Chapter 362 - Ever Heard About Li Hongzhang?
Ye Yuwei’s mind went blank for a moment. “I don’t think there is much I can help with.”
“Mind getting into the car? I can’t stop for long here,” Yu Jiangqing said as he looked into the rear mirror. “I would already have abducted you if I came to kidnap you. Why would I spend my time convincing you when there isn’t anyone around anyway?” Yu Jiangqing chuckled.
Ye Yuwei frowned as she realized that this man would probably not let her leave if she didn’t get in, so she let Yu Jiangqing help her with her luggage and got into the car.
Yu Jiangqing started the engine with a smile.
“Where are you headed? Let me send you there,” Yu Jiangqing offered.
“Don’t bother, how I can help you?” Ye Yuwei didn’t want to have anything to do with this man.
“There is no need to be so uptight. Shasha deserved what happened to her. She asked for it and it has nothing to do with me,” said Yu Jiangqing breezily as the car drove onto the main road. “I just felt that I should pay you a visit.”
“Everyone said you were dead.”
Ye Yuwei stared at Yu Jiangqing. Something flickered in her mind but she couldn’t tell what it was.
“Before I tell you about how I survived, have you heard of Li Hongzhang?”
“Yes, it is in the books,” Ye Yuwei answered instantly.
“Yes, it is in the books. A traitor who signed the Boxer Protocol and a few other unequal treaties,” Yu Jiangqing laughed.
Ye Yuwei sensed sarcasm in his voice. Feeling no one could judge history, she did not comment.
“Do you know then, what the lost war has to do with Li Hongzhang? Do you know that when Li Hongzhang was shot by the Japanese, he refused the compensation but requested that the indemnity amount under the Boxer Protocol be reduced from 300 million to 200 million? Do you know that the Boxer Protocol was supposed to be signed by the Qing Dynasty imperial prince, but turned out differently because of something Li Hongzhang said?”
Ye Yuwei began to find this topic heavy.
“He said, you are still so young, your highness. You still have a long way to go, so let me sign the treaty,” Yu Jiangqing looked at Ye Yuwei as he said, “and although he did everything he could and literally took a bullet to reduce the indemnity amount, he was condemned by later generations for signing the unequal treaty. He tried, but did not succeed. So he lived being misunderstood by the whole world.”
Ye Yuwei clasped her hands together tightly. She could guess what Yu Jiangqing was trying to tell her and why he was still alive.
“Don’t worry about it, Mr Yu. I am not capable of making him Li Hongzhang, and he will never delay or change your plans because of me. You think too highly of me,” said Ye Yuwei bitterly. “If that was all that Mr Yu wanted to tell me, I think—”
“Give it two days’ time. You are a smart person, you should know what I am trying to say. I wouldn’t have come to you if I had a choice, the truth is neither me nor the Boss can afford losing this game that we had planned for eleven years, but he has been changing our plans lately because of you. Cheng Jie killed our brothers eleven years ago, and now he has got Helian in his hands. And he was able to do all this because…” Yu Jiangqing paused and did not continue with what he wanted to say. “So if you have planned to divorce the Boss, or if you have any other plans at all, please just put it aside for these two days. We have only got these two days.”
Two days?
Not two months like Gu Juexi said?