Transmigrated into an Ancient M-Preg Novel as the Scumbag Alpha (GL) - Chapter 20
Yun Chenghuai never imagined that her casual remark about “leaving with nothing” would lead Shen Liunian to believe she wanted to become a eunuch.
“No,” she immediately explained. “I mean, all the household property will be yours then.”
“Including the fiefdom?”
What the Shen family lacked most wasn’t money, but fortified cities to protect themselves. The Shen family’s mining areas were in the farthest northwest, where building cities was difficult; at most, they had fortified villages and walls for defense.
The northwest had many small nations and tribes. Tribes were constantly migrating, while small nations had cities.
Hundreds of years ago, the Shen family was a tribe, often migrating. Later, the Shen family ancestors occupied the mining areas and built fortified villages.
Such villages could garrison a few thousand soldiers at most, primarily for defense. Moreover, mining was a technical skill—where to mine, how to mine, and how to ensure the fewest deaths in the mining areas—these were the results of generations of Shen family research and were naturally top secret.
For the northwestern tribes, human lives were far more important than money. Without sufficient military protection, possessing wealth was a crime. Occupying mining areas was far less efficient than simply plundering.
The Shen family owned eighteen mines, each garrisoned with thousands of soldiers. The surrounding tribes and small nations, individually, found it difficult to take a bite out of the Shen family.
But they often united, forming armies of tens of thousands, to raid the mining areas for goods.
Whenever this happened, the Shen family would order a retreat, hiding in the mines or elsewhere, allowing the allied forces to take whatever they wished. They would reoccupy after the forces left.
After all, most of the mined goods were transported to the Western Sea. There wasn’t much left in the mining areas. By the time the Shen family mobilized its army, the allied forces couldn’t hold the mining areas.
The tribal allied forces used primitive mining methods, which would only lead to internal strife in the long run. They could only leave with the existing resources and couldn’t directly occupy the mining areas.
It wasn’t that no one tried to intercept the Shen family’s transport teams, but the routes and personnel lists were top secret, and the escorts were top-tier experts. Without knowing the routes, trying to mobilize an army to plunder was pure fantasy.
As for the Western Sea, it wasn’t solely controlled by one power. Southern Qin and Northern Qi each occupied a section, serving as their military garrisons and agricultural settlements. Further west were various tribes, among which the largest tribe used to be the Shen family.
The Shen family’s attempts to build cities over generations had been consistently destroyed. Now, the main Shen family branch resided in a dilapidated, small, and broken city. It could withstand minor tribal cavalry attacks but absolutely couldn’t resist the powerful armies of Southern Qin and Northern Qi.
Fortunately, Southern Qin and Northern Qi balanced each other. Whoever wanted to send troops to occupy the mining areas or even the entire northwest had to consider whether the other side would agree. Thus, the Shen family’s dilapidated city managed to survive in the cracks.
Small tribes couldn’t defeat them, and large nations had many considerations, which allowed the Shen family to survive until now.
But neither Southern Qin nor Northern Qi, nor the small tribes, would allow the Shen family to build cities.
Previously, they could tear off a piece of the Shen family. But once the Shen family had a city, they would probably only get scraps. When the Shen family grew stronger, they might not even get scraps.
From being a tribe to building cities, the Shen family might eventually become an independent nation.
By then, it would be too late to sanction the Shen family.
Not just the Shen family, but the entire northwest. Southern Qin and Northern Qi would never sit by and watch the northwest unify.
Shen Liunian had wanted to find a sanctuary for the Shen family since childhood. Since building her own city wasn’t feasible, she would seize one. Whoever wouldn’t let them build, she would seize from them.
Yun Chenghuai’s fiefdom was in Xiangzhou, which was a good place.
If she had Xiangzhou, she could unify the northwest, which was why she cautiously brought it up.
Faced with Shen Liunian’s question, Yun Chenghuai was momentarily stunned. She hadn’t yet grasped the self-awareness of being a Princess. She hadn’t considered that a fiefdom could be given away.
Southern Qin vassal princes held military power and the authority to dispatch and command troops within their fiefdoms. They could freely appoint officials in their fiefdoms and also had economic power, such as minting their own coins and collecting taxes.
Fifty percent of the annual tax revenue went to the capital, and coin minting had quantity restrictions. Additionally, they had to support officials and soldiers, leaving almost no surplus money each year.
The original owner knew these things, but she just knew them; she didn’t delve into the financial details. Yun Chenghuai had only recently figured out a bit after much analysis.
However, there was one point: Xiangzhou was too far from the Western Sea. Crossing the river led to Northern Qi, and to its sides were Southern Qin. Even if she acquired it, she might not be able to hold it.
Yun Chenghuai voiced her confusion. “Even if the Shen family had Xiangzhou, I’m afraid they couldn’t hold it.”
Shen Liunian raised an eyebrow, surprised she thought of that, but it was far more complex.
Shen Liunian casually replied, “You have a point.”
In truth, even if she hadn’t asked and had agreed directly, Shen Liunian wouldn’t have trusted her.
“So what I want is control of the Xiangzhou army.”
Controlling an army only required two things: having your own trusted generals and making sure the soldiers knew who was paying them.
The Shen family lacked neither generals nor money.
There were some things Shen Liunian wouldn’t tell Yun Chenghuai. They could cooperate, but they were also adversaries.
