When the Female Lead Becomes Obsessive – Chapter 100

Volume Five: Those Years When I Was the Prime Minister

Playing Chess

Her Majesty the Empress Regnant of Tianyang Kingdom personally visited Xizhou to boost the morale of the Tianyang Kingdom’s soldiers and officers.

In an instant, the army’s morale surged again and again. The soldiers fought valiantly to kill the enemy, successively capturing Minqiu Kingdom’s second city, Yuanji City.

Seeing that Tianyang Kingdom was acting as if it had gone mad, Minqiu Kingdom immediately submitted a letter of surrender, expressing that they were scared and had chickened out. Meanwhile, Pingzhou Kingdom, having also suffered disastrous losses in the battle of Fenggui Gorge, had one of its cities, Guojing City, captured by the high-spirited Tianyang army. At once, they became as silent as a cicada in winter¹, retreating back within Pingzhou Kingdom’s borders and no longer daring to provoke Tianyang Kingdom’s frontier.

And all of this took only five days.

During these five days, after exchanging a single sentence on the first day, Sheng Tingwan and Wen Nuan never spoke to each other again.

Although their tents were adjacent, the two of them might as well have been at the south of the heavens and the corners of the sea².

There were likely many reasons why Sheng Tingwan wasn’t speaking to Wen Nuan, but Wen Nuan knew for sure that she was angry, and not just a little. As for why Wen Nuan wasn’t speaking, it was because she had seen the male lead, Shen Zhijin³, by Sheng Tingwan’s side.

The legitimate eldest son of the Minister of Revenue, Shen Zhijin.

She had personally delivered the male lead to the female lead’s side.

So Wen Nuan was wondering, what was the relationship between the two of them, and how should she devise a counter-strategy?

It wasn’t until she heard the delicate moans of a man coming from the neighboring tent every night, lasting for a full shichen⁴, that Wen Nuan couldn’t help but marvel that the male lead’s stamina was so f#cking good.

Fortunately, the two of them were very close, so the system could monitor the actual situation in the next tent at all times and report it truthfully to Wen Nuan.

In reality, the male and female leads were sleeping in separate beds. Every night, the female lead demanded that the male lead moan deliberately, trying to attract Wen Nuan’s attention.

As for why the female lead was doing this, Wen Nuan naturally understood in her heart.

It seems what I did back then really pissed Sheng Tingwan off, to the point that it made her blacken⁵.

As night fell, the moans from the next tent once again reached Wen Nuan’s ears.

All sleepiness left Wen Nuan. She got up helplessly, sat on the edge of her bed, and sighed, “Aigh…”

【Even I’m tired of listening. The male lead’s moans are so fake. I really want to send him some instructional materials.】 The system picked its nose. 【Teach him how to moan properly.】

The system’s words sparked an idea in Wen Nuan’s mind. Since Sheng Tingwan was deliberately ignoring her and still acting up every night, why not provoke her a little!

The system asked curiously: 【How do you plan to provoke her?】

Wen Nuan lay on the bed, pillowing her head with her hands and crossing her legs, and said with a smile, “Naturally, I’ll use her own methods to treat her in return⁶.”

【You’re planning to moan a couple of times too?】

“I don’t even need to make a sound. I have my ways of dealing with her.”

In the end, Wen Nuan gradually fell asleep while listening to the male lead’s panting.

Once the shichen was up, Shen Zhijin let out a long sigh of relief, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and took a sip of water. “Your Majesty, this subject⁷ has been moaning for five or six days now. Must I continue?”

Sheng Tingwan put down the memorial in her hand and glanced at the neighboring tent, which was completely silent. “Continue tomorrow.”

Shen Zhijin: “….”

He said helplessly, “Your Majesty, there is a conflict between you and the Prime Minister. Why not talk it out openly? Squeezing this subject in the middle is really….”

Not very moral.

But he didn’t dare say that out loud.

Sheng Tingwan glanced at him. “There is no conflict between me and her.”

Shen Zhijin pouted and said, “Your Majesty, this subject has, for all intents and purposes, grown up with you. You can fool others, but you can’t fool this subject, or… the Prime Minister.”

Sheng Tingwan’s hand paused. Her eyes narrowed as she threatened, “…If you don’t want to sleep, then get out.”

Shen Zhijin: “….”

When she can’t win an argument, she resorts to threats.

