Pan Furong was overjoyed to see how tactful Lu Ye was.
"Hey, Groom, once I become Emperor, I will reward you by making you a Great General, and I absolutely will not interfere with your marriage."
"You can marry whoever you want, and no one will be able to stop you."
Lu Ye hastily thanked her, though he didn't know where to begin complaining in his heart.
Miss, with only your half-squad of men, how do you expect to become Emperor?
Unless an Immortal helped you—but unfortunately, for the past year, Lu Ye had never again seen those miraculous beings like that Daoist Priest, whose vitality was so powerful it didn't seem human, and who could maintain their youthful appearance.
The story of Water Margin was originally something he had told Wang Hu out of boredom while lying in bed recovering from his first serious injury.
He didn't know how the Miss had managed to overhear a few parts of it.
So, having no entertainment in the Central Army camp, Pan Furong had asked him to tell a few stories on a whim.
Lu Ye, figuring the Miss had reached the age of romantic longing, first told the story of the delicate Lin Daiyu.
The Miss was furious—what kind of Miss can't ride a horse, can't drink, and can't wield a saber to cut off eight or ten heads?
In the Refugee Army, which Rebel King's daughter was like that?
Consequently, Lu Ye was kicked out of the tent, and the next day, after he was sent to the battlefield with a saber, he ended up with broken limbs.
Once Lu Ye recovered, he told the story of the Monkey King going to the Western Heaven to fetch the scriptures.
The Miss was angry again—this monkey was a Rebel King himself, how could he accept the government's amnesty?
Lu Ye was kicked out again, and this time on the battlefield, his chest cavity was struck by a Giant Rock, nearly costing him his life on the spot.
After he recovered, he didn't dare tell stories of romance or Immortals, so he kept it grounded and switched to stories of hegemony.
When he spoke of the story of Lu Bu among men and Red Hare among horses, the Miss was furious once more—how could the number one in the world be a little figure who was a servant to three masters?
Lu Ye left in shame, went to the battlefield, and suffered minor injuries. Wang Hu, valuing loyalty, insisted on carrying his brother back, only to encounter a rain of arrows from the enemy.
Wang Hu didn't suffer a single scratch, while Lu Ye was shot until he looked like a Hedgehog.
Of course, in the previous battles, let alone him, even the Miss and Chuang Potian were charging at the front with their sabers.
This was because Chuang Potian's team had been having Bad Luck and kept losing.
Once he recovered again, he learned from his mistakes and decided to unleash a Killing Move.
Don't like delicate Misses? Don't like being offered amnesty? Must the number one in the world be a man of loyalty?
Lu Ye let himself go for the sake of his life.
Think of it as a custom-made manuscript; other patrons bet money, but this patron, the Miss, bets lives!
It is impossible for the heroes of Water Margin to accept amnesty; they would definitely pull the Emperor off his horse and change the dynasty.
The women in the story must all be beautiful women who can drink and wield sabers.
Like Madam Lin uprooting a willow tree, or Jinlian killing Ximen Qing with three punches...
Yi Zhang Qing is the only one on Liangshan, cutting down Wang Ying and killing Gao Qiu, and is known alongside the Master of Liangshan Marsh, Song Jiang, as the Twin Heroes of Liangshan!
Indeed, it won the Miss's approval. Since the situation of the Refugee Army had improved and was not so urgent, and seeing that Lu Ye was truly unlucky and got injured every time he went to the battlefield, she decided to promote him to a Groom.
Only then did Lu Ye have the chance to steal food from the horses and feed Wang Hu, that big eater. The two brothers ate their fill of horse feed, which allowed them to recover their vitality and Martial Arts.
It could be said that he defied fate entirely through storytelling.
Now, adding scenes for Yi Zhang Qing on the fly was not too simple for Lu Ye!
He was pondering how to change the theme of the story, making Yi Zhang Qing into an Empress, and wondering if an Empress should have a harem of seventy-two men...
Pan Furong suddenly spoke at this moment.
"Groom, I see that your Martial Arts have matured today, and you are quite skilled with the Saber and Spear."
"Though you can't compare to your brother Wang Hu, you are no longer a mediocre hand on the battlefield."
"Didn't you want to be my Great General? Do you dare to go to the battlefield?"
Lu Ye complained in his heart, wasn't that a reward you promised me, how did it become something I wanted to do myself?
However, he knew he had no choice.
"If the Miss becomes Emperor, I naturally want to be a Great General."
Pan Furong was overjoyed.
"Good, you don't have to be a Groom anymore; go be a Squad Leader for this unit... Wang Hu doesn't have to be Cavalry for now either; keep him as your deputy."
"Tomorrow we attack the city; you two lead the infantry and the servants to charge, and I will provide cover for you!"
Lu Ye felt a stampede of ten thousand horses in his heart, but he could only thank her; he had no leverage to bargain yet.
