start
Only after cleaning all the dishes on the table did Xu Ruoyan sigh contentedly, slump into her chair, and rub her stomach.
"It's absolutely delicious!" she exclaimed.
Pei Jue propped his head up and watched her with a smile.
In just half an hour, Xu Ruoyan had already calmed herself down. She had completely ignored Pei Jue's gaze and didn't care how ugly her eating manners were just now.
"Tell me, what are your chips?"
We've come full circle back to this topic.
Pei Jue sat up straight: "In Jiangnan, the emperor is far away and each prefecture has long been independent, so even Qi Feng has difficulty interfering. What we need to do is to unify the various prefectures and form a more powerful force that can rival the imperial court."
Xu Ruoyan pouted: "Do you really think this is so easy to do? I think it would take at least three to five years to complete."
The chair back was hard and straight, not ergonomic at all, and her back started to ache after sitting for a short while. She simply lay down on the soft silk quilt, groaning and rolling around a few times.
It's hard to imagine the kind of miserable life I lead every day.
They had been traveling for the past few days and were in a hurry to get back to their destination, so they hadn't had a proper rest. Now, as soon as Xu Ruoyan's face touched the blanket, her eyelids felt heavy, and the soft incense burning in the room was filling her nostrils. Before long, she was about to lose consciousness.
"lady?"
Xu Ruoyan vaguely heard Pei Jue calling her, and tried her best to open her eyes. However, she exhausted all her strength as soon as she opened them a crack, and once she closed her eyes, she could never open them again.
Pei Jue quietly got up and turned off all the lights in the room, leaving only a red candle on the bedside table flickering gently. In the dim light, he quietly sat down next to Xu Ruoyan and carefully traced her features hidden in the shadows.
"lady……"
He seemed mesmerized, and subconsciously reached out, his fingertip touching the corner of Xu Ruoyan's eye.
Then the cheeks, chin, lips...
In the deep darkness of the night, Pei Jue's Adam's apple bobbed.
He felt Xu Ruoyan's long, even breaths, and felt the coolness of her skin beneath his fingertips. Suddenly, he forgave everything. He forgave his mother, who had left him when he was young, forgave his father, who had placed him on the throne, and forgave the injustice that Heaven had done to him.
He only needs to hold on to the happiness in front of him.
People often say that there are gains and losses in everything. If Xu Ruoyan was Heaven's mercy in compensating him for the suffering in the first half of his life, then he forgave her.
He closed his eyes, hiding the twinkling starlight in them, then lowered his head and gently kissed Xu Ruoyan's forehead.
"Sweet dreams, madam."
...
The night passed, and Xu Ruoyan slept very soundly, so much so that she didn't wake up until almost noon.
"Why is it so late!" She suddenly jumped out of bed, then everything went black, and she collapsed back onto the bed with a thud.
Pei Jue, who was just entering the room, saw this scene and quickly ran over to help Xu Ruoyan up: "Madam, are you alright?"
Xu Ruoyan waved her hand weakly: "It's nothing, I just got too excited."
She shook her head, trying to shake off the sleepiness.
"What time is it now? Why didn't you wake me up?"
Pei Jue casually ruffled her hair: "It's a quarter past noon now, not very late."
When Xu Ruoyan heard the time, she almost jumped out of bed.
"Hurry up, hurry up, don't we still have to see Song Mingyang?" She quickly rolled out of bed, slipped on her shoes, and dressed in one go. "If we're any later, it'll be too late."
Pei Jue followed behind her, helping her straighten her clothes: "No rush, we can go in the evening."
But Xu Ruoyan's philosophy has always been to get things done as early as possible, so she hurriedly finished packing and dragged Pei Jue out the door.
“You still haven’t told me what to do yesterday,” she shook her head with some self-reproach. “I shouldn’t have gone to sleep so early. We should have planned it out properly.”
Pei Jue looked at her with eyes full of heartache: "We're not in a hurry."
Xu Ruoyan got angry as soon as she heard this and slapped him on the back: "You're saying you're not in a hurry when it's such a big deal! It'll be too late when they come to you!"
The slap made Pei Jue groan. He swallowed the pain, leaving only a look of grievance in his eyes.
"I just wanted Madam to rest more."
Xu Ruoyan then realized that she had misunderstood him. Looking at Pei Jue's eyes, which were filled with grievance, she felt so guilty that she wanted to slap herself.
She quickly tried to soothe Pei Jue, gently stroking the spot where she had just hit him: "I'm sorry, it was my fault. Let me rub it for you."
Pei Jue pouted and held out his hand to Xu Ruoyan: "Does your hand hurt?"
Xu Ruoyan: ? Shouldn't it be my hand that hurts? Why are you trying to scam me?
She looked at Pei Jue's hand in disbelief, then looked up and met Pei Jue's staring gaze.
Okay, let's hold hands then.
With a defiant air, she placed her hand heavily on Pei Jue's hand, and it was then firmly grasped.
Pei Jue's fingertips brushed against a soft patch of skin, and he slightly raised his eyes, catching a glimpse of blush on Xu Ruoyan's earlobe.
Pei An was right; men who know how to be charming and affectionate have the best lives. He should reward Pei An properly.
