The Slender Waist-Chapter 370 - 262: Rising Step by Step

Li Sangruo was clutching at her skirt as she walked forward when she nearly tripped. Several eunuchs and palace maids rushed to steady her, barely managing to keep her on her feet. Her voice quivered with anger as she spoke.

"Where’s Shao Cheng? Go and ask, what is he doing?"

The little Huangmen (Eunuch) was so scared that he bowed deeply, not daring to lift his head.

"Reply, replying to the Empress Dowager, the Da Honglu has not yet finished, quickly, it’ll be soon..."

"Fools!" Li Sangruo snapped, flinging her sleeves forcefully.

She took a deep breath, attempting to suppress her emotions, but ultimately could not contain her impatience.

"I will go and see for myself."

Tang Shaogong followed silently by her side without uttering a word.

Shao Cheng was in another room along the cloister, guarded at the entrance by soldiers, and the surrounding area was quiet.

Seeing the Empress Dowager coming, the guards hurriedly bowed their heads to greet her. Li Sangruo waved them off and strode in with a cold face. She saw Shao Cheng sitting motionless, holding a piece of paper in both hands, deflated as if all the air had been let out of him.

"Shao Qing, what are you doing?"

When Shao Cheng heard the Empress Dowager’s annoyed voice, he was startled, quickly brushing off his robe to kneel in respect.

"Empress Dowager."

Eventually, he offered the paper in his hands to Li Sangruo with trembling hands.

"Please, Your Highness, have a look."

Li Sangruo glanced down and asked, "What is this?"

Shao Cheng didn’t dare to lift his head, "A method of restoration written by Qi Jun."

Before noon, Qi Fang’s "Rivers and Mountains in Autumn" had been restored. To authenticate its truthfulness, Xiao Cheng even stamped his personal seal on the painting, providing it with confirmation.

At the same time, he carefully wrote down the restoration process and sent someone to deliver it to Shao Cheng.

And he politely stated, "For Master Shao’s reference."

The gentleman’s demeanor, cultivation of virtue regardless of friend or foe, elicited admiration and shame from Shao Cheng.

"This humble official has always been conceited about my family’s scholarly heritage, looking down upon everything. It’s only today that I realize there’s always someone better out there."

With a long sigh, he knelt again, "Please forgive this fool’s stupidity. I am no match for Qi Jun. I implore the Empress Dowager to punish me."

The servants in the room also knelt, pleading guilty along with Shao Cheng.

Tang Shaogong’s gaze moved past Li Sangruo to the desk.

The restoration of "Rivers and Mountains in Autumn" by Shao Cheng was halfway complete. Although he was not an expert in this field, he could imagine how intricate and complicated it was. Shao Cheng had been quick and had tried his best.

Seeing Empress Dowager Li becoming frustrated, he reminded her in a cold voice.

"Your Highness, please calm your anger. Now that things have come to this, prepare for the next competition."

Li Sangruo stole a glance at him, suppressing the surge of fury in her heart.

"Let Luo Dian and Ruan Pu handle it. I’m not feeling well. I’ll take a short rest."

She didn’t want to face defeat, particularly after proclaiming such grand words in public, with nowhere to save face.

Tang Shaogong looked through her, as it were, agreeing with her and following her out.

There was no one else on the long corridor when he spoke lowly again:

"Your Highness has been extremely agitated these past few days. You should reflect on yourself."

Li Sangruo was already enraged and her face changed markedly when she heard this, turning back abruptly.

"Uncle Shaogong, once the matter you’re handling for me is done, then I won’t be agitated."

Tang Shaogong was silent, "This servant observes that Your Highness does not wish for Fang Fucai to die. To save him, one must wait for the right moment. And..."

His gaze shifted slightly downward, brushing over Li Sangruo’s flat belly.

"There’s no hurry, Your Highness. Have patience and wait."

"Wait and wait, until when?" Li Sangruo fumed, her voice suppressed to a dark growl between clenched teeth.

"I’ve had enough of these days..."

Tang Shaogong calmly looked at her, "What Your Highness cannot stand, is it the absence of Fang Fucai or the lack of men like Song Shou’an?"

Li Sangruo abruptly halted in her steps.

She had never imagined Tang Shaogong would dare to ask such a blunt question.

No one had ever been so bold.

Yet he was so calm, so indifferent to her feelings.

It was like a knife deftly cutting open her heart and pinpointing the issue.

The reason for her restlessness and irritability these past few days was due to her insomnia, her struggle to fall asleep, and once asleep, plagued with chaotic dreams. In one moment, she dreamed that the child in her womb had been born, calling her mother, only to be stabbed to death by her father, drenched in blood. In another moment, she dreamed of Song Shou’an standing by her bed, begging for mercy...

She wanted to quickly rid herself of the burden in her womb, but with negotiations underway, her public appearances were necessary and she could not act recklessly.

These worries tormented her, preventing her from sleeping, and making her more irritable. Yet Tang Shaogong suggested her problem was missing a man...

Useless man!

She still didn’t understand which part of him her father trusted.

-

In the council hall. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

The restored "Rivers and Mountains in Autumn" was being displayed.

As the painting was not yet dry, the servants carried it with extreme care, and even in such a state, it was still astonishing.

The focal point of this painting was the rich autumn scenery, layer upon layer, waves of autumn hues. Autumn was in the trees, on the ground, in the yellow leaves and flowing water, enveloping the passersby and filling the courtyard. In the art of ancient painting restoration, it’s not difficult to make a painting look new again. The challenge is to "restore the old as old" and to preserve its original essence.

"Rivers and Mountains in Autumn" was severely damaged, with creases and deterioration in the paper, presenting a great challenge...

