My lord, spare his life!

"Are you honest?"

Zhang Yang glanced at Guan Zong's data panel.

What honest person has a morality score of only 45, loyalty score of only 41, but ambition score as high as 88? Guan Zong being an honest person? That's utterly ridiculous and laughable. Zhang Yang closed the data panel, concluding that Guan Zong was dishonest.

"Just do what I tell you to do, stop talking so much nonsense."

Isn't it just about assigning him more miscellaneous engineering tasks?

Why would you say you bullied him?

Guan Zong was so angry he laughed. He said in a tone that was three parts threat, three parts intimidation and four parts mockery, "If any lord had the same mouth as you, his mouth would have been torn to shreds by his subordinates long ago."

Zhang Yang asked back bluntly.

"So, you don't want to do that?"

The name on Guan Zong's head changes to red every few days, probably because he's thinking about how to tear her mouth apart, but so far her mouth is still fine. Could it be that he doesn't want to?

"...That's a bit hurtful."

Guan Zong choked and awkwardly turned his face away.

It's not that he doesn't want to, it's that he can't.

Guan Zong thought to himself, when had he ever been so pathetic in his life? But he also realized that, given Zhang Yang's personal strength, the probability of him tearing her mouth apart was even slimmer than Guan Si sincerely calling him brother. He couldn't beat her in a fight, and he couldn't win an argument with her.

They could only swallow their anger and live their lives in silence.

"...You can only bully me now, but what if one day..." Guan Zong's voice became indistinct, and you really couldn't hear what he was saying if you didn't listen carefully, "If you become more powerful in the future and still talk like this, you'll be rebelled against sooner or later."

Forget about teaching Zhang Yang to be respectful and courteous to subordinates; she couldn't even manage to speak like those warlord leaders.

"What did I say wrong?"

"It teaches you to be courteous and respectful to those of lower rank."

"Respecting and valuing talent? How do you do that?"

"For example, you should be more polite to me now!"

Is it really that hard to coax him into saying a few sweet words?

"You keep calling me 'I'm old man,' which isn't exactly polite. Aren't I polite enough?" As a game that isn't rated R, the game's official team strives to create a harmonious and friendly gaming environment, so many swear words simply can't be used. Zhang Yang naturally had no way of learning them either. In her mind, the only words she could utter were polite expressions. "And I don't even owe you wages."

Why would a boss who pays wages on time and in full rebel against her? She didn't even bother to inquire about her household registration.

Guan Zong: "..."

"I didn't even deduct your wages for your slacking off."

"...Where did I slack off?"

Zhang Yang's gaze swept over Guan Zong from head to toe, his eyes full of amusement. Guan Zong's face turned pale and then red, and his name flashed above his head like a traffic light until he turned and left.

"Are you being arrogant, brother?"

Zhang Yang pondered this matter for most of the day.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck her, and she understood the key to Guan Zong's strange attitude. She looked up and asked Brother Cai Dan for confirmation. Strangely enough, Guan Si returned but didn't take over the Hundred Ghost Guards. Instead, he let the Hundred Ghost Guards do all sorts of physical labor under Guan Zong's command, while he himself was all alone. He often squatted at a 45-degree angle and looked up at the sky, occasionally accompanied by Kui Mulang as he gazed at the moon at the same 45-degree angle.

Zhang Yang was afraid that he might suddenly let out a wolf howl.

What is tsundere?

All he knows is pride.

Zhang Yang explained, "The so-called 'tsundere' is just Guan Zong deliberately putting on a tough front to cover up his shyness and timidity. He's two-faced. He clearly cares about me a lot and wants to give me advice, but his words always have a bit of a barb. The more you talk about him, the more he fits the description."

"Then your people are all quite arrogant."

Zhang Yang: "I thought you would refute 'elder brother' first."

Guan Si: "..."

"Brother, you've been wronged—" Amidst the bitter wind and rain, the young brother and sister embraced and wept. The woman looked at the young king's haggard face and suppressed her anger, saying, "That beast Zhao Chai dared to humiliate you like this and trample on the dignity of the royal family—"

The young king's face turned pale, and his facial muscles twitched, as if he had thought of something disgusting. It took him a long time to suppress the surging nausea: "Let's not talk about those things now."

The king was young but had more than a dozen beautiful concubines. When the kingdom was in chaos and the royal family was forced to flee the capital, he did not take these beauties with him. The current harem consists of the female relatives of local officials and beautiful palace maids whom he took in after fleeing to the Dog Kingdom.

When the treacherous minister Zhao Chai learned of their identities, he lost interest.

[He's inexperienced; there's not much to it.]

Zhao Chai felt he had been fooled.

