April 23, 2018, Early Morning

"So, they actually believed your nonsense and are now starting to set up that United Hearts Array!?"

In the restaurant, Shen Qingming listened incredulously to Wang Jiu recounting the fruitful results of last night, and developed a deep curiosity about the average intelligence of the rebels in Golden Jade City.

Wang Jiu, however, said matter-of-factly, "Based on rational consideration, [United Strength] is their only choice."

"Based on rational consideration, they shouldn’t have let you through the City Lord’s Mansion gates! That Guard Captain actually believed you were Zhao Hongwu’s distant relative!?"

Wang Jiu said, "I have a perfect chain of logical evidence and equally perfect on-site presentation skills, as long as Zhao Taotao thinks normally and has an above-average intelligence index, he would naturally believe my explanations."

"Are you sarcastically suggesting that my intelligence index is lower than average!?"

"Objectively speaking, your results from several intelligence tests have been less than optimistic. If you were to meet the condition of having a standard intelligence index, the only way would be to move your household registration to the wild people’s gathering west of Feiyan Mountain. There, you could be treated as a king of brains..."

"You’re the king of the apes!" Shen Qingming was ashamed and indignant, "You mock my intelligence level daily, but are you really as brilliant as you claim? I’ll quiz you on something!"

Wang Jiu chuckled, "You’re going to quiz me? How will you ensure the reasonableness and effectiveness of the questions? Regarding the results, if there are doubts, should we listen to you or to me?"

Shen Qingming was flustered by the questions, "You... Why do you have so many questions? When you tested me, there wasn’t this much nonsense!"

Wang Jiu asked, "So why didn’t you ever question the results back then?"

"I... Anyway, listen to the question!" Shen Qingming fumed, "I’ll give you the simplest question, even Li Xinyu could answer it! A couple is on a romantic date, and the guy asks the girl if she likes him. Even though the woman likes him, she says: ’I hate you the most.’ Why is that?!"

Wang Jiu replied decisively, "Because the woman is an idiot."

"Pfft..."

The onlookers like Li Chaolu immediately spewed their tea.

Shen Qingming found it both amusing and annoying, "Look at you, even getting such a simple question wrong, how can you criticize me for being dumb?!"

Wang Jiu said, "Where did I go wrong?"

Shen Qingming said, "The correct answer is because the girl is shy and embarrassed to admit she likes him, so she says she hates him!"

Wang Jiu said, "Isn’t this behavior idiotic? Clearly liking someone but insisting on saying you hate them, deliberately using misleading language to add uncertainty to their relationship, is utterly foolish."

"You, you don’t understand human love and romance at all!"

"And you don’t understand human stupidity at all."

Shen Qingming’s eyelids twitched, feeling the blood vessels near her temples reaching a critical point.

Every time she has a conversation like this with Wang Jiu, it’s more exhausting than a session of cultivating the Immovable Tyrant Body.

Wang Jiu also sighed inwardly, knowing that Shen Qingming had been following him for almost a year. Her True Essence Divine Sense and physical body have made significant progress, yet her intelligence index remains worrying. It seems her natural fate is hard to change.

So, in the next conversation, Wang Jiu tried to keep things concise.

"Zhao Hongwu and the others, convinced by my perfect speech and meticulous logic, decided to set up the United Hearts Array. It will take about 5 days for the provisional government to mobilize and set up the array."

Shen Qingming said, "And you left a fatal flaw in the array, so that once activated, it will cause a cataclysmic explosion, killing all the provisional government members?"

Wang Jiu denied, "What nonsense are you thinking? Such a flaw would be noticed during a test run, and unless absolutely necessary, I wouldn’t harm humans. So the array doesn’t fundamentally have any issues. If successfully launched, it can indeed refine the United Strength to permanently suppress or even kill Zhao Chenlu."

"... So, you went through all this trouble to infiltrate the enemy ranks just to provide them with a powerful tool to thoroughly suppress Zhao Chenlu!?" Shen Qingming worked hard to clear her thoughts, then lamented, "You truly are exceptionally wise."

Wang Jiu pondered for a moment and said, "I’m not sure if you’ve heard the story of water supporting or overturning a boat, let me explain..."

"No need to explain, my cultural class grades in the Li Family Inner Sect were excellent!"

