The Slender Waist-Chapter 629 - 454: The Beauty Saves the Beauty

Feng Yun glanced at the sunlight on the window curtains, silent.

The person sent to scout quickly returned.

"My lady, they’ve dug up the official road to construct water channels, and carts cannot pass through..."

Ever since Huaxi implemented well-channel irrigation, other places had been following suit. Taking advantage of the winter to carve out the channels so they could be used the following spring, even though the end of the year was approaching, there were still many people seen laboring along the way.

But who would dig up an official road to lay water channels?

Feng Yun’s brows furrowed slightly, "Which village is it, and who is in charge?"

Her voice had hardly faded when complaints filled with displeasure came from up ahead.

"I’ve told you this road is impassable, so why block it? Move back two li and take the west detour. We need to dig channels here, don’t obstruct us from carrying stone slabs..."

Feng Yun frowned slightly.

Ge Guang raised his voice, "Taking a detour to the west, that will add dozens of li to our journey, it’s too roundabout..."

"That’s none of our concern." The voice of the person approaching grew louder, clearly impatient, "Move back quickly. If you delay the work period of the Capital District Office, can you afford the consequences?"

Capital District Office?

Feng Yun frowned, "Liang Huanzhang?"

Her voice was soft, and the man did not hear her; he continued to urge them on.

Ge Guang asked again, "Having dug up the official road, how do you plan to restore passage?"

Apparently being closer now, the man saw Feng Yun’s carriage and entourage, his expression shifting slightly and his voice lowered a bit, his tone also becoming more polite.

"The water channel will run beneath the official road, and once the channel is properly lined, we’ll cover the surface with stone slabs again, it won’t affect passage... This way can save on distance and also minimize damage..."

Ge Guang frowned, "Then may I ask, brother, how much longer until completion?"

"At least an hour... You can either take a detour or only wait here..."

Ge Guang turned back to seek Feng Yun’s opinion.

"My lady, what should we do?"

Feng Yun pondered for a moment, "Taking a detour would also be time-consuming. Everyone is tired from traveling so long; let’s stop for a brief rest, have something to eat, and then continue on our way."

Ge Guang bowed with his hands clasped, replying, "Understood."

Everyone sensed that Feng Yun was somewhat displeased.

This Liang Huanzhang really does as he pleases. To dig up the official road for water channels without so much as a word, has he not considered any solutions? He should at the very least have made a temporary detour next to it before starting the excavation...

"The Capital District Officer acts quite tyrannically."

Xiaoman had seen Liang Huanzhang arresting and smashing things at the teahouse the other day, and she did not have a good impression of him.

"More of a bandit than bandits themselves..."

Listening to her murmur, Feng Yun’s face remained stern, and she didn’t speak.

The existence of the Capital District Office was due to the practical needs of the Imperial Court’s governance, effectively dispersing military power to prevent the garrison from holding the emperor ransom, as well as a functional differentiation of the garrison’s defense duties—

So, it was all about decentralization in the first place.

However, because of the marital ties with the Ao Family, in the eyes of others, they were all in it together.

Feng Yun did not hold Liang Huanzhang’s character in high regard.

However, at times like these, there was no point in further quibbling with him.

Especially after the affair concerning the white-clad official position, this Capital District Officer might still be harboring resentment in his heart, might he not?

As these moments passed, another ox cart came along.

Finding out the road was blocked, they either turned back and left or stopped on the side to wait...

Feng Yun suggested, "Let’s keep our distance a bit, so as not to block the road."

Following her orders, the entourage immediately drove to the right side of the official road.

There was a level open space that could comfortably accommodate them to light a fire and cook.

The journey from Andu to Xijing would take several days, so the carts were stocked with rice, grains, and cooking utensils...

The servants were quick and efficient, and now with coal balls and stoves, they no longer needed to build a fire as they did before when traveling; therefore, cooking had become much more convenient.

Feng Yun leaned against her carriage, pretending to nap.

Before long, someone from the District Office arrived with the foreman to apologize.

"We were unaware it was the Princess’s carriage, a grave mistake, a grave mistake."

The man said many apologetic words outside, and the foreman apologized repeatedly.

Feng Yun did not respond.

Ge Guang said, "Just finish quickly, no need for such formalities."

The man nodded and bowed again and again toward Feng Yun’s carriage, still receiving no response, then left in dismay.

Feng Yun opened her eyes and let out a light hum.

If she had not been the one to encounter this today, others would probably have resigned themselves to bad luck, not expecting even an apology...

But what about the affected common people, would they blame this on the Prince of Yonghuai?

-

The wait felt excruciatingly long.

After Feng Yun and her party finished eating, they waited some more, but the road still remained closed.

