The Slender Waist-Chapter 437 - 317 Turbulent Wind and Moon

The winter snow was ceaseless and the temperature continued to drop, as if the vast land had been encased in ice.

At noon, the guards of Central Capital City had just changed shifts when a rush of hurried hoofbeats raced by.

It was too cold, and the long street was nearly devoid of people. The messenger soldier cut across Copper Camel Street, heading toward the inner city.

"Report..."

"Her Highness the Empress Dowager has returned to the capital with her imperial carriage..."

"The Prince of Yonghuai has led his troops back to court..."

Li Zongxun was in the government office, discussing affairs with several officials.

They were all dressed in mourning clothes, their expressions solemn.

Li Zongxun sat at the head, not very tall, but robustly built. Although he was over fifty, his hair had not whitened and his eyes were bright, giving him a vigorous appearance. The most striking feature was his thick beard, which made his face look fierce. Despite being a civil official, he bore the appearance of a military general.

With the Young Emperor’s sudden demise, the urgent task was to choose a new emperor.

Wresting support and pushing one’s own true allies to the throne to secure the greatest benefits was the desire of every subject...

The people greeted one another with the customary bows and pleasantries. After a brief moment of courtesies, they got straight to the point.

"There are too many gossipers at court, it’s not convenient to speak there. Now that we are among our own, I will not avoid the issue. May I dare to ask the Prime Minister, which prince has your favor?"

Li Zongxun sized up the speaker, "Mr. Liu, in your opinion, who is capable of taking on the great responsibility?"

The one named Liu Ziyu held the rank of fourth-grade military governor, his face emanated a martial vigor, and he spoke frankly.

He said, "The Emperor has left no progeny; we can only choose from the sons of the late emperor... In my view, no one is more suited than the Prince of Qin."

Prince of Qin, Yuan Shangyi, could barely speak of the past year when he turned six, plagued with illness from childhood, fragile to an extent words cannot express...

The crowd fell silent, all eyes on Li Zongxun’s expression.

After a long pause, he finally spoke, "What about the Prince of Runan?"

The crowd was slightly taken aback.

Prince of Runan, Yuan Yong, was a half-brother of the late Emperor of Xifeng. His mother, originally a maid, had gained favor and been titled Ronghua. Not cherished by the founding Emperor, Yuan Yong was the youngest among many princes and not well-regarded. Because of this, he had been lucky; he survived the Emperor of Xifeng’s successive purges of the royal family...

Upon catching the subtle hint in Li Zongxun’s words, Liu Ziyu frowned and asked,

"How old is the Prince of Runan this year?"

Li Zongxun answered, "If it weren’t for the sudden demise of the Emperor, the Prince of Runan would be celebrating his coming-of-age ceremony in a few days..."

Liu Ziyu looked at him and said, "Isn’t he a bit too old?"

The people nodded in agreement following his lead.

Compared with twenty-year-old Yuan Yong, the barely five-year-old Yuan Shangyi was easier to control. How could an emperor old enough to make decisions on his own be more comfortable than a young, ailing emperor who could barely attend to himself?

They believed Li Zongxun understood this logic as well.

That is why Liu Ziyu had mentioned the name of the Prince of Qin without hesitation.

Unexpectedly, Li Zongxun snorted and said,

"The Prince of Qin is no longer an option."

The crowd was surprised, "What happened?"

Li Zongxun looked at them with an articulate air, "Are you aware that a few days before the Emperor’s demise, the Prince of Qin suddenly went to Baima Temple?"

The people nodded, "Indeed, that happened."

Liu Ziyu said, "It’s said that on the day the Prince of Qin visited, a miraculous event occurred at Baima Temple. The Maitreya Seated Statue spontaneously grew a stone qilin on its head, and from the mouth of the qilin came a jade piece engraved with the words ’Heavenly Passage.’ The abbot believed this jade was supernatural, a heaven-sent auspice..."

He halted suddenly, a glint of shock flickering in his eyes.

"Prime Minister, you think the auspice is a sham, a scheme by someone to rally support for the Prince of Qin’s enthronement?"

Before Li Zongxun could reply, Liu Ziyu shook his head, disagreeing with himself.

"No, it’s not right. The Prince of Qin has been sick since childhood, a high monk claimed he was possessed by evil spirits, losing one soul and one spirit - he needed to undertake austere practices in a temple. Hence, he has been staying at Baima Temple every three months for a month, a routine unbroken for five years - it doesn’t seem to be a deliberate act."

Li Zongxun, clasping a tea cup, squinted his eyes slightly.

"This abbot of Baima Temple is no simple monk; before taking vows, he was a fierce general, reputedly with a burden of too much killing, so he renounced worldly ties and sought to repent for his sins through meditation..."

People looked around them, all surprised.

"We were unaware?" 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

The question they wanted to ask even more was, how did Prime Minister Li come by such secret information?

A gust of cold wind blew in, stirring the curtains, and hurried footsteps sounded from outside.

