The Slender Waist

"Miss, we’ve arrived at the Governor’s Office," said the attendants as they helped the young lady alight from the carriage.

She lifted her head to survey the towering entrance of the Governor’s Office and sighed softly.

"What a grand presence."

Only then did she notice someone watching her.

Turning her head, she met Feng Yun’s scrutinizing gaze squarely.

Feng Yun smiled faintly.

With kindness and warmth.

The young lady, however, was indifferent, turning her face away and summoning the servants.

"Knock on the door."

"At once," came the response.

Feng Yun watched quietly, a gentle smile on her face.

"Not from Andu, from someplace far away," she murmured to herself.

Pei Jue had been sitting in her carriage, initially inattentive. Upon hearing these words, she too glanced in the direction of the newcomer.

At this moment, the porter emerged from the Governor’s Office.

Following him was the butler, who courteously guided the carriage through the side entrance with unhurried grace.

Curious, Feng Yun sent Ge Guang to inquire about the identity of the lady.

The porter at the Governor’s Office did not recognize Ge Guang but did recognize Feng Yun’s carriage.

At that time, it was common for noble families to display their insignias on their carriages for easy recognition and to avoid unnecessary trouble.

For the sake of convenient business travel, Feng Yun had designed an emblem for Changmen herself, which she had drawn with her own hand.

The design was a stylized version of the Pinecone Wind Chime known to almost everyone in Andu City.

Thus, the absence of any such insignia on the lady’s carriage was all Feng Yun needed to conclude she was not from Andu.

The porter glanced at Feng Yun and spoke with Ge Guang in a politely hushed voice.

Returning to the curtain, Ge Guang reported in a low tone:

"They say it is a miss from the Yang Family of Hongzhou who has come to seek refuge. They also mentioned her father once served as Deputy Minister of the Central Secretariat during the Xinghe Dynasty and was quite close with the Governor."

Feng Yun pondered this in her mind.

She did not recognize her.

Pei Jue looked over and said, "Deputy Minister of the Central Secretariat during the Xinghe Dynasty, Yang Gong."

With that, Feng Yun suddenly understood.

"Then, isn’t this lady none other than Yang Lingxiang, the third daughter of the Yang Family, who broke off her engagement with He Chuandong?"

The name of Yang Lingxiang had been confided to Feng Yun by Wen Hui.

And Wen Hui had heard it from He Chuandong himself.

Feng Yun mused, "Didn’t the Yang Family look down on the He Family? Now that the He Family is powerful and influential, seeking to take a new bride, why do they come crawling back? What’s their intention?"

Pei Jue commented, "There was trouble in the Central Capital; Deputy Minister Yang Gong died tragically in the imperial park."

Feng Yun retorted, "But it wasn’t He Qia who set the fire or killed anyone. What does it have to do with him?"

Pei Jue pointed out, "The He and Yang families had marital ties. The wife of the He Family is surnamed Yang and comes from the Hongzhou Yangs."

"I see," Feng Yun said, her gaze darkening slightly.

She pieced together the information given by Pei Jue with what Wen Hui had told her and swiftly understood the whole story.

Madam Yang of the He Family and Yang Lingxiang were actually relatives, aunt by marriage and niece by blood.

Yang Lingxiang was indeed the bride selected by Madam Yang for her son...

Back then, the standing of the Yang Family far exceeded that of the He Family. After marrying into the He Family, Madam Yang staunchly facilitated the marriage between her son and her niece.

Since Yang Lingxiang had been frail and sickly as a child, barely surviving, a constant presence at the doctor’s, the Yang Family agreed to the marriage.

However, as the girl matured and grew robust, and given that He Qia and his son were never notably successful and had enlisted in the military, the Yang Family no longer considered He Chuandong a suitable suitor and tactfully withdrew from the engagement.

Although Madam Yang was heartbroken, her family was her maiden family after all, so she could only blame her husband and son for not being more ambitious, without truly holding a grudge against her own family.

