Chapter 955 – So What If I’m Crude? (5)
“Lord, even if we are to go to war with the Northern Border, it shouldn’t be now—”
Upon learning what Jiang Pengji had sent to Wu Libai, Qi Guanrang nearly crushed his precious fan.
“What does Wen Zheng have to fear? The Northern Border doesn’t want to fight right now; the initiative is ours and they can’t call the shots. If Wu Libai can’t stand it, he can just turn around and leave.”
Feng Zhen, that troublemaker, took a swig of his clear wine with a cheeky grin.
He was getting a decent salary; surely he could buy good wine?
But Feng Zhen just loved to scrounge a bit from here and there, enjoying even the cheapest of drinks.
Of all the places, he liked the liquor from the Lord’s residence best; it tasted richer than ordinary wine.
Qi Guanrang shot a fierce glare at Feng Zhen, suspecting this reckless lad was instigating the Lord to stir up trouble.
Receiving Qi Guanrang’s glare, Feng Zhen shrugged discreetly and flashed a toothy grin, the kind that says, “What are you gonna do about it?”
Did Qi Guanrang not have a sense of his own Lord’s character?
The Lord herself was a troublemaker; she couldn’t stay calm without someone egging her on!
He could only offer a few suggestions, making him an accomplice at best.
Meanwhile, Jiang Pengji chimed in to back Feng Zhen, “After suffering so much from the Northern Border, it’s just right to reclaim a bit of face. Don’t think I sent just one; I could send ten or eight, and they’d have to take it. Wen Zheng, do you think that wise man from the Northern Border can guess the meaning behind this?”
With the Lord’s support, Feng Zhen puffed out his chest proudly, incensing Qi Guanrang’s back molars.
Not only did this rascal incite the Lord to stir trouble, but now he was also swelling with pride?
Qi Guanrang’s face darkened as the audience, the ‘eating melon crowd,’ chuckled, crafting their jokes about the two, much to Jiang Pengji’s amusement.
She secretly laughed so hard her stomach hurt, while Wu Libai couldn’t manage a smile.
“Oh? A gift from Liu Xi?” Upon hearing this, Wu Libai’s heart turned, concluding that Jiang Pengji was yielding; she was expressing goodwill through a gift. Though his face remained impassive, a smirk crept into his heart as he said, “Quickly present the gift.”
The gift was nestled in a delicately crafted wooden box, adorned with beautiful carvings, resembling a work of art.
Seeing this, Wu Libai felt more at ease.
He personally opened the box; as soon as he lifted the lid a crack, a foul smell of blood and decay hit him.
His expression changed as he opened it fully, revealing what was inside—the color drained from his face instantly.
Inside the ornate box lay a delicate glass headdress and a transparent bowl, which contained a chunk of decaying flesh soaked in congealed blood.
Had this been years ago, such a glass headdress would fetch tens of thousands of coins in the Northern Border, but now it was commonplace and cheap, barely worth a single coin. The flesh inside the bowl was clearly, from Wu Libai’s discerning eye, a human tongue.
Renowned as the wise man of the Northern Border, Wu Libai’s intellect was unquestionable, and he quickly grasped the implication of the lavish box.
The glass headdress?
Everyone knew that his wife was the daughter of a bigwig in the Northern Border merchant world, and she was obsessed with luxury goods.
Years ago, when “Heavenly Glass” came onto the scene, Wu Libai’s wife lavishly purchased several sets, making her the talk of the town among Northern Border’s noblewomen. People mistakenly believed “Heavenly Glass” was truly expensive; little did they know it was a scam. The Northern Border Merchant Alliance and its noblewomen were swindled out of over twenty million coins by Gu Xin, including Wu Libai’s wife’s family, which led to their downfall.
With that support lost, Wu Libai’s standing in the Northern Border took a severe hit.
Even his political rival, Halencha, often mocked him about this.
How could the esteemed wise man of the Northern Border be outsmarted by a mere merchant and not end up ridiculed?
Thus, “Heavenly Glass” remained an unnamable pain in Wu Libai’s heart, and he despised seeing this deceptive trinket.
As for that tongue—
Once a person loses their tongue, they could no longer speak.
Wu Libai was sent to Dongqing to negotiate; now, to suggest he remain silent was like a slap in the face!
And that wasn’t the end of it—
“Liu Xi, today’s humiliation will be repaid double in the future.” Wu Libai’s expression shifted to that of iron resolve as he waved his hand, “Take this away and dispose of it!”
Suppressing his rage, Wu Libai was about to calm the flames inside him when his gaze caught another object in the brocade box.
“Wait—come back!”
He pinched out a note that was underneath the tongue and opened it, his anger surging as the world around him swayed.
【I’m tired of your noisy Second Prince, so I’m returning this to you—Liu Xi】
This tongue—was indeed that of the Second Prince!!!
Wu Libai didn’t bother getting hung up on the nickname “Second Prince,” he only needed to know who this tongue belonged to.
“Liu Xi—Liu Xi—you dare to humiliate us so!”
Wu Libai’s blood pressure shot up, his cheeks flushed red then pale.
Fortunately, Wu Libai had a strong mental fortitude, and after a moment of blinking lights before his eyes, he managed to regain his composure.
“Someone—”
Gasping, Wu Libai’s eyes were filled with bloodshot fury.
“By my orders, prepare a ‘grand gift’ to send back to Liu Xi, upholding the Central Plains custom of ‘reciprocation’!”
If it weren’t for the bigger picture, Wu Libai would’ve liked to use disgusting means to gross out Jiang Pengji.
However, as Feng Zhen said, the initiative in this war lay with Jiang Pengji; the Northern Border had to tread carefully.
It wasn’t that they couldn’t afford a fight, but right now, the cost of war was far too steep.
Jiang Pengji received the “grand gift” from Wu Libai, her eyes narrowing into a smile.
She just loved having her enemies feeling utterly helpless, forced to indulge and tolerate her.
[Old Driver Alliance]: Sigh—why is the Northern Border cursed to run into this streamer?
[Genius Guo Fengxiao]: If this were in a novel, the streamer would definitely be the top villain boss!
[Fluttering Sheep]: That’s truly despair! How big must the protagonist’s halo be, and how invincible must they be to take down the big bad?
[Rain Song by the Balcony]: A halo… at least a diameter rounding to a billion, right?
Poor Wu Libai, stuck with the task of defeating the big bad without the protagonist’s halo—he was bound to be bloodied.
“It’s been a long time since we last met in the capital. General Wu Libai, how have you been these years?”
Jiang Pengji had met Wu Libai once before.
Back then, he was full of himself, domineering to the point of forcing Jiang Pengji to swallow her anger.
Now, the tables had turned.
Dressed in white, she had become a powerful warlord, and the once arrogant Wu Libai had to watch her expression, carefully flattering her.
Truly, the wheel of fortune turns.
Wu Libai’s gaze flickered with astonishment.
He was both surprised by Jiang Pengji’s familiarity and her friendliness.
Had he met Liu Xi before?
That small incident from years ago, Wu Libai no longer recalled.
But Jiang Pengji remembered.
