The boss of a foreign organization called the police, claiming that he was defrauded by me

"What do you mean by this? How will Your Majesty respond?"

Yu Meiren pressed for an answer, not wanting to cause trouble for Yang Xia, and even less wanting to implicate him.

Upon hearing Yu Meiren's question, Liu Zhixiu turned around and said disdainfully:

"So Yang Xia is nothing special after all. It seems he really cares about you and agreed to my request."

"He's willing to trade Yan's new weapons for your safety. It seems you hold a significant place in his heart."

"I never expected to get it so easily. As long as I have you, I don't believe Yang Xia would refuse my request."

Liu Zhixiu said these words with a smug look on her face, eagerly anticipating her meeting with Yang Xia.

Yang Xia arrived as promised. Two days later, he and Sun Zhengming arrived in Red Cake Country with an amphibious assault ship.

When Yoo Ji-soo saw the amphibious assault ship, her heart was filled with turbulent emotions and she was extremely excited.

Acquiring a weapon as powerful as an amphibious assault ship would be a tremendous boost to the Red Cake Nation, a truly golden opportunity.

Upon hearing of Yang Xia's arrival, Liu Zhixiu impatiently took Yu Meiren hostage and brought her to Yang Xia and Sun Zhengming.

The moment Yang Xia saw Yu Meiren, he felt a pang of heartache, but also an overwhelming sense of anger.

He looked over anxiously. Yu Meiren was also overwhelmed with mixed emotions when she saw Yang Xia.

But she didn't know what to say to Yang Xia. In Yu Meiren's heart, she felt that she had dragged Yang Xia down, allowing Liu Zhixiu to blackmail him.

If it weren't for her safety, Yang Xia would have launched an attack long ago; why go through all this trouble?

Liu Zhixiu laughed and said to Yang Xia, "Yang Xia... I didn't expect you to actually bring new weapons to the Red Cake Country. Now lift the cloth, I want to verify their authenticity."

"I know you are resourceful, but Yu Meiren is now in my hands. I hope you won't try anything funny, or she will die immediately."

"I've never been good at showing tenderness to women, but I know how important she is to you. I always keep my word."

Hearing Liu Zhixiu's threat, Yang Xia felt a nameless anger rise in his heart.

But on the surface, he remained calm. He absolutely could not allow Yoo Ji-soo to find any fault with him at this moment.

Otherwise, it will only make him more unscrupulous and even take advantage of others, and most importantly, it will bring danger to Yu Meiren.

Yang Xia couldn't allow himself to be in such a passive position. But he still accepted all of Liu Zhixiu's requests.

He turned and walked to the amphibious assault ship, carefully lifting the curtain.

A magnificent amphibious assault ship appeared before everyone. Yang Xia had already inspected it carefully.

The amphibious assault ship model prepared by Su Qi is extremely realistic; from the outside alone, there is no flaw to be found.

When Yoo Ji-soo saw the amphibious assault ship appear before her, her eyes lit up with shock.

"Great... I've finally gotten my hands on Yan's new weapon. I never expected it to be so easy."

"Yang Xia... it seems you're nothing special after all. I thought you only cared about power and were unmoved by beauty, but I didn't expect your self-control to be so weak."

"This woman is indeed important to you. Her being in my hands this time has been a great help."

Yang Xia secretly breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing Liu Zhixiu's words. Judging from the current situation...

Liu Zhixiu indeed failed to distinguish the amphibious assault ship from the real one. Yang Xia's plan to deceive the enemy seemed to be working successfully.

Liu Zhixiu didn't realize it was just a model. Taking the opportunity, Yang Xia said seriously to Liu Zhixiu:

"Liu Zhixiu... I have delivered what you requested, and it is now laid out before you. I hope you will keep your promise and release Yu Meiren immediately."

"If you push your luck any further, don't blame me for being impolite. I can take the amphibious assault ship with me at any time and void this deal."

Yang Xia coaxed Liu Zhixiu, hoping he could get Yu Meiren out of danger as soon as possible. That way, he could be at ease and have no more worries.

Liu Zhixiu observed Yang Xia's actions with great curiosity.

Thinking of what Yu Meiren had said earlier, he looked at Yang Xia with disdain, wanting to know how far Yang Xia would go for this woman.

She felt she couldn't give up without testing the waters. Liu Zhixiu slowly pushed Yu Meiren forward a few steps.

He stared intently at Yang Xia with sharp eyes and slowly asked:
"Your Majesty... if I kill Consort Yu, would you be willing to hand over the Yan Kingdom to her?"

"I want to know, at this crucial moment, will you choose power or beauty? Even heroes find it hard to resist the charms of a beautiful woman; to what extent are you willing to sacrifice?"

