After a long while, Feng Zhi Wei slowly smiled.
Behind her, Zong Chen was also staring off in the same direction. Suddenly, he said, “I heard those words just now as well. Something about it feels off. Should we send someone to investigate?”
Seemingly lost in thought, a cool smile touched the corner of Feng Zhi Wei’s lips after a long while. “No need.”
———————————————–
Feng Zhi Wei rushed back to Tong Zhou that very night. The moment she entered the provincial administration office, she asked, “Has the arrangement been made with our men?”
After receiving an affirmative answer, she nodded and went straight into the study. The night was deep and the wind cold, with bamboo tapping against the window. Sitting alone in the study beneath the lamplight, a pile of military reports and documents spread open before her.
The reports came from southern Min, Changning, Xilang, and the wild grasslands. Some were through official channels, others through the secret network she had established.
Huaqiong’s forces were growing steadily. If they continued to expend any more, they would inevitably attract the attention of the imperial court. She must find a way to conceal Huaqiong’s strength. It seemed like an impossible task. Either she breaks free from Tiansheng’s control and establishes herself independently, or she reins in the forces while remaining under Tiansheng’s rule. But the time has not yet arrived for independence. Huaqiong had sent her a letter asking how they should proceed.
Changning had ample troops and provisions. Its forces had repeatedly fought Tiansheng’s army all along the way, suffering few defeats while winning many battles. Yet Changning had always been fighting the army of an entire nation with the strength of a single region. If the war dragged on, victory would be unlikely. Judging from the route taken by the King of Changning, it seems his intent was only to swallow up southern Min and Longbei, then divide the realm with Tiansheng along the river and rule independently.
As for Xiliang, although it could now be considered half an ally to Feng Zhi Wei, an empire was not something that could be treated like a child’s game. The most Xiliang could do was rattle Tiansheng by making a show of force, surrounding but not attacking, thus tying down Tiansheng’s troops in the south.
From the grasslands came a letter directly from Helian. There was a distinct hint of eager anticipation between the lines. He was asking her: Everything is ready. Shall we summon the east wind?
Feng Zhi Wei tapped her fingers against the desk. After pondering for a long while, she summoned Zong Chen and asked with a smile, “We have entrusted the management of our family business to you all this time. I wonder, how is my fortune doing now?”
“Supporting one family, it will last for a hundred generations. But a nation, a year at most.” Zong Chen replied succinctly.
This result was already beyond Feng Zhi Wei’s expectations. She widened her eyes and said, “Oh?” She had never imagined herself to actually be this wealthy.
“In the five years since you entered officialdom, you’ve repeatedly received rewards and honors, and the sums have all been considerable. We used them all to acquire properties and farmland on your behalf.” Zong Chen casually explained, “Our organization already has experts skilled in commerce, and the Yan family has always given us tremendous assistance. Just the business of transporting silk and porcelain from Jianghuai southward to the sea has been enough to purchase a vast amount of land in the capital region. And that doesn’t even include the properties we have accumulated throughout the country.”
“And besides…” He suddenly smiled, “When it comes to money, we actually have plenty more.”
“Oh? Are you in possession of some treasure left behind by a former dynasty at the end of its reign? Now that would be quite the legendary tale.”
Feng Zhi Wei had only been joking, but who knew that Zong Chen would give her a “you guessed it again” expression.
She couldn’t help but stare at him in surprise.
Zong Chen smiled and said, “There is just one thing you got wrong. It isn’t treasures left behind by a dynasty at the end of its reign.”
“Then whose is it…”
“Strictly speaking, it can’t really be called a treasure.” Zong Chen explained, “It’s wealth accumulated by the successive emperors of the Dacheng dynasty. They were stored in a fixed location, and only members of the Dacheng imperial line were permitted to access them in the most desperate of times. It is said that this was a rule passed down by Empress Shenying, the founding empress of Dacheng, requiring each emperor to set aside a certain amount of money and valuables against future calamity during times of prosperity. You can guess, accumulated over generation after generation, what that total would be.”
