Chapter 62

Yancheng was exceptionally cold with winter approaching. Situated in the north, the city endured frigid weather throughout most of the year, especially during winter.

It was already evening. Half of the sun had sunk behind the mountains, casting a weak, dusky glow across the frozen earth. Smoke rose lazily from the stove inside the house, eagerly drifting out through the window.

Ren Xuemeng stood beside her daughter’s cradle, holding the baby in her arms and repeatedly making her giggle. Now that she was a mother, Ren Xuemeng’s face carried a tender smile, and her eyes overflowed with maternal affection whenever she looked at her child.

Her attention was so completely focused on the baby that she did not notice anyone approaching from behind.

A hand suddenly settled on her shoulder, startling her into trembling. But the moment she caught that familiar scent, she quickly relaxed.

“Have you been behaving lately?” Feng Aoshuang rested her chin on her wife’s shoulder and poked the baby’s plump little cheek.

For some unknown reason, the child had disliked her mother ever since she was born. The instant Feng Aoshuang poked her, the little face that had been happily giggling immediately fell into a sullen expression.

“Do you really dislike Mother that much?”

The rejected mother’s face fell as well. Their two unhappy expressions looked as though they had been carved from the same mold.

Ren Xuemeng could not suppress a laugh. She stroked the baby until her sullen face returned to normal. After soothing the child, she raised her head and kissed Feng Aoshuang’s cheek to comfort her.

“You’re back?” she asked softly.

“Mm…” Feng Aoshuang pressed herself against her back and wrapped both arms around her waist. “I’ll have to return in two days.”

“How are things over there?”

“They’re all right. Those people are still the same. They look down on a sheltered ‘young lady’ like me, but what they think is their business. I have my own duties to attend to.”

Hearing that Feng Aoshuang was being ostracized naturally upset Ren Xuemeng as her wife.

Ever since they returned, Feng Mo’s strictness had bailiantales.comnot diminished in the slightest. Feng Aoshuang, however, had matured considerably and was no longer as willful as before.

Seeing the change in her, Feng Mo immediately sent her back to the military camp for further training.

Because of everything she had done in the past, Feng Aoshuang naturally had a terrible reputation there. The soldiers both despised and feared her. Everyone disliked her, yet no one dared do anything to her.

Feng Aoshuang did not care. The only person who mattered to her was Ren Xuemeng. After entering the camp, she wrote to her wife every day.

Seeing the worry on Ren Xuemeng’s face, Feng Aoshuang gently caressed her and reassured her, “Given everything I did in the past, it’s only natural for them to treat me this way.”

Before Ren Xuemeng could worry for long, two tiny hands tugged at the front of her clothes. The baby babbled in a language entirely of her own invention.

Looking down at their child, Ren Xuemeng smiled again.

“What is she saying?” Feng Aoshuang asked in bewilderment.

Having spent every day with the baby, Ren Xuemeng naturally understood her.

“She’s hungry.”

“Oh…” Feng Aoshuang looked thoroughly unconvinced.

“She’s hungry,” Ren Xuemeng repeated, looking at her expectantly.

“Mm, I understand.”

Feng Aoshuang stared back at her for some time before finally realizing why she had repeated herself.

Embarrassed, she said, “Then… I’ll go outside and practice my swordsmanship.”

With that, she hurriedly fled the room.

After Feng Aoshuang left, Ren Xuemeng loosened her sash and nursed their daughter.

Some time later, sharp sword strokes sliced through the air in the courtyard.

Feng Aoshuang wielded her longsword with a resolute gaze, concentrating fully on every movement.

Ren Xuemeng emerged from the room holding their well-fed daughter. She found somewhere to sit and admired her wife’s heroic bearing.

After practicing for a while, Feng Aoshuang stopped and turned toward her.

“Would you like to try?”

The abrupt question left Ren Xuemeng confused. She stared in surprise as Feng Aoshuang approached. Before she could react, Feng Aoshuang took her hand and led her away, leaving Little Feng behind to watch her mothers in bewilderment.

“I don’t know how…” Ren Xuemeng said bashfully, although she greatly enjoyed the feeling of being guided and protected by Feng Aoshuang.

Holding Ren Xuemeng’s hand, Feng Aoshuang patiently taught her the movements one step at a time.

Ren Xuemeng was somewhat resistant at first. Everything she had been taught since childhood told her that it was improper for a Kunze to do such things.

Gradually, however, she became serious. She stopped treating it as a game and began committing every movement to memory.

“Try the entire sequence by yourself,” Feng Aoshuang said, releasing her hand.

Ren Xuemeng recalled the movements Feng Aoshuang had shown her and performed the complete sequence. Aside from lacking strength, every motion was almost perfectly accurate.

Feng Aoshuang stared in amazement before enthusiastically applauding her.

Embarrassed by the praise, Ren Xuemeng hurriedly returned the sword.

“You really are brilliant. It took me nearly a month to memorize that sequence. But then again, you’ve always been remarkable…”

Remembering their days at school dimmed Feng Aoshuang’s cheerful expression.

She watched Ren Xuemeng walk over and pick up Little Feng.

Ren Xuemeng was clearly so talented—far more capable than a fool like her—yet she was forced to remain here. The Feng family practiced martial arts, leaving her wife no opportunity to use her talents.

Feng Aoshuang lowered her head in thought. Then, suddenly remembering something, she returned to Ren Xuemeng, took her hand, and led her toward the study.

“What are we doing?” Ren Xuemeng asked uncertainly.

“Don’t you love reading?”

“That was many years ago. Besides, this is Father-in-law’s study. We shouldn’t…”

“…”

Only then did Feng Aoshuang remember that she was right. bailiantales.com Her father was famously old-fashioned. He probably would not allow Ren Xuemeng to spend time in his study.

