Transmigration: Wake Up as an Annoying Concubine

Waiting in the main tent, tapping on the armchair, Wu Zhang Wei with Huang Fei Hong and Commander Junjie are waiting for the spy that they planted in the enemy's camp.

About an hour since the promised meeting time has passed but the awaited man still didn't show up.

Commander Junjie is sweating a bucket when he saw the veins popping out on Wu Zhang Wei's forehead. Before this, the spy always on time but when the emperor is already here, things didn't go the way they want.

Zhang Wei was about to say something to Junjie but the sound of footsteps heading towards their tent stops him.

Then a guy wearing the black and red armor, which is the State of Shu's army's outfit, enters the tent.

He immediately kneels and folds his hand to the front. "Greetings, Your Majesty. Pardon this servant for being late. Those people from the State of Shu started to find it weird for me to be missing at the same time and day every week so I had to delay my departure."

Wu Zhang Wei nods twice, understood. "Alright. Rise."

As the man rise, Wu Zhang Wei asked, "So you are... "

The man bows again and his lips slightly curved when the emperor asking for his name. "This servant name Xu Hou, Your Majesty."

"So Xu Hou, what did you find out?" Wu Zhang Wei asked straight to the point.

Xu Hou straightens his body, the faint smile disappears and his face turns serious. "I tried to mingle around them to dig any information that they might know. But seems like lower position or no rank soldiers were not informed why they were sent there. Their captain just told them that Wu Empire smuggling their people so they need to teach us a lesson. I thought they won't know much so I did a little bit of contribution so they'll promote me to a higher rank. And my assumption was right. The higher the rank, the more they know. The lower-rank soldiers were manipulated by their commander. They blindly followed orders from their superiors."

Xu Hou takes a breather before continues, "When I was patrolling around the base camp, I heard their commander was talking to one of the team leaders. He said that the people who brought children and women from the State of Shu originally come from Wu Empire."

"But seems like they're just taking orders from someone else too. The children and the women who were caught by them are usually orphans, poor unmarried girls who lived alone, young divorcees. Individuals that no one will notice if they went missing. That's why, even when they're gone, no one will make a report on their missing."

Wu Zhang Wei rubs his chin, "Do you have any idea what kind of negotiations they try to make with us? Zhen means, what they actually want from us?"

"From what I heard, they're most likely want to build a base or pavilion in our capital so they could easily do business in the capital. They also want to do some trading for herbs, teas and medical supplies."

Wu Zhang Wei immediately frowns. "Medical supplies? Zhen can understand if it's herbs and teas because our country has the largest herbs and teas farm but medical supplies...? What makes them wanna trade medical supplies from us?"

Xu Hou's eyelids tremble, his palms sweating. He lowers his head. Stuttering, he said, "The news of H-Her Majesty, Em-Empress Li Xiu Ying cured the Crown Prince of Yang Empire, Prince Yang Lijun was spread all over the country. When Her Majesty was enthroned as the empress, Her Majesty was known as "The-One-Who-Cure-Prince-Yang". Everyone knows that Prince Yang got the diseases which was no imperial physician could find the cure, so when Her Majesty did it, people started to believe that Her Majesty was a Godsend healer and they thought our country got every cure for any diseases. That's why...."

Xu Hou swallows his saliva when he was shot by a deathly glare from the emperor.

Wu Zhang Wei clenches his fist tightly. The other three presents in the main tent didn't dare to utter any words. It feels suffocating like they were pressed by the dark aura emitted by Wu Zhang Wei.

Meanwhile, Wu Zhang Wei is thinking about what else he should do to make his great empress unnoticed by those undeserved bastards. Xiu Ying already stays a low profile and helped him from behind the scenes and never shows his ability in front of many people but still, it can't hide his greatness.

"Why Zhen never heard that Zhen's Empress has been the talk of other countries? Is it that Crown Prince who spread the news about Zhen's Empress?"

