Chapter 240 Master, I’m here. I’ve grown up.

Looking at the empty bedroom in front of her, Queen Dowager Zhao felt a sense of loss. Yang Chong left, but he did not leave.

Just now, Yang Chong did nothing but held her hand and hugged her. The hug did not last long, only a few breaths. But such a simple and short hug captured the soul of Queen Dowager Zhao, melted her heart, and made her know the feeling of loneliness for the first time.

If you have never had someone in your heart, you naturally don't understand what loneliness is. Even if you are always alone, you will think it is normal. But when someone lives in your heart, you will only want to stay with that person physically. When that person can't appear by your side, your heart will feel lonely again.

A heart that knows warmth can no longer endure the coldness of loneliness.

This was the state of Queen Dowager Zhao at this moment. She was craving for Yang Chong's warmth. Even though the bedroom in front of her was still her bedroom, it made her feel strange, and she could never regain her previous state of mind.

"Don't you want to succumb to fate? I'm waiting for your success. But why do I want you to fail? If you fail, I can probably take you into my harem, right? Women are such scary things. How could I have such an idea? It's really scary." Queen Mother Zhao was shocked when she realized that she had such thoughts, but she couldn't suppress the excitement in her heart.

"Compared to this temptation, I prefer the hero who can overcome his own destiny. I don't want a concubine who obeys my orders. I want a man who can conquer me. Only if you become a king can you have such qualification. I will really fall in love with you without a hug or a few warm words." Queen Mother Zhao realized that she had an impulse that she shouldn't have. She kept telling herself in her heart that she wanted to make herself indifferent to men again. At least she shouldn't have such enthusiasm now.

On the other side, Yang Chong had returned to his mansion. After a simple wash, he went to sleep with Yingge who stayed in Handan. As for the trouble he had left for Queen Dowager Zhao, he didn't care at all. After all, it was just for the sake of better cooperation. He was no longer the young man who fell in love at first sight when he first saw Yan Lingji.

A man's heart may be small, but it can hold many things besides women. A woman's heart may be big, but when it is filled with friendship, it becomes small.

"Prime Minister, an insider in the palace has sent a message that Master Yang entered the palace last night, had a secret conversation with the Queen Mother for a long time, and then returned to the palace. He left early this morning." In the Prime Minister's mansion, Guo Kai, who had woken up early, drank fresh goat milk and pursed his lips. Although it tasted a little fishy, ​​there was nothing he could do about it. After all, he had reached the age where he needed to maintain his health.

"It seems that our Master Yang has convinced the Queen Mother." Guo Kai murmured.

"How did the Prime Minister know this?" the butler asked in surprise.

As the prime minister, Guo Kai had a large family and great wealth. From the affairs within the mansion to the business operations outside, from normal interpersonal relationships to welcoming and seeing off guests, to the management and coordination of retainers, all depended on this steward. Therefore, his status in Guo Kai's prime minister's mansion was extremely high.

If Guo Kai was the prime minister of Zhao State and was in charge of government affairs, then this housekeeper was the prime minister of the prime minister's office, except that this "prime minister" was not prime minister of a country, but a family.

Therefore, this steward had a lot of influence in Guo Kai's eyes, and he was often involved even in confidential matters. For example, the letter that Guo Kai sent to Yang Chong was delivered from his hands.

"Our Young Master Yang is a man that even this Prime Minister would be jealous of. He is young, heroic, and strong. He can kill Qin soldiers on horseback and walk freely among the flowers when he gets off the horse. He is so comfortable. He fights for the throne abroad and occupies a position at home. He is so powerful. What a man pursues is nothing more than power, wealth, and women. What do you think our Young Master Yang lacks? He lacks nothing. Isn't such a perfect man the envy of men and the love of women?" Guo Kai said meaningfully.

In today's world, except for a few people who are born as kings, no one can possess so many things like Yang Chong at the age of twenty-something. Even Guo Kai cannot do it. Although he now has power and wealth, he is no longer able to handle women.

At the age when he was most capable of fighting, he had no power and no wealth, and he wasted too much energy at that time, unlike Yang Chong.

