Both Chu Qing and Wei Ying looked extremely gloomy.
The onlookers stood there, not daring to even breathe loudly. They didn't know whether they should leave or stay.
"Has the person who had contact with Lady Gerile been identified?" Wei Ying suddenly asked coldly.
Everyone looked puzzled.
Soon, Wei Yi appeared and replied seriously, "My lord, we were too late... That person... has already died from poisoning."
On the way when Wei Ying carried Chu Qing to find a doctor, he had already sent Wei Yi to investigate.
But... they were still one step too late.
"Let's go and have a look."
...
When they arrived at the place, Chu Qing saw the body lying on the ground with a rather horrifying death appearance.
Chu Qing frowned.
Seeing this, Wei Ying reached out and gently covered Chu Qing's eyes. Then he said coldly, "What's this person's identity? Who was the last one to see her?"
"Your Highness, the Prince of Ning!" A somewhat childish voice suddenly sounded. Then, a girl squeezed out from the crowd.
It was Yu'er.
Madam Zhou rushed out in a hurry and tried to grab her, but Yu'er broke free.
"Your Highness, the Prince of Ning, I saw before that the woman brought by Chief Aqitu met with her. Moreover... they looked so sneaky that they must have been up to no good!"
"Yu'er!" Madam Zhou scolded severely.
Yu'er pouted and said discontentedly, "Mother, you once taught me to be an honest person."
Madam Zhou blushed a little, being blocked by her daughter. Then she turned her gaze to Chu Qing beside her.
"Your Highness, the Princess, Yu'er is still young..."
Hearing this, Chu Qing gently removed the hand that Wei Ying had placed in front of her eyes. Then she walked up to Yu'er, squatted down, and asked, "Yu'er, are you sure they had contact?"
Yu'er nodded firmly.
Chu Qing suddenly hooked her lips into a meaningful smile. Then she looked up at Madam Zhou and said, "Madam Zhou, you don't need to worry. I won't drag Yu'er to be a witness."
Hearing this, Madam Zhou smiled somewhat embarrassedly.
"Qingqing?" Wei Ying also walked over and pulled Chu Qing behind him, as if trying to keep her away from the body.
Chu Qing squeezed Wei Ying's hand. Then she looked at Gerile who had also come, and said in a somewhat solemn tone:
"Do you mind if we..."
"I don't mind." Before Chu Qing could finish, Gerile replied seriously.
Chu Qing continued in a tone without any emotion, "Are you really sure you don't mind?"
"I don't mind. Since I divorced him, whether he lives or dies has nothing to do with me." Gerile continued to reply.
Although such determination seemed heartless, Chu Qing was actually very pleased.
She was just afraid that Gerile would be soft - hearted.
But Gerile seemed to be stronger than she had imagined.
As if afraid that Chu Qing wouldn't believe her, Gerile continued, "Now, I only care about my tribe."
"Then..." Chu Qing said in a deep voice, "Do you want to be the new chief of the Aqitu tribe?"
Gerile was quite shocked and didn't reply for a long time.
Not only her, but everyone around also had different expressions.
Especially Darin and Ba Tel.
Ba Tel was okay. He frowned and then returned to normal.
But Darin's eyes were dark and his expression was obviously displeased.
What did this Princess of Ning mean?
Help a woman become the tribal chief?
Everyone was quite surprised by Chu Qing's idea, except for Wei Ying.
Chu Qing looked around at the people, then continued unhurriedly, "We can help you obtain the position of chief. Of course, only if you're willing. However, I can't easily make decisions on behalf of the Blanduo and Bahar Nao tribes. I will naturally state the conditions for helping you. But before that, I want to ask you, do you know about the Alliance of Heroes?"
"The Alliance of Heroes?" Gerile widened her eyes. Then she looked at Ba Tel and Darin and said with a look of understanding, "So, the Blanduo tribe has formed an Alliance of Heroes with the Bahar Nao tribe?"
"Yes." Chu Qing didn't hide it. "So, my condition is that if you become the chief of the Aqitu tribe, you should submit to the winner of the Alliance of Heroes. Are you... willing?"
Ba Tel didn't expect Chu Qing to be so straightforward.
Perhaps feeling a bit embarrassed, Ba Tel whispered, "Well... if you don't want to, we three tribes can work together later..."
Darin looked at Ba Tel in surprise. After seeing his sincere expression, Darin frowned.
He admitted Ba Tel's strength, but he didn't quite recognize Gerile's.
No matter how capable she was, she was still a woman after all.
However, he wouldn't stop Ba Tel's suggestion.
He was confident that he could defeat a woman.
Chu Qing raised her eyebrows and looked at Ba Tel.
This kid was really worthy of her trust!
But when she looked at Gerile again, she found that Gerile was frowning tightly.
Could it be... that she had no intention of becoming the chief?
Thinking of this, Chu Qing said in a deep voice, "You don't need to worry too much. You're not an ordinary person and you have the strength to be the chief. And you don't need to care about others' opinions. After all, there was once a female chief on your grassland. However... if you really have no intention of this position, I can take back what I just said."
"I can take the position of chief." Gerile seemed to have thought for a long time and finally replied. Then she looked at Ba Tel and continued, "Moreover, I agree to the condition that the Princess of Ning just mentioned. I'm not like you. I don't have such great ambitions. I'm already very grateful that the tribe can still exist. The position of the Lord of the Grassland is not suitable for me. And I believe that the Blanduo and Bahar Nao tribes will surely lead the grassland well. So, I'm willing to submit."
"Good!" Chu Qing clapped her hands with a smile.
Gerile was a smart person.
To be honest, the possibility of her defeating Ba Tel or Darin was extremely low. Although the Alliance of Heroes stipulated that no one's life should be taken, the final duel was still a war. On the battlefield, swords were merciless. Even if one was very careful, it was inevitable to get injured. Since she had no such ambition, there was no need to take the tribe's people into danger.
Seeing that Chu Qing had pointed out the key point, Wei Ying took over and continued, "Since that's the case, your top priority now is to attack the Aqitu tribe. After defeating A Lana, the position of chief will belong to Gerile. Do you have any objections?"
Saying this, Wei Ying looked at Ba Tel and Darin.
Originally, they had the intention of attacking the Aqitu tribe.
But before, they thought of directly annexing it.
If the chief was replaced by someone who had no intention of competing with them for the Lord of the Grassland...
This was just perfect.
After all, being too tough was not the best strategy.
Seeing that Ba Tel and Darin had no objections, Wei Ying reminded them that they could go to discuss countermeasures.
After the chiefs left, Yu'er walked up to Chu Qing and gently tugged at her sleeve. "Your Highness, the Princess, if you need me to testify for you, I'm okay with it."
Yu'er had already heard that the Princess of Ning had almost had a miscarriage because of that bad woman. So she thought that such a bad person shouldn't be let off so easily!
Chu Qing squinted and smiled. Then she stroked Yu'er's head and said gently,
"You don't need to testify. I can handle it myself."
"But what if she doesn't admit it?"
She had heard that those women were very scheming.
If she didn't admit it, how could the Princess of Ning deal with her!
Chu Qing just hooked her lips into a smile, but there was a cold glint in her eyes:
"I don't need her to admit it."