With Yan Yiqing’s permission, Qiu Mingsong launched into a lengthy tirade, full of flattery for her and disparagement of others. In front of the person who liked Zhao Huairen the most in the world, he utterly trashed Zhao Huairen.
“This person is foolish and arrogant. Lord Yan must despise her as well.” He talked until his mouth was dry, then took another sip of tea before continuing, “Please rest assured, my lord. As long as Changlin County remains secure, I will make sure she can’t eat or carry away a single scrap.”
“Can’t eat or carry away a single scrap?” Yan Yiqing shot him a sidelong glance.
The cicadas wilted under the blazing sun.
In the early heat of summer, Qiu Mingsong couldn’t help but shiver.
“My rank is low,” assuming Yan Yiqing wanted to know how he planned to deal with Zhao Huaijin, Qiu Mingsong swallowed and gave an embarrassed smile. “Though I can’t stand her behavior, I can only play some minor tricks and trip her up a little.”
“To make her unable to eat or carry away a single scrap…”
“But this matter still requires Lord Yan to take the lead personally.”
The woman’s left hand on her knee clenched into a fist, her knuckles whitening from the force. Xing Wanyang caught Yan Yiqing’s action and bit her lip to stifle a laugh. In this mere quarter-hour, the general had clenched her right hand, then switched to the left, and downed several cups of tea in between.
Qiu Mingsong had some skill, after all.
He had actually managed to rile their general like this.
“You want to…” Recalling Zhao Huairen’s instructions, Yan Yiqing swallowed the words on the tip of her tongue and frowned. “In short, you need me to block her first, and then you volunteer to go to Changlin County.”
“Lord Yan is wise!” Qiu Mingsong cupped his hands in salute.
The sight of that wrinkled old face, more creased than orange peel, irritated her. Yan Yiqing tightened her jaw, rolled her eyes imperceptibly, and said coldly, “No need for flattery. Just do your own job properly.”
“Lord Yan is right.” Though irked by the scolding from a woman several generations his junior, Qiu Mingsong plastered on a smile with his wrinkles. “The heat is heavy at this hour. Please rest well, my lord. I will send someone later to invite you.”
“Withdraw.” Yan Yiqing didn’t even lift her head.
A flash of contempt for her flickered in his eyes. Qiu Mingsong twitched his baggy eyelids, drained the tea in his cup, stood up, and said, “I take my leave.”
Moments later, only the two of them remained in the hall.
“General, is there something wrong with his tongue?” Xing Wanyang walked to where Qiu Mingsong had sat, peered into his used teacup, and exclaimed in surprise, “How could anyone not taste it? What’s wrong with him? He drank all the mud tea.”
“People can taste it. He can’t.”
Xing Wanyang blinked. “He’s not human, after all.”
Yan Yiqing’s enchanting peach-blossom eyes darkened with ink-like gloom. She closed her eyes, exhaled, and said, “Open that food box and see what he brought.”
Open the dog official’s food box?
Seriously? The general was this angry but still in the mood to eat?
Though Xing Wanyang grumbled inwardly, she obeyed the order. She walked to the side, bent down, and lifted the lid of the food box. Before she could fully remove it, a dazzling golden light blinded her eyes.
“General!” Xing Wanyang turned to Yan Yiqing. The neatly arranged gold inside gleamed brilliantly, casting golden patches on the skin of her neck. “It’s gold!”
Yan Yiqing furrowed her brows. “Mm. Put it away.”
“General, it’s all gold in here.” Not expecting such a reaction from her general, Xing Wanyang looked puzzled. This was real gold—why wasn’t the general delighted this time, when she usually lit up at the sight of money?
“Yumu County was once prosperous, but now it’s impoverished like this. Where do you think this gold came from?” Yan Yiqing stood and walked to her side, gazing at the gold in the box as if she could see through it to the helpless faces of the suffering people.
The gold on the table suddenly felt much heavier.
Just one glance weighed a person down.
“I like silver because with enough of it, we can buy better warhorses and weapons.” Her callused fingertips brushed the cold, hard gold. Yan Yiqing pursed her lips, her expression complex. “That way, the soldiers have a better chance of surviving.”
Xing Wanyang nodded. “This subordinate understands.”
Youzhou was remote and hardly prosperous, but the Youzhou Guard’s grain and weapons had never been skimped on.
“What do you think war is for?”
Yan Yiqing rarely adopted such a solemn tone outside of battle. Meeting her general’s gaze, Xing Wanyang calmed herself and thought for a moment before answering, “The Northern Di invade Great Yong’s borders, burning, killing, and looting the local people. We defend the land to bring peace to the common folk.”
“Then what do you think is the point of rooting out corruption?”
Xing Wanyang, who had spent years at war and knew little of officialdom, tightened her fingers and answered straightforwardly, “Corrupt officials suck the fat and blood of the people, drinking the marrow of the commoners. If we don’t clear out corruption and let them run rampant, the locals will be left destitute.”
“You’re right.” Yan Yiqing picked up a gold ingot, her eyes like a dagger stained with blood—calm and icy. “In essence, defending the borders and purging corrupt officials are the same. Ultimately, it’s all to let the people live in peace and contentment.”
With a light clink.
She tossed the gold ingot back into the box.
