Chapter 134: There Are No Fools Under Heaven

The idea was good, but carrying it out would be very difficult. Zhang Zhao glanced left and right. Cao Shisi should still be reliable, but Liu Zaisheng and this hastily arrived palace attendant were not so certain.

Although Liu Zaisheng had fought bloody battles at his side and shared life-and-death moments with him several times, he was, after all, the Commander of the Palace Guard under Li Shengtian in reality, and his family had been loyal ministers of the Khotan royal house for over a hundred years. He would certainly not go along with Zhang Zhao's reckless schemes.

As for this palace attendant, there was even less need to say. This man was the most trusted of Li Shengtian's trusted confidants. He had rushed to the Karakhanid palace in such haste, and had gone straight into the inner palace the moment he arrived. Needless to say, he had come to keep an eye on Zhang Zhao.

Who could blame him? Zhang Zhao had a prior record of giving away a whole kingdom's queen to his own subordinate. Li Shengtian was clearly afraid that he would pull the same trick he had used in the Zhongyun Kingdom, and so had hurriedly dispatched a palace attendant.

Zhang Zhao swept his gaze across the three of them and found no opening he could exploit.

Time slipped away second by second. Li Shengtian would probably enter the city soon. Once this woman was taken in by Li Shengtian, she would become a mere ornament in the inner palace, useless for winning over hearts or stirring up trouble.

Perhaps Li Shengtian would not take her?

No! Impossible! Zhang Zhao shook his head. This woman was so beautiful, and Li Shengtian was not blind. On top of that, she was the queen of the Karakhanid state. With a status like that, how could Li Shengtian possibly let her go?

Wait! Beautiful! A thought flashed through Zhang Zhao's mind like lightning. He abruptly crouched down and carefully studied the face of this woman who called herself of the Cao clan, the Karakhanid queen.

She was a remarkably beautiful woman! A perfect oval face, and a cascade of glossy, healthy black hair.

Her skin did not have that cold-beef pallor common among the Scythians, but was a flawless white with a hint of flaxen tone.

Deep-set eyes, a delicate nose, a small cherry mouth. Her slightly forward-leaning bosom was spectacular, and below her slender waist, her full hips traced a lovely curve.

And most devastating of all, this woman, who looked to be only twenty-one or twenty-two, exuded an air of quiet bookishness touched with a hint of allure.

Though she knelt there on the ground, she did not look like a captured queen of a fallen state, but rather like a teacher holding a book, like a painter holding a brush, like an author quietly lost in thought.

That made sense! A woman who could learn Chinese in an environment with almost no linguistic context—how could she not be a top student?

Zhang Zhao let out a long breath. He suddenly realized he truly could not send this woman before Li Shengtian, because this woman perfectly hit every single one of Li Shengtian's preferences.

Noble status, natural beauty, outstanding bearing, top-tier learning and refinement—every one of these was something Li Shengtian liked.

If this woman appeared in Li Shengtian's harem, she would be Cao Yuanxin's greatest rival. No—Cao Yuanxin very likely could not compete with this woman.

Because Cao Yuanxin was more than ten years older than this woman, and nowhere near as beautiful. Even a young Cao Yuanxin could not compare.

In terms of looks, even Li Ruoliu, who had tumbled into bed with Zhang Zhao, could not compare. Perhaps only Cao Sanniang at her peak could put up a fight.

One could well imagine: if Zhang Zhao dared to bring this woman before Li Shengtian, what Cao Yuanxin would do to him would not be the small threat of that night.

This Queen Cao of the Khotan Golden Kingdom might truly go mad. And if she went mad, her fury could not be aimed at Li Shengtian—it would surely be aimed at him, Zhang Zhao.

Cao Yuanxin was already afraid that Zhang Zhao would grow powerful in Khotan and then return to the Guiyi Army to stir up trouble. If something like this happened on top of that, heaven only knew what Cao Yuanxin might do.

"Duke of Fengtian, I must remind you: this is, after all, the queen of a state. For you to stare so fixedly like that—is it not somewhat... improper?"

The palace attendant watched Zhang Zhao crouching on the ground and staring at Lady Cao until she herself grew thoroughly uncomfortable, and at last he could not help speaking up in a somewhat barbed tone.

No matter that you, Duke of Fengtian, are the Son of Heaven's nephew and have rendered tremendous service—this woman is still not someone you can lay a hand on!

Zhang Zhao reached out and, with a splash, pulled the palace attendant down beside him. The attendant, shocked and furious, struggled to rise, but before the curses could burst from his mouth, he saw Zhang Zhao likewise pull Cao Yanming and Liu Zaisheng down to the ground.

The three of them stared at Zhang Zhao in bewilderment. Zhang Zhao pointed at Lady Cao, and the four of them then stared at Lady Cao in equal bewilderment.

"Tell me, if we were to present this woman to the Great Sage Son of Heaven, how would the queen look upon us? How would Crown Prince Congde look upon us?"

Looking at the three utterly baffled men, Zhang Zhao said slowly, his voice low.

