The Slender Waist-Chapter 325 - 228 You Come with Me

The palace maid complied and left, while Wei Zheng silently helped her towards the bedroom.

She stayed in the southern courtyard, which faced the sun, the room was extremely warm. As soon as the two of them entered, Li Sangruo sat down with a defeated look, and her soul seemed to have left her.

"Kill him, I don’t want to see him anymore."

Wei Zheng saw her eyes were red, filled with fatigue, and he frowned slightly.

"Your Highness, about Fang Fucai’s case..."

"I said kill him, so kill him." Li Sangruo suddenly got angry, her eyes firmly fixed on Wei Zheng, "Must you keep him alive just to see me humiliated? Wei Zheng, what are your intentions?"

Her temper got worse and worse. One careless moment could ignite a raging fire within her, eager to lash out and kill. All the palace maids and temple attendants nearby bowed their heads in fear.

Wei Zheng silently bowed, "Yes."

-

The Imperial Physician Puyang Li, with his medicine box in hand, hurried over.

"This lowly official pays his respects to the Empress Dowager."

"Dispense with the formalities." Li Sangruo raised her hand weakly, signaling him not to be so courteous.

But Puyang Li was a slow-moving man, always adhering to etiquette. He insisted on performing a full set of formalities before finally kneeling to take Li Sangruo’s pulse.

There was not a hint of wind inside the room, oppressive and quiet.

Li Sangruo’s complexion was very poor.

Pale lips, devoid of any hint of color.

Puyang Li looked down for a moment, frequently glancing up at her complexion as if hesitating...

Li Sangruo detested his hesitant manner the most.

"Old Imperial Physician, please speak your mind."

"Yes. Yes," Puyang Li muttered twice, then stepped back slowly and knelt down in a deep bow.

"Please dismiss the palace attendants. I dare not speak otherwise."

Li Sangruo narrowed her eyes, examining him for a moment.

"All of you, leave," she ordered.

Then she turned a cold gaze towards Wei Zheng: "You go too."

"Yes." Everyone answered in unison, leaving one after another.

Wei Zheng closed the door silently.

Puyang Li’s expression remained tight, "Please forgive your servant before I speak, Your Highness..."

Li Sangruo, feeling almost too unwell to stay conscious, couldn’t tolerate Puyang Li’s slow pace.

"If you continue to be indecisive, I’ll have your head."

Puyang Li bowed even more deeply, not daring to look at Li Sangruo’s expression, and whispered:

"Your Highness, according to my diagnosis, you are... with child."

"What?" Li Sangruo nearly sat up straight in an instant, staring fixedly at Puyang Li.

"Imperial Physician, have you lost your mind? How dare you spout such nonsense in front of me?"

"To report to Your Highness, my family has been practicing medicine for generations and I dare not speak carelessly." Puyang Li prostrated himself once more, his shoulders taut.

"Your Highness is indeed pregnant, for well over three months now."

Boom!

Li Sangruo’s ears rang, and she slumped there, silent for a long time...

How could this be?

She always forbade that vile slave to finish inside her, so how could she still have conceived?

It was deliberate on his part.

That vile slave had no remarkable abilities but was insatiably greedy. Even after rising to the position of the head of the Imperial Cavalry Division, he still wasn’t content, thinking that with a child he could tie her down and do as he pleased?

"Scoundrel! Scoundrel!"

What a cowardly, greedy fool!

He deserved to be killed a thousand times, ten thousand times, his body torn to pieces.

But...

She touched her belly, her eyes widened, and suddenly she knocked the teacup from the table to the ground.

When she stared at Puyang Li again, her eyes clearly carried a murderous intent.

"If a single word of today’s matter leaks out, I will execute all nine generations of your Puyang family! Do you understand?"

Puyang Li’s foreheads touched the ground, "Your Highness need not worry. The Puyang family has a long-standing rule that no physician should speak of a patient’s condition unnecessarily. You can rest assured."

Li Sangruo let out a heavy grunt, then sat back, her body as if drained, and looked at him.

"Imperial Physician, you should think of a way for me to get rid of this misbegotten child."

-

Feng Yun remained unaware of the events unfolding at Cuiyu. In the afternoon, she took her people to the conference hall.

The security of the conference hall was under the care of Wen Xingsu. He, along with Shentu Jiong, Yang Qi, and others, had been living there these days. Afraid they weren’t lodging and eating well, Feng Yun especially brought food from Xinzhou City for them.

The delegation from Jin Country arrived at the conference hall almost immediately after her.

Aside from the Empress Dowager and Ruan Pu along with other high-ranking officials staying in Xinzhou, the rest of the officials responsible for the negotiations came early and were accommodated in the northern courtyard of the conference hall.

They had several tasks related to the negotiations, and there were many accompanying personnel.

Once they arrived, Feng Yun’s shop outside the conference hall also started bustling.

Even though the conference hall had a big dining hall, its food could not compare to the culinary skills of the chef at Yutangchun.

When Feng Yun arrived, Nan Kui, Chai Ying, and their fellow workers were already frantically busy.

Sniffing out a business opportunity, several restaurant and tavern owners from the city rushed over to Mingquan Town.

Some inquired around, hoping to buy land near the conference hall.

Others were more eager for quick profits, and directly approached Xing Dalaong to rent the remaining storefronts.