Yun Chenghuai decisively nodded. “As long as you cooperate with me, from now on, whether it’s Princess Chuxiang Manor or Xiangzhou, everything will be at your sole discretion.”
Shen Liunian never believed in promises. Yun Chenghuai said this merely to increase the credibility of their cooperation.
To make Dog Yun trust her and believe she wasn’t being perfunctory.
Anyway, once she found her escape route, today’s promises would all be null and void. Dog Yun probably thought the same.
Regardless, a temporary cooperation was acceptable; it was a way to stabilize Dog Yun and prevent her from causing trouble.
“Is that so?” Shen Liunian lowered her eyes and chuckled softly. “Then tell me, what are your plans?”
Plans? Yun Chenghuai’s original plan was to cooperate with Shen Liunian. She hadn’t yet had time to think about what to do after a successful collaboration.
She hadn’t expected Shen Liunian to consider her untrustworthy.
“I’ll listen to Madam’s every command.” Her sincere eyes looked utterly foolish.
Dog Yun was an idiot, the kind of idiot who thought she was clever, with calculations plainly visible in her eyes.
The current Dog Yun, her eyes held a simple stupidity, like a large dog?
Shen Liunian prepared to get off the chaise lounge, the pain in her knee making her frown.
Yun Chenghuai immediately stepped forward, and with brute force, picked her up.
Shen Liunian: “?”
“What are you doing?” Shen Liunian raised her hand to hit her, but didn’t put much force into it and accidentally misaimed, hitting her ear.
“Aren’t you going to sleep? I’ll carry you to bed.”
Yun Chenghuai felt the warmth on her ear, a tiny bit wronged. She was being kind.
Shen Liunian clenched her fist, endured for a while, then slowly released it. This was the second time Yun Chenghuai had carried her.
Considering they were about to form a collaboration, she would let it slide this time.
Dog Yun always had a bad temper, and her objective hadn’t been achieved yet.
Yun Chenghuai lowered her head in confusion. Seeing Shen Liunian looking down without looking at her, she knew the other had no intention of blaming her, so she quickly walked towards the bed and then, as if dropping a hot potato, quickly put her onto the bed.
Of course, she considered Shen Liunian’s pregnancy, so even though it was a “drop,” her movements were still gentle.
She knelt on the couch beneath the bed, casually straightened the bedding, and crawled right in.
The quilt was cold, and it took her a while to feel warm.
She was sleeping under the bed and didn’t notice Shen Liunian’s expression on the bed.
Shen Liunian was startled by her gentle movements and rough demeanor. After a moment of reaction, she looked down at the bed.
Yun Chenghuai was tightly wrapped up, only her head showing. She looked somewhat cute.
Feeling Shen Liunian’s gaze, she slowly shifted her eyes upwards, finding the other looking at her. “What’s wrong?”
“Did I agree to cooperate with you?” Shen Liunian asked coldly.
Yun Chenghuai thought back. No, it seemed she hadn’t. Shen Liunian had asked her a few questions but hadn’t given her a clear answer.
She smiled awkwardly, then obediently asked, “Then, Madam, will you cooperate with me?”
“Cooperation is possible, but first, hand over your manor guards to me.” Shen Liunian put her feet into the quilt, finding it too warm, so she took out the hot water bottle inside and gestured for Yun Chenghuai to put it aside.
Yun Chenghuai: “?” Why don’t I have one? My bed was so cold because there was no hot water bottle.
Nan Ling had made the bed and placed a hot water bottle in Shen Liunian’s quilt, but not in hers.
If Shen Liunian hadn’t forbidden Xiao Bei from entering the room, she wouldn’t have been treated differently.
Shen Liunian was speechless for a moment. Was the hot water bottle more important, or the conversation they were about to have?
Yun Chenghuai’s thoughts briefly wandered, then quickly returned. “Okay, I’ll give you the token to command the manor guards tomorrow.”
“Not only that, tomorrow I have someone you need to place among the manor guards, starting as a Centurion.”
A Centurion was a sixth-rank official. Yun Chenghuai had no real power, so arranging a sixth-rank official outside was difficult, but arranging a Centurion among her own manor guards was easy.
Shen Liunian’s meaning was clear: cooperation was possible, but she needed to see sincerity first.
Yun Chenghuai agreed without hesitation. “Okay.”
Princess Chuxiang Manor’s guards had long been infiltrated. She was already vexed about how to remove the internal spies. Since Shen Liunian was arranging people, she just needed to cooperate.
She could copy the list that An Yuan had investigated and give it to Shen Liunian.
She had her own personal guard unit; these manor guards were just for defending the manor, not for rebellion or anything. They weren’t as useful as the personal guards. If Shen Liunian wanted them, she could have them.
She agreed too quickly, without any consideration, clearly acting as if whatever Madam said, went.
Shen Liunian fell silent, hesitating about Yun Chenghuai’s attitude.
Her opinion of Yun Chenghuai had never changed. The things Dog Yun had done, every single one of them, was enough to kill someone.
Now, it was merely feigning compliance, slowly taking control of the manor’s power step by step. Once her goal was achieved, she would not spare Yun Chenghuai.
In Shen Liunian’s eyes, Yun Chenghuai was a dead person. As long as she didn’t cross the line, she could temporarily spare Dog Yun’s life.