020 Randomly settling down

Shen Tang drew in a breath of cool air.

Only now did she understand why Qi Shan's face was so dark.

Such a humiliation and disgrace, who could bear it?

"The defeated royal family leading the officials to surrender is an honor that the victorious nation should enjoy. I suppose even the King of Xin wouldn't resist. But this Zheng Qiao... Is he insane?" 

Qi Shan sneered, "I think he's just unwilling..."

The humiliation he suffered in Xin was to be returned tenfold, a hundredfold, and Xin was to be pinned to the historical pillar of shame.

Shen Tang exclaimed, "This is despicable!"

Just calling Zheng Qiao "despicable" doesn't do justice to his madness. Shen Tang felt that the man was malicious, narrow-minded, and disgusting.

What does "face bound, lips holding a jade" mean?

Simply put, it means tying both hands behind the back and holding a piece of jade in the mouth— in funeral customs, it is believed that having a jade in the mouth prevents the body from decaying, and it also symbolizes the noble status of the deceased— to surrender to the victorious nation.

In the specific implementation process, one generally has to bare their upper body, indicating that they are not carrying any weapons, also implying that they are like a "sheep ready for slaughter". Surrendering oneself completely, allowing others to do as they please, whether to kill or to mutilate.

And now, Zheng Qiao forced the King of Xin to abdicate to the princess— a woman without literary or martial talents, and also the only daughter of the King of Xin— to bare herself, and to surrender in public, handing over documents of surrender, seals, household registers, and the national treasury.

Undoubtedly, it was a complete trampling on the dignity of the people of Xin, leaving no room for any dignity.

Qi Shan stared coldly at the teacup in his hand, exercising great self-control to prevent himself from crushing it, taking several deep breaths to calm the volcano of anger surging inside him. "Having grown up in the deep palace, only knowing how to serve with beauty, this outer pet, favored by the king, how can you expect him to have the means and the mind of a 'gentleman'? Without obtaining the Seal of Xin, the gains of this war will be halved. Given Zheng Qiao's temperament, he will naturally not give up so easily..."

Once again hearing the words "Seal of the Nation," Shen Tang's eyelids twitched slightly. "Such a person cannot sit securely on the throne."

Qi Shan previously said that if Zheng Qiao did not die a violent death within five years, Gengguo would perish, this "prediction" was too conservative given Zheng Qiao's current brutality and ruthlessness, whether he could last for three years remained a big question mark.

He had also set a very bad precedent—

Tolerating the misdeeds of his troops, indulging in burning, killing, and looting.

Discipline and loyalty, difficult to cultivate but easy to collapse.

Outside the teahouse, the soldiers of Gengguo saw that the teahouse proprietress was somewhat attractive and began to have evil thoughts, exchanging glances with each other, deliberately asking the teahouse proprietress to serve them tea. During the process of serving tea, they touched her small hands, her slender waist, and some even wanted to pucker up and kiss her, frightening the teahouse proprietress, whose face turned pale and exclaimed repeatedly, while the soldiers laughed heartily.

"Soldiers, soldiers..."

The teahouse owner wanted to step forward to help his wife out, but was slapped with a big earlobe, and half of his face quickly swelled up.

"Get lost! You've spoiled my mood. Do you want to die?"

Crack—

Qi Shan followed the sound and looked down at Shen Tang's hand.

The teacup in her hand was crushed by her fingers.

Fortunately, Shen Xiaolang didn't angrily slam the table or rush out, but instead said coldly, "If military discipline is not strictly enforced, these blades, which serve Zheng Qiao's every command, will one day resent him for their unfulfilled desires and eventually turn against him."

Qi Shan listened, looked up at Shen Tang's eyes.

Her gaze was too calm.

Calm enough to make people suspect that she was looking at a group of dying ants—this thought flashed through Qi Shan's mind, and he appeared momentarily dazed, covering up some subtle emotions with the action of drinking tea. "But before that, we don't know how many innocent people and knowledgeable scholars will die... Alas, the situation is like this... Shen Xiaolang, what can we do? We can only be spectators."

"Yuan Liang."

Qi Shan raised an eyebrow.

Although Shen Xiaolang always addressed him as "Mr. Qi" or "Mister," which sounded respectful, whether the respect came from the heart or was just perfunctory, he could still tell, but the "Yuan Liang" blurted out in anger just now seemed more genuine.

Now...

He didn't feel offended, but rather looked forward to it.

"What is it?"

Shen Tang sat down, controlling herself not to pay attention to the situation outside the teahouse—those soldiers were just flirting and taking advantage, and coupled with escorting prisoners, they shouldn't do anything more excessive. If she jumped out to "right the wrongs," it would only invite trouble.

So, she could only divert her attention with something else, suppressing the helplessness of being unable to do anything.

"I'm curious, who exactly are you?"

Qi Shan knows too much.

Moreover, the timing of his appearance is too coincidental.

How lucky does Shen Tang have to be to meet such an omniscient person after the hellish start?

Who knew Qi Shan wouldn't answer directly but instead threw the ball back.

"Before answering that question, shouldn't Shen Xiaolang also confess his true identity? That would show sincerity."

And why would there be a royal seal?!

But he didn't ask this question because he believed that with Shen Xiaolang's cunning, he would be able to detect his unspoken words—perhaps this was the tacit understanding between the two.

Shen Tang: "..."

This question was also useless to her.

If she had a bottom line, possessed the memories of the host, why would she need to stick around Qi Shan and beat around the bush to understand the situation?

"Yuan Liang thinks who I am?"

Shen Tang used a versatile rhetoric.

Kick the ball and pretend to be profound, she could do that too!

Who knew that after she finished speaking, Qi Shan fell silent, his eyes too complex for her to see through, and suddenly sighed, "I thought... Yes, Shen, your surname is Shen!"

He didn't know what he was thinking, but his expression suddenly brightened!

Shen Tang was confused, with three question marks flashing on her forehead, but she couldn't afford to lose, "My surname is Shen, hasn't Yuan Liang known that for a long time? Literacy doesn't lie, unless I have the ability to disguise myself as Yuan Liang."

But— 

What's wrong with her surname being Shen?

The next sentence from Qi Shan left her