Ya Jiang chuckled and glanced at me sideways, saying, "Who told you our marshal wanted to see you? If you send people here every day, what else can our marshal do?" So this is another one who's here to spy on us.
My eyes lit up, and I pulled out a stack of gold bars, stuffing them into his hand. I was worried he wouldn't be interested, but to my surprise, the guy immediately beamed and said politely in perfect Beijing dialect, "Look at you, what a pleasant way to put it—" This shows that humans' love for gold is innate. I reckon even if there were only one person left on Earth, they would still be drawn to this golden, soft-to-the-touch metal, otherwise why would all of humanity unanimously use it as a general equivalent?
I patted the hand that was rubbing gold and said, "I'll need your help a lot in the future, General. Let's keep in touch."
The young man realized I was offering him a large bribe, and said solicitously, "Please sit down, I'll go see if the marshal has time." He tucked the gold into his pocket, turned his back, and muttered as he walked out, "To be honest, there's nothing to talk about. Why don't you just surrender?"
After Ya left, I said with a wry smile, "For this loan, I didn't even see the money before I sent two notes to the director of the liaison office."
The power of money was quickly proven. Twenty minutes later, the sound of guards' footsteps echoed outside the tent, and a messenger called out from afar, "The Marshal has arrived!"
I hurriedly pulled Baozi to my feet, and a burly man in golden armor was already sprinting into the tent. It seemed that this Jin Wuzhu had the demeanor of a tough soldier. He had thick eyebrows and big eyes. After entering, he glanced at me, took off his marshal's helmet and casually tossed it aside, leaving two thick buns hanging down his shoulders.
"What did Zhao Ji say?" Jin Wuzhu asked bluntly.
I paused for a moment and said, "Uh, Marshal, you misunderstand. We are representatives of Liangshan. My name is Xiao Qiang."
Jin Wuzhu said impatiently, "Another envoy from Liangshan. I should have just dragged him out and killed him."
Baozi immediately became displeased. She had seen plenty of important figures; Qin Shi Huang was always called "fatty" by her, and Xiang Yu, despite being her ancestor, was simply called "big guy." Baozi rolled her eyes and said, "Why are you so rude?"
Jin Wuzhu was immediately annoyed. Not only did he see us as envoys seeking peace, but he himself was the fourth prince of the Jin dynasty. Aside from Wanyan Aguda, probably no one in the entire world would dare speak to him like that. He paused, then sneered, "These Liangshan people are really something. Two escaped this morning, and now they've sent two more fearless daredevils—oh, by the way, one of those two from this morning ran faster than a rabbit, I heard his name is Dai Zong?"
I chuckled and said, "That's our 20th brother, who can travel a thousand miles a day."
Jin Wuzhu waved his hand and said, "Tell me, when will Zhao Ji present the letter of surrender?"
I said helplessly, "We are not affiliated with the imperial court, nor do we concern ourselves with your affairs. I've come to ask you to return someone to me..."
Jin Wuzhu said, "You want that Li Shishi, right? Bring a letter of surrender and a formal document in exchange."
I got angry too, and said with a dark face, "Can't you let me finish what I have to say?"
Jin Wuzhu: "..."
I took a moment to calm myself before continuing, "Here's the thing, Li Shishi is a friend of Liangshan, and Liangshan has no connection with the imperial court. The problem is that you've confused our relationship—so, you return Li Shishi to us, you continue leading your troops to fight Zhao Ji, and we'll continue living our lives, because you can't possibly exchange a woman for an emperor's throne, understand?"
Jin Wuzhu: "...I don't understand."
I paced back and forth in the room with my hands behind my back and said, "Let me tell you the truth, I'm not an ordinary person. People of your status usually stay with me for another year after they die. I'm the fortune teller who receives you. So, your cooperation with me now is a long-term investment, understand?"
Jin Wuzhu smiled and said, "I understand—you're trying to trick me." Then, he suddenly shouted, "Guards! Drag him out..."
I quickly jumped in front of him and waved my hands, saying, "No, no, no, when two countries are at war, envoys are not to be killed."
Jin Wuzhu chuckled and said, "Do a few bandits count as a country?"
At this point, I was out of options. Fight? Even if Xi Jinping and I joined forces, we wouldn't be worth an arm of his, and I never even considered fighting his commander-in-chief amidst an army of 800,000. Even if I copied Li Yuanba with a cookie, I could only manage to kill my way back 3 meters in 10 minutes…
Bribery? Looking at Jin Wuzhu dressed like an Oscar statuette, I doubt he'll be interested in gold anymore.
In that critical moment, I decided to go all out and shouted, "Alright, then on behalf of Liangshan, I formally declare war on you!"
Jin Wuzhu reached out to stop the guards who were about to arrest me, and sneered, "Fine, then I'll be waiting for you."
I secretly breathed a sigh of relief. I know these kinds of people too well. If you were to kneel down and beg for mercy at this critical moment, you'd be finished. This time next year would be the day you rot away. They just have to be tough!
I snorted, pretending to be a warrior who had been insulted, and patted the steamed bun, saying, "Let's go!"
Chapter 147 Summoning a Thousand Armies
As soon as Baozi and I reached the door, Jin Wuzhu coldly said, "Since two of you have come, let's leave one behind."
I turned around and asked, "What do you mean?"
Jin Wuzhu sneered, "Didn't you say Liangshan was going to wage war against our Great Jin? Empty words are meaningless. Leave one as a hostage. If your troops don't appear within ten days, I'll take this... wait, is this a woman?"
Baozi retorted angrily, "Nonsense, have you ever seen a man with such a great physique?"
Jin Wuzhu: "...Anyway, this is the first time I've ever seen such an ugly woman."
I pointed at Jin Wuzhu and said, "You're finished. I swear you've offended the last person you should have offended."
Jin Wuzhu, with his hands behind his back, said, "You two should discuss who should stay."
Baozi and I looked at each other, and I resolutely said to Jin Wuzhu, "Can we not keep them?"
Jin Wuzhu: "..."
Baozi said to me, "Stop wasting your breath on him. You hurry out and think of a way to bring my people to rescue me."
I asked in surprise, "Are you from my own country?"
Baozi said, "Have you forgotten that I am the Grand Marshal of Qin?"
I stamped my foot and said, "What's the point of that?"
Jin Wuzhu said impatiently, "You two hurry up, who's going to stay?"
Baozi said, "Me. But I have one condition: I want to see Li Shishi."
Jin Wuzhu chuckled and said, "That's easy—bringers, lock this ugly woman and that Li Shishi together."
Baozi tugged at my hand and said, "Go and think of a way. Don't worry about me. It's good that Shishi and I can look after each other." She then pointed at Jin Wuzhu and said, "Remember this: if you call me 'ugly monster,' I'll slap you across the face every time. We'll settle the score later."
Jin Wuzhu shouted in a frenzy, "Quickly drag this ugly monster away!"
Baozi held up two fingers: "Two sounds..."