During Sheng Tingwan’s time in the military camp, Li Panxuan brought the two deputy generals and Military Advisor Chang to the strategy tent every day to report on their duties to Her Majesty the Empress Regnant.

“…The above is the fundamental reason for the victory in the Fenggui Gorge campaign,” Chang Ziqing explained to Sheng Tingwan, manipulating the sand table and leaving no detail out.

A trace of amazement and admiration flashed through Sheng Tingwan’s eyes, but her face remained placid. She merely said faintly, “Good.”

After finishing, Chang Ziqing retreated to one side.

Sheng Tingwan tapped her forehead with a fingertip and lifted her gaze to the person standing in the front row. “Li Panxuan?”

Li Panxuan’s body trembled, and she immediately stepped forward. “This subject is here.”

“Why was only one grand-company of soldiers left to garrison Songge City?” Sheng Tingwan’s jet-black eyes were like an abyss, staring straight at Li Panxuan, making her heart tremble. “Could it be that General Li had some brilliant plan or scheme at the time?”

Li Panxuan instantly dropped to her knees and swallowed. “This subject knows her mistake. I ask that Your Majesty mete out punishment.”

The way she said this was exactly the same as Prime Minister Ling. Most importantly, their tone and aura were so similar they were practically cut from the same cloth.

The others also knelt down one by one.

Sheng Tingwan narrowed her eyes, her tone devoid of warmth. “Songge City is a strategic point. If it had been lost, Li Panxuan, do you think there would have been any room for maneuver in this war?”

Li Panxuan clenched her fists and said with a trembling voice, “This subject knows… there would have been no room for maneuver.”

Everyone understood clearly in their hearts that if Songge City had fallen, there truly would not have been the slightest chance of salvaging this war.

“Li Panxuan, the reason Zhen⁸ has not pressed charges these past few days was to give you a chance to understand, to let you clearly know what kind of mistake you have made,” Sheng Tingwan’s fingers tapped on the table, the crisp sound reverberating in everyone’s heart. “Zhen appointed you as a general. First, because Zhen valued your outstanding martial prowess and your air that ten thousand men cannot breach⁹. Second, because you come from a family of generals, and with military strategy and tactics having soaked your ears and stained your eyes¹⁰ since childhood, Zhen thought you could inherit your mother’s mantle, defend the borders of Tianyang Kingdom, protect the common people, and from then on, foreign enemies would not dare to invade.”

“Zhen had such high expectations for you,” Sheng Tingwan leaned forward slightly, watching Li Panxuan’s pupils dilate. “Did you achieve them for Zhen?”

Li Panxuan kowtowed and said, “This subject… this subject knows her mistake. This subject knows she has failed to live up to Your Majesty’s expectations. This subject implores Your Majesty to mete out punishment!”

Sheng Tingwan stood up, closed her eyes, and said in a heavy voice, “Go receive your punishment yourself. Li Panxuan, one hundred military strokes and one hundred military whips. Wang Zhao and Cheng Nanfang, fifty of each. Chang Ziqing, thirty of each.”

Li Panxuan kowtowed and said, “This subject accepts the decree.”

The others: “This subject accepts the decree—”

Outside the tent, the dull thuds of clubs striking □□ echoed from the punishment platform, each strike shaking everyone in the military camp.

Everyone knew clearly that without the appearance of Prime Minister Ling, in a war between the three kingdoms, Tianyang Kingdom would have undoubtedly lost.

Li Panxuan and the others deserved to bear such a harsh punishment, to warn against following a bad example.

Wen Nuan walked out of her tent and looked at the several people being beaten miserably on the punishment platform. Although Chang Ziqing only received thirty military strokes and whips, her constitution was, after all, not as good as Li Panxuan and the others. After the beating was over, she was sprawled on the ground, barely able to draw a few deep breaths.

Two soldiers went up on the platform and carried Chang Ziqing into Fang Minghe’s medical tent for treatment.

Wen Nuan looked towards Fang Minghe, her eyes turning.

Fang Minghe saw that Chang Ziqing’s back was a bloody mess, and his brows furrowed tightly. He called out, “Xiao Zhao, bring me the Ten-Strength Wine, gauze, and Heaven’s Spirit Powder.”

“Here.”

Hearing this voice, it didn’t sound like his medicine boy, Xiao Zhao. He turned around, and standing behind him was Prime Minister Ling.