Though Yan Yiqing hadn’t said it outright, that exchange had resolved the question in Xing Wanyang’s heart. The general liked silver for the sake of the common people—silver obtained by harming them was putting the cart before the horse.
…
Time slipped away silently. The sun set in the west, and the ground heat gradually thinned.
Before the hour of shen ended.
The carriage stopped at the Yuguan Relay Station.
“General, do you want to—”
Yan Yiqing’s fingers paused as she straightened her robes. Before Xing Wanyang could finish, she interrupted, “What, you want to follow and watch the show?”
Her little scheme was exposed on the spot.
Xing Wanyang scratched her neck and guiltily lowered her head.
“This subordinate… wouldn’t dream of it.”
“As if I don’t know you.” Yan Yiqing gave her a slantwise look, strode toward the door, and said lazily, “The Jinwu Guards will lead the embankment repairs on the south bank. Stay here and study the river works diagram drawn by the Heir Apparent carefully a few times.”
“The Heir Apparent can do that too?” Xing Wanyang’s eyes widened.
Yan Maomao, with one foot over the threshold, hadn’t planned to respond, but the surprise in Xing Wanyang’s voice sparked a touch of pride in her heart. In the end, she couldn’t resist turning back. “I’m married to the top scholar of six provinces—what did you expect?”
“…” Xing Wanyang’s mouth twitched slightly.
She was increasingly convinced that the scheming Duke Rui Heir Apparent had definitely cast some spell on their general.
–
The heavy wheels rolled through the sunset glow.
Before nightfall, it slowly stopped at the county yamen gate.
“Lord Yan!” The weary-looking Qiu Mingsong had been waiting a long time. Before Yan Yiqing could alight, he called out.
Hearing that dragging, broken-gong voice of his, the arc at Yan Yiqing’s lips instantly flattened. She would see Huairen soon—but this fool was going to ruin her appetite again.
Seeing Yan Yiqing tarry in the carriage, Qiu Mingsong assumed she was putting on airs. He cursed inwardly but approached with a fawning expression. “Lord Yan, I have been waiting here especially for you.”
If I just killed him outright…
No, she had already promised Huairen.
Her cool fingertips had already touched Zhaoye, but in the end, Yan Yiqing gritted her teeth and withdrew.
He craned his neck. “Lord Yan, I…”
“Shut up—my ears aren’t deaf yet.” Yan Yiqing lifted the carriage curtain, her gaze icy, the killing intent in her eyes nearly toppling Qiu Mingsong.
It was as if he had brushed past the god of death.
His fingers trembled. Qiu Mingsong froze in place.
Seeing him cower like a quail, Yan Yiqing rolled her eyes and said irritably, “I was napping in the carriage, and you startled me awake.”
Only then did Qiu Mingsong catch his breath. His reverence for Yan Yiqing deepened; he no longer doubted that this woman had truly seen battle. He bowed low, head drooping, and pleaded guilty. “I disturbed Lord Yan—truly my sin.”
Yan Yiqing waved him off. “Enough. Let’s go inside.”
“Yes.” He hurried to comply.
…
The elegant, noble scent of lan grass seemed to purify the foul air. The plain official residence, with the addition of one graceful figure, immediately brightened.
Qin An knocked on the half-open door and said to the interior, “Heir Apparent, Young Master Yan has arrived.”
The woman’s gaze on the ledger suddenly paused. Zhao Huairen looked up at her, her voice clear and smooth. “Good.”
She closed the ledger in her hand.
On the desk, they were stacked like a mountain.
“You go ahead.” A fog of concern gathered between her brows. Zhao Huairen glanced at this evidence of crimes, rose from the official’s chair. “Tell them to wait. I’ll come after dinner.”
“Yes.” Qin An departed with the order.
Yumu County’s accumulated ills were worse than she had imagined. Reviving this dying city couldn’t be done in the few days of disaster relief alone.
But to truly relieve the people’s suffering, it couldn’t be just simple relief.
Lost in thought, Zhao Huairen had already left the study.
–
Meanwhile, in the front hall.
“After dinner?” Seated at the head of the hall, Yan Yiqing wrinkled her nose upon hearing Qin An’s words. “She’s making us wait around like this?”
“If Lord Yan has no urgent business, you may come tomorrow,” Qin An said flatly.
Yan Yiqing deliberately ignored Qiu Mingsong’s twitching eyebrows and shot back, “Tomorrow? I’m not her subordinate. We’re both vice ministers, she—”
“Please stay calm, Lord Yan!” Qiu Mingsong raised his voice.
“You’re patient enough to wait here, but I’m not wasting my time with you.” Yan Yiqing snorted coldly, rising from her chair. “I haven’t had dinner either.”
Seeing her about to leave, Qiu Mingsong wanted to stop her but didn’t dare. He could only say respectfully, “If Lord Yan doesn’t mind, why not dine here? I will have it prepared at once.”
Yan Yiqing stood with hands behind her back and drawled lazily, “Fine.”
Taking in the exchange between Yan Yiqing and Qiu Mingsong, Qin An suddenly thought that her own Heir Apparent really did imitate Young Master Yan.
How strange.
Even the details matched.
To mimic to that degree, had the Heir Apparent been staring at Young Master Yan all day?