Xu Hou shakes his head. "Pardon Your Majesty, I'm not sure about that but I think it's not Prince Yang Lijun who told all those people. Because from what I heard, people from Yang Empire only know that their Crown Prince was cured by someone from our country but they didn't know it was Her Majesty. However, people from the State of Shu know it was Her Majesty. So, I guess, either someone from our country who leaked the news or State of Shu have moles in our country."

Wu Zhang Wei scoffs. "Either of them, find as soon as possible and get rid of them," Wu Zhang Wei leans back on the chair and said flatly.

Commander Junjie immediately folds his hands to the front and bows, "Yes, Your Majesty. I'll ask my men to investigate this matter right after this."

Zhang Wei hums. "What else did you find out? Is that all?"

"Forgive for my incompetence, Your Majesty. That's all I could find out. The security is too tight around the main tent and I, as the middle-rank soldier was not allowed to come closer. However, three times I saw two suspicious figures came to visit the camp. I couldn't see their face as they were wearing a hoodie, covering their head and it was too dark at night."

Wu Zhang Wei and Huang Fei Hong look at each other and frown.

"Did you remember when did you see them?" Fei Hong asked.

"I infiltrated their camp on the third day after they arrived near the border. I saw them the next two days, on the eighth and also the last three days. I'm sure they're the same person. They got the same build, height and wearing the same robe. They always came at the same time every time, during midnight. I tried to ask the team leader but he just shook his head and told me to never asked anything about them. Middle and lower rank soldiers have no right to pry anything about whatever happened in the main tent. We're only required to follow whatever order or task had been given."

Wu Zhang Wei and Huang Fei Hong exchanged glances once again. Both of them have the same thoughts but they preferred to keep it to themselves first. It's not that they didn't trust Commander Lijun and Xu Hou but they don't want any eavesdropper to hear it.

"Alright. You may go now. Report as soon as you got new information," Wu Zhang Wei said while glancing at Fei Hong, sending a secret signal.

Both Commander Junjie and Xu How kowtow before leaving the main tent. Without saying anything, a moment later Wu Zhang Wei and Huang Fei Hong leave the main tent then head towards Wu Zhang Wei's tent.

The emperor's tent is guarded by five elite guards lead by Wei Min, which means in a radius of thirty meters, no one is allowed to get near to this tent unless permission is given by the emperor himself.

In the tent, one with knitted brows and another one released a heavy sigh.

"It was some people from the palace," Fei Hong said.

"More like one of the ministers," Zhang Wei added.

"But we can't blindly catch them without any solid evidence. You do know they dare to do this because they have a strong backup? If we just directly apprehend them, they might use it against us and it may lead to a bigger war." Huang Fei Hong sounds a little bit anxious. He knows how furious the emperor is right now because his beloved empress is somehow dragged into this matter. So, Wu Zhang Wei might act recklessly.

"I know," Zhang Wei said but the distortion on his face never fades.

"So, are you going to meet them?"

"Two days. In two days, we'll meet them. Send a letter to inform them of our arrival. Make sure they'll prepare themselves," Wu Zhang Wei smirks.

Huang Fei Hong shakes his head, knowing the meaning behind those evil smirks.

Two days have passed and Wu Zhang Wei doesn't waste any time. Early in the morning, Wu Zhang Wei, Huang Fei Hong and a quarter of the troop march to the base camp where the people from the State of Shu reside.

The journey only took a burn of two joss sticks as they're not far from the border.

[One joss stick - 50 to 90 minutes]

When the troop is about fifty meters away from the base camp, Wu Zhang Wei's lips slanted when he saw a line of soldiers and two men in front of the line waiting for them.

"What an honor to be welcome like this. They're seriously well prepared," Wu Zhang Wei mumbles. Huang Fei Hong whose is straddling the horse just right next to him, scoffs.

They immediately hop down the horse when they reached the entrance. The two men immediately fold their hands to the front and kowtow. Followed by the soldiers behind them.

"Greetings, Your Majesty. This humble servant named Shi Rong, Chancellor-in-Chief for Emperor of State of Shu," a man in pale yellow-colored silk robe said.

A man next to him continues, "Greetings, Your Majesty. I'm Commander Zixin." His stoic poker face looked scary and intimidating to their people but for Wu Empire's soldiers, nothing is scarier than the emperor and their Great General's face when someone else makes a pass at their beloved.

