the empress livestream
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Jiang Pengji frowned and thought about it for a while.
The middle-aged soldier ignored his injuries and gave a big bow to Jiang Pengji while sobbing. His red eyes spilled tears down his rough face.
“Palace Guard Commander, my lord died in vain. His only surviving descendant is the young master. I hope that you will be generous and lend your help to us because of your past relationship with my lord. Please send someone to escort the young master safely back to Wolong County in Haozhou. I am willing to repay you with the rest of my life by becoming your humble servant…”
The large man knelt with tears in his eyes. Anyone who witnessed this scene would be moved by his sincerity.
The audience in the live stream was moved by his act and slowly grew compassionate for this poor man.
Garlic Lobster Rice: I can feel his helplessness and pain even through the screen. The ancients say that a real man would die for his best friend. I bet that the Chief of Wolong was his best friend. I can’t imagine how painful it would be to witness your own master die right before your eyes.
Shrimp Ball: I agree. From the outside, this hunk seemed to be the tough and strong type, but now he’s crying so pitifully…
Secret Sauce Mixed Rice: You’re all pitying him? I actually don’t like him. He did lose his lord and comrades, but what does that have to do with the host? There’s still an enemy on the loose and the host doesn’t have a lot of free time. Why should she need to agree to his request? Become a servant for the rest of his life? The host doesn’t have a shortage of people willing to serve her. Even if he did have a tragic experience, I can’t bring myself to like him.
Yiner Red Date Lotus Soup: The last comment was a little bit harsh, but I do agree with you that I’m not a huge fan of him. If the host had already successfully overcome the danger before he brought this favor up, the host might have already agreed to the request. Isn’t he just asking for more trouble by bringing this up right now?
The comments in the livestream channel flew by as people expressed their opinions, but comments that pitied the soldier remained in the majority.
Jiang Pengji ignored the comments on her livestream channel and asked someone to pull the soldier up.
She said, “The Chief of Wolong died at the hands of a traitor and left only one descendant. On principle, I cannot sit idly by. You should rest up for a bit. If you fall too, who else will your young master rely on? You need to remain strong to protect your young master.”
Jiang Pengji’s answer was a little vague, but this response was enough to make the soldier calm down and accept it.
“Thank you.”
He had a lot of injuries and had lost a lot of blood. Between how much talking he’d done and how emotional the conversation had made him, he was incredibly exhausted and on the verge of passing out.
The medics helped him back onto the stretcher and carried him out.
By the time he left, Jiang Pengji’s gaze grew cold.
Yang Si said, “My lord, we can’t just jump to a conclusion on this matter.”
“I know, didn’t you see that I didn’t agree to his request?”
Jiang Pengji smiled a little, her dark black pupils revealing the calculative brain behind them.
Feng Zhen understood Jiang Pengji’s plan when he heard this. He let out a strange smile.
His lord certainly was his lord. She wasn’t easily moved. She never allowed emotions to overtake her judgment. This was the only way for her to keep moving forward.
He said, “Wolong County is in Haozhou. That place isn’t particularly bad, how does my lord plan on using it?”
How could they not accept a free meal that’d been delivered straight to their door?
However, Feng Zhen wanted to know if his lord planned on eating the meal herself or buying some sympathy by feeding it to Huang Song.
Jiang Pengji thought about it and said, “The elites of Wolong have been almost completely eliminated, and only a handful of people survived the raid. With only these injured soldiers and an 11-year old Cai Xiang left, how can they possibly protect Wolong County? Bogao is in Haozhou and is the chief of Maode County, which is the neighboring county of Wolong. How could he possibly let this opportunity pass by? The forces within Wolong aren’t something that Cai Xiang can control on his own, let alone Bogao… This will indeed be a good meal for us if we eat it properly…”
After that, Jiang Pengji added, “As for how to best do that, I haven’t decided yet. I’d like to hear everyone’s opinions.”
After listening in, the entire string of comments in the livestream turned into a flood of exclamation points.
Holy sh*t!
Their host wasn’t even thinking about helping the survivors of Wolong! Instead, she just wanted to use them to benefit herself?
Several audience members didn’t feel comfortable with this decision. Wasn’t this just manipulating a child and stealing others’ property? Yet they also knew that the world their host was living in was different from their own. Although they thought this was a harsh and brutal thing to do, the truth was that she was making the smartest decision.
If she agreed to help, she wouldn’t even be able to protect her family and assets, let alone claim the crown for herself.
The audience members swallowed their unease. Only a few of them with bigger attitudes expressed their disgust.
The subordinate of the Chief of Wolong had cried so heartily, how could the host not even show a sign of pity? How could she live with herself knowing that she was planning on stealing others’ assets?
To understand the matter in a modern context, it was like if someone’s father had died in an accident, leaving a huge sum of money to the little Cai Xiang. The host and Cai Xiang had no relationship before the host had saved Cai Xiang while passing by. Now, she was still thinking of ways to claim her share of the will. How was this not disgusting?
Of course, Jiang Pengji didn’t care about these comments.
Li Yun, who had been silent for the whole time, thought about it and asked, “How about we lend some troops to Cai Xiang?”
Lending troops to Cai Xiang was just an excuse.
They would claim to be helping Cai Xiang, but they’d actually be trying to lure in Cai Xiang and take charge of him.
Huang Song still didn’t dare to face Jiang Pengji head-on. If Jiang Pengji decided to use this clever method to stealthily take over Wolong County, he could only swallow his frustration. However… Jiang Pengji lowered her eyebrows as she remembered the great map of Dongqing in her mind.
When Li Yun saw that Jiang Pengji wasn’t responding, he secretly checked on Yang Si and Feng Zhen’s expressions as he slowly lowered his head.
Had he just made another dumb suggestion?
Feng Zhen sighed and said, “Wolong County is indeed a decent place, and if we can claim that area, Huang Song’s movements will all be under our lord’s eyes. We can then keep an eye on him and be sure he doesn’t expand his authority. However… it’s quite a pity… we would have to give up…”
Chongzhou, Wanzhou, and Hu County were all in the northern area of Dongqing.
In Feng Zhen’s perspective, Wolong County was located in an awkward position. If they took control of it, their line of authority would be too long.
On top of that, Wolong County was located near a mountain range with strategic importance. It was a place that military families would always fight to protect.
If Jiang Pengji really wanted to take over the county, she would need to relocate her military force to the south in order to prepare for any sort of situation that could arise.
If that was the case, there would be a problem…
If Jiang Pengji were to relocate her troops down south, how would she defend against Beijiang from the north?
To Jiang Pengji, Wolong was a weak point right now. It could be wiser for her to discard it than keep it.
She may as well use this as a chip to work with Huang Song and gain more profit for herself.
However, Yang Si and the crew were clearly unwilling to give Huang Song a free pass.
“Let’s set this aside for now.” Jiang Pengji lowered her gaze and hid the calculation in her eyes. “The most important issue right now is how we will survive Jiamen Gate and avoid getting ambushed by our enemies. If we follow the footsteps of Wolong’s chief, there will be no point in discussing the aftermath.”
Everyone understood her thought process.
Just then, Meng Hun, who had been quiet this whole time, suddenly spoke up. “My lord, I have something that I’m not sure if I should say…”
“No worries, speak up.”
“I suspect that the spy is still among the survivors of the Wolong troops.”
Jiang Pengji’s smile grew deeper. “You think so too?”