Chapter Ninety: Summoned in the Deep of Night [Subscription Request]

Call them in!

I will go summon them.

Qin Yilu stepped forward at once to volunteer.

Chu Feng did not refuse. As Lu Su had said, taking the favor would bring endless benefits; refusing it would only turn Lu Bu into an enemy. With his own sagacity, how could he fail to choose his words well?

What was more, Liu Bei was already his foe.

Outside the residence, Qin Yilu looked at the two frightened women and said softly, “Ladies, General Chu will receive you. This way, please.”

The two exchanged a glance, then folded their hands before their abdomens and walked straight into the mansion.

Inside, Chu Feng stood looking out.

A man’s life, if it is devoid of desire, loses all color and all vigor.

Within his sight, the two women approached side by side. Gan Qian wore a pale blue dress, a sash cinching her waist and outlining it to perfection. Her slender figure, paired with skin as white as snow and a face of alluring charm, was truly extraordinary; it was no wonder Liu Bei called her the Jade Beauty.

Beside her, Mi Zhen carried the air of a proper young lady from a great house. She was not as dazzling at first glance, but her eyes held more fear and evasiveness, stirring in others a desire to conquer.

Gan Qian

Martial Strength: 26

Strategy: 72

Charm: 106

Mi Zhen

Martial Strength: 32

Strategy: 67

Charm: 104

Messages about the two women surfaced in Chu Feng’s mind, and he could not help but click his tongue. As expected, they were both beauties whose charm surpassed a hundred. To have such women following Liu Bei day after day must have been exhausting for them.

Every time he fought, he lost one.

Every time he fought, he lost one.

What a pity.

By then the two women had reached the hall. Seeing the young and strikingly imposing Chu Feng seated at the head, both of them were taken aback. To think Chu Feng was so young!

They lowered their heads and curtsied. “This humble woman pays respects to the General.”

Chu Feng rose and walked before them. Their hearts quickened. Looking left and right, they saw that Qin Yilu had already withdrawn; within the residence, only the three of them remained.

Chu Feng lightly lifted their snow-white chins with both hands. Their eyes met. Mi Zhen’s beautiful gaze kept darting away, unable to hold his, while Chu Feng forced her to meet it.

Mi Zhen looked aggrieved; tears shimmered in her eyes as she fought to hold them back. She gazed at Chu Feng with a pained expression, as though pleading, begging the General to let her go.

Gan Qian, however, simply looked at him calmly. Born among common folk, she took many things more lightly; besides, her father was still in Xiaopi.

Chu Feng said gently, “There is no need for such ceremony, ladies.”

Congratulations to the host on triggering the Cao Thief choice!

1. Call one of them to your chambers at night and take her, reward: one hundred catties each of eight kinds of seasoning seeds.

2. Call both of them to your chambers at night and take them both, reward: five hundred catties of cotton seeds and one hundred sets of complete anti-counterfeit dies for coins. Hidden plot may be triggered, rewarding a gift pack of various vegetable seeds.

3. Choose to send the two women back to Liu Bei and win his favor, reward: 999999 super-large potency pills.

Chu Feng: Cough, cough!

Listening to these options in his mind, Chu Feng pressed his lips together, his eyes gleaming faintly.

This system truly understood his heart.

Rest assured, Xuande. Your two sisters-in-law are living very well here, so you need not fret over them.

Thinking this, Chu Feng said with utmost gravity, “Xuande is benevolent and righteous, and these two ladies are his wives. Since they have specially sought refuge with me, I shall surely protect their safety and spare no effort in their behalf.”

Seeing Chu Feng so solemn and righteous, Mi Zhen could not help but brighten, blurting out, “The General is most kind; I shall certainly convey your great favor to him!”

Having said that, she realized her mistake. Her gaze faltered, and she said softly, “Then we must trouble the General to look after us.”

Gan Qian, however, lifted her brows slightly. By reason, Chu Feng ought not to be this way. After all, Liu Bei and the Yuan family harbored a deep hatred for one another. How could Chu Feng be so kind-hearted?

