Chapter 993

Those near vermilion become red; those near ink become black.

This truly is a highly versatile life maxim.

Chen Wuji, looking at Lu Wanwan, truly saw her for who she was.

Before, she was just bold and mischievous, her conduct bearing an unbridled, mountain-wild nature.

But after hanging out with Qin Zhanhong for a while, this girl, who had already broken free of ritual constraints, suddenly let herself go completely, becoming a fairy with vast supernatural abilities, capable of thirty-six transformations in the bedroom.

Regardless of how Zhang Xiuer felt, that day she suffered double domination, being subjected to a mixed double strike.

However, her experience should have been good.

At first she resisted Lu Wanwan's domination, but later her resistance turned into excited defiance.

Roughly rounding off, she can be considered excited.

However, she had some objections to Lu Wanwan frequently smearing saliva on her chest, believing it would affect her future beauty and cause Chen Wuji to lose interest in her.

Fortunately, Lu Wanwan was also receptive to advice, later focusing on Zhang Xiuer's lips and fair legs, and lavishly praising her legs as infinitely beautiful, thereby drawing them closer.

……

After an hour.

In a camp tent specially set up by Chen Wuji, Cui'e attended to Zhang Xiuer's bath.

With only her as a maid, the work almost wore her out.

She carried hot water back and forth an unknown number of times.

Zhang Xiuer was the last; before this she had already attended to Chen Wuji and Lu Wanwan's bathing and washing up.

"Miss, does it hurt a lot?" Cui'e poured hot water onto Zhang Xiuer's fair back, watching the little strawberries being sucked out, she held back tears and asked softly.

Zhang Xiuer, still savoring what just happened, looked up in surprise: "It doesn't hurt, you little girl, why are you crying?"

"But I heard you scream terribly, Miss—look at your back, the scars are almost covering it."

"……"

Zhang Xiuer suddenly didn't know how to explain it to Cui'e.

"You silly girl, even if I told you, you wouldn't understand; you'll get it when you're married." Zhang Xiuer chuckled, rubbing her lotus-root-like arms.

"In short, this isn't painful, nor is it not painful—it just hurts a little when a girl becomes a woman; otherwise it's… very, very nice, the moaning is just… ah, I don't know how to explain it to you."

"In short, don't overthink it—Wuji ge and Wanwan aren't bad people; they're just more open about male-female love, that's all."

Cui'e earnestly looked at Zhang Xiuer's expression: "Miss, do you think I should believe you or not? Your demeanor doesn't seem like you're lying, but I heard and saw it, and I really can't convince myself."

"If you believe me, I really haven't lied to you!" Zhang Xiuer laughed through tears: "This kind of thing can't be explained in words; once you truly experience it, you'll understand—don't worry, it's fine."

"Alright, I'll tentatively take it as true."

"If you don't take it as true, what else can you do? Do you really want to go take revenge for me? Wuji ge is a marquis with tens of thousands of troops under his command, and Wanwan is said to have extremely high martial arts."

"I… I can't beat them; I'll just take the miss and escape!"

Zhang Xiuer burst out laughing, "Pfft," and said, "Don't wander off with wild thoughts—Wuji ge is, in my eyes, besides you, my only relative; I really like these days. By the way, since we're on this topic, there's something I'd like to discuss with you."

"Miss, speak!"

"You are my only personal attendant nearby; in the future, if Wuji ge needs it, you might have to share his bed—can you accept that?"

"Originally this is my destiny; I can definitely accept it, but today…" Cui'e's small face was full of tension and conflict; she fell silent for a moment, then suddenly lifted her head, gritted her teeth, and said, "I can do it—after all, I won't die, it's just a matter of crying a bit louder and having a few more scars; I can handle it."

Zhang Xiuer covered her mouth and chuckled, "As I told you, it doesn't hurt; shouting louder isn't because of pain. Anyway, knowing you're stubborn, I won't explain further—think what you like; you'll understand once you try it."

……

Inside the Zhongjun Camp, Chen Wuji, whose spirit and body were doubly permeated, was looking at the intelligence sent from Lingshouzhou by Qin Zhanhong and Chen Wuyi; the two reports were largely similar, both stating one matter.

Concerning the situation of the local forces in Lingshouzhou.

The difference between them is that Qin Zhanhong focuses more on intelligence, while Chen Wuyi approaches from a strategic angle.

Chen Wuyi believed that the local forces led by the Second Lord, although after a long time of painstaking concealment, their ability to hide troops is astonishing, but their forces are loose, with mountain strongholds everywhere, and troop training is lacking, lacking large-unit combat capability and real-world experience.

He was convinced that this local militia would struggle to hold out three months against Yang Ji's troops, and Lingshouzhou would surely fall to Yang Ji; he asked Chen Wuji for instructions on what to do next.

Chen Wuji approved, advising to act according to circumstances: seize Lingshouzhou!

Besides mentioning the same content as Chen Wuyi's report, the intelligence sent by Qin Zhanhong placed greater emphasis on the Second Lord's personal identity, and the powerful clan behind him that has long supported the nearly ten-thousand-strong local militia of Lingshouzhou.

Moreover, she this time actually managed to uncover some very deep-level information.

Qin Zhanhong determined that all military and political affairs in Lingshouzhou were in the hands of this Second Lord.

He is also a trusted aide of the Snake Staff Elder, his status roughly equivalent to that of the Fifth Lord.

The Second Lord, hailing from the Lin Clan of Yan Zhou, was the second son of the previous generation's clan head, Lin Zhaode. Intelligent from youth but rebellious by nature, he abandoned everything his family gave him in his youth, went north to study, and later traveled to various countries.

After returning, he settled in Lingshouzhou; it was probably around that time that he met the Snake Staff Elder and began serving him, starting to lay out plans for Lingshouzhou.

The one supplying funds and grain to such a large-scale bandit force or local militia in Lingshouzhou is the Yu clan, a relatively small family from Yan Zhou.

But investigation shows the Yu clan simply lacks the capacity to supply funds and grain for the tens of thousands of local troops in Lingshouzhou; the real force behind it is likely the Lin Clan.

Furthermore, Qin Zhanhong's letter also mentioned some detailed circumstances of the Lin Clan.

The Lin Clan began as grain merchants, later gradually expanding their business; they now mainly deal in cloth, ready-made clothing, food, and money shops, covertly engage in salt and iron trade, and are suspected of privately minting coins.

After the Court Army reached Yan Zhou, the Lin Clan was the first to step forward and donate funds and grain, and under Cao Lin's direction recruited Young Strongmen and Rivers and Lakes wanderers to form the Defend-the-Homeland Camp, which now has two thousand Young Strongmen, all wearing armor and wielding halberds, with equipment far surpassing that of ordinary Provincial Troops.

Chen Wuji saw this, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

Damn, this Snake Staff Elder is like a mother frog, scattering seeds wherever he goes.