The Slender Waist-Chapter 111 - 86: Kill with a Borrowed Knife

Their eyes met.

Feng Yun calmly looked at Puyang Yi and greeted her without pretense, "It seems I have amused you, County Lord."

Puyang Yi’s face, however, was devoid of amusement. She merely hummed lightly and knocked on the carriage.

"Aren’t you coming out to meet your uncle’s..."

She paused, then looked at Feng Yun, "uncle’s concubine."

The curtains of the carriage were pulled back.

Two children around six or seven years old jumped out from inside.

By their looks, they were fraternal twins, with reluctance on their faces and their tone was grumpy.

"She isn’t our auntie, why should I call her..."

Feng Yun didn’t pay attention to what the children were saying. She was still sizing up the carriage.

There was still someone inside.

Sitting quietly in Lord of Pingyuan County’s carriage was certainly not a servant.

Before she could think further, the two children suddenly widened their eyes.

"Brother..."

Both children exclaimed in unison, filled with excitement.

Feng Yun turned to look.

The eyebrows of the young man furrowed, his tall and straight figure exuded a sharp aura.

This sharpness was initially directed at Feng Yun, but on seeing the two little ones, he stopped in his tracks, as if seeing a ghost.

"Azuo, Ayou? What brings you to Andu?"

Not intimidated by Ao Qi, the children stuck out their tongues at him, then ran towards him, one after the other, embracing Ao Qi.

"We want to learn from brother and fight alongside uncle in the war..."

"Fight what ghost!" Ao Qi pinched their faces hard, "How could your father and mother agree to let you come to Andu?"

The two children were very pleased with themselves, glancing towards Puyang Yi.

Puyang Yi raised her eyebrows, "I found them only when we were nearly at Andu County. It would hardly do to abandon them mid-journey, right? If you wish to send them back, do it yourself. This County Lord does not have the patience for it."

Ao Qi would believe her only if he were a fool; this Puyang Yi lived to stir up trouble.

He pulled the two children, "Go back, I will send someone to take you immediately."

"We won’t go back, we don’t want to go back."

"Brother, Ayou and I don’t want to go back, is that okay..."

"Be obedient, Azuo, Ayou, be obedient."

The two children clung to Ao Qi and started to clamor.

Ao Qi refused to entertain them and called Ye Chuang sternly with a grim face to carry the children away.

Azuo suddenly looked aggrieved, pouted, and glanced at the carriage.

"Sister-in-law said nothing, yet brother is so fierce..."

Sister-in-law? Ao Qi’s eyelid gave an involuntary twitch.

The silent carriage once again parted the curtains slightly.

A woman was sitting inside; the light within was dim, and she deliberately avoided showing herself clearly, making her hard to discern.

But her voice, soft and delicate, was unmistakably gentle, "My husband, you have things to attend to, go on. I will look after Azuo and Ayou."

Suddenly feeling supported, the children lifted their lips and hummed at Ao Qi.

"We came with cousin County Lord and sister-in-law. They will take care of us."

Ao Qi finally came back to his senses.

"You must not talk nonsense!"

He glanced at Feng Yun, as if explaining to the children or perhaps to Feng Yun.

"Brother hasn’t married yet, where did this sister-in-law come from?"

The children giggled.

Azuo said, "Mother said that once brother returns to Central Capital, he’ll marry sister-in-law, so we should start calling her that sooner or later. What’s there for brother to be shy about?"

Ayou added, "Azuo is right, sooner or later she’ll be our sister-in-law..."

Ao Qi was nearly driven mad by them.

The lady in the carriage gave a light cough and spoke again.

"Children should not be held accountable for their words, my husband. Why bother getting angry with them?"

Ao Qi stopped speaking, bowed to the carriage, gave the children a stern look, and then walked towards Feng Yun.

"I am accompanying the lady to meet the You Family."

He had rushed over as soon as he received the news.

Yet he had not expected this...

At this moment, Ao Qi was extremely vexed, feeling as though there was a small flame burning inside him, making him heat up from within, an unquenchable fire.

He feared very much that Shi’er Niang would overthink and believe the younger sibling’s words, yet he felt that explaining to her was completely unnecessary.

Because there stood Feng Yun, watching calmly, her eyes devoid of any ripple.

She was indifferent.

This realization deeply disheartened Ao Qi.

"Miss..."

Feng Yun looked at his misty eyes and smiled.

"No need to worry about the You Family; I have my own ways to deal with them."

Ao Qi shook his head, his gaze full of struggle, and his eyes rims turned red in urgency.

"It’s not that I want to talk about..."

"Guard Ao." Feng Yun glanced at the carriage entering the mansion gate, where two children sat joyously on top, waving and calling out "Big Brother" anxiously, while Ao Qi sillily followed her.

She found it a bit amusing.

