Boom!
It was as if a thunderclap had exploded right above Zhou Mengyan’s head.
His mind began to buzz, and all the strength suddenly drained from his body. He nearly collapsed on the spot!
“What? What did you say?”
“My soldiers want to defect to Zhang Shi?”
“And not just a few of them?”
His trusted aide hurriedly replied, “Yes, Grand Commander. There are definitely quite a number of people who want to join Zhang Shi. The trend is only growing stronger—it has already become widespread and is permeating the entire military camp.”
“If this continues, Zhang Shi…”
“Will soon be ruling the military camp like a king!”
Zhou Mengyan’s body trembled even more violently.
Zhang Shi, ruling like a king?
What did that mean?
His wife had only just left, and now Zhang Shi had appeared?
What was this? Was he, the Grand Admiral of the Navy, really so useless? Was he forever incapable of keeping the situation under control, destined sooner or later to be reduced to a figurehead?
Suddenly remembering something, he immediately asked, “Where’s Ruan Fei?”
“Go and bring Ruan Fei to me.”
“Her inspection squad has been active every day. How could she have failed to notice something this serious?”
His trusted aide hurried off to find her. Not long afterward, Ning Wanqin—looking utterly exhausted after being pestered repeatedly by Ruan Fei—walked in.
“Brother Mengyan, what’s wrong?”
“Oh, why do you look so awful?”
“Did something happen?”
“Tell me quickly. I may not understand military affairs, but I can still help you bear the burden!”
Almost instinctively, Ruan Fei reached out to take Zhou Mengyan’s arm and snuggle up against him affectionately.
But after the close relationship they had developed through spending so much time together, Zhou Mengyan unexpectedly dodged her.
“Brother Mengyan, what’s wrong?”
Ruan Fei was bewildered.
“Let me ask you something!” Zhou Mengyan said sternly. “What has been going on with Zhang Shi lately?”
“General Zhang Shi?” Ruan Fei had no idea what Zhou Mengyan was getting at, so she answered honestly. “General Zhang Shi has been doing very well lately!”
“He’s very diligent!”
“Every day, he’s either training the navy with Zhou Buzhang or inspecting the military camp. He never seems to have a moment to rest. Now, everyone in the camp has a good relationship with General Zhang Shi!”
Ruan Fei did not hold back in her praise of Zhang Shi.
“After all, General Zhang Shi gets along with all the soldiers. He often eats and drinks with them, too. He’s powerful, straightforward, and cheerful, so everyone likes him!”
Zhou Mengyan’s fists clenched until his knuckles cracked.
He had known nothing about any of this!
It was obvious that Zhang Shi was gathering support and winning people over!
Ruan Fei conducted inspections every day, but what exactly had she been inspecting?
A cold glint flashed in his eyes as he asked, “Why didn’t you report any of this to me earlier?”
“And another thing…”
“Now the entire military camp is talking about pledging allegiance to General Zhang Shi, saying they want to serve under General Zhang Shi…”
“If I hadn’t discovered this today, then after a little more time, the entire camp would belong to Zhang Shi!”
“Do you understand how serious this is?”
The angrier Zhou Mengyan became, the louder he spoke. By the end, he was practically shouting, startling Ruan Fei.
However, their relationship was no ordinary one, and Ruan Fei still held a considerable psychological advantage over him.
After being stunned for only a moment, she said, “Brother Mengyan, I really didn’t know about these things. But… even if it’s true, what does it matter?”
“General Zhang Shi is simply lacking a sense of security. That’s why he wants to gather more people around him. But whether they follow him or not, he’s still your subordinate in the end. Isn’t following him the same as following you?”
“It’s all the same!”
“Why are you getting so angry?”
Ruan Fei did not understand Zhou Mengyan’s concerns. Instead, she secretly felt rather pleased. She had never expected General Zhang Shi to be so capable—to make such a move after such a short time!
It seemed that cooperating with General Zhang Shi had been absolutely the right decision. With him helping her gather talent and build her own faction, her influence would continue to grow. When the time came, she would be able to compete for the position of supreme commander of the entire women’s army from an even stronger position.
But her indifferent attitude only added fuel to Zhou Mengyan’s anger. He shouted, “Little Fei, don’t you understand how serious this is?”
“If this continues, Zhang Shi will become a second Madam!”
“Another person who can hold me in check!”
“No wonder someone as formidable as Zhang Shi—someone who swept across the Northern Frontier and annihilated every enemy in his path—was so heavily guarded against by Ren Tianye. So this is the reason… Zhang Shi is plagued by this ridiculous insecurity!”
