The Slender Waist-Chapter 117 - 92: Not Recognizing Your Face
Ping’an hesitated for a moment, looking at the new emperor’s indifferent expression, wanting to say something, but Xiao Cheng didn’t give him the chance.
A stern gaze passed over.
"Aren’t you going out?"
Ping’an’s voice stuck in his throat. "Yes."
Footsteps gradually receded and faded away.
The hall of Chongming became quiet.
Xiao Cheng was silent for a moment, wordlessly picking up the memorials on the desk.
A thick stack, like snowflakes, arrived every day from all over Qi Country to Tai City.
Being an emperor wasn’t easy; he had always known that, striving for years to finally achieve his cherished position. Yet, satisfaction eluded him, leaving only weariness of body and mind.
The characters on the memorials kept enlarging in his vision; he was slightly distracted, his gaze inadvertently shifting toward that locked drawer.
The firelight cast upon his face blurred the sharp edges of his handsome features, giving rise to a trace of fierceness in his eyes.
With a thud!
He suddenly became vicious, sweeping all the memorials from his hand and the entire pile from the desk down to the floor, producing a dull noise.
Outside the hall, Ping’an called out softly, "Your Majesty!"
"It’s fine." Xiao Cheng’s voice was very calm, as if nothing had happened.
The night was very peaceful.
Xiao Cheng closed his eyes tightly for a long while before slowly reopening them, almost holding his breath as he propped himself up on the desk, got up, walked over to open the drawer, and took out the letter inside a brocade box.
At the very bottom was a letter with a brown envelope.
That was the secret message Wen Xingsu had sent to Tai City on a fast horse before he left Xinzhou for Andu to search for someone...
Xiao Cheng pulled it out, took a look, and then tossed it back in.
After a moment of silence, he took out several letters Ren Rude had sent from Andu.
He had already read these letters before.
Perhaps it was the cold light of the solitary lamp that night, but he found himself impulsively unsealing and reading them again.
"Pei Jue’s new policies, the Equal-field System bestowed to the people, a massive influx of displaced people into the five towns of Andu, where they were suitably settled."
"The Feng Family, head of the General Residence, opened the granaries and distributed porridge, winning the people’s hearts and earning Pei Jue a good reputation. No longer did the people call him the King of Hell, and many praised him..."
"Pei Jue dotes exclusively on Feng Ying, leaving his other ten-odd wives and concubines neglected."
"Before Liqiu, Feng Ying brought delicacies to visit the Beiyong Army’s camp, where she and Pei Jue showed profound affection for each other."
"Feng Ying has renamed Tianzhuang in Huaxi to Changmen; its purpose unknown."
"Feng Ying reorganized Tianzhuang, training her own force with ease and effectiveness..."
"Pei Jue truly is infatuated to the point of folly, even appointing Feng Ying as village head, which is utterly ridiculous. How can a woman serve in such a position?"
"Feng Ying’s tea production, called ’Endless Resentment’, is in a class of its own. I have entrusted Wei Zheng to bring back a canister for you to savor attentively."
"Over twenty soldiers from Pei Jue’s Imperial Guard Camp guard Changmen day and night, leaving me powerless."
"Feng Ying plots against Wei Zheng and ruins the Empress Dowager’s reputation. Under her hand, wives and concubines are harmed or even killed; this woman... is truly malicious at heart."
Also on the desk was a letter Ren Rude had just sent.
There was a sentence on it, "Pei Jue rode a horse into Xinzhou City with Feng Ying, both on one horse, galloping down the main street as if no one else existed, embracing and kissing by the river..."
Xiao Cheng had read each word over and over again many times.
Ren Rude achieved the "meticulous" detail he demanded, but the Feng Ying in the letters no longer seemed like the person he knew.
The former Shi’er Niang was too lazy to deal with such trivial matters; she was always the one being bullied, never the bully.
She personally said she only wanted to be Xiao Lang’s wife as soon as possible, to add fragrance to his red sleeves, bear his children, and accompany him from dawn to dusk...
That Feng Yun was willing to entrust everything to him, heart and body as one, passionate and radiant. Sometimes vexing but indispensable.
The former her, when fallen into enemy hands, would somehow send messages back.
She would surely be aggrieved and call for him to rescue her.
But now, she willingly accepted Pei Jue, sharing affection and love, even telling her father.
"I don’t want Xiao San Lang anymore; give him to your daughter from the Feng Family, and consider it repaying my nurturance. From now on, let our father-daughter relationship be severed, with no obligations to each other."
This wasn’t Feng Twelve...
She couldn’t have uttered such decisive words.
Xiao Cheng sighed, "What caused the change?"
He had clearly made plans to rescue her, dispatching Ren Rude along with Jin Ge and Tie Ma to Andu well in advance; he was even prepared to reject Feng Ying for her.
But she changed...
Willingly followed Pei Jue.
She never wrote another letter to him.
It was then that a pang of pain swept over his chest.
Xiao Cheng clutched his chest, his fingers gripping the fabric of his robe tightly, the sharp pain lingering much longer than usual, more difficult to endure...
He breathed heavily, resting his forehead on the envelopes on the desk, quietly closing his eyes.
-
A sleepless night stretched on.
In Xinzhou City, the lights in Pei Jue’s room never went out all night.
After Xiao Cheng ascended the throne and launched a major counterattack, the Beiyong Army was facing what would be their most difficult campaign since the beginning of their deployment.
