Taiyuan welcomed the first snow of winter. It is said that the first snow is a good omen, the heavier the better, as auspicious snow indicates a good harvest.

Yan Sikong originally would not pay attention to whether the first snow was heavy or light, but on this day, all kinds of winter supplies sent by King Yong just arrived in Taiyuan. Five hundred horse-drawn carriages rolled out a long winding dragon on the white ground, and many carriages had their wheels soaked by the accumulated snow. Taiyuan City sent a large number of soldiers to meet them, and it was very lively inside and outside the city. Yan Sikong then realized that the snow today was indeed heavy.

A few days ago, he had been busy purchasing winter supplies for the three armies, and the farthest he had sent out to buy them had already reached Fuzhou. In order to avoid the eyes of the court, he really took great pains. But Feng Ye's future father-in-law was very wealthy, and with a single order, he solved their problem. This marriage was really well planned.

Yan Sikong was on the city wall, looking at King Yong's cartloads of "sincerity" and was stunned for a long time.

Until I heard footsteps behind me, and the next moment, a person was standing beside me.

Yan Sikong glanced at the person and saw that it was Yuan Nanyu. He said calmly, "There is no need to bother General Que with such a task."

Yuan Nanyu waved his hand and asked the guards around him to leave. After they left, he said, "Sikong, I have something to ask you."

"You say."

"Have you ever asked the Wolf King for help for your brother?"

Yan Sikong said expressionlessly: "No."

Yuan Nanyu frowned: "Then why did you tell me that you would ask the Wolf King for help?"

"I lied to you."

"you……"

Yan Sikong tilted his head and looked at Yuan Nanyu: "Brother, you have high expectations but low skills. If we rely on our reputation to beg, if we fail, Brother will be unhappy. If we succeed, the Wolf King will be unhappy. It is better to offend Brother than to offend the Wolf King."

"Even if Big Brother can't replace General Zhang Rong, he won't be resentful if I give him a little promotion. It's better than giving him nothing."

"I gave it to him this time, but what about next time?" Yan Sikong said coldly, "He is not a three-year-old child. Does he have to cry and make a fuss to get what he wants?"

Yuan Nanyu looked at him in disbelief: "You are exaggerating. Big brother is not that incompetent. Besides, if you didn't intend to ask the Wolf King for help from the beginning, why did you agree to my request?"

"I asked you to tell Big Brother that I was the one who handed this matter over to me so that Big Brother would stop bothering you and give you some peace. Are you still not happy?"

"I am clean now, but what about you and my elder brother?" Yuan Nanyu sighed heavily, "Do you know how embarrassed my elder brother is? Why did you treat him like this? He is your biological brother..."

"What if not!" Yan Sikong suddenly growled.

Yuan Nanyu was stunned.

Yan Sikong's eyes were stern: "If he is not my biological brother, if he lied to us about our origins in order to gain glory and wealth, then is it justifiable for me to treat him like this?"

Yuan Nanyu stared at Yan Sikong for a moment: "This matter... I..."

"In fact, you have doubts in your heart." Yan Sikong smiled bitterly, "After all, only my elder brother and I know the truth, but you have forgotten it all. It doesn't matter, I don't care anymore. Everyone knows that I, Yan Sikong, am sinister and vicious, and I will do anything to achieve my goal. Based on what my elder brother did to me, he should have been beheaded long ago, but because he is my father's son, I will not do anything to him. This is the utmost kindness, but he can't expect to get any benefit from me."

Yuan Nanyu shuddered as he exhaled, "Sikong, you just said that brothers should stick together. Even if my eldest brother did something wrong, let's just let it go. We read books written by sages and should respect the principles of loyalty and forgiveness and be tolerant to others. If we treat others like this, let alone our own brothers."

Yan Sikong laughed mockingly: "You don't understand me. I am a vengeful person."

"Sikong!"