"Tell me... will you agree to my demands? Will you hand over the Yan Kingdom?"

Everyone present was shocked by Liu Zhixiu's words. No one had expected her to be so audacious.

They even used such a question to test Yang Xia, and threatened him with Yu Meiren's life.

Sun Zhengming, who was standing to the side, was very nervous. He frowned and glanced back at Yang Xia.

He worried that Yang Xia might make a decision he would regret in a moment of impulsiveness, allowing the Red Cake Kingdom's conspiracy to succeed.

But when Sun Zhengming looked back, he found Yang Xia unusually calm, with no sign of panic in his eyes.

Instead, a faint smile appeared on his face. He knew very well that, given Yu Meiren's personality, she would never allow him to do such a thing.

Yang Xia didn't want to put Yu Meiren in a difficult position or make her feel guilty.

He also understood that Yoo Ji-soo wouldn't do that. If he killed Yu Meiren now, he would have no trump card left.

There was absolutely no way to obtain Yan Kingdom. Yang Xia looked at Liu Zhixiu with a strange expression.

"What did you say... You want to take Yan Kingdom from me? You have quite the appetite."

"However, I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you. I will never agree to such an unreasonable request. Between Yan Kingdom and Yu Meiren, I will naturally choose Yan Kingdom."

"If you want to use her to control me, there has to be a limit. If you cross my line, I will naturally not agree to such an unreasonable request. You don't need to test me here."

Yang Xia responded firmly and clearly to Liu Zhixiu's question.

Hopefully, Liu Zhixiu will stop in time and release Yu Meiren as soon as possible. Only then can Yang Xia be at ease.

He didn't want Yu Meiren to be implicated any further, and he knew she was kind-hearted. Yang Xia couldn't bear to see her suffer.

Yang Xia's response was well-considered. He couldn't worry about Yu Meiren's feelings for the time being.

They hoped to provoke Liu Zhixiu and lower his guard so that they could find a chance to rescue Yu Meiren.

"Hahaha……"

Liu Zhixiu suddenly burst into laughter, looking at Yang Xia with a mocking gaze and a smile playing on her lips.

"Yang Xia... I never expected that you would treat your beloved so poorly."

"I thought you would do anything for her, but it seems I overestimated her importance."

"Perhaps in your eyes, only Yan Country and those advanced weapons are the most important. These women are not as valuable to you as those weapons."

Liu Zhixiu deliberately spoke clearly and explicitly in order to sow discord between Yu Meiren and Yang Xia.

He wanted to create misunderstandings between them so that his scheme could succeed. Upon hearing Yang Xia's reply, Yu Meiren smiled with relief.

She looked at Yang Xia with deep affection and said with satisfaction:

"Liu Zhixiu...did you hear me clearly? I didn't say anything wrong. You think you can use me to threaten the king? That's wishful thinking, because you can't possibly succeed."

“I knew he would make the choice. He cares about the people of Yan; they are the most important. If I can save them, he will do it.”

"Of course I'd be happy to oblige. Although you have me under your control now, you can never make me work for you. Forget about it now."

Yu Meiren warned Liu Zhixiu firmly, hoping he would not be so clever as to do anything pointless.

Looking into Yu Meiren's affectionate gaze, Yang Xia felt an overwhelming grief in his heart.

I desperately wanted to rush forward immediately to rescue her and bring her back to my side safely.

Yang Xia smiled at Yu Meiren, gazing at her with equally affectionate eyes. They looked at each other in silence, yet seemed to feel each other's warmth.

Yu Meiren smiled and said, "I had expected Your Majesty to make this choice. Thank you for understanding my feelings."

Yang Xia quickly presented the new weapon that Liu Zhixiu had mentioned to him.

Looking at the magnificent amphibious assault ship before her, Liu Zhixiu couldn't help but feel overjoyed.

He could no longer care about anything else; he felt he had to keep his promise. At that moment, obtaining this new weapon was of utmost importance to him.

Keeping Yu Meiren is completely useless. If we anger Yang Xia, he won't care about Yu Meiren's life or death.

It would be impossible for me to obtain such a powerful weapon again.

Thinking of this, Liu Zhixiu's lips curled up slightly, and she said to Yang Xia in a sly tone:
"Don't worry... Now that you've sent the amphibious assault ship, I won't harm Yu Meiren's life and will return it to you unharmed."

After saying that, Liu Zhixiu pushed Yu Meiren away. Yu Meiren couldn't help but let out a cry of surprise.

Just then, Yang Xia rushed forward and caught Yu Meiren steadily, preventing her from being harmed in the slightest.

Yang Xia was overjoyed to see Yu Meiren back in his arms.

He gazed at Yu Meiren with deep affection and whispered in her ear, "Are you alright...? I'm so sorry, I had no choice but to say those things. I hope you can understand."

