Chapter 578 - Couple?
While Bai Zemin and Wu Yijun were talking about important matters regarding the big mobilization of the base that would be taking place tomorrow, two maidens led by Qin Ming herself arrived in the living room and soundlessly arranged different dishes with sweet cakes, savory desserts, cookies, miniature pancakes, etc. After pouring three cups of tea, the women simply stepped aside and stood silently like statues waiting for any kind of order to be carried out as quickly as possible.
Instead of always getting new maids, Bai Zemin kept those women who worked for him from the beginning and when his villa changed he simply resettled them with him. However, it was not as if Bai Zemin wanted to have countless villas throughout China; in the early stages of forming a faction it was best to keep each part of his power together rather than split into different camps.
These maids not only enjoyed a great life which many women were envious of but they also enjoyed another privilege which in this world was incredibly valuable and crucial for survival: Information!
Such as now, for example; these women were able to listen to the highest existence and one of the most important people for the proper functioning and growth of the faction chat about topics that usually no one would have the qualifications to listen to.
Of course, the reason why these women were able to stay was because each and every one of them had been tested by the skill of the treasure called Inner Heart Mirror that Bai Zemin had obtained earlier. Each and every one of the people closest to Bai Zemin who were one Order below him had been tested by the power of the mirror among which his maidens naturally were,
Knowing that none of them had evil thoughts towards him, Bai Zemin allowed them to stay.
According to Wu Yijun, there were some minor problems during the whole preparation process as apparently more than twenty large vehicles that were crucial for transporting food and mutant beast corpses had damaged their engines.
Although this was something that Bai Zemin and everyone else expected to happen sooner or later due to the modifications and the massive weight the engines were now carrying, it happened sooner than they estimated. It was clear that it was necessary to start using other means of transportation as the vehicles would probably no longer be serviceable within 1-2 years at most.
Fortunately, Shangguan Bing Xue was fast and wise. Since it was impossible to set out to scour the district now in search of large cargo vehicles due to lack of time, she decided to sacrifice some military trucks that were meant to carry survivors to move cargo.
"And what will happen to the survivors who need the trucks?" Bai Zemin asked curiously as he sipped a sip of tea and looked at Wu Yijun waiting for her response.
Wu Yijun replied easily, "Don't worry about that. Bing Xue and Lu Xiaoyao mobilized several teams and got a large number of vans and cars. Although fuel consumption will increase by about 20%-30%, it is the only way we can manage to move this fast."
Bai Zemin gently tapped his index finger on the small glass table in front of him as he thought for a moment before nodding in agreement.
In fact, the movement was being rushed so it was only natural that some things would go wrong, and if something went wrong it was most likely that something would be lost on the way to the solution. Fuel was a precious treasure but there was no other option unless Bai Zemin was willing to delay everything; something he definitely would not do as he wanted to move south as soon as possible.
"It's fine. It's no big deal." He said calmly. "We can move those vehicles to the center part of the formation so even if they aren't properly modified to survive in the apocalypse it should be fine."
Bai Zemin and Wu Yijun discussed some more matters where she updated him on what happened during the time he was out of combat.
It was truly a fortune for him to have talents he could rely on such as Shangguan Bing Xue and Wu Yijun. It was these two women who practically kept everything in order and in proper motion, as well as his reliable troops that prevented major problems from arising due to his absence; after all, Bai Zemin had disappeared from the line of sight of everyone for about a week counting the time that the war over the bridge lasted.
"By the way, Wu Yijun. There is something important I would like to talk with you about." Bai Zemin said out of the blue shortly after everything became clear to him.
"...Yes?" Wu Yijun looked at him somewhat nervously.
Bai Zemin's expression was serious and after hesitating for a moment he said slowly while looking into her eyes, "As you well know, tomorrow we will be arriving in Changping District and it won't take us any time at all to establish a firm base considering our current strength... You know what that means, don't you?"
Wu Yijun was a very intelligent woman and her mind was quick. How could she not know what Bai Zemin was implying with his words?
She hesitated for a moment before her expression became a bit complicated as she said quietly, "I.... I naturally understand... If my father is still alive, with his power in Changping District it is highly probable that he has already established a large camp somewhere in the district."
The father of Wu Yijun was the supreme mayor of the entire Changping District, his status was countless times higher than that of the previous mayor of the Baiquan Subdistrict in which Bai Zemin's camp was currently located. With his political power, the number of armed forces her father would have on hand should be more than enough to raise a large base, and if he joined hands with the army the firepower of that base should be at least 5 or 6 times greater than the pitiful firepower that the faction of Bai Zemin possessed.
