Chapter 47: Signs of a Muddled Ruler

"Thump, thump, thump!"

The window was suddenly knocked upon.

"Who is it?" Pei Shaoqing asked immediately.

"My Lord, it is your subject," Li Jiangjun's voice sounded from outside the window, "May I come in now?"

Pei Shaoqing and Xie Qingwu exchanged a glance; clearly, Li Jiangjun had just heard the unbearable sounds from inside, otherwise, he would have pushed the door open and entered long ago.

"It's all your fault!" As the primary source of the noise, Xie Qingwu was extremely embarrassed and glared at Pei Shaoqing.

Pei Shaoqing spread his hands with an innocent look, "The mouth is on my lady, what does that have to do with me?"

"Hurry up and wipe yourself off and put on your clothes," Xie Qingwu couldn't be bothered to argue with him, kicking him as she spoke.

After dressing neatly and regaining a human appearance, Pei Shaoqing granted Li Jiangjun an audience, "You may come in."

Li Jiangjun pushed open the window and jumped in.

"My Lord, you are too slow; you made this general wait for a long time." Li Jiangjun stood up on his hind legs and said triumphantly, "This general is much faster; I can be intimate with three beloved concubines at once in just half a quarter of an hour."

"You're quite proud of yourself," Pei Shaoqing was speechless; dividing it among three cats, that was less than three minutes per cat.

Li Jiangjun argued righteously, "Of course! By using the shortest time to experience the joy of fish and water, complete the task of continuing the family line, and then having more time to spend on important matters—My Lord, is this not wonderful?"

He paced around the room with his hands behind his back, shaking his head, "Speaking of which, I must boldly criticize you, My Lord. The great cause is not yet achieved, yet you already show signs of a muddled ruler, indulging in the pleasures of lust. Things that could be finished in a few breaths, you insist on dragging out for half an hour.

I hope you will learn from me in the future, My Lord, and spend less time on affairs between men and women, and more time on your royal ambitions, so that you may become a wise and holy ruler!"

Pei Shaoqing's face turned black, and he had nothing to say.

"Pfft~" Xie Qingwu laughed out loud, happily saying, "Li Jiangjun's words make sense. In the future, I will help you urge your Lord to save as much time as possible."

It had been too long just now.

She was currently swollen like a blooming steamed bun.

"This general observes that you already have the bearing of a virtuous queen." Li Jiangjun nodded, expressing his approval of Xie Qingwu.

Pei Shaoqing hurriedly interrupted the topic, looked at Li Jiangjun and asked, "Have your people already set out?"

"Reporting to my Lord, the elite troops of the Cat Battalion have already set off under the leadership of my beloved concubine Sanhua. Once she arrives at the capital, she will first send a random message to test if the intelligence line has been successfully established. If there is no movement within two months, it means something went wrong somewhere."

"Hmm, then let's just wait for now." Pei Shaoqing nodded and waved his hand, "Extinguish the lamps and rest."

Tonight, Xie Qingwu did not sleep on the soft couch, but very naturally slept on the same bed as Pei Shaoqing.

The relationship between the two had made great progress.

……………………………

"Congratulations to the Young Master for coming out of seclusion, your strength has greatly increased."

The next day during breakfast, Liu Yuheng and Zhao Zhilan both offered their congratulations to Pei Shaoqing at the dining table.

"It cannot be called a great increase, it is merely ridding myself of the embarrassing situation of having no strength to truss a chicken; it is still far inferior to the Madam," Pei Shaoqing said with refined elegance.

Liu Yuheng's eyes showed curiosity, "I wonder what the Young Master's strength is now? Of course, if the Young Master feels it is intrusive, just pretend I never asked."

"A mere Qi Condensation," Pei Shaoqing replied.

He said it lightly, but Liu Yuheng and Zhao Zhilan were shocked; they had not expected that a single spirit pill would allow Pei Shaoqing to achieve what others would take at least a dozen years of hard work to accomplish.

It was no wonder that noble families and the imperial court had so many experts; they possessed far more resources.

Liu Yuheng said with a smile that was half-envy and half-bitterness, "Lan'er has extraordinary talent, and having practiced martial arts since childhood, she is only at the middle stage of Qi Condensation now. The Young Master has walked the path of her dozen years in a single step; it is truly a joyous and congratulatory occasion."

"Ah!" Zhao Zhilan suddenly exclaimed.

Liu Yuheng asked hurriedly, "What is it, Lan'er?"

