The scheming empress starts by conquering men

The two looked at each other and understood what each other wanted from each other's eyes.

Shao Chaogan wanted table salt, the kind of fine salt that was as white as snow-gravel and stable over a long period of time.

But what Shaodian Sishui wanted was the throne.

He frowned slightly towards Shao Gan and pursed his lips.

She lowered her head and said nothing, thinking a lot in her mind.

After a long while, Shao Bohou smiled bitterly and said, "Your Highness, I am sorry that I am incompetent and cannot give you what you want."

She said this with a slight hesitation, looking at Shaodian Sishui with uncertainty.

"but…"

If Zhong Bohou completely surrendered to Shaodian Sishui, then Shao Chaogan could guarantee that nothing would go wrong.

Now, the power of the Marquis has been weakened by more than half by the Empress. With the current military strength and power of the Shao family, it is simply not possible to go to war with the Empress.

Once the war breaks out, Zhong Aoyi will receive an order from the Empress to cut off all food and fodder shipped to the north.

Beifacheng has a lot of sandy soil and no crops can be grown.

Not to mention that they are not self-sufficient like other places. The people here cannot even feed themselves, not to mention that all their officials rely on taxes from the people and the court to feed themselves.

Once the war starts, there will be corpses everywhere and Beifa will become a desolate dead city.

She didn't think Shaodian Si Shui was powerful enough to convince Zhong Aoyi, the old and loyal man, to become her man.

But if Shaodian Si Shui really convinced Zhong Aoyi, then not only should she not cooperate with her, she should stay away from her.

The fact that he could even convince Zhong Aoyi shows how ambitious and lofty he is.

If she really came to power, the power between the barons and dukes would probably be weakened even more severely, or even destroyed.

Shao Chaogan was very conflicted. It was not good to move forward, and it was not good to move backward either.

Shaodian Sishui saw that Shao Chaogan was hesitant to speak, so he did not interrupt her, but let her think about it.

Since Shao Chaogan didn't want to say anything, she didn't ask.

If some people don't give their loyalty and try to move forward, she will never understand, and even if she listens to what you say, she will not believe you.

After thinking for a long time, Shao Chaogan finally changed his words and tried to test the waters.

"Your Highness, I am powerless. I do not want to see Beifa City become a dead city with corpses everywhere in the future! Is there anything else Your Highness wants? If so, I will definitely agree to it."

For example, if he wanted Cong'er, if Cong'er became the Sixth Prince's person, wouldn't he have as much salt as he wanted?

Although the empress was afraid of the Sixth Prince and wanted to help the Second Princess Shao Dian Hao Lan ascend to the throne.

But if she took advantage of the time when the princesses were fighting for power and used salt to rapidly develop Beifa, she would have retained the strength to become self-reliant.

No matter who comes to power, the Shao family will no longer have to rely on the royal family, and Beifa will be able to establish its own territory and dominate the world.

But... Shao Chaogan sighed in his heart, that would mean sacrificing her Cong'er.

Well, as a man, Cong'er will definitely understand the difficulties of being a mother.

For the honor of his family and to become the true king of Beifa, Shao Chaogan can only treat Shao Jincong as a chess piece.

A hint of surprise flashed across Shaodian Sishui's eyes, and he looked at her seriously.

Dead city?

Anything else you want?

Beifa's land is backed by a thin line of sky and fronted by Chixia Valley. It is surrounded by mountains. The mountains are also surrounded by Yanyang Lake, which is full of fish and crabs. How could it become a dead city?

There are abundant mineral products here, yet she actually said that this place has become a dead city?

But she knew that people of that era had not yet started eating fish and crabs. They thought that fish and crabs were dirty and smelly.

Only those pheasants that cannot survive choose to eat the smelly fish and crabs in the lake.

Shao Chaogan thought that Zhong Aoyi was foolishly loyal to the royal family, so he told the story of the dead city.

As for what she wants?

From beginning to end, there is only the throne, and men are just men.

Shaodian Sishui suppressed the strange feeling in his heart and had a faint smile on his face.

She did not tell Shao Chaogan that Zhong Wuyan had already defected to her.

No matter what she does, she can never trust the people she employs, and don't employ those she doesn't trust.

This kind of brainless statement is just a afterthought for those stupid and self-righteous people.

Human hearts are the most complicated and fickle, and she doesn't want to assume the worst of others.

But after two lifetimes, I have become accustomed to assuming the worst of others, and this habit cannot and will not change.