He paused, about to salute: “This subordinate official greets…”

“I’ve already said, I am now just a commoner. There’s no need to salute me,” Wen Nuan handed over the things Fang Minghe had asked for. “Here’s what you just wanted.”

Fang Minghe took them. “Many thanks, Prime Minister.”

Wen Nuan watched as Fang Minghe swiftly disinfected, applied medicine to, and bandaged the wound on Chang Ziqing’s back.

The wound, which had still been bleeding, was covered with the Heaven’s Spirit Powder, and the blood immediately stopped. Chang Ziqing’s tightly furrowed brows relaxed considerably.

Fang Minghe truly deserves to be from a family of divine physicians. His medical skills and pharmacology are both incredible.

After receiving their punishment, Li Panxuan and the other two were also carried to the medical tent. Inside the tent were only Fang Minghe and Xiao Zhao. The other soldiers didn’t know anything and didn’t dare to interfere, so they could only stand around fetching hot water and handing over handkerchiefs.

With nothing better to do, Wen Nuan helped Fang Minghe with simple tasks like mixing medicine, bandaging, and applying poultices. After all, with her joining in, a stable and harmonious atmosphere was maintained in the medical tent.

Even if Li Panxuan and the others were in so much pain they were crying for their fathers and shouting for their mothers, grimacing and baring their teeth, in front of Wen Nuan, they didn’t dare let out even a single “whimper.”

Wen Nuan took a gauze bandage and said to Li Panxuan, “Pull your clothes down, I’ll bandage you up.”

Li Panxuan endured the pain and struggled to get up and take off her clothes. “Many thanks, Prime Minister. This general is ready.”

“….” Wen Nuan turned back around, gauze in hand, and saw Li Panxuan baring her chest and revealing her breasts to her. The sight of all that pale flesh nearly made Wen Nuan’s eyes roll back in her head.

Helpless, she could only endure the physical discomfort. Wen Nuan wrapped Li Panxuan up like a mummy, so that what the eye doesn’t see, the heart doesn’t grieve over¹¹.

Wen Nuan clapped her hands and let out a sigh of relief. “Just lie there and rest well.”

Wrapped up so tightly she couldn’t breathe, Li Panxuan nodded. “Alright, Prime Minister. Many thanks to the Prime Minister for bandaging this general.”

“If I wasn’t seeing that Military Physician Fang was too busy, I wouldn’t have bothered bandaging your wounds,” Wen Nuan shot her a disdainful glance.

Li Panxuan: “….”

Alright, it’s not the first or second day the Prime Minister has shown her disdain for me.

Fang Minghe finished handling everything just in time to hear Wen Nuan’s words. He took a clean handkerchief and handed it to Wen Nuan. “Prime Minister, wipe your sweat.”

There were two braziers in the medical tent, and with quite a few people crowded into one tent, it was very stuffy.

Wen Nuan took the handkerchief and smiled slightly. “Many thanks.”

Fang Minghe smiled faintly. “This subordinate official should be the one thanking the Prime Minister. If not for the Prime Minister’s help, this subordinate official fears he still wouldn’t have been able to handle all the wounded by now.”

The sight of the two of them looking at each other and smiling was deeply etched into Sheng Tingwan’s eyes.

The moment she stepped out of her tent, she saw Wen Nuan and Fang Minghe smiling at each other in the medical tent. The scene was an eyesore no matter how she looked at it.

Night fell, cold and chilling.

Shen Zhijin looked at Sheng Tingwan, who was sitting close to the wall of Prime Minister Ling’s tent. On the surface, she was engrossed in a book, but in reality, she was eavesdropping on the movements in the tent next door.

“Your Majesty, does this subject still have to… call out today?”

Before Sheng Tingwan had entered the tent, she had clearly seen Ling Wen Nuan bring Fang Minghe into her own tent. As a result, a full shichen had passed, and there wasn’t a single sound from Ling Wen Nuan’s tent, not even the sound of someone leaving.

Which meant that Fang Minghe… actually still dared to remain in Ling Wen Nuan’s tent right now?!

Her fingertips tightened, and the color in Sheng Tingwan’s eyes gradually deepened.

Seeing that Sheng Tingwan wasn’t speaking, Shen Zhijin asked again, “Your Majesty, does this subject still have to… call out tonight?”

“Call!” Sheng Tingwan’s ear twitched. “Softer.”

