Chapter 414

In Chen Wuji's eyes, Gu Wenjie was an absolute piece of rat droppings.

Anything that bastard does is destroying order.

For power and influence, raising arms and fighting over—this is quite normal, not exactly novel.

If you have ambition and ability, just go ahead and do it.

But to exterminate humanity, slaughter innocents indiscriminately, and wantonly destroy the existing social order—this deserves death by a thousand cuts.

"Do you think those subordinates you trained can handle the current task?" Chen Wuji asked.

He needed more intelligence from Hezhou going forward, but he wasn't sure whether the girls trained by Qin Zhanhong could hold up.

After all, a month ago they were just ordinary farm girls.

Chen Wuji didn't mean to look down on them; he just felt that, compared to men, they might need more time.

Qin Zhanhong's round, elastic butt shifted into Chen Wuji's embrace, her arms wrapping around his neck as she giggled, saying, "Since I dared to send them out, they're definitely capable of this task now. You've seen what they've accomplished—in fact, it's far better than I expected."

Chen Wuji pressed down on that restless sprite, saying, "If that's the case, then let them continue lying low."

"Hezhou is our next focus; I want all intelligence about Hezhou, whether from Gu Wenjie or those deeply entrenched families there—the more the better. The more detailed our knowledge of the enemy, the more advantageous our upcoming battles will be."

"Understood." Qin Zhanhong replied, then suddenly said with meaning, "Look, the weather today is really nice."

The weather lately has indeed been fine, with no sense that autumn is about to arrive.

The dryness isn't pronounced, and it's not as hot as before.

But what Qin Zhanhong said was clearly not that; this guy's mind is full of lust.

"What do you want to do?" Chen Wuji asked with a smile.

Qin Zhanhong smiled mysteriously and said, "Let's go into the mountains to hunt, go to the pond to feel for fish and shrimp, do something fun, and reminisce about our beginnings."

"Hunting, feeling for fish and shrimp—fine, but reminiscing about the past? You know that definitely won't work." Chen Wuji shook his head with a laugh.

"Even if you don't mind, I don't want my beautiful woman to be seen by others."

"They value my life far more than their own now; even if I order them not to follow, they still will, insisting on a couple of sentences then giving me one back—unless I kill them, I surely wouldn't really kill them, would I?"

Qin Zhanhong's lips pouted, she said angrily, "How annoying."

"You Chen folks are being overly cautious, even a bit snobbish—when you lacked this kind of influence before, why didn't they protect you like this?"

"Being cautious is indeed true, but being snobbish isn't." Chen Wuji said.

"They've always protected me—before in the shadows, now in the open. They were lax before because fewer people wanted my life; now more do. The Chen clan line has dwindled to just me in this generation, so their caution is not excessive."

Seeing Qin Zhanhong's displeased face, Chen Wuji stood, carried her into the room, and said, "We can't go to the mountains, but we can still go to bed—rest assured, no one will disturb us here."

Chen Wuji's household is becoming more and more proper.

The inner court—formerly the old residence—has only the two brothers, Presented Scholar Yuan and Licentiate Yuan, guarding the gate.

Chen Wushuang and the other Chen-origin personal guards watch the front courtyard, while the remaining personal guards are responsible for patrolling outside.

This is an ordinary rural manor, yet its defenses are so strict they may even surpass the prefect's office.

After all, Chen Wuji's personal guards are all true masters and veteran soldiers of a hundred battles.

After a round of lovemaking, Chen Wuji was resting with an alluring Qin Zhanhong in his arms when Xue Hongdou's voice rang from the doorway: "Sir, don't sleep—Prefect Qin has sent people; they're waiting in the outer court."

Although Chen Wuji and Huo Sanniang have corrected her many times, urging Xue Hongdou to regard herself as a concubine and stop constantly shouting "master,"

she still insists, insisting on shouting and insisting on being treated as a maid, stubborn as ever.

When the two brothers, Presented Scholar Yuan and Licentiate Yuan, feel it's inconvenient, they have Xue Hongdou relay messages.

"Looks like we won't be lying down—rest, I'll go check." Chen Wuji gave Qin Zhanhong two rubs, rose, and threw on his clothes.

Qin Zhanhong giggled, saying, "I, your concubine, will attend to your dressing."

"Cut it out."

Qin Zhanhong was born not to serve others; once she starts serving people like the world has changed, she must have an ulterior motive.

"Come on, come on, what are you shy about? I'm just helping you put on your clothes." Qin Zhanhong forcibly took Chen Wuji's clothes and helped him dress.

Chen Wuji sighed helplessly, "Spit it out—what nasty scheme are you hatching now?"

"Hey, give me a better rating—I don't have any nasty schemes." Qin Zhanhong shot him a displeased sideways glance.

"Fine, fine, then what good idea are you hatching?" Chen Wuji asked.

Qin Zhanhong lowered her voice to Chen Wuji's ear and said, "I heard Youwei say you've been coming one by one these days—isn't that a bit monotonous and boring? Surely not to your taste, right? This afternoon I'll bring back a little roasted chicken to stay a few days; we'll be together at night—what do you think?"

"I thought it was something else—no problem, it certainly suits my appetite." Chen Wuji laughed.

Xiao Yuji recently took people back to Xiao Jia Ji, intending to reorganize her fur trade.

These past days the household has had only Huo Sanniang and her two companions.

Qin Zhanhong lightly pushed Chen Wuji with her fist, saying, "It's purely for your own good—what did you think I wanted to do?"

Chen Wuji gave a faint smile.

Some people, huh.

This isn't just something he finds interesting; if Qin Zhanhong didn't find it fun, she wouldn't be thinking about it on her own.

Fully dressed, Chen Wuji left the inner court and saw the Hezhou Prefecture Chief Constable, Chen Xingyuan, waiting in the front court.

"Constable Chen Xingyuan greets the clan head."

Chen Wuji waved his hand casually and said, "What message did Prefect Qin send you with?"

His deepest impression of Chen Xingyuan is that line, "Please, Prefect, go to your death."

By comparison, Qin Feng's courage is indeed quite sufficient.

For most people, they'd surely never dare keep nearby the constable who personally beheaded the former prefect, even if there's no conflict of interest—deep down they'd still harbor some psychological shadow.

"Reporting to the clan head, it's not words but silver and grain," Constable Chen Xingyuan said.

"The rebel Lu Ping'an sent people delivering money and grain, saying it's military provisions for the clan head—altogether a thousand taels of silver and a thousand bushels of grain, all of it damp Chen grain."

Chen Wuji instantly felt as if he'd eaten maggots, and was nauseated.

"Did Lu Ping'an not send even a word?" he asked

"None."