The Empress Kneels in Her Palace to Admit Her Mistakes After Slaying Her Ways in the Female-Oriented

Zhou Xiong clearly overestimated his standing among the people of Pukou City.

Moldy, rotten vegetable leaves are nothing compared to that!

Just as Zhou Xiong was slightly stunned, something else was thrown at him recklessly.

Fruit peels and useless vegetable roots.

Stones, clods of earth.

Garbage, dirty weeds.

And damn it... there's feces again!

Not only did they use these things to wallpaper his walls, but they also came after him?

Of course, the worst thing you could do was throw rotten eggs at him!

Each one of them is extremely lethal!

But this throw made Zhou Xiong understand.

Someone is manipulating it, there's definitely someone manipulating it!

You should know that eggs are not like moldy, rotten vegetable leaves; those are very precious things.

In recent years, the influx of sweet potatoes into Pukou City has ensured the basic livelihood of its residents, but it is far from the point where they would throw away precious items like eggs.

and so……

there is only one truth!

Someone hired these people to throw eggs at him!

"And someone with such great wealth must have the support of the city lord, so... there's absolutely no room for reconciliation between me and the city lord?"

Thinking about all this, Zhou Xiong felt a chill in his heart.

Is defending Pukou City really that difficult?

Just as he was feeling down, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a middle-aged man throwing eggs at him from a distance. Almost as if struck by a divine inspiration, Zhou Xiong recognized the man immediately.

I spoke up for him last night.

The middle-aged man, an ordinary citizen, believed that everything he did and said was perfectly correct.

But now...

In the crowd!

He was the one who threw eggs with the most enthusiasm!

"It's you!"

Zhou Xiong shouted loudly.

The man was also startled and immediately said, "It wasn't me, it wasn't me."

"It's you, it's you!"

"It's definitely not me, it's definitely not me."

"No, it's you."

"No, it's definitely not me."

"If it wasn't you, what are you denying?" Zhou Xiong instantly seized on the logical flaw in the man's words and delivered a fatal blow.

The man was stunned for a moment, and could only grit his teeth and insist, "It wasn't me, it wasn't me."

"I'm just a good citizen who upholds love."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Xiong's mind went blank.

No, this person seemed to be on his side last night, how could such a huge change have occurred in just one night?

Is the Love Mutual Aid Alliance in Pukou City really that powerful?

Can a person be changed so easily?

Thinking this, he looked up again and saw many familiar faces. These people were originally honest, hardworking farmers from Pukou City, but now...

They all became supporters of the Pukou City Love Mutual Aid Alliance!

Zhou Xiong felt a chill run down his spine!

Is it changing that fast?

He slept soundly for one night, and when he woke up, the hearts of the people, on whom they depended most for their livelihood, had undergone a dramatic change.

Damn it, he's even lost that last bit of support!

"General, let's go back quickly."

At this moment, a guard stepped forward and said...

Actually, he didn't want to persuade Zhou Xiong to go back; he just couldn't stand it anymore. After all, when he stood on Zhou Xiong's side, people would throw things at him, but they couldn't hit him properly and instead all of them were aimed at him.

Who could stand this?

The key point is that we cannot go on a killing spree.

Almost half the city's population is right in front of me!

How many people would dare to massacre half the city's inhabitants?

Zhou Xiong responded woodenly, then was pulled back into the mansion by his personal guards. He sat in a chair, dumbfounded, his mind unable to process what was happening.

In particular, the noise outside had not yet ended, with people constantly shouting for him to get out of Pukou City, to pay for Miss Wanqing's life, and to commit suicide.

Zhou Xiong's inner world was constantly in a process of collapsing and rebuilding, and then collapsing again.

The crowd gradually dispersed as evening approached.

He's probably gone home for dinner and rest.

Zhou Xiong breathed a slight sigh of relief and began to consider what to do next.

The city lord of Pukou City was at odds with him.

The Love Mutual Aid Alliance in Pukou City wishes he were dead!

Even the people's hearts were against him.

It made him feel like he had nothing to rely on!

"We can't just surrender to Ren Tianye, can we?"

The thought suddenly popped into Zhou Xiong's mind, but he suppressed it in an instant.

"No, absolutely not!"

Just then, the guards ran over.

"General, someone outside requests an audience."

"She shouldn't be a member of the Love Mutual Aid Alliance, nor is she a member of the city lord's group. She doesn't seem to be from Pukou City either. However, she claims to be an old acquaintance of your master."

Zhou Xiong frowned slightly: "An old acquaintance of my master? A woman?"

"It was a woman, an old lady."

"No way, Master, who has always regarded love and affection as fleeting clouds, still has an old acquaintance?" Zhou Xiong said, "Please come in."

A moment later, an old woman walked in through the small door. She had an aged face but was very energetic, and she looked extraordinary at first glance.

Zhou Xiong sized him up for a moment, then asked, "Who are you? Why do you claim to be an old acquaintance of my master?"

"My name is Sun Rong, you can call me Granny Sun."

Granny Sun, who volunteered to persuade Zhou Xiong, said, "My master and I used to belong to the former Demon Suppression Division, so we can be considered old acquaintances."

Zhou Xiong then suddenly realized what was going on.

Oh, I see!

but……

He quickly became alert.

Former...Demon Suppression Division?

His master had never told him what the former Demon Suppression Division was, but he knew exactly what it was.

