Chapter 154: He Was My First Man

“Good! Very good!”

Inside the Guangyi Commandery Governor’s residence, Feng Lingbo slapped the table and sprang to his feet after reading the report, excitement written all over his face.

“Prepare the journey as quickly as possible. I’m going to Qingshan Commandery myself to have a look.”

Steward Shounian bowed slightly, looking as though he wanted to speak but hesitated.

“Master, perhaps you should discuss it with Madam first?”

“What is there to discuss?” Feng Lingbo said. “Doesn’t she miss our daughter? She can come along.”

Shounian said quietly, “Master, you should still discuss it with Madam first.”

Feng Lingbo paused. He could tell something was wrong with Shounian.

“Is something the matter with Madam?”

Shounian clasped his hands before him and said nothing, merely bowing his head slightly.

Feng Lingbo came out from behind the desk and stared at him for a while. Then he turned and left.

He went to the inner residence, where he found Peng Yulan speaking with their two daughters-in-law in the courtyard.

After dismissing the two women when they came forward to salute, Feng Lingbo said, “Shounian is acting strangely.”

Peng Yulan looked surprised. “Strangely how?”

“I just received news from Qingshan Commandery. The overall situation there has been settled. I was preparing to go inspect the place and make arrangements, but Shounian kept hemming and hawing.”

Peng Yulan was silent for a moment before asking, “What arrangements does Master intend to make?”

“I’m considering whom to send to hold Qingshan Commandery. Either our eldest, Ruoyi, or our second, Ruojie, would do.”

“If Ruoyi goes to Qingshan Commandery, Ruojie will have to guard Guangyi Commandery. Or Ruoyi can remain in Guangyi while Ruojie guards Qingshan. Either brother is suitable.”

Peng Yulan understood. He intended to have each of their two sons control one commandery while Feng Lingbo himself held authority over both.

“Master, perhaps you shouldn’t go to Qingshan Commandery.” Peng Yulan forced a strained smile.

“Qingshan has only just emerged from great turmoil. I need to inspect the situation personally before I can draw up plans for governing it.”

“Aren’t Chaozong and Ruonan already there? Since husband and wife were the ones who captured Qingshan Commandery, let them worry about it.”

Feng Lingbo waved a hand. “The livelihood of Qingshan Commandery has been withered for years. The common people have suffered. Chaozong and Ruonan are both military commanders. Neither has experience governing a locality. I wouldn’t be at ease leaving it to them.”

“Besides, a son-in-law is still a son-in-law. At best he counts as half a son. We will not treat our daughter unfairly, but she has a household of her own now. She is a woman of the Shang family.”

“It is still more appropriate to send Ruoyi or Ruojie to Qingshan Commandery. Rest assured. Whether by affection or by reason, I will not treat husband and wife unfairly. Ruonan is our daughter, after all.”

These were words he would never have spoken in front of outsiders. Peng Yulan lowered her head in silence.

There were some things she did not know how to say.

Feng Lingbo stared at her. “Are you hiding something from me?”

Peng Yulan slowly raised her head, bitterness filling her face. “Master, let it go. It isn’t suitable for us to interfere in Qingshan Commandery. Let husband and wife handle it themselves.”

Feng Lingbo frowned. “What nonsense are you talking about?”

At this point, some things could no longer be concealed.

Peng Yulan said with difficulty, “There never were any hundred thousand Crow Generals!”

Feng Lingbo’s brows twitched. “What do you mean?”

“Father’s view is that Ruonan is his granddaughter and Chaozong is his grandson-in-law. They are all one family. Letting husband and wife govern Qingshan Commandery amounts to the same thing.”

Feng Lingbo stared for a moment. Then his expression sank.

“What kind of joke is this? The troops, grain, and supplies all came from my Guangyi Commandery. I’ll go reason with your father!”

He turned to leave.

Peng Yulan hurriedly grabbed his arm and shook her head. “Master, forget it. It’s useless.”

“This is the position of Tianyu Sect as a whole. Father has to consider matters from the standpoint of the entire sect as well. Even he cannot simply favor one side.”

