Chapter Eighty-Five: The Woman

  Now in Beijing, Jin'an City, the regent king is King Jing. When something happens, he rushes to Beijing the fastest and can only take on this burden.

  Jing Wang saw that the situation was unfavorable and immediately retreated to defend himself. He no longer took the initiative to provoke the Dongchuan army, and both sides were at a standoff.

  For a time, the entire Shang Dynasty had a trend of coming under peaceful rule.

  Jing Wang lost his own fiefdom, Nanling County, but controlled six states including the capital city, Xuzhou and Tangzhou. In fact, his sphere of influence was even greater.

  Looking at his response during this period, if it weren't for Yang Yunqiu's sudden rise to prominence, Jing Wangye might have been able to secure the throne after a series of brutal killings. Alas, he still didn't have overwhelming power and was unable to suppress all his brothers at once.

  It's gotten to the point where even Yang Yunqiu knows that he'll have a hard time going back to being his own vassal lord, no matter what. The fact is, power has already been demonstrated, and any emperor would be unwilling to have a minister under him who could threaten him at any moment.

  However, directly attacking the capital without any consideration does not seem like a good choice either.

  Yang Yunqiu simply pulled Wang Yi over, smiling: "If the King of Jing is a wise man, he should know that the situation has already passed, now it's just a matter of whether he can put it down or not."

  "What is the specific situation in other places outside of Beijing?"

  Wang Yi took out his notebook and calculated the family's assets.

  Only 20,000 regular soldiers with hot weapons and the most rigorous training, the rest are also well-equipped, but simply ancient elite troops. Personal strength is roughly the same as that of private soldiers raised by aristocratic families, but they have better equipment and more discipline, especially in terms of communication, which is unmatched by other armies.

  "Just one year, only one more year." Wang Yi tapped on the screen of his notebook. "The remaining enemies in other places will be swept away, but by then, the people we have in our hands now may not be enough to use, and we'll need to win over the original officials. This task is mine, I'm good at it."

  Yang Yunqiu lost her smile and nodded.

  Not even a year had passed, and before Yang Yunqiu could clear out the opposing forces in other areas, Jing Wang had already reacted, choosing to negotiate, almost as Yang Yunqiu had anticipated.

  It's clear that there's no need to fight anymore, and even Yang Yunqiu doesn't have to launch a strong attack. As long as they besiege the capital, after a year or so, the grain and fodder in the city will be exhausted, and everyone will only wait for death.

  The King of Jing indeed had ambitions, and the decline of his own family's power was even more distressing to him. However, all this was not enough to make him throw himself into a hopeless situation, doing something he knew was impossible.

  It's not necessary for Yang Yunqiu to go in person for negotiations, besides, he is not that kind of person with exceptional eloquence.

  He personally went there the day before yesterday, dressed up neatly and showed his face to show that he attached great importance to this matter. After that, he let his subordinates do their jobs and didn't interfere again.

  On this day, Yang Yunqiu went to the laboratory to make a new law array designed for the students. Just as she was halfway through, Er Ya ran to the door and said that someone had come to deliver a gift.

  Yang Yunqiu didn't mind, during this time, in the capital and other places, many wealthy families were desperately sending all kinds of rare treasures, and there were countless people donating to the army. Some didn't send money, but sent grain, livestock, and so on. Anyway, everyone was eager to give away their valuable things.

  Someone sent over a beautiful girl.

  "It's all settled then." Yang Yunqiu was speechless — of course, there were also many who had sent beautiful women, Zhou Dali and Li Da had received several stunning beauties, according to Zhou Dali's words, such beauties he hadn't even seen in his dreams before.

  "Master, this is different." Er Ya pulled and dragged Yang Yunqiu out of the door.

  He left the laboratory and went to the courtyard, where he saw a beautifully dressed woman standing in the courtyard with four maids by her side.

  Yang Yunqiu looked at her and saw that she had hair as black as clouds, skin as smooth as cream, and when it came to beauty, she was indeed a top-notch beauty, and there was also something familiar about her.

  After some thought, Yang Yunqiu turned her head and asked Li Da, who was following behind him: "How is it? Has someone taken a liking to her? Are you still Zhou Dali? If you like her, just take her away. These women are also pitiful people. After being sent back, their fate is uncertain. If you like them, why not take them away? They can't speak out and may even live better lives."

  Li Daxian's eyes widened first, then he suddenly bent down and started coughing violently.

  The beautiful woman who was originally standing expressionless in the courtyard had turned pale, with tears welling up in her eyes, her body trembling slightly, as if she couldn't bear it anymore, and collapsed to the ground.

