The Slender Waist

Chunyu Yan watched her in silence.

Perhaps due to the hot weather, he had let this woman talk herself into a sweat, soaking wet from her forehead to her back.

In fact, Chunyu Yan had already considered everything that Feng Yun had said.

The bait thrown out wasn’t meant for people like Zheng Shoushan or his younger brother, it was for the man behind the scenes, Li Zongxun.

The territory under the control of the Yecheng Imperial Court had greatly diminished following the recent major victory in the northwest, with Rongzhou being captured by Pei Jue and Pingcheng reclaimed.

The several states and dozens of counties under the jurisdiction of the Yecheng Imperial Court currently had no graphite mines.

So what to do?

Graphite was an extremely important fuel.

Whether or not there were graphite reserves was one question; there simply wasn’t enough time to start mining.

Whether the common people had coal to fend off this year’s severe cold might not matter to Li Zongxun, but the Imperial Court relied on graphite for industries such as iron smelting and copper melting.

He had no choice but to buy.

Doing business with the Western Capital Dynasty was certainly out of the question.

Qi Country currently had a good relationship with the Western Capital Dynasty, so it was not in his interest to interfere.

The largest merchants were in Yunchuan, which was known for its neutrality.

Li Zongxun was targeting Chunyu Yan, but he had his reservations.

After all, Chunyu Yan was as righteous as he was wicked, with a temperament as unpredictable as the wind. Who knew when he might go crazy?

Moreover, there were widespread rumors outside, saying that he had close ties to Changmen...

To avoid trouble, Li Zongxun had Zheng Shoushan make the approach.

Appearing to be seeking profit, promising benefits to Chunyu Yan, and testing the waters...

All of this, Chunyu Yan had already thought through.

The only thing he hadn’t anticipated was that Feng Twelve, this woman, had also considered it.

The guest hall fell quiet.

After an unknown period of waiting, he finally heard Chunyu Yan emit a low, faint chuckle.

"You make sense. But I can’t sleep if I don’t earn the money that’s right in front of me. Feng Twelve, I am a businessman."

He had said more than once that he was a businessman.

And Feng Yun had always thought of him that way.

Therefore, when it was time to talk business, she wouldn’t use emotions to persuade Chunyu Yan but would use greater benefits instead.

"The Princely Heir returned at just the right time. In a few more days, the coal balls from Changmen will be mass-produced. Why don’t you first see the benefits of the coal balls, look at the situation, and try to imagine their market potential?"

Chunyu Yan exchanged a look with her, laughing neither too lightly nor too heavily.

"Feng Twelve, you’ve dug quite the hole for me."

Feng Yun faintly curved her lips, "How so?"

Chunyu Yan snorted heavily.

After a brief silence, he slowly began to speak.

"Is there a chance that Yecheng will be the final victor, not the Western Capital? I could have avoided offending both sides, but by jumping into your pit, I am forced to choose sides and completely offend Yecheng. Wouldn’t I be creating trouble for myself?"

Feng Yun’s lips curled up, and she looked at him with a smile.

"No chance."

Chunyu Yan raised his eyebrows, "That much faith in Pei Wangzhi?"

"No," Feng Yun pointed above her head, "I’ve had my fortune told."

Chunyu Yan: ...

If it weren’t for Feng Yun’s earnestly serious expression, he would have burst out laughing on the spot.

"How could a devious merchant like me believe in fortune telling?"

"Then what do you believe in?" Feng Yun countered.

Chunyu Yan’s face suddenly leaned closer, his eyes narrowing slightly, his gaze lingering and enticing as he spoke suggestively.

"Feng Twelve, kiss me, and I might consider... giving up this fat piece of meat from Yecheng for you."

"Heh. Hehe."

Feng Yun scoffed disdainfully, coldly laughing twice, sitting upright and pressing her slender finger forcefully onto his increasingly close forehead, her fingernail digging deep...

Until Chunyu Yan yelped in pain, grumpily pulling back, only then did she calmly wipe her hand on the skirt resting on her knees, her demeanor remaining cool and composed, but her voice slightly amplified.

"Is it the sale to all the people in the world that’s big, or are the benefits given by the Yecheng Imperial Court larger? Contributing to the people’s defense against the cold accumulates merit, while benefiting deceitful men like Li Zongxun costs one’s virtue. Princely Heir, think carefully, which piece of meat is fatter?"

Chunyu Yan said one thing but meant another.

"Virtue, merit? I don’t care."

He turned his head to look out the window.

Just then, a maid happened to walk in carrying a bowl of noodle soup.

Precisely timed, she interrupted the deadlock between the two.

Feng Yun smiled slightly, "Princely Heir, have your meal first, get some good rest tonight. When daylight comes tomorrow, I will take you to the Coal Ball Workshop; you can make your decision then. I won’t force you."

-

Having stayed in the guest hall for a moment, Feng Yun agreed with Chunyu Yan on the time to meet the next day, then she left.

Inside the room.

Xiaoman was tidying up the beddings.

Huanhuan and Peipei were dusting and wiping the windows.

Pei Jue sat by the window watching the courtyard filled with blooming roses, holding a scroll in his hand.

Feng Yun walked past him.

Having talked too much, she felt somewhat tired...

But Pei Jue suddenly grabbed her wrist.

"Gone for so long?"