People are like fine wine; the older the wine, the better it becomes. A few concubines who had only been promoted a couple of months ago were clearly not enough. Zhao Chai felt he had been tricked until he discovered a jar of "fine wine" that had aged sufficiently. Only by trampling on the face that the royal family cared about most could he truly feel satisfaction.

This beauty has quite a long and distinguished career.

There's no fun in playing with the king's women compared to playing with the king himself.

The young king lowered his voice: "Rumors are circulating that my sister has already... I just assumed she met with some misfortune, was murdered by those wicked servants, and died far from home. What are you doing here now?"

"This is a long story, and I will tell you all about it when I have the chance. The most urgent task is to eliminate Qin Shiming."

The young king shook his head in slight distress.

"No."

"Why not?"

"If Qin Shiming falls, wouldn't that give Zhao Chai a chance to make a comeback? No matter what Qin Huang is like, at least he has no interest in trampling on the royal family, and he doesn't kill people for food when he's not hungry. But Zhao Chai is different; he really eats people."

The young king's teeth were trembling as he spoke of this.

Throughout his arduous escape, he thought he had witnessed the darkest and bloodiest aspects of human life. But when he saw Zhao Chai say, "I'm thirsty," and then grab a eunuch, slit his throat, and suck on his throat to quench his thirst, he realized what true shock was. Even now, with his eyes closed, he can still recall the marks left by the eunuch's hands and feet as he struggled on the ground.

"What did you say, Brother Wang?"

"We need to keep Qin Huang around to restrain Zhao Chai..."

"But when my brother hosted a banquet for meritorious ministers in the capital, the kitchen served quite a few of those dishes."

The young king looked embarrassed and at a loss for words: "That's different, that's... that's... As the sage said, a gentleman, when he sees animals alive, cannot bear to see them die; when he hears their cries, he cannot bear to eat their flesh... How can the two be confused?"

Yes, the two should not be confused.

A banquet without human figures serving food would be seen as a sign of neglect and disrespect towards the guests, and as the ruler, he naturally couldn't mistreat his subjects. The human figures purchased by the kitchen were ingredients, not people, and certainly not people who had ever appeared before him. He only saw them when they were already at the banquet. These human figures serving food were completely different from the eunuchs and palace maids who had been seized by Zhao Chai to quench their thirst and fill their bellies right before his eyes!

If Zhao Chai treats palace maids and eunuchs this way, he will treat the king in the same way in the future. Naturally, Zhao Chai is more terrifying.

The woman, however, discerned the true reason from the young king's face.

She saw through her brother's naive idea.

"Qin Huang is ambitious and won't tolerate my brother. My brother is thinking of letting these two fight like dogs, wearing down each other's forces until they are severely weakened. But neither Zhao Chai nor Qin Huang are simple-minded; how could they not see the trap?" the woman said confidently. "What's more terrifying than them fighting is if they don't fight at all. At that time, my brother's situation will be truly dangerous."

The young king was in a state of utter confusion.

"While the royal family still has some supporters, why not go all out!" the woman advised the young king, but before she could finish speaking, he suddenly shoved her away.

"Brother Wang?"

"No, no, you're not my sister." The young king suddenly snapped back to reality, his face ashen as he staggered back a few steps. "I know her temperament better than you do. If she... if she were really like you, how could she have caused such a disaster?"

The young king trusted and doted on his younger sister.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have entrusted such an important place to her as her fiefdom. And what did she do? She ruined everything.

Snapped--

The woman suddenly raised her hand and slapped the young king.

The slap was extremely powerful, making the latter see stars.

The woman said coldly, "Awake now?"

The young king felt his back teeth loosen, and a strong, metallic taste of blood filled his mouth. He covered his face, trembling with fear. Only then did the woman reassure him, saying, "The past is the past, and the present is the present. I am indeed your sister, and you are my brother, there is no doubt about that. Listen to me, now issue a secret edict to bestow titles upon Zhao Chai, setting his fiefdom in the counties occupied by Qin Huang."

"you--"

"Support Zhao Chai in attacking Qin Huang."

"Qin Huang will kill me before Zhao Chai even arrives!"

"That's why it's a secret edict. It's a delaying tactic, taking advantage of the lull in the fighting between the two sides to secretly send messages to warlords within Dou Kingdom or in neighboring regions. As long as they send troops to kill Qin Huang and Zhao Chai, they can divide the spoils among themselves afterward."

"How can this be? The Dou Kingdom will be completely destroyed!"

"The current state of Douguo is practically nonexistent!" The woman's tone was stern, but seeing the young king's bloodshot eyes, she softened her voice. "The truth will eventually come out. Rather than giving Zhao Chai and Qin Huang time to settle things and let the house win, and completely dominate, it's better for us to take the initiative and stir things up! Only by making a big fuss can we hide ourselves and fish in troubled waters."

