The Slender Waist-Chapter 632 - 457: Understanding Public Sentiment

The rain from last night hadn’t stopped by dawn, and it was mingled with drifting snowflakes.

The cold weather made the roads wet and slippery. The Imperial Carriage decided to rest for another day at Baihe Posthouse, waiting for the rain to stop before continuing the journey without further delay.

After having breakfast at the posthouse, Xiaoman and Ge Yi came back.

"The Baihe Government Office said that it was the Chen Family who accidentally started the fire while burning charcoal for warmth, and the whole family perished..."

As she spoke, her gaze shifted towards Feng Yun.

"Those sisters, Jin Shuang and Pin Shuang, are now homeless, truly pitiable..."

Feng Yun noticed that they hadn’t come with them, so she asked, "Where did they go?"

Xiaoman and Ge Yi exchanged a look, Xiaoman with her head lowered said, "Without madam’s permission, we dare not bring them back. We used some money to hastily bury their family, and for now, we’ve placed them in an inn at Baihe. After this, we can’t help much more..."

Feng Yun looked at her, then at Ge Guang.

She then turned her gaze to Huanhuan, Peipei, and the others by her side.

"Do you all want me to take in the sisters?"

Everyone bowed their heads, silent but consenting.

Feng Yun said, "If that’s the case, then bring them over."

The crowd let out sighs of relief, and Xiaoman was especially delighted as she bowed deeply.

"I shall go fetch them."

"No rush," Feng Yun glanced at her, "I’m also planning to visit Baihe City."

She hadn’t forgotten her profession, whether it was Xijing or Baihe, she didn’t want to miss the opportunity to expand her business.

The rain hadn’t stopped, and Ge Guang went to harness the carriage, while Xiaoman helped Feng Yun put on her cape, just as they were about to leave, Pei Jue returned from outside.

Qian Sanniu held the umbrella for him, but Pei Jue’s strides were large. Sanniu huffed and puffed to keep up, yet Pei Jue’s shoulders still got quite wet.

"My lord," Feng Yun greeted.

Pei Jue asked her, "Where are you going?"

"To Baihe City..."

Feng Yun saw his solemn expression and was about to find an excuse when Pei Jue nodded.

"Let’s go, I’ll accompany you."

Feng Yun twisted around in surprise, staring at him unblinkingly.

Pei Jue, mute, took her hand and got into the carriage.

Before they had even left the posthouse, Yuan Shangyi braved the rain to come over. Hearing that Feng Yun was going to the city, he didn’t dare make a request in front of Pei Jue, but his eyes eagerly awaited Feng Yun’s response.

Feng Yun glanced at Pei Jue, a slight smile curling the corners of her lips.

"Does His Majesty wish to go?"

Yuan Shangyi bowed. "I shall go to observe the public sentiment."

Pfft! He had learned his excuse well.

Feng Yun gave him a look, "You may observe the public sentiment, but you must change your clothes first."

They had all changed outfits before departing, yet the Young Emperor was dressed too extravagantly, obviously of noble status.

"Good, my lady, please wait for me."

Yuan Shangyi was very pleased, running back energetically to change his clothing.

Dong Bai ran after him with an umbrella in tow, chasing all the way to the entrance of the secluded courtyard where he saw the Emperor being blocked by the Female Historian, and it was only then that he stopped, gasping for breath.

"Your Majesty, you cannot go."

The Female Historian flatly refused.

"You are the Emperor, how can you..."

"Female Historian!" Yuan Shangyi interrupted her, "It was the Prince of Yonghuai who told me to go. The Prince of Yonghuai is in the carriage, waiting for me to change, so we can observe the public sentiment together."

The Female Historian was rendered speechless by his retort.

No sooner had the Young Emperor left than she went to the Grand Princess’s quarters, laden with items, lamenting her woes.

"Your Highness, you need to take more control over His Majesty. How can things go on like this?"

The Grand Princess looked down, a faint smile on her lips.

"That’s something beyond my control. Even with all the power in the world, I can’t rule over His Majesty."

The Female Historian bit her lip and suddenly lowered her voice, with a gossipy tone, "Not to speak out of turn, but Your Highness is His Majesty’s grand-aunt... In this world, there’s no one closer to His Majesty than you, and no matter what, he shouldn’t be manipulated by an outsider, at the mercy of others..."

Having said that, she looked worried.

"If things continue this way, I fear the Western Capital Dynasty will all change to bear the name Pei..."

"How dare you!" The Grand Princess slammed her teacup down, her face darkening as she glared at the Female Historian, "Such treasonous words, are they something you, a female historian, can say? Instead of properly taking care of and guiding the Emperor, you spend all day scheming for power. I see you as the calamity of Dajin."

The Female Historian’s face changed, and she nearly stumbled.

Wasn’t the Grand Princess always at odds with Pei Jue’s party?

The Grand Princess stared at her, "Don’t let me hear this kind of slander again, or else, even if you are from the Empress Dowager’s side, I won’t spare you. Leave!"

The Female Historian trembled, withdrawing continuously, not daring to argue, not daring to utter an extra word.

"Yes..."

No sooner had she left,

Than the Grand Princess lowered her gaze, heaving a sigh.

-

With the rainy and snowy weather making travel inconvenient, the group divided into two carriages and slowly headed towards Baihe City.

