She took out the scroll bearing Changning seal that Lu Zhi Yan had given her, and quickly wrote a few words on one of the scrolls. Handing the scroll to Gu Nan Yi, she said, “Nan Yi, this is an important matter. Go find Lu Zhi Yan personally, and give him this. Remember to bring a guard to lead the way.”
Gu Nan Yi left silently. Feng Zhi Wei then turned to look at Helian with smiling eyes. Her gaze was the sort that was full of scheming calculation that would send a chill down one’s spine for anyone who met her gaze, but Helian simply sat upright with his arms and legs crossed, staring back at her happily. His whole demeanor seemed to say that I am perfectly happy even if you are scheming against me. What I truly mind is if you forget about me.
He looked at her with eyes brimming with joy, his eyes taking her in from head to toe, seemingly unable to get enough of her- he thought her raised brows were beautiful, the way she sighed was beautiful, the way she talked was beautiful, the way she rolled her eyes was beautiful. Even when she sat there doing nothing, she was still more beautiful than the loveliest dawn on the wild grassland.
Meeting his sincere and passionate gaze, Feng Zhi Wei ended up making herself feel guilty. She turned her gaze away and, after a long pause, sighed softly and said, “Helian, I truly don’t want you to wade into this mess of water. I don’t want you to get dragged into any dirty muddle of water.”
“Wherever you are, that becomes my favorite wildgrass land.” Helian said with a raised eyebrow, “What muddy water could there be?”
Feng Zhi Wei remained silent. Helian braced his body on both hands before her and looked into her eyes, “Auntie— Empress Dowager Peony said, a family shouldn’t speak with two voices. She also told me to bring you a gift. Ah, I almost forgot….” He pulled out a soft cloth bundle, handed it to her, and asked eagerly, “What is it? Open it and see.” (The “auntie” is the ongoing joke between the two after Helian lost to our heroine in a bet.)
The moment Feng Zhi Wei hand touched the cloth bundle, she felt as if her hand had been burned. She didn’t even need to open it, just from the feel, she knew what it was. It must be the “It must surge forth! It must erupt!” (an undergarment with those two slogans sewn on either side.)
“Uh…thank Her Grace for me…this, this…I’ll accept it.” She said as she hastily stuffed the cloth bundle under her. Seeing Helian’s curious craning gaze, she feared that he would keep asking questions, so she quickly changed the topic to more serious matters. “All right, I won’t stand on ceremony with you then. If I do too much of the polite talk, then you’ll only say I am being long-winded. Tomorrow, my preliminary plan is still the same as Lu Rui’s. I will hold up the Regent, and confirm to all Zhi Xiao’s identity before he arrives. Nan Yi just left to inform Lu Zhi Yan to help with this matter. However, I am afraid the Changning faction alone won’t be enough. I need you to go as well.”
“You want me to feign an alliance with him to keep him occupied? My Wild Grassland and Xilaing are thousands of miles apart. Why would he believe me?”
“Interest transcends regions and nationalities.” Feng Zhi Wei said. “Xiliang is an area that is hot, humid, and rich in medicinal herbs. However, it is unsuitable for horse breeding. Your land, on the other hand, has the best horse farms in the world and is skilled at forging iron, but lacks medicine. Yin Zhi Shu is ambitious and has always spared no effort in expanding his military strength. You have what he needs most right now. If you exchange warhorses and ironware for his medicine and food, they wouldn’t bear to refuse you.”
“But we are far away on Tiansheng’s border, separated from Xiliang by nearly half of Tiansheng’s territory. Warhorse exports are strictly prohibited. How could we possibly complete such an exchange over such a distance? If that problem isn’t solved, Yin Zhi Shu will never believe in this so-called alliance.”
Feng Zhi Wei smiled and praised, “Our Great King is improving and is becoming more and more meticulous.”
After receiving an eye roll from Helian, Feng Zhi Wei said with a smile, “Changning lies between you. I will negotiate with Prince Lu to grant you safe passage. Don’t underestimate Changning’s power– it may seem that they only control the Changning fief, but in actuality, their influence spans through the nearby three regions. With their help, you will have no trouble in the first half of the journey. After all, you will be taking the border route, which is far from the emperor’s reach. As for the final crossing– Hua Qiong is in Minnan, Yao Yang Yu and Chun Yu Meng are in Longbei, Yan Huai Shi oversees the ships in the South Sea. Whether you travel by land, by water, or split up, there will be people to help you along the way. I will make arrangements in court and give Xiao Yao and others a logical reason to help you…besides…” She said leisurely, “The alliance between Changning, Dayue, and Xiliang has actually been broken via Dayue’s side, but Xiliang and Changning don’t know that. They will still launch an attack as agreed. Hehe, at that time, I doubt Tiansheng will have the luxury to pay any attention to a bunch of horse merchants.”
Helian was taken aback. He was unaware of the three kingdom alliance, so Feng Zhi Wei gave him a brief explanation and then also told him the plan she had gifted Jin Siyu. Helian frowned and thought for a while before finally realizing what all this meant. He exclaimed in shock, “Did you play the three kingdoms? Jin Siyu’s army is about to launch a major offensive to seize the throne, so there is no chance at all that he would spare any resources to attack Tiangsheng’s border and build momentum at the border. Meanwhile, on this side, Changning and Xilang are bound to make their move. Once the fighting starts, Changning and Xiliang will be at a disadvantage, at least in the early stages of the battle… by this point, you have not just played the three kingdoms, but four- the unfortunate Tiansheng who has been completely in the dark this whole time!”
“If Jin Siyu splits his army to put pressure on Tiansheng’s border,” Feng Zhi Wei said, “I worry that he would combine the old grudges with the new, and it might end up spilling over and hurt our Wild Grassland. So, I figured it was better to just cut off the whole thing at the source and sent him off to focus on his real battle and stop meddling over here.”
“You really are terrifying…” Helian stared at her, “Jin Siyu probably was even utterly grateful to you for this brilliant plan. He might even regret how he had wronged you, thinking that you are actually a good person. Little did he know that all this was for your own selfish motive.”
“Isn’t my selfishness all for you?” Feng Zhi Wei looked at him with a half-smile.
Helian immediately scooted his stool closer to her knees and proceeded to jump on this perfect opportunity to reach for her hand, “Oh, my noble consort, I knew you loved me best…”
Feng Zhi Wei promptly kicked the stool out from under him, sending it crashing to the ground…
——————————————–
The next day was the Xilaing emperor’s third birthday.
This was the occasion one could truly see how powerful the Regent had become. On his birthday, the ten-mile-long road from Changping Palace to the Regent’s residence was lined with decorated pavilions and canopies. Today, the decorated canopies are still there, but they are just the same ones that were taken out and set up once again. There was no added splendor because it was the emperor’s birthday. From this one fact alone, any censoring court official could accuse him of disloyalty. Unfortunately, all the censoring court officials had gone deaf.
On the emperor’s birthday, the emperor would receive the bows from all the officials in the main hall in the morning. In the afternoon, there would be a banquet. In the evening, there would be a banquet in the royal harem. Since the emperor was still young and had no concubines yet, the royal harem celebration banquet was simply a table hosted by Dowager Empress Dong.
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