The Slender Waist

Pei Jue’s words hid a trace of cold aftertaste.

Feng Yun’s back inexplicably chilled, and she raised her eyes.

The two shared a glance, and Feng Yun said indifferently,

"You all may leave. Shut the door."

The maids stood outside the door, and upon hearing her, they answered in unison, "Yes."

The sound of footsteps receded, and the door closed.

Feng Yun turned to look at Pei Jue.

Pei Jue reached out and pulled her close.

Feng Yun didn’t move, her voice calm, "Today, in front of Chunyu Yan, I pledged that Yecheng would fall to Xijing within at most three years."

Pei Jue remained silent.

Feng Yun asked, "Does Your Majesty think I was bluffing?"

The corners of Pei Jue’s mouth unconsciously pursed.

"Hard to say."

He wasn’t someone who liked to make empty boasts and suffer the consequences in secret.

Without absolute certainty, he would not make rash promises.

Both of them were well aware of the situation within the Imperial Court.

The old and new factions within the court had their undercurrents. Out in the open and behind the scenes, they hadn’t stopped giving one another a hard time. Despite Pei Jue’s control, no significant unrest had broken out yet...

But if the opposing stances persisted, an explosion was inevitable one day.

If the news of Pei Jue’s supposed "death" spread this time, Xijing would likely splinter in an instant, giving Li Zongxun a great advantage.

Feng Yun said indifferently, "War exhausts the people and drains the treasury. The ones who suffer are still the common folk. The years have not been kind, with famine and disaster. This world cannot endure the pain of more military calamities."

Pei Jue: "Therefore, at present, we should recuperate and grow, and cannot start another military calamity."

It was for this reason too that he thought a three-year timeframe was too short.

If the internal issues within Xijing weren’t resolved in these three years, turning around to fight Li Zongxun would be unwise.

Feng Yun declared, "Therefore, we will not wage war."

How could Yecheng be reclaimed without going to battle?

Pei Jue, wordlessly looking at her, had a grave expression in his eyes.

Feng Yun smiled, "Even the sturdiest fortress cannot withstand internal collapse. In my opinion, it’s better to disintegrate from within than to attack from outside."

Pei Jue remained silent.

Feng Yun continued, "We will focus on development, on the people’s livelihood. There’s no need for us to meet them in battle. We only need to internally... divide them, disintegrate them, wear them down."

Pei Jue said, "Zheng Shoushan is stubborn and has a good relationship with Ge Pei. It’s not easy to sow discord between them."

If it was too easy, there must be a trap, and even she wouldn’t dare to take action.

With a slight smile, Feng Yun said, "I have a way."

Whatever Xiao Cheng had done in the past, she could do as well.

Standing on Xiao Cheng’s shoulders, doing what he had yet to do, blinding his eyes, winning over Zheng Shoushan, hurting Li Zongxun, all without deploying a single soldier or horse, wouldn’t that be delightful?

"You... this woman..."

Pei Jue’s sudden exclamation caused Feng Yun to barely hold back a chuckle.

She knew that her stern expression and those bold words were contrary to a woman’s virtue in those times, enough to shock any man.

But she could no longer hide it.

Pretending was only possible for a day or two; she couldn’t continue to feign forever in front of Pei Jue.

"What can I do? I’m just that wicked," Feng Yun’s voice was melodic as a warbler, but her gaze was as sharp as a blade.

Directly, she gazed intently at Pei Jue.

"Are you afraid, Your Majesty?"

Her voice was playful, like a kitten’s paw scratching at one’s heart.

Pei Jue looked into her bright, clear eyes.

Confident, decisive, and assertive.

This was Feng Yun.

He said, "I married you, afraid or not, what use is it? It’s out of my hands now."

Feng Yun chuckled softly, her manner relaxed and joyful, "That’s not like you, Prince of Yonghuai. To struggle against fate, to fall in battle, that’s the proper course..."

"This Prince is also a victim of convention," Pei Jue pulled her closer as he spoke.

Feng Yun lost her balance, tumbling into his embrace.

She looked up, laughing, "Why cannot you evade convention?"

Pei Jue looked down at her, his voice slow, breathing the scent of blooming osmanthus.

"Desire clouds reason."

"There’s a saying, ’A knife hangs over the word desire.’ You should be careful, Your Majesty."

"Then I shall..." he lifted Feng Yun a bit higher, setting her on his lap, then slowly held her lower back, pressing close, and whispered, "Fall in battle."

Feng Yun hummed lowly, unable to dodge his burning hand, her voice seeming to catch in her throat.

"Mind the wound... be careful of the wound..."

"It’s all right," a whirlwind came passing through, as the curtains fluttered lightly. Both were drenched in sweat, and at last Pei Jue, gasping for breath, let her go.

-

The next day was clear, and the sun was blisteringly hot.

The wind blowing over from Huaxi seemed to be hot as well.

Two horse-drawn carriages set out one after the other from Changmen, circling the main road by the village school, slowly passing by the village roads outside the agricultural implement workshop, the livestock farm, and the tailoring workshop.