Once in the city, Feng Yun learned that Xiaoman had placed the sisters Jin Shuang and Pin Shuang in the largest Yuelai Inn.

She couldn’t help but give Xiaoman an extra glance.

This girl usually is very frugal.

She doesn’t spend much money around her, saving each penny she gets; unexpectedly, she was quite generous when she actually spent.

Feng Yun didn’t go with her, just letting Xiaoman go to receive it.

Xiaoman had just agreed when Jiu You suddenly spoke up, "Let me go with Xiaoman. In case there’s still something left unfinished, with my help, it will be much more convenient."

Feng Yun looked at her and nodded.

Zuo Zhong saw how actively he followed Xiaoman, pursed his lips, but didn’t say anything.

On the contrary, Pei Jue, who was usually not given to laughter or humour, glanced at the odd atmosphere between the two subordinates and gently suggested to Feng Yun, "You should look into this matter later. If it’s suitable, also help them find a wife."

Feng Yun knew that these guards had been with Pei Jue for a very long time. Pei Jue might not say much, but he had feelings for them.

A man at this age should indeed start a family.

Such things should be managed by the head mother of the household...

Although she was reluctant to admit it, she indeed shouldered such a responsibility at the moment.

Besides, hadn’t she received a salary? Wasn’t she the Chief Historian of his Royal Residence?

She bowed her head and saluted, "This subordinate understands."

Pei Jue glanced at her, didn’t say much else, only covered the back of her hand with his palm silently, and squeezed it.

It was raining today, and the market was very quiet, with few customers in the shops.

After strolling around for a moment, Feng Yun roughly grasped the pricing situation in Baihe City.

She noticed that whether it was rice grain or fabric, Baihe was much more expensive than Andu.

Arriving at Baihe’s cross street, she saw a shop selling coal balls, from the simplistic coal stoves to the appearance of the coal balls, it was clear they were from Huaxi.

Feng Yun gestured for Ge Guang to stop the carriage at the side of the street and walked over with an umbrella to ask.

"Shopkeeper, how much for a coal ball?"

It was raining, and a middle-aged man with a mustache lazily looked up at Feng Yun from behind the counter.

"Ten coins each, buy ten get one free."

Before Feng Yun could speak, Ge Guang had already taken in a sharp breath of cold air.

"Isn’t this robbery?"

The shop’s selling price was more than three times higher than that of Huaxi’s Coal Ball Workshop...

Ge Guang was distressed and muttered softly to Feng Yun:

"We laboriously mine from the mountain to make and sell these coal balls, and we’d never dare to ask for such an exorbitant price."

"Isn’t this breaking the rules set by Huaxi?"

When coal balls left Huaxi’s workshop, they had a uniform selling price, but once they were taken by others, Feng Yun couldn’t control how much they sold for. However, her original intention was indeed to provide them for public use. Therefore, when drafting the contract, there was a clause against profiteering.

But once the goods were in others’ hands, the restraint of this clause was extremely limited.

Feng Yun was well aware of this, so she didn’t get as agitated as Ge Guang, merely saying:

"If the shop sells them at such a high price, how can ordinary people afford to buy them?"

The shopkeeper, who was initially a bit sleepy, perked up upon hearing this, eyeing Feng Yun from head to toe.

Today, Feng Yun was dressed simply, her head covered with a veil cap, which slightly concealed her overly delicate features...

The shopkeeper certainly couldn’t recognize her, but seeing her accompanied by a servant, she didn’t seem like a lady from an ordinary household. The disdain that was about to slip from his mouth was swallowed back down, and he laughed lightly.

"How could such things be intended for ordinary people? Only ladies like yourself from noble families can afford to buy them..."

Feng Yun, listening to this rhetoric, calmly said:

"But how come I heard that these coal balls are sold at a very cheap price in Andu County?"

"Cheap?" The shopkeeper raised his eyebrows, feeling more and more likely that he might have misjudged Feng Yun...

Big households would not care about these trivial expenses.

This person was penny-pinching and braved the rain to come out, possibly coming from some impoverished family...

With a somewhat disdainful tone and a sidelong glance, he said, "True, buying directly from Huaxi would indeed be much cheaper, but what of it? You have to be able to purchase them, right?"

Seeing Feng Yun not responding, he lazily picked up the tea cup from the counter, sipped it with an old god in him attitude, shaking his head.

"Not to mention the transportation costs and labor from Huaxi to Baihe, and the safety of the roads, just consider how scarce coal balls have become since winter arrived. Those without connections can’t even think of buying them."

Feng Yun frowned.

He was right about one thing.

Since winter began, coal balls indeed became scarce.

With the mining of Jieqiu and the continuous supply of graphite from Yunchuan, it still wasn’t enough to meet the demand for sales.

Just the order from Chunyu Yan alone could take up more than half the production for the year, which is why they were already working on expanding. After the coming spring, the production should increase...

But the key issue was this winter.

By the looks of it, this season was not going to be any less severe than the last.

In Feng Yun’s memory, the following years would witness severe droughts and floods in summer and extraordinary cold in winter, with frequent disasters due to continuous snowstorms...

This was the reason she insisted on making coal balls in the first place.

But clearly, things had not developed according to her plan...

If Baihe was like this, what about other places?

Of the coal balls sold, how many could reach the hands of common people?

And how many commoners would be willing to spend ten coins for a coal ball?