The Slender Waist

As the hour of 7 to 9 PM arrived, the sky gradually darkened.

Feng Yun sat inside the house, still able to hear the soft conversations of the villagers.

With spring underway and seeds sown into the earth, it was like hope visible to the eye. The villagers had become quite spirited lately, with people often standing by the roadside into the late evening to watch the crops grow...

After Feng Yun had taken a bath, Xiaoman was already waiting for her.

There were now a total of five maidens in her room, besides Xiaoman, there were also Huanhuan and Peipei, who had originally been rescued from Andu Prefecture Prison.

However, the maidens only did miscellaneous tasks – only Xiaoman moved around and served her closely.

Grandma Han had mentioned several times that she did not have enough help in her room and offered to send more, but Feng Yun did not wish to have so many people around her. After being reborn, she became very cautious and preferred to do things herself rather than rely on those she did not trust.

"Why is the window in Lady’s room open?" Xiaoman said as she moved to close it.

Feng Yun glanced over, "No need, I just wanted to enjoy the cool breeze."

Xiaoman looked slightly perplexed for a moment, then responded with a respectful acknowledgment and came back to continue helping her twist her hair.

"You may go down first," Feng Yun took the towel and said with downcast eyes, "I want to sit for a while before sleeping. It’ll dry soon enough in the air."

Xiaoman guessed that she had something on her mind but didn’t ask. She obediently closed the door and left.

Feng Yun was drying her hair when a noise came from outside the window.

She blew out the lamp in the room before walking over to open the window.

Jin Ge looked back, then vaulted through the window to enter.

"Princess," he greeted Feng Yun with great respect.

Feng Yun smiled slightly, "It seems Yun’e’s words work well."

Jin Ge cast his eyes downward, his tone light, "I am ashamed, Princess. The list of spies in Xijing and Andu from His Majesty – I truly couldn’t obtain it, and I didn’t want to act rashly and alert them. So I sought out Mr. Ren for information..."

He paused, then spoke in a lowered voice, "I accidentally learned something from Mr. Ren. I’m not sure if it’s of any use to the Princess."

Feng Yun gave a derisive smile, "What news?"

Jin Ge said, "Marquis of Xuanping, Qu Gong, this man has a very close relationship with the Princess Royal..."

"Oh," Feng Yun smiled, unconcerned, "The Princess Royal has more than one confidant."

Jin Ge replied, "What I meant to say is, this Marquis of Xuanping has a not so shallow relationship with the Yecheng Imperial Court."

Feng Yun understood his implication now.

Marquis of Xuanping, Qu Gong, could be one of Li Zongxun’s men.

This Jin Ge, he reported everything about Xiao Cheng thoroughly and did not hesitate to share matters related to Jin Country that he had inquired about.

Feng Yun faintly smiled, "It’s useful, very useful."

Perhaps it was her ambiguous expression, with a hint of irony, that made Jin Ge hesitate. He frowned and spoke with a grave tone:

"Lady Huaman may not necessarily betray the Princess, but the Feng Family watches her very closely. Being alone in Tai City, she truly finds it hard to make any significant moves."

Feng Yun raised her eyebrows at him, "Isn’t it said that she’s the most favored in the harem? How could the Feng Family keep such a close eye on her?"

"It’s not the Feng Family, it’s..."

Jin Ge fell silent for a moment before letting out a light sigh, "The Emperor is not as superficial as the Princess might think. Although he favors Lady Huaman, to my surprise, one thing is certain, he is not blinded by beauty, nor is he foolish and incompetent. It’s not that he fails to see through the Feng Family’s actions, but rather he tacitly allows it..."

Fearing that Feng Yun didn’t understand, Jin Ge looked at the smile on her face and added another sentence.

"How could a clear-headed Emperor allow one person to prevail over the entire harem? Favoring Lady Huaman is to suppress Lady Feng, and thereby the Feng Family and the Chen Family. Allowing the Feng Family to keep an eye on Lady Huaman is to balance the Imperial Court so that she does not become arrogant due to favoritism and cause chaos..."

Feng Yun smiled, "This is the way of a ruler, is it not?"

In her previous life, Xiao Cheng also tacitly allowed Feng Ying to mistreat her, watching indifferently from the sidelines, didn’t he?

Jin Ge offered a muted acknowledgment, only then noticing the colder look in Feng Yun’s eyes than usual.

He bowed his head in respect, "If the Princess has no further instructions, I should leave now. Mr. Ren hasn’t returned to Andu City tonight, I am afraid he might get suspicious if he looks for me and doesn’t find me..."

Feng Yun looked up at the tall man before her and gave a faint smile.

"Go ahead, take good care of Yun’e and Hengyang."

Jin Ge stiffened, locking eyes with her.

"The Princess doesn’t resent her anymore?"

