"You know what you've done!"

"I know—"

On the streets of Jin, the spring chill lingered, with scattered patches of snow dotting the surroundings. The iron-blooded factions were already facing off in a tense atmosphere. The female minister, dressed in a long, dark dress, stood tall and approached Xue Guangcheng, whose锋芒 (feng mang - sharp edge/point) was directed at Zou Xu. Zou Xu, standing behind the carriage, showed no hesitation or fear in his response.

In the distance, more people watched this scene, weighing the strength of the various factions that had branched out from the Southwest, including the legendary female minister, rumored to have close ties to the Southwest's Mister Ning, and her ability to display authority in the face of such events.

Defection from the Huaxia Army was the biggest stain on Zou Xu's reputation. Now, faced with questioning, his answer caused Zhan Wu to frown, Xue Guangcheng to be slightly taken aback, and Lou Shuwan to glance back, the cold spring breeze passing by.

"A few years ago, Mister Ning ordered the Fifth Army under Liu Chengzong to go north, absorbing 50,000 troops along the way. Due to lack of supplies and combat strength, they couldn't cross the Yellow River, so he ordered me to reorganize and train them in the southern bank of the Yellow River... With no supplies, food, or resources, we had to feed ourselves off the surrounding areas. Later, in Ruzhou, I fell in love with a woman and killed her family of twenty-nine. Two years ago, in the first month of Wu Zhenxing's reign, the eight-member working group in Funiu Mountain split. They wanted to kill me, and I killed them too, and left the Huaxia Army!"

"You know you did these things—"

"But do you know how that woman's family treated her usually? How that woman's family oppressed the surrounding people! Xue Guangcheng, use your brain, use your imagination! Think about what a landlord who was still doing well in the Central Plains at that time could do!"

"The point isn't even that!"

"Okay, let's get to the point! Xue Guangcheng, think about it again, how can a Huaxia Army team of two hundred people integrate 50,000 troops of the old Wu Dynasty army with no money and no food? After Liu Yu's years of turmoil, the Central Plains was almost empty. The remaining landlords who could still make ends meet, did I lead a group of people to kill them one by one, turning them into a group of uncontrollable bandits, or did I have to be tactful, trading and begging door-to-door!"

Zou Xu's voice behind the carriage was calm and firm: "I took the food and begged from door to door. Some big landlords wanted to turn us into private soldiers, but I maintained the Huaxia Army's face and independence! For such a long time, did I have to smile and fawn on them! Did I have to bow to them! They secretly gave me things, and I turned around and took them back to the army, but did the members of the working group listen to my explanation? Xue Guangcheng, this world isn't a fairy tale. Which collective doesn't have conflicts of interest? Some people always thought I was taking more than my share! In that year's first month, at the working group meeting, did they want to talk? They had already set up a trap, using a broken cup as a signal, wanting to take me down first and then ask questions! They want to play that game with me, what can I do!?"

"So that's your defense!"

"This isn't a defense, don't think too highly of yourself!" Zou Xu said decisively, "Xue Guangcheng, Zhan Wu, you wanted to ask me what I did, and I frankly told you, I did these things! I, Zou Xu, have a clear conscience. But now, I want to tell you some truths. No matter what the reason, today, I, Zou Xu, have become your enemy. In the past, I killed so-called own people of the Huaxia Army. Since I've become an enemy, and it can't be undone, I will fight for my life! But what about you, Xue Guangcheng? You asked me what I did, and I answered. I also ask you, what have you done!?"

Xue Guangcheng frowned, slightly confused.

Only to hear Zou Xu say over there: "Since you all know I'm the enemy, since you still believe I'm a traitor, and want to get rid of me as quickly as possible, Xue Guangcheng, as a soldier, what kind of trap did you set up today!? Jumping out from the front, firing two shots at me, where are the people behind? Where's the blockade on the left and right? Did you plan it well? Did you even plan it? The assassination failed, facing the people surrounding you, you take out the grenades, what are you doing? Relying on them not daring to kill you, taking them out to show off, are you fighting a war or just acting like spoiled children! As someone who has heard the teacher's lectures in the Huaxia Army, I feel ashamed—"

"Weak forehand! Poor backhand! You! Shameful—"

Zou Xu's words were firm and stern, and by the later sentences, almost the entire long street was shocked. Some people seemed to see Ning Yi appear in an instant.

The atmosphere was almost suffocating for a moment. Behind Xue Guangcheng, a Huaxia Army soldier was almost provoked into pulling the pin on his grenade.

Zou Xu laughed softly there, one word at a time.

"Let me tell you what you are doing, you are just trying to express your sense of importance, using a childish assassination to make my Aunt Lou look bad, to make her recognize your importance more, to hug you, to comfort you... Pitiful, standing here, you don't look like soldiers at all, you look like babies..."

Lou Shuwan turned her head: "I... don't... have... a... nephew... like... you!"

"Aunt Lou, calm down, I'm always on your side... They're fooling you, I can't stand it..."