"N-nothing." Zhao Zhilan shook her head with a flushed face, bit her red lips and said, "This disciple was just surprised at the Young Master's great increase in strength after taking the pill."

Xie Qingwu saw that one of Pei Shaoqing's hands had not come up the entire time, and immediately guessed what was happening. She gave him a fierce glare and cursed him as lewd and shameless in her heart.

Although she had the intention of letting Zhao Zhilan, who had offered herself, share the burden, she still felt somewhat unhappy in her heart at this moment, and buried her head in her food in a huff.

Pei Shaoqing's hand, placed on Zhao Zhilan's leg, gripped the hem of her skirt and lifted it slightly. What came into view were spotless white silk socks; as he continued to lift, her smooth and delicate calf was revealed, and he was immediately satisfied.

Very good, very obedient, very well-behaved.

He raised his head and gave Zhao Zhilan a faint smile.

Zhao Zhilan did not dare to look him in the eye at all; she gripped her chopsticks tightly and lowered her head, silently feeding herself.

Ever since Pei Shaoqing spoke last time, she had not worn long trousers under her skirt, wearing only a thin, short pair of underpants. Although no one could tell under normal circumstances, she still felt extremely ashamed.

Touching the young girl's skin as smooth as congealed fat, Pei Shaoqing's appetite opened up, and he even ate several more bowls of breakfast.

After the meal, he took Ye Hanshuang to the Hundred-Household Office.

The moment he arrived at the official office, Chen Zhongyi, Sun Youliang, and a group of Small Flags immediately came to pay their respects.

"We congratulate you, my Lord, on coming out of seclusion!"

"Everyone, please rise." Pei Shaoqing waved his hand to signal them to rise, looked at Sun Youliang and asked, "Mingde, you went to see Thousand-Household Lu; did he have a letter for you to bring back?"

"There is one." Sun Youliang responded, and immediately stepped forward to present the letter he had been carrying with him.

Pei Shaoqing took it and opened it to read.

In the letter, Thousand-Household Lu expressed his congratulations and praise for his killing of the Kaiyang Holy Son, and also said that he had benefited from his light this time and owed him a favor, inviting him to visit his residence in Jingguan City when he had time.

Furthermore, he mentioned that the newly appointed Trial Hundred-Household Zhou Xiangyang had already set off, hoping they could work together.

Pei Shaoqing put down the letter, raised his head and asked the crowd, "Has Hundred-Household Zhou already arrived?"

The crowd looked at each other in dismay upon hearing this.

"My Lord, not yet," Sun Youliang replied.

Pei Shaoqing frowned; Thousand-Household Lu wrote this letter over ten days ago. Logically, Zhou Xiangyang should have arrived long ago. Could it be that he also encountered an accident on the way to his post?

Just at this moment, accompanied by the sound of rapid and powerful footsteps, a Jing'an Guard ran in quickly.

"Reporting to my Lord, there is a person outside the gate claiming to be an attendant of the new Trial Hundred-Household, saying that the Trial Hundred-Household is about to enter the city from the North Gate, and asking us to go and welcome him immediately."

Discussions immediately broke out in the official office.

"Speak of Cao Cao and Cao Cao arrives."

"Why have you only just arrived? Even by carriage, it shouldn't take this long to travel from Jingguan City to Tongzhou."

"My lord!" Chen Zhongyi suddenly stepped out of the ranks, cupped his hands toward Pei Shaoqing, and said, "In this humble subordinate's opinion, this person is likely delaying the journey on purpose to give us a show of force. We should simply not send anyone to greet him, so he knows who is in charge at this Hundred-Household Office."

The others also chimed in one after another, all feeling that Pei Shaoqing did not need to lower himself to welcome the new Hundred-Household.

On the contrary, they should be the ones giving the other party a show of force.

But Pei Shaoqing did not think so; he chuckled and said, "He is, after all, a superior official who has traveled thousands of miles to take up his post. A welcome is still necessary. We can choose not to give him face, but we must at least give Thousand-Household Lu some face."

Courtesy first, force later, after all.

Besides, things like a show of force are too weak.

He preferred to get straight to the point in one go.

If the other party was sensible, he wouldn't mind sharing a portion of the benefits, keeping him well-provided for, and living in peace.

If he was not sensible, he would shatter his spine on his very first day in office, ensuring he would never dare to harbor any strange thoughts and would honestly serve as a rubber stamp.

(End of chapter)