Chapter 327: The Battle to Defend Afang's Underpants

What?

This Liu Ji actually plans to, in one go, rob all merchant ships passing through Yongzhou during the last seven days of the month?

This guy probably isn't just bold because he's skilled; he's likely gone mad from poverty!

The sunlight is bright and clear, the gentle radiance rippling.

Chen Weifang set down her brush and ink, unable to hide the surprise in her eyes:

I'm not saying it; I'm just betting on whether the other side will follow the plan.

If he remembers correctly, the Wise Lord previously said——

'I'll first release the people, then casually set off a blast, to see if anything good happens.'

As a result, now......

Looking at it, it seems the deception succeeded.

But it seems we may have actually overdone the deception!

He still thought the other side would only rob one or two ships, just make a token gesture, then afterwards peacefully rest in his own city, outwardly complying but inwardly defying.

However, now robbing official ships—a life‑risking big deal—people not only are willing to do it, but they're clearly preparing to finish the whole lot in one go!

Is that reasonable?

Can that be reasonable?

Even though Chen Weifang has seen much over the years, she rarely encounters someone this bold, and for a moment she was left speechless.

Du Shanü flopped ungracefully into the side chair, the paper covering her face turning out to be precisely the letter sent from Horizontal City.

Hearing that, she wasn't exactly surprised:

"Just seeing that Afang still has few visitors, I actually felt upon first seeing Liu Ji that this old brat is quite scheming..."

Chen Weifang lifted her gaze, obviously now interested:

"Wise Lord, why not elaborate?"

Du Shanü took the letter from her face, straightened her expression a bit, then said:

"Do I even need to ask? It's naturally because he's wearing that outfit with slits all the way up to his navel..."

"Afang, let me tell you—this kind of person, whether they're restrained inside but flamboyant outside, or unrestrained inside and out, as long as their appearance is this lascivious, they're bound to be trouble... Ow (? `Д′)! Little slave, why are you hitting my head again!"

Wronged.

Too wronged.

She clearly didn't say anything this time!

She's even pregnant, yet little slave dares to lay hands on her; after the child is born, little slave won't be allowed to bully her in front of the child!

No way, absolutely not.

With such lax wifely discipline, Du Shanü absolutely won't accept it!

Du Shanü rolled up her sleeves, ready to fight for her standing in the household.

Afterwards, she saw Chinu give her a sideways glance:

"... You really did look at Liu Ji's body, didn't you?"

Du Shanü came with lofty ambitions.

Du Shanü left listlessly.

Du Shanü sat back down in her chair and spoke hesitantly:

"Actually, I didn't look that much..."

Besides, Liu Ji is so unrestrained that anyone with eyes can see him; can she really avoid seeing him if she wants to?

Little slave probably isn't going to get jealous over such a trifle, right?

Du Shanü's face pained, she threw a 'save me' look at Afang beside her.

The two of them often engage in such squabbles.

Normally, Chen Weifang would surely side with Chinu, ignoring Du Shanü's pleas and pretending she didn't see anything.

But today......

Chen Weifang lightly coughed a few times, indeed breaking their 'great battle' between them, and, acting as if nothing happened, steered the topic toward Liu Ji:

"... Robbing that many official ships in one go is certainly no small matter."

"What I worry about is that this person's appetite is too big but his ability insufficient; as a result, he won't loot much money, and instead will scare the snake, drawing disaster onto the Wise Lord."

Du Shanü wasn't worried about that, she waved her hand and said:

"I've thought about this point before, but I think Liu Ji ultimately isn't that stupid."

Intentionally failing the ship robbery, scaring the snake, can certainly be used as an excuse to avoid doing real work.

But if Du Shanü exposes her ambition, it will anger the officials of the surrounding prefectures, and Liu Ji himself won't gain anything good either.

At least on the surface she's still a princess, holding an entire prefecture's land in her hands.

What official would dare to openly deal with her?

Nothing more than demanding she hand over the culprit, or punish her more severely.

In short, if Liu Ji can't pull this off, no matter what she does, he himself will surely be the first to lose everything.

"Saying more now just seems unlucky."

Du Shanü leaned back casually in her chair, rubbing her gradually swelling belly, and laughed:

"I actually sincerely hope he can rob more."

She had specially checked carefully; the goods listed in that little booklet are all extremely valuable items.

If Liu Ji can truly pull off this heist, in the short term her finances will surely loosen considerably.

Earlier, Chinu shed tears, merely complaining about a few taels of silver.

If she had enough money, how could such a thing happen?

Love comes and goes, hate comes and goes, it's nothing more than just saying 'Guilt can't give anything better.'

Let's wait and see if Liu Ji has any good news.

Du Shanü withdrew her hand from rubbing her belly and let out a half sigh.

If we could have it, the matter of recruiting troops for the Zhoufu would have to be put on the agenda.

She hasn't forgotten that her goal is to contend for the world.

And to contend for the world, one cannot lack soldiers, grain, armor, and weapons...

In short, the most important thing of all is still 'money'.

If there is money, not everything will be completely solved, but at least most things can be resolved.

Chen Weifang understood, yet she was not overly optimistic.

When the time comes, we'll see how Liu Ji's side is; if he truly manages this, once he sends the money, we'll recruit troops right away.

I've been handling official duties lately and noticed that the number of refugees in Yongzhou has clearly increased, with many places suffering famines; evidently the situation everywhere is dire—these days the world is truly becoming increasingly unsettled.

It's laughable to say.

Famine is not about how much grain the land can produce, but whether the common people can actually eat the grain they grow.

And now the Imperial Court imposes harsh levies and miscellaneous taxes, the people are displaced and far from their homeland, so their native lands will surely have no one left to farm.

If no one farms, there is no harvest, and thus no tax revenue.

Those corrupt officials who force the people to leave can't squeeze out any profit; they might just do something else...

Chen Weifang has always worried that, without troops, if others someday see Yongzhou as still fairly prosperous, they might develop malicious intentions because of it.

Chen Weifang voiced each of her concerns one by one, and the indoor atmosphere fell into a brief silence.

After a long while, it was the ever-silent Chinu who first spoke, breaking the frost in the room.

Do what one can, then leave it to fate. Nowadays, there's no way to see that much, so naturally we just take things step by step.

Who knows, perhaps the Wife Master bears the mandate of heaven, and later those rebellious ministers and traitors, upon seeing her, will be convinced and bow down.

Good, good, good, I really don't know when this started...

Formerly, Chinu would always say she didn't believe in fate, but now she constantly talks about fate.

Yeah, but when exactly did that happen?

Du Shanü tried to curl the corner of her mouth, but felt an indescribable sourness in her heart.

She shook her head, decided not to think about it, got up, picked up a brush, took a sheet of white paper, and casually scribbled:

I really can't put my mind at ease about Liu Ji's side; I'll send another letter.

Du Shanü's handwriting with the brush has improved considerably compared to before, but it's only better relative to how it used to be.

Chen Weifang looked at the soaring, phoenix-like characters with trepidation, intending to say she would copy them, but her gaze froze upon seeing them.

The ink laid down by the Wise Lord seemed, perhaps, roughly——

【Just go ahead and do it; I'll send people to meet you...... the password is 'Afang's Underwear Defense Battle'???】

?? Come provoke, come provoke! Today is also a very punctual day!!!! First post, then revise!