Feng Yun slowly closed her eyes.

The wind tonight was gentle, brushing through the window lattices with a rustling sound, as if it were peeling away certain emotions from her heart, bit by bit.

"Did she ask you to inquire?"

Jin Ge said, "No."

Feng Yun fell silent for a moment before saying, "No grievances left."

Everything has its cause and effect; all the causes have shaped the outcome of today.

She felt good about her current self and had no attachment to the Feng Yun of her past life, who was always getting hurt; hence, she no longer wanted to hold a grudge against Kong Yun’e.

It’s not easy for a woman to survive.

Kong Yun’e betrayed her in her past life.

This life, she used her.

Consider it even then.

-

By the end of March, the road to Little Jieqiu had been widened by half, and the mining operations were proceeding in an orderly manner according to Feng Yun’s prior planning.

By the beginning of April, as the weather grew increasingly warm, Feng Yun hadn’t seen the turtle pup for several days and started to realize that something was amiss.

The turtle pup often went up to the mountains, and sometimes did not return at night. Feng Yun would worry, but she knew that he belonged to the forests and didn’t want to confine him too much.

But the absence for several consecutive days left her with a vague sense of loss.

Grandma Han noticed and gently consoled her.

"It’s a wild creature after all. Now that it’s grown, it won’t want to be stuck inside a house all day..."

Feng Yun said, "I shouldn’t have made it hide from people. Maybe it left because I said others would be afraid of it."

"How could that be?" Grandma Han laughed, "You’ve raised the pup since it was small, don’t you know? It must’ve gone up to the mountain to have a romp now that spring is here and it’s warm. It’ll come back after it’s had its fill of play. Don’t take it to heart."

Feng Yun hummed in agreement, not voicing her thoughts that she faintly felt the turtle pup was growing up and would leave one day. She felt both happy for him and saddened.

At night, thoughts of the turtle pup made it hard for her to sleep, and unexpectedly, she was woken by the sound of the window being pushed in the middle of the night. When she opened it, she saw a large cat’s head.

On the windowsill below was a deer, the prey brought back by the turtle pup.

Feng Yun had no idea how he managed to drag such a large deer back. Looking at the turtle pup’s face, which seemed to be offering a treasure, she rubbed it vigorously.

"Where did you go? Your sister didn’t see you and thought you weren’t coming back."

The turtle pup rested its front paws on the window, stretching its head inside to nuzzle Feng Yun’s hand.

Feng Yun moved aside, "Come in."

The turtle pup leapt in, rolled on the ground, and then wrapped its arms around her legs, rubbing incessantly.

Feng Yun’s skirt nearly got pulled down by him, and she felt both annoyed and amused as she held onto her skirt, "Still think you’re a baby?"

Then she bent down, cradling his head, "Let me feel our turtle pup’s little belly, are you full? Nice and round, yes, you’ve eaten well. So, the deer is a special gift you brought for your sister, right?"

The turtle pup licked her palm.

Feng Yun was overwhelmed with satisfaction.

Being loved by an animal is even more heartwarming than being loved by a person.

Oh turtle pup, my heart’s delight.

As usual, Feng Yun carefully examined the turtle pup’s body and discovered a small scratch on its hind leg and a damaged claw. She immediately felt heartbroken and asked Xiaoman to urgently fetch Doctor Yao.

Doctor Yao, who had practically watched the turtle pup grow up, saw it as just a docile big cat and wasn’t scared. He carefully applied medicine to the turtle pup’s injuries, then happily took the consultation fee and left.

"Pup, you have to be more careful in the future. Don’t let yourself get hurt. It breaks your sister’s heart to see it," said Feng Yun, supporting the turtle pup’s paw. She hoped he would always stay by her side yet felt conflicted, knowing she couldn’t be so selfish. She stuck closely to the turtle pup for a while before remembering the prey he had brought back, still lying outside the window.

Feng Yun called two servants to take care of the deer.

The servants were very happy.

Xiaoman was also beaming with smiles.

It was said that with the turtle pup around, there was no lack of meat to eat...

The turtle pup was rolling around on the ground, filled with joy and pride.

At this moment, Ge Guang suddenly stood up outside the window and called out, "Wife."

"I found something on the ground. Is this something the turtle pup brought back, or did someone lose it?"

Feng Yun glanced over and saw that Ge Guang was holding a copper belt buckle, which, by the look of its craftsmanship, clearly was valuable and used by the nobility to fasten their waistbands. Commoners would simply use a piece of cloth or a straw rope for a belt and wouldn’t use or be able to afford such an item.

"Hand it over."

Ge Guang passed the belt buckle to Feng Yun.

Looking at it in the light of the room, the bloodstains on the back of the buckle were quite conspicuous.

Everyone’s eyes fell on the turtle pup.