The Slender Waist-Chapter 274 - 191: Everyone Must Be Well Fed

Over the next two days, Feng Yun shuttled back and forth between Mingquan Town and Xinzhou.

With skilled craftsmen, the construction of the Peace Negotiation Hall progressed rapidly.

Boats loaded with green bricks, wood, and stone materials arrived at the crossing to Mingquan, sorted by category. The craftsmen focused on their responsibilities, and by the morning of the third day, the foundation had already been laid. The timber and tiles were gradually transported to the site, and because of the soldiers and craftsmen coming and going, Mingquan Town became extraordinarily bustling.

Just as Feng Yun arrived at the hall by carriage, Cong Wentian came over from the streets of Mingquan Town and told her with a grave expression.

"Miss, something terrible has happened."

Feng Yun felt a slight jolt in her heart, "What’s wrong?"

Cong Wentian said, "A household in Mingquan Town was victim to a robbery last night. Over thirty members of the family, all perished inside their home. After the robbers left, they set the house on fire."

He had been staying in Mingquan these past two days, overseeing the construction schedule of the hall. Last night, he heard the commotion and helplessly watched as flames soared to the sky, consuming the house in an instant.

"It was terrifying. At that moment, I thought about all the timber piled up at the hall. If the robbers were to come here, it’s unimaginable..."

Feng Yun’s brows furrowed lightly.

"Uncle Wentian, don’t worry, with so many soldiers guarding the hall, nothing will go wrong."

Cong Wentian was a craftsman and did not understand the intricacies of the struggles between the two countries. What he worried about most were the tasks at hand and meeting the construction deadlines.

Feng Yun didn’t want to converse further and, after offering some reassurance, checked the progress of the hall before returning to her carriage to circle around the house of the victims.

Charred walls, broken bricks, and shattered tiles—all signs of devastation stretched before her eyes, a sight both brutal and desolate. Soldiers moved amongst the wreckage, carrying out corpses.

Each charred body was unrecognizable, all laid out in the courtyard, drawing crowds of onlookers.

Feng Yun did not approach but instead let her gaze drift over the crowd, settling on a pendant at the waist of one of the bodies.

On her first day in Mingquan, at that eatery in the town, she had seen this black iron pendant hanging from the waist of the man with a round face...

Pei Jue’s work was indeed reliable.

A group of people, uniformly dispatched, all killed cleanly.

Feng Yun sat in the carriage for a moment and then motioned for Manager Xing to lean closer.

"We can start purchasing land now."

Manager Xing responded with joy.

The kid was shrewd; Feng Yun didn’t want to handle it personally, so sending him was ideal. For safety, though, she still sent Ge Yi with him.

To avoid arousing suspicion, she used a bit of subterfuge.

Manager Xing posed as an idle young master from a wealthy family, naïve to the world yet declaring his desire to create a great enterprise, while Ge Yi played his manservant, clearly destined to squander the family’s wealth.

Feng Yun was very satisfied.

Once they left, she looked at the sky and decided to take a walk in the town.

It had rained last night, and despite the sun’s presence, the roads were still terribly muddy. Shared by humans and animals alike, the paths were deeply rutted, and the carriage wheels churned up thick mud.

There were few pedestrians on the road, all wearing the familiar and collective expression of the populace under chaotic times—bewilderment, numbness. Heads down, they hurriedly walked away at the sight of anyone taking a second glance, fearful.

First, Feng Yun visited the grain shop.

It was the town’s only grain shop still operating.

There was no white rice, only brown rice and japonica rice, and the prices were outrageously high.

The shopkeeper said, "The harvest wasn’t good this year; we can’t get enough grain, not just in my shop but in Andu and Wanning too. Miss, if you want to buy, you’d better do it quickly. New Year’s is coming, and it’s good to stock up for the winter."

Seeing Feng Yun hesitate, he added:

"I heard the Beiyong Army will soon start conscripting grain. By then, whether there will be any grain left to buy, that’s uncertain."

The shopkeeper sighed as he spoke.

"Peace talks, peace talks, but who knows if peace will really be achieved. If this war drags on for another two years, we all might starve to death..."

Grain is the lifeblood of an army; with no grain, how can soldiers be supported?

If a simple shopkeeper in Mingquan Town understood this principle, didn’t the high-ranking officials in the palaces? The Beiyong Army, short on provisions, would conscript grain. Conscripting would alienate the common people, and the complaints would naturally be directed at Pei Jue.

Indeed, the current situation for the Beiyong Army was extremely difficult. When Emperor Li Sangruo decreed that Pei Jue go to Pingyang to welcome him, was it a maneuver to pressure Pei Jue? To make him recognize the stakes and submit to the Imperial Court? To make him grovel like her chief steward Song Shou’an, knowing that he would have to lick boots for his sustenance?

Thinking of Pei Jue, Feng Yun’s thoughts grew complex.

She had just managed to sow discord between them, creating a rift between Pei Jue and the Jin Court. If she allowed him to reconcile fiercely with Li Sangruo in Pingyang, all her efforts would be in vain...

