Chapter 509 – Pre-Election Rumble (3)
Zhuge Liang: "I need Ma Chao's help. Do you think you can persuade him to our side?"
While others were conspiring with each other, Zhuge Liang was not idle. He also sent private messages to many people, including Li Feihong.
Li Feihong: "Don't be ridiculous. Zhang He killed his father. Then, I killed Pang Tong and Zhang Fei. That guy hates us to the guts. Keeping him in jail is already pushing it."
Zhuge Liang: "I see. How about this? Can you escort me to see him after this mess? I'm bored of this farce."
Li Feihong: "You don't care at all about who is going to be your new boss, do you?"
Zhuge Liang: "Isn't the new emperor decided? Cao Cao is leading them by the nose to that extend. I'll be surprised if Zhang Guo or Zhang Yi is not the next emperor."
Li Feihong: "You think? I'm sure everybody here is speculating Sun Quan since Cao Cao is hinting it."
Zhuge Liang: "Not possible. Sun Quan won't take the bait. Unless we are doing nothing, Sun Quan will be the new emperor."
Li Feihong: "You know that your words are contradicting, right?"
Zhuge Liang: "I never contradict. I'm merely stating the fact. Back to the topic, will you guide me to Ma Chao or not? If so, please make sure nobody sees us. Thank you kindly."
Li Feihong: "Is this Sun Quan thingy relates to Ma Chao?"
Zhuge Liang: "Not directly. Answer my question, will you? Yes or no?"
Li Feihong: "Fine. But you have to tell me what you're scheming in full. I don't like secrets."
Zhuge Liang: "Will do that later. Please be patient."
Li Feihong: "…"
After Zhuge Liang arranged a meeting with Li Feihong, he closed the chat window and opened a new one. This time, he sent messages to Sima Yi.
Zhuge Liang: "Yo, buddy. Do you still want Sun Quan and his family dead?"
Sima Yi: "No comment."
Zhuge Liang: "Are you sure? I'm willing to help, ya know?"
Sima Yi: "Dafuq? What do you want?"
Zhuge Liang: "Now, you're acting stupid. Reread my messages above, dummy."
Sima Yi: "I can read, but I know that it isn't your true goal. What the fuck do you want?"
Kongming snickered as Sima Yi was as sharp as ever. The latter saw through his intention and forced him to reveal his motive right away.
Zhuge Liang: "Let's trade. I want Te Langpu dead, but I'll give you Sun Quan."
Sima Yi: "Why do you think that I can help you? Te Langpu has nothing to do with me."
Zhuge Liang: "You sure? If so, I'll go find another guy. I'm sure Guo Jia or Cao Cao won't hesitate to accept my deal."
Sima Yi: "Stop, you prick! Fine! Tell me the details!"
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The meeting concluded at 11PM as Liu Xie adjourned the meeting in exhaustion, tiring from yelling.
All participants left the building in a similar condition, cracked voice and sore throat. No one was energetic or happy after the meeting but one person, Te Langpu.
In the end, Te Langpu managed to promote himself as the new Federal Election Commission's chief chairman. Within three months, he needed to finish the entire details and election regulations, including managing the event.
Although it was a tough job in this world, Te Langpu was still cheerful. After all this time, the absolute authority fell into his hands. He was now the kingmaker, who could create any rule that would influence the outcome of this election now.
'Hehehe! Let's see. I can just give the majority of voter rights to Sun Quan's men and be done with it, but it will arouse suspicion. Counterfeit votes shouldn't be possible here either since everyone and their grandmothers have sixth senses now. Eh, I can just use the good old pay-to-vote trick, scandals, or external influence like the old world. Just you watch. I'll make capitalism great again!'
Even after the meeting had ended, the private messages did not stop. This time, it was another private group, in which only 3 members were in the chat.
Guo Jia: "Can we talk?"
There was a limit on how Te Langpu could tolerate. Overworking wasn't one of those.
Te Langpu: "How about – Can I rest? You motherfuckers overworked me!"
Cao Cao: "Unfortunately, not yet. Something urgent has just come up."
Te Langpu: "What is it now?"
Guo Jia: "We've found that Sun Quan, Sima Yi, Li Feihong, Liu Xie, Lu Zhi, and Zhuge Liang also used private chat during the meeting. We're not the only one scheming, so our plan can fail if they interfere."
Te Langpu: "No shit, Sherlock! Did you think you guys are the only ones with a private messenger feature? News Flash! Every motherfucker in the main clan can use it!"
Guo Jia: "Please be civil, Prime Minister. How about this? We are planning to abolish Zhang Tong's No-Private-Army laws, but we won't get rid of them completely. Instead, we will leave some rooms for only nobles and generals from our sides. We will give you some privileges after the election end. Can we get your attention now?"
Te Langpu: "You should have said that earlier. Well, what is it?"
Guo Jia: "Our agents managed to contact Cao Xing and Cao Qinghe in the inner palace. We've got a piece of interesting information from the harem."
The strategist continued to explain.
All these years, Ye City's inner palace had been quiet and peaceful since all concubines behave under the absolute political dominance of Diaochan and Dong Bai.
However, one more powerhouse emerged while the latter two were busy cultivating. Wang Yi revealed herself as a cultivator with 7 wings. The sixth princess, Wang Yi's sole daughter, also showed her innate talent, displaying her mixed 4 wings to everyone in the palace.
By increasing one 6-wing or 7-wing immortal, it changed the landscape of all factions. As long as Wang Yi joined any faction, the tip of balance might change.
Currently, Tong's supporter factions, Lu Zhi's faction, Zhang Jiao's Yellow Turban, Hua Tuo's physicians, Liu Xie and his two brothers' loyalists, and Li Feihong's Monster Legion were dominating over other clans and families.
