered in Xin Kingdom tenfold, a hundredfold, and have Xin Kingdom nailed to the pillar of historical shame.

Shen Tang said angrily, "This is too despicable!"

The word "despicable" alone wasn't enough to describe Zheng Qiao's madness. Shen Tang felt he was malicious, narrow-minded, and disgusting.

What does it mean to surrender with bound hands and a jade pendant in one's mouth?

Simply put, it's binding one's hands behind their back and holding a piece of jade in their mouth. In funeral customs, people believed that jade in the mouth could prevent the body from decaying and also signify the deceased's noble status. This was a way to surrender to the victor.

In practice, one would generally bare their upper body, signifying they carried no weapons, and also symbolizing being a "lamb to the slaughter," entrusting their lives to the victor's mercy, to be killed or tortured as they pleased.

And now, Zheng Qiao forced the ruler of Xin Kingdom to abdicate to the Princess—a woman without Literary Heart or Martial Gall, and the sole daughter of the ruler of Xin Kingdom—making her bare her body, publicly hand over the letter of surrender, the seals of office, the household registry, and the national treasury.

This undoubtedly trampled the dignity of the Xin Kingdom's people underfoot, leaving no room for recovery.

Qi Shan sneered, staring at the tea bowl in his hand. It took immense self-control not to crush it. He took several deep breaths to calm the volcanic rage surging within him. "He grew up in the deep palace, a favored concubine who only knew how to use her beauty to please. What kind of 'gentlemanly' methods and magnanimity can you expect from him? If he can't obtain the National Seal of Xin Kingdom, the profits from this war will be halved. With Zheng Qiao's temperament, he certainly won't let it go..."

Hearing the words "National Seal" again, Shen Tang's eyelids twitched slightly. "A person like that won't be able to hold onto his empire."

Qi Shan had previously predicted that if Zheng Qiao didn't die within five years, Geng Country would be destroyed. This "prediction" now seemed conservative.

Given Zheng Qiao's current brutality and cruelty, whether he could even last three years was a big question mark.

He had also set a terrible precedent—

Allowing his soldiers to commit atrocities, burn, kill, and plunder.

Military discipline and loyalty are difficult to cultivate but easy to shatter.

Outside the tea house, a Geng Country soldier saw that the proprietress was quite attractive and harbored wicked thoughts. They exchanged glances and deliberately asked the proprietress to serve them tea. During the process, they touched her hands, hugged her waist, and some even tried to pucker up and kiss her, scaring the proprietress half to death, causing her to shriek in terror, while the soldiers laughed heartily.

"Sir soldier, sir soldier..."

The tea house owner tried to step forward to help his wife, but he was slapped across the face, his cheek quickly becoming red and swollen.

"Get lost! You're ruining my mood, are you looking for death?"

Crack—

Qi Shan looked down at Shen Tang's hand.

The tea bowl in her hand had been crushed by her fingers.

Fortunately, Young Master Shen didn't slam the table in anger or rush out. Instead, she said with a cold face, "If he can't restrain his troops with strict military discipline, these blades that fought for Zheng Qiao and served his will will, sooner or later, turn on him because their desires are not satisfied. They will resent Zheng Qiao, and ultimately—kill their master."

Qi Shan heard this and looked up into Shen Tang's eyes.

It was a completely instinctive action.

Her gaze was too calm.

So calm it made him suspect she was looking at a group of dying ants. The thought flashed through his mind, and Qi Shan momentarily lost himself. He used the action of drinking tea to cover a subtle emotion. "But before that happens, who knows how many innocent civilians and wise individuals will perish... Alas, the situation is like this... Young Master Shen, what can you and I do? We can only be spectators."

"Yuanliang."

Qi Shan's eyebrows shot up.

Although Young Master Shen always addressed him as "Mr. Qi" or "Sir," which sounded respectful, he could tell whether the respect was genuine or perfunctory. It was the "Qi Yuanliang" that slipped out in anger earlier that felt more real.

Now, calling him "Yuanliang" directly...

He didn't feel offended; in fact, he felt a sense of anticipation.

"What is it?"

Shen Tang sat down, controlling herself from paying attention to the commotion outside the tea house. Those soldiers were only taking liberties and flirting for now. Plus, they had prisoners to escort, so they probably wouldn't do anything more excessive. If she jumped out to "fight for justice," she would only bring trouble upon herself.

Therefore, she could only use other things to distract herself and suppress the feeling of helplessness that she could do nothing.

"I'm curious, who exactly are you?"

Qi Shan knew too much.

Furthermore, his appearance was too coincidental.

How high did Shen Tang's luck stat need to be to encounter such an omniscient and formidable person after starting in hell?

Unexpectedly, Qi Shan countered with a question, kicking the ball back.

"Before answering that question, shouldn't Young Master Shen also reveal your true identity? That would show sincerity."

And why did she have the National Seal!

He didn't ask this last question aloud, however, because he believed that with Young Master Shen's cunning, she would understand his unspoken words—

Perhaps this was the tacit understanding between them.

Shen Tang: "..."

There was no point asking her this question.

If she had a safety net and the memories of the body's owner, would she still need to stay by Qi Shan's side, probing for information?

"Who does Yuanliang think I am?"

Shen Tang used a versatile, evasive tactic.

Playing dumb and acting mysterious? She could do that too!

Unexpectedly, after she spoke, Qi Shan fell silent. His gaze was so complex she couldn't see through it. He suddenly sighed, "I thought... that's right, Shen, your surname is Shen!"

Whatever he thought of, his expression suddenly cleared up!

Shen Tang was utterly confused, three question marks popping up above her head. But she couldn't lose face: "My surname is Shen, doesn't Yuanliang already know? The Literary Heart doesn't lie, unless I have Yuanliang's ability to disguise myself."

But--

So what if her surname was Shen?

In the next sentence, Qi Shan rendered her speechless.

"If that's the case, is the young master 'Gong Cheng'?"

Shen Tang: "..."

Who was Gong Cheng???

She suddenly really wanted to know what Qi Shan had imagined this time.

Qi Shan continued speaking to himself, his gaze locked onto Shen Tang, and brought up a scandal: "The ruler of Xin Kingdom is lustful and extremely heartless towards women. Perhaps it's retribution; for many years, he only had one daughter, the Princess. However, his affection for the Princess was far less than his affection for Gong Cheng, the legitimate son of the Gong Clan. Someone once suggested to him that Gong Cheng become the Princess's husband, but the ruler sternly rebuked him and even demoted the suggester... Thus, there are rumors in the marketplace..."

Shen Tang automatically filled in the blank: "You mean--the ruler of Xin Kingdom planted a whole field of green on the head of the Gong Clan's patriarch? No, I mean he slept with the Gong Clan patriarch's wife?"

Was Gong Cheng the ruler of Xin Kingdom's son???

Had the Gong Clan patriarch been a cuckold for many years???

Wait--

Shen Tang suddenly froze for a moment, and it took her a long while to react.

She looked at her Literary Heart, then at Qi Shan, whose eyes were filled with "I've seen through your secret," and almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

She asked, her voice trembling slightly, "The surname of the Xin royal family is..."

Qi Shan said, "Shen."

Qi Yuanliang's imagination was vast, but the truth was