“It is only right,” Chu Feng said with a smile. “Come, send the ladies to the guest rooms to rest. Without my orders, no one is to disturb them.”

His personal guards immediately came in and gestured them onward.

Once outside the mansion, Mi Zhen finally felt the knot in her heart loosen. She said to Gan Qian with delight, “Sister, this Chu Feng is handsome and decisive. He is a good man!”

“Knowing that we are your husband’s women, he was not only discourteous, but treated us with such respect instead. It seems your husband’s fame for righteousness has long spread across the realm!”

Gan Qian: “...”

She knew Liu Bei’s righteousness was for the common people, not for the lords of the land. To those lords, Liu Bei was merely one among many rivals. What righteousness was there to speak of?

Inside the residence, after watching the two women leave, Chu Feng fell into brief thought. He then took up a brush and wrote a letter:

“Xuande, the Han Empire is now ravaged by war, and only Shouchun enjoys peace. Your two wives have taken refuge here to avoid calamity. I shall certainly care for them in your stead. You may rest easy and need not worry or think on them.”

Signed at the end: Chu Feng.

With only a few flowing lines, neatly aligned, Chu Feng felt that his calligraphy had improved day by day. He imagined that when Liu Bei received this letter, he would surely clap and praise it. No, curse it!

That day, the generals of every division began organizing their forces and would set out before long.

As for Chu Feng’s own troops, he still had to wait until the others drew attention away before he could move. He would need a little more time.

In all of Jiujiang, the people had no leisure to concern themselves with anything else. They poured all their energy into the spring plowing, praying only for an autumn harvest that would fill their families’ bellies.

Meanwhile, at the Qiao residence, Lu Su looked at Qiao Rui and said gravely, “General Qiao, the Lord has no heir as yet, and has already resolved to take many concubines in order to increase his progeny and secure the foundation of our realm.”

Hearing this, Qiao Rui’s face turned deathly pale, and he grew uneasy.

“But, General, you need not worry. The Lord’s purpose this time is chiefly to strengthen the foundation of the state. He has no intention of setting aside his wife and taking another in her place. Moreover, he specifically instructed that your younger daughter, Little Qiao, be taken as a concubine.”

Lu Su smiled and explained further.

“Did the Lord truly say this?” Qiao Rui asked urgently.

“Of course. The Lord regards the General with great favor. Now that the realm is in contention among heroes, he has no time to concern himself with other matters. You ought to do your utmost to secure the rear for him.”

“That is all I have to say. General, please judge the matter for yourself.”

With that, Lu Su gathered his robe and departed.

“Sir, let me see you out,” Qiao Rui said hurriedly.

Yet in his heart, he was already thinking that he must remind his two daughters. As for his own little maneuver, Chu Feng would surely know of it; he simply had not blamed him for it.

Night fell, and the world grew still.

The common folk, weary from a day’s labor, had already gone to sleep.

In the guest quarters of the inn, Mi Zhen and Gan Qian were just about to sleep when a woman in charge of the inner chambers woke them. She said nothing, only told them to dress and make themselves up before following her.

After a long while, the two were led out of the residence.

Yet after this careful dressing, they seemed even more enchanting than by day.

Inside the carriage, Mi Zhen was anxious. Summoned in the dead of night, anyone would know what such a summons meant.

Though Chu Feng was young, she could not accept such a thing. The manners and proprieties she had absorbed since childhood were already carved deep into her mind.

Gan Qian, however, appeared far more composed. Even her chosen attire included a touch of sheer gauze, and she herself had carefully dressed, gaining a somewhat more seductive air.

Her fair skin, paired with that ripe and mature allure, was truly irresistible. Most of all, she had her own designs. Her father was already advanced in years and still remained in Xiaopi.

Lu Bu had never been a man of manners, and with no one left in Xiaopi to protect him, her father was bound to suffer insults. That was what she could not bear to see.

Tonight was her chance. She had to use every means at her disposal to please Chu Feng, so that he would bring her father to Shouchun to live out his later years in peace.

That would count as fulfilling some small wish as a daughter.

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