Yan Sikong patted Yuan Nanyu's chest and said, "Don't persuade me anymore. I should persuade you instead. Don't go looking for Feng Ye again. You conquered three cities in a row before, and Feng Ye promoted my brother because of you. The selection of generals is related to the lives of soldiers and the success of the army. It cannot be determined by personal feelings. If you mention it again, it will be an unreasonable request. Just pretend that you don't know and let my brother hate me alone."

"But……"

"Don't worry about it. When the weather warms up, the army will definitely take action. The situation in Yongzhou is unpredictable. You should not focus on preparing for war and training the troops. Don't worry about these trivial matters."

Yuan Nanyu sighed: "Okay, but I still have to advise you one last thing, don't make enemies."

"Don't worry about me." Yan Sikong remembered something. "By the way, when you were in Yunnan, you helped Chen Yu train the troops and made friends with the generals. They will be useful in the future. Give them some gifts as the New Year is approaching."

"I see."

Yan Sikong narrowed his eyes and said, "Among the conspirators, there are also some people I have planted. If Chen Yu really joins forces with the imperial court to deal with us, those people will definitely be able to play a role."

"We helped him suppress the rebellion and recruited soldiers for him. We put in a lot of effort. Will he really do this?"

Yan Sikong shook his head: "I don't know. I hope he won't do anything stupid, but Shen Hexuan has already arrived in Yongzhou, and Chen Yi hasn't replied to me yet. Now I can only wait and see. But obviously, Feng Ye has felt from the bottom of his heart that Chen Yi would go back on his word, so he couldn't wait to form an alliance with King Yong." At the end, Yan Sikong's voice became increasingly low because he realized that his tone sounded like a resentful woman in a secluded confinement, which was really embarrassing.

Yuan Nanyu stole a glance at Yan Sikong and saw that he looked calm, but his eyes suddenly became empty, and he sighed in his heart.

As the two were talking, they saw a luxurious carriage slowly approaching from the south of the city. It was heading in a different direction from the direction that King Yong was transporting the winter necessities from, so it should be coming from Yanzhou. And judging from the carriage's exterior, it was most likely a carriage for women.

In order to transport winter supplies into the city as quickly as possible during the snow, Taiyuan City no longer allowed civilian vehicles to enter or leave. However, the vehicle showed no intention of stopping and drove towards the city gate in a swaggering manner.

Yuan Nanyu was curious, but Yan Sikong had already guessed who was in the car, most likely Sarin.

Sure enough, after seeing the people in the car, the city gate commander did not dare to be negligent. He let the carriage carrying winter supplies make way and let that carriage into the city first.

Yan Sikong thought, this time Feng Ye lived in the city instead of in the camp, so there was no reason to refuse Saren from entering the mansion. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but smile, but the smile did not reach his eyes.

——

After entering the mansion, Sarin became a headache for the whole mansion because of her rude behavior and contempt for etiquette. But she didn't do anything too outrageous, so Feng Ye let her be and paid little attention to her.

In Yan Sikong's view, she left her hometown and married into the Feng family, but was treated as nothing by her husband, who was about to welcome him as his legal wife. Now that she had finally entered the mansion, she was a little bit naughty just to attract Feng Ye's attention, which was quite pitiful.

But no matter how pitiful he was, Sarin would bother him from time to time, making it difficult for him to show sympathy to him.

Seeing that Feng Ye's wedding date is approaching, Saren becomes more and more anxious, and even has the attitude of wanting to pull Yan Sikong under his wing, which makes Yan Sikong laugh and cry. If he is reduced to the point where he has to "compete for favor" with several women, he might as well kill himself.

Unfortunately, behind Sharen's gorgeous face, there is a not very smart but jealous mind. Yan Sikong even thought with some schadenfreude that Fengye's backyard would not be peaceful in the future.

