Chapter 539: Career or Love

Maid: "..."

Although the other person's voice was soft, it struck her like a bolt from the blue. She never imagined that her childhood sweetheart, the man she loved, would push her towards another man, asking her to use every means possible to entangle him. For a moment, she even doubted whether her choices were right or wrong.

Sensing her emotional shift, Lian's voice softened: "Xiao Tuo, I know this is truly unfair to you. If you're unwilling, then leave the palace. I won't be the Grand Priest anymore. We can wander the world together, living a life of freedom. I doubt Wu Ding would find it easy to catch us."

The young maid was initially swayed, but the last sentence brought her back to her senses: "Brother Lian, how can I be so selfish and let your hard work of so many years go to waste? You are the esteemed Grand Priest; how can I bear to make you live a life of hiding with me? Besides, the throne should rightfully be yours, so why should you have to flee? Brother Lian, I love you, and I will naturally help you."

A flicker of joy crossed the man's heart, but his face showed an expression of profound sorrow: "But this is too much to ask of you. No, we must find another way, even if it's a big hassle."

The young maid reached out and pressed her fingers to his lips: "It's too late to change plans now. Don't worry, I'm willing to do anything for Brother Lian."

Lian excitedly clasped her hands: "It's all my fault for being so incompetent, needing to sacrifice my own woman to achieve my goals."

Hearing the words "my own woman," a flicker of joy crossed the young maid's face. She knew that her Brother Lian never showed his emotions and had never openly acknowledged anything. Hearing him say this now, she felt any sacrifice was worth it.

"It's not your fault. It's Wu Ding and his son who disregarded the rules and secretly passed on the throne, which is why you're in such a passive position."

"Xiao Tuo..." Seeing his childhood sweetheart consider him so wholeheartedly, even Lian, with his deep calculations, was deeply moved at that moment. For an instant, he couldn't bear to send his beloved woman away. After all, the Grand Priest was second only to the king, above thousands of others, so why bother fighting for the throne? It would be better to live happily ever after with the woman he loved...

The young maid's heart pounded as her lover held her hand, and her pretty face slowly flushed. A warm, intimate atmosphere began to pervade the air. As they drew closer, for some reason, the young maid suddenly recalled the King embracing her last night, and her body stiffened for a moment.

This subtle reaction jolted Lian awake. He quickly released her hand, cold sweat trickling down his back. He thought, "Lian, Lian, you bear the heavy responsibility of your family. How can you forget your great cause for personal affections and let so many years of everyone's efforts go to waste?" If Xiao Tuo's virginity were compromised, Wu Ding would surely notice the anomaly and become suspicious, leading to utter failure.

"Xiao Tuo, you've been out for a while. It's time to go back," Lian said calmly, his eyes regaining their clarity.

A hint of resentment flashed in the young maid's eyes, but her mind was in disarray. Without another word, she bid him farewell and left. Watching her youthful and graceful back, a flicker of pain crossed Lian's eyes. Clearly, having grown up as childhood sweethearts, how could he be without feelings for her? His fists clenched tightly, and his eyes filled entirely with hatred: "Wu Ding, one day I will tear you to pieces!"

After returning to the palace, the young maid felt a surge of apprehension, wondering how she should go about seducing that dissolute king. But given the king's debauched and shameless nature, she probably wouldn't even need to actively seduce him; he would likely make a move on her himself. Recalling the scene of him and the Queen in the room yesterday, and then him carrying her to the bed, she felt even more certain of this.

At this moment, Zu An had no intention of making a move on her; he was soon to attend the sacrificial ceremony. The great affairs of a nation are in sacrifice and war. For the Shang Dynasty, sacrifices and warfare were the greatest affairs of the state, and this time, both events converged. Almost all high-ranking officials of the state had gathered at the altar. Around its periphery, rows of long-ge warriors were densely arranged. Three thousand of them were elite troops from Fu Hao's fiefdom, and another ten thousand were Wu Ding's direct lineage soldiers, all exceptionally robust. In ancient times, this was already a very large-scale army. In past wars, deploying a thousand troops was considered large-scale; this time, deploying over ten thousand was truly unprecedented. Everyone was solemn, yet also anxious, as no one knew what the outcome of this battle would be.

