Chapter 059: Depth of Scheming

Wang Bo said he could become a deity.

On this point, Lian Nishang was unconvinced—after all, anyone can boast. Wang Bo might be somewhat mysterious, and even possess bizarre things like an automobile, but he was still a far cry from being a deity.

She took these words as a joke.

Although she herself did not laugh, she instead followed Wang Bo's words and said, "Since you are confident of becoming a deity in the future, could you do me a favor?"

"What kind of help?" Wang Bo asked casually.

Send me home.

Wang Bo's heart skipped a beat. Feigning an expressionless face, he glanced sideways at Lian Nishang and asked cautiously, "Isn't it good in the Great Tang? I see you working for Wu Zetian now, second only to the emperor and above all others—so glorious. Why do you still want to go home? Can you be this glorious after going home?"

Lian Nishang seemed to have heard a joke and couldn't help but sneer, “One person below, ten thousand above—are you sure you're talking about me? If I remember correctly, I'm nothing more than a gatekeeper.”

"Doesn't this just show Wu Zetian's trust in you?" Wang Bo said. "Perhaps once she becomes emperor, you'll be the next Shangguan Wan'er."

"Shangguan Wan'er? Do you think I care?" Lian Nishang sneered.

Wang Bo saw Lian Nishang's expression and felt a bit puzzled. He couldn't help but say, "From the look on your face, it seems you're not exactly eager to serve Wu Zetian."

"I have never once thought of working for Wu Zetian!" Lian Nishang declared resolutely.

This made Wang Bo even more puzzled. "I thought Wu Zetian had won you over with her charisma, making you willingly work for her. Now it seems I was mistaken."

Lian Nishang fell silent, and only after a while did she say, "At first, I was indeed won over by Wu Zetian's boldness and wanted to help her, after all, she is the first female emperor in history."

“If I, Lian Nishang, can help Wu Zetian ascend the throne in this life, then even death would be worthwhile.”

"Yet the truth told me that even without my help, Wu Zetian could have become emperor. Because in this world, besides me, there is also you."

"You are mysterious, powerful, and exceptionally capable, even able to make Wu Zetian stop at nothing to climb into your bed, just to gain your support and your help."

From that moment on, I knew that whether I was there or not made no difference to Wu Zetian.

"And I also learned something even more important."

At this, she couldn't help but let out a faint, melancholy sigh.

Wang Bo couldn't help but ask, "What is it?"

Lian Nishang glanced at him, lowered her head, and said dejectedly, "Wu Zetian is, after all, a woman. She is neither sacred nor great, nor as fearsome as I had imagined. Ultimately, her becoming emperor relied on men, not on herself. If it had been another beautiful woman, she probably could have done the same."

Upon hearing this, Wang Bo suddenly saw the light—so that's what it was about.

As an independent and self-reliant woman of a later era, Lian Nishang naturally admired Wu Zetian, for she was the first female emperor in history.

She is an idol to most women under heaven.

Yet when Lian Nishang truly came into contact with Wu Zetian and saw her climb into her own bed for the sake of the throne.

She suddenly felt she had seen through Wu Zetian's true face—this woman was not as great as she had imagined.

To put it bluntly, this behavior is akin to a fan witnessing the collapse of their idol's public persona.

The woman she had originally admired turned out to be just another who used her beauty to seduce men, no different from those coquettish sluts out there. That was why Lian Nishang felt so conflicted.

She denied both herself and Wu Zetian.

Wang Bo shook his head and said, "If you truly believe that Wu Zetian was nothing more than a woman who relied on men, then you have truly underestimated this woman."

Lian Nishang couldn't help but be taken aback.

Wang Bo said, "Have you forgotten that neither you nor I are from this era, but only came to this world by accident? Yet, in the original history, even without me, Wu Zetian still became emperor. Have you forgotten that?"

Before Lian Nishang could recover her senses, Wang Bo continued, “That woman Wu Zetian is extremely scheming. Don’t think that just because she deliberately pleases and serves me for the throne, she doesn’t have other plans. Believe it or not, deep down, she is meticulously plotting to seize everything I have.”

Lian Nishang's eyes widened in disbelief.

"What, you don't believe me?" Wang Bo said with a laugh.

Lian Nishang nodded mechanically; she truly didn't quite believe it.

Because in her eyes, Wu Zetian was completely in a subservient posture toward Wang Bo, fawning and flattering, not at all like the awe-inspiring Heavenly Empress.

Wang Bo said, “Throughout history, anyone who could become an emperor and govern a country well has had some real skills, and one who could ascend the throne as a woman, breaking new ground from ancient to modern times, is certainly no ordinary woman.”

“Don’t be fooled by how Wu Zetian now flatters me in every way and follows my every word. If I truly fell into her gentle trap, I’m afraid it wouldn’t be long before this woman swallowed me whole, skin and bones.”

Her mind is not something an ordinary person can fathom.

"Take this time, for instance. I traveled all the way from Luoyang to Anzhou—for whom, if not for Wu Zetian? You see, just by sleeping with me once, she can intimidate the whole realm and pave her own path to becoming emperor. Isn't that the most cost-effective thing?"

Lian Nishang glanced at Wang Bo suspiciously and said, "You think Wu Zetian is using you?"

"It's not that I think so; she is indeed using me," Wang Bo said bluntly. "She used the demon pearl to create a batch of masters, each capable of fighting a hundred, with outstanding strength. With just a few of them dispatched, she could have killed Li Zhen in the war, but she didn't let those people act. She chose me instead. Do you know why?"

"Cherishing one's feathers?" Lian Nishang guessed.

"That is only one aspect. In reality, Wu Zetian is loath to let the warriors she painstakingly created die in vain. Her second thought was to test my strength."

"Testing your strength? Why?" Lian Nishang was puzzled.

"Of course it's because they want to guard against me," Wang Bo said matter-of-factly.

"Wu Zetian wants to guard against you. Why would she guard against you?"

Wang Bo looked at Lian Nishang in surprise. She was, after all, a bandit chief—how could she not understand even this bit of political maneuvering? But then, recalling that Lian Nishang managed her mountain bandits more by sheer martial prowess, he couldn't help feeling a dawning sense of understanding.

So he said, "Are you truly ignorant or just pretending? I could, in a matter of days, persuade the entire court of civil and military officials to support Wu Zetian's ascension to the throne. Doesn't that mean I could also, in a matter of days, persuade the entire court to abandon Wu Zetian and support me instead?"

Lian Nishang trembled all over.

Wang Bo said, “Although I have no intention of becoming emperor, there is no guarantee that Wu Zetian won’t think so. Surely you haven’t forgotten why Zhao Kuangyin relieved his generals of their commands with a cup of wine.”