“Against future calamity?”
“The empress once gave an analogy. She said that there was once a daughter-in-law who was exceptionally good at managing the household. Every day, she would scoop out a bowl of rice from the rice jar and set it aside. Over time, she accumulated several jars of rice. Then, one year, the famine came. Every household ran out of grain, and people were starving to death. The daughter-in-law brought out the rice she had saved and helped the entire family survive the famine.”
“The empress said she wanted to be that daughter-in-law, to remain mindful of danger in time of peace, and to put aside a bowl of rice whether it was needed or not. That way, when the nation was powerful and prosperous, they would not squander it a little here and a little there. Once they are squandered away, then it’s gone.”
Feng Zhi Wei smiled, “Empress Shenying was truly one of a kind. She had extraordinary foresight. What sounded like a simple joke actually contains profound wisdom. Her character and actions are truly fascinating.”
“In the imperial edict and final testament left by our ancestor, the late Emperor Chengqing, there were also…” Zong Chen hesitated, “…quite a few words of praise for the empress. My ancestor was aloof and proud his whole life. The only person he ever praised was the empress. That alone showed how extraordinary she was.”
Feng Zhi Wei knew that Zong Chen’s ancestor was none other than Chengqing Emperor Xuanyuan, one of the giive great emperors of the Five Kingdoms era. Later historians had also praised this emperor extensively. It was said that if his health had not been harmed in his youth, causing him to die prematurely, the Xuanyuan Kingdom would have been much stronger. The legendary white-robed man, renowned for his skill in medicine and his quiet, aloof nature, had ultimately been unable to heal himself. It was hard not to regard his early passing as a great tragedy.
Suddenly, Feng Zhi Wei felt that there was something strange with the way Zong Chen had phrased his words just now. She asked with a smile, “How exactly did the emperor praise the empress? Why was your expression so peculiar?”
For once, Zong Chen choked, and after a long hesitation, he finally said, “…He said that her mind was a little smarter than an ordinary person’s, but sometimes she was too smart, to the point of being practically stupid. Watching her was enough to make a person choke with frustration, so he figured it was better for him to die early, lest one day he be driven to madness.”
Feng Zhi Wei had just taken a sip of her tea. The tea came spewing out of Feng Zhi Wei’s mouth, nearly spraying Zong Chen all over with it. After a long moment, she set down her teacup and said, “You call that praise?”
“You don’t know our founding emperor.” Zong Zhen gave a wry smile and said sincerely, “I assure you, that really was praise for him.”
“Emperor Chengqing was also quite an extraordinary person…” Feng Zhi Wei thought of the legendary emperor whose empire was taken, and his family wiped out. He endured humiliation and plotted in secret, cast aside his former identity, and wandered between light and darkness for over ten years before finally taking his revenge. A faint melancholy rose in her heart.
It was a melancholy that almost came from a resonance of the soul— Something only those who carried the burdens of the same magnitude and same darkness could understand.
After a long silence, she said softly, “His life may have been short, but to have come, loved and lived with such great intensity, perhaps that was enough to make it worthwhile.”
Zhong Chen remained silent. Only after a very long while did he finally say, “That little booklet I gave you back then, it was written by Empress Shenying.”
Feng Zhi Wei smiled, unsurprised, “I knew that long ago.”
Other than that legendary, unconventional woman who seemed so out of place in her time, who else could it be? Other than the founding emperor of Dacheng, who inherited the power and wisdom of the Evergreen Divine Realm, who else could have glimpsed events six hundred years into the future? And who else could have, seemingly while laughing and teasing, brought about the making of an unparalleled statesman six hundred years later?
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Que alguien me saque de la duda, Ning Yi pasó o no pasó la noche con esa mujer?!
No, Ning Yi never had anything going on with that woman. She is obsessed with him and is taking advantage of the fact that he was drunk to imply that something happened between them.