She had no idea how many chamber pots she had washed or how much human excrement she had endured. Finally, she snapped, grabbed a bucket of urine, stormed into the mansion of a Hun lord, and dumped it on his head, making him faint from the stench.
Then, while escaping, she accidentally entered the backyard and discovered the cannibalistic activities of the Huns. The cellar in the backyard was hiding many poor children, all of them thin and frail, and the Huns were going to eat their flesh and blood.
An Yi was furious. He rescued all eighteen children, then set fire to the backyard and escaped the mansion in the chaos. Finally, guided by one of the children, he found a village and sent the children back home.
Unexpectedly, the able-bodied young men in the village wanted to follow her. An Yi didn't know what they wanted to do, but she needed manpower to help her vent her anger.
They led dozens of men, intending to storm into the place where the man had been abused while washing chamber pots, to seek revenge. However, upon entering, they discovered that the Hun lord was having a meal with twenty iron cavalrymen. Seeing so many of them, they immediately became alert.
An Yi immediately adapted quickly, leading dozens of people into the family's outhouse and cleaning all the toilets in the entire household thoroughly.
The Hun lord was dumbfounded. He had thought they were there to rob him because they were short of money and food, but it turned out that dozens of people were vying for the job of washing his chamber pot, saying that he was kind-hearted and that working for him would surely bring them good fortune and a long life, so they were willing to wash his chamber pot. Moved, he appointed Anyi as his chamber pot washing supervisor, and from then on, she was the first to wash his chamber pot.
An Yi escaped a calamity. She originally planned to run away that very night, but the dozens of men around her were all very naive and trusted her, so they followed her.
If she ran away, she would be letting them down; if she took them with her, they would be discovered and lose their lives. Caught in this dilemma, she began working for the Hu Xiong lord. Because she outnumbered them and had half-Hu ancestry, the guards in the Hu Xiong household all wanted to recruit her to strengthen their ranks. An Yi, disliking fighting, refused. Thus, she became the head of the chamber pots in the household, responsible for cleaning them. This made the maids in the household afraid to compete with her for business.
Xie Lanzhi secretly sent people to search for Anyi, but they couldn't find him. She was frustrated because her own people were usually very efficient, but when it came to Anyi, it was like radar malfunctioning.
Xie Bing, who went out to inquire, was very frustrated. They searched almost every corner but couldn't find the King of Anyi. They were almost ready to search the stinky outhouse.
But they still couldn't find a trace of Duan.
Si Xitong also found it strange, so she sent Jin scouts into Huayin North to find the madam who had been in contact with Anyi. The scouts learned from the madam that Anyi had been sold to another town.
The scouts went to another town to search, only to hear that Anyi had gone missing. They didn't know where she had gone, but they deduced that Anyi was nearby, and that they could find her by keeping watch.
Si Xitong ordered his spies to lie in wait nearby until they found the person.
The scout did his best as a lookout, but every morning he would be forced to leave for a while because of the smell from a group of people carrying chamber pots and urinals. After they left, he would resume his stakeout, but he still couldn't find Anyi.
Intelligence analysis clearly indicated that Anyi would be lingering in the vicinity, so how come he never saw her? It's as if they're separated into two different worlds. Could this person have vanished into thin air?
There's still no news from Anyi.
When Azi heard that Anyi had been sold into a brothel, she almost fainted on the spot. Later, she heard that Anyi had been rejected because of her looks and sent to clean chamber pots. Thinking that Anyi had never done any hard labor before, Azi cried with heartache.
Si Xitong comforted her, "At least she's still alive. Don't worry, I've sent people to keep an eye on her. Once we find her, we'll bring her back to you very soon."
"Sister, Anyi, Anyi is suffering outside. She must not have enough to eat or wear." Azi cried all day long, and her eyes were almost blind from crying.
Xie Lanzhi sat to one side drinking tea. Seeing her tearful appearance, she rolled her eyes and deliberately said, "If Anyi knew that you had no appetite and had starved yourself to the point of being out of shape, she might not want to come back."
"After all, everyone hopes that the woman they love is fair-skinned, plump, and has a full figure."
Upon hearing this, Azi immediately stopped crying. She shut her mouth, hurriedly got up and went back to the inner room to find a mirror to see if she had become ugly. Recently, she had been busy with Anyi and hadn't eaten or slept well, and hadn't put on makeup yet. Now that her brother-in-law reminded her, she looked in the mirror at the counter and saw a woman with dark circles under her eyes and eyes swollen like fish bubbles.
Her legs suddenly went weak. Was that really her inside? She looked terrifying!
Chapter 132 She Received a Challenge
After Artu arrived in Beifu, Anshan personally received him. Besides being known as the greatest warrior of the Xiongnu, Artu had another notorious flaw: he loved to compete in strength and wrestling. Those who lost to him were either killed or seriously injured; no one could escape unscathed.
Over time, naturally no one dared to challenge him. Artur had not been challenged for a long time, and now he was itching to be challenged.
He heard from Shan Yuhou that Xie Zhu, who had just occupied Huayin South, was just as strong as him, and even the Iron Cavalry Guards described her internal strength and power as extraordinary: "A monster!"
