Teasing the First Dragon at the Start

The Yuezhi princess paused, as if she wanted to say something.

"Please, Your Excellency, go and rest for now. I will give you a reply after I have discussed this matter." Zhengjie did not say much and simply waved for her maid to escort her to rest.

Seeing this, the Yuezhi princess could only sigh helplessly and slowly retreated under the guidance of her maid.

......

......

Inside the sleeping quarters.

Zhengjie rubbed her aching temples with her slender, fair fingers, a hint of weariness appearing in her phoenix eyes.

She had just summoned Wang Jian, Li Si, Wei Liao, Meng Yi, and other important officials of the court to discuss her views on the Xiongnu.

I received a somewhat frustrating answer: it's not possible to play.

Despite the fact that many military generals supported the Northern Expedition against the Xiongnu in order to prevent the Xiongnu from growing stronger and becoming a threat to the Central Plains.

However, with the current national strength of the court, it is simply not able to support such a large-scale expedition beyond the Great Wall.

After all, just as Li Si said, the Xiongnu were nomadic and their cavalrymen were swift and mobile, giving them an inherent advantage.

Meanwhile, the troops in the Central Plains had to manage their logistics, supplies, and provisions, and built border fortifications and cities to store resources. As a result, their marching routes were fixed, making it difficult for them to take the initiative to fight the main force of the Xiongnu.

As a nomadic tribe, the Xiongnu could fight if they could win, and run away if they couldn't, only to make a comeback later.

However, the Central Plains were primarily agricultural and sericultural, and the cost of large-scale military operations was simply too high, making it impossible to repeatedly deploy troops.

As the saying goes, a good warrior does not achieve great feats. Unless we are confident that we can wipe out the main force of the Xiongnu in one battle, so that the Xiongnu will not be able to threaten the Central Plains for the next ten or twenty years, it is better not to fight this battle.

"Should we reject the Yuezhi's request and give up this opportunity to join forces against the Xiongnu?" Zhengjie's delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly as she murmured softly.

Just then, a clever little head peeked in from the palace entrance, its heterochromatic eyes blinking rapidly.

Upon seeing Sister Zheng sitting alone at the table, her eyes lit up, and she happily ran in.

"Mother..."

"Little Hu'er, where have you been these past two days?"

Zhengjie stroked her jet-black hair, a smile spreading across her elegant and graceful face.

Hu Yi rolled his eyes and said with a smile, "Hehehe, my son has been bored lately, so he's going out for a walk."

Zhengjie glanced at her with a half-smile in her phoenix eyes: "You went to see Bai Su, didn't you?"

"My dear mother~"

Hu Yi shook Zheng Jie's arm somewhat embarrassedly, then seemed to have thought of something and asked, "Mother, the Yuezhi delegation recently came to Xianyang. Did they come to ask you for reinforcements?"

Zheng Jie was taken aback: "How did you know?"

When the Yuezhi princess was summoned, only Wang Jian and his entourage were present. She had only just learned of the Yuezhi tribe's purpose not long ago.

But Hu Yu had just returned; how did he know the contents of the court's discussions?

Upon hearing this, Hu Yi's fair face showed a hint of surprise: "He really was right."

Zheng Jie was taken aback for a moment, then asked, "The 'him' you're talking about, could it be Bai Su?"

Hu Yu nodded slightly and said, "When I was in Handan, Bai Su said that he could observe the celestial phenomena at night and could make predictions. I didn't believe him, so I made a bet with him."

"Let's see if he can guess the mission's purpose and the final outcome. Bai Su said at the time that the Yuezhi tribe came seeking military assistance, and as for the result..."

"It must be that Mother rejected the Yuezhi tribe's request, and the two sides parted on bad terms."

"I thought he was doomed to lose, but I was right."

Zhengjie was taken aback, a hint of surprise in her phoenix eyes.

Unlike Hu Yi, she was not naive enough to believe that Bai Su could predict everything.

Having spent a long time with Bai Su, I could tell that Bai Su didn't understand any immortal techniques, but only knew some things that ordinary people didn't understand.

It's highly likely that the result was derived from analysis and deduction based on some changes in the situation, which makes it even more surprising.

It should be noted that when Hu Yu went to Handan to find Bai Su, the Yuezhi tribe had not yet reached Xianyang.

In other words, Bai Su had already guessed the Yuezhi delegation's purpose and the final outcome while they were still on their way.

This insight into the global situation is simply astonishing.

Hu Yu pouted and whispered, "I didn't expect to lose. Looks like I can't bully him anymore."

Zheng Jie's phoenix eyes darted around, and she smiled sweetly: "Who said we can't bully him?"

Hu Yi paused for a moment: "Mother, you mean..."

The Empress smiled slightly: "Since he was able to foresee the outcome, he must have a solution. I will summon him to the palace to offer his advice. It's time to bring out this idle horse and give it a ride."

"But Mother, didn't you say that Bai Su harbors resentment towards the court and is unwilling to serve as an official?" Hu Yu asked, looking surprised.

“He has already taken the valuable items from me, so naturally they cannot escape my grasp.”