"With Clerk He on the job, nothing will go wrong here. Go and see your siblings quickly."

"Miss..."

Ao Qi wanted to say something, even having the absurd thought at this moment of grabbing Feng Yun’s hand and fleeing far away from Andu, away from these vexing worldly troubles...

But his feet were as if nailed to the ground, his mouth wouldn’t open, and such willfulness was not possible for him.

Ao Qi lowered his head, "Alright."

Feng Yun turned to the side, stepped up the stairs, and headed towards the Hall of Political Affairs; suddenly, a shrill scream came from inside.

"Where did this hideous monster come from, trying to scare people to death in broad daylight?"

It was Puyang Yi’s shout.

The You Family, in order to create a scene of being oppressed by Feng Yun, had You Dala carried to the entrance of the Hall of Political Affairs, bloodied clothes still on him, with several servants in disarray, looking like beggars.

The Lord of Pingyuan County had a fiery temper and, upon encountering this scene, immediately burst into curses.

He Qia looked at this family of ancestors with a massive headache.

How could they get away with affronting the daughter of the Grand Princess?

Just as He Qia thought to step forward to smooth things over, he was stopped by Feng Yun calling out.

"Clerk He."

Feng Yun approached him with a quiet chuckle.

"The Great General said, when a knife isn’t sharp enough, borrowing another’s knife to kill is not a bad strategy."

Borrowing another’s knife to kill?

He Qia was not a fool; he understood at once.

Indeed, there was a ready-made good knife right now.

"But what if the knife isn’t in our hands and cannot be controlled?"

Feng Yun said, "Knives are inanimate, people are not. As long as Clerk He uses it properly, why worry about the knife’s edge not being sharp?"

She glanced at Puyang Yi and whispered a few words to He Qia.

He Qia immediately grinned, "Clever, simply ingenious."

Armed with the strategy given by Feng Yun, He Qia flung his sleeves and hurried forward a few steps, cupped his hands in apology with a pained expression.

"County Lord, calm your anger, please calm your anger. These are the victims here to file their complaint..."

After speaking, he didn’t wait for the You Family to say a word, he narrated the incident at Yutangchun, emphasizing You Dala’s faithlessness, lack of virtue, and unreasonable behavior in a subtly derogatory manner, hinting to Puyang Yi that the powerful families were pressuring step by step, making him extremely distressed, and if no one sought justice, Wen Hui would be wronged.

"Preposterous!" What did Puyang Yi hate the most right now?

Heartless men! Men without virtue! Men who caused trouble without reason!

To her, You Dala was no different from that despicable man who died in the pleasure quarters, possessing the same wretched character.

"A ’man’ who can’t even acknowledge a contract he signed, in my view, deserves to be beaten to death! For Yutangchun to spare his life is already an act of kindness."

He Qia forced a smile, "This... Today I summoned both parties to resolve the conflict..."

Puyang Yi got angry, "I think you are a confused official. Why mediate at all? Just beat him to death and carry him away, so as not to dirty the eyes of the county lord."

He Qia, knowing the effect of "borrowing the knife" had been achieved, slightly smiled and added fuel to the fire.

"Andu has just been stabilized, the General is enforcing benign rule on behalf of His Majesty, and everything should be aimed at harmony..."

He then winked at the You Family members, signaling them to plead quickly, or they would be beaten to death.

The old master of the You Family, tremblingly supported by two servants, came over and bowed deeply.

"County Lord above, please allow this old man to speak... Yutangchun resorting to violence in the street is one thing, but to incite the public to strike, though it seems like letting off steam, essentially shows no regard for our prominent families. If Clerk He does not deal with the assailants, I fear it will invite the mockery of powerful families throughout the land."

His words were soft but contained pointed barbs.

The Jin Imperial Court wanting to properly govern Andu, as well as the other counties, could not possibly offend every powerful family out there.

This did not align with the interests of the Jin royal family.

He Qia hastily presented the "Plea of Ten Thousand Words."

Puyang Yi didn’t even look at it, scoffing coldly.

"By your statement, what would be considered an appropriate settlement?"

You Gong said, "Yutangchun returning the deed would settle the matter... "

Puyang Yi suddenly turned her head, looking at the silent Feng Yun, "What do you, Yutangchun, have to say?"

"Easy to say." Feng Yun stepped forward with a smile and spoke lightly.

"We at Yutangchun wouldn’t want to cause trouble for the county lord or Clerk He. The deed can be returned, but there is one condition..."

After speaking, she turned to ask Wen Hui, "Which hand did You Dala sign the contract with?"

Wen Hui: "The right hand."

Feng Yun smiled slightly, with a remarkably lenient tone:

"Then that makes things simple. As long as Master You Dala cuts off his signing right hand here and now, we at Yutangchun will treat the contract as if it never existed. The deed will be returned, and all will be settled."