Unruly Phoenix Xiaoyao

Chapter 51: That's not how comrades-in-arms should act

"I had them go," Lou Zigui carelessly tied his sash as he avoided meeting Ning Xiaoyao's wide-eyed stare. He dropped his voice and added, "If we have our subordinates seek death recklessly for the sake of the Imperial Jade Seal, the Grand Preceptor won't be able to figure out just who has it."

For the sake of the Imperial Jade Seal, he was sending his own people to be tyrannized by the Grand Preceptor? Ning Xiaoyao didn't know anything about court intrigue, nor did she have experience with political struggles or crafty schemes. She just couldn't figure it out, and her heart even turned a little cold. How could it be like this? Ning Xiaoyao stared at Lou Zigui. Sending troops on an expedition in the struggle for power and profit was something done by opposing parties to cheat the other. Lou Zigui didn't see any problems with his methods, but Ning Xiaoyao's constant staring made him crease his forehead.

Again he stressed, "They'll be fine."

"You're still calling it fine even though they've been beaten?" Ning Xiaoyao shook her head with a sigh. She didn't understand this world, but this wasn't how comrades-in-arms should act.

"You still don't understand?" Lou Zigui asked Ning Xiaoyao. She had managed to muster up a force of her own right under Grand Preceptor Xie's eyes, enduring humiliation for the sake of her important mission. At court, she used her power to gain the upper hand and wrathfully beat back all opponents. Didn't she know to make small sacrifices for the greater good?

"What does it matter what I understand if you've already gone and done it?" Ning Xiaoyao said as she sank down in the chair behind her. She held her head, wanting to quiet down and calm her nerves a bit. Maybe then she'd get it?

While Ning Xiaoyao was trying to figure things out, Lou Zigui was as well. He half-knelt in front of Ning Xiaoyao and, after a pause, reached out to tug aside the hand cradling her head. "Are you angry? Why?"

"How could you send your own people to get beaten up by the Grand Preceptor?" Ning Xiaoyao asked.

Lou Zigui gave a start. "It's only a ruse. At most, it'll just last a day before I'll rescue them."

"They were perfectly fine, so why did they have to run over for a beating?" Ning Xiaoyao muttered to herself. The current emperor who'd transmigrated from an apocalypse and the local native Supreme Commander both fell silent. They were of different births and hailed from different environments, so their ways of thinking were even more different. It was impossible for them to connect their thoughts.

After a while, Lou Zigui spoke, "Your Majesty is blaming me for being cruel."

"A bit," Ning Xiaoyao's head drooped.

"You," Lou Zigui really felt like a villain after seeing her dejected-looking head. After thinking it over, he didn't speak. He had ordered Old Huo and the rest to subject themselves to torture while thinking that they wouldn't die. But he'd never stopped to consider anything else. How could someone in the role of a general possibly attend to the feelings of each and every soldier under his command?

"Forget it," Ning Xiaoyao had already organized her thoughts by the time Supreme Commander Lou was starting to revisit his decision. Zombies and humans were different, so she couldn't use her methods for dealing with zombies on human enemies here, right? Even though she didn't get it, she believed that the man in front of her now wasn't a bad guy. If that was the case, she had to accept his methods.

"Forget it?" Lou Zigui was startled again.

"Then does Supreme Commander still have words to say to me?" Ning Xiaoyao asked.

"You, you're not angry?" Lou Zigui said doubtfully. This girl was sunny one moment and stormy the next, was she fooling around with him?

"I'm not angry. Why should I be angry with Supreme Commander?" Ning Xiaoyao said. "I've got an idea."