The pavilion where Xiao Yunzhou and the King of Chu were playing chess and talking was surrounded by water on all sides, allowing them to see that no one was hiding nearby.
Even Wei Zheng had withdrawn after placing the sleeping Xiao Chuchu in a small carriage.
Therefore, no one except the infant Xiao Chuchu in her swaddling clothes could possibly hear the conversation between the King of Chu and Xiao Yunzhou.
The King of Chu immediately looked at Xiao Yunzhou with piercing eyes, disregarding the sleeping six-month-old baby, and lowered his voice, "Did that great master say that I have a death calamity?"
Xiao Yunzhou nodded.
"How... how long do I have left to live?" In the face of death, everyone is afraid, and the King of Chu was no exception. At this moment, he didn't even dare to use his usual regal tone of referring to himself as "this king."
He feared that being too arrogant might offend the great master and bring about his death even sooner!
"Did the great master say when my death calamity would occur?"
Xiao Yunzhou pursed his lips and let out a long sigh while looking at the King of Chu.
He sighed so much that it made the King of Chu's skin crawl before finally speaking, "Very soon, less than half a year, perhaps even shorter."
The King of Chu instantly felt a chill down his spine, his limbs went weak, and he slumped onto the stone bench in the pavilion.
He only had a few months left?
The King of Chu's hand holding the chess piece trembled involuntarily, and the black piece fell onto the board with a clatter.
"Did the great master provide any solution?" The King of Chu leaned forward eagerly, as if grasping for a lifeline.
Xiao Yunzhou hesitated for a moment before giving an ambiguous, mystical response, "The great master, in his mercy, has given you some guidance, which is already a blessing. As for how things will unfold, it depends on you, old Chu."
The King of Chu narrowed his eyes for a moment, and his kingly aura of decisiveness and grand strategy surged forth, "I am willing to hear the details! If I can't avoid this calamity with the great master's guidance, I'd be too incompetent and might as well go meet my ancestors sooner!"
The King of Chu had led armies in his youth, overcoming many obstacles, and was quite brave. He wasn't afraid of challenges and had faith in his abilities.
If the great master was willing to point out where exactly his death calamity lay, the King of Chu didn't believe he couldn't resolve it!
He narrowed his eyes at Xiao Yunzhou, "If the great master from Jing Country truly saves my life, reducing the price of copper and iron by thirty percent won't be a problem."
No emperor doesn't wish for eternal life and an everlasting reign.
Let alone using copper and iron to buy his life, if the great master was effective, the King of Chu would agree even if it cost him gold and silver!
"But if you're deceiving me," the King of Chu snorted lightly, "If it's all a fabrication and you're just putting on an act, Xiao Yunzhou, not only will you not get the copper and iron, but I'll also settle accounts with you slowly!"
Xiao Yunzhou, upon hearing this, nodded instead of getting angry, "The great master never speaks falsehoods."
As he spoke, he couldn't help but glance at the small bed beside them, where Chuchu was sleeping with her little face flushed red.
The little immortal princess never told lies. Whenever she spoke from her heart, it was always to guide and benefit the world.
At most, the little princess sometimes had a sharp tongue when she was right.
Xiao Yunzhou, thinking of how the little princess had criticized the King of Chu for favoring boys over girls, couldn't help but add, "Old Chu, the great master doesn't like people who favor sons over daughters."
"You should be careful, old Chu," Xiao Yunzhou warned seriously.
The King of Chu: "?" He almost thought he had misheard.
Thinking of this, Xiao Yunzhou demanded a promise from the King of Chu on the spot, "Besides the thirty percent price reduction, you should also change your attitude about favoring sons over daughters. It's for your own good."
"If you don't heed heaven's will, you'll surely face retribution."
"???"
"!!!"
The King of Chu was utterly shocked.
What heavenly mandate? Since when did favoring sons over daughters go against heaven's will?
But for now, the King of Chu had no time to dwell on this matter. As long as the great master could keep him alive, even if it was just for another ten or twenty years, he wouldn't object to favoring daughters over sons, or even turning a blind eye to the Crown Prince's male companions!
Were issues of gender preference more important than his life as an emperor?
Although the King of Chu was skeptical about why heaven suddenly cared so much about women, he still nodded to Xiao Yunzhou, "As long as the great master's treatment is effective, I will sincerely listen to the heavenly way transmitted by the great master and follow his guidance with self-discipline and propriety."
Seeing his sincerity, Xiao Yunzhou finally nodded.
The two rulers immediately spread out imperial paper and signed the agreement on the copper and iron trade price between Jing Country and Chu State. Although the King of Chu didn't have the Chu State's imperial seal with him, he put his mark on the paper.