Only by taking advantage of this opportunity can the royal family of Douguo gather the remaining forces.

In the current situation, the young king has the title of king but is nothing but a burden. It would be better to overthrow him completely!

"Are you going to agree or not?"

The young king: "..."

His intuition told him that something terrible would happen if he refused. This woman, who claimed to be the king's sister, couldn't possibly be his sister. His sister was only interested in pleasure and acted with cruelty and tyranny, far surpassing even the warlords. How could she say such a thing? Even if it were her, how did she survive the war and end up in Dog Kingdom County?

"good!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a thunderclap resounded outside the hall.

The young king suddenly shuddered.

A very familiar figure appeared at the entrance of the hall.

"Shen Qing—"

This is his greatest source of security.

To his surprise, Shen Qing's next action made him feel as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.

Shen Qing strode into the hall. When he was only a foot away from the young king, he knelt on one knee and clasped his hands in greeting, saying, "Please forgive me for being unable to perform the full ceremony due to my armor."

The young king's finger trembled as he pointed at Shen Qing.

"What's your relationship with her?"

Could it be that even Shen Qing didn't notice the problem with this younger sister?

"This humble general is in charge of the army at Your Highness's residence."

Now it was the young king's turn to question his existence.

He stumbled back several steps, his mind a jumbled mess. Of course he knew that Shen Qing, whom he valued and who had saved him from danger several times, was the military commander of the Wangmei's household, but—weren't their relationship like fire and water? Shen Qing had never shown such respect to the Wangmei.

Shen Qing stood up: "Your Highness, Xie Ruxin is keeping a close eye on us."

This place is no longer safe to stay; it will expose our whereabouts.

The woman nodded: "Mm."

She really took a huge risk to show up this time. If she hadn't, this idiot in front of her would have really messed things up!

The young king didn't know when his sister had left.

She left abruptly, as if she had never existed.

Shen Qing: "Please, Your Majesty, draft a secret edict."

The young king stared blankly at the lifeline he had entrusted with his utmost trust, his expression almost numb. After a long while, he nodded in agreement, his face pale. The secret edict was only considered complete after it was written and stamped with the king's seal.

Thunderstorms broke out, followed by torrential downpours.

Before long, the air was filled with moisture and the smell of earth, with a faint, nauseating odor.

"Ruxin, are you still up so late?"

Qin Huang saw that the candles in the tent were still lit, so she came to check.

At a glance, one could see Xie Shu frowning and deep in thought.

"So many things to do, I can't sleep..." Xie Shu cursed Xiao Sui inwardly. Was this girl really going to run off and never come back? He also cursed Qin Shiming for using her like a mule. "Any leads on that cat demon we found earlier?"

Qin Huang replied, "Not yet."

The cat demon Xie Shu mentioned is also a kind of celestial being descending to affliction.

In some ways, it's similar in nature to the Painted Skin Ghost.

Xie Shu closed his eyes.

She had a bad feeling about it.

At first glance, Lord Qin Huang appeared to be the most powerful warlord in the Dou Kingdom, and the situation was gradually developing in a positive direction. However, she still felt uneasy. This worry only grew stronger after discovering the cat demon's tracks.

"My lord, please take care of yourself and do not forget to bring guards when you go out."

I'm afraid of being assassinated or having someone else take advantage of me.

Qin Huang said, "I know."

"You know nothing! What do you mean by 'He's a prefect, how come he's so idle?'" Zhang Yang retorted to Wang Qi's slander without hesitation. "Idle? How am I idle? I have daily tasks to do. I'm busy as a bee every day!"

There are quite a few daily tasks in Tianyue County.

There are many tasks, and they are easy to trigger, including but not limited to helping a village repair a waterwheel, helping an old lady find her lost child, helping a child at the village entrance find a cat perched in a tree, helping laborers carry 500 stones needed to build a city wall, mediating resource disputes between two villages, stopping village brawls, helping an old lady cross the road, and helping an embroiderer buy needles and thread from the east of the city...

She can appear anywhere an NPC needs her.

In addition to the daily tasks that she actively seeks out, NPCs also come to her for help. Zhang Yang also posted notices telling the children in the county not to panic if they are wronged outside, and that if they can't fight back, they can complain to their parents, and she will settle accounts with the parents who bullied her children.

Every day, the moment I open my eyes, I'm busy with routine tasks.

How could Wild Man Brother say she's idle?

There is no more hardworking prefect in the world than her.

"My lord, my lord——"

"The Chief Secretary requests your presence; please, my lord, go and discuss this matter immediately!"

Zhang Yang suddenly became interested: "There's a main quest?"

??(?w?)