This had already been over an hour, and as dawn gradually became late, Ge Guang grew somewhat restless.

"At this speed, were they raised by eating shit? Building the Imperial City wasn’t even this slow..."

With that, he sent someone over to urge them to hurry.

This was already the third time urging them, and each time, the other side gave a polite apology, repeatedly saying "it’ll be quick, it’ll be quick"...

This time when Ge Guang asked again, the other side finally had a new statement, "The slabs for constructing the channel are still some ways from being delivered; we need to wait a moment longer..."

The sun had already held back its light, and the sky was overcast.

The attendants were all a bit anxious.

"With such delays, when will we be able to reach Baihe and rendezvous with the King?"

"Indeed, the King is still waiting for us at Baihe, isn’t he?"

Listening to their quiet discussions, Feng Yun became even more composed.

"No harm, if we cannot leave, then we wait."

Feng Yun wasn’t foolish. Even if at first she believed it to be a coincidence, by this time, she had already sensed something fishy.

It was obviously intentional on their part.

On one hand, they apologized meekly; on the other, they sneakily engaged in sabotage.

However, whether it was Liang Huanzhang seeking vengeance for their previous encounter and pinning the blame on her, or something else, Feng Yun didn’t know.

She waited for the outcome, so she was in no hurry at all...

"My lady." As she waited, Xiaoman found herself unable to wait any longer.

Her face showed urgency, "I... I need to use the lavatory."

For a woman, this was extremely inconvenient in the wilderness.

Feng Yun furrowed her brow slightly, "Take two people with you and find a quiet spot..."

Xiaoman’s face turned beet red with embarrassment; she nodded and was about to jump down from the carriage when she saw at the end of the official road, a flatbed cart carrying stones came into view.

On the flatbed cart, aside from the stone slabs, sat two beautiful young women, their hands bound behind their backs, appearing to be around fifteen or sixteen years old, dressed in thin clothing with disheveled hair. They were crying and whimpering in the cold wind, their frail bodies shivering...

Feng Yun was startled for a moment.

Xiaoman was so scared that her need to urinate disappeared.

What was this?

Rescuing local girls in broad daylight?

How could such filthy affairs occur under Liang Huanzhang’s governance...

The one pulling the cart probably hadn’t expected the Princess of Yonghuai to be there and started shouting from afar to show off his ’achievement’.

"Old Qi, come and see what good stuff I’ve brought back..."

That one called Old Qi was the square-faced man who had just come to apologize to Feng Yun.

Upon hearing the shouting, his face changed, and he became agitated.

"What is this? What is this? Where did these young women come from? Chen San, what are you playing at?"

Chen San paused at his words, still about to speak when he noticed the desperate gestures of his eyes.

"This, this... They’re spies from Yecheng who slipped through. We caught them acting sneakily while hauling the slabs, so we decided to bring them back for interrogation..."

Feng Yun’s brows lifted.

Quick thinking.

Several times they ’discover’ spies, what a coincidence...

She sneered silently, but the two young women were quite shrewd. Seemingly realizing these people were wary of Feng Yun, they shook their heads in terror and cried out to her for help.

"Noble one, save us!"

"Noble one, please save our sisters..."

"We’re not from Yecheng, we’re not spies..."

"We’re from Baihe County, with a clear conscience. We were kidnapped by them..."

The two women, one after the other, spoke quickly, afraid Feng Yun wouldn’t hear them clearly.

"Talking nonsense." Old Qi barked coldly, but seeing Feng Yun’s stoic, sneering face, he reprimanded his subordinate, "You damned fool, did you make a mistake... Did you make sure to check?"

"This..." That subordinate named Chen San, eyeing his superior’s gaze, carefully said: "I saw with my own eyes that they came from, from over the hill... But whether they’re people from Liu Family Village, that I... that I... didn’t convict, we intended to bring them back for questioning to find out..."

Mumbling and fumbling, he couldn’t articulate anything clearly.

Old Qi glanced at Feng Yun and exploded into another round of scolding while pointing at the man.

"Don’t just stand there, go and check! If you’ve made a mistake, military law will deal with you."

"Yes, yes, yes." That Chen San lashed his whip and began to drag away the flatbed cart.

"Hold on." Feng Yun looked over casually, "I happen to be passing by Baihe, so why don’t I verify it for you?"

A quarter of an hour later, the official road was once again ready.

The people from the Capital District Office, trembling with trepidation, unbound the two young women and presented them before Feng Yun.

"We’ll bother the Princess then. If Chen San got it wrong, the Capital District Commander surely won’t let him off; he’ll definitely be severely punished..."

Feng Yun maintained her smile without a word, glancing at the still sobbing young women.

"Take them with us."