Chapter 69: A plot to knock him unconscious, imprison him in shackles, and take him back to the capital...
A torrential downpour caused the water level of the moat surrounding the capital to rise sharply. After conducting an investigation, the Ministry of Works, in order to prevent further rain from flooding the inner city, opened the moat's sluice gates overnight to divert water downstream.
As night deepened, their noisy construction noise disturbed even the Tong'an Imperial Palace on the outskirts of Beijing. Unable to sleep, Shen Shiyi and Xiao Liling had a chess table set up in their bedroom and began playing chess in a haphazard manner.
The candles on the bronze candlesticks burned brightly, casting slender silhouettes of the two women on the hall's surface. Neither of them seemed to be focused on the game of chess, and both had a hint of worry in their eyes.
Shen Shiyi's chess moves were completely haphazard. He casually placed the white pieces on a corner of the board, yawned, and said, "Princess, you couldn't sleep in the middle of the night, so you came to bother me. Just say what you want to say so I can go back to sleep."
Xiao Liling's slender fingers held the black chess piece, and looking at Shen Shiyi's impatient face, she rubbed it several times before slowly speaking, her voice gentle, "I know that General Shen will soon storm into the imperial prison to rescue Shen Ze. In addition, I heard that General Shen also wants to rescue Feng Youming, a criminal of the Huang Dynasty?"
Upon hearing this, Shen Shiyi raised an eyebrow, tossed the chess piece onto the board, leaned back on the cushion, and scrutinized Xiao Liling's young and beautiful face. After a while, he chuckled and said, "Princess Liling, you have quite the network of information. So you have people around me too?"
Xiao Liling's expression remained unchanged. She sat upright on the other side of the chessboard, raised her watery eyes to look at Shen Shiyi, and said calmly, "Since I am a princess and we live under the same roof, it is not surprising that I have heard some news."
Shen Shiyi wasn't annoyed, but said, "Princess, can't you just speak frankly? Talking to people like you with your cunning minds gives me a headache."
"..." Xiao Liling had never been judged so crudely before. She paused, her eyes concealing all emotion as she looked up, leaving only her usual indifference. "Was rescuing Feng Youming at the same time my second brother... Xiao Yinshi's idea? I heard about Feng Tan's crushing defeat in the court debate. He failed to rescue Feng Youming, so he passed the task on to Xiao Yinshi? Xiao Yinshi never helps others, why would he..."
Why did Xiao Yinshi help Feng Tan? After the two of them returned from their mission to the Linzhang sea area, Xiao Liling keenly noticed Xiao Yinshi's different attitude towards this young official... That night in the dark alley in front of Xiao Yinshi's mansion, the two of them were under an illusion. After the smoke cleared, Xiao Liling clearly heard Xiao Yinshi's low voice: "Beauty does not bewitch people, people bewitch themselves. Just now... I was attached to appearances."
"Attached to appearances... How could someone like Xiao Yinshi be so easily attached to appearances?" Although it was dark that night, Xiao Liling accurately sensed that Xiao Yinshi's gaze towards Feng Tan was not innocent. She had originally thought that Feng Tan was a man, and that Xiao Yinshi's repeated acts of mercy towards Feng Tan were out of admiration. Now it seemed that this was not entirely the case.
Xiao Liling closed her eyes. Perhaps her second brother really did like men.
Shen Shiyi crossed his legs and looked at Xiao Liling's usually aloof and calm face, which now showed a hint of worry. He teased, "Princess Liling, are you afraid that after we rescue Feng Youming, Feng Tan will come back with us? When Xiao Yinshi ascends the throne, he will be his bedmate?"
Xiao Liling paused for a moment, looked at Shen Shiyi's expression, and said, "Yes."