Whenever he thought of this, Guo Kai couldn't help feeling jealous. Yang Chong was really going too far.

But what Yang Chong said about men being too much has become a fatal temptation for women. Why do men pursue power and wealth? Personal ideals certainly account for part of the reason, but women are also a factor, because women care about these two things the most. Moreover, it is not just men who pursue sex, women do the same. If possible, wouldn't women even dislike handsome and strong men?

Queen Mother Zhao was a newly widowed woman in her prime, how could she not have any thoughts about men? She might not have any thoughts about ordinary men, but what about Yang Chong? Guo Kai did not think that Queen Mother Zhao could resist Yang Chong's temptation.

especially……

From the various clues Guo Kai had and the associations and speculations he made based on them, it was clear that Yang Chong and Queen Dowager Zhao were deeply involved. It was not just cooperation in the salt business, but also deeper and even shameful contact.

For example, the death of King Yan of Zhao.

At that time, Prince Yan of Zhao had obviously recovered from his illness, but he suddenly died. Although the imperial physician could not find anything wrong and could only define it as a sudden death, Guo Kai did not think so. Prince Yan of Zhao died not from poison or illness, but he still died. There are different explanations for the reasons, but precisely because of the different explanations, it is more likely that it was because of something Yang Chong did.

After all, Yang Chong himself is a martial arts master, and the martial arts he practices are inherited from the six tribes of Emperor Yan. It is possible that he has methods that are difficult for ordinary people to understand.

In particular, Guo Kai also knew that the Queen Dowager Zhao might have conspired with Yang Chong to get rid of Zhao Wangyan, because when Zhao Wangyan was seriously ill for the first time, he had the idea of ​​changing the crown prince. Although he later miraculously recovered and the matter of changing the crown prince was never resolved, some things will leave traces once they happen. Perhaps it was because the Queen Dowager Zhao, who was still the queen at the time, noticed something that she had the motive to get rid of Zhao Wangyan.

One side had the motive to take action, and the other side had the ability to take action. With the cooperation of both sides, King Yan of Zhao's death was not at all unjust.

But these are just Guo Kai's guesses. He has no evidence. But it is also because he has no evidence that he becomes more suspicious of Yang Chong and Queen Dowager Zhao. Only with the cooperation of the two can this matter become seamless.

Guo Kai was also a proud person. The more impossible things were, the more he wanted to do them. The same was true for the inside story of Zhao Wangyan's death. Of course, Guo Kai did not want to use this incident to get anything from Yang Chong and Queen Mother Zhao. He just wanted to use it to play an extra trump card. After all, if you don't think about the future, you will have immediate worries. Although he was powerful in Zhao State, he was also walking on thin ice and had to act cautiously. There were countless people eyeing his position as prime minister.
Just in case, he had to do something, such as knowing the secret between Queen Mother Zhao and Yang Chong. He certainly would not use this secret to do anything, but this secret was a means to save his life.

It's just that the cooperation between the two was too perfect. Even though Guo Kai spent a lot of time and effort, he couldn't find anything. He even doubted his own guess. But last night's meeting between Zhao Taihui and Yang Chong made him reaffirm his guess.

"Master Yang can indeed be called a young hero, but such people are often so proud that they don't even understand the basic etiquette of the world. The Prime Minister tipped him off in advance, which gave him ample time to think about how to persuade the Queen Mother. But he just left afterwards without even coming to thank her." The housekeeper said angrily, as if he felt sorry for his master Guo Kai.

"It's okay, it's okay. He is a very generous man. Compared to his thanks, I care more about what benefits he can bring to me. After all, he is so rich. Yancheng alone can make him rich enough to rival a country, and he also has businesses like paper and liquor. I heard that he has recently recruited many people from the Mohist school, saying that he wants to improve farming tools, spinning tools, and iron smelting. Who knows, there may be several ways to make a fortune. By making friends with such a rich man, we can also become rich." Guo Kai said.

Power and other things are fleeting. After one generation of strong men, there will be stronger men. No one can laugh forever, but money is dead. Once it is yours, it is yours and cannot escape.