  The second daughter-in-law cried and laughed as she chopped her feet: "This is the fifth young lady of the Yu family."

  "......First send her to the guest room to stay temporarily."

  Yu Shu-man hung her head and followed a small maid to the guest room, where she temporarily stayed. Yang Yun-qiu let out a sigh and said, "Young master, isn't it said that Fifth Miss is with someone else... how did she end up being sent here?"

  The young lady's lover is a painter from the Jing Wang Fu.

  Perhaps Jing Wang did not know about this matter at first, he was a king, how would he care about the trivial matters of a painter, but as things developed to this point, this matter became a thorn in his heart.

  Yang Yunqiu sighed, and King Jing was indeed a person with a clear mind. If it were another king who discovered this matter, he would have killed the person and kept it secret at the first opportunity. However, King Jing did not do so, but instead openly sent the person over to Yang Yunqiu for disposal. This method cannot be said to be clever, but rather that King Jing was good at reading people. He saw that this approach was most in line with Yang Yunqiu's temperament.

  It has been several months since they started fighting each other.

  King Jing saw clearly that Yang Yunqiu was not a ruthless person, on the contrary, he disliked killing people very much. The soldiers who died in battle were unavoidable, but if they were captured, he would always leave them a way out, and it was still a good way out. As long as they were not extremely guilty, whether they stayed to join the Dongchuan army or took their severance pay back to their hometowns to farm, everything could be negotiated.

  Even the assassin sent by King Shang to kill Yang Yuqiu and was caught had the same treatment.

  Throughout the Shang Dynasty, there was no one who treated prisoners of war as well as he did.

  Jing Wang thought to himself that for someone with such a temperament, it's better to be straightforward and just kill the fifth young lady. The other party might not get angry, but they will definitely have some dissatisfaction in their heart towards the person who killed them.

  Yang Yunqiu turned her head and immediately forgot about Fifth Miss, it was no big deal.

  It was a spring day, with fine rain falling like flying silk. Yang Yunqiu sat in the courtyard studying his improved Rain Array, which indeed had increased energy, but was still somewhat unstable. When he activated the array, it was either pouring heavily or producing thunder without rain. He thought for a moment, then took out his spiritual brush to redraw it. Suddenly, a cup of fragrant tea appeared on the table.

  Yang Yunqiu didn't notice, thinking it was Er Ya, and casually picked it up. As a result, before she even had a chance to drink, the cup of water was snatched away by Li Da. She looked up in shock, only to discover that the one standing in front of her was the Fifth Miss. She couldn't help but raise an eyebrow - this wasn't good at all. Perhaps it was because she was on her own turf, but she had lost her vigilance. If this were the past, when she was still in Yan Guo, even if someone didn't have malicious intentions, her spiritual senses would automatically be on alert from three meters away.

  In a short period of time, Fifth Miss was no longer as bright and beautiful as she used to be, but had become gloomy and quiet.

  Her face is still the same, but Yang Yunqiu can no longer see the spirit of leaning on the railing and pouring tea on her head from her body. When she looks at herself, she even has a hint of fear.

  Yang Yunqiu looked at her without saying a word.

  Yu Shu-man endured and endured, finally unable to hold back tears: "I know you hate me, then kill me, kill me, it's all my fault, I'm wrong, it has nothing to do with Zhou Lang, spare him, as long as you let him go, I'm willing to be a slave or servant, make me do whatever you want... Wuuu, wuuu..."

  Yang Yunqiu covered her forehead.

  Two servants rushed over, just in time to hear this, and were so angry that their faces turned red: "To be a slave or servant for our young master? You're not even worthy! Do you really think anyone can serve our young master up close? Do you know what kind of tea our young master likes to drink, what clothes he wants to wear at what time, what things need to be prepared when going out, when it's okay to disturb him and when it's absolutely not allowed to disturb him even if the sky falls?"

  Yang Yunqiu was so angry that she couldn't help but laugh, and she grabbed Er Ya, looking at her pouting mouth, which seemed to be able to hang an oil bottle on it.

  Er Ya was indeed angry, and turned her head to say: "My good young master, shouldn't I hang a sign on you, just like in the story of Tian Zhi, that says 'Women and dogs, do not approach'? In this half month, the young lady from that family, the talented girl from this household, even some princess or other, some sacred maiden or other, all came to throw themselves at you. Just dealing with them has exhausted me so much that I don't have the energy to attend to proper matters."

