Chapter 276: The Brainless Empress in the Arrogant Stallion Novel (26)

Chapter 276: The Foolish Empress in the Arrogant Harem Novel (26)

Cai Zhiyun's scheme was underhanded and vicious, betting that the Lin State could never produce the imperial jade seal!

Originally thinking the reduction in iron mine leasing fees was a sure thing, no one expected the Lin State to claim they had found the imperial jade seal and sent word to return it to the Zhao State.

Upon hearing this, the ministers of the Zhao State were floored!

Where did this jade seal come from?

We didn’t even know there was a jade seal in our own treasury…

"Hah! It’s nothing but a stalling tactic! In your humble servant’s opinion, no matter what the Lin State presents, we simply declare it is not our jade seal..."

"Let’s see what else that Empress of the Lin State can do!"

Cai Zhiyun was the first to speak, already formulating his rhetoric. "Your Majesty, the fee reduction is in the bag!"

"No matter what the Lin State sends, we’ll just trash it!"

The King of Zhao sat in the grand hall, listening to Cai Zhiyun’s words and finding them reliable. He nodded in satisfaction. "Right."

"Minister Cai is truly the pillar of our Zhao State. We shall proceed as you suggest."

During the last iron mine lease, he had suffered losses and overspent, gaining Cai Zhiyun no favor from the king.

Now, finally praised again, Cai Zhiyun was thrilled and declared loudly, "Your Majesty, it is your humble servant’s duty to resolve your troubles!"

"Your servant!"

"Offers his complete devotion!"

After this display of devotion, when the jade seal from the Lin State arrived, Cai Zhiyun was completely floored…

The moment the box was opened, Cai Zhiyun immediately snapped it shut!

What a total joke!

They demanded the imperial jade seal, and instead, they were sent a pornographic picture book!

Even worse…

It was a pornographic book depicting male-on-male couplings!

The mere thought of throwing it away made Cai Zhiyun sick to his stomach!

"What is the meaning of this, Lin State?"

Cai Zhiyun, still fuming, glared at the messenger. "What, unable to produce the imperial jade seal, so you resort to… this trash!"

Too ashamed to even name the pornographic picture book, Cai Zhiyun, a lifelong devotee of Confucian teachings, was seeing such dirty pictures for the first time.

"Minister Cai, this is indeed your Zhao State’s imperial jade seal," said Chang Yongshou, Vice Minister of Rites, who had been sent by the Lin State to deliver the seal.

With a calm smile, he continued, "Minister Cai, take a closer look..."

"The imperial jade seal your Zhao State demanded has been sent as promised."

Go fuck yourself!

How could there be such shameless people in this world!

Even if they couldn't find the imperial jade seal, they shouldn't have rubbed it in our faces with such an object!

"Oh, really?!"

"Is this really how your Lin State intends to proceed?"

"After today, just wait for our Zhao State to strike back..." Following the plan discussed in the hall, Cai Zhiyun was about to hurl the box in his hand!

Suddenly, Chang Yongshou from Lin State grabbed his wrist, his tone even carrying a hint of... sympathy?

"Lord Cai, look again..."

What now?!

What's there to see!

Cai Zhiyun couldn't comprehend at all—why was Chang Yongshou giving him that damn pitying look when Lin State was the one in deep shit?

Knocking away Chang Yongshou's hand, Cai Zhiyun scowled downward...

But that one glance.

Left Cai Zhiyun frozen in shock...

The erotic album actually bore the name of His Majesty!

"How dare you?!"

"You pathetic Lin State! How dare you fabricate lies to humiliate our sovereign like this!"

"You vile rats! Absolute disgrace!"

...

A barrage of insults rained down on Chang Yongshou's face, but Lord Chang wiped off Cai's spit expressionlessly.

"It's the truth."

"What's true or false!"

"Bullshit! Our King would never..."

Before he could finish, Cai Zhiyun suddenly snapped back to reality...

What did Chang mean was true?

Connecting the deeper meaning behind those words, Cai Zhiyun slowly whipped his head around, his voice trembling with disbelief: "You just said..."

"What is true?"

Chang Yongshou maintained that same pitying gaze as he spoke slowly, "Exactly what you're thinking."

"What's in that book... it’s real."

Chang Yongshou continued, "Lord Cai, you drew the short straw."

"You never should’ve accepted this mission."

With just a few simple words, Cai Zhiyun was frozen in shock!

Finally, he understood why Chang Yongshou had been giving him those pitying looks from the very beginning...

In the grand hall, he had stood his ground and vowed to smash the gifts sent by the Lin State...

But now, if he really did smash them, the entire world would know the king’s secret.

Yet if he didn’t... how would he explain this?

Caught between a rock and a hard place, Cai Zhiyun suddenly fell silent.

His own words rang in his ears, words he had spoken in the hall:

"Whatever the Lin State sends, just smash it!"

"It is my duty as your loyal subject to relieve His Majesty of his troubles!"

...

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Minister Cai, who’d been fuming moments earlier...

He actually fainted!

Before collapsing, Minister Cai still clutched the box in his hands, desperate to keep its contents hidden!

The onlookers murmured: "So the Zhao imperial seal really is priceless! Even in his faint, Minister Cai still guarded the seal in his hands!"

The iron mine lease between the Lin and Zhao States ultimately went through unchanged.

The public story was that the Lin State had returned the imperial jade seal,

and the Zhao king, magnanimously, considered sparing the millions of Chu people from famine and hardship, decided not to pursue the matter of the stolen treasure vault—a display of the grace of a great nation.

At the same time, Mu Zimo's reputation as a Robin Hood figure was also cemented.

Within the lands of Chu, even toddlers could tell you that it was the legendary thief, the great hero Mu, who had brought a lifeline to Chu, spreading the tale far and wide.

The sole loser in all this was Cai Zhiyun.

After that day, the ruler was furious. Cai Zhiyun was stripped of three titles and exiled to the most remote part of the Zhao State.

No one knew what Cai Zhiyun had actually brought back—something that forced His Majesty to eat crow in silence.

As for this, Cai Zhiyun himself played dumb. No matter how his colleagues probed, he refused to reveal what was inside the box.

"The king’s a genius!" Hearing the latest news, Chang Yongshou's praise was heartfelt.

From the moment Zhao framed the jade seal, the entire Lin State had been panicking.

Militarily, Lin’s army was no match for Zhao; morally, Zhao also held the upper hand.

Just when everyone thought Lin would inevitably have to adjust the lease terms, His Majesty had flipped the script!

Thank our ancestors!

To leave us such a wise and extraordinary ruler!

All previous prejudices about women interfering in governance vanished instantly! Compared to the Zhao ruler's tastes, even Wei Shang hanging off the empress now seemed tolerable to Chang Yongshou.

Rites Vice Minister Chang Yongshou now cared about only one thing—

When would such a brilliant and mighty ruler have a child, leaving Lin with another worthy heir?

Hell, why stop at one?