Flower Stealing Master

Chapter 217: Opinions are useless

"Why?" Song Qingshu quickly reacted, curled his lips, and casually said, "It's not that I haven't seen it before."

Even though he said so, Song Qingshu turned around. Although this place was secret, there was no guarantee that no one would pass by. He was also unwilling to argue with Luo Bing for the time being, which might lead to unnecessary problems.

Seeing him turn around, Luo Bing hurriedly shrank in the corner, and quickly changed into the guard uniform, "Okay."

Song Qingshu turned around and saw that the dignified young woman with a hint of coquettish air was gone, and was replaced by a beautiful guard standing in front of him.

"It's just a bit too girly." Song Qingshu frowned and said with dissatisfaction, "Remember to keep your head down when you follow me later."

Luo Bing hummed inaudibly, and Song Qingshu led her into the Sifang Pavilion with swaggering steps.

After coming to his bedroom he said, "You may have disguised yourself as a man, but I can't let you sleep with the other guards. Well, before you tell me where the evidence is, you will live in the same room with me."

"What?" Luo Bing suddenly got up from the chair and said firmly, "Absolutely not!"

Song Qingshu ignored her, "Do you think you have a choice? If you don't want to agree, you can just walk out of this door and see who can help you save your husband and everyone in the Red Flower Society. Do you seriously think you can do it yourself? You won’t even be able to escape from Shengjing."

Luo Bing's face turned gloomy and uncertain. She raised her steps several times, but finally slumped down, "Okay, but you are not allowed to be rude to me."

Song Qingshu glanced at Luo Bing strangely, thinking that it was no wonder that the members of the Red Flower Society were in such a difficult situation. He could see the reason clearly from how Luo Bing tended to behave. She was a married woman in her twenties, yet she still behaved like an innocent little girl. They were really naive.

However, he was too lazy to continue to stimulate her, and casually agreed.

"My Lord, Brother Zhang Kangnian, Zhao Qixian and the others have returned." A guard's voice came from outside the house.

"Tell them to come in." Song Qingshu took a cup of tea and drank it, but Luo Bing kept fidgeting beside him.

"Stand aside." Song Qingshu rolled his eyes at her. She was dressed as a guard, so there was no reason to sit at the same table as her boss. Luo Bing's face turned pale, but she stood up and stood in the corner, bowing her head in silence.

"Who is this?" Zhang Kangnian and Zhao Qixian were about to speak as soon as they entered the door, when they suddenly noticed Luo Bing in the corner, and immediately stopped talking.

"It's okay, he’s my own person." Song Qingshu didn't explain much. In this day and age, it was normal for the leader to have secrets. If the leader has to explain everything to his subordinates, wouldn’t it seem even more suspicious?

Zhang Kangnian and Zhao Qixian immediately grimaced, "We went to drink at a bar here in Shengjing, and heard some news about Tian Guinong. We heard that he has disappeared recently. As for where he is being detained, we really can't find out. "

"Doesn't that just mean that you found nothing?" Song Qingshu became speechless.

"We will continue investigating!" Zhang Kangnian and Zhao Qixian quickly replied.

"No need, I have already found the information." Song Qingshu coldly snorted.

"So many of us have searched around, but we haven't gotten any useful information. Yet the LOrd found out after going out to the banquet once. It's really brilliant!" Zhang Kangnian and Zhao Qixian looked at each other and gave praise.

"How disgusting!" Luo Bing, who was on the side, muttered softly when she saw the two of them flattering this guy so much.

Zhang Kangnian and Zhao Qixian were not skilled enough to hear her words clearly, but Song Qingshu could hear her quite clearly. He turned around and glared at her, motioning her not to talk too much.

"By the way, Lord Song, the officials in Shengjing have been waiting for the list of the court's rewards and their amount." Zhao Qixian said cautiously.

"Let them wait. Someone will naturally discuss with them, when the other envoys arrive." Song Qingshu waved his hand impatiently on the surface, but he thought in his heart, ‘This way I can justify my reason for staying in Shengjing. I must hurry up and do what needs to be done.’

"Yes." Zhao Qixian looked happy, and he didn't think there was anything wrong with Song Qingshu deliberately delaying official duties.

As the entourage of the Imperial Envoy, Zhao Qixian and others were also receiving benefits from the middle and lower-level officials in Shengjing. These people were not high enough to contact the Imperial Envoy, so they naturally started with the people around him. Zhao Qixian and others are naturally willing to stay in Shengjing for a long time as it was good for their pockets.

"It's quite rare to find leisure these days." Song Qingshu stretched and sighed.

Yesterday, after Hongli held a banquet in the palace, other civil and military officials in Shengjing also sent messages to invite him to their banquets. He didn’t really have to attend them all, however, there were a few people who he still needed to visit in person. For example, the governor of Liaodong, and the admiral. They were the existences that the Prince had agreed to be placed by the imperial court in Liaodong in order to make them feel at ease.

There was still some time before the dinner party. So, Song Qingshu sat up on the bed and started to circulate his Qi.

Luo Bing secretly admired his diligence in her heart, ‘Although this man is a bit vile, he is always diligent in practicing martial arts. No wonder his martial arts realm is so high!’

Song Qingshu opened his eyes, and when he caught Luo Bing quickly averting her eyes, he felt a little amused and waved, "Come here."

"What?" Luo Bing gave him a wary look.