  Yu Shu-man suddenly lowered her head, and tears rolled down. How could she not hear Er Ya's sarcasm? The former proud daughter of heaven, even if she couldn't be mentioned in the same breath as those princesses and young ladies, no one dared to slight her lightly. Now, however, a poor-born little maid was speaking sarcastically to her, and she could only swallow her anger and blood.

  "Miss, why don't you send a letter to your sweetheart and let him come pick you up? A gentleman should respect others' romance. I, Sun, cannot bear the thought of separating lovers, it's too cruel."

  Yu Shu-man was shocked beyond words.

  Yang Yunqiu smiled wryly: "I don't know why Fifth Miss would have such a misunderstanding of me? Although you and I once had an engagement, we've only met once, where's the emotion to speak of? Dissolving the engagement isn't a big deal, and I'm not petty enough to take it out on others because of this small matter."

  "Ugh, my young master doesn't have time for such nonsense. He's very busy, so please hurry up and leave, Miss Five. Your staying here is a bother, the kitchen has to prepare extra food for you, it's a real hassle."

  Yu Shu looked at Yang Yunqiu, and didn't see a hint of affection on his face. She felt a slight relief in her heart, but also a bit of discomfort - it turned out that she wasn't as lovable as she thought, and he hadn't taken her to heart at all.

  She immediately wrote a letter and sent it along with her purse to the painter Zhou Ang.

  Afterwards, Yu Shu waited quietly for three days, but there was no reply from Yang Yunqiu. She didn't feel anxious, and even began to suspect that Yang Yunqiu had just been talking nonsense, and actually still resented her for running away from the marriage and wanted revenge.

  Although she never said it explicitly, she always stared at Yang Yunque with a pair of eyes full of resentment. Yang Yunque was unwilling to tolerate this inexplicable gaze, so he simply let Li Da send someone to take her to find someone herself.

  Yu Shu-man hastened to Jingwang's villa in the suburbs of Beijing.

  Never thought that when I saw Zhou Lang again, his face was full of horror.

  Zhou Ang was suddenly seen by Shu Man, and he was so frightened that his cold sweat flowed horizontally, and his hands and feet didn't know where to put them. He exclaimed: "You... you, Fifth Miss, I have no ulterior motives towards you, please don't harm me, I have parents above and younger siblings below, and I really can't afford to provoke a noble lady like you. Please spare my life considering that I once saved you."

  Schumann was stunned, unable to utter a single word - this was the man she had been longing for. For him, she abandoned her parents, gave up her family, and all she got in return was fear and trepidation.

  Suddenly, Yu Shu felt that the world was so big, there was no place for her to stay.

  She originally intended to marry Sun Zhao Ming, who would soon dominate the world. At that time, how many beauties would be at his disposal? He could choose whoever he wanted. As for herself, she was the one who had abandoned their engagement and humiliated him. The fact that he didn't hold grudges against her past mistakes already showed his magnanimity. What more could she ask for?

  The guard who was following beside her perhaps had already received instructions, and advised: "Fifth Miss, why don't you just go home? After going back, apologize to your parents and that's it. Making a few mistakes when young and impulsive isn't a big deal."

  In the end, Yu Shu-man did not return home but instead went back to Yang Yunqiu's place in a daze.

  At home there were still a dozen or so sisters, and she was such a shame to the family that she didn't dare go back. The other sisters still had to get married.

  Yang Yunqiu didn't pay attention to Schumann, instead, Er Ya took her around everywhere, teaching her many things, how to cook, how to do laundry, and even taught her how to calculate accounts, check account books, taking her to their own embroidery workshop, garment shop, printing workshop, and all sorts of workshops, meeting many female employees.

  "They earn just as much money as men do, and because many jobs require dexterity, girls can do them better, so we prefer to use females."

  "Look at you, Yu Shuman, dazed and confused. If you don't have anywhere to go for now, just work here with us first. No matter what you want to do, you need to earn money first, without it, there's no life. You're literate and learn things quickly, when you're free, you can even help them with their homework. A group of women who are too lazy to read books, it's like asking for their lives."

  In the past, Yu Shu Man would have definitely looked down on her, thinking that a woman who only talks about money is vulgar. But now, she has no choice but to become a vulgar woman herself.

  Things are going smoothly, and the negotiations have narrowed down to details. It's mainly about the treatment of the royal family of the previous dynasty. Wang Yigao is enthusiastically leading people to negotiate with King Jing's representatives, who are clearly not used to this modernized negotiation method. At first, they couldn't even start talking, but King Jing is indeed different from others and has a good eye for things. He has already learned how to counterattack in front of Wang Yigao, which has left Wang Yigao with a headache several times.