Xue Guangcheng said: "Go to the battlefield, see who's the soldier!"

Zou Xu's words suddenly changed from soft and humble to sharp and ringing: "Am I afraid?"

"That's enough!" Lou Shuwan shouted, then pointed to Xue Guangcheng and the others: "You committed a crime in Jin, I said, I'm going to arrest you today! Either pull the pin on your grenades, or put them all away!"

The few looked at each other, and Xue Guangcheng also looked at Zhan Wu in the distance. When he saw Zhan Wu nod, he finally put away the grenade.

The surrounding soldiers immediately surrounded them.

Zou Xu turned out from behind the carriage.

In the distance, Zhan Wu, who had been watching, took a few steps forward: "Zou Xu! In Bianliang, your women aren't just that one you fell in love with."

"Teacher has seven."

"Mister Ning didn't indulge in pleasure after gaining power, but after you gained power, you gave yourself a lot of enjoyment..."

"Water that's too pure has no fish. All the generals under me have also added various enjoyments. These enjoyments have their own regulations, higher than the Huaxia Army, lower than the Wu Dynasty. I strictly prohibit them from being corrupt and affecting combat effectiveness, but I also give them hope. As for the Huaxia Army, which emphasizes integrity, there are also standards, but now in Chengdu, the teacher is probably having a headache..."

Zhan Wu raised two questions, and Zou Xu answered fluently without hesitation. At this time, he suddenly waved his hand: "A feather can tip the scale, the key lies in balance. Everything in this world, choosing what degree is the most important. In this era, no one knows what the best degree is. The teacher didn't use Old Niu Tou's method, and chose his own standard, but outsiders say that Chengdu is rigid and easy to break, and it still comes from this. As for me, I didn't use Chengdu's method, and relaxed it a little bit more. Whether it can pass, we'll see as we go."

He sat on the side of the carriage, obviously natural and casual: "Fifth Master, if you want to talk about this, you are welcome to come to my place tonight, Zou Xu will definitely treat you honestly and tell you everything he knows. But right now, it's a pity that we have become enemies. Since we are already enemies, then the teacher once taught me that a lion uses all its strength even to catch a rabbit. Next time you want to kill me, please be serious..."

His words became stern: "If I see such a childish play again, losing the face of the Huaxia Army. I... will... laugh."

At the last moment, for just a brief instant, he showed his ferocious teeth, and then returned to a calm smile.

Zhan Wu looked at his complex expression, leaned back slightly, and then smiled, cupping his fist:

"I am enlightened." (受教了 - Shou Jiao Le - Received your teachings)

The confrontation between the two sides ended, the soldiers under Lou Shuwan took Xue Guangcheng and others away, Zhan Wu and others understood Zou Xu's weight, retreated to the side of the road, and gradually disappeared into the crowd.

After giving a few orders, Lou Shuwan walked back: "General Zou's answers were fluent and full of heroic spirit."

Zou Xu smiled humbly and helplessly: "Well, my aunt, with so many people watching in public, I have to say something nice to save face. You see, I was almost killed, very dangerous, this..."

"Where is it, General Zou is right, just a childish play, but your show of face overwhelmed Xue and Zhan, now the outside world knows how powerful you, Zou Xu, are. You really gained a lot this time."

"Isn't it what Aunt Lou has been saying, these two, Xue and Zhan, are not good things, always bullying you by relying on the power of the Huaxia Army? I just can't stand it..."

"Don't say nice things." Lou Shuwan looked at him with a cold gaze, "What do you mean by using a childish assassination to make me look bad? You showed your face and made me lose face, Zou Xu, you're stepping on my face and the face of the Huaxia Army to climb up, do you know what will happen?"

Zou Xu was stunned: "Aunt, this... this can be explained, my sentence, it simply doesn't have..."

"...It... costs... more." Lou Shuwan looked at him, one word at a time.

"Then this..." Zou Xu was dumbfounded, he spread his hands, hesitated for a moment, and then spread them again: "This... you..."

"..."

Finally said: "Then we... discuss it properly..."

Zou Xu's trip and the cooperation with Jin had just begun to be negotiated. Soon after, his prominence in this confrontation became a popular story among the onlookers. The Huaxia Army was overwhelmed, the reputation of Zou and Dai in Bianliang rose sharply. Of course, how much the female minister Lou Shuwan increased the points when bargaining in the follow-up negotiations was something that the outside world could not find out.

As a result, Zou Xu gained fame, and the female minister gained benefits. It seemed like a win-win situation, only the Huaxia Army, after this assassination that was actually ill-considered, seemed a little embarrassed. And after two days like this, just as Lou Shuwan was slashing the first point in the negotiation and asking for sky-high prices, someone came to report to her:

"General Xue... he refuses to leave, and... the Huaxia Army in the East City has gone on strike."

"...Gone on strike?"

For such a trendy word, Lou Shuwan was a little hard to accept for a while, but it wasn't a big deal. She then sent people out to discuss with Zhan Wu, Xue Guangcheng and others.

