Chapter 688: Chapter 497: Happy to See Each Other
The man was Tang Shaogong.
Li Sangruo’s vision blurred.
She could not see Tang Shaogong’s face clearly, but that vague silhouette, along with the calm voice devoid of any emotion...
Made her feel as though she had seen a savior.
"Uncle Shaogong..."
She called out, but no sound came out; only a series of indistinct sobs rolled out of her throat...
Then, she heard Tang Shaogong say a sentence.
"She is alive, and still able to thwart Pei Jue. Dead, we would still have to spend money on her funeral... Prime Minister, why not spare her life?"
Thwart Pei Jue...
Li Sangruo had heard this phrase countless times before.
She used to believe it...
Heard too much of it, blind self-confidence.
Believed that she was special to Pei Jue, that he must care about her, that there was an unbreakable bond between them...
Regrettably, even after fleeing to Yecheng, she never saw Pei Jue influenced by her.
Never once.
She really wanted to know what Tang Shaogong meant by "thwart."
She also wanted to know where Li Zongxun got the confidence from, believing that Pei Jue would care about her...
Li Zongxun finally let go, slowly releasing his grip.
Watching her body weakly collapse to the ground, after a long moment, he spoke coldly.
"Then let her live."
Tang Shaogong bowed with a waist bend, gently folding his hands in respect.
"Prime Minister is wise."
Li Zongxun slowly shook off his sleeves, putting his hands behind his back, then glanced anxiously at Li Sangruo again.
"Write a letter, informing Pei Jue that the day the Beiyong Army crosses the Yishui River will be the day he... collects his sister’s corpse."
Sister?
Li Sangruo’s mind was a tangled mess in her dazed state.
She seemed to think of something but lacked the strength to ponder deeply, weakly leaning on the ground, not opening her eyes, letting sweat trickle down her spine, nearly fainting.
Tang Shaogong looked at her calmly, confirmed with a nod, "Your subordinate will see to it immediately."
-
Ever since the Beiyong Army crossed the Tonghui River, victory reports came frequently; Huaxi Village celebrated from time to time as if it were the New Year.
From April to September, Feng Yun was also busy "recruiting soldiers and buying horses, building houses and constructing properties."
Hou Zhun and Xing Bing took away a large part of their followers, forcing her to recruit a new group of craftsmen.
Upon hearing the news, Mr. and Mrs. Tu Boshan sent plenty of manpower from the Tu Family Fort, barely managing to keep the workshops running.
The busy summer passed, and as autumn arrived, winter wasn’t far behind.
Winter clothes from the Cheng Yi Workshop and coal balls from Little Jieqiu were all urgent supplies; Feng Yun refused to have her people work double shifts, so she hired many more workers.
Meanwhile, the houses in Little Jieqiu kept multiplying, and the roads became wider and wider...
Because she had been deliberate from the start, planning the architecture uniformly, after several years of continuous construction from the base to mid-mountain, then to the peak, Little Jieqiu had now gradually begun to take on the form of a defensive fort...
And all this was built unbeknownst to others.
Because Little Jieqiu was extremely well-defended, outsiders only knew they hired many laborers and that the workshops were continuously expanding, completely unaware of the earth-shattering changes inside...
Feng Yun’s business grew bigger and bigger, and the capable people under her command became more numerous; merchants from ten counties and eight prefectures all wanted to latch onto the Changmen connection, following the Princess of Yonghuai to earn comfortable money.
Business is all about profit.
Feng Yun never shied away from her attitude of wanting to make money.
On the contrary, Chunyu Yan had become much more distant from Feng Yun since the account book incident, spending most of his time away from Huaxi in recent months, delegating all business negotiations to Quding...
Feng Yun was rather pleased with this.
One cannot have everything; having chosen a sense of proportion, her relationship with Chunyu Yan could only come to this point.
Maintaining distance is the most enduring relationship between partners.
Ambiguity only hastens death...
As October approached, she started arranging a new room for Wen Xingsu.
The house in Huaxi built for him had already been completed, but, with Wen Xingsu on the battlefield, they missed the May wedding date, and many of the previously prepared items needed to be redone.
Last time, due to the rush, she felt it wasn’t perfect enough; now, taking the opportunity, she thoroughly prepared, wanting to give her elder brother and Puyang Yi satisfaction.
During these days, she received numerous letters from Puyang Yi from Xijing, far exceeding the terse messages from Pei Jue.
Compared to Pei Jue’s simplistic and rude few words, Puyang Yi’s letters were filled with thoughts and sweet talk, bringing Feng Yun much joy.
Also, due to Puyang Yi being talkative, Feng Yun managed to understand everything about Xijing from another perspective.
Even the news of Pei Jue personally leading a military expedition against Yecheng was something she first caught wind of from Puyang Yi, and only later received confirmed information from Pei Jue.
Li Zongxun was guarding the north bank of the Yishui River, controlling the vital pass to Yecheng, and the imminent battle at Yishui River was at hand.