However, what she didn't expect was that Shao Chaogan didn't love his son as much as described in the book.

Because of the death of his son, he finally joined Shaodian Haolan with the strength of his entire family.

Although she has only one son now, she cares about the entire Shaw family.

Compared with Shaw Brothers and Shao Jincong, the former is actually greater than the latter.

Circumstances have changed and people’s hearts are complicated.

If that's true, then she really doesn't want Shao Jincong anymore.

But she can't give it up!

Make the empress and the heroine become enemies, and make the empress think that she is licentious, incompetent, and absurd. Obviously, getting Shao Jincong is a good move.

Shaodian Sishui's expression kept changing. He seemed to want to say something but hesitated, and he looked as if he couldn't start talking.

"There is such a person whom I want, but this matter... is against human ethics, so let it go!"

There was a gleam of light in Shao Chaogan's eyes. There was not much emotion on his face, but he was suddenly overjoyed in his heart.

As expected, the Sixth Prince cares about Cong'er, otherwise he would not say such words.

Humph, she knew the prince's little thoughts. As early as outside the city on the day of the wedding, she knew that the Sixth Prince had ulterior motives towards Cong'er.

Shao Chaogan couldn't help but think in his heart that instead of marrying Cong'er to Shaodian Haolan, it would be better to turn a blind eye and let her marry Shaodian Sishui.

The land of Beifa is certainly important, but Cong'er's life is also important.

Shaodian Sishui was ambitious, and she had the unprecedented benefit of salt. From this point alone, she was one step closer to the supreme position.

Shaodian Haolan seems to be an upright and kind person, but once she comes to power, there is no guarantee that one day she will not hold a grudge against Beifa for separatist rule and threaten Cong'er's life.

On the other hand, whether Shaodian Sishui is sincere to Cong'er still needs some testing.

If she really liked Cong'er, she would never vent her anger on Cong'er because of Beifa's separatist rule. She is not that kind of person.

Thinking of this, Shao Chaogan's face changed slightly, and he looked at Shaodian Sishui with a somewhat grim look.

"I thought I had made it clear to Your Highness. Cong'er is the Second Prince's woman. Your Highness should not have any hopes for her."

Shao Chaogan was acting, how could Shaodian Sishui not see it?

He sneered in his heart and frowned without showing it on his face.

"I only want two things. Since even Lord Shao cannot fulfill my wish, I can do nothing to help you with the salt issue."

"It's too late today. I'm tired."

After Shaodian Sishui finished speaking, he stood up, turned around and left.

Shao Chaogan naturally did not stop her. It was still early and the empress's order mentioned by Nong Jia and others had not arrived yet, so there was still time.

During this period, she would test whether Shaodian Sishui really liked her Cong'er, or just wanted to use Cong'er's identity to get close to Shaw.

After Shaodian Sishui left, he returned to the villa and ordered the secret guards to continue to secretly observe Shao Chaogan's every move and report any unexpected situation immediately.

Another two days passed, and on the third morning, Shaodian Sishui was practicing calligraphy in the room after dinner, when the guards who were monitoring Shao Chaogan came quietly.

"Your Highness, a concubine of Marquis Shao Bo has set up a rejuvenation banquet in the mansion and invited all the unmarried noble ladies and gentlemen in Beifa City to attend."

"The banquet will be held tomorrow. Marquis Shao will send someone to inform Your Highness in advance. This banquet may seem like it's hosted by the concubine, but in fact, it's Marquis Shao's way of testing whether Your Highness is sincere to Shao Jincong."

Shaodian Sishui wrote without raising his head, chuckling and narrowing his eyes.

"Oh, hehe, are you trying to test my sincerity?"

She looked up at the guards and then lowered her head to write again.

What it says is: It is just like Zhou Gong dreaming of a butterfly, you are a blessing and a calamity.

But she said, "Come closer and tell me how she wants to be tested."

The guard took the order and quickly walked to Shaodian Sishui's side, whispering in her ear about tomorrow's spring banquet.

Until the guard finished speaking, Shaodian Si Shui did not show much emotion.

All emphasis is placed on the font.

She picked up the paper and looked at it, and couldn't help but sigh: "I need to practice my handwriting more!"

The arrogance between the lines cannot be contained at all.

Shaodian Sishui threw the characters he was practicing into the charcoal basin beside him and wrote again.

Suddenly remembering something, she waved to the guards beside her.

"I understand. Go down and continue to watch secretly. There is no need to report such trivial matters."