“How can this be called favoritism?” Feng Lingbo demanded. “Husband and wife are merely generals under my command, and neither has experience governing a locality. What benefit is there to Tianyu Sect if they throw Qingshan Commandery into chaos?”

Peng Yulan said, “They have only had Canglu County for a few months, yet it has already been managed in excellent order. Prince Ning’s old retainers include no shortage of men capable in civil administration. That Lan Ruoting has talent enough to bring order to the realm!”

Anger showed openly on Feng Lingbo’s face. “Whose side are you on?”

Peng Yulan answered with difficulty, “Those weren’t my words. They were Father’s exact words!”

“Which side I stand on is not important. What matters is which side Jinzhou stands on.”

“Hai Ruyue holds Jinzhou’s military power. She is Chaozong’s aunt, and she recognizes Chaozong alone. If Qingshan Commandery is handed to someone else, she will stop pressuring Yanjing and leave Zhou Shouxian free to act as he sees fit.”

“Under the present circumstances, Guangyi Commandery’s troops are spread out trying to cover both places. They cannot withstand Zhou Shouxian’s Nanzhou army.”

“Once Zhou Shouxian has his hands free, unless the forces in Qingshan Commandery withdraw to concentrate our strength, even Guangyi Commandery may fall into danger. Qingshan would change hands again in the blink of an eye...”

Feng Lingbo did not hear a single word of what she said after that. His mind had fixed on her earlier statement. There had never been any hundred thousand Crow Generals. He seemed to understand something. His face gradually turned pale.

His lips trembled as he muttered, “A wolf’s ambition... a wolf’s ambition... Worthy of Prince Ning’s son. A tiger father does not sire a dog of a son... What a chain of stratagems. What ruthless scheming. He even dragged my own daughter into it.”

“I was blind. I invited a wolf into my own house...”

Suddenly he clutched his chest. His eyes rolled upward. His body swayed, on the verge of collapsing. Peng Yulan was terrified.

She hurriedly caught him and pressed one palm against his back, circulating spiritual power to smooth his qi as tears streamed down her face...

At the Provincial Inspector’s Residence in Jinzhou, beside the lotus pond in the garden, Yuan Gang stood ramrod straight.

Inside the pavilion behind him, two maids accompanied the radiant Hai Ruyue as she approached.

At the sight of Yuan Gang’s back beside the pond, Hai Ruyue smiled brilliantly.

“Brother Yuan is here. Come, sit!”

Yuan Gang turned, climbed the steps, and entered the pavilion.

He nodded once. “Grand Princess.”

“We’re among our own people. No need to be so formal. Sit!”

Hai Ruyue stepped forward, caught Yuan Gang by the wrist, and tried to pull him toward the table with great enthusiasm.

Yuan Gang lifted his hand and withdrew, slipping free of her grasp.

He was not accustomed to tugging and pulling with women like this, much less with a widow. Hai Ruyue’s smile did not diminish. She watched him with smiling eyes.

For some reason, whenever this man stood before her, a raw masculine presence seemed to wash over her and seep into every pore, making her heart race every time.

Hai Ruyue was hardly an inexperienced woman, yet this was truly the first time she had encountered a man with such intensely masculine bearing.

He was unlike most men, whose eyes could not help roaming over her body the moment they saw her.

The more time she spent around him, the more differences she discovered. Very different indeed.

Since he did not like being pulled around, she did not force it. She swept up one sleeve and invited him to sit. Yuan Gang sat down in silence.

What made him frown slightly was that Hai Ruyue shifted her round stool and sat directly beside him.

When she saw that he did not react too strongly, Hai Ruyue smiled again.

At first, every time she approached him, this man had been almost inhumanly aloof. He would not even say an unnecessary word to her, and the moment she came close he retreated as though avoiding a venomous scorpion. Now he seemed to have learned considerably more sense.

In return, Hai Ruyue had also agreed to some of Yuan Gang’s requests. He was no longer confined to the courtyard and was permitted to move around freely within Liufang Guesthouse.

Hai Ruyue tilted her head. “There are no outsiders here. You may withdraw.”

“Yes.”