Upon hearing Yang Xia's words, Yu Meiren understood what he meant. She naturally understood Yang Xia's predicament.

Knowing that Yang Xia wasn't telling the truth, Yu Meiren gently shook her head at him and said, "No need to apologize. I know this is all Liu Zhixiu's scheme. He wanted to use me to blackmail you, but luckily you didn't fall for it."

"Do you know how worried I was just now? I was afraid that you would impulsively agree to his request, which would bring annihilation to the entire Great Zhou Dynasty."

“Then I would truly become a sinner for all time, and I would have no face to face the common people.”

Yang Xia was deeply moved to see that Yu Meiren understood his good intentions.

He held Yu Meiren tightly and gently patted her shoulder to comfort her:
"Don't be afraid... As long as I'm by your side, I will never let you get hurt."

With Yang Xia's comforting words, Yu Meiren's emotions gradually calmed down.

She nodded slowly to Yang Xia. At this moment, Liu Zhixiu was staring intently at the amphibious assault ship in front of her, completely captivated by it.

At the same time, Liu Zhixiu nervously asked Yang Xia:

"I want to know if the Great Zhou Dynasty will initiate a war? I hope you can answer this question for me."

Yang Xia was shocked to see Yu Meiren return safely and to hear Liu Zhixiu ask such a shameless question.

He was furious, but he couldn't show it at the moment.

"Humph……"

Yang Xia sneered and said to the treacherous and vicious Liu Zhixiu:

"Liu Zhixiu... Since you want to know the answer to this question, I will give you a clear answer now, and I hope you can hear me clearly."

"I don't attack first, provided that others don't cross my bottom line."

Liu Zhixiu couldn't understand Yang Xia's ambiguous answer.

He pondered for a moment and pressed Yang Xia for an answer:
"What do you mean...? Trying to dodge my questions won't work. Just say what you want to say."

"What do you mean by 'crossing your bottom line'? I really don't understand what you're talking about."

Yang Xia looked at Liu Zhixiu's foolishness and couldn't help but laugh and cry.

He didn't want to waste any more time with Liu Zhixiu. Now that Yang Xia had achieved his goal, Yu Meiren was safely back by his side.

As for the amphibious assault ship model in front of him, Yang Xia gave it to Liu Zhixiu to make him happy for the time being.

Yang Xia bluntly stated his opinion, looking at Liu Zhixiu with a mocking expression:

"What I mean is, I plan to go to war with the Red Cake Kingdom soon, and I hope you are prepared."

"Don't regret it then, and don't beg for mercy on your knees. This is a warning I'm giving you beforehand. You should go back and think it over carefully."

Upon hearing Yang Xia's answer, Liu Zhixiu was slightly taken aback, and a look of surprise appeared on her face.

"Hahaha……"

Immediately afterwards, Liu Zhixiu burst into laughter, looking at Yang Xia with a puzzled expression:

"You want to go to war with the Red Cake Kingdom? You'd better think it through. Who knows who will emerge victorious?"

"I also want to warn you that my Red Cake Kingdom will fight the Great Zhou Dynasty to the end and will never kneel down and beg for mercy. You'd better stop daydreaming."

Yang Xia squinted at Liu Zhixiu. A meaningful smile appeared on Yang Xia's face at Liu Zhixiu's current foolishness.

He gave Liu Zhixiu a terrifying look, hoping she would realize what was happening quickly. Yang Xia didn't want to have anything to do with such a fool.

Yang Xia could tell what Liu Zhixiu was thinking just by looking at her expression.

Yang Xia found it utterly ridiculous. He knew that Liu Zhixiu was now focusing all her attention on the amphibious assault ship.

They even considered using amphibious assault ships to attack the Great Zhou Dynasty. Sure enough, Liu Zhixiu said to Yang Xia in a disdainful tone:
"It's alright... Since you want to fight the Red Cake Kingdom, I'll accompany you to the end."

"Now that I have amphibious assault ships equipped with new weapons from the Great Zhou Dynasty, why would I be afraid of you attacking the Red Cake Country?"

"This is a perfect opportunity for me to see the destructive power of amphibious assault ships. I look forward to your arrival at any time."

Seeing Liu Zhixiu's arrogance, Yang Xia suddenly burst into laughter.

His eyes, however, were filled with disdain. Yang Xia's words were loaded with meaning, constantly hinting at Liu Zhixiu.

"Liu Zhixiu... Since you're so impatient, I'll wait and see. I want to see how you're going to use this new weapon to attack us."

"Don't turn the tables on me. You can't be too happy about some things too soon, or you'll only cause yourself more losses and put yourself in a dangerous situation."

"This is my warning to you; savor it. If there's anything you don't understand, I can explain it to you further." (End of Chapter)