Chapter 58: Leaving Ye City

Spring gives birth to summer, autumn harvests winter stores, and a year’s time has dissipated in the blink of an eye.

Today, Feng Bai Su unusually did not go to the military camp, sitting on the jade stone slab under the cool pavilion with her peach blossom eyes half-closed. The warm sunlight poured down warmly. Her whole person was bathed in sunlight, glowing brilliantly.

“Your Highness, aren’t you going to the military camp today? Wasn’t it said that the situation with the southern barbarian tribes is quite serious?”

Among the thirty-six tribes, twelve have already surrendered. The southern barbarian tribes have also started to become anxious, leading the remaining twenty-four tribes to begin frantically attacking the borders of Feng Ling country.

Wei Jing Mo saw that she still had the mood to sunbathe, and couldn’t help but feel a bit puzzled in his heart.

Seeing him approach, Feng Bai Su opened her eyes and waved to him, gesturing for him to come over.

“Today the sun is shining brightly, with a gentle breeze. Come over here quickly and feel it!”

Wei Jing Mo walked over slowly, seeing her leisurely squint her eyes again, and shook his head secretly.

But he still sat down beside her.

As soon as he sat down, he heard Feng Bai Su’s voice lazily transmitting over again, “The twelve tribes surrounding the southern barbarians have already surrendered, only the remaining twenty-four tribes are still stubbornly resisting. The southern barbarians are now busy appeasing and strengthening their connections with these twenty-four tribes!”

“However…” Feng Bai Su raised her hand and tapped the railing beside her, “it’s all in vain, the remaining twenty-four tribes will be taken back sooner or later!”

The corner of her mouth curved into an arc, her voice sounding leisurely: “But, their rush to appease the surrounding tribes allows us to steal a moment of leisure.”

Hearing this, Wei Jing Mo nodded understandingly.

Suddenly, he thought of something and took out a letter from his sleeve, handing it to Feng Bai Su, “By the way, a letter came from Feng Ling City. It was sent urgently, I don’t know if something happened.”

Hearing this, Feng Bai Su opened her eyes and sat up straight. She reached out and took the letter.

She unfolded the letter and quickly scanned it, her brows couldn’t help but furrow slightly.

Wei Jing Mo saw her expression change and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Feng Bai Su handed the unfolded letter to him and said in a deep voice, “Cong Bai wrote to say that a magician has appeared in Feng Ling City in recent days. His medical skills are extraordinary, and the pills he refines are unparalleled, capable of prolonging life. It has caused quite a stir in Feng Ling City.”

“Moreover, this matter has reached the Emperor’s attention. It was thought she would arrest this magician. Who knew that after bringing him into the palace, he would receive the Emperor’s attention. Now this magician is by the Emperor’s side and is quite favored by her.”

Wei Jing Mo lowered his eyes and glanced at it, also frowning, “This sounds like a charlatan! How could the Emperor let such a person stay by her side?”

“It seems this magician is not simple! There must be someone manipulating him behind the scenes! The reasons behind this are likely not as simple as stated in the letter.”

A flash of sharpness crossed Feng Bai Su’s eyes, the smile at the corner of her lips turning a bit cold.

That someone was manipulating behind the scenes was just one aspect. The Emperor also had to believe it!

It seems the Emperor has finally grown old, actually starting to believe in these heterodox teachings of prolonging life!

It’s one thing for people of this era to not understand the essence of these pills.

As someone with memories of two lifetimes, Feng Bai Su naturally knew that these so-called life-prolonging pills were nothing but slow-acting poisons.

If she could know this, Feng Bai Wei, as a transmigrator, would naturally know it too.

Since she allowed this magician to reach the Emperor’s side in Feng Ling City.

Either she was dissatisfied with the Emperor in her heart and only wanted to watch coldly.

Or the appearance of this magician was related to her.

Based on her understanding of Feng Bai Wei, she felt the latter possibility was greater.

“Your Highness, what do you plan to do about this?”

Seeing Feng Bai Su silent for a long time, Wei Jing Mo spoke up and asked.

Feng Bai Su lowered her eyes in thought for a moment, then said in a low voice, “We’re in Ye City now and can’t return for the time being. It’s beyond our reach! The specific situation is unclear, and we can’t tell from just the content of this letter. For now, we can only heighten our vigilance and let Cong Bai and the others respond flexibly to changes.”