Yang Lingxiang was soon betrothed to another, the third son of the Li Family, Li Yi.

Li Yi and Li Zongxun both hailed from the Li Family of Longxi, with Li Yi being from the main branch and Li Zongxun from a collateral line. After Li Zongxun gained power, he generously supported his kin to assert his family’s legitimacy, and Li Yi gained status by faithfully serving him.

The Yang Family was eager to arrange a marriage with the Li Family, intent on currying favor with the Prime Minister Residence.

But their luck was poor.

Before Yang Lingxiang could enter the Li household as a bride, the third Li son drowned in a river while taking her to watch a dragon boat race.

Witnesses claimed that it was because he was protecting Yang Lingxiang that he fell into the river amid the pushing crowd.

Consequently, not only did the marriage between the Yang and Li families fall through, but their encounters since then also brimmed with animosity—they did not get along at all.

The Li Family claimed that Yang Lingxiang caused the death of her fiancé.

From then on, the feud was established, and Li Zongxun’s regard for Yang Gong cooled considerably.

When upheaval struck the Central Capital, Li Zongxun fled north toward Yecheng, and naturally, Yang Gong was unwilling to follow him there.

At the time, the Beiyong Army feigned an attack on the imperial park, causing chaos within the inner city. Yang Gong, unsure whether it was a ruse, secretly sought to join them but was discovered by Li Zongxun’s men and hacked to death in the confusion.

Of course, these were merely speculations from outsiders.

By the time the Beiyong Army found him, he was already lying in a pool of blood, not slain by allies, hence surely by enemies.

Whether Li Zongxun would acknowledge this accusation remained unknown.

After the Li Faction fled to Yecheng, the Central Capital plunged into chaos, quickly followed by the battle at Cangyan Mountain. What happened to the Yang Family thereafter was unknown.

Pei Jue said, "Minister Yang was quite learned. It is a pity."

Feng Yun pursed her lips. "He was merely afraid of going to Yecheng, fearing rejection by Li Zongxun’s faction. Had he truly defected to the Beiyong Army out of principle, I might have had some respect for him."

Pei Jue glanced at her silently, refraining from speaking.

She had been biased against the Yang Family from the start because of Wen Hui’s connection with them, and nothing she said now would be of any use.

Feng Yun was well aware of this fact.

And it was precisely because of this that she felt angered.

In just three days, Wen Hui would be wed.

Why did Yang Lingxiang choose to seek refuge neither earlier nor later but at this particular time? What was her purpose?

How would Wen Hui face such embarrassment?

These past few days, Wen Hui had been managing Yutangchun’s affairs, working hard and proving herself invaluable to Feng Yun, and Feng Yun would not allow her confidant to be bullied.

Especially under the influence of these trivial events, many long-forgotten affairs suddenly came flooding back.

Wen Hui was, in her past life, a concubine of He Chuandong.

And He Chuandong had also taken a wife later on.

It was a woman surnamed Yang.

Thus, that unfortunate son of the Li Family from her past life had also drowned watching dragon boats, with Yang Sangni gaining the reputation of being a "husband-killer," unfit to remarry. Only then did she turn her sights to the He Family, who she had once looked down upon.

He Qia was inherently a gentle, generous man and treated Madam He with utmost favor; naturally, whatever Madam He said went unquestioned in the inner chambers.

Having been reborn, Feng Yun had been trying hard to change her fate...

Hers, and others’.

Many things were already different from her past life.

For instance, Wen Hui was about to become He Chuandong’s legally wedded primary wife...

The arrival of Madam Yang, time being so coincidental, felt like the force of destiny pulling things back onto a predetermined path...

A chill settled in Feng Yun’s heart, and she felt extremely uneasy.

"No, this can’t be allowed to slip by in confusion, and I can’t pretend to be ignorant."

Pei Jue glanced at her but said nothing.

This was a private matter of the He Family.

They had no place to interfere.

