Empress in her second playthrough: Something's not right with this plot!

"Heh, I told you your approach wouldn't work. Fei Su is already dead. Just let me lead the troops across the border and that's it."

Wenren Xu stroked his beard lightly.

"If we can avoid fighting, we should avoid fighting. Subduing the enemy without a fight is the best strategy."

My soldiers, David's men, their wives and parents are at home, eagerly awaiting their safe return.

At this point, Taishu Wei lowered his head again, continuing to stare at the stalemate on the chessboard.

"With Su Wanwan arrested, wouldn't most of your plans in the capital of Chu be destroyed?"

Su Wanwan is an important pawn of Wenren Xu in the capital of Chu. If she is exposed, it will inevitably implicate many people.

"Li Yunsheng is a smart man. If he wants to get the antidote, he can't touch Su Wanwan."

I'm just curious why he didn't follow the clues to find Su Wanwan, but instead knew with absolute certainty that Su Wanwan was one of our people.

Taishu Wei conceded defeat.

"Let's not get off topic like that. His Majesty would like to know your opinion on the matter of canceling tariffs this time."

"Does it even matter whether I agree or disagree?" Wenren Xu put the chess pieces back into the chess box one by one.

"what do you mean?"

Wenren Xu stared at Taishu Wei.

"I have already sent men to assassinate the Queen of Chu."

"What?" Taishu Wei suddenly stood up. "Have you reported this to His Majesty?"

Wenren Xu remained silent, only shaking his head.

Taishu Wei questioned from the side.

"How could you be so short-sighted? Do you know that the entire court of officials supports the abolition of tariffs?"

"I know."

"Do you know that in just over two months, almost all of my David's silk gauze has been snapped up by the State of Chu?"

"I know."

“A large amount of gold and silver from the State of Chu is flowing into my Wei Kingdom. Do you know what will happen if this continues?”

This time, Wenren Xu shook his head.

"do not know."

"How could you not know!"

Taishu Wei knelt down in front of Wenren Xu, his tone impassioned.

"The large-scale purchase of silk and gauze by the people of Chu greatly promoted the silkworm breeding and textile industry of our Great Wei. When the people are rich, the country is rich; when the country is rich, the army is strong."

You just said you didn't want to easily start a war, isn't this exactly what you wanted to see?

Cough, cough, cough—

Wenren Xu coughed even more violently, and it took a while for him to calm down a little.

"The price of gauze has risen, and in another year or two, the people will reap sufficient benefits from it."

"I, David, have amassed my strength, and a year later, in coordination with Li Yunsheng from within and without, we will break through the Chu Kingdom's border defenses in one fell swoop."

"Yup!"

Taishu Wei slammed his hand on the chessboard, finally explaining things clearly.

His Majesty meant the same thing, but still wanted him to discuss it with this sickly man.

On the surface, the sickly man was just a minor historian under David.

In reality, the sickly man had all of David's spies under his control, and he was the one who orchestrated the poisoning of Li Yunsheng.

Many things were accomplished through his collaboration with the sickly man, one openly and the other covertly, which led to David's growing strength.

Wenren Xu countered with a question.

"When people realize that farming is not the best option, they flock to the industry of mulberry planting, silkworm raising, and yarn weaving."

"A year, or even two years from now, do you know what David's situation will be like?"

Taishu Wei didn't take it seriously.

"As I just said, by then, I, David, will surely have a prosperous nation and a strong people."

"wrong!"

Wenren Xu took a deep breath and forcefully suppressed the urge to cough.

"By then, the people will no longer grow a single grain of food themselves."

Looking around, all I see are mulberry trees and barren land.

Li Yunsheng sent Su Wanwan with a message that he would receive a gift upon meeting Su Yunsheng.

He knew that this "gift" referred to the money plundered from the wealthy people of Chu and then transferred to the people of David.

What a brilliant move – robbing the rich to help the poor.

Li Yunsheng offered David a benefit he couldn't refuse, but that was also what terrified him.

The far-reaching impact of this move is chilling to contemplate.

"So what?" Taishu Wei asked, puzzled. "We trade with the State of Chu and can buy grain from them."

Even if people buy grain, their income is still much higher than that from farming.

Therefore, in his view, this matter was entirely beneficial to David.

Wenren Xu sighed.

"I'm afraid that Li Yunsheng might cut off my David's food supply at that time."

At that time, the price of grain will inevitably skyrocket, just like the current surge in the price of gauze.

People in Chu will not die if they don't wear silk gauze, but people in my Wei Kingdom will die if they can't buy food.

At that time, David will face food shortages and become vulnerable to attack.

"Impossible, absolutely impossible!"

Taishu Wei waved his sleeve.

“Li Yunsheng is poisoned, how dare he cut off my David’s food supply?”

Besides, even if the State of Chu runs out of food, we still have the State of Western Zhou to the west, and we can still buy grain from them.

What was the significance of the Chu state running out of food?

Wenren Xu shook his head helplessly. Being dependent on other countries for food supplies was far too dangerous.

Taishu Wei patted Wenren Xu on the back.

"What you just said are all your guesses; none of them happened."

Do you think His Majesty would forgo such a huge benefit just because of your speculation?

Wenren Xu chuckled lightly, knowing full well that His Majesty would not listen to him.

"Therefore, I sent someone to assassinate the Queen of Chu."

With the Empress dead, the State of Chu could only allow either the King of Qin or the King of Qi to succeed her.

Li Yunsheng killed the King of Qin's uncle, making the King of Qin his sworn enemy.

If the King of Qin ascends the throne, the State of Chu will surely be thrown into chaos.

The King of Qi was nothing more than a naive young girl.

If the King of Qi ascends the throne, Li Yunsheng will be able to truly and completely control the Great Chu.

By then, the State of Chu would be theirs for the taking.

Therefore, whoever succeeds to the throne will only benefit David.

At the same time, it can also prevent the things he is worried about.

Taishu Wei paced back and forth angrily. This sickly fellow was serious about something, and no one could persuade him otherwise; he was simply a stubborn fool.

Unfortunately, this guy was physically weak, and I couldn't hit him, so I had nowhere to vent my anger.

Wenren Xu said calmly.

"Tomorrow is the day of the Chu Queen's autumn hunt, and the men I sent will make their move at the hunting grounds."

Even if you wanted to stop it, it was too late.

"you--"

Taishu Wei pointed at Wenren Xu.

"You're acting first and informing me later."

Wenren Xu looked out at the sky.

"If the Empress survives this ordeal, it will prove that I was overthinking things."

Taishu Wei was still unwilling to give up.

Who did you contact?

"The Four Heavenly Kings".

"Those four traitors from the Garan Temple!"

The Four Heavenly Kings were originally four highly accomplished monks from the Garan Temple in Weiguo.

He later stole scriptures from the temple, escaped from the temple, and became a famous professional assassin in the State of Wei.

They committed murder, robbery, and other heinous crimes.

Garan Temple also sent monks to try to capture the four and bring them back to the temple, but they all failed.

A few years later, the four of them broke through to the second rank in cultivation one after another, and they also made a name for themselves in the Wei Kingdom.

Four second-rank masters—even the Garan Temple couldn't do anything to them.