“Your concern is not without merit,” Shen Shiyi’s ears twitched, and a sharp edge flashed through her. “Xiao Yinshi never does anything that doesn’t benefit him. The fact that he’s willing to help Feng Tan proves that she holds a special place in his heart. But Princess, please rest assured that your second brother will never fall in love. At most, he’ll be driven by lust. Once you’ve been in contact with him enough, no one can resist such a beautiful woman.”
The candlelight flickered, and Xiao Liling's eyes flashed as well. He said, "A person who can arouse his desire repeatedly is no ordinary person."
Shen Shiyi said with a playful tone, "Of course, Feng Tan is handsome, and I like him too. After rescuing Feng Youming, I will take him away to be my son-in-law, and I will definitely not cause any trouble for Princess Liling."
Xiao Liling's expression remained unchanged, though sorrow weighed heavily on her heart. She merely forced a smile and said, "You helped me ascend to the throne of Empress, and I helped you reduce the Shen family army's losses by half and storm into Dahua... I've never liked unpredictable events..."
If she does have one, she can contain the unforeseen events within a manageable range.
After saying that, Xiao Liling turned and left. Shen Shiyi's expression turned sour. She looked up at the roof and said, "How did my little son-in-law become a thief on the roof? He's gone, come down."
Feng Tan flipped off the roof tiles and jumped down, standing in the hall as she slowly approached Shen Shiyi. She said, "I originally came to discuss the plan to storm the Imperial Prison with General Shen, but I didn't expect to hear some royal secrets... According to the Xiao family's relationship, is Xiao Liling Xiao Yinshi's cousin? How did she fall in love with this living devil?"
“Before becoming Yama, he was also a human being. You never saw his gentle side,” Shen Shiyi said, looking at the face that was more beautiful than spring flowers. “Back then, Xiao Liling was the only junior and grew up under the care of Xiao Yinshi’s mother. The two of them used to have a very good sibling relationship. Later, her father usurped the throne, and the two of them could never go back to what they used to be.”
“Oh,” Feng Tan said without much emotion, “I, Yu Ruxi, Zheng Qingru, and I once spoke with Princess Liling in the suburbs. It was clear that the princess was a woman of great wisdom and understanding, but we didn’t see any romantic thoughts about her…”
Still, she harbored feelings for Xiao Yinshi… That night was the seventh day after Wan Niang's death. She went to the outskirts of the capital to pay her respects, and Xiao Liling's words still lingered in her heart: "Dahua needs a princess to marry into the Huang Dynasty. I have benefited from the hard-earned wealth of the people of Dahua, and now that they need me, I have come." I think that the independence and self-reliance described in Mr. Feng's book were not built on irresponsibility.
Shen Shiyi glanced at Feng Tan with a smile and said meaningfully, "You are young and have seen too little of human nature. You don't know, there are some people in this world who seem to have a grand vision, but their character can be completely different from their outward appearance. People are easily deceived by them. Sometimes I really feel that they are almost deceiving themselves."
Feng Tan sat down opposite Shen Shiyi and asked, "How did General Shen know?"
Shen Shiyi's eyes darkened slightly as an incident from ten years ago surfaced in his mind. Recalling the genuine ruthlessness in Xiao Liling's eyes back then, he did not directly answer Feng Tan's question, but instead said, "Lord Feng, do you know why I chose to help you rescue Feng Youming?"
A playful glint appeared in Feng Tan's eyes as she said, "Could it be like in the storybooks, that my poop powder, itching powder, and aphrodisiac powder made General Shen, after hating me to the extreme, suddenly develop feelings for me and actually fall in love with me?"
Shen Shiyi leaned closer to Feng Tan, his eyes filled with undisguised admiration, and spoke frankly, “There are two reasons. First, since I support Xiao Yinshi as my master, I must obey his orders; second, you stirred up the Dahuang court to save Feng Youming. Although you failed, I admire you. I really liked the teachings on women’s self-reliance that Feng Youming taught in Linzhou back then. She was a shining pearl in your Dahuang, and it would be a pity if she died in a dark prison.”
