Chaotic World Book
Chapter 389 - 380: Master

Chapter 389: Chapter 380: Master

Zhao Changhe left the secret chamber feeling clear-headed and refreshed, and it was already midday.

Really don’t know who is supposed to be the doctor for whom...

Anyway, he intended to heal Tang Wanzhuang’s illness, but one could say he made no progress at all. The only thing he did was prevent the slight opening of the Third Secret Treasure from further deteriorating. Nothing else had changed... even this required continued treatment.

However, Tang Wanzhuang not only thoroughly healed his external wounds, but the last finger pressing he received before she fell asleep was filled with some gentle moisturizing technique. He woke up today feeling exceptionally spirited.

He found himself new clothes from a ring and left the house feeling comfortable and at ease. Outside, there was nobody.

Zhao Changhe strolled around and found the Great Zhou with a gloomy expression, sitting in the duck shop watching the workers, his expression so lost it was hard to know where his thoughts were drifting.

Zhao Changhe approached him and waved his hand, "Brother Zhou, making ducks?"

Great Zhou responded offhandedly, "Yeah, just like you."

Zhao Changhe: "?"

Suddenly, as if waking from a dream, Great Zhou quickly pulled Zhao Changhe aside, "Mr. Zhao, you’ve finally come out..."

"What happened?"

"Yesterday, in your impulsiveness, you killed Lv Shiheng, almost causing a mutiny among the Xiangyang troops. It was only with Chief Tang, and three Princes from the Yang Family overseeing, capturing the leader, and Yang Family’s private troops suppressing them, that the situation was temporarily stabilized."

"..." Zhao Changhe looked at Great Zhou in front of him, his eyes blurry, his mind unable to straighten out his thoughts for a moment, what’s this got to do with me again?

"Lu Shiheng had operated in Xiangyang for many years and had countless loyalists in the army. Yesterday was a moment of leaderlessness that we temporarily managed to control, who knows what chaos might be stirred up overnight. It would be appropriate to make preparations early."

So that’s how it is... Zhao Changhe scratched his head, "Why are you telling me this?"

"?" Great Zhou expressionlessly said, "Chief Tang ordered, you are fully responsible for the affairs in Xiangyang."

Zhao Changhe opened his mouth, then closed it again.

Showing off feels good for a moment, but getting down to work, not so much, especially when it’s a specific task that one has never dealt with before.

Bravado is fine, "Leave it to me," but what can you actually do when you’ve never handled the specifics?

He rubbed his head agonizingly and finally said, "Your Secret Investigation Bureau..."

Great Zhou knew what he wanted to say and interrupted, "The Secret Investigation Bureau already doesn’t have many hands to spare, we aren’t like the ancient factory guards that could monitor everyone, it’s unlikely for the Secret Investigation Bureau to control this. Our current manpower is mainly used internally—investigating and interrogating the people from the Demon Suppression Department in Xiangyang, Si’an is currently assessing one by one, determining who had defected."

Oh, there’s also the defection within the Demon Suppression Department...

Zhao Changhe had no choice but to ask, "Where are Sect Hierarch Xue and the Blood God Sect followers?"

"They are still outside hunting down the defeated Maitreya troops." As Great Zhou said this, he also felt a bit dreadful inside, never seen an an endless chase that lasted day and night, don’t you guys need to rest...

Seems like they really don’t need it, these people spread out are each a martial arts master doing their own thing.

Zhao Changhe’s headache worsened, "Pass an order from me, tell them to come back... if we’re worried about the Xiangyang troops causing trouble, we must have our own troops nearby to keep them in check, then screen through them level by level."

Great Zhou hesitated a bit, "Pass an order... Are the Blood God Sect really going to obey? What we fear is the Blood God Sect entering the city, they’d be even more troublesome than Lv Shiheng’s troops."

Zhao Changhe sighed, "Okay, just trust them this time."

Great Zhou’s expression shifted slightly, scrutinizing Zhao Changhe for a long while, inwardly musing if according to the chief’s past hints, this Prince is one that she supported, that is to say, this is a prince who has his own military base, which is somewhat...

Come to think of it, Chief, didn’t you really hate being the Crown Princess Consort? What are you doing now?

After thinking it over, Great Zhou asked again, "Xiangyang’s finances and grains aren’t abundant, Mr. Zhao, do you have any ideas?"

"Finances and grains... how much is left?"

"We need to take an inventory, but obviously, it’s not much. Lu Shiheng previously raised the City Entrance Tax to a taels... By the way, should we implement that?"

"..."

"Also, spring plowing was delayed. Do we need to return the fields to the people?"

"..."

"And about the Xiangyang officials..."

"Stop, stop, stop..." Zhao Changhe’s head felt like it split into three, "I - wait - slowly kink out... let me think for a moment..."

Great Zhou looked at him sideways, "Don’t worry, we wouldn’t ask too many things of a rookie... oh, there is one more thing, I just sent for some famous doctors, would you like to meet them?"

With his head a mess, Zhao Changhe headed to the living room. As soon as he entered, his headache multiplied threefold.

The famous doctors were in the hall, arguing fiercely, each refuting the other’s medical theories, spitting flying, their voices shaking the tiles.