"Reporting to the Prime Minister, the Empress Dowager’s carriage will enter the Capital tomorrow,"

Li Zongxun abruptly opened his eyes, "What about the Prince of Yonghuai?"

The comer said, "The Prince of Yonghuai is traveling with the Empress Dowager, so he should also arrive tomorrow."

Li Zongxun narrowed his eyes slightly, pondered for a moment, then looked toward everyone and stroked his beard with a smile, "I thought they wouldn’t arrive until after the thirtieth of the year; their pace is quite fast. That’s good, at home, they can still enjoy the New Year’s Eve dinner..."

Everyone agreed verbally, but privately they sneered.

Empress Dowager Li’s pain of losing her child; how could she swallow that New Year’s Eve dinner?

As for Li Zongxun, the grandfather, from beginning to end, he was merely pained at the loss of a most useful chess piece.

In the Prime Minister Residence, private troops were kept, their organization and expenses subordinate to the Imperial Guards but not under the Imperial Court’s control. The leading military officer named Li Shen was Li Zongxun’s confidant. While everyone spoke, he stood motionless outside the door.

After everyone left, Li Shen approached and whispered to Li Zongxun.

"I have confirmed that Pei Jue has returned to the Capital on a fast horse, but his whereabouts are unknown."

Li Zongxun sneered, walked over to a hanging painting of "Child Playing with Fish" on the wall, paused for a moment, then said in a slightly grave voice:

"Dispatch someone to keep an eye on Baima Temple, as Pei Jue’s return to the Capital will surely lead him to meet with the Prince of Qin and Empress Virtue."

-

The twenty-ninth of the twelfth lunar month.

Feng Yun was woken up by the sound of snow being swept in the courtyard.

Another whole night of snow had barely stopped by dawn.

She dressed and rose to check on the bedroom prepared for Wen Xingsu, adjusting the fragrance before returning to eat.

Xing Bing and Ge Guang were talking outside the door. Feng Yun had just sat down and picked up a soup ladle when she saw the young lad from the Sun Family.

A slim and small teenager, stood hesitantly outside the door.

Ge Guang smiled and asked, "Is Young Master Sun here for something from the Village Chief’s wife?"

The lad from the Sun Family nodded vigorously, his cheeks flushed.

Feng Yun put down the soup ladle, "Come in."

The Sun Family lad entered the middle of the hall, bowed respectfully to Feng Yun, and when he raised his head, his eyes were swollen like a rabbit’s and full of red veins, clearly from a sleepless night. He was holding a small cloth bundle in his hand, cautiously presenting it.

"Village Chief’s wife, my father asked me to bring this to you..."

Upon hearing this, Feng Yun hurriedly declined.

"Your family has just had a misfortune, and you’ll need money for repairs and building after the New Year; don’t be polite to me, take it back."

The Sun Family lad’s cheeks were red and his voice choked up.

"That General Wei from the Capital who bullied us, it was the Village Chief’s wife who stepped in and saved my life, and now you’ve saved our family of four from the hands of heaven. My father said anything given to the Village Chief’s wife is well-deserved, even if it’s all of our lives; however, if we truly gave the Village Chief’s wife any reward of gratitude, you would definitely not accept it. So, my father said to bring this rare item over for you to examine, maybe you’ll discover something..."

Feng Yun felt a slight stir in her thoughts at the mention of a "rare item."

Seeing this, the Sun Family lad quickly opened the green cloth bundle.

Inside was a lump of black, hard material, irregular like bark and under the light, it had a faint lustre...

Feng Yun’s gaze deepened, "Where did this come from?"

The Sun Family lad replied, "My dad found it in a cave while hunting in the mountains. He was initially trying to dig up some dirt to make a wild stove and didn’t expect to dig this up. He said it didn’t look like a common item, so he picked up a piece and took it home, to wait for the Village Chief’s wife to return before showing it..."

Seeing that Feng Yun remained silent, the Sun Family lad nervously fidgeted with his clothes.

"Is this... useful?"

Feng Yun pondered for a moment.

"Yes."

She had never seen graphite with her own eyes, only read about it in the books left by her mother, so she couldn’t be sure at first, but she was certain that even if it wasn’t graphite, it was some type of mineral that definitely would be of use.

She said, "I’ll keep the item for now; after the New Year, let Uncle Sun take me up the mountain to see where it was dug out from."

The Sun Family lad saw her carefully wrap the item back in the green cloth and place it in a drawer with a cherished look, breathed a long sigh of relief, bowed to her once more, and then took his leave.

In the afternoon, Feng Yun arranged a sitting area in the room, selected a spot to appreciate the snow, warmed some wine, prepared some dishes, and waited for Wen Xingsu and his party to arrive at the estate. She welcomed them with a smile, then turned her head and instructed Alou with a smile still lingering on her lips.

"Go across the stream to Yun Village and invite the Princely Heir over. Tell him it is to celebrate the reunion."