Bai Zemin put down his teacup on the table and stared at Wu Yijun. He sighed and said in a kind voice, "I promise I will be as kind as possible. I will do everything, absolutely everything within my power to make your father surrender and surrender the power of his forces. Of course, considering our friendship it goes without saying that I won't let him or anyone else close to you live a miserable life, that's a fact. However, I really see no possibility of a friendly reunion between the two sides."
Wu Yijun's shoulders slumped slightly. She also could not help but sigh as she recognized that Bai Zemin's words were very mature and realistic. It was simply a dream to think that someone who had been in power for so long would surrender his forces just like that, just because a young man her daughter's age who came literally out of nowhere was telling him to.
"How about you two pretend to be a couple?"
The voice of someone who had been enjoying a delicious apple pie broke the silence, attracting everyone's attention.
Bai Zemin and Wu Yijun froze before he looked at Lilith with weird eyes while Wu Yijun blushed furiously.
"What?" Lilith shrugged her shoulders as she licked the spoon with her nimble little tongue. She looked at Wu Yijun and said calmly, "I'm sure you thought about this too sis Yijun, didn't you?"
Bai Zemin couldn't help but have lewd thoughts as his gaze latched onto Lilith's pink little tongue and the crazy thing was that this woman clearly knew what was going through his mind as even while she was talking to Wu Yijun she smiled tantalizingly in his direction and swirled her tongue as if it were a flexible snake.
However, soon his attention was redirected elsewhere when Wu Yijun did not deny the words of Lilith and instead said tenderly:
"Mm. Actually, I thought of that too."
"What?" Bai Zemin looked at her dumbfounded. "Are you out of your mind? Why would you come up with such a nonsensical idea like that?"
If he had a daughter in the future and someday showed up at his house telling him that her boyfriend wanted to take all his stuff, he'd probably have to give her a good spanking and cut the little bastard's head off!
"That's not how this works, Bai Zemin." Lilith shook her head and pointed with a smile, "If you prove to sis Yijun's father that you possess enough power to threaten him but then turn out to be that you are his daughter's fiancé, then he won't feel extremely reluctant to hand everything over to you since it will all stay in the family after all, won't it?"
"... That's right." Wu Yijun nodded. She looked at Bai Zemin and smiled bitterly, "I thought about this option before but decided to put it aside when I began to realize how important this whole matter was to Bai Zemin. The last thing I wish to do is to inconvenience him after all."
Bai Zemin, who had been hurt in the past by love, naturally would not take lightly anything that related romance. Wu Yijun, who realized this, decided to completely forget about her earlier idea to avoid his displeasure.
"However, this is the best idea I've come up with so far.... I'm sorry, I couldn't think of something else." Wu Yijun apologized in embarrassment.
She had been thinking very seriously about this matter; especially in the last few days when the day of truth was finally in sight. However, it was not easy to find a middle ground in which her family and Bai Zemin could get along. After all, Bai Zemin aspired to rule everything by force and this was completely opposite to the rules of the entire Wu Family!
Bai Zemin shook his head and didn't know whether he should laugh or cry as he said, "At least for now, let's put this bizarre idea aside. Let me share with you the idea that I came up by myself."
Although he had been involved with politics recently as it was impossible to avoid it because Bai Zemin aspired to build a great dynasty, there were still many things that Bai Zemin could not get used to. One of them was arranged relationships; from the point of view of someone like him who had been raised in a normal family, relationships should be decided by oneself rather than for benefits.
If he ever in the future started a relationship with Wu Yijun it should be because they both felt it and not to avoid a battle.
If the worst came to the worst Bai Zemin would completely crush the forces of the father of Wu Yijun no matter how many warriors he had to kill; he just had to let the man and his family live out of respect and consideration for Wu Yijun, but the rest was none of his business.
Of course, if possible Bai Zemin wanted to avoid as many casualties as possible. After all, the power of mankind would fall further and further for every brave warrior killed.
Bai Zemin told Wu Yijun and Lilith about his idea, but when both women heard it, their expressions became quite interesting.
Lilith and Wu Yijun looked at each other once Bai Zemin finished explaining everything before turning their heads to stare at him.
"It's really going to be fun to watch this."
"It really will be. Now I even can't wait for it."
The corner of Bai Zemin's mouth twitched a couple of times as he watched the two women in front of him smiling excitedly just like little children waiting for their Christmas presents.
Had he become some kind of attraction?
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