Cao Yanming understood at once what Zhang Zhao meant. Queen Cao Yuanxin was his own sixth paternal aunt. The shared advance and retreat of the Cao clan's Guiyi Army and the Khotan Golden Kingdom depended to a great extent on Cao Yuanxin serving as the bond between them.

In truth, Li Shengtian's affection for Cao Yuanxin had not truly remained unchanged for over a decade. His good relationship with Cao Yuanxin was largely determined by the practical realities of the Khotan Golden Kingdom and the Guiyi Army.

So if this woman—who so perfectly hit Li Shengtian's preferences and was more than ten years younger than Cao Yuanxin—were inserted between them, it would inevitably do great damage to the relationship between the Khotan Golden Kingdom and the Guiyi Army.

"Cousin-uncle, this woman cannot be sent before the Great Sage Son of Heaven! If it is inconvenient for you, let me do it. The Great Sage Son of Heaven would not kill me, Cao Shisi, over such a small matter. At worst, he would drive me away."

Cao Yanming, who had been stealing glances at the woman's beauty the whole time, suddenly turned somewhat cold and ruthless.

This third-generation noble was actually very clever. After following Zhang Zhao for so long, his vision and decisiveness had been honed. He looked at Zhang Zhao, and as long as Zhang Zhao gave a nod, he was ready to go up and kill the woman outright.

Liu Zaisheng's breathing grew heavy as well. He had clearly thought of the same thing Cao Shisi had: no person or thing could be allowed to damage the alliance between the Khotan Golden Kingdom and the Cao clan's Guiyi Army.

At that thought, two fierce, ruthless gazes fixed directly on the palace attendant at the far right. This attendant served only Li Shengtian; obeying Li Shengtian's orders was the sole law of survival he followed.

So he would certainly not care whether the relationship between the Khotan Golden Kingdom and the Cao clan's Guiyi Army was good or bad. He cared only about whether he could do good service for the Great Sage Son of Heaven.

Drop after drop of cold sweat dripped from the attendant's forehead onto the floor tiles before him with a pattering sound. He looked at Liu Zaisheng, but Liu Zaisheng showed not the slightest other expression.

The attendant understood as well: although the Khotan Golden Kingdom had no eunuchs, the path he walked was that of a eunuch. He was Li Shengtian's sycophant, his flattering minister.

But Liu Zaisheng's family was different. They walked the path of pillars of the state. Their loyalty to the Khotan Golden Kingdom absolutely exceeded their loyalty to Li Shengtian.

And he was not afraid of Liu Zaisheng, because no matter how much Liu Zaisheng disliked him, Liu Zaisheng would not dare do anything to him.

But looking over at Cao Yanming—that man was even prepared to kill the Karakhanid queen. If he refused, Cao Yanming could probably kill him too.

Moreover, the attendant shuddered all over. Even without Cao Yanming, he could not get past Queen Cao.

This queen, within half a year of marrying into the Khotan Golden Kingdom, had fought Li Shengtian's original queen into confinement at the Samoruo Temple. From then on, she had held absolute sway in the inner palace—bold in action, cunning and ruthless. To offend Queen Cao would mean... would mean dying without a burial place.

At that thought, the attendant looked left and right, then suddenly picked up a bloodstained short spear from the ground—one dropped by a Karakhanid palace guard who had just been slain. The attendant took a deep breath, and then, with grim resolve, stabbed himself in the thigh.

"Aiya! There are still hidden brigands! Help! Help!" the attendant howled at the top of his lungs.

Zhang Zhao's eyes went wide. This man was ruthless too! Was he not afraid of hitting his own femoral artery?

"Officer He is mighty! He has slain a Karakhanid palace guard squad leader!" Zhang Zhao shouted, gifting him a share of the credit. Then he swiftly snatched the handful of gold coins from Cao Yanming's pocket and placed them heavily into Officer He's hand.

Even as Officer He grimaced in pain, he gave the coins a light bounce in his palm and roughly counted them. There were quite a few—at least a dozen gold coins.

Satisfied, he nodded gratefully at Zhang Zhao.

At the far left, Cao Yanming's cheek twitched involuntarily. Damn! The handful of gold coins he had just grabbed—gone!

And while they were reaching their consensus, the Karakhanid queen, this beauty who called herself of the Cao clan, had begun trembling uncontrollably from head to toe. She knew what fate awaited her.

"My crimes deserve death! But can you all spare these two children? They are only a few years old!"

Although her feelings for Satuq Bughra Khan were only so-so, the children were her own flesh and blood. Lady Cao still wanted to leave them a way to live.

"To kill and silence people over such a trifling matter—the lady thinks far too little of me, Zhang Erlang!" Zhang Zhao snorted and shook his head, then turned to look at Cao Yanming.

"Liu Zaisheng, pick two men at once and follow Shisi Lang out of the city. Go straight to Her Highness the Queen, explain the situation, and tell her to come here immediately!"

As he spoke, Zhang Zhao patted Cao Yanming on the shoulder. "Tell my sixth cousin that I have great use for this woman. She owes me a favor—I don't need her to repay it. But this woman must be spared."

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