This sparked a great interest in Xie Lanzhi in Artur, who had been unchallenged for years.
"Lord Anshan, you've had contact with Xie Ying. What did you think of him?" Artur asked. "Is he really as Shangwei described, like a monster?"
In the past, among the Xiongnu, only he could be called a monster. Now that he, a fellow Xiongnu, has encountered the same monster in the Southern Central Plains, how could he not be curious! He has even begun to secretly compete for the title, believing that only he can be called a monster.
Anshan now hates Xie Lanzhi to the core, and seeing that Artu has his eye on her, he doesn't mind adding fuel to the fire: "This person is cunning and treacherous, and prefers to work alone. Although she has never shown it in front of me, her ambition is not small."
"Before I dealt with Shangwei, I said that her internal strength was strange, unlike that of a human, but rather like that of a monster."
He emphasized the word "monster" in particular.
Artur was indeed sensitive to the word "monster." He immediately slammed his hand on the table, and the tea table collapsed with a loud crash.
"You can't compare to this general!"
"I don't know, can you face the gunner's fire head-on?" Anshan deliberately exaggerated to Xie Lanzhi: "She can catch a flint with her bare hands, as fast as lightning, even faster than the flint itself."
"That's why she was able to kill twenty gunners!"
Anshan's tone here was filled with resentment, as the loss of twenty firearmsmen had greatly diminished his prestige within the Huayin Kingdom's firearms battalion. Now, his brother, the king, had sent Artu without informing him of his purpose. It was clear that he no longer trusted him.
The person responsible for the current situation is Xie Lanzhi. Thinking of this, Anshan vowed to find Anshan's whereabouts, atone for his crime, and regain his brother's trust.
Artur was skeptical of his claim of catching the firecracker with his bare hands. He frowned and said to Anshan, "General Yang Alu of the Firearms Battalion has privately reported to the King, requesting to withdraw to the motherland."
“Yang Alu is a friend of the Grand Master. If he reports it, the Grand Master will naturally know about it.”
Anshan's expression changed; he hadn't expected Yang Alu to dare to do something under his nose.
“General, it’s not as he says. I have always respected the firearmsmen and have never treated them with disrespect. How can we withdraw them just because he says so?”
"This general is unaware of the situation, but I must remind you that the king will no longer give important tasks to those who do not respect the Grand Master and the Firearms Battalion."
"It's best if such rumors don't circulate again, or even I, the general, won't be able to protect your position."
Now that the mission of the alliance treaty has been accomplished, the Hu and Xiongnu have likely secured agreements with multiple countries to discuss maritime strategies. The next step should be to establish exclusive coastal trade routes, using the smaller countries that signed the treaty as their own ports to generate revenue. The smaller countries would then transport the goods back to the Hu and Xiongnu. Such a long sea and land transport route would require a strong military force to deter local powers.
Knowing his brother Wang's ambitions, Anshan dared not delay the process.
"Don't worry, apart from Xie Ying and Yelü Lili, everyone else has already signed the alliance agreement with us." Anshan was very confident in completing the mission.
Artur then began to inquire about Xie Lanzhi: "Xie Ying is in Huayin South, but I heard that she also has Princess Fengning by her side."
"Princess Fengning is merely a woman, not worth mentioning. You need not worry about her." Anshan had met Si Xitong before. She was a stunning beauty, but unfortunately, she was subservient to a woman. Apart from developing agriculture, she was not skilled in military affairs. Even though she had a newly formed army and firearms, she was still constrained by the Xie family.
Altu was distracted. He specifically said, "In my opinion, Princess Fengning is the real mastermind behind Huayin South. Don't underestimate her."
“Yes,” Anshan said. “The general is right.”
Artur felt that the Prince of Anshan didn't care at all, and he couldn't help but frown inwardly, thinking, no wonder they lost the south so quickly. Although Huayin South was a poor and remote place, it was easy to defend and difficult to attack. Its rear was the sphere of influence of New Tianjing and Xie Ying. Both its logistics and combat strength were at their peak. In fact, if they were to engage in a protracted war, they would definitely severely damage Anshan's vitality.
The current situation is described as a division between the North and the South, but in reality, the South has already begun to slowly boil the North like a frog in warm water.
But Anshan Jun was so careless.
And then there's the King of Anyi, whose fate is currently unknown, but he might still be useful. On the contrary, the most dangerous thing is that someone might raise the banner of supporting the royal family and rebel against them. The last incident has already happened, and although it's almost over, if this small spark is allowed to ignite, it will surely become a prairie fire in the future.
Artur said, "In Anyi, the king said he would spare her life."
"After all, he's my cousin. We should leave him some leeway in our dealings with others."
Anshan's face immediately darkened. None of the people he sent out had mentioned treating Anyi well, and now his brother had stepped in to protect her.
"Brother Wang is interested in a piece of trash. It's not certain that she's of any use. On the contrary, killing her will make those people in Huayin Kingdom give up."
“The king said to protect her, so just go and do it.” Artur didn’t waste any more words with him.