Guo Kai's greatest wish was to be like Fan Li, the Master of Tao Zhu, who could become a prime minister if he advanced or become a wealthy man if he retired. However, compared with Fan Li's extraordinary talent, Guo Kai's talent was really limited. It was indeed a bit difficult for him to become a wealthy man by using business. He himself was well aware of this, so he found another way and found a way to make money from another direction.

But this approach was really stupid. He forgot that Fan Li also changed his family several times after he became rich.

A few days later, several groups of troops appeared from the four directions of the Dong'a City's east, west, south and north gates.

The Qin delegation came from the west, the Han and Wei delegations came from the south, the Chu delegation entered from the east city, and the Yan and Zhao delegations took the road through the north gate.

At the same time, people from the six countries with different thoughts appeared in this city together.

As for these people, Yang Chong threw them all to the Confucian Fu Nian.

This Confucian disciple was recently hired by Yang Chong to be the head of the Ministry of Rites, which can be considered a perfect match for his profession.

As a disciple of the head of Confucianism, Fu Nian has the potential to be the successor of Confucianism. It is perfect for him to receive the envoys from the six countries.

As for why a core Confucian disciple like Fu Nian would accept Yang Chong's invitation, it was naturally because Yang Chong offered too much.

If Yan Lu was not too young at that time and Zhang Liang was not trapped by his family, Yang Chong could have recruited all three future Confucian heroes of Qi and Lu into his army.

Confucianism is the most prominent school of thought among all schools of thought, with students and former officials spread all over the world. It can be said that it has the largest reserve of talents in the world. In Yang Chong's future plans, he will inevitably use Confucian disciples to enrich the administrative system. However, before that, he must completely control Confucianism and shape it, weaken its sectarian attributes, and turn it into a real school.

If Confucianism was still allowed to be a sect, and even had the title of a leader, then Yang Chong would not dare to recruit a large number of Confucian disciples. Otherwise, if the Confucian leader made a call and the Confucian disciples collectively rebelled, Yang Chong would probably not even have a place to cry.

After Fu Nian settled the envoys from various countries, he finally met Han Yu.

"Han Yu has met Mr. Funian. My ninth brother Han Fei has told me many times about his experiences studying in Confucianism. As his elder brother, I would like to thank Mr. Fu Nian for taking care of Han Fei over the years." Han Yu made up stories in an attempt to get closer to Fu Nian.

This time, knowing that Han Fei was very interested in Dong'a and his group, he still wanted to intercept them. Naturally, he had his own purpose. He had made various efforts since the Korean ship sailed to this day, but Ji Wuye's death made him realize that Han might not be able to make it.

No matter whether Ji Wuye is good or bad, he is the general of Han after all. But such a general was killed head-on by Yang Chong, and Yang Chong ascended to the position of general. The position of general is related to the safety of the whole country of Han, but the change is so trivial. How can a country still have its dignity, and how can the court still have its rules.

From this, Han Yu could see that South Korea's weakness was not only a weakness in national strength, but also a weakness in the hearts of the people. The hearts of the people in South Korea had been scattered, and the majesty of the court had collapsed. Such a country might be able to survive in times of peace and prosperity, but in this world of great contention, it did not even have the qualifications to survive.

As a prince of Korea, Han Yu could do nothing about it, but as a member of the Han clan, he needed to find a way out for his sect, and the way out he was considering was Yang Chong.

As for the question of whether Yang Chong's retreat was stable, Han Yu was not worried. After all, he had prepared many retreats, and Yang Chong's was only one of them. As for the price, it was just a sister.

If Yang Chong really became the King of Qi, then the escape route he prepared would become a smooth road. If Yang Chong failed, it would not only be the sacrifice of Honglian. Such a small cost is nothing. Compared with the benefits, these risks are worth it.

"Fourth brother is a very nice person. Could it be that I misunderstood him before?" On the third floor of the Korean delegation's residence, a girl named Honglian, a princess, and a price was just lying in front of the window, looking at the strange yet inexplicably familiar person. She pursed her rosy lips lightly, and the corners of her mouth could not be suppressed to reveal a smile that could not be concealed.

"Master, I'm here, I've grown up!"

(End of this chapter)