The negotiations were meaningless and fruitless.

Two more days passed. At noon on this day, Lou Shuwan sighed, and only then did she ask someone to call Zhan Wu. Then, carrying a food box, she went with him to the Jin Land Heavenly Prison, waved away the jailers, and only with Shi Jin as a guard, set out a meal with Xue Guangcheng and Zhan Wu, and started negotiating.

"That day when you assassinated Zou Xu, you really didn't think things through, and Zou Xu seized the opportunity to slap you in the face. Why are you blaming me, a woman? Whether your assassination succeeds or fails, I have to arrest you to make an example. Now it's that you, Xue Guangcheng, failed in the assassination, and even if you had succeeded, I would still have arrested you but would have released you eventually. You refuse to leave, are you acting like a spoiled child with me, a woman, Xue Guangcheng!"

"...But we warned you about the dealings with Zou Xu long ago. Madam Lou, the Huaxia Army has a face to save. You've gone too far, and if you don't give us face, we're definitely going to do something. We admit that we didn't think things through. We'll conduct internal self-criticism, but if you want me to leave, it's not that simple. No matter how much fanfare you make, you and Zou Xu will have face, but the Huaxia Army can't be without脾气 (pi qi - temper), the East City definitely won't start working. You need to handle these things well."

The two sides confronted each other seriously.

Lou Shuwan looked at the two: "Zou Xu told me that he is willing to cooperate with Jin to plot the Northwest. If it's taken, Little Cang River will belong to him. Zou Xu is no pushover, don't force me. If you really do this, the Huaxia Army will lose all face..."

She threw out a trump card. Xue Guangcheng hesitated for a moment, and Zhan Wu, on the side, folded his sleeves: "If you lose land but keep people, you can get both back eventually. We have a conclusion on this matter. Madam Lou, please do as you wish, and it's best to let Zou Xu build Little Cang River beautifully, so we'll have less trouble in the future."

Xue Guangcheng nodded immediately: "Yes! Then take it and play with it."

"...You rascal." Lou Shuwan's face suddenly smiled, and she turned her head, "Brother Shi, tell them how I answered Zou Xu."

Shi Jin said: "Madam Lou refused Zou Xu at the first moment."

Lou Shuwan turned her head back, got up and poured wine.

"Brother Xue, Brother Zhan, no matter what, we are our own people." Her face was full of smiles, and her attitude became sincere. This was an extremely rare humble attitude, "Zou Xu seized Bianliang, cleared out the wealth of Yin Zong, Chen Shiquan, and the others, and now he has eaten Liu Guangshi, he is very rich now. It's a pity not to eat this piece of fat that is brought to the mouth. Our brothers and sisters have been cooperating for so many years, there are quarrels, but we are always one family to the outside world, right? This matter is very complicated, but behind closed doors, our own people need to have a frank conversation. In this way, the face of the Huaxia Army is indeed a matter, and it needs to be picked up. You tell me a way, as long as it's not excessive, I'll try my best to agree. I'll cooperate, okay."

She diligently poured wine and served dishes, and the two opposite her were a little unaccustomed and embarrassed. Xue Guangcheng pushed his hand: "Madam Lou, don't do this..."

Zhan Wu respectfully raised his glass when the other party poured wine, looking flattered, and then after a moment, he raised his simple and honest face.

"Since... Madam Lou is so sincere, and also rejected Zou Xu about Little Cang River, then let's do this, face is a small matter, let's not talk about it for now."

He said.

"...The split has to increase a little."

"..."

Lou Shuwan put down the chopsticks for serving dishes, and also restrained her smile, and sat back. She looked at Zhan Wu coldly, and Zhan Wu also looked at her with a sincere smile.

Like a pair of friends, they looked at each other quietly for a long time...

"So in the end, it's still such a mundane thing."

"...That's right... Add some money."

"...How much?"

"...Add 20 percent, what do you think..."

"...How do you calculate the 20 percent..."

"...Of course, it's 20 percent of the total..."

……

"...I'm going to your grandfather, you bunch of bastards, stay in the Heavenly Prison until you die, Zhan Wu, you come in too, I'll feed you until you die, so you can eat up all the 20 percent, you shameless bastards—"

"...It can be discussed, it can be discussed, it can be discussed—"

Negotiations are always very complicated.

A storm was set off and a war broke out in the Heavenly Prison for a while. And until a long time later, the few people distributed the benefits in a shameful conversation that could not be elaborated to outsiders. Xue Guangcheng and Zhan Wu promised to restore production in the East City, and then, after eating the food brought by the female minister that had been pre-mixed with瀉藥 (xie yao - laxatives), they left the Heavenly Prison contentedly.

These power stories, that could be told in detail and those that could not, were talked about and passed by word of mouth among some high-level personnel in Jin during this February. By the time the first ten days of February had passed, and You Hongzhuo and Liang Si's wedding was approaching, at the family banquet held by the rebel master, they also heard various discussions originating from this...