Xiao Cheng had succeeded, making it new without altering the essence, preserving the painting’s spirit.

Soon, the half-restored remnants by Shao Cheng were also brought down.

People inspected them one by one, crowding around to witness.

The noise of excitement and endless discussions filled the air.

But not a single envoy from Jin dared to voice the opinion that Shao Cheng’s work was superior.

Chunyu Yan sat in front of a wooden desk, dressed in fine clothes, his figure upright, but the eyes hidden beneath the half-mask of his cold, expressionless face were indiscernible, revealing no emotion.

"If there are no objections from the gentlemen, this Princely Heir will announce the results."

The hall fell silent as a graveyard.

Chunyu Yan’s gaze swept over the envoys from both sides.

"In the first round, ’Rivers and Mountains in Autumn,’ Qi side wins."

The Qi envoys congratulated each other with clasped hands, while the Jin envoys pulled long faces, one more displeased than the next.

The Empress Dowager of Jin was nowhere to be found, so the Imperial Secretary, Yuan Pu, maintained a dignified front.

"We concede defeat."

He stood up and clasped his hands in defeat, offering a bow. After a few words of flattery, he said to Chunyu Yan,

"Please, Princely Heir, announce the second question."

As per the drawing of lots, the second question came from the Jin side.

Chunyu Yan said, "Jin’s question is entitled: ’Rise Step by Step.’

This time, it was the Qi side that erupted in surprise, while those from Jin remained calmly seated.

Yunchuan servants came forth on both sides, approaching the tables to distribute diagrams and contents for the second test to the envoys.

This was a competitive question that evolved from a chessboard game.

However, while the chessboard game was a literary test, the transformed version became a martial one.

Before the competition, guards would draw an enlarged chess grid in the center of the deliberation hall, that is, on the central dam of the "Hui" shape. The grid contained various official ranks, from minor officials to the Prime Minister, designated by markers of different sizes. On either side of the chessboard were stones of various sizes marked with different weights, ranging from one hundred to three hundred catties.

The outcome of this game was determined by the "chess" weights used by both sides.

Lifting a heavy stone chess piece could move three to five steps, while a light one only one or two steps. The side that reached "Prime Minister" first would be declared the winner.

The rules were very simple and rough, in line with the style of games in Dajin.

Those present were all sly old foxes; a single glance and they understood.

This round was tailored for General Pei of Jin.

Jin must win.

-

Feng Yun had lunch at an eatery before coming over.

As she entered the deliberation hall, Feng Ying greeted her.

Yesterday, upon seeing her, she did not dare to approach. Today, she was much more at ease.

"Big Sister."

She lowered her eyes demurely, still with a trace of her ingenuous demeanor, but the victory of the Qi side made her feel honored. She seemed to brighten up, her steps lighter, and the sheer gauze of her headdress could not hide her joy.

"His Majesty has won."

Feng Yun glanced at her and came to a silent stop.

Feng Ying’s mouth curled up slightly as she whispered, "I didn’t expect it to go so smoothly. We won the first round, and it was the Yunchuan round."

She let out a light laugh, half genuine and half regretful, "I originally thought that if Qi lost, His Majesty could then ask the Jin side for someone, and our elder sister would be able to return to Qi with us as she wished..."

She used the phrase "as she wished."

Feng Yun gave a scornful smile.

"Do you think provoking me like this still works?"

Feng Ying often used this tactic before: when she didn’t want Feng Yun to do something, she would emphasize how much she liked it, making it seem indispensable. After a few times, Feng Yun grew tired of it and stopped doing it...

"You’re clearly afraid of me returning to Qi, yet you pretend to be magnanimous. Feng Ying, I can go back to Qi if I want to, you can’t stop me. If I don’t wish to return, not even a sedan chair carried by eight can take me back. Put away your little schemes. Instead of wasting time with nonsense, you’d be better off thinking about how to secure the Empress’s throne..."

"Elder Sister..." Feng Ying showed an innocent expression.

Looking at her, she suddenly curtsied to the person behind Feng Yun.

"Your Majesty."

The sound was filled with grievance.

Feng Yun had had enough in her past life and truly did not want to watch this kind of petty trick again.

"You think I care about Xiao San’s opinion? Fool, the only person who cares is you."

Feng Ying kept her head down, silent.

Xiao Cheng silently moved behind Feng Yun.

"I would not do that, regardless of winning or losing."

As the words were spoken, silence fell around them.

The guards behind him were shocked.

Feng Ying was shocked.

Even Feng Yun was somewhat taken aback.

She slowly turned to look at him.

This was the first close encounter between them since that night on the Zhu River.

Feng Yun had not been particularly interested in dealing with him, but with Feng Ying standing there, her eyes seemed glued to them, as if she was desperate to find something in their every move...

If she didn’t indulge others, she would come across as unreasonable.

"Congratulations, Your Majesty."

Her tone was light, without a hint of malice.

"Today’s match truly was an eye-opener."

Xiao Cheng’s eyes flickered.

He had already heard many compliments since he knew he would win, and there was no particular sense of joy, only fatigue and not even the satisfaction that came from restoring "Rivers and Mountains in Autumn" itself.

But the admiration in Feng Yun’s eyes soothed everything.

He smiled faintly, "I am not worthy."

Feng Yun: "False modesty."

After an exchange of casual talk, the tense atmosphere swept away.

Feng Ying watched them quietly, her eyes and brows cast down, her face under the headdress cold as ice.

Feng Yun noticed, but Xiao Cheng did not.

He took a few steps forward, his demeanor as refined as fine jade, his voice clear and pleasant.

"General’s wife, may I have a word with you in private?"