Feng Yun’s gaze darkened, her emotions concealed.

"That’s too expensive, make it cheaper please."

The shopkeeper, unable to gauge her status based on her simple yet neat garb, and noticing the maid and sword-bearing attendant by her side, compromised. He had his assistant load several hundred pounds of brown rice and japonica rice on her cart after she bargained down the price by three coins per pound.

These grains were intended for the hall Feng Yun planned to visit.

They couldn’t expect people to work without giving them food.

When rushing to finish constructions, the one thing you must never neglect is the welfare of the laborers. Recently, she had noticed that the porridge lifted from the kitchen was so thin that one could see their reflection in it.

How could those exerting effort work if they couldn’t eat their fill?

However, the coarse grains they had were indeed very coarse...

Feng Yun extended her hand and felt them, it even made her teeth ache.

Ge Guang drove the carriage, hauling food to the Peace Negotiation Hall’s kitchen.

"The lady said to eat to your heart’s content, everyone must be full."

A temporary tent was set up, and the three kitchen women were all artisans’ own spouses. Seeing Feng Yun dragging in so much grain, they excitedly gathered around, their eyes reddening with emotion.

"The lady is truly kind."

"In these troubled times, grain is worth its weight in gold."

"Once the two countries stop warring, our days will surely improve," Feng Yun politely said a few words, then had her men help unload the grain. Amidst the grateful gazes of everyone present, she made her way back to her residence.

This was a donation made without expectation of return; to her, it was for the sake of the schedule and progress, but in the eyes of ordinary people, grain was like a divine elixir, life-saving, and the one giving grain was a good person.

Today’s delay meant she returned to Xinzhou when it was already late.

With nightfall, Xinzhou City sank into silence.

Feeling restless, Feng Yun did not wish to return to Chunpei Academy so soon and instructed the carriage driver, Ge Guang.

"Let’s take a spin around the city."

Upon receiving the command, Ge Guang proceeded along the street, heading towards River Embankment Street at Feng Yun’s direction.

This street was bustling in the daytime, but at night it was quiet.

With the lanterns just lit, Feng Yun thought of the mother and daughter selling velvet flowers that day, and of the giggling girls...

Suddenly, Ge Guang shouted from outside.

"My lady, right there is Huatang Qiuyue."

Huatang Qiuyue was the place where Imperial Eunuch Chang from Central Capital had slipped and fallen into the water the last time he came to deliver an edict.

Feng Yun had Ge Guang slow down the carriage and peered through the curtains at this legendary first brothel of Xinzhou.

This riverside street, originally full of entertainment venues, had mostly not opened for business after the war. As a result, the brilliant lights of Huatang Qiuyue stood out extravagantly amidst the darkness of the night. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Even in times of chaos, there were those intoxicated with wealth and pleasure.

The carriage passed by slowly.

Suddenly, the figure of a man on horseback fell into Feng Yun’s line of sight.

She was taken aback, "Slow down."

Ge Guang glanced sideways, then turned to discreetly inform Feng Yun.

"My lady, that appears to be Song, Song Division Head."

Ge Guang had been to Central Capital and had the fortune to glimpse the grandeur of the esteemed head of the Imperial Cavalry Division on the streets of the Imperial City.

Seeing this person in Xinzhou was understandably startling.

Feng Yun felt the same.

She had long known from Luo Yue’s letters that Song Shou’an bore some resemblance to Pei Jue, and aside from feeling disgusted, she felt nothing else at the time.

Seeing the man in person, she was inevitably unsettled.

He looked far too similar to Pei Jue.

In her previous life, limited by her own circumstances, she rarely had the opportunity to make public appearances, and she had not met Song Shou’an in Central Capital. Now suddenly seeing that face, her first reaction was a chilling sense of repulsion down to her bones.

If Li Sangruo were to lie beside this man in bed...

She did not believe that if Pei Jue knew of this, upon seeing this man, he could bear it?

Ge Guang pulled back the front curtain slightly, whispering:

"The first time I saw him in Central Capital, I was so scared from a mere distant glance. But it was only at the first glance that he seemed similar to the General. Upon closer observation, he’s far from comparable in stature and presence..."

Feng Yun faintly replied, "Indeed."

So sleazy, a manipulative scoundrel, how could he compare to Pei Jue?

Li Sangruo was indeed bold, keeping an imitation by her side without fearing ridicule or gossip. Didn’t this essentially proclaim her longing for Pei Jue?

"I can’t stand the sight of his face," Feng Yun suddenly said.

What could be done about not being able to stand the sight of him? Ge Guang didn’t quite catch on when he heard Feng Yun’s light chuckle: "Just thinking that there’s such a similar face in the world, appearing in Li Sangruo’s bed, makes me feel sick."

With the wind blowing by his ears, Ge Guang didn’t catch the lady’s words clearly.

Feng Yun’s hands were cupped over a small hand warmer, smoothing it back and forth to keep warm. Her eyes, like nails, peered through the curtain at the person slowly approaching in the distance.