Chapter 452: Da Yu'er Serves the Bedchamber

For the Irgen Gioro man now, his own life no longer mattered—what mattered was getting the intelligence he had obtained out.

They had actually formed an alliance! The Khorchin had shamelessly betrayed the Great Khan!

He absolutely had to get the message out so the Great Khan could prepare in advance. Otherwise, once their scheme succeeded, the Great Khan would be in grave danger.

But he was locked up right now, with no good options available. He had to find a way to escape prison! He had to find a way to escape prison!

The Irgen Gioro man thought of his subordinate Agutai, who had not been captured in this operation.

Though his men had suffered heavy losses, his trusted confidant Agutai had still managed to escape. Now he could only pin his hopes on Agutai.

Even if he himself could not be rescued, it would be good enough to pass the message to Agutai. As long as the message made it back to the Great Khan, his merit would be secured.

The jailers outside continued to talk and drink loudly without the slightest restraint, paying no attention at all to the Irgen Gioro man.

In their eyes, the Irgen Gioro man was as good as dead, and there was naturally nothing to be wary of around a dead man.

At this very moment, Agutai outside was also beginning to bustle about.

The situation had turned extremely dire—the Irgen Gioro man and most of his colleagues had been arrested, and no one knew exactly how things had developed. News was sealed off tightly, and it was very difficult for Agutai to probe for information.

But at a time like this, there were things that had to be done.

Straightening his clothes, Agutai went out the door, looking around cautiously, afraid someone might recognize him.

He walked forward along the street, hunched over with his head lowered, terrified that someone might notice him.

Before long, Agutai arrived at the door of a residence. Seeing the character "Wang" written on the gate, Agutai turned and left immediately.

Not long after, a man came to the Wang family's door, holding a letter in his hand, and said to the gatekeeper: "This letter is for your family head."

Hearing this, the gatekeeper was taken aback for a moment, then looked the newcomer over.

Judging by his dress, this man was clearly not wealthy. For someone like this to come running here to deliver a letter—was he just bored out of his mind?

Did he think the family head was just anybody, that anything could be passed up to him?

Who didn't know by now that Zhangjiakou had become a complete mess? How could the family head have any mind for these trifling matters?

The gatekeeper shot him a glance and cursed: "Scram! Don't bring any old rubbish here!"

The newcomer, however, gave a cold smile and said: "This letter was sent to your family head by an important person. You'd best not regret this. The Fan family has already been arrested—do you want the Wang family to follow in their footsteps?"

The moment these words came out, the gatekeeper was startled.

The most important thing happening in Zhangjiakou right now was that the Fan family had been raided, with everyone in the household arrested. The north gate of Zhangjiakou had already been sealed—no one could leave from the north.

As for the south gate, there were also people standing guard there, allowing entry only and no exit. The searches were being conducted very strictly, and there was still no sign of it being opened.

Under such circumstances, all the great households in the city were naturally bewildered, and the master of the Wang family was no exception. The Wang household was naturally in a state of panic.

The gatekeeper had originally looked down on this letter-deliverer. But the man's words made him hesitate. He said: "Wait here. Give me the letter."

The letter-deliverer did not hesitate either, directly handing the letter to the gatekeeper.

Glancing at the letter-deliverer, the gatekeeper said to the people beside him: "You keep an eye on him. I'll go find the steward."

Having said this, the gatekeeper turned and ran toward the main hall.

Soon, the letter was handed to the steward, and then it passed into the hands of Wang Dengku, the head of the Wang family.

At this moment, Wang Dengku was like an ant on a hot pan.

For him, the current situation was simply too terrible. Guard Commander Chen Zhong, the man who held authority in Zhangjiakou, had already been taken into custody, and there was no way to contact him now. As for the other officials, great and small, they had all shut their mouths one by one.

The people running Zhangjiakou were the Embroidered Uniform Guard—their figures could be seen everywhere. No one knew what had happened. This was a small city to begin with, and now it had been completely locked down. Getting any message out was harder than climbing to heaven.

The Fan family members had been arrested and their household raided, and those who had cooperated with the Fan family had also been seized. Those like them who had close ties with the Fan family were even more panic-stricken—especially since they all did the same kind of business.

Right now, Wang Dengku was worried that Fan Yongdou would give him up. If that happened, there would be real trouble.

At this moment, a man in his forties walked in from outside. Seeing Wang Dengku, he hurriedly said: "Master, there's a letter here, sent by one of the Irgen Gioro man's people."

Hearing this name, Wang Dengku's face sank. He then said: "At a time like this, they still dare to send letters? Don't they know what the word 'death' means?"

Though he said this, Wang Dengku's hand still took the letter very quickly.

After checking that the seal showed no trace of having been opened, Wang Dengku carefully tore open the envelope.

Unfolding the letter paper, Wang Dengku saw its contents.

