The Slender Waist-Chapter 426 - 309: Sharpening the Knives

The Pei Family had arranged several tables at the Guanlan Pavilion.

The drinks and dishes were the most presentable in Xinzhou City at the moment, prestigious and lively.

After some polite small talk, they called everyone to take their seats.

The men sat at the main table, toasting and drinking merrily.

Pei Chong was aloof by nature, not quite the same type as Feng Jingteng, without state affairs to discuss, there wasn’t much to talk about, Ao Qi and Wen Xingsu sat with them, but being juniors, it was not their place to interject. Fortunately, Ao Zheng was there, ensuring the table wasn’t silent.

The women sat behind a screen, with Lady Chen, the senior, naturally taking the main seat, to her left was Feng Zhen, and to her right was Feng Ying. She exerted her authority as the head of the family, intent on overshadowing Feng Yun.

Feng Yun smiled nonchalantly.

"Daman, come sit by me."

Daman inclined her body slightly, smiling as she agreed.

"I was just thinking I’d like to have a heartfelt chat with my sister."

She sat down close to Feng Yun, laughing without regard for decorum.

"Yesterday I got a new kitten, so pretty, and it has such a crisp meow, even the Emperor couldn’t help but praise its charm. I brought it especially for you today, sister, to keep in your room... it can keep Ao Qi’s company..."

Lady Chen’s complexion changed, about to erupt, but Feng Ying pressed down on her thigh, calming her.

"Mother, we’re rarely all together like this, let’s not ruin the harmony over a trivial matter."

Daman seemed to suddenly remember something, covered her mouth, and whispered, "I forgot to tell my sister, this kitten originally belonged to Lady Feng, I even thought it was a stray... Then the Emperor, seeing how much I liked it, rewarded it to me. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have known what to bring my sister as a gift for our meeting..."

Lady Chen’s eyes nearly sparked with fury.

Yet Feng Ying held her hand tightly, and in the end, she took a deep breath, suppressed her anger, and maintained her seniority.

"Let’s commence the banquet."

If the seniors didn’t move their chopsticks, the juniors weren’t allowed to start.

That was an unbreakable rule.

But as soon as Lady Chen’s voice fell, Daman had already stood up, serving dishes to Feng Yun’s plate like a servant attending to their master.

"Sister’s favorite."

Feng Ying looked on in slight astonishment, her gaze turned cold.

Lady Chen’s face went from green to white, her lips quivering with anger.

Daman, as if oblivious to them, began talking about her life in the Daqi palace without waiting for Feng Yun to ask, in a manner suggesting a favored concubine.

She was ruthlessly stabbing Lady Chen and Feng Ying with one blow after another.

"I’ve always known the young master was stunning, but I never realized he was such a good-natured person..."

"Sister, look at the clothes I’m wearing, they’re all given to me by the Emperor."

"And there’s also Haitang paper and Huizhou ink, I don’t understand any of those things. It’s like a cow chewing on peonies, such a waste of good things. Later, I’ll have it sent over to you, sister..."

Lady Chen slammed her chopsticks down, unable to eat another bite, excused herself on the pretense of changing clothes, and left the table with the help of her maids.

Feng Ying pinched her thigh until it was bruised, barely maintaining her composure as she poured wine and laughed.

"Such a rare gathering of sisters, Aying would like to toast my sisters, wishing you early childbirth and a flourishing family enterprise."

Daman glanced at her, snorted while holding her sleeves, and arrogantly served Feng Yun, clearly full of self-satisfaction.

Feng Yun gave her a glance, raised her cup to return the toast to Feng Ying.

"I also hope Lady Feng gives birth to a prince soon, to spread the branches of the Daqi royal lineage."

Pfft! Daman couldn’t help but snicker, as though she found something hilarious, completely ignoring Feng Ying lifting her cup nearby, and leaned over to whisper into Feng Yun’s ear with a low laugh.

Feng Yun slightly raised her head, surprised and asking, "Really?"

Daman nodded her head, her eyes full of laughter.

Feng Yun slowly turned to look, appraising Feng Ying from top to bottom.

Feng Ying’s face changed instantly.

Even though she hadn’t caught a single word, she felt certain Daman must have learned from Xiao Cheng that despite her marriage into the Xiao Family, the marriage had not been consummated, and she couldn’t wait to tell Feng Yun.

Without consummation, who would bear the prince?

They were mocking and ridiculing her.

"Sisters, please enjoy your meal at your leisure."

Feng Ying’s emotions were on the brink of bursting, her entire face flushed red, and she tightly gripped the table as she rose to leave.

Feng Yun watched her graceful retreating figure, a faint smile on her face.

In fact, Daman hadn’t said anything at all; she was just mocking her.

"Lost your composure so quickly?"

Feng Yun called Daman over to the window to sit down, dismissed the servants, and then inquired,

"Is everything going smoothly?"

Daman nodded her head. "It’s even smoother than sister expected. His Majesty thinks of you often, hoping for you to change your mind. He indulges me so much that it often makes me anxious..."

Feng Yun laughed, "Anxious about what?"

Daman slowly poured a cup of tea for Feng Yun and sighed,

"One, His Majesty is peerlessly handsome, and I fear my resolve is not strong enough. Two, he is inscrutable; I can’t see through him at all..."

Feng Yun laughed softly, "Now you’re flattering."

Daman beamed, glancing in the direction where Feng Ying had left, and said with a smile, "I haven’t been in your company for all this time for nothing; I’ve learned much."

She called her ’sister’ very naturally.

Feng Yun looked into her eyes and responded with a smile.

"Congratulations, your wish is fulfilled, Miss Feng of the Feng Family."