"I'll stamp it with the Chu State's imperial seal once my death calamity is resolved," the King of Chu said, still cautious.
Xiao Yunzhou wasn't worried about him going back on his word, "Alright, there are two key points to resolving the death calamity. I'll give you one first, and when you return to your country and stamp it with the imperial seal, I'll give you the other."
"???"
The King of Chu was impressed by Xiao Yunzhou's tactics.
[Wow, I woke up from a nice nap, and they've already reached an agreement?]
Xiao Chuchu was delighted.
Xiao Yunzhou was just handing over a sealed letter he had written to the King of Chu.
Hearing his daughter's thoughts, he smiled, immediately stood up, ignoring the King of Chu who was reading the note, and went to the little bed to play with his daughter.
The King of Chu could hardly bear to watch his doting behavior!
Even when he had waited ten years to have a child with Yun Wu, he hadn't pampered her like this.
But just as the King of Chu showed a hint of mockery, he looked at the note in the sealed envelope and was shocked to his core!
— On the third day of the return journey to Chu
— Shot by an arrow and fall from horse
— The attacker, hired by the Crown Prince of Chu
"Crash!" The King of Chu stood up abruptly, knocking over the chessboard in front of him with his sudden movement.
The King of Chu's expression changed from white to red, then to black, and back to white again.
Nonsense! This great master!
The King of Chu's first reaction was to curse.
But in an instant, the King of Chu remembered that the great master even knew the details of his private moments with the empress and the scholar courtesan behind closed doors. It was unlikely to be a mistake, and the King of Chu's heart sank to the bottom!
He felt a mix of anger, urgency, fear, and rage, too complex to continue the casual conversation with Xiao Yunzhou as before.
"Is it true?"
"Did the great master really tell you this? Is my death calamity really because of the Crown...?" The King of Chu wanted to say "Crown Prince" but swallowed his words.
Xiao Yunzhou, holding Xiao Chuchu and coaxing her to drink water, nodded sympathetically at him.
[Wow, the King of Chu knows now? It seems the great master of Jing Country is also a butterfly effect brought by me, a transmigrator~]
Xiao Chuchu was very satisfied, [I don't need to get up and find other ways to tell the Emperor Dad. The Emperor Dad already has a channel to know about the King of Chu's death calamity. Great, I can continue to lie down, sleep, eat melon, and watch the show.]
[The life of a slacker is so good~] Xiao Chuchu was very pleased with the result of waking up from a nap to find the problem solved.
["With the assistance of Chu State, our Jing Country will surely change its fate!"]
Xiao Chuchu had long coveted Chu State as an ally.
[Afterwards, the King of Chu will certainly no longer support that muddle-headed Crown Prince Liu Adou. Princess Yun Wu has a chance at ascending to the throne!]
Xiao Chuchu smiled gleefully at the thought.
Xiao Yunzhou was also pleased inwardly. His little princess was truly a lucky charm, bringing prosperity to Jing Country just by existing!
"Alright, old Chu, go back and handle your affairs. This king wants to play with his daughter and has no time to entertain you anymore," Xiao Yunzhou promptly dismissed his guest.
King of Chu: "..."
This infuriating daughter-doting father!
But just as the King of Chu was about to roll his eyes, he remembered what Xiao Yunzhou had said earlier, 'Old Chu, the sage doesn't like those who favor sons over daughters...'
The King of Chu suddenly halted his steps and looked at the tender infant girl in Xiao Yunzhou's arms, his eyes flickering.
"Ah, I never expected the little princess of Jing Country to be so adorable," the King of Chu instantly smiled, untying the dragon-patterned jade pendant from his waist and tucking it directly into Xiao Chuchu's swaddling clothes. "This king is quite fond of her. The little princess is far superior to this king's son!"
"Little Xiao, let this king hold your little princess for a moment."
"!"
Get lost!
Xiao Yunzhou immediately sensed the crisis of his daughter being snatched by a creepy uncle!
"Hurry on your way, old Chu!"
That night, the King of Chu had someone deliver a box of curious playthings for children to Xiao Yunzhou, specifically stating they were gifts for the little princess Xiao Chuchu, and promised to send gifts for the child every year henceforth.
Xiao Yunzhou lay awake, conflicted, late into the night.
"Chaniang, do you think that old fox, the King of Chu, is trying to compete with me for Chuchu's affection?"
"...?"
"Hmph, he can dream on!"
"..."
Liu Chaniang's mouth twitched as she shooed him away and put their daughter to sleep herself.
*
The next day, the King of Chu secretly led his people back to their country.
The journey was uneventful at first, but on the third day, just as the King of Chu was about to cross a shallow ford, a sudden arrow of misfortune flew towards his horse!