Feng Yun slowly lowered her head to look at him but did not answer.

His grip on her wrist loosened, and his gaze became gentler.

"I’m hungry."

Feng Yun was slightly startled.

Turning her head to look at several maidservants, she wondered aloud,

"Has someone neglected the king, causing the General to go hungry?"

Pei Jue lifted his eyes, his dark and intense gaze fixed firmly on her.

"I suddenly feel like eating noodle soup..."

Upon hearing this, Feng Yun stiffened abruptly.

She suddenly recalled the reason Zheng Shoushan had betrayed the Jin Court, which she previously could not remember.

It was related to hunger.

In the previous life, Zheng Shoushan’s betrayal of the Jin Court occurred three years later.

At that time, Feng Yun had returned to Tai City and only heard about it afterward.

During that year, Chuzhou suffered from a drought and people could not get enough to eat, so Zheng Shoushan went to the Imperial Court to ask for money and grain.

In fact, it was not only Chuzhou that was experiencing drought at that time; droughts and famines were happening everywhere, and the grain reserves in the government’s stores were also not abundant; everyone was having a hard time.

But Zheng Shoushan was a major official, a "high-ranking frontier guard" who could not be easily offended, so the grain that was supposed to be sent... still had to be sent.

So...

The Jin Court played a trick.

Cart after cart of grain was sent to Chuzhou, but they were filled with rocks and sand. On the way, they were suddenly attacked by mountain bandits. Many people died, and the grain was robbed, leaving only a mere twenty carts to be delivered to Zheng Shoushan.

These twenty carts contained real grain.

Initially, Zheng Shoushan was very moved.

To avenge the soldiers who died transporting the grain, Zheng Shoushan led three thousand of his personal guards and rushed overnight to the "bandit’s hideout" two hundred li away.

Unexpectedly, they did not find bandits but rather piles of discarded sacks filled with rocks and sand.

His heart grew cold, and the seeds of betrayal were sown.

Xiao Cheng seized the opportunity, won over people’s hearts, and through a local merchant, secretly transported a hundred thousand stones of grain to Chuzhou.

When Zheng Shoushan accepted the grain, he still thought he had taken advantage of Qi Country and had not fully intended to betray the Jin Court.

However, the news of him joining Xiao Cheng and raising a rebellion had already flown to the Central Capital.

The Jin Court naturally could not contain their anger and immediately sent troops to suppress it...

But by then, Pei Jue was chasing Xiao Cheng’s ships and was wounded by an arrow at Shiguan Dock. He had not recovered from his serious injuries and could not lead his troops into battle, while the Northern Yong army also suffered a huge blow due to the betrayal of Chu, Hu, and Han...

When Zheng Shoushan truly rebelled, he found that the Jin army without the Northern Yong army and Pei Jue could be easily defeated.

As a result, he completely pulled Chuzhou over to Qi Country.

With a minimal cost of a hundred thousand stones of grain, Xiao Cheng easily took control of Chuzhou without expending a single soldier.

In a sense, it was a very successful battle in Xiao Cheng’s strategic history.

Comparable to using Feng Yun to recover Andu and its surrounding counties.

If one were to look back, it was from that time that the previous life’s Jin Court began to gradually show signs of decline.

Of course, all this news was something Feng Yun heard while in Tai City.

As for those sacks filled with rocks and sand, whether it was Xiao Cheng’s doing or Li Zongxun truly did not want to provide grain aid to Chuzhou, only they from the previous life would know.

The room was silent like this.

Pei Jue did not notice Feng Yun’s reaction and frowned slightly.

"Is there no noodle soup available?"

Feng Yun came back to her senses and turned to look at Xiaoman.

Xiaoman shrunk her neck and walked out with the blanket, pretending not to see her mistress’s gaze. Huanhuan and Peipei were also tense, not daring to breathe too loudly.

They were not being sincere.

When the king inquired, and the Princely Heir came by, what he did...

They did not mention anything else; they just said the Princely Heir asked for a bowl of noodle soup.

This wasn’t considered betraying their mistress, right?

The quietness of the room felt somewhat peculiar.

The slight ticking of the clepsydra sounded particularly distinct.

Feng Yun straightened up and pulled away from Pei Jue’s hand to turn around.

"Xiaoman, have the kitchen prepare a bowl of noodle soup for the king."

Of course, Pei Jue wasn’t insisting on eating a bowl of noodle soup just to remember it; Wen Xingsu loved this dish, and when Feng Yun went to the camp prison, she specifically brought some for him. This Chunyu Yan traveled from afar and also wanted a bowl.

He wanted to taste for himself what it was like.

The noodle soup was served quickly.

It was still the taste of noodle soup.

"Is it good?" Feng Yun asked him with a smile.

Pei Jue: "It’s passable."

Feng Yun nodded slightly, silently watching him until he leisurely finished eating, then let the maidservants clear away the bowls and chopsticks before she seriously asked,

"How do you see Zheng Shoushan’s relationship with the Yecheng Imperial Court?"

Pei Jue pondered for a moment. "What did Chunyu Yan tell you?"

Feng Yun did not hide anything from him.

In their treatment of Li Zongxun, both aligned their aims outward. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

After she finished speaking, Pei Jue understood the hidden meaning in her words.

"Lady Yun, are you thinking of driving a wedge between Li and Zheng?"