"The United Hearts Array can refine both the will to suppress Zhao Chenlu and the will to liberate her. That power is very strong, enough to cover the Seventeen Linked Rings, and the activation process cannot be reversed once started, making it the perfect strategy for the current situation."

After Wang Jiu finished, Shen Qingming questioned, "So your plan is that after 5 days, when Zhao Hongwu and the others activate the array to refine public opinion, they’ll think they’re gaining public support but will actually face public opposition? This is too far-fetched. They’re the provisional government and have already taken control of Golden Jade City’s media, so they can easily fabricate charges to tarnish Zhao Chenlu’s reputation."

"It’s not that simple," Li Wanqing said, "Zhao Chenlu’s reputation in Golden Jade City was built over decades. Changing public perception in just a few days is easier said than done."

Wang Jiu said, "Precisely, which is why I suggested they label Zhao Chenlu as a Demon Race spy to fundamentally explain her various anomalies. Then it’s just a matter of fabricating enough false evidence—with the assistance of her personal maid, Zhao Lingbo, it should be quite easy—to overturn her years of reputation."

Shen Qingming could hardly listen anymore, "Whose side are you on!? It sounds like you’re deliberately pushing Zhao Chenlu to a dead end!"

Frankly, given the relationship between Shen Qingming and Zhao Chenlu, the least she could wish for Zhao Chenlu’s plight after the coup was to avoid outright gloating. Naturally, she didn’t hope for her escape. But the horrifying sophistication of Wang Jiu’s rescue wisdom was too much; she wouldn’t want him pulling her into a pit of fire if she ever got into trouble.

Wang Jiu explained, "To persuade them to trust a suggestion from a stranger like me, I naturally have to offer a seemingly reliable plan; that’s a necessary initial investment."

"So how do you plan to wrap this up? Are you saying that in 5 days, you can make the people of Golden Jade City wildly obsessed with Zhao Chenlu?"

"Of course," Wang Jiu asserted, "I don’t even need 5 days; just 3 days, and I can make a million people in Golden Jade City go crazy for Zhao Chenlu."

"With your understanding of human nature, I’m afraid in 3 days you’ll make the whole city passionately hate Zhao Chenlu."

Wang Jiu said, "This isn’t my original tactic; it’s a move Zhao Chenlu used in the past. She once managed to make a city that deeply loathed her completely change their attitude in just one day. I’ve extended the timeframe to 3 days now, so it should be more than enough."

"...What did she do back then? Did she use some Heaven Shattering Realm Great Immortal Technique to brainwash millions?"

Wang Jiu said, "Twisting the minds of millions purely through magical power is difficult even for a Heaven Shattering Realm cultivator. So she didn’t use any powerful magic; she achieved all of this with personal charm."

"Personal charm..." Shen Qingming spoke, instinctively recalling that stunning impression etched in her mind from a brief encounter with Zhao Chenlu. She had to admit, some things only Zhao Chenlu could achieve.

But still...

"No matter how amazing her personal charm is, she’s now suppressed in the Seventeen Linked Rings and can’t do anything, right?"

"Yes, which is why it requires my intervention." Wang Jiu said while glancing at Li Chaolu, Li Wanqing, and others, "It’d be even better if you all would help."

"Us? What can we do to help?" Li Chaolu asked curiously.

Though she didn’t have a favorable opinion of Zhao Chenlu either, if Wang Jiu asked for help, Li Chaolu would unconditionally support it.

Wang Jiu said, "It’s simple. I plan to hold an idol concert the day before the public trial, after the array is activated."

"What!? "

"Let’s do it under the name of the Spirit Cat Team. I hope you all can participate... Although in Golden Jade City, the Spirit Cat Team isn’t as popular as in Cyan Cloud City, they still have a decent fan base, and with collaboration with City Lord Zhao Chenlu of Golden Jade City, there’s no fear of lacking popularity."

"What?!"

"The theme of the idol concert... To gain the support of a million people in a short time, we need a strong theme, so let’s tentatively decide on a swimsuit extravaganza."

"What?!"

"The swimsuit styles should aim for a sexy but not vulgar look, tailored to the personal features of different members..."

"Hey, you... Stop talking so excitedly by yourself, let me ask you, Zhao Chenlu is suppressed under the City Lord’s Mansion. How will she join your swimsuit extravaganza?"

"That’s why I said, it requires my intervention."

"...What!?"