Yan Sikong still did the same things every day, and it seemed as if nothing had happened. It was just that apart from communication on military matters, he and Feng Ye had not spoken a word or had a meal together in private for a long time. It was also good this way. If it weren't for Feng Ye's obsession, he would have wanted to let it go a long time ago. If marrying a wife and taking a concubine could bring Feng Ye back on the right track, it would be a happy ending even though it was a little late.

As for him, he has been burdened by his children's love affairs for too long. If he could get rid of these personal burdens, even if it would make him bleed, it would be better to suffer a short pain than a long one.

——

One day, he was returning home from the yamen and happened to run into Yuan Shaoxu who had just walked out of a restaurant. The two of them met.

The general beside Yuan Shaoxu said in a somewhat sinister tone: "I have met Lord Yan."

Yan Sikong nodded slightly, turned sideways and was about to leave.

Yuan Shaoxu stood in front of him and said coldly, "Master Yan, may I have a word with you?"

"Okay." Yan Sikong raised his head and looked at Yuan Shaoxu calmly.

The two of them walked to a corner, and Yan Sikong bowed and asked, "What do you want, big brother?"

The muscles on Yuan Shaoxu's face twitched. He lowered his voice and said viciously, "You appear to be respectful on the surface, but you harm me again and again behind my back. Yan Sikong, you have killed so many people over the years by being so double-faced."

Yan Sikong looked directly at Yuan Shaoxu and said, "Yes, I relied on this double-dealing to avenge my father."

Yuan Shaoxu's face was full of gloom. "My Yuan family saved your life and adopted you. It is only natural for you to avenge my father. I didn't mean to make a mistake about your and Yu'er's identities. I didn't know that you would come to the Wolf King for help. But you are still brooding over it and secretly making things difficult for me. You have made it so that I can never be important to the Wolf King. You are simply as vicious as a snake!"

Yan Sikong raised his eyebrows: "Brother, you actually feel that you are underappreciated and I am the one behind it? Brother, you have followed the Wolf King for many years and have made contributions and suffered a lot. It is reasonable for you to be promoted to a commander. The Wolf King has not treated you unfairly. Brother, have you ever thought that you are too ambitious?"

"If it weren't for you, Yu'er went to ask the Wolf King for help, how could I still be a Dusi?"

"Brother," Yan Sikong said earnestly, "If you are promoted too quickly and fail to obey the people, and your virtue is not worthy of the position, there will be disaster. You are Yu'er's elder brother, how could the Wolf King not want to promote you, but you have to do it step by step."

"Bullshit." Yuan Shaoxu gritted his teeth, "Don't think I don't know. Yu'er was going to ask the Wolf King for help, but you intervened and took over the matter. You are just venting your personal grudge."

"If big brother insists on thinking this way, Sikong has no excuse." Yan Sikong said impatiently, "I hope big brother can make great contributions to the Wolf King as soon as possible, rise to a high position, and bring honor to the family. Then Sikong will sincerely congratulate big brother." He was too lazy to pay attention to Yuan Shaoxu anymore and left without looking back.

Yuan Shaoxu stared at Yan Sikong's back, his red eyes filled with hatred and viciousness.

Yan Sikong quickened his pace and went back to the mansion. Firstly, it was freezing cold and it was not suitable to stay outside for long. Secondly, he subconsciously wanted to stay away from Yuan Shaoxu. He hated this man so much. If Yuan Shaoxu was not Yuan Mao's son, he would have poisoned him to death long ago.

Perhaps he was walking too fast, as he bumped into a man who was also in a hurry. The two of them almost bumped into each other. Yan Sikong felt something unusual move on his bra, so he stepped back a few steps, lowered his head, and discovered that the collar was not straight. He turned around abruptly to look for the man he bumped into, but found that the man had already turned into the alley.

He turned around and started chasing after him, but when he entered the alley, the man had disappeared.

Yan Sikong searched several alleys but couldn't find the man again. He stopped and reached into his clothes, where he touched a piece of cloth.

He pulled out the strip of cloth expressionlessly and unfolded it. It was a letter.