"Alright, General Yan..."
Jin Wuzhu: "..."
"Let me put it this way, if you were in my shoes, you wouldn't understand what you're going through either. You wouldn't believe me even if I made up some excuse about them having a treasure map or something. With such a huge operation, even the most abundant treasure would be gone by now, let alone just a map. And if I told you they had some unparalleled martial arts manual, you'd be even less likely to believe me. If they really did, you wouldn't have had the chance to capture them. So, I can't explain it to you. All I can say is that they are my family. How can you ignore your family when they're in trouble?"
Jin Wuzhu: "This..."
I continued, "If you think we're trying to use these two women as an excuse to pick a fight with you, you're sorely mistaken. We have 8 million men, armed with guns and cannons. We have no reason to wipe you out, so what excuse do we need?"
Jin Wuzhu hesitated for a moment before saying, "Alright, I'll trust you for now. But we can only release them after we've retreated to a safe place."
I said, "Why bother? You've ambushed me several times, but I haven't really done anything to your people, have I? You should show some sincerity. Like I said, if I really wanted to wipe you out, I could wipe you out even if you ran back to your hometown. If you're generous, you might get away with something good—we're out of food, aren't we? I'll pay for your travel expenses home."
Jin Wuzhu said, "That's not necessary. It's fine for you to fire cannons and shoot arrows. Just stop playing that wailing tune every night."
I never imagined that Jin Wuzhu was afraid of music, not guns or cannons. I remember in a movie, aliens who invaded Earth were defeated by a concert. Could Jin Wuzhu be a Martian?
I said, "Anyway, let us see those two girls first. I need to decide how much food to give you to take home based on their health."
Jin Wuzhu said, "That's fine. We can talk about other things after you've finished meeting."
The same officer led the way, passing several tents and some soldiers with vacant stares, until we arrived at a fortified tent. The "fortification" was really just adding another iron frame around the outside, with several layers of felt stretched across it. The officer smiled and said, "You all see, we're taking good care of the two young ladies. We did this mainly to prevent crossbow bolts from accidentally piercing the tent and injuring you—even our marshal doesn't receive this treatment."
I chuckled and said, "It was my oversight that caused you trouble."
Ya Jiang stood to the side and gestured for them to speak: "Please feel free to chat, and call me if you need anything."
Feeling guilty, I searched my body several times, but found nothing. Qin Shi Huang handed the half-bread in his hand to the general, saying, "After the war, you can exchange this for gold of the same size."
Naya took the bread, smelled it, and stuffed it all into his mouth, muttering, "I've come to terms with it. Gold, no matter how good, can't be eaten or worn. What you can swallow is the real treasure."
I walked in first and immediately saw Baozi leaning against the bed, looking utterly bored. Li Shishi sat in a chair, her hand supporting her chin, lost in thought.
Baozi saw me as soon as she saw me, jumped off the bed and said, "Huh? Are you dreaming? What are you doing here?"
Li Shishi glanced at me expressionlessly and sighed softly, "Of course it's a dream. Don't we have these kinds of dreams every day?"
I put my arm around Baozi's shoulder and laughed at Li Shishi, saying, "You even dream about it together?"
When Li Shishi heard me speaking to her, she suddenly looked up. Then she saw Qin Shihuang, Ersha, and Tong Yuan walk in one by one, and exclaimed in astonishment, "You...are you real?"
Qin Shi Huang nodded solemnly and stared intently at her.
Li Shishi, as if in a dream, stood up in a daze and slowly rested her head on Qin Shi Huang's shoulder. The fat man's soft, warm shoulder finally saved her the trouble of pinching her own thigh. Tears welled in Li Shishi's eyes as she asked, "Brother Ying, is it really you?"
Fatty Ying chuckled and patted her back gently, saying, "Hehe, hanging up a woman."
Li Shishi was both crying and laughing when she turned around and saw Ersha. She opened her arms to hug him. Ersha quickly turned away, stubbornly saying, "I won't hug you, you smell terrible..."