The dim candlelight spread between them, and their gazes met in the light, each seeing the undisguised admiration in the other's eyes.
The chess pieces were scattered on the board, and Feng Tan gathered them together to start the game again. He said, "You don't know how difficult things are until you experience them. In the court, I have already witnessed the officials' disdain for associating with women. There is indeed no open way to overturn the case, and I only have Xiao Yinshi left as a covert path. General Shen, please give me a straight answer. Can I trust you?"
Shen Shiyi said, "We martial artists don't like to play those underhanded tricks and schemes that you civil officials use. Since I have been ordered by Xiao Yinshi, I will definitely do my job well. Lord Feng doesn't need to doubt me on this point."
Feng Tan nodded and told her the plan, "Tomorrow evening, Feng Youming's Imperial Dragon Camp will send elite troops to the Red Sleeve Pavilion. It is the time when high-ranking officials and nobles are drinking and having fun, and it is also the time when the spies around the Red Sleeve Pavilion are most tired. They will set a big fire at the Red Sleeve Pavilion to confuse the situation and take the courtesans away. They will also take the officials there hostage to prevent the pursuers from pursuing them."
Shen Shiyi frowned in confusion and asked, "Weren't we only going to the imperial prison to save Feng Youming? Why do we also need to save the courtesans from Hongxiu Pavilion?"
Feng Tan looked into her eyes and said, "Because they supported my studies for eight years, Ren Pingsheng's only hope for them was that I could restore their status as good citizens. I couldn't do that, so I had to take the risk and ask the Imperial Guard. Moreover, we can't sneak into the Imperial Prison without anyone noticing. If the Military Command, the Imperial Guard, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and other officers in the capital launch an attack on us at the same time, we won't have enough manpower to handle it. So it's better to play a feint. As long as we control the timing properly, they will be too busy to deal with it."
Shen Shiyi's soldiers are brave and numerous, but the capital's defenses are like an iron barrel. She cannot allow them all to infiltrate the capital. With limited manpower, if the Five Cities Garrison sends out elite troops, they are easily captured in the imperial prison. If the Five Cities Garrison's forces are divided into two groups, one to deal with the Imperial Dragon Camp and the other to deal with the Shen family army, then the chances of victory will be much greater.
Moreover, the Imperial Dragon Camp has personnel who participated in the rescue of the female calamity case. Feng Bingzhu and her group have enough experience to bring out the courtesans of the Red Sleeve Pavilion without any problem. If Feng Youming hadn't given a strict order forbidding the Imperial Dragon Camp from interfering in her affairs, Feng Tan wouldn't have put all her forces into the Red Sleeve Pavilion and entrusted the lifeline of rescuing Feng Youming to the Shen family army.
“I shouldn’t call you Lord Feng, I should call you Young Hero Feng,” Shen Shiyi said. “When will the Imperial Dragon Camp arrive in the capital?”
“Tomorrow.” Feng Tan was like a phoenix chick that had failed to rise from the ashes once, but had rekindled its hope. “After tomorrow, they will all be free.”
The stars and moon shone brightly in the sky, and starlight poured down from the leaky roof tiles. The fire in Feng Tan's eyes was brighter than the starlight. Shen Shiyi's pupils trembled slightly. This person was too resilient, like a tenacious weed. The court could not defeat him, and worldly ethics could not kill him. He had a strong sense of righteousness in his heart, as well as a belly full of scheming. He was carving out a path for them, while he could have been an outsider.
Shen Shiyi suddenly understood why Xiao Yinshi, a cold and ruthless man, would be slightly moved by him. The young man possessed a kind of attraction that transcended gender, which, when imprinted on the surface of romance, could even bring life to rotten wood.
But after they're rescued, how much of the young man's carefree spirit will remain?
Xiao Yinshi's intention was for her to knock him unconscious, imprison him in shackles, and bring him back to Dahua.
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