The general and the prince were originally of equal status, and the general had real power, so his words carried far more weight than those of a prince.
“Immediately send a challenge to Princess Fengning in the name of the prince, saying that I, Artu, am willing to wager Huayin South as a wager and have a fierce battle with Xie Ying, the lord of the Xie clan. As long as Xie Ying wins, the Hu Xiongnu will no longer pursue the sovereignty of Huayin South and will recognize it as belonging to Princess Fengning.”
"And he issued a wide-ranging notice to the whole world, announcing that the land south of Huayin had officially come under the rule of Jin!"
This tone clearly indicates that the Huayin Kingdom is being treated as its own possession, indirectly showing that the Huayin Kingdom is now merely a shell of its former self and is being controlled by the Hu and Xiongnu.
With the public endorsement of a major power, whoever controls this land will have to accept its legitimacy. Especially since it's guaranteed by Hu and Xiongnu themselves.
Anshan was immediately astonished: "General, why would you give away such good territory to Xie Ying?!"
"Do you really think I can't get it back?!"
"If we wanted it, we would have taken it back long ago." Artur was too lazy to explain further. The capital clearly understood that Huayin South already belonged to Princess Fengning, and trying to take it back would require wasting countless troops in this remote and impoverished area. This was merely a nominal arrangement, the last time the Hu Xiongnu Kingdom would act under the name of Huayin, only this time it was being used to wage war against Xie Ying!
Anshan remained silent for a long time, his fists clenched, showing his deep resentment.
Artur urged him from the side, "This general needs to see Xie Ying's reply in three days!"
After half a month of observation, many people in the southern part of Huayin discovered that the water level of the abandoned canal had not receded and seemed to have returned to its former state as a river. Taking advantage of the water level, Xin Tianjing and Jiu Jin continuously transported troops and food to the southern part of Huayin.
The pro-Jin forces in Huayin, represented by Li Fuyi, have rebuilt their ancestral hall, moved out the tablet of their ancestor Li Jing for worship, and then officially entered the register of the Nine Jin scholars.
Si Xitong personally stamped the phoenix seal on Li Fuyi's appointment letter and family genealogy, officially acknowledging them as part of a prominent family in the Central Plains.
With the imperial seal affixed, they became the rightful descendants of the Li family. The million people of Huayin South, now with a family genealogy, became even more active in reclaiming wasteland. Furthermore, the newly formed army began recruiting and training locals.
Si Xitong used the county government office as her workplace. After she finished some official business, the Northern Prefecture sent a challenge letter in the name of Anshan.
She originally intended to put it aside and ignore it; she couldn't possibly let Lanzhi take such a risk.
However, the letter eventually ended up in Xie Lanzhi's hands; it was Xie Shangguang, the traitor, who gave it to her.
After reading the letter, Xie Lanzhi felt a surge of fighting spirit throughout her body. Even the mountain wind blowing against her made her blood boil.
She feels like she's standing on the crater of a volcano, with hot winds blowing all over her.
Coincidentally, when Xie Bing received the supplies sent by his clan, he also received a long weapon box. Upon opening the box, he discovered that it contained the Marshal's golden-handled long halberd.
Xie Bing immediately delivered the long halberd to the yamen and handed it over to Si Xitong.
As luck would have it, Xie Lanzhi returned right after Xie Bing left. Seeing a long weapon box leaning against Si Xitong's desk, she reached out to grab it without thinking, only to have her arm grabbed by the woman.
Si Xitong's gaze darkened slightly as he looked at her and asked, "What are you doing?"
Xie Lanzhi said, "This is not my halberd. I haven't seen it in a long time. Let me touch it."
“One of the letters on my desk is missing.” Si Xitong stared intently at her: “You read it?”
Xie Lanzhi knew she couldn't hide it from her, and she didn't want to lie to her.
She nodded in agreement, saying, "This challenge is an opportunity to allow you to assert complete sovereignty over Huayin South as soon as possible."
All countries with notarized documents from the Hu and Xiongnu will implicitly acknowledge Little Phoenix's ownership of the land south of Huayin. At that time, the land south of Huayin will no longer be ownerless.
The ruler of Huayin, Anyi, could also completely break free from the Xiongnu royal family.
She took a deep breath and told her, "This is a win-win situation. We can divide the work, I'll handle external affairs and you handle internal affairs, and we can help each other..."
Xie Lanzhi was also interested in Artur's feat of lifting a thousand-pound cauldron and wanted to see who had the greater strength.
Si Xitong knew that she was only interested in the challenge. Since she started the battle, she had not realized that the murderous aura on her body was stronger than before, and her desire to kill was also increasing.
Lanzhi has never liked fighting and killing, and now things have changed so quickly, she's really afraid that Lanzhi might accidentally lose control, or fall into a trap set by the Huns.
Especially Artu, whose reputation as the strongest warrior of the Xiongnu was already widely known. This man also possessed great strength, and when he encountered someone with similar strength, he would certainly want to compete with him.
Her insistence on accepting the challenge has thoroughly angered Si Xitong.