Zhengjie recalled the scene of Bai Su kissing her in front of her daughter after she got drunk that night.

She touched her lips with her fair, jade-like hand, a blush rising on her elegant and noble face, her silver teeth clenched slightly.

Hu Yu thought that her mother knew about her impulsive act of lifting her skirt and Bai Su touching her leg, and her face immediately turned red.

As if by unspoken agreement, the mother and daughter both glanced away.

One was worried about being scolded by her mother, while the other felt guilty and avoided looking into her daughter's eyes; both of them felt a little guilty.

For a moment, the atmosphere inside the hall became quite strange.

Chapter 59 There are risks in flirting with married women

"I slept soundly in my thatched cottage in spring, while the sun lingered late outside my window."

Bai Su yawned and slowly walked out of the courtyard.

"Young Master Bai, what did that girl named Chichi do to offend you? Why did you sleep with her?"

At that moment, a mature woman's voice came from the side.

Following the sound, a plump young woman came into Bai Su's view.

She was dressed in a pale yellow dress, her jet-black hair was styled into a bun with a simple hairpin, and she looked very capable.

She wore small wooden clogs, which made her figure appear extremely tall.

A pretty face with fair skin and large eyes was looking at him with a puzzled expression.

It was simply breathtaking, enough to fill Cao Cao with ecstatic joy.

"It's Mrs. Chen."

Bai Su recognized the married woman before him; she was a local widow whose husband had died young in the war.

Zhengjie's local shop selling saltpeter ice, seeing that she knew how to do business, let her manage it for convenience.

She often came to report to Sister Zheng, and through these frequent meetings, Bai Su and she became quite familiar with each other.

Bai Su noticed that she was looking at her with a strange expression.

He was both amused and exasperated, saying, "I was just suddenly inspired to write a poem."

As he spoke, he explained the meaning of the poem to Madam Chen.

Madam Chen blushed slightly, feeling a pang of shame, realizing she had misunderstood the meaning.

She was just wondering why Young Master Bai insisted on following that girl named Chichi outside the window. Wasn't he afraid of being seen?

Thinking of this, she wished she could dig out an Epang Palace from the ground with her toes.

Seeing her embarrassed expression, Bai Su kindly changed the subject, saying, "Did Madam Chen come here to see Miss Zhao?"

Madam Chen nodded slightly and said, "Yes, the total harvest this month is eight hundred strings of cash. I was just about to tell Miss, but it seems she is not here."

Bai Su pondered for a moment and said, "Miss Zhao went to Xianyang some time ago, and she probably won't be back in the next couple of days."

"I see. It seems I'll have to come back in a while."

Madam Chen seemed to have thought of something, and looked directly at Bai Su with her beautiful eyes: "I wonder if you could write a poem for me, so that my trip would not have been in vain."

Bai Su scratched her cheek and said with a smile, "Of course, may I ask what kind of poem Madam Chen would like?"

Madam Chen smiled and said, "Young master is a man of great learning and a rare talent of our time. Even Miss Zhao often praises him highly. How about you write a poem for me that is a little more complicated?"

Bai Su was taken aback: "How complicated is it?"

After pondering for a moment, Madam Chen smiled and said, "How about we include themes such as heaven and earth, yin and yang, the four seasons, the five elements, men and women, and livestock?"

Bai Su gave a wry smile: "You're not just making things a little complicated, you're deliberately making things difficult for me."

Madam Chen couldn't help but smile and handed over the carving knife and bamboo slips: "If it were someone else, perhaps they wouldn't be able to do it, but I believe that with your talent, young master, you will definitely be able to write it."

Bai Su took the bamboo slip and shook her head helplessly: "Very well, since Madam has said so, how could I disappoint you?"

He stroked his chin, gently turning the carving knife in his hand. After thinking for a while, he suddenly had an idea.

I picked up the small carving knife and slowly began to carve.

After a long time, Bai Su finished carving the last character, blew off the bamboo shavings, and handed the bamboo slip over.

"It's finished."

"They actually wrote it down?" Madam Chen's face showed a hint of surprise.

She looked down and saw a poem neatly written on the bamboo slip: "A ditch is three feet off the ground, water flows all year round, but no cattle or sheep come to drink, only monks come to wash their heads."

It must be said that Bai Su wrote down most of the questions she was asked to answer.

Three feet represent the earth, the four seasons represent the sky, cattle and sheep represent livestock, monks represent men, and water represents the five elements, but there is no woman among them.

Madam Chen looked at Bai Su with a puzzled expression: "Young Master Bai, there is not a single word about women in your poem. How can you show the changes between men and women, yin and yang?"

Bai Su smiled mysteriously: "Although I did not write a single word about women, every word in the poem is about women, and it is in accordance with the principles of Yin and Yang."

Madam Chen paused for a moment, then repeated the words to herself.

When she read the line about a ditch three feet off the ground, she seemed to realize something. She glanced down at it, and then her pretty face flushed red. She spat lightly and glared at him.

The alluring look that swept over her made Bai Su sigh inwardly.