“….”

Just as Shen Zhijin was about to open his mouth to moan, he heard a man’s startled gasp ring out from next door.

In a flash, his vision blurred, and he saw Sheng Tingwan rush out of the tent at high speed, making a beeline for the Prime Minister’s tent.

Sheng Tingwan’s chest heaved violently. She yanked open the tent flap and roared, “Ling Wen Nuan, what are you do—”

In the next second, she stared in astonishment at the two people in front of her who were playing chess. Fang Minghe and Wen Nuan each sat at one end, their bearing polite and their conduct proper. Between them was a chessboard covered in pieces. On the ground were shards of a water kettle; it seemed the startled cry just now was a sound of alarm caused by the kettle shattering.

Seeing Sheng Tingwan, Fang Minghe immediately knelt and kowtowed. “This subject, Fang Minghe, pays his respects to Her Majesty the Empress Regnant.”

Wen Nuan saw Sheng Tingwan’s anxious appearance, looking as if she had mobilized the army and moved the masses¹², yet now she was like a cannonball with its fuse extinguished. She couldn’t help but find it funny and said, “Her Majesty the Empress Regnant, visiting so late at night, is there some business you have with this commoner?”

“…Not sleeping in the middle of the night, playing chess… playing chess and disturbing people’s dreams!” Sheng Tingwan looked at Fang Minghe, her words pointed. “It is already late at night, a lone man and a lone woman together in one room. Military Physician Fang is truly open and honorable, priding himself on his integrity.”

As expected, men who can get by so swimmingly in a military camp are all deep schemers and not to be trifled with. He actually dares to play chess with Ling Wen Nuan?!

A fellow with ulterior motives!

Fang Minghe’s brows furrowed slightly as he explained, “…This subject and the Prime Minister lost track of time while playing chess. It is this subject who was insensible. I ask for Your Majesty’s punishment.”

“You…”

Wen Nuan interrupted Sheng Tingwan, kneeling down. “It was this commoner who held onto Military Physician Fang and insisted on playing chess. If Your Majesty wishes to punish someone, punishing this commoner alone will suffice.”

Fang Minghe looked at Ling Wen Nuan. “Prime Minister, you need not do this.”

Wen Nuan smiled slightly. “It’s nothing. It was I who held onto you and insisted on playing chess with you, disturbing Her Majesty’s peace.”

Sheng Tingwan watched the two of them take the blame for each other, a truly grating sight.

These two completely disregard me. I am the majestic Empress Regnant of Tianyang Kingdom. Do I need you two to be pushing three and blocking four¹³ when I want to punish someone?

Do you believe that Zhen can exterminate your nine generations¹⁴ right now!

The more she thought, the angrier she got. Sheng Tingwan’s voice deepened, her gaze sinking. “Get out for Zhen!”

Fang Minghe’s body trembled. “This subject… takes his leave.” He immediately got up and exited Wen Nuan’s tent.

Wen Nuan also got up, preparing to leave, but was stopped by Sheng Tingwan grabbing her sleeve. “Where are you going?”

“Didn’t Your Majesty demand that this commoner get out?” Wen Nuan asked in surprise.

A vein throbbed on Sheng Tingwan’s forehead. She gritted her teeth and said, “I wasn’t talking about you.”

Wen Nuan pursed her lips. “Ah, so it turns out this commoner was overthinking it.”

It’s still the same as always. When the two of us are alone, Sheng Tingwan never refers to herself as “Zhen” in front of me.

Sheng Tingwan didn’t want to stay here any longer. Just as she was about to turn and leave, her sleeve was pulled.

She paused. “Hm?”

Wen Nuan pointed at the chessboard. “The night is long, and this commoner cannot sleep. Military Physician Fang has left, and there is no one to play chess with this commoner. Would Her Majesty like to play a game?”

No!

Zhen will not play!

Zhen is still angry. How could Zhen possibly play chess with you? In your dreams!

The night is long, and you dare to find a man to play chess with you!?

Don’t you know the distinction between men and women?

You’re becoming more and more improper!

Sheng Tingwan took two deep breaths and shook off Wen Nuan’s hand.

She walked straight to the chessboard, sat in Fang Minghe’s seat, and looked at Wen Nuan, who was still standing in place. In a foul tone, she said, “…Weren’t we going to play chess?”

Wen Nuan smiled faintly. “Alright.”

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