Even if the Miss liked listening to stories, it was just a leisure hobby. The friendliness and care she showed Lu Ye because of this could not escape the old trope of a kind-hearted feudal mistress and a loyal servant.
In the Miss's eyes, he and Wang Hu were just loyal household slaves.
Lu Ye had a sober understanding of this and never held any rosy illusions.
That was why, in the eyes of the narrow-minded Qin Tong, he wasn't even worth remembering by name, let alone being targeted.
To change his status, he would have to continuously improve his Martial Dao until he reached a level where even the Miss would have to look up to him.
Lu Ye knew the Miss was in a good mood, so he boldly asked.
"Miss, why did you decide to go to the battlefield again?"
Pan Furong sighed, rolled her eyes, and said.
"The Great King personally came to talk to me, and he promised that as long as I go to the battlefield this time."
"He will give me priority in replenishing my Men and Horses. Once the city is broken, I can choose as many strong men and weapons as I can handle."
Actually, there was another reason she didn't say out loud: Chuang Potian said that since his niece and his nephew Qin Tong had no chemistry, he would definitely restrain that brat from harassing her again in the future.
Pan Furong had already calculated it in her heart.
Chuang Potian had come personally and offered very good conditions; if she refused again, it wouldn't look good for anyone.
Anyway, it was just a matter of sending people; she could just grab some servants and drive them to the city wall to report for duty.
But the benefits gained were significant. First, she could replenish her strong men and weapons, and after some good training, she would have a whole new unit.
Secondly, Qin Tong was pursuing her, but behind him stood Chuang Potian; if she could sever their thoughts of marriage, that would naturally be a good thing.
Pan Furong tapped Lu Ye's head with her Horse whip and laughed.
"Groom, be clever when you go to the battlefield tomorrow."
"Just lead the men to charge a few times; keep an eye on Wang Hu. You two don't have to be the ones to reach the city wall first."
"You know, your battle tomorrow isn't for Yi Zhang Qing; just report for duty in front of Song Jiang, don't try too hard."
Lu Ye understood in a second and said in a low voice.
"Miss, rest assured, I understand. May I boldly ask one more thing?"
"You mentioned before that there are cultivation methods in the army that consume Vital Essence and shorten one's Lifespan to boost vitality."
"I wonder if you could bestow such a cultivation method upon me? Otherwise, my Strength is low, and I fear I will lose face for you on the battlefield."
His words were half-true and half-false. It was too slow to break through to become a Bronze Skin Warrior in five years; he couldn't wait, so he wanted to use his Divine Ability to take a shortcut and conduct an experiment.
If he consumed the potential of this body, his Vital Essence, or even his Lifespan in advance, once his cultivation improved, would changing to a new body's Root Bone offset the negative state of the body?
Would the Fish Dragon Diagram treat this kind of "Demonic Cultivation Technique" as a type of "injury" and heal it during the process of shedding the mortal body and exchanging the essence?
Even if the experiment failed and this path didn't work, Lu Ye was willing to take the risk.
After all, a Minor Martial Disciple, no matter how strong among ordinary people, was just a slightly stronger Ant. He was too weak; any expert in Martial Dao could crush him to death.
Trading his potential future Lifespan for a chance to survive his precarious situation today was worth it.
In the future, even if the Fish Dragon Diagram couldn't remove the negative state, perhaps the Immortal Path, which is like a dragon seen head not seen tail, could fix it?
And the first thing he had to do was to make himself strong and survive in this Chaotic World until he could ask the Immortals about the Dao.
Pan Furong looked at Lu Ye with surprise.
"Are you tired of living! That kind of cultivation method, although it progresses extremely fast, makes everyone who practices it short-lived..."
"Don't mention it again. Cultivation requires solid, hard work; where would there be so many shortcuts!"
"Just wait for tomorrow's battle!"
She flicked her Horse whip, rode off, and her silver-bell-like laughter echoed in mid-air.
"If you practice yourself to death, who will tell me the story of Yi Zhang Qing?"
Lu Ye's face was full of helplessness.
The next day.
The sound of horns rang out.
Inside and outside the city wall, everything immediately began boiling.
The gates of several refugee camps were thrown wide open.
Rows of soldiers marched out, along with their servants, almost filling the Open Ground under the four city walls.
At a glance, it looked like many dark trees had grown from the flat ground, as if an endless forest was surrounding and encircling the city wall.
On the city wall, the Government Soldiers and the young and strong men of the city all climbed up, gripping their Weapons tightly.
On the Battlefield, one could only hear the clashing of Armor and Weapons and the neighing of Horses and Mules; apart from that, everyone held their breathing.
Suddenly, a "Chuang" Character Flag was shaken.
"Kill!"
Ten thousand people shouted and charged toward the city wall; the sound reached the firmament, and as everyone stomped their feet, even the earth began to tremble.
✦✦✦