Chapter Forty-Six: How Many Girls Have You Slept With in Your Life?

"This..." Chief Steward Li shook his head in a daze. "Please spare your anger, Your Highness. This matter was separately arranged by His Majesty, and even this humble servant knows nothing about it."

The Princess, who was about to step onto the carriage, turned her head. Her lifeless eyes "looked" at Chief Steward Li with a scrutinizing gaze.

"Do you think my calling him husband is just a child's game of playing house?"

Chief Steward Li lowered his head and gave a bitter smile. "This humble servant would never dare to show the slightest disrespect toward Your Highness. However, this matter was indeed arranged by His Majesty through other channels. Some matters... are too public with many eyes, and it is inconvenient for this humble servant to speak of them."

"Very well. Send me to where my husband lives. I will wait for him at home."

"Your Highness, I beg you, His Majesty has lost a great deal of blood. Please allow His Majesty more time to ponder your marriage..."

"Whether he agrees or not is his own affair."

The Princess's carriage rumbled far into the distance.

Chief Steward Li let out a soft sigh and muttered under his breath, *Your Majesty, this servant would gladly speak, but Her Highness didn't give the opportunity!*

He waved his hand, and a squad of imperial guards immediately gave chase to protect the Princess's carriage.

The Cui clan was truly finished this time.

Chief Steward Li never imagined they would dare to be so arrogant!

They actually charged over and murdered the penal centurion under his command.

What on earth were these people thinking?

When it came to anti-corruption, His Majesty still required evidence.

But anti-terrorism?

His Majesty didn't even need evidence; he only needed to mobilize the troops to settle it.

The Dragon-Soaring General?

The Deputy Commander of the Imperial Guards?

The Minister of War?

What pathetic pieces of trash!

How dare they openly oppose His Majesty.

Stepping into the Qingyun Tower, Chief Steward Li saw corpses scattered haphazardly across the floor.

At this moment, the back kitchen's serving passage had been occupied by agents of the Eastern Depot, holding torches that illuminated the dark night as bright as day.

Chief Steward Li walked forward slowly. A plump, sweaty Fatty Sun held up a snapped three-foot official saber with both hands, bowing deeply to present it.

Chief Steward Li glanced at it and sighed softly. "Where is Lou Wanxi?"

"He went after the assassins," Fatty Sun said in fear.

Chief Steward Li glanced sideways at him. "Are you afraid of dead people?"

Fatty Sun shook his head in terror. "Forgive me, Supervisor. Your subordinate is not afraid of the dead; rather, I am afraid of the living."

Chief Steward Li smiled with satisfaction. "For a boy of his age to single-handedly slaughter so many suicidal assassins... it truly exceeds my expectations. It is only natural that he frightened you to this degree."

Walking toward the back kitchen, he found it filled with corpses hacked to pieces by a massive blade. The air was thick with various bizarre odors mixed with a heavy stench of blood—including the smell of urine and feces.

Although suicidal assassins carried the word "suicidal" in their name, they were still within the realm of humanity.

As long as they were human, they would feel fear.

*His Majesty is the Supreme Ruler, the Lord of the Realm,* Chief Steward Li thought to himself. *Doesn't he fear pain just the same?*

*Sinful, sinful...*
*This old servant deserves death!*

"This was done by the person who abducted Centurion Li," Fatty Sun said cautiously, following closely behind Chief Steward Li.

"In the capital..."

Chief Steward Li had originally wanted to ask: *In the capital, are there experts who use such bizarre giant blades?*

However, the words reached his lips and were swallowed back down.

Since this was His Majesty's arrangement, why should he investigate it?

Should he investigate whether His Majesty had a problem?
Was he trying to rebel against the heavens?

Chief Steward Li shut his mouth, cast a glance at Fatty Sun, and ordered, "Post a notice outside, stating that Li Wenxuan died here tonight."

Finally, he narrowed his eyes. "Stamp it with my Depot Commander's official seal. I guarantee the people of this realm will believe it."

"Your subordinate understands!" Fatty Sun wiped away his sweat, feeling as though the fat on his body had completely turned into cold sweat and poured out.

*This handsome, somewhat slender Li Biao—why is he so utterly perverted?*

*Wait?*
*Li Biao?*
*Li Wenxuan?*

"Commander!" Fatty Sun hurriedly chased after Chief Steward Li's footsteps, trembling as he prepared to ask something.

Chief Steward Li vaulted onto his horse, flicked his dark red cloak, and looked down from above at the plump subordinate who resembled a rolling ball of flesh.

"The one who died is Li Wenxuan. What does that have to do with Li Biao, the Centurion of the Eastern Depot?"