Li Shishi said shyly, "I... I haven't taken a bath in a while."
Ersha put his nose to her forehead and sniffed, saying, "Hmm, it doesn't smell as bad as before. Let's hug."
We all whispered, "What an idiot." Li Shishi giggled and threw herself into Ersha's arms.
At this moment, Tong Yuan said, "Senior Sister, what are you wearing? It's so trendy!"
Upon closer inspection, we realized that Li Shishi was dressed in a leather-trimmed fashion. A large shawl cinched her waist, and a cascade of cumbersome, ornate leather trailed on the ground, creating a look that was both retro and fashionable, a perfect blend of Victorian and Gothic styles, making her appear like an Eskimo who had lived in modern Paris for over a decade…
Baozi said, "Don't even mention it. She was like this when I first met her; she sewed all the cowhides she could find in the tent onto her body."
Looking at Li Shishi, we all knew she had her reasons for doing this. A beautiful girl, trapped in a wolf's den, with no sense of security, could only resort to this clumsy method to find some peace—Li Shishi was covered in at least five or six pounds of tanned cowhide, enough that even a Mongolian scimitar might not be able to cut through her in one go.
Tong Yuan hugged Li Shishi and said with heartache, "Sister, you've suffered so much."
I held Baozi up in front of me and looked her over carefully, saying, "And you, have you been starving my son?" Upon closer inspection, I noticed that Baozi's belly had become quite protruding. As the saying goes, "You can hide five but not six," and after staying in the Jin camp for more than half a month, Baozi finally looked like a pregnant woman.
Baozi said embarrassedly, "I wasn't hungry, but I ate all the food that Shishi couldn't finish."
I put my arm around her and said, "Okay, let's go home now. We can talk about it when we get home."
Li Shishi covered her mouth and asked, "Can we leave now?"
I said, "Then what do you think we came here for? Do you want to be Helen Keller too?"
Qin Shi Huang asked, "Who is that Helens?"
Li Shishi wiped away her tears and smiled, "She was a great beauty. The armies of both countries fought for her for 10 years."
Baozi held Li Shishi's hand and said, "Hey. It's been worth it for us sisters. Even though it hasn't been 10 years, millions of people have been busy for us for half a month."
Li Shishi chuckled, glanced at me, and said, "I'm still benefiting from my cousin-in-law's good fortune. I'm not the Grand Marshal of Qin, nor do I have a husband who calls every emperor his brother."
I waved my hand and said, "Don't say that. Without your boyfriend, millions of us would starve to death. He's our logistics minister now, so from that perspective, we need to get back quickly. As far as I know, no billionaire in the world has the opportunity to support millions of troops in their own name. If we delay a few more days, that Kim kid might very well become middle class."
Our group returned to Jin Wuzhu's command tent. I said, "General Wan (Jin Wuzhu no longer tried to correct me), have you thought it through? Can we leave now?"
Jin Wuzhu had already put his helmet back on properly and said very solemnly, "Are you sure we can leave after you leave?"
I looked her straight in the eyes and said in a deep, slow voice, "I'm sure."
Jin Wuzhu walked straight up to Li Shishi and Baozi, nodded slightly, and said, "You can leave now. The inconvenience I've caused you over this long period of time was not my intention..."
As Jin Wuzhu was speaking, Baozi suddenly raised his hand and slapped him twice across the face. Jin Wuzhu was startled at first, then roared angrily, "You..." He gripped the hilt of his sword, but hesitated and ultimately did not draw it.
Tong Yuan and Er Sha had already rushed ahead of Baozi, also keeping a close watch on Jin Wuzhu. Baozi pointed at his nose and said, "Do you remember our agreement? If you call me an ugly monster, I'll slap you! I'm settling your bill before I leave."
Jin Wuzhu's face turned from red to purple, and he was breathing heavily, looking like he was about to explode. I quickly stepped forward to calm him down, saying, "Calm down, calm down. A good man doesn't fight with a woman. We definitely won't go around saying anything."