He patted the back of Feng Yun’s hand, reminding her, "Calm down, the Emperor is still here."

"Ayuan is not an outsider. It’s not bad for him to see the wickedness of human hearts, so he’ll know to avoid it in the future."

Pei Jue: ...

After a silence, he slowly said, "State affairs are governed by state laws, family matters have family rules. It’s not for you and me to step in."

Feng Yun looked at him and said, "Wen Hui is my person."

She had no family of her own.

If Feng Yun didn’t back her, she’d be crushed to death by others.

Pei Jue watched her quietly, "What would you like to do?"

Feng Yun said, "The He Family must either arrange another place for this niece, or sever the marriage tie with the Changmen. If they dare scheme behind my back, sneaking her into the residence and treating her as a young madam, I will not stand for it."

Pei Jue was silent.

A grown man, it was unsuitable for him to say much.

Feng Yun noticed the slight furrow in his brows and curved her lips into a faint smile.

"Does His Highness feel pity for Madam Yang? Should one render aid out of duty when an old flame comes begging at your door?"

Pei Jue’s eyes snapped open.

What did this have to do with him?

Feng Yun with a cold tone, "Men love to name ’duty’ as their shield, hiding their inner sleaziness. In the end, isn’t it just desiring the luck of having both an old love and a new flame?"

Rather than scolding the He Family, it sounded more like a sudden burst of reflection from her.

Pei Jue watched as the flames of the argument singed him, sighing internally at the unexpected misfortune.

Although he also thought the He Family would handle it this way, he didn’t want to bother with things that had nothing to do with him. Unable to contribute to the conversation, he sucked in a breath, lowered his gaze, and covered his chest.

Feng Yun turned her face away, grabbed his hand, and placed it on her shoulder.

"Your Highness, your injury is here."

Yuan Shangyi had been silent all along, when suddenly he lifted his eyes and fixed his gaze on Feng Yun, "My lady doesn’t want this Madam Yang to seek refuge in the Governor’s Office, right?"

What a good child.

He didn’t ask what was right or wrong, only if that’s what she wanted...

Feng Yun nodded in agreement, "They broke off their marriage first, and now, they come seeking shelter before someone else’s wedding. It is without reason, shameless."

Pei Jue’s eyelids twitched slightly.

The words "shameless" were not suitable to be spoken before the Emperor, especially one so young.

But Feng Yun treated Yuan Shangyi with a heart free of pretense, never holding back.

Yuan Shangyi was also used to this and nodded slightly.

"Shameless."

Pei Jue’s brows creased enough to trap a fly.

See, the Emperor learned immediately after hearing it.

Yuan Shangyi, too, furrowed his little brows as if pondering something.

After a moment, just as the carriage crossed the street junction, his eyes suddenly brightened.

"Then, can I issue an imperial decree forbidding Governor He from harboring this person?"

Pei Jue: ...

Feng Yun was also taken aback.

But then she smiled lightly.

"Doing so would possibly tarnish Your Majesty’s reputation."

Yuan Shangyi shook his head.

"I just want my lady to be happy."

Pei Jue’s eyelid twitched.

This...

A little tyrant in the making.

But Feng Yun’s smile widened.

Pure, unadulterated support for someone, if not from such a young child, from whom else could it come?

She took a chilled fruit from the ice basin, wiped Yuan Shangyi’s small hand with a silk cloth and handed it to him.

"There’s no need for Ayuan to lift a finger for this matter. Why use an ox-cleaver to kill a chicken? Ayuan’s strength should be reserved for more important affairs."

Yuan Shangyi was young and actually didn’t know what the best course of action was. Not expecting to receive such praise from his lady, his little face blushed with happiness and pleasure.

Pei Jue observed the pair, his gaze complex, contemplating his own thoughts.

Upon returning to Changmen, Feng Yun stepped out of the carriage and called for Ge Guang.

"Call Wen Hui to the study, I need to speak with her."