"Come here and practice with me!" Song Qingshu said sternly. He understood that there was not much time left for him, and he must hurry up to improve his skills, not only for the matters in Shengjing this time, but also for something in the future.

"How can I practice with you?" Luo Bing looked at him in amazement.

"You'll know when you come here." Song Qingshu's lips showed a smile.

"I won't!" Feeling the strangeness in his smile, Luo Bing subconsciously refused.

"If you want to rescue your husband successfully, you'd better help me to improve my martial arts to a higher level. Otherwise, if something goes wrong, you won't have time to cry." Song Qingshu was not in a hurry and calmly looked at her.

"How much can your realm improve in such a short time?" Luo Bing looked at him suspiciously.

"The Method I practice is a bit different. The improvement of my realm doesn't depend on time." Song Qingshu replied.

Seeing that Luo Bing didn't believe him, Song Qingshu smiled and said, "What do you think of my martial arts?"

Although she didn't want to admit it, Luo Bing nodded reluctantly, "It’s very high."

"Do the members of the Red Flower Society work hard to practice their martial art?" Song Qingshu continued to ask.

"In order to realize the great cause and oppose the Qing Dynasty, all the brothers in the Society do indeed practice hard." Luo Bing replied through gritted teeth.

"I am sure that you are aware that I am younger than you people, yet my martial arts realm is much higher than all of you. Do you really think that I rely on time to improve my realm?" Song Qingshu spread out his hands.

Luo Bing felt that what he said indeed made some sense. So, after hesitating for a while, she moved closer to the bed step by step and whispered, "Then how do you want me to help you with your practice?"

"Take off your clothes first." Song Qingshu said in his usual calm tone.

"What! Are you joking?" Luo Bing became furious, and was about to turn around and leave. But Song Qingshu suddenly stretched out his hand, grabbed her and pulled her onto the bed. Luo Bing suddenly lost her balance and fell into his embrace.

"I just wanted to tease you. Why are you getting angry?" Song Qingshu said proudly while looking at the woman in his arms.

"Let go of me!" Luo Bing struggled hard, but her entire body was still firmly held in Song Qingshu's embrace.

"Don't act like a virtuous woman in front of me. We've already crossed the line anyway." Song Qingshu's eyes flashed with anger, "I really should settle the account with you about what you said to Qingqing last time. Let’s take off these clothes first, it looks a bit unappetizing." After saying that, he took off the guard’s uniform on Luo Bing's body.

"I did that because you caused our assassination attempt to fail. I only did that in a moment of anger." Luo Bing explained even though she knew that it was useless.

"Then I can also say that once you succeed in the assassination, I would face the catastrophe of having the nine generations of my family being executed." Song Qingshu added in his heart, ‘even though I am the only one in my family.’

"You had reasons for doing what you did, but it’s a pity that it also hindered my plan. So, I naturally tried to put a stop to it, and you couldn't beat me. How can I be blamed for that?"

"You are full of sophistry. Does the one with the bigger fist represent the truth?" Luo Bing said angrily.

"Isn't it always that way?" Song Qingshu asked rhetorically.

Luo Bing was stunned by the question. Thinking of the current chaotic world, she suddenly found that she had no way to refute, "Although people with big fists can win a temporary victory, they can't stop the public opinion." Luo Bing finally thought of the reason for his refutation.

"Do you really think that everyone in the world can form an opinion like you?" Song Qingshu was finally feeling provoked, he stopped his naughty hands, and snorted, "Temujin often slaughters entire cities and wipes out its entire population during wars. When did he ever care about public opinion? The people that criticized him either fled or surrendered their city. What's the use of being afraid of public opinions, not to mention history!”

“Mongolia continues its conquest of the world, resulting in a mountain of bones in the Central Plains, and desolation in the Western Regions. But, thousands of years later, he will still be remembered as one of the greatest conquerors in human history. Luo Bing, do you know why the Mongolian army is invincible?"

Although Luo Bing felt that it was absurd for the two of them to discuss these things in such a posture, she still replied, "The Mongolian cavalry comes and goes like the wind, and their skills in archery is unparalleled in the world, so it is normal that they would be near invincible."

"It’s true that they come and go like the wind." Song Qingshu said in a deep voice, "In the wars of this era, mobility is king. The reason why the Mongolian army is able to come and go like the wind is not entirely because they are all cavalry, but more importantly, they never needed to carry logistics for war. All the rations they need, they take it directly from their opponents. All the forces in the Central Plains always need to use an astronomical amount of logistics and personnel if they want to dispatch a hundred thousand troops. That slows down their speed. So, with such poor mobility, how can they fight? "

"Mongolians will bring about their own doom if they do a lot of injustice. If they keep taking food from the people, it will inevitably arouse the desperate resistance of those people. I don't think it's a clever method." Luo Bing had also read some history books, and she naturally knew that the violent resistance of the people could often start a civil revolt.

"Indeed, it is as you say. From ancient times to the present, no matter what period of time, the army didn’t dare to forcefully grab food from the people because they always had to worry about causing a rebellion. But Mongolia is much more ruthless than them. If you directly slaughter the city after taking the food, there naturally won’t be any complaints, and the possibility of a rebellion would be eliminated." There was a hint of chill in Song Qingshu's voice.

In history, after the Mengjin War, when the Song Dynasty army entered Luoyang, there were only a few hundred families left in the entire city which was once an extremely prosperous metropolis. One can only imagine how desolate and tragic it was.

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