The Slender Waist-Chapter 593 - 428 Always an Accident

Yun Village.

Ao Qi had been absent for a while, and the servants had been as relaxed as during the New Year...

Now that he was back, from top to bottom it was as though mice had seen a cat, no one dared to breathe out loud, they all served him trembling with fear...

Sharp-eyed people could see that when the master returned from Changmen yesterday, he had been in a fairly good mood, but after last night, he seemed like a completely different person, scolding people early in the morning as if he were a debt collector.

His attendants all asked each other in whispers.

"What’s wrong with the Princely Heir?"

No one knew.

Their guesses were just that, secret speculations.

"Did he not sleep well last night?"

Someone asked this as they approached Xiang Zhong.

Xiang Zhong merely smiled awkwardly, professing ignorance.

In truth, even Chunyu Yan didn’t know why.

What did other people’s amorous nights have to do with him?

It just so happened his little brother didn’t obey, screaming in madness.

No one else would do.

Only Feng Twelve. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Relying on the wild fantasies in his mind, he had been comfortable at the moment, but what remained was only emptiness, irritability, and a sense of powerlessness that seemed ready to be engulfed by fear and despair at any moment...

The Warm Pavilion was quite warm, bright and clean, exactly how he liked it.

But he just couldn’t feel at ease.

This estate was still too cold and quiet...

Changmen was so lively.

Everyone there was all smiles, so different from those around him, who were like the living dead—servants, even with smiles plastered on their faces, were rigid, clumsy, false, and insincere.

All of this made him feel awful.

His heart felt empty, as if he couldn’t catch his breath.

He needed to find somewhere, or someone, to vent his frustration.

If he did not tear someone else to shreds, he would tear himself apart...

"Xiang Zhong," Chunyu Yan called out in a hushed, indifferent voice.

Xiang Zhong was waiting outside the curtain.

Without the master’s permission, he could not lift the curtain and enter.

"Princely Heir, this servant is here."

Chunyu Yan said, "Have we had a death in our estate?"

Xiang Zhong: ...

He remembered Chunyu Yan’s instruction to smile, to smile more.

Coughing lightly, he looked down and managed to say:

"This servant will immediately give the order, in front of the Princely Heir, everyone must serve with a smile on their face... heh heh."

That "heh heh" was the end of it.

Xiang Zhong’s face bore a smile, his round, plump face showing an indescribably eerie expression...

Chunyu Yan did not see the man, but just thinking of his expression gave him the creeps.

"You think this is funny? Smile again and I’ll cut off your tongue."

Xiang Zhong’s expression sobered up immediately.

To smile or not to smile, what was he supposed to do?

Chunyu Yan spoke again, "Why can’t you all learn from the servants at Changmen? Look at the servants there, does any one of them look like you?"

Xiang Zhong stood with his hands at his sides.

His inner voice: The Princely Heir is not as amiable as Feng Shi Er Niang, is he? What kind of master, what kind of servant. The Princely Heir doesn’t even take a good look at himself, does he?

But he said aloud, "You are right in your teaching, Princely Heir, this servant will instruct them to change..."

"You change too."

"Yes, this servant will change as well."

"Don’t be so meek, show some backbone."

"..." Xiang Zhong bowed, and it took him a good while to straighten up, but in front of Chunyu Yan, he, a castrated eunuch, still didn’t know how to be assertive.

Being meek, at least, wouldn’t cost him his life.

Too much backbone, and tomorrow his head might not be eating.

"Princely Heir, this servant has a doubt, though unsure if it should be asked..." Xiang Zhong, after all, had served Chunyu Yan for many years and understood his character.

The Princely Heir was obsessing over a trivial matter, already fixated on Feng Shi Er Niang, a matter that couldn’t be changed. He could only change the subject, to find something to cheer him up.

Chunyu Yan said, "Ask."

Xiang Zhong spoke, "Princely Heir, you have been running around to sell coal balls recently, you’ve become thin from overwork, why then are you yielding profits to Feng Shi Er Niang? Princely Heir... you’re not usually like this."

Chunyu Yan thought of the account book handed over to Feng Yun and let out a snort of laughter.

"She deserves it."

He was looking forward to Feng Shi Er Niang’s reaction to the "surprise."

That woman who treasures money as if it were life itself, he wondered how joyous she would become upon learning he had reduced her share.

Afterward, if not grateful, she ought to show him some kindness, at least?

He dismissed Xiang Zhong, ordered some tea and snacks, and ate in silence, waiting for Feng Yun to come and thank him.

He had even planned how to needle Feng Shi Er Niang...

Feng Yun failed to arrive.

Chunyu Yan began to feel restless.

By rights, Feng Shi Er Niang should have finished the accounts last night.

It was broad daylight now, hadn’t she gotten up yet?

He asked Sang Jiao to check what Feng Twelve was doing in the end.

Sang Jiao quickly returned and reported outside the tent with a bow.

"Princely Heir, Feng Shi Er Niang is not at the village..."

Chunyu Yan, who had been lazily reclining in the lounge chair, sat up swiftly at the news.

"Where did she go?"