In fact, the letter did not contain much formal content—it merely requested a meeting with Wang Dengku, clearly telling him that if he wanted to know what had really happened, he should come meet. It was signed by Agutai.

Wang Dengku knew who Agutai was—the Irgen Gioro man's trusted confidant.

At a time like this, he really should not go meet this man. It was too dangerous.

But Wang Dengku hesitated for a moment, then decided to go see Agutai. If he didn't go, he would never understand what had actually happened. Moreover, all these people were now locked up in Zhangjiakou like madmen. If something were stirred up, he wouldn't be able to escape blame either.

Seeing what these Embroidered Uniform Guard intended to do and finding a way to keep them stabilized—that was the most urgent priority. Only after understanding the situation clearly could he adopt countermeasures, and that too was something that had to be done now.

No matter how he considered it from any angle, Wang Dengku had to go meet Agutai.

But what the final outcome would be could only be known after meeting Agutai. If things proved impossible, Wang Dengku could also find an opportunity to silence Agutai permanently. By then, everything would have nothing to do with him.

"Make preparations according to the time and place written here. Send someone over first to check things out—if there's no problem, then we'll go." Wang Dengku handed the letter to the steward and directly gave his orders.

"Yes, Master." The steward acknowledged and turned to walk outside.

At this moment, in the inn where Zhu Youxiao was staying.

Zhu Youxiao was arranging a very important matter—that of the bedchamber service.

This matter was very important to Zhu Youxiao, because it concerned his subsequent plans. This trip to Zhangjiakou was truly inconvenient, so he had not brought any female companions.

In fact, Zhu Youxiao had never brought female companions on his outings before either. But now that there was a Da Yu'er, certain matters had to be put on the agenda.

Glancing at Bumbutai before him, Zhu Youxiao said: "There's something I need to discuss with you."

Hearing this, Bumbutai directly replied: "Whatever it is, Your Majesty need only give the order."

Compared to Wukeshan, Bumbutai had clearly accepted her fate much faster—or perhaps she understood the current situation better.

Her elder brother had already secretly formed an alliance with this Ming Emperor, and she was the foundation of that alliance. Although she felt that this Emperor before her harbored some scheme or trick, she did not know what it was for now.

Judging from the present circumstances, doing nothing at all was the best course for her. If she stirred up any trouble, she would never make it back alive to the grasslands. Not only would she die—her brother would die too.

And now that her brother had agreed to the other party's alliance plan, she had even less choice in the matter.

Zhu Youxiao looked at Bumbutai and was quite satisfied with her attitude. He nodded and said, "Very good. What I want to discuss with you is serving in the imperial bed."

Upon hearing these words, Bumbutai's expression changed immediately.

Although she knew this day would come eventually, wasn't it far too early?

Raising her head to look at Zhu Youxiao, Bumbutai's face was filled entirely with hesitation.

She truly had never imagined that this Great Ming Emperor would harbor such thoughts!

Originally, Bumbutai had thought this Emperor was not a pervert—that he merely wanted to use her. But now it seemed that not only did this Emperor want to use her, he was also a pervert. What was she to do?

Though mature in mind and quite clever, she was after all still a ten-year-old little girl. Facing such a matter, Bumbutai was somewhat at a loss.

After hesitating for a long while, Bumbutai raised her head to look at Zhu Youxiao and said, "We do not yet have a formal betrothal. Do you know whether doing this is inappropriate? You also know my status—doing this violates propriety."

Zhu Youxiao looked at Bumbutai and asked, "Is there anything else?"

As he said this, Zhu Youxiao wore a gentle smile on his face, and his voice was very clear. He tried his utmost to appear tender, afraid of frightening Bumbutai.

But at this very moment, Bumbutai was already frightened.

In her eyes, Zhu Youxiao's smile had already transformed into a pervert's sinister grin, as if he were ready at any moment to open his mouth wide and swallow her whole in one bite.

Zhu Youxiao's gaze was also extremely fierce, causing Bumbutai to tremble somewhat.

"No, no." Bumbutai shook her head, blushing as she said softly, "I'm only ten years old. I haven't even had my first menstruation yet."

She seemed to think of something else, raised her head to stare straight into Zhu Youxiao's eyes, and said with great seriousness, "Since both sides have formed an alliance, we must maintain the attitude of an alliance. You cannot treat me this way. You promised to make me a consort, so it must be done through proper wedding rites. Only after both sides have formed the alliance can we formally become husband and wife. Moreover, we must wait until both sides have fulfilled the terms of the alliance and I have reached the proper age before I can formally marry you."

"It is absolutely impossible now, and you should not think of using force. Otherwise, I will not yield to you!" Bumbutai looked at Zhu Youxiao, her small face filled entirely with obstinacy.

Yet her entire body could not help but tremble uncontrollably, clearly showing that she was extremely afraid.