Chunyu Yan seemed to be appreciating Feng Yun’s "kingdom."

Because of coal balls’ impact on crops and life, Feng Yun built the coal ball workshop directly at the foot of Little Jieqiu Mountain. She spent some money and grain to build new homes for the two hunter families that lived there originally, moving them out of the area.

Now, the entire Little Jieqiu was filled with Changmen’s mines and coal ball workshops.

They were all her people.

Hidden among the mountains with little traffic, it was an excellent place to station her troops.

Xing Bing arranged everything perfectly, with half a day for labor and the other half for training.

There were a few little leaders among her troops, all promoted from among Xing Bing’s apprentices. Feng Yun had examined each one and found them to be very capable.

To outsiders, these people were just miners and coal-making craftsmen and servants. Even if there were suspicions, there was no opportunity to investigate thoroughly.

As Chunyu Yan walked to the base of the mountain and saw the high walls, a chill went through his heart in that instant.

He had only been away for a few months.

This woman had already built such a large-scale mining operation and workshop.

Feng Yun glanced at him, "Princely Heir, please step off the carriage."

The road had been widened by Feng Yun, allowing the carriage to arrive directly at the workshop’s gate.

Chunyu Yan stepped down from the carriage slowly, using the horse stool.

A cool breeze blew by, prompting him to sigh with comfort.

"Feng Twelve, you’ve truly committed a great sin."

This guy never had many nice things to say.

Feng Yun walked forward nonchalantly, ignoring him.

Chunyu Yan followed behind her, laughing softly.

"Why not build a summer retreat in such an idyllic paradise, to come here in the summertime to cool off? That would be a truly delightful worldly pleasure."

Feng Yun glanced at him, retorting sarcastically.

"With beautiful scenery all around Yunchuan, does that mean graphite no longer needs to be extracted?"

Chunyu Yan let out a "tsk."

"You’ve never been to Yunchuan, how would you know about its beautiful scenery?"

Feng Yun’s smile was sardonic, "If it’s not beautiful, how could it have produced a beauty with your skin tone, Princely Heir?"

Was that a compliment?

Or was she mocking him?

Chunyu Yan snorted heavily, flung his sleeves with his head held high, and walked ahead.

Graphite is not supplied to the public at present, nor is it used extensively. Most of it is provided to the Imperial Court for iron smelting and metalworking.

This is also the foundation of Yunchuan’s good relations with other countries.

Inside the coal ball workshop at the moment, neat honeycomb-shaped molds were arranged, uniform in size, with circular holes in the middle.

Next to them were graphite particles filtered out after undergoing high-temperature pyrolysis. Because they had been processed through an iron sieve, the granularity was uniform, then poured into the molds to form. After high-temperature carbonization and washing and drying, they became uniform-sized coal balls.

Feng Yun did not keep any secrets and allowed Chunyu Yan to witness the entire production process.

In fact, making coal balls was simple; in just a few steps, Chunyu Yan was nonetheless greatly shocked.

When he saw the neat piles of dry-treated coal balls, he turned back to Feng Yun with that familiar emotion in his eyes.

Complexity.

"Feng Twelve."

Chunyu Yan laughed.

"How did you come to know of these things?"

Feng Yun understood his suspicion.

"All thanks to my mother’s dowry of five thousand volumes."

Chunyu Yan smiled and slowly bowed, hands behind his back.

There was a small iron stove with identically sized coal balls inside, glowing red-hot without visible flames, yet the kettle on the stove bubbled vigorously to a boil.

Chunyu Yan asked with skepticism, "How long can it burn?"

Feng Yun replied, "Place two coal balls on top of each other, and they can burn for more than half an hour. See here, the stove has a design with a stove door. Open the door for a stronger fire, useful for cooking. For regular warming or night water, close the door, and by the next day, the fire will not have extinguished, allowing for hot water all night. It’s very convenient."

Chunyu Yan glanced sideways, "Non-toxic?"

Feng Yun replied, "It’s best to use it in a well-ventilated area."

Chunyu Yan let out a cold laugh, "Then how is that different from graphite?"

Feng Yun answered, "That’s quite different. First, coal balls have a higher combustion rate, saving graphite resources. Second, due to the porous nature, they burn faster and with stronger heat than graphite. Third, they’re more convenient to use. Fourth, they are less toxic than graphite..."

Chunyu Yan interrupted, "I won’t discuss the other points for now, but focusing on the fourth – since coal balls are made from graphite, share its essence, how could they be less toxic?"

Feng Yun explained, "Treated coal balls can burn completely. Full combustion reduces toxic gases, causing less harm to the human body."

Chunyu Yan appeared half-convinced, raising an eyebrow.

"If there’s an incident, who is responsible?"

Graphite was not used for civilian heating and cooking before, and coal balls were a new trial that could potentially affect and change people’s way of life, inevitably leading to new issues.

Chunyu Yan was young but had ample business acumen.

He had hit the nail on the head, and so Feng Yun’s response was forthright.

"Naturally, Princely Heir, it would be you."