Zhao Changhe watched Great Zhou silently, Great Zhou covering his sleeves, "We just gave them a topic, about what they think of the lung meridian damage, and then it turned into this, they’ve been arguing for two hours now, truly worthy of the name famous doctors, such strong vital energy."

"Are they really all famous doctors?"

"Every one of them."

Zhao Changhe sniffled and finally asked Great Zhou one more question, "Where is Wanzhuang, I need to see Wanzhuang."

"The Chief is out shopping." Great Zhou revealed his trump card, "I also think we should call her back."

"I’ll go look for her, go check out..." Zhao Changhe left the duck shop in a miserable state, almost like fleeing.

The Crown Prince connected to "I am here" in governing Xiangyang just declared his show-off a failure.

In fact, Tang Wanjuang’s shopping trip was not that successful.

Xiangyang was in chaos, and any slightly sensitive merchants were closing their doors. How many were actually open for business? Let alone street vendors. Walking on the street, everything looked desolate, with few pedestrians around. Those who did go out hurried along, showing none of the vibe of a famous large city.

Naturally, in such chaotic times, there were all sorts of messy incidents. Some idle hooligans even tried to harass her, which she didn’t really handle herself but left to the quietly trailing Secret Agents from the Demon Suppression Department.

Listening to the screams and pleas for mercy behind her, Tang Wanjuang sighed deeply.

The order in turbulent times was far worse than before, and even the Capital and Gusu were not much better, let alone Xiangyang.

What was meant to be a relaxing "slow down" only led Tang Wanjuang to feel more melancholic, and eventually, she couldn’t continue her shopping and stopped by the lakeside in the city, sitting on a stone bench by the bank.

It was spring, a time when all things should be thriving, yet it felt more desolate than late autumn.

Such is the world, how can one find peace...

For her illness, it was like a problem with no solution, for as long as she couldn’t let go of these concerns, she would never put down the military expeditions and step away from exhaustive official duties.

Someone sat down beside her.

Without turning her head, Tang Wanjuang knew who it was and sighed, "Is this what you meant by ’With you in Xiangyang’?"

Zhao Changhe said, "Well, I need to get familiar with the affairs. This is something I can learn..."

Her gloomy mood unexpectedly lightened upon hearing this, and she laughed, "Can you really learn everything?"

Zhao Changhe sighed, "Honestly, this is something I don’t really want to learn."

Tang Wanjuang’s eyes gleamed playfully, "But I especially want to teach you these."

Zhao Changhe asked, "Is this the real reason you ran out to shop?"

Tang Wanjuang smiled, her eyes crinkling, "How about it? Holding great power, deciding life and death, is it comfortable?"

"...That’s useless. The only good thing about power is having a large harem."

Tang Wanjuang’s smile faded.

Zhao Changhe tilted his head, "Stop playing the mentor all the time. You want to teach me this and that... I won’t call you ’Master’ anyway."

Tang Wanjuang blankly asked, "Then will you still learn medicine from me?"

Zhao Changhe replied, "I think those so-called famous doctors are unreliable. Should I consider finding the one from the Earth List, Yama’s Enemy?"

"Will he even care about you?" Tang Wanjuang rolled her eyes. "You can’t even find the guy."

"What should I do then? If I go to these quacks, I’m afraid I might actually kill someone."

"I’ll teach you," Tang Wanjuang declared assertively.

Zhao Changhe was stunned, "You can teach this too?"

"Of course, long illness makes the doctor; plus, I’m smart," Tang Wanjuang smiled mischievously. "My medical skills are actually better than most of those so-called famous doctors."

"Didn’t you mention this yesterday?"

"I also think you have a point. I should slack off a bit... Besides, it was you who was supposed to cure me, yet now I’m teaching you how to do it. No matter how I think about it, it seems very strange," Tang Wanjuang sighed. "Not mentioning those now, will you learn or not?"

Zhao Changhe hesitated for a long time, "I’ll learn."

Tang Wanjuang looked afar, "Let me hear you call me ’Master.’"

"You, I’m trying to save your life, yet you use this to threaten me?"

"How is that a threat? Studying martial arts, piano, painting, none require calling someone ’Master,’ and now you’re studying medicine and still refuse? Ask around anywhere if that makes any sense."

Zhao Changhe looked at her sideways with annoyance and finally said, "Don’t regret it."

"Why would I regret it?" Tang Wanjuang beamed smugly. I’m not such a huge fool teaching so many things without even a proper title, still getting teased.

Might as well make this guy properly call me ’Master.’

"Alright," Zhao Changhe solemnly bowed, "Master."

Tang Wanjuang smiled like a crescent moon, "Good."

Zhao Changhe said, "Master, your disciple has important matters to report."

Tang Wanjuang cleared her throat, affecting a composed demeanor, "Speak."

"The power from your Third Secret Treasure still hasn’t completely sealed off, and it’s still rushing through your lung meridian. It’s best to treat it daily, let’s start with that now since it’s already noon."

Tang Wanjuang hadn’t quite understood at first, "Ah... then let’s treat it..."

She suddenly realized midway through speaking, Treat, how?

Kissing again?

You call me ’Master’ while thinking about this?

"Bang!" The distant Secret Agents heard a scream followed by the sound of someone falling into the water.

The usually graceful leader stormed back, lifting her skirts in a huff, "Don’t fish him out! Never seen such a rebellious villain, damn nitwit!"