"Your Majesty, our Prime Minister is waiting for you. Please..." Shi Rong stretched out his hands, inviting them inside. The line breaks apart, leaving a pathway for them to walk through.

Without any delay, Wu Zhang Wei walked to their main tent. Only Wu Zhang Wei and Huang Fei Hong are going forwards while the troop was asked to wait on their training ground.

Wu Zhang Wei pulls open the tent, revealing a man in his late forties waiting for him with a big fake smile. The man folds his hands to the front and bows 90 degrees. "Greetings, Your Majesty. It is an honor to meet you personally. I am the Prime Minister of State of Shu, Qi Pei Zhi."

Wu Zhang Wei squints. He just hums, walks past Qi Pei Zhi and takes his place at the main seating. Huang Fei Hong smirks and stands on Wu Zhang Wei's left side. Qi Pei Zhi's eyes twitched.

Qi Pei Zhi quickly unclenched his fist and turned around with a faint smile. He takes a seat opposite Wu Zhang Wei. Shi Rong and Zixin stand on each of Qi Pei Zhi's sides.

Qi Pei Zhi clears his throat, "Thank you so much Your Majesty for agreeing to meet up with us. As Your Majesty knows there is some dispute going on between our countries. So..."

Before Qi Pei Zhi could continue, Wu Zhang Wei sarcastically said, "Someone said the proposal of the truce cannot be mentioned to my men because they're just lowly officer but do you think, you, a prime minister, deserves to call Zhen here, Wu Empire's emperor just to discuss this matter that could be talked over a memorial or letter?"

The fingers tapping makes Qi Pei Zhi swallows his saliva. But he quickly straightens his body and face looking serious.

"Pardon for my rudeness, Your Majesty. It is not my real intention to trouble Your Majesty, coming all the way here from the capital but this is not a trivial matter that could be discussed over a letter. This involved the peacefulness of the two countries. Using letters could invite many kinds of uncertainties which we don't want to happen thus hindering and disturbing our matter. So, I hope Your Majesty won't take it to heart about this."

Wu Zhang Wei just shrugs his shoulders. "So, what's the NOT SO TRIVIAL matter that you want to say?"

Ignoring the sarcasm, Qi Pei Zhi won't back and still want to speak up the main point of this meeting.

"Your Majesty, as you know, we have caught several people from Wu Empire smuggled children and women from the State of Shu. This is not a simple matter. Your Majesty does know how we all strictly forbid smuggling activities, be it merchandise or a person. So, when things like these happened, we cannot let them be. Our people will think that the State of Shu is easily trampled by others and they will live in fear of being caught someday. However, the State of Shu doesn't wish to drag this problem any longer and we also don't want to make an enemy with any other countries. Therefore, we would like to call for a truce with Wu Empire."

Qi Pei Zhi slightly frowns when he sees that Wu Zhang Wei is looking at him like he was spouting nonsense. Wu Zhang Wei leans his hand on one knuckle while tapping on the armrest.

Qi Pei Zhi waits for a minute in case Wu Zhang Wei has something to say but since he remains silent, Qi Pei Zhi continues, "Your Majesty, Wu Empire is a glorious country. Prosperous in its crops and plantation, businesses blooming and can be considered the most peaceful and strong country. If the news of Wu Empire smuggled children and women from a developing country, isn't it going to affect a lot on Wu Empire's economy? That's why..."

Qi Pei Zhi suddenly stops talking when Wu Zhang Wei raises his palm.

Wu Zhang Wei sighs. "Lord Qi, just straight to the point. What exactly do you want from Zhen's country?"

Qi Pei Zhi's face slightly beaming but he quickly covered it up, pretends to cough. He turns to Shi Rong and lowly nods. Then, Shi Rong takes out a memorial scroll and holding it out in front of Wu Zhang Wei.

Wu Zhang Wei opens the memorial and reads every single word written on it. His expression unchanged even though he was cursing inside his mind.

Qi Pei Zhi, Shi Rong and Commander Zixin wait for the response anxiously.