"It had never crossed my mind that people of the Tiandu Kingdom are willing to make such heroic sacrifices to underpin their kingdom. In contrast, in the Qingyun Empire, it's ridiculous that there are so many people turning a blind eye to the forthcoming hazard, as if it had nothing to do with them at all. As an old say goes, when the lips are gone, the teeth are cold (which literally means that If one of two interdependent things falls, the other is in danger). The Tiezhan Empire's ambition won't be satisfied by gobbling up the Tiandu Kingdom only," Wu Yang said in an emotional tone.
Wandong smiled at him and praised, "Wu Yang, it's commendable that you are so observant and forward-looking! You know, you already outstrip many of the officials at the court to a great extent. They are only concerned about their own interests. If the Qingyun Empire retains its appeasement policy with the Tiezhan Empire, wars between the two empires will break out sooner or later."
"Brilliant! If the Qingyun Empire cares to help reinforce our troops, I'm sure our military ties will effectively deter the Tiezhan Empire from further invasions," Yue Zhong echoed excitedly.
Wandong surely shared Yue Zhong's concern. However, the situation of the Qingyun Empire was full of complications. With all the parties competing for the throne, the domestic tenses should be eased first. Not until the heir was set no one would show any interest to the pilots of the Tiezhan Empire. In this case, it was rather shrewd for the Tiezhan Empire to pick the critical juncture to launch its scheme.
Now Wandong only wished that Shangguan Yunfei and Wan Haoxiong could bear up as much as possible to allow him enough time for preparations.
Wandong turned his pockets inside out and failed find any gold. He smiled wryly, as he forgot that he never had to take money on his own as a noble childe. Then he asked, "Wu Yang, do you have any money on you?"
Wu Yang took out a cube of gold in a haste, which was about 1 kilo only. Though Wu Jinhun was a prestigious general, he had always been free from corruption. Bribers had never been received by the Wus. By extension, Wu Yang, a son to such an upright general, wouldn't be able to lead an extravagant life.
Then Wandong turned to Leng Yuecui for help. Without hesitation, she took out a banknote which was worth ten-kilo gold. That was equal to the income of a well-off family in Yunzhong City. The Lengs were indeed super rich.
Without formalities, Wandong took the banknote and offered it to Ye Ling, "Sister Ye Ling, please take this to give Yuezhong some medicine and purchase some furniture."
"Er…We're grateful to the full to your rescue. How could we accept your money?" Ye Ling hastened to reject.
Without further ado, Wandong managed to plug the banknote and gold into her hands and said, "Sister Ye Ling, now that we're family, please cast aside the formalities. If I had remembered to bring along some money, I wouldn't have offered you such a modest amount. The Tiandu Kingdom and the Qingyun Empire share the border, hence we are closely interdependent. Given the Tiandu Kingdom is in danger, I won't stand by as the grandson of the Duke of Dingshan. And I'll offer you with further financial support in the near future, then you'll have to help me equip the Tiandu troops with better weapons to save your kingdom."
Hearing Wandong's visceral statement, Ye Ling and the others were terribly moved.
"Yaoting, you know, your kindness means a lot to the Tiandu people, more than gold! I…we hereby extend our gratitude to you on behalf of our people!" Ye Ling said. Meanwhile, Ye Mei looked at Wandong with earnest gratitude, so did Yue Zhong, Tan Jian, Qiu Xing and Liu Zhi.
Ye Ling's grateful remarks aroused indignation and sorrow in Wandong. No one would ever know how poignant it was for him. Knowing that his motherland, the Tiandu Kingdom, was in danger, he hated himself to the core as he was not able to fight for his kingdom to death under the camouflage of the identify of Yaoting.
"Mei, actually I intended to treat you to dinner today. However, it seems that we'll have to postpone it. But it's okay, we have plenty of time anyway," Wandong said.
"Yaoting is right! After our guys are recovered, my store will be open to business again. We can have noodles here in my store if Wandong cares," Ye Ling proposed with a smile.
"Cares? I'm more than willing to, okay? I'll come to annoy you guys everyday then…" Wandong hastened to say.
Ye Ling beamed radiantly, "Fantastic! You're more than welcome here!"
Wandong laughed on hearing that. Then others burst out waves of laughter forthwith.
"Wu Yang, could you please do me a favour?" Wandong said, putting on a serious look.