I Have Come!
Feng Yu Heng’s so-called reliability really was reliable. It was only after Feng Yu Heng brought something forward from behind her that the people realized that there was something behind Imperial Daughter Ji An. It was just that this thing was covered in a cloth, and nobody could tell what it was. Now, they saw her remove the cloth, and the people could not help but inhale sharply!
It was a longbow carved out of ancient black jade. The string was made of ice cicada silk, and there were many colorful jewels encrusted on its body, and there was a layer of light that covered it like a fog. For those that looked at it, they could not stop themselves from averting their eyes.
They were all soldiers that went onto the battlefield to fight in battles. Everyone had a certain understanding of bows, and they knew what was a good bow, what was a great bow and what sort of bow a great general would use. They had even looked into what sorts of bows the ninth prince’s Divine Archery Team used. But when this bow appeared in front of them, everyone was dazed.
They heard Feng Yu Heng’s voice steadily grow louder: “This thing is called the Hou Yi Bow, and it is one of Da Shun’s treasures. It was crafted out of cold black jade, and it has a mass of 186 jin. My Da Shun’s founding ancestor used this bow to establish my Da Shun country. And ever since that time, the ruler has granted the holder of this bow, regardless of whether they be male or female, free entrance into any of Da Shun’s military camps and allow them to help in managing the armies to ensure peace in the world! Say, does this imperial daughter have the right to enter this Southern Army camp?”
These words shocked the army.
The Hou Yi Bow, even if they had never seen it, they had definitely heard of it. In addition to this, they had heard that the Emperor had already given the Hou Yi Bow to Imperial Daughter Ji An. Earlier, when Deputy General Tong had said that Imperial Daughter Ji An should not be allowed to enter the military camp, there were some that felt that it was not quite right, but they could not figure out why. It was only now that they had remembered. Imperial Daughter Ji An was the one that held the Hou Yi Bow. What right did the one surnamed Tong have to stop her from entering the military camp?
With the shock of the Hou Yi Bow, there was no longer anyone else that dared to say another word. Feng Yu Heng saw that this shock had obtained the desired outcome, thus they did not continue to linger on that topic. There were some things that did not need to be repeatedly emphasized after it had already reached a certain point. As for these people, if they could not even understand such reasoning, and if they still could not figure out where they should stand after this shock, there really was no need to keep this Southern Army camp. It was just a waste of space in the army.
She held the Hou Yi Bow in her hand and said: “In truth, His Highness the ninth prince and I were even more anxious than you about the supplies from the capital being stolen. Although we have already investigated the truth of the matter, and although we have already shut down that textiles shop in Lan Zhou, those supplies have already been turned to ash. They can no longer be recovered. For the sake of ensuring you do not starve, and for the sake of ensuring that you have food to eat, the ninth prince took out a large sum of his own money and had this imperial daughter go to Lan Zhou and the Luo Province to begin buying. Within four hours, the supplies will arrive. Say, instead of clearly asking for the reason, you just go along with causing a scene. Have you ever thought of how this would trample on the kindness of His Highness the ninth prince? Have you ever wondered how much money it costs to keep an army of 300 thousand? If you don’t believe it, you can go to inside Luo Province’s borders to ask around to see if this imperial daughter has spent the past few days buying supplies. See if there were orders with the local farmers to send food over on a set schedule. See if even plentiful amounts of vegetables and meat were ordered for you!”
These words caused the men’s faces to turn even redder, as they all lowered their heads in self-criticism. All of Feng Yu Heng’s words were slaps to their faces. These men had been too ignorant, and there was nothing that could have been done about the supplies being intercepted. It was His Highness the ninth prince that spent his own money to buy them food; however, they did not know what was good for them and began to cause trouble. They had even nearly been incited by the remnants of the eighth prince’s faction into rebelling. Was this something humans should do?
Someone said in frustration: “We had been too rash. Imperial Daughter is correct. No matter what sort of master we get, they would not like people like us. For His Highness the ninth prince to be able to accept people like us is already not easy. If we continue like this, we would be cutting ourselves off. If there comes a day when we harm ourselves, it can’t be blamed on anyone else.”
Someone took the lead and said this sort of thing, and the others expressed similar thoughts. They all knew that they had been in the wrong and hoped that Imperial Daughter Ji An would give them another chance. From this day forward, they would definitely be resolute on their stance. They would no longer be so easily swayed, always following the words of someone else. There was even someone else that said: “These days, General Xi Fang has always been over here, and there were some comrades that had come from the capital with His Highness the ninth prince that have been helping out. Although we never said anything, we all understood. We 300 thousand of the Southern Army can’t compare with the comrades brought by His Highness the ninth prince. They are resolute and filled with conviction. On the contrary, we spend our days as if we are just going through the motions, but…” That person looked up at Feng Yu Heng. Summoning some courage, he said: “But the South really does not have much to do! His Highness the ninth prince did not bring us to the battle. Spending our days here idly with nothing to do, we also feel uneasy.”
The people nodded along, agreeing with what was being said. As fighters, it was clear that their strengths lay in fighting battles; however, they could not set foot on the battlefield. It had a bit of a feeling of being discarded by the general.