Lian arrived here shortly after parting ways with Xiao Tuo. Xiao Tuo had given him the information too late, so he didn't have time to make any arrangements and could only go along with Wu Ding and Fu Shuo's plans. In any case, having Fu Hao go on the expedition didn't affect his plan; in some ways, it even made its execution easier. He knew the significance of this battle to everyone. Although he secretly wished for the King's army to be defeated and his prestige ruined, he showed no outward sign of it, lest anyone in the future suspect him of meddling. He respectfully conducted the sacrificial ceremony. After burning the tortoise shells, he interpreted the cracks, declaring that the will of the heavens for this expedition favored victory, which elicited cheers from everyone. Of course, he also played a small trick. He didn't make an absolute prediction but cleverly added some linguistic traps, so that if they failed in the future, he could use them to shift the blame onto the King. Ordinary people naturally couldn't discern the trick, but Zu An, already suspicious of him, naturally noticed the anomaly with his guard up. However, he said nothing. He trusted Pei Mianman and also the trajectory of history; this battle would surely see Pei Mianman return victorious, and all of the Grand Priest's schemes would fail. He carefully observed this potential boss. It was evident that he was well-built, a head taller than those around him. Although his face was covered in a lot of paint, he still appeared handsome and formidable overall—hmm, almost as good as himself.

To Zu An, the entire sacrificial process seemed like a shamanic dance; he had no interest in it. Instead, he communicated various pieces of information to Pei Mianman telepathically from beginning to end. However, when the offerings began, both of them frowned simultaneously. Because this sacrifice was unprecedentedly important, the most significant offering, human sacrifice, was naturally chosen. A dozen Qiang captives were brought forward. Seeing that these captives were about to be beheaded and disemboweled, Zu An quickly spoke up to stop it, ordering that pigs, cattle, and sheep be used instead. It wasn't that he was being a bleeding heart, but rather he genuinely didn't want these human sacrifices to be steamed and then served on his plate. He had previously learned from Ya Zhang that these offerings to the heavens would later be shared among the high-ranking officials, a tradition he had also confirmed with Fu Shuo and Xiao Tuo. Furthermore, he understood that the value of these captives far exceeded their worth as human sacrifices. Historically, how was Huo Qubing able to fight alone for thousands of miles in the Hexi Corridor, striking fear into the hearts of the Xiongnu, even though Han people had never been to those places before, yet he seemed to have a built-in GPS? Besides his military genius, a major reason was that he utilized a large number of Xiongnu captives. With them guiding the way, he was able to achieve a miracle in military history. The current situation was remarkably similar. The Qiang forces were in the Shaanxi and Gansu regions. Although he had drawn a general map for Pei Mianman, that was only on a macroscopic level; the specific terrain details were known only by the Qiang people themselves. How could he bear to kill these living maps? He explained his thoughts to Pei Mianman, and she immediately agreed. Together, they saved this group of people.

But everyone else was in an uproar. How could they offer sacrifices to the heavens without using human sacrifices, the highest standard? What if it angered the heavens? Lian, however, almost burst out laughing. This way, if there were any unexpected issues in the future war, everything could be blamed on Wu Ding, saving him a lot of trouble. So, he also fanned the flames, ensuring the decision was finalized.

And so, the Shang Dynasty army, filled with apprehension, set off towards the northwest, facing an unknown fate. Meanwhile, Zu An remained in the palace, handling various state affairs with Fu Shuo, clearing out potential rebellious forces in Yin capital, and waiting anxiously for the outcome of the war.

One evening, Xiao Tuo stood outside the royal bedchamber, taking a deep breath. She knew she couldn't delay any longer. In recent days, some of Brother Lian's forces had been dealt blows, and she needed to quickly gain the King's trust to relay information in advance.