Seeing his reaction was so intense, Sang Jiao felt startled, and his speech became inevitably tentative and tense.

"This servant inquired, and found out, she went to Andu with the Prince of Yonghuai..."

Pei Wangzhi...

With Pei Wangzhi, how could she still think of him?

Chunyu Yan’s face immediately fell.

"Heartless scoundrel. Forget it, when she returns, she must come to me and thank me."

-

The weather cleared up, and the sunlight of early winter was exceptionally brilliant, gleaming on the hanging curtains of the carriage and tempting Ayou to poke it with her little hand from time to time...

Azuo was even more anxious, asking repeatedly along the way.

"Mother, how much longer until we reach Andu?"

"Mother, how much longer?"

The two children were the most excited, having looked forward to meeting their uncle, aunt, and older brother since the day they set out.

Pei Chong sat quietly, not saying a word.

Pei Yao picked up Ayou, who kept poking the sunlight with her finger.

"Put down the curtain. The wind is strong and it’s spoiling your little face."

Ayou obediently murmured her assent, then turned around, "How much longer to Andu, Mother?"

Pei Yao was pained by their incessant questions.

"We’re getting there soon, very soon."

As the carriage entered Andu County, the road became significantly wider and smoother.

Approaching the city gate, it was as busy as a prosperous capital, which could lead one to think they had arrived at some bustling metropolis.

It hadn’t been that long since Pei Yao’s last visit to Andu, yet she felt a strange familiarity towards this city.

"Father, it seems there are more people in Andu than before..."

Pei Chong looked out in the direction she was gazing, "After all, it is the auxiliary capital, incomparable to before."

Pei Yao, looking at the throng before her, suddenly had the idea to simply settle in Andu, but upon glancing at her father’s expression, she swallowed her words.

During the turmoil in the Central Capital, Pei Jue sent someone to move Pei Chong from Central Capital to Xijing. Afterwards, he learned that the Tinglan Academy, where his deceased wife was accommodated, was destroyed by a fire, which left Pei Chong so furious that he fell seriously ill.

Lately, because of Ao Qi’s wedding, to avoid any jinxes, he had stopped insisting on returning to Central Capital to be with his deceased wife. However, the already reticent General Pei became even more silent, with a visibly lower mood.

All the way, Pei Yao, with the two children, tried every possible way to cheer up her father, but not a single smile appeared on Pei Chong’s face.

Pei Yao sighed, "We’re about to meet Ajue soon. If you keep such a stern face, I’m afraid he will blame himself again."

Pei Chong didn’t show much reaction.

Suddenly, Azuo yelled.

"I see Uncle and Aunt!"

Ayou also reached out her head and asked with excitement, "Where?"

"Over there, on that side—Sister, look quickly—"

Azuo pointed with her little hand.

"Uncle! Aunt!!"

"Auntie, Auntie!"

There was a large market in Andu that day, bustling with merchants and crowds. Feng Yun and Pei Jue, husband and wife, thought it best not to wait at the city gate to avoid drawing a crowd and blocking the passage, so they waited under a tea stall not far from the left side of the gate.

Many were hurrying into the city, and before the Pei Family’s carriage could be spotted by them, the sharp-eyed children noticed them first.

Hearing the noise, Feng Yun swiftly stood up and went over with Pei Jue.

The Pei Family did not have many members, but they brought plenty of things, and their following was grand, making it clear they were from a prominent household on an outing.

Immediately, some people turned to look in their direction.

After courteously exchanging greetings they hadn’t had a chance to say for some time, Feng Yun suggested:

"It’s windy outside; how about we go back to the manor to sit and talk properly?"

Pei Yao glanced at her and laughed, "My sister-in-law speaks wisely; I was thinking the same thing."

While the adults were talking, Azuo and Ayou didn’t dare to interrupt, but hearing the suggestion, they quickly hopped up.

"I want to follow Aunt and ride in her carriage."

"Me too! Me too!"

The two children hastened down from the carriage, clinging to Feng Yun.

Pei Yao wore a complicated expression. Pei Jue was silent, bending over to pick up the two kids—one in each arm—and summarily tossed them into his own carriage.

Immediately, the children’s cheers resounded from inside the carriage!

Pei Yao said, "They’ve been looking forward to coming to Andu for so long, they’re too excited to control. My apologies for troubling my sister-in-law."

"Dear sister, no need to be courteous. I’ll take good care of them, and we’ll see you at the manor," Feng Yun bowed slightly to her and was about to turn away when she suddenly noticed a familiar-faced servant girl standing by the carriage.

She paused, looking intently.

The servant girl quickly lowered her head, avoiding eye contact.

With just a brief glimpse, Feng Yun’s heart was in turmoil.

It was Cui Zhi.

She had changed a lot.

Familial decline and continual misfortune had turned Cui Zhi’s once plump and well-rounded face sharp and thin, and her body was no longer the full and buxom figure she once had. She seemed like a withered twig, frail to an extreme, as though a gust of wind could blow her away...

If it weren’t for the tear mole beneath her eye, Feng Yun would have hardly recognized her.

It seemed that in the end, Cui Zhi had chosen to follow the wife of Ao, not Puyang Yi...