The two maids bowed and left. Hai Ruyue personally lifted the wine pot and poured for Yuan Gang. Her bright, flowing eyes repeatedly swept over his profile.

His face was strongly sculpted, as though cut by saber and axe, hard and cold.

“Come, Brother Yuan. Let us drink this cup together!”

Hai Ruyue raised her cup in invitation. Yuan Gang sat motionless and made no move to raise his own.

“I cannot hold my wine. Grand Princess may drink by herself. Give me Master Dao’s letter.”

He never casually ate or drank anything offered by other people. Hai Ruyue smiled.

Her cherry-red lips closed around the rim of the cup as she slowly tipped her head back and drank it down.

She refilled the cup, then took a secret letter from her sleeve and placed it on the table. Yuan Gang immediately picked it up and shook it open. The writing was in simplified characters he knew well.

He believed there was no one else here who could forge such a thing. After reading the contents, his expression grew somewhat grave.

Hai Ruyue watched his reaction. “What does it say?”

“Master Dao needs the Grand Princess to submit a memorial to the court and clear away certain obstacles. There are problems with some relay stations inside the State of Zhao...”

Yuan Gang explained the situation described in the letter.

At the end, he specifically added, “Once it is done, have your contact hang a red flower beneath the eaves outside the largest inn in Beishan County.”

Hai Ruyue nodded. “Understood.”

Then she raised her cup and urged him to drink again.

One look at the letter had told Yuan Gang that Master Dao must have run into trouble. Worry weighed on him. How could he have any interest in drinking with her?

He pushed the cup aside. “Grand Princess, this matter should be handled as quickly as possible.”

Hai Ruyue took the matter no less seriously than he did.

Niu Youdao had gone to resolve an enormous problem for her. How could she fail to pay attention?

Yet seeing Yuan Gang act this way, she instead behaved as though nothing were urgent. She slowly drank another cup and placed the empty one before him, giving him a look. Yuan Gang’s cheek tightened.

In the end, he picked up the pot and filled her cup again. So Hai Ruyue drank cup after cup.

Her cheeks gradually flushed, and a hazy, intoxicated look entered her eyes.

When Yuan Gang refused to pour any more, she picked up the pot herself.

Yuan Gang seized her wrist and said in a deep voice, “Grand Princess, you cannot drink any more. The proper business is more important.”

Hai Ruyue looked at him through drunken eyes. “Men and women should keep a proper distance. What are you trying to do? Take advantage of this princess? Not one man is any good!”

Yuan Gang released her hand. He picked up the wine cup and tossed it behind him.

Plop!

It landed directly in the lotus pond. Hai Ruyue collapsed over the table, giggling without end.

Only after quite a while did she raise her head and look at him.

“I’ll tell you some good news. Shang Chaozong has already taken Qingshan Commandery!”

Yuan Gang said, “The matter Master Dao instructed still needs the Grand Princess’s prompt attention.”

Hai Ruyue giggled. “Do you know what sort of relationship I had with Shang Chaozong’s father?”

“He was my first man!”

“...”

Yuan Gang froze. For a moment he thought he had heard wrong.

Hai Ruyue hugged the wine pot and drank directly from its spout. Her gaze turned distant and hazy.

“Back then, I was only sixteen. My parents were heartless. My elder brother and I were sent to Yanjing as hostages.”

“You have no idea how frightened the two of us were. I cried the entire way there.”

“So what if I was a princess? Once I reached Yanjing as a hostage, I was nothing.”

“Because I was beautiful, any man with enough standing to reach a hand toward me wanted to bed me.”

“You know Tong Mo, don’t you? He’s now Yan’s Grand Minister of Works.”

“At the time, I had already been delivered to his room, like a lamb waiting for slaughter.”

“Then someone kicked the door open, knocked Tong Mo to the ground with one punch, and kicked him several more times until he coughed blood. No one dared stop him!”

“Do you know who it was?”

“Shang Jianbo!”

“He had just returned to the capital from the frontier battlefield to report on his command. This elder cousin of mine and I had never even met before.”

“But the moment he heard I was in danger, he did not even take off the armor he was wearing. He rushed straight to the Tong residence and saved me!”

[End of Chapter 154]