Unable to manage so many shops, Feng Yun naturally became a landlady.

Hence, this place, which had earlier not even garnered a single glance, she rented out for a price no less than that of the shops in Xinzhou City.

"Madam truly has a good eye,"

What was once ignored was now as bustling as a marketplace, exciting everyone to the point where their eyes shone with anticipation.

But Nan Kui couldn’t help but worry.

"Once the negotiations end, will there still be business?"

She and Chai Ying had just begun to enjoy the sweetness of doing business.

Calculating profits each day and watching the revenue, their hearts were brimming with joy. They certainly didn’t want the business to fail and to have to serve men again.

Feng Yun knew of their concerns and smiled slightly.

"It won’t. Think about it, why was Mingquan Town chosen for the negotiations? Because it’s a strategic location for travel from Xinzhou to Bingzhou and then on to Hengqu Pass, accessible by both water and land. Once the negotiations are over, it will become a border port between Jin and Qi countries."

She chuckled again, "Our shop is located on prime real estate. Isn’t it being fought over for lease right now? All these people are sharp. If I’m not mistaken, they won’t be either."

"Even if they’re sharp, they are not as sharp as Madam, and they’re still one step behind you," Xing Dalang laughed, showing his teeth but not his eyes, "Without Madam taking the business opportunity early on, we wouldn’t be having such good fortune."

Several people took turns in lavishing praise on Feng Yun.

Feng Yun smiled and scanned the crowd.

"Where’s Jiang Ji?"

Nan Kui said with a smile, "She was here in the morning, said she’d go down to the town at noon, and hasn’t come back yet, I guess."

Jiang Yin was different from ordinary shop assistants; Nan Kui was not well-placed to control her, so it was natural that she couldn’t inquire about her whereabouts.

Feng Yun nodded her head.

Suddenly she remembered, wasn’t it also two days since Chunyu Yan had last appeared?

Feng Yun’s eyebrows lifted. As the customers in the shop gradually diminished, she took some people out to take a look at the other shops, imagining the future prosperity of this little street.

Unexpectedly, as she walked out of the eatery, she faced Ao Qi and Ao Zheng coming toward her.

After exchanging glances and greetings, Feng Yun left.

She hadn’t expected that no sooner had she returned to her own shop than Ao Qi came looking for her.

In front of so many people, he stared eagerly at Feng Yun, his eyes red and aggrieved, one couldn’t help but think of a small dog abandoned by its owner.

"General Ao," Xing Dalang reminded him, "are you looking for Madam for something?"

Ao Qi said nothing, walking up to Feng Yun.

"Aunt, may I have a word with you?"

Feng Yun noticed his unusual expression and silently led him to the back of the shop.

There was a living space behind, and then a small courtyard, where food ingredients and kitchen utensils were piled up.

Feng Yun felt cold, folded her arms, and looked at him.

"Speak."

However, Ao Qi fell silent.

His eyes, red and swollen, gazed at her for a long time.

"Miss," he called Feng Yun by her old title, his voice low and sorrowful.

"My family has arranged a marriage for me. My father says, as soon as the negotiations end and we return to Central Capital, he will arrange it."

"Is it the daughter of the Cui family?" Feng Yun said, "Congratulations."

"I don’t want to hear that." Ao Qi’s eyes reddened, glinting fiercely, "Today, I came to ask you something."

Feng Yun met his intense gaze, her brows slightly furrowing.

"Do I really stand no chance?" Ao Qi’s voice was hoarse, like an innocent child.

Feng Yun was taken aback, "No."

Ao Qi’s tall frame became rigid in an instant, his straight back seemed to bend, but his eyes still held a glimmer of hope as he looked at the gloomy courtyard and at Feng Yun’s cold demeanor.

"If, when I first joined the camp, I had beaten Uncle to it and taken you in, would you have agreed?"

"No." Feng Yun looked into his eyes, her voice calm and cold.

"Xiaoqi, you’re still young. In my eyes, even if you weren’t a junior, you’d still be a younger brother without any romantic feelings for me, a person fond of Aozai. Therefore, I am grateful for your kindness to Aozai, but no such thoughts will occur."

"I’m not just fond of Aozai; I’m also fond of you."

Ao Qi blurted out impulsively, his eyes shining.

"From the first day I saw you, I liked you."

Feng Yun pursed her lips, not speaking.

The air seemed to suddenly drop in pressure.

Feng Yun said, "When you grow up a bit more, you’ll understand how insignificant this liking really is..."

"Are you that much older?" Ao Qi suddenly grew annoyed, "Feng Yun, you’re only one year older than me."

He addressed her by name.

This was the first time.

Feng Yun could not help but laugh at his audacity.

"What did you call me?"

"Feng Yun. Ayun." Ao Qi gazed at her intently, unable to move his eyes from her face, his eyes reddening with sorrow, "You tell me, what should I do?"

Feng Yun did not know what to say.

Marriages arranged by parents were the norm.

The former her was no exception to resisting them.

If it were not for Feng Jingteng’s determination, she wouldn’t have reached this point.

But she could not encourage Ao Qi to rebel.

Because a path not conforming to societal norms was too difficult.

"Miss," Ao Qi suddenly drew close, grabbing her hand urgently, "Will you come with me? Come with me!"