“And once he feels insecure, he starts gathering people into his own faction!”
“Hmph! I think Ren Tianye was still too merciful. If it had been me, I would have eliminated Zhang Shi long ago!”
Zhou Mengyan was seething with rage, and he became increasingly harsh toward Ruan Fei.
“Little Fei, you swore to me that you would keep track of the entire army’s movements!”
“And this is the result of your inspections?”
“You’ve created a powerful enemy for me within my own army?”
A look of disgust appeared on Zhou Mengyan’s face.
But Ruan Fei suddenly…
Her eyes brimmed with tears.
“Brother Mengyan, you—you yelled at me!”
“You actually yelled at me!”
“This is already the umpteenth time you’ve yelled at me!”
“You…”
“You’ve started yelling at me all the time now!”
“I knew it! You don’t love me at all! You said that once Madam left, you would devote yourself wholeheartedly to loving only me. It was all a lie—every word of it!”
Zhou Mengyan froze.
Wasn’t this conversation supposed to be about Zhang Shi establishing his own power? How had it suddenly turned into a question of whether he loved her or not?
“Little Fei…”
Zhou Mengyan softened his tone somewhat. “About this matter…”
“You did yell at me!” Ruan Fei interrupted, tears sliding down her cheeks as she looked utterly miserable. “You yelled at me… I don’t want to live anymore!”
Ruan Fei spun around and charged toward the side of the tent, intending to ram her head into it.
Zhou Mengyan hurriedly moved to stop her, and his trusted aide rushed forward as well.
But in the end…
They failed to stop her!
Ruan Fei was moving too quickly, and Zhou Mengyan could not catch her in time.
Bang!
Golden sparks burst across Ruan Fei’s vision, and she immediately collapsed unconscious.
Zhou Mengyan hurriedly bent down to examine her, then quickly called for a military physician. After a long while, the physician finally reached a conclusion.
“Grand Commander, Miss Ruan is fine. She didn’t hit herself very hard!”
Zhou Mengyan let out a sigh of relief. It was good that the impact had not been serious. Besides, the supports around the tent were not thick wooden beams or chunks of stone, so it would have been difficult for her to injure herself badly.
“Grand Commander, Miss Ruan only needs to rest for a while.”
After prescribing some medicine, the military physician left.
Zhou Mengyan sent his trusted aide off to the side and personally stayed with Ruan Fei for half the night. Only when the sky was beginning to brighten and Ruan Fei was sleeping soundly did he return to the military camp.
There, he woke the aide who had only just fallen asleep.
His first words were a military order.
“No matter what…”
“Zhang Shi cannot remain alive.”
“He must be eliminated!”
His trusted aide was utterly loyal to Zhou Mengyan. Even after being put through such torment, he remained devoted to him. His expression turned solemn as he said, “The Grand Commander is wise. Someone like Zhang Shi must be eliminated. He absolutely cannot be allowed to remain!”
…
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
transmigrates into the role of a villainous rich second-generation kid in an urban fantasy novel, and gets bound to a god-tier choice system. Right at the start, he catches the female lead stealing exam papers! This triggers the villain's choice options! [Choice 1: Pretend you didn't see anything] [Choice 2: Loudly call her out, drawing everyone's attention] [Choice 3: ...] And thus, a twisted villain is born. To avoid getting killed by the protagonist, he has no choice but to take down all the protagonists first. Jiang Che: Nobody understands being twisted better than me!
e vast world of cultivation, where he becomes the master of the Heavenly Ruins Sacred Hall, a dying old man with barely a tenth of his former cultivation remaining. He is immediately confronted with a deadly crisis: his subordinates have rebelled, and his protectors are forcing him to abdicate. At the critical moment, the system descends from the heavens: [Ding! The host has been detected facing a life-or-death crisis. The system is now officially activated!] [As a gift, you have received the Supreme Beginner’s Pack and awakened the ultimate cheat: ten thousand years of pure cultivation essence every second!] Yin Tianjue: “Wait… ten thousand years of cultivation every second? That’s six hundred thousand years a minute, and in one day… I can’t even calculate it. Either way, I’m already invincible!” You’re a peerless prodigy rarely seen in ten thousand years? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re an undying ancestor who has guarded a sacred land for countless ages? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re the strongest chosen one, blessed with heaven-defying destiny? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. From this day forth, I have only one thing to say: “I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. Now, how exactly are you supposed to deal with that?”
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
