Princess, We'd Better Run Now!
Zhao Lili was no pushover either; when her stronghold suddenly disappeared, she felt things were spiraling out of control.
Fortunately, she knew many people, and she found Divine Calculator ranked 18th on the Jianghu Alliance Earth Ranking to tell her fortune.
Goodness, you wouldn't believe it until you calculate it!
It turns out that Zhou Wanwan was behind all of these things.
She was furious and wanted to get revenge, but the Divine Calculator's divination indicated that even he was no match for Zhou Wanwan.
She was furious. In the end, the Divine Calculator even advised her to stay away from Zhou Wanwan, saying that the safest place now was actually the Great Qi Imperial Palace.
She was speechless.
In fact, she and the Emperor of Great Qi were old acquaintances. The Emperor of Great Qi had wanted to take her as a concubine before, but she refused.
Now she has no choice but to accept it.
Zhou Wanwan won't have it easy either. The Emperor of Great Qi Great Qi completely infatuated with her, so she directly ordered him to send troops to capture Yanmen Pass.
Zhou Wanwan felt that her good days had only lasted a few days before they came to an end.
War is a very troublesome thing.
There are too many things to consider.
Zhou Wanwan summoned some ministers to discuss countermeasures.
Shen Chaoge said, "I find it strange that we didn't use soldiers from the border this time."
Zhou Wanwan nodded and said, "It seems the Emperor of Great Qi came prepared. I think the Great Qi army shouldn't go back, lest they be wiped out."
General Who Proclaims Might said:
"I also felt this was unusual; logically, we border guards should have been notified immediately."
But it's a bit strange that they're just bypassing us now.
Zhou Wanwan said calmly:
"This shows that the Emperor of Great Qi doesn't trust you anymore. But it doesn't really matter. If they hadn't come, I wouldn't have been able to attack Great Qi!"
"Our place is too small now, just Yanmen Pass and a few cities. It doesn't look like a country at all!"
General Who Proclaims Might nodded and said, "Yes, yes, that makes sense. I think if we were a country, this country would be far too small."
Zhao Muyuan looked at Zhou Wanwan and said, "We've almost finished developing these cities, so we can definitely expand outwards now."
Zhou Wanwan nodded seriously. She had been busy with the construction of these cities recently.
Every town is doing quite well now, not only with estates, but also with restaurants, teahouses, and everything else you could need.
But it cost her a lot of money.
All of this initial infrastructure work was funded by Zhou Wanwan.
Fortunately, Zhou Wanwan was wealthy; the money she had accumulated in the early stages was enough for her to build several cities.
Zhou Wanwan looked at the bills and her lips twitched. "Eight cities, do they really need to spend so much silver?"
Zhao Muyuan said:
"Of course it is necessary. All these border cities need to be repaired and reinforced."
Actually, we used materials from the cities of the Great Qi Kingdom in many places, and then we renovated them.
Zhou Wanwan nodded and said:
"That's good, that's good. We should avoid using our own things if possible, as the expenses are just too high."
It cost me several million taels of silver in a month. If I weren't so good at making money, I would have collapsed long ago.
Zhao Muyuan sighed and said, "Our national treasury is empty right now, we really should think of a way. Relying on farming like this is just too slow."
Zhou Wanwan nodded and said:
"Yes! The national treasury is empty, so why should I build my own city and country?"
In fact, I could easily have usurped the throne, and of course I have the ability to do so.
However, if one plots to usurp the throne, firstly, it will damage one's reputation, and secondly, I always feel that such a move is baseless.
What I want is a country that truly belongs to me, a city that truly belongs to me, only then can I feel a sense of belonging.
Look at all those prestigious families in the capital, and then there's Noble Consort Ning.
It will be very difficult for us to establish ourselves in the capital.
Zhao Muyuan nodded and said, "You've indeed considered things quite comprehensively. At first, I thought you came to the border for training, but now I realize you've been looking for an opportunity."
Zhou Wanwan said:
"Yes, actually our foundation is still too shallow. It's not so easy to deal with a country."
Moreover, I am a woman, and of course, I didn't understand my own meaning.
I just feel that gaining everyone's approval, support, and genuine respect is not an easy thing.
Zhao Muyuan looked at Zhou Wanwan and said, "Yes, I think your analysis makes a lot of sense."
Zhou Wanwan said:
"Just like the generals of the Great Qi, the generals of the Mobei Uyghur, and the generals of the Western Rong Kingdom, all of these people were defeated and subdued by us."
They truly recognized our strength and voluntarily pledged their allegiance to us.
The other ministers all nodded.
Zhou Wanwan said, "Therefore, if we want to build a country, we must be powerful enough to make them fear us."
After Zhou Wanwan finished speaking, she led everyone outside. Because of the upcoming war, the area outside Yanmen Pass returned to its usual desolation.
Princess Jianing and Shangguan Wan'er also received the news. Shangguan Wan'er said:
"Princess, let's run now!"
"If the Great Qi attack, we won't be able to escape even if we want to."
Princess Jianing said, "Didn't we agree not to fight? This is so annoying, let's retreat quickly! But where can we retreat to?"
Shangguan Wan'er waved her hand and said, "How would I know? Let's retreat first."
Princess Jianing nodded, packed her bags that very night, and boarded the carriage.
She doesn't have time to think about those maids now.
She needed to escape quickly. The steward looked at Princess Jianing and asked, "Miss, what are your orders?"
Do you offer all kinds of services here?
The butler nodded and said, "Yes, Miss, what service do you require?"
"Do you offer an escort service? Like, escorting us to another city?"
The steward looked at her and said, "Actually, my suggestion is to stay at Yanmen Pass; it's the safest place."
Princess Jianing snorted coldly:
"Safe? Don't try to fool me! It's not safe here at all. When the Great Qi attacks, their first stop will be Yanmen Pass."
"How could your small town possibly withstand an army of hundreds of thousands?"
The butler said helplessly, "We offer escort services here. How many people do you need for an escort?"
"The more the better, of course. How much do you charge for escorts?"
The butler smiled and said:
"We have a total of 10 levels here, from level 1 to level 10. Levels 1 to 5 are very cheap, but we cannot guarantee your safety."
For absolute security, one needs to be at least level 8. A level 8 bodyguard earns 10,000 taels of silver per day, a level 9 bodyguard earns 30,000 taels per day, and a level 10 bodyguard earns 100,000 taels per day.
"What? So expensive? Are you robbing me?" Shangguan Wan'er protested.
The butler said, "This is the cost for one person, but we can guarantee your absolute safety."
Shangguan Wan'er looked at her and said, "So many for one person? And absolutely safe? You guys are being ridiculous."