Of course, Feng Yu Heng understood this sort of feeling. Before this, she had made new arrangements with Xuan Tian Ming for the Southern Army. Hearing the soldiers ask about it, she immediately said: “On this note, His Highness the ninth prince has already made arrangements. It’s just that if you couldn’t be kept waiting, and we have been making arrangements for the supplies. It was because of this that we set you to the side, but we did not think that you would feel so pressured.” After saying this, she continued before the other side could ask anything: “At present, Sha Ping and Jue Ping have already been taken. The army has set up camp to the South of Jue Ping City; however, the management and guarding of the two cities has been a weak point. His Highness the ninth prince’s intention is to have General Xi Fang choose some soldiers from the Southern Army to be sent to Jue Ping City and Sha Ping City as guards. The two cities that have been taken must not be lost. The mission of protecting the city will fall to you. Of course, the entire army of 300 thousand will not be going together. The South still needs to be defended; however, it’s not the same group that will be kept here. General Xi Fang will arrange for you you to rotate between the two cities in the desert. As for exactly how it will be arranged, it will be left to General Xi Fang to tell you later.”
Hearing that she had already discussed this matter with Xuan Tian Ming, the 300 thousand troops of the Southern Army became hot-blooded. Although it was not going to fight on the battlefield, they were still able to advance by a bit, and this was a mission given by His Highness the ninth prince himself. They no longer felt like a group of people that had been discarded.
The soldiers’ fighting spirit had gradually begun to recover, and Feng Yu Heng was very happy with this. Right before leaving, she advised Xi Fang to get a good grasp on the people that would be chosen to be sent to Sha Ping and Jue Ping. Only after ensuring that these people were of the highest quality should they be brought into the desert. Xi Fang acknowledged this order. As for those of the eighth prince’s faction that had been drawn out, Xi Fang suggested that they be dealt with through a military trial. This would also act as a reminder to the army. Feng Yu Heng did not have any objections to this and handed the matters on this side to Xi Fang before returning to Jue Ping City.
The crisis in the South could be considered resolved for the time being. Because the Southern Army had been added to the two cities, management became even more orderly. She began to distribute more tea to deal with the heat. After all, she could not keep waiting for people to fall ill before going to treat them. She needed to take preventative measures.
Everything in the South continued to advance in an orderly fashion. Back in Ji An Prefecture, there was the sixth prince, Xuan Tian Feng, acting as the leader. There were Xu shi and Qin shi, as well as Xiang Rong and Bai Fu Rong working together to help. The citizens’ happiness index continued to rise, and Ji An Prefecture became a place of envy in the entirety of Yun Province. More and more people wanted to move into Ji An Prefecture. It was such that real estate prices in Ji An Prefecture were getting more and more expensive. The people without much of a foundation could not even afford to move in. As for the poor people that had lived there from the beginning, they spent their days burning incense and praying, sighing that their fortunes were good, as they were able to meet Imperial Daughter Ji An while they were alive and being able to see Ji An Prefecture develop to this degree.
Xiang Rong’s embroidery shop was becoming more and more popular, as everyone knew that she was Imperial Daughter Ji An’s younger sister. In addition to this, the embroiderers in her shop were the best. Having been provided additional instruction by Xiang Rong, their skills also improved, thus the madams and young misses from near and far loved to visit this shop. Aside from buying some things that were premade, they would also receive a large number of orders every day. There were even some who would come and put in their orders many months in advance for their daughters’ marriages.
On this day, Xiang Rong had just come out of her shop and was preparing to go and find Bai Fu Rong to have her accompany her for a walk. At the same time, she would take a look at the business situation of the shops on the main street. But before she could step out of the shop, she saw her maidservant, Shan Cha, hurriedly run in from the outside. Grabbing her, she urgently panted: “Young Miss, it’s bad. That person came running from the capital and chased us here!”
Xiang Rong froze and could not react for a while, “What’s bad? Who chased us here from the capital?”
Shan Cha stomped her foot: “Who else could it be? It’s His Highness the fourth prince! His Highness the fourth prince chased us to Ji An Prefecture from the capital!”
Just as her words came out, a loud laugh came from outside the shop: “Hahahaha! My little master, I have come!”
Xiang Rong subconsciously wanted to turn and run away, but before she could even take a couple steps, her arm was grabbed by that person. She was then forcefully pulled back. She lost her footing and fell straight into that person’s embrace. That person did not hold back, spreading their arms then tightly wrapping them around her body.
At this time, the two were standing in the middle of the first floor, and there were still a large number of people currently working on embroidery in the shop. For their boss to be pulled directly into a man’s embrace, the madams and young misses in the room were all shocked. They repeatedly sighed: “The imperial daughter’s younger sister really is bold!”
Bold my ass! Xiang Rong’s patience had practically run out, and the words that came out were practically a roar, as she loudly shouted: “Xuan Tian Yi, let me go! Let go! If you still won’t let go, I will call for help! I’m telling you that Ji An Prefecture is filled with our people. You’re a prince without rank or title. You won’t get the slightest benefit here. As long as I call out, a large number of people will immediately charge in and beat you to death!”
With her shouting like this, the people in the room were completely dazed.
Prince? Good heavens, how did another prince come? What sort of place was Ji An Prefecture? Not to mention having an imperial daughter as a leader, one prince after another came. What exactly were they doing?
There were also some young misses that had not yet gotten married that heard that it was a prince, as they stared wide-eyed. They had already admired the sixth prince’s appearance. They did not know which prince this was, but his appearance… was also quite good!
The people of the Xuan family all looked quite decent. This was a matter of genetics. Xuan Tian Yi naturally had a handsome appearance. These girls could be seen with red faces, as they lowered their heads; however, they continued to have wild thoughts racing through their minds. Those that could react quickly kneeled. Not knowing what prince he was, they did not know what to call him, but they kneeled to make up for it.
In an instant, the inside of the embroidery shop was filled with people kneeling, leaving Xuan Tian Yi to hold Xiang Rong, as that person very earnestly said to Xiang Rong: “My little master, I really missed you.”