This was where things were strange to Guo Jia and Cao Cao.
First, Tong's supporters did not bother communicating with Wang Yi or meeting with her in private.
Secondly, despite her power and influence, Wang Yi did not show interest in the power struggling behind the court. Instead, she acted docile, following Diaochan's orders obediently.
And lastly, Tong or his supporters never invited her to the main clan!
Te Langpu: "Doesn't Zhang Tong want to keep his family away from politics? Remember Zhang Min? She has 6 demon wings, but none of them invite her here."
Cao Cao: "That's what we thought about it at first, but I change my mind. This afternoon, I slipped out of the meeting and met Wei Yan."
Te Langpu: "Isn't that guy from the White Horse Legion of Sima Yi?"
Cao Cao: "Yes. Here's the interesting part. He's not happy with Sima Yi since they are love-rival. He is willing to cooperate, but he wants us to help him get rid of Sima Yi."
Te Langpu: "Lame."
Cao Cao: "There's more. He has been exchanging letters with Zhang Min, and he knows a bit of insider info. He knows why Wang Yi is like that."
Cao Cao: "News Flash again, Zhang Min slipped info to Wei Yan by accident that Wang Yi is also an otherworlder! That consort is Tong's sex slave through and thorough, so it's impossible for anyone to bright her to their sides!"
Te Langpu: "I still see no point in this."
Cao Cao: "Wow. You're an idiot. Don't you get it? Since Wang Yi can't be moved by trickery, bribery, or persuasion, what do you think will happen if someone shows up on her door and want her to betray Zhang Tong?"
Te Langpu: "Obviously, she's gonna kill that fool."
Te Langpu: "Wait."
Cao Cao: "Hahaha! Now, you get the picture! We can use her!"
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The next day
The inner palace where men could not enter without permission, a legal loli, who had a middle-schooler appearance despite being in her late 20s, was playing with her 7-year-old daughter.
Wang Yi, aka Liu Yang, was enjoying her slow-life. She had forgotten about her duties and Athena's mission as she was too happy living a normal life with her daughter.
This was her first time having a warm family, not being tainted by political struggle or façade.
The 7-year-old daughter, Zhang Ying, was unlike her mother. She had a tall stature, which was taller than children of her age. With her height and slim constitution, Zhang Ying could be misunderstood as Wang Yi's little sister from the onlooker's perspective.
"Is sister Min coming today? Can we play flying tag again?"
After the raid incident, Zhang Min moved back to Ye City and lived with Diaochan. After her soul had partly recovered, Zhang Min visited Tong's other concubines to kill time and got acquainted with Wang Yi's family.
Zhang Min, Zhang Ying, and other princesses became friends and usually played together, except for Sun Shangxiang, who was always busy practicing her martial arts or cultivating.
However, Zhang Min had been shutting herself indoor during the past few months. Aside from Diaochan and Wang Yi, no one knew about her condition.
The only thing everyone heard about Zhang Min was – She became a bit chubby.
"I'm sorry, Ying'er. She is going to be busy for a few years. She will play with you again after she has finished her job."
"Boo! I'm bored! I want to fly! I want to play flying tag again! Mom, play with me!"
"Okay, okay. I'll be it, and I'll count to five. Are you ready?"
"YAY!!"
Zhang Ying shuttled to the sky as fast as she could. Within a few seconds, she left the inner palace fly space and got to the government building area.
Wang Yi shook her head and sighed. She spread her wings and stretched them to warm up.
Behind her back, 8 white tentacle wings stretched as if they just woke up from a good nap.
'Whoops. I'm supposed to hide my cultivation.'
Wang Yi hid a pair of her white wings, leaving out only 6.
Similar to others, Liu Yang also broke through and regained her 8 wings about the same time that Medusa got her cultivation back. Despite that, she remained in the harem and waited to confront her former nemesis.
Still, both of them had not met each other face-to-face yet as Diaochan avoided her, continuing cultivating to get more wings.
'Haiz. I'm tired. I want to apologize to her. She should have found my identity once she got her 8th wing already but why is she avoiding me?'
Liu Yang, too, had a change of heart after she had given birth to Tong's daughter. Now, she only sought peace, so her daughter could live free in this troubled time.
Also, she missed the hot nights with Tong. She was willing to abandon her pride, missions, or duties for the sake of obtaining Tong's love.
Love was strange. It could change a person.
*Whoosh*
Liu Yang took flight and chased after her daughter. Everything was calm until a system message flashed in front of her face.
<[yes] no]="">></[yes]>
For the first time, someone attempted to recruit Liu Yang into the clan chat.
"Dafuq is this? Is this Lilim's prank again?"
Without hesitation, she pressed [No].
<[yes] no]="">></[yes]>
"…"
Again, Liu Yang pressed [No]. She realized what it was now as she had seen many festivals with this similar feature.
Liu Yang could not accept this invitation since it would reveal her true name to the other clan members, exposing her identity as the false Wang Yi. As for the real Wang Yi, the true historical figure, she should still be living in Liang Province.
<[yes] no]="">></[yes]>
"…"
Now, the third attempt got on her nerve. Still, she was smart enough to minimize the semi-transparent menu and flew after her daughter, ignoring the invitation.
However, she did not forget the names of the inviters.
'Sima Yi and Wei Yan. Those fuckers! Once I'm free, I'll teach those morons a lesson!'
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= Meanwhile =
Sima Yi: "Why doesn't she accept our invitation?"
Wei Yan: "She might be confused or she's too busy playing with her daughter."
Sima Yi: "Forget it. I have another idea."
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Sima Yi: "Can you spare a bit of your time?"
Xu Chu: "Yes?"