Daman chuckled softly, "Miss Feng, the concubine daughter."

The two shook hands, but suddenly Daman let go and hugged Feng Yun tightly with both arms, hugging her with great strength for a long time before she spoke softly:

"I will always remember your kindness today, elder sister."

The corners of Feng Yun’s mouth lifted slightly, "In helping you, I had my own selfish reasons. I am no different from Lady Chen."

Different, indeed.

Daman knew the difference.

But Feng Yun didn’t wish to face her in the gesture of bestowing a favor; yet, she was ready to lower herself in the gesture of repaying one.

This was her and her mother’s noble patron, the lifebelt in a drowning situation.

Daman said, "Xiaoman and I have seen how Feng Ying used to bully elder sister in the mansion. The tortoiseshell is just a start; whatever Feng Ying took from elder sister, I will help elder sister take it back, tit for tat, an eye for an eye..."

From servant to "favored concubine," Daman’s life of a little more than a decade had not been long, but because her mother was controlled by others, she had suffered enough scorn and witnessed enough bullying. She was intimately familiar with the practice of putting others on a pedestal and stepping on them in the pursuit of power.

If not for Feng Yun, she would have had to stay in the gutter for her whole life, as a hopeless ant, subject to being trampled upon at will.

The fortune she gained today was due to her timely turn and making the right choice.

She firmly believed this was the guidance and favor of the heavens...

And such a life could transcend romantic love between men and women—women must empower themselves, just like elder sister, standing on their own. No man was crucial then, and love was merely an embellishment.

She must not end up like Lady Chen or Feng Ying, living like a rat in a gutter, making herself odious to others...

Now with a goal in mind, her expression gleamed with determination.

She almost wanted to kneel right there and kowtow to Feng Yun.

Feng Yun glanced sideways, her smile faint.

"Why the fuss? There will be time for you to repay the favor."

Through the curtain that moved without wind, the glitter of Huaishui entered her vision, as if carrying a tang of bittersweet emotion, filling her chest...

"Mother..."

It was Queque’s cry.

It was her helpless wail before her tragic death at Qi Palace.

A voice that lingered in her nightmares, now resurfaced before her eyes.

Like an arrow stuck in her heart, it could not be removed, endless and unending...

A breeze lifted the black strands at her temple.

She seemed a bit weary, wanting to recline onto the soft pillows, yet she reacted in an instant that she was in Guanlan Pavilion, not Chunmeng Hall, with no conditions for lounging anywhere.

"Lean on me, elder sister."

Daman stepped forward to support her against the stiff wall, looking down at her to ask,

"Elder sister, your complexion is very poor; are you feeling unwell somewhere?"

Feng Yun pursed her lips and shook her head, thinking for a moment.

"That day, I urged you not to harbor vain hopes for Xiao Cheng, fearing you might overreach and endanger your own life. Xiao Cheng is suspicious and deep in his schemes; should you be too proactive, he might not take kindly to it..."

Daman nodded, "I understand elder sister’s painstaking concern and will definitely be careful with my words and actions."

Feng Yun gazed into her eyes, "But if he shows any interest, whether or not you engage with him is entirely up to you. As long as it doesn’t ruin my plans, I don’t mind."

Daman couldn’t help but smile.

"The Emperor lacks not for women and is extremely strict with rules. Since he has allowed me to call him brother-in-law, he won’t cross the line."

"You’re overthinking," Feng Yun scoffed coldly, "The title of ’brother-in-law’ will not restrain a man; it only adds some amusement. He even married Feng Ying; do you think he’d care about this?"

Daman looked at her, silent for a long while.

"Do you still have feelings for the Emperor, elder sister?"

The man of her maiden dreams, whom she had admired for so many years and been married to for a few, Xiao Cheng wasn’t completely unkind to her at times. If not for the tragic end of her previous life, Feng Yun might have indeed found it difficult to withdraw emotionlessly...

"No longer." She slowly lifted her gaze; her eyes were calm as if the ice-bound lake surface melted under the fierce sun, with a faint shimmering of ripples, yet chilling to the core.

"Not a shred of sentiment remains."

Daman stared at her and couldn’t quite bring herself to believe it.

Having come into close contact with Xiao Cheng, she understood all too well the charm of the Third Master Xiao...

Elegant and unworldly, divine in his bearing. Which woman would not wish to claim him for herself?

Seeing Daman’s wandering thoughts, Feng Yun reminded her, "I don’t mind if you serve Xiao San in bed; after all, it would be no loss. But if you fall foolishly in love, I advise you against it. Anyone who falls for him will not end well."

Her blunt words turned Daman’s ears red.

But she believed that Feng Yun didn’t completely understand Xiao Cheng.

Coldhearted, he had seen through her from the day they met, and it was impossible for him to harbor even the slightest affection for her.

"I’ll remember everything."

Feng Yun offered a faint smile and looked towards the horizon.

The sun had retracted its rays at some point, and the outside had turned gloomy with clouds stacking up, and a cold wind blew over from Huaishui, carrying an ominous air.

In the distant Central Capital, the city gates flung open with a boom.

Two fast horses braved the cold wind and galloped past, crossing the vast land and heading straight for Xinzhou—

The news of the Young Emperor of Jin’s death would soon spread across the land, and the world would be in an uproar.

The northwestern border was in emergency, the foreign nations that came to the capital for New Year’s greetings decisively turned and sharpened their blades. The Great Jin Dynasty was up in smoke everywhere, its political realm adrift. The grand map and imperial dream drawn by the Emperor of Xifeng himself were about to face severe blows.

But in Xinzhou City at this moment, the people were still immersed in the joy of the recent alliance, looking forward to a peaceful New Year and optimistic for good weather in the coming year.