“Ahem…”

A deep, powerful voice interrupted them.

Feng Mo stood in the doorway, his broad shoulders blocking the last rays of the setting sun. He appeared stern and intensely imposing.

“Greetings, Father-in-law…” Ren Xuemeng said guiltily, like a child caught misbehaving.

“Mm.”

He strode inside.

“It’s getting late. Xiaoyu needs to sleep…”

The two hastily seized upon an excuse to escape.

Just as Feng Aoshuang was about to leave, Feng Mo stopped her.

“You stay. I have something to discuss with you.”

Although reluctant, Feng Aoshuang did not dare disobey him.

“The situation at the border grows more tense by the day. Foreign forces have harassed us three times this month alone.”

His voice was low and powerful. His tone did not resemble that of a father speaking to his daughter, but rather a commander addressing a subordinate.

“War will break out sooner or later.”

“But… hasn’t the palace announced plans for a marriage alliance?”

“What problem could a marriage alliance possibly solve? At most, it will delay the fighting for a while. The enemy kingdom bailiantales.com has already decided to wage war. Conflict is inevitable.”

“Father…” Feng Aoshuang frowned. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Yancheng stands at the very front of the border. If war truly begins, we will bear the first assault. You can no longer treat the coming days frivolously. I sent you to the military camp for a reason. I doubt I need to explain it any further.”

He looked at Feng Aoshuang. For once, a trace of tenderness appeared in eyes normally as fierce as a tiger’s.

“You are my child. If I stand first in line, you must stand second. That is a responsibility you cannot avoid. No one can predict what will happen in war, and losing one’s life is perfectly ordinary. If I am no longer here, you will stand first.”

“The late emperor had already subdued the enemy kingdoms,” Feng Aoshuang said. “Why have they begun invading repeatedly in recent times?”

“That cannot be explained in one or two sentences.”

Feng Mo frowned.

When the late emperor was alive, the kingdom’s military strength had flourished. If a foreign enemy dared invade, the emperor would drive the army all the way to the enemy’s doorstep.

But after the late emperor’s death, everything changed.

“There are certain things you should finally know…”

“Without the late emperor, all the rats hiding in the shadows of the imperial palace came scurrying out. First, the Crown Prince who should have inherited the throne died under mysterious circumstances. That forced the Sixth Imperial Princess to ascend instead—the current emperor…”

A mocking expression crossed his face.

“Heh. Calling her the emperor would be generous. She is little more than a puppet on strings. The true ‘emperors’ are probably the rats hiding behind her.”

Although Feng Aoshuang had heard rumors before, hearing the truth from her father still shocked her.

She had never met the current emperor. Her memories of the imperial family remained fixed on the late emperor’s secret inspection of the border when she was very young.

The late emperor had possessed Read on BaiLianTalessuch overwhelming authority that even Feng Mo had deeply admired the sovereign.

“I originally placed some hope in the Crown Princess. Unfortunately, I wasn’t the only person who recognized her talent. Those rats likely set their sights on her as well.”

“The Crown Princess?” Feng Aoshuang looked confused. “You mean the current Crown Princess?”

“Mm. I met her several times before. She truly did possess the bearing of the late emperor. Unfortunately… she was born into a nest of rats. She has been missing for nearly a year now…”

“Missing?”

Feng Aoshuang suddenly remembered everything that had happened in the small village with Ren Xuemeng.

The aura Yang Lulong had displayed at the time…

Linking the two possibilities together seemed so absurd that even Feng Aoshuang struggled to believe it.

She looked at her father, uncertain whether she should tell him. Yet she had never asked where Yang Lulong [read the original at bailiantales.com]came from. Relying solely on a feeling was far too unreliable.

Perhaps Yang Lulong merely possessed an exceptionally powerful scent among Qianyuan.

The border situation was deteriorating, and war was only a matter of time.

Feng Mo was not the only person troubled by the problem. Far away in the imperial capital, Zhao Ruoyong was equally overwhelmed.

She sat alone at a desk, staring at the open memorial before her. Despite the hall’s enormous size, not a single attendant remained beside her.

“Arrange a marriage alliance with the Kingdom of Dian to resolve the crisis at the border.”

She read those words repeatedly.

A marriage alliance with Dian—but who would be sent?

She had only four children. All had now come of age: three Qianyuan and one Kunze.

No matter how she considered it, the burden of the marriage alliance would inevitably fall upon her youngest daughter.

The disappearance of her eldest daughter had already left her powerless. Now she had to send away her fourth daughter as well.

Her complexion looked as though she had eaten something rotten.

She possessed no right to refuse. No matter what a memorial proposed, she had no choice but to approve it.

Whenever she thought about that, she could not help laughing bitterly at herself.

They clearly did not need her, yet they still forced her to go through the motions and maintain the appearance of authority.

She had delayed this memorial repeatedly, unable to sign it.

This concerned her child’s lifelong happiness.

She might not be a wise ruler, but at least within her family, she did not want to fail as a mother again.

Yet she had not even managed to protect her eldest daughter.

What right did she have to call herself a mother?

“Your Majesty, you are requested at Changqing Palace,” an attendant suddenly reported.

“Why?” Zhao Ruoyong asked, still immersed in sorrow.

“Her Majesty the Empress has entered her heat…”

“Did she personally ask me to go?”

Sadness tinged her voice.

“…”

The attendant did not know how to answer.

“Forget it…” Zhao Ruoyong sighed helplessly.

She glanced once more at the memorial, raised a hand to close it, and rose from her seat before leaving the great hall.

The moment she stepped outside, seven or eight people immediately surrounded her.

She did not feel like an emperor attended by a grand entourage.

She felt like a prisoner under constant surveillance.

After walking for a while, she suddenly stopped and raised her head toward the sky.

A bright moon hung above her…