Isn't that just one of Ren Tianye's departments? It's known for its "acting first and reporting later" policy, which is a special privilege granted by the emperor. It possesses absolute power and has carried out wave after wave of crackdowns on people obsessed with romance.

He actually approves of it very much.

Unfortunately, we belong to different camps.

Therefore, the Demon Suppression Division was also a major enemy in his mind!

Staring intently at Granny Sun, he said, "So, you're an envoy sent by Ren Tianye?"

Granny Sun first gave Zhou Xiong an approving look before saying, "No wonder she took you as her apprentice; your reaction was truly swift."

"That's right. I have now pledged allegiance to the Duke and have been ordered by him to invite you to join his service."

As she spoke, Granny Sun sighed and said, "I arrived last night, but I didn't come to find you immediately. Fortunately, I didn't, otherwise I would have witnessed the chaos and... absurdity of the entire Pukou city!"

"Sigh, the world's love-struck people are getting more and more intense and terrifying, ten times more rampant than we were back then."

"No, more than ten times."

"It's a pity that the leader disappeared back then. Otherwise, if we had stopped it back then, the world wouldn't have evolved to this extent."

Granny Sun seemed to be talking to herself, or perhaps describing the situation back then to Zhou Xiong. After a pause, she said, "Your master, like me, was dedicated to preventing the world's love-struck people from causing further harm."

"We haven't succeeded before."

"But now, the Duke has arrived, and he has established a great situation. As a descendant of the former Demon Suppression Division, I think you should also be willing to serve the Duke, right?"

"Come, let's join the Duke in restoring a bright and clear world to the land."

When Granny Sun said these words, it was clear that when she first asked Ren Tianye for permission, she thought the matter was easy and that as long as she spoke, Zhou Xiong would most likely surrender and hand over Pukou City immediately.

Unexpectedly, Zhou Xiong shook his head.

Their attitude remains quite firm.

This surprised Granny Sun greatly.

"You disagree?"

"What? Haven't you seen what's happened these past two days? This Pukou City is now a haven for love-struck fools; there's simply no place for you!"

"They are so crazy, they torment you like this."

"Right now, you have not only lost the support of the officials in Pukou City, but also the hearts of the people. You have nothing left."

"What, are you willing to be a defeated general after the Duke invades?"

Zhou Xiong's eyes once again radiated confidence.

"So what if there's no support from Pukou City?"

"So what if there's no public support?"

"I still have troops at my command, and these troops all obey my orders. With so many troops, I can defend Pukou City!"

"Most importantly..."

At this point, Zhou Xiong's eyes gleamed with intense ambition: "Most importantly, as long as I defend Pukou City, I will defend the gateway to Yunjing!"

"What kind of achievement is this?"

"What a tremendous achievement this is!"

"With this merit, when the world is about to fall into chaos, I may not be unable to achieve the goal of being granted a fiefdom in Yunjing."

"Even if it's a king who shares the same title as another king, it's not impossible."

"But what if I surrender to Ren Tianye?"

"Just a surrendered general who gave up the city."

"Does his achievement surpass Zhang Shi's or Wang Ming's?"

Granny Sun's eyes widened.

Unexpectedly, Zhou Xiong's ambitions were so great.

Since he has such ambitions, it won't be easy to persuade him. However, Granny Sun is still unwilling to give up, saying, "But I'm afraid you can't defend Pukou City!"

"That's hard to say." Zhou Xiong became even more confident after saying this: "Pukou City is incredibly fortified; even the Red-Coated Cannons couldn't breach its defenses. Besides, I have already made arrangements. Ren Tianye wants to come in? Dream on!"

"He's something else, he just surrounded me."

"But as long as I can hold out for a while and wait for the reinforcements from Yunjing to arrive, this tremendous achievement will be mine."

Granny Sun said coldly, "Hold on for a while? How long can you hold on? As far as I know, there isn't much food in Pukou City."

"Hahaha..." Upon hearing this, Zhou Xiong burst into laughter: "Pukou City doesn't have much grain, but there are plenty of sweet potatoes around. With so many sweet potatoes, I... can totally manage!"

"I must be the hero of Yunjing!"

"From now on, I must become a regional king capable of standing up to Ren Tianye!"

……

When Zhou Xiong refused Granny Sun's persuasion to surrender, Chen Liang and Song Shaoyi also gathered together.

First, the two acknowledged the progress of their previous work, and then they began to consider more important matters.

"We need to persuade the soldiers in Pukou City as well, so that Zhou Xiong will have no one to rely on."

Chen Liang was the first to offer constructive suggestions.

Song Shaoyi, however, said that this constructive suggestion was extremely difficult: "Persuading those soldiers to surrender would be extremely difficult, as those soldiers have always been personally led by Zhou Xiong."

"How many years has it been!"

"Zhou Xiong has always treated his soldiers well."

"Given the current situation, those soldiers will definitely not betray Zhou Xiong as easily as the civilians of Pukou City."

Chen Liang couldn't help but nod.

He wholeheartedly agreed with this statement.

After all, Zhou Xiong's control over the soldiers of Pukou City was indeed extraordinary.

However, as long as the soldiers continue to obey Zhou Xiong, all the work they did before will be in vain, since military power is everything.

He said, "It seems we still have to start with the food supply. I have already made preparations in this regard, but it will not be easy to shake the food rations of the soldiers in Pukou City."

"We can only try and take a look."

After a pause, Chen Liang added, "However, besides this matter, we have another thing to do right now."

"It's time to write a petition to the people of Yunjing!"

……