Give It to Me (Including Chapter 2)

This caused the War Soul's advance in Kuaiji Commandery to become extremely sluggish. With no hope in sight of capturing Kuaiji Commandery and unable to provide mutual support for the main battlefield in Kunwu Commandery, they found themselves in a rather pathetic predicament.

Upon receiving the message, knowing that the young madam had encountered an extraordinary situation, she handpicked ten men equipped with bows and crossbows to rendezvous with the Wang family at the Detong Gate leading to the northern suburbs.

"It seems our only option is to use that bag of drugs as a pretext to launch an investigation," Zhang Xiaoyun thought carefully for a moment before continuing.

Although the beginning of the month was somewhat different from the past, interactions similar to this played out at home every single day. Therefore, Madam Ye was completely unfazed, keeping her head down to eat her meal without even lifting her eyes.

The fact that Long Fei possessed his current strength was naturally closely tied to his eight years in the military. Aside from forging a robust physique and an indomitable will, more importantly, he had mastered a formidable array of skills.

Steward Wang stated in the letter that as they searched along the road through every pleasure house and bandit den, they unexpectedly ran into the eldest young master, accompanied by Xingzheng and Xingyuan, who were also investigating bandit dens.

"It seems we are of the same mind. Very well, I'll go ahead and do it tomorrow." Su Wanqi nodded.

Baoxin always kept her head slightly lowered, which he could not see, given that he was a full head taller than her.

However, before Emperor Yongle completely grew tired of the Duke of Dingguo's estate, even the Crown Prince and Crown Princess could only address these two with utmost politeness as "cousin brother" and "cousin sister."

Yet Tang Yu was hardly foolish enough to gamble with his own future. The reason he dared to take such a risk was that the Soul-Chasing Silver Needle automatically decomposed and transformed into toxins upon piercing an enemy's body, resulting in certain death.

"Indeed! Just when will our DaKang finally have a Crown Prince?" Zhao Youzhi said indignantly.

Being locked up the first time was tolerable—though worse than death, at least one remained alive. Being locked up now, he felt he would rather just die outright.

***

Dong Ru listened in a daze. This statement made it sound as though Su Liuyu knew her husband. Yet upon second thought, wealthy and influential families interacted to varying degrees, so acquaintance was hardly surprising. Still, how could she understand her husband so well as to be certain he would accept such a massive gift?

Bai Jiangchuan deeply disliked this loss of control, and he detested even more the composed and leisurely demeanor Shen Xunhuan had worn when she left.

A howling gale of turbulent air surged back and forth between the two, creating invisible ripples that caused the hard ground to underrun in wave-like distortions.

He looked back thoughtfully for a fleeting moment, then withdrew his gaze, letting it fall upon the bat corpse king ahead that he had just named Fang Si.

Compared to the two imperial princes, their own strength was simply too feeble, even with the Son of Heaven supporting them from behind.

Zhang Chulan, Feng Xingtong, and the others stared blankly at the arena below. In the center of the grounds, all three individuals—including the Cyan-Amulet Deity Shan Shitong—had collapsed unconscious, the clothes on their bodies burned away, and their skin charred black and swollen.

When Luoben woke up in the morning from the three-meter-wide bed with its soft mattress on the third floor of the villa, he resolved that no matter what, he would sleep in his own dormitory tonight—even if Emma cried out for help, claiming she had forgotten how to put on her socks and urgently needed assistance, he would not come back here.

"Let's go, Dad, let's head inside!" Micai naturally looped her arm through Chen Hansheng's, while her other hand linked through Mi Haijing's arm.

Qiao Anming accompanied her back to Chongzhou. On the highway, he half-embraced Gu Lan in the back seat. The person in his arms seemed already asleep; the scenery outside the window remained unchanged, yet each harbored entirely different thoughts.

The dishes she mentioned were simple, easy to prepare, and light without being greasy. Reason suggested that whatever the Emperor ate should be the finest, but circumstances were different now; he was right in the middle of a vexing time, so consuming greasy sea cucumbers, abalone, shark fin, and deer tendon would only add to his burdens.

The phrase "utter nonsense" was something she had heard from her own lips. Finding it quite amusing, she had picked it up herself.

Yao Chuxi simply served the Emperor a bit more meat and vegetables, worrying that he might just skim through his meals day to day, then added two slices of yam, and finally filled a bowl to the brim with fish soup.

***

"Then what should we do?" Following the voice, the middle curtain was pulled aside, and Qiao Anming moved to Du Ruo's bedside.

The next day, Ye Xi stayed in the side hall of Zhaohua Palace, which she had converted into a pharmacy. She spent the entire day refining and concocting medicine inside.

Just as they intended to inquire further about certain matters concerning An Ruoran, Yi Xuanya and Linda walked over.

Without Linda, even if An Ruoran genuinely had extenuating circumstances, the school administration would still have expelled her from Maple Forest Academy over such an incident. But now, all those possibilities had been completely neutralized.

She glanced toward Qiu Xuheng, saying, "Ah-Xu, I'll be heading back first. I'm sleepy and want to go take a nap." Ye Xi turned and walked away, completely unconcerned whether he agreed or not.

Earlier in the kitchen, Auntie Chen had witnessed all of Bai Pianran's actions, feeling a growing sense of injustice on behalf of the lady of the house. Yet, because this was a private matter between the husband and wife, she found it improper to intervene and thus remained inside.

Consequently, the master and all high-ranking executives of the East Capital Martial Arts Hall gathered together in a grand assembly to hold a meeting and deliberate on countermeasures.

"Good! Good! Good! I'd like to see just how long you can throw your weight around in Kyoto." Elder Yang issued a cold remark. Clearly, Ye Qiu had thoroughly enraged him, and upon returning to the clan, he would inevitably mobilize the family's full power to deal with Ye Qiu.

If Baoyu could pass the provincial imperial examination just like Jia Qing, then surely the father-son relationship between Baoyu and Jia Zheng would undergo a profound transformation.

"Already admitting defeat? Back in university, I used to constantly tease my roommates, and they called me the Queen of Filth. Today, I haven't even exerted one-tenth of my capability, and you're already conceding. How boring," said Mo Xichen.