At the same time, Xu Ruoyan also caught a glimpse of Pei Jue's slightly upturned lips.
I really don't understand what he's so happy about.
She shook her head, silently criticizing Pei Jue, and then unconsciously laughed.
Soon the two arrived at the government office, and as usual, they sent a servant to announce their arrival.
"Just say that Ziyan requests an audience," Pei Jue instructed the servant.
Watching the servant run off into the distance, Xu Ruoyan looked at Pei Jue with concern: "Is it really okay to say it so bluntly?"
Pei Jue squeezed her hand reassuringly: "Don't worry, this place is different from the capital. We don't need to be so cautious here."
Xu Ruoyan was skeptical of his words, after all, she was not an adventurous person, but since Pei Jue had said so, she would subconsciously trust his choice.
The servant was very quick on his feet, and soon he ran out and said he would take them to the back room.
"Where is the back hall?" While the servant was walking ahead, Xu Ruoyan quietly approached Pei Jue, stood on tiptoe, and asked him.
As a modern person, Xu Ruoyan was already quite knowledgeable about the functions of a prefectural government office, so naturally she had never studied its layout. However, Pei Jue assumed she had seen such things but didn't understand, and didn't think much of it.
He bent down and whispered in Xu Ruoyan's ear:
"The back hall is where the prefect handles his daily affairs, but ordinary people can't go in."
Upon hearing this, Xu Ruoyan understood, which meant that Song Mingyang already knew the identity of the person who had come.
"The Prefect is inside. Please come in."
Pei Jue tightened his grip on Xu Ruoyan's hand a little more.
Xu Ruoyan's gaze shifted from their clasped hands to his eyes, and then she nodded gently.
As the door creaked open, Song Mingyang appeared before them. Xu Ruoyan immediately scrutinized his appearance. She trusted her intuition; if this person gave her a bad first impression, she would definitely grab Pei Jue and run away.
A chubby face, a thick beard, and eyes so small they almost disappear...
He gave her the impression of being an honest person.
However, Song Mingyang ignored her and instead rushed over to give Pei Jue a big hug.
"Brother Ziyan, is it really you?!"
Xu Ruoyan only looked away for a second before the fat man in front of her started wailing and crying in Pei Jue's arms, wiping his snot on Pei Jue's body from time to time.
Xu Ruoyan: ... This time they didn't bring a single servant. Will I have to wash these clothes when we get back?
Just as she was worrying, the person in front of her started howling again.
"Brother Ziyan... Wow... I thought you weren't coming back..."
She cried so hard it was heartbreaking, she couldn't even speak properly.
Then she received a pleading look from Pei Jue.
Xu Ruoyan returned his gaze with a shocked and confused look.
You didn't say that Song Mingyang's character was like that!
After a long wait until he calmed down, the three of them finally sat down.
However, to everyone's surprise, Song Mingyang was very similar to Pei An back then, and the first thing he asked was when Pei Jue found his wife.
Xu Ruoyan really suspected that this was the rhetoric of a fixed NPC in some other world, otherwise why would the two of them have the exact same actions and rhetoric?
Pei Jue was also quite helpless, and could only cooperate with him by answering a few questions before finally managing to steer the topic back on track.
"Lord Song, we have come here to ask you to help us find a place."
Song Mingyang, flattered, waved his hand at Xu Ruoyan: "Hey sister-in-law, you can just call me Runsheng, that's what Brother Ziyan calls me too. If you need anything, just let me know, I'll definitely help if I can!"
Xu Ruoyan smiled at him amicably: "It's like this, my dear brother, we need a place that's as large and secluded as possible. Do you think you can find such a place around here? Preferably a flat one."
Upon hearing this, Song Mingyang frowned in confusion: "What does my sister-in-law want this land for?"
Xu Ruoyan and Pei Jue exchanged a glance, then smiled at Song Mingyang and said, "It's like this, your brother and I don't have anywhere to stay, so we wanted to find a place, and... make some money along the way."
As she spoke, she raised three fingers from under the table and gestured with them.
Song Mingyang immediately let out a long "Oh" and smiled mysteriously.
"Okay, I'll find one for you and cover for you when the time comes."
Xu Ruoyan winked at Pei Jue.
The plan works. However, Song Mingyang's assumption that they were going to engage in some illegal business might differ slightly from reality.
This was Xu Ruoyan's idea. She felt that they couldn't throw a bombshell at Song Mingyang right away, in case he got scared and refused to agree. They had to proceed step by step, and at the very least, they needed to find a place where they could train the recruited soldiers.
As for what to do if Song Mingyang finds out... Xu Ruoyan believes they can persuade Song Mingyang to join their camp before that day arrives.
"Remember to find a big place, the bigger the better," Xu Ruoyan reminded him again.
Song Mingyang nodded with a smile: "Understood, sister-in-law and brother Ziyan, you can rest assured."
Actually, secrecy is secondary. After all, this place is far from the emperor's reach, and the prefectures in the Jiangnan region are notoriously unruly. Xu Ruoyan isn't afraid of Pei Huai extending his influence here, as long as it's not too blatant under his nose. The main thing is that the place needs to be large enough to accommodate tens of thousands of people.
However, relying solely on Yangzhou is certainly not enough; their plan has only just begun.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