Fatty Sun sucked in a freezing breath of cold air. Filled with profound admiration, he cupped his fists and bowed. "What the Supervisor says is extremely wise. Your subordinate is in awe!"

"Clop, clop, clop—"

The cavalry troop rode far into the distance.

Fatty Sun, tasked with cleaning up the aftermath, looked at the room full of corpses and felt a profound reluctance to step inside.

Such work should ordinarily have been done by the penal centurion.

Yet he, the judicial centurion, ended up doing the penal centurion's chores.

"Go, summon the owner of the Qingyun Tower."

While issuing orders to his men, Fatty Sun had the secret agents rig up a large parasol and a brazier for him.

The trembling owner arrived, shaking as he prepared to kneel before Fatty Sun.

Fatty Sun waved a hand. "Save it. As for the losses in your shop today, remember to go to the Minister of War, Cui Yuanhai, for reimbursement. This is a voucher issued by the Eastern Depot; keep it safe."

A nearby agent immediately produced a written voucher, stamped it with an official seal, and handed it to the pale-faced owner.

*Was he tired of living?*
*Go court trouble with the Minister of War?*

"This humble person understands!"

The owner took the voucher with trembling hands and was promptly escorted away.

Meanwhile, the unconscious Li Wenxuan faintly heard people conversing...

*My body...*
*It hurts like hell!*

It felt as though a grenade had detonated right beside him, launching him up into the heavens.

He could vaguely perceive that he was inside a carriage.

"Eh? Is that the Supervisor's voice?"

Li Wenxuan frowned, enduring the agony to keep from groaning aloud.

After all, the Supervisor had saved him!

Yet, the moment he heard the second voice, his composure instantly shattered!

It was Li Hu!

"Why did you suddenly change your mind?" Emperor Wu asked.

"I..." Li Hu choked back a sob. He gently laid the nine-ringed broadsword by the roadside, looking at the Emperor inside the carriage, unable to find the words.

"Tang Wushuang found me and asked how many chicks I've slept with in this lifetime."

A strange, mocking smile tugged at the corner of Emperor Wu's lips. "Actually, given your merits back then, even if you couldn't secure the official rank of General of the Four Quarters, securing a slightly lower-tier General of the Four Pacifications would have been entirely possible. What a pity..."

Emperor Wu's voice turned icy. "You pledged allegiance to the wrong camp and entered Cui Yuanhai's faction."

"The Cui clan woman is a beauty, but alas, she is a jealous shrew. Whichever maid you happened to touch would inexplicably turn up dead the next day. That Jurchen princess managed to live for ten years—I suppose that was the result of you desperately trying to protect her?"

"The Jurchen princess?"

Li Wenxuan's brain felt as though it was about to explode. *Live for ten years?*
Could it be... his biological mother?

*Good grief!*
*Such a formidable background?*
*The princess's father... wouldn't that make him a prince of Jin?*
*Doesn't that make him my maternal grandfather?*

Thinking along this line, Li Wenxuan's train of thought instantly opened up.

If he could find a way to return to the Jin state and track down his foreign grandfather, wouldn't he be living the high life?

Li Hu wore a complex expression. "At first, I truly had no idea she was a princess of Jin. You know me—every man loves a pretty face."

"I thought that since she even gave birth to my child, a bit of bullying from the Cui woman would be the end of it. I never expected..."

Emperor Wu pushed open the window and spat in Li Hu's direction. "Spineless wretch!"

Li Hu kept his head lowered, not daring to talk back.

Because he, too, felt that he had lived quite wretchedly.

"Then why did you change your mind at such a crucial moment?"

"It was what Tang Wushuang said: *How many chicks have I slept with in this lifetime?*"

Li Hu choked with tears. "While I was still counting on my fingers, he said the chicks he'd slept with could form a thousand-man platoon."

The General Suppressing the West instantly fell silent, his psychological defense broken, leading him to draw his blade and behead his lawful wife.

Emperor Wu burst into laughter and cursed, "You thoroughly deserved it!"

Even though not a single spot on Li Wenxuan's body was free of pain at this moment, he still mentally gave Tang Wushuang a thumbs-up!

General Tang wasn't just a ruthless badass who fought his way through the Northern Camp without a rival; he was also an apex predator who conquered brothels without match!

He was not just a bit more ruthless than ordinary badasses—his little brother was particularly aggressive!

A bold idea instantly popped into Li Wenxuan's mind!

He absolutely had to get on good terms with the human ATM Tang Qi and beg him for the secret recipe of General Tang's thousand-conquest record!

"Actually, besides that point, I had another selfish motive concerning this foolish brat..."

Li Hu's deep, low voice instantly made Li Wenxuan in the carriage hold his breath.

*What is the meaning of this?*
*Is this old fogey trying to whitewash himself?*
*I won't allow it!*