The rise of the poor

Chapter 2313 2 The Perfect Law

"Me?! Staying as a hostage?!" Luo Longwen pointed a finger at himself, his face filled with astonishment.

How could I possibly stay as a hostage in this godforsaken, filthy, chaotic, and unsafe Japanese pirate stronghold?!

I live in constant fear, every day here feels like an eternity. Every day I live here is a year less for me. I've already lost tens of thousands of taels of silver to you. I've worked so hard and greedily for most of my life, and it's all gone to you bastards!

No, no, I don't want to be a hostage here!

I'll go back as soon as I finish Donglou's task here, without stopping for even a moment longer!

Faced with Luo Longwen's astonishment, Wang San nodded vigorously and replied firmly, "Yes, it's you. You are your master's confidant, and we are all very satisfied with you. You are the only choice. I was the first to raise my hand to recommend you."

Are you the first person to raise their hand to recommend me?! I'm so grateful to your entire family and ancestors for eighteen generations!

puff!

Luo Longwen felt a sweet taste in his throat and almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Brother Luo, Brother Luo, are you alright?!" Wang San noticed that Luo Longwen's expression was off, so he quickly reached out and nudged him.

"Cough cough, it's nothing, I'm fine." Luo Longwen swallowed the blood in his throat, coughed, and said slowly, "I just feel that the sincerity of exchanging hostages is probably not enough to satisfy my master."

"Isn't this enough?! Your master is asking for too much! Besides, our hostage isn't just the king's adopted son, Mao Haifeng. Don't forget, my king's biological son is currently in Zhu Ping'an's hands. According to our plan, my king's biological son will later be in Zhao Wenhua's hands. Isn't that enough sincerity?!" Wang San patted Luo Longwen's shoulder forcefully.

Holy crap, this old guy has some serious strength.

Luo Longwen nearly vomited blood from Wang San's slap, and quickly clasped his hands in a fist salute, "The sincerity is enough, but... but my master wants more."

"You want our king to send troops to attack Zhu Ping'an, don't you?" Wang San interrupted Luo Longwen and said calmly.

“That’s right.” Luo Longwen nodded vigorously, then looked at Wang San with anticipation. “Third Master…”

Wang San shook his head, interrupting his thoughts, "Don't think about that. I've already made it clear that my king will not send troops to attack Zhu Ping'an. My king must also treat everyone equally. He can't force a group of brothers to do something against their will. If they lose heart, the troops will be difficult to lead."

Luo Longwen said with a troubled expression, "But, Third Master, I can't explain this to my master. To be honest, my main mission in this trip south is to deal with Zhu Ping'an. If you don't attack Zhu Ping'an, how can this mission be completed? Zhu Ping'an looks honest and young, but he is more cunning and treacherous than that old fox! We finally got this opportunity. If we miss this chance, I won't be able to get past my master."

“Brother Luo, there’s no such thing as a perfect solution in this world. We will cooperate with your master, but we will not attack Zhu Ping’an. If you don’t agree, then we can only continue to cooperate with Zhu Ping’an,” Wang San said slowly.

"No, no, you definitely have to cooperate with us. If you cooperate with Zhu Ping'an, not only will you fail to get rid of him, but you'll also be helping him succeed. We can't accept that," Luo Longwen quickly said.

After saying that, Luo Longwen sighed, "But we can't do anything to Zhu Ping'an, and we can't explain it to our master. What should we do?"

"Actually, there is a way," Wang San said in a barely audible voice.

However, to Luo Longwen, this was like a thunderclap in a clear sky. He jumped up as if his pants were on fire, looked at Wang San with excitement, and said impatiently, "Third Master, my good Third Master, I just heard you say that there is a way. Please enlighten me, Third Master."

"Well, what I say is what you hear. I won't admit to a single word outside of this door."

Wang San said leisurely.

"Of course, of course, this has absolutely nothing to do with Third Master. It was all my own decision," Luo Longwen quickly assured him.

Wang San nodded and waved to Luo Longwen. Luo Longwen quickly stepped forward and got closer to Wang San.

"Brother Luo, have you ever thought about this?" Wang San asked softly.

"What question?" Luo Longwen looked blank. You haven't even asked yet, how would I know if I've thought about it?

"Brother Luo, let me ask you, if you want to deal with Zhu Ping'an, is the only way to do so by ordering the King to attack Zhu Ping'an?"

"What does Third Master mean?" Luo Longwen seemed to have a vague idea, but he still couldn't figure it out.

"I ask you, our king ordered our army to attack Zhu Ping'an, how did you manage to deal with Zhu Ping'an?!"

Wang San asked.

Luo Longwen slowly replied, "Zhu Ping'an submitted a memorial saying that he had basically reached a consensus with you on the amnesty, but you sent troops to attack Zhu Ping'an. Then Zhu Ping'an's amnesty became a joke and became his crime. He was played by you. He Zhu Ping'an is incompetent and stupid. To put it more seriously, he committed the crime of deceiving the emperor in his previous memorial!"

"When His Majesty orders our army to attack Zhu Ping'an, does he really issue an official document and stamp it?! Our King doesn't have any seal; his orders are just verbal. His strength and prestige are his seal. Which Japanese pirate dares to disobey? Disobey and you die!" Wang San narrowed his eyes slightly.

"What do you mean?" Luo Longwen seemed to have grasped something.

Wang Sanwei barely uttered, "The best of both worlds isn't that there are all sorts of birds in a big forest. With so many people, it's hard to manage. Perhaps one of the ship captains dislikes Zhu Ping'an and secretly leads his troops to attack him."

Luo Longwen's eyes lit up instantly, as if a sudden enlightenment had dawned on him, like a long-awaited rain after a drought. He clapped his hands excitedly, "Brilliant! Brilliant! How come I didn't think of that? It's not necessary for the King to order an attack on Zhu Ping'an. It's enough to just send Japanese pirates to attack Zhu Ping'an."

"Or, Brother Luo, why don't you organize a group of Japanese pirates to attack Zhu Ping'an? Wouldn't that be the same?"

Wang San disagreed.

"No, no, we should make it as real as possible, that way we can be absolutely sure. However, I don't know which captain dislikes Zhu Ping'an, so I'll have to trouble Third Master to help me with an introduction."

Luo Longwen clasped his hands in a fist salute.

“That’s easy, I can introduce you to a couple of people.” Wang San nodded.

"We're all counting on Third Master. This is Third Master's operating funds. Once it's done, I will definitely thank Third Master handsomely." Luo Longwen took out a stack of hundred-tael silver notes and stuffed them into Wang San's hand, promising.

"Look at you, you're too kind. What kind of relationship do we have? If I don't help you, who else would I help?" Wang San pretended to decline but accepted the silver note. (End of Chapter)