She paused, then continued, “I remember the last time Cong Bai wrote, she said the Fifth Imperial Sister had some unpleasantness with the Gong Yang Prince in Sichuan. It seems I’ll have to write to Sixth Sister and ask them to be more careful in Feng Ling City as well. I’m afraid Feng Ling City won’t be peaceful!”

Hearing Feng Bai Su’s words, Wei Jing Mo couldn’t help but ponder, “Should I send a letter to the Zhen Bei Prince’s mansion to remind my mother and father?”

Feng Bai Su didn’t object, “A reminder would be good, we can ask the Zhen Bei Prince to pay more attention to the Fifth Imperial Princess’s mansion.”

Hearing this, Wei Jing Mo nodded.

The expressions on both their faces were somewhat heavy.

—

After enjoying a few leisurely days in Ye City, Feng Bai Su returned to the military camp.

Wei Jing Mo had also grown accustomed to her fighting and killing on the battlefield. When he heard Feng Bai Su say that the southern barbarians were making moves again and she needed to return to the military camp, he nodded quite calmly.

He only said a plain “Be careful” and didn’t even stand up from his chair.

Seeing his seemingly unconcerned appearance, no longer as nervous and caring as in the past, Feng Bai Su felt a great sense of disappointment in her heart!

She stood in place for a long time before finally stammering, “Then… I’m leaving.”

Wei Jing Mo waved his hand at her, indicating she could leave as she pleased.

Feng Bai Su: “…”

After she turned and walked out the door, she didn’t see Wei Jing Mo immediately raise his head and silently gaze at her back for a long time.

“Why does the master have to act so cold? You’re always so worried you can’t sleep whenever Her Highness goes on an expedition,” Dong Qing stood behind him and asked, somewhat puzzled.

Wei Jing Mo withdrew his gaze and lowered his eyes, “I just don’t want to add to her burdens. If I act unconcerned, it can let her leave with peace of mind. She won’t have to worry about me.”

“The master really thinks of everything for Her Highness!” Dong Gua couldn’t help but sigh.

Hearing this, Wei Jing Mo remained silent.

Feelings are always mutual.

The reason he could think of everything for Feng Bai Su was naturally because Feng Bai Su treated him extremely well too.

—

After returning to the military camp, Feng Bai Su became busy again.

As the surrounding tribes fell one after another, the southern barbarians began to grow anxious, showing signs of desperation.

Once, they even secretly sent people across the defense line to attempt a sneak attack on Ye City, intending to take the city’s civilians as hostages.

Fortunately, Wei Yang and Feng Bai Su discovered it in time, preventing their plot from succeeding.

From then on, Wei Yang and Feng Bai Su became increasingly strict with the defenses around Ye City.

They both knew the southern barbarians were like grasshoppers after autumn, not able to jump for many more days.

To prevent them from using any underhanded tactics, the Feng Ling army tightened border controls even more.

During this period, there was no more major news from Feng Ling City. It seemed like the calm before a storm.

As time passed and the Feng Ling army pressed forward step by step, the southern barbarian tribes finally collapsed and had to send envoys to present a letter of surrender.

With this, the war between Feng Ling country and the southern barbarians finally ended!

After handling post-war matters with Wei Yang, Feng Bai Su began to arrange for their return to Feng Ling City.

With the great victory, Wei Yang also finally found some time to return to Ye City and see Wei Jing Mo.

The matter of returning to Feng Ling City was not urgent, and Feng Bai Su had originally wanted to take Wei Jing Mo out to enjoy the frontier scenery.

However, unexpectedly, after a year, she received an urgent message from Cong Bai again.

The letter simply wrote one sentence: Sixth Imperial Princess Feng Bai Jiang is critically ill!

This immediately changed Feng Bai Su’s expression.

Wei Jing Mo knew that Feng Bai Su and the Sixth Imperial Princess had always been very close. Now hearing the news of her critical illness, how could she have the mood to do anything else?

After hurriedly bidding farewell to Wei Yang, the two began their journey back to Feng Ling City.

—

When they left Feng Ling City, heavy snow sealed the city and north winds howled.

When they returned to Feng Ling City two years later today, it was again the season of falling red maples!

After returning to Feng Ling City, Feng Bai Su sent Wei Jing Mo to the mansion gate, then immediately took the southern barbarians’ letter of surrender and the thirty-six tribes’ letters of allegiance into the palace.

Just as she entered the palace, she ran into Feng Bai Wei.

After two years, Feng Bai Wei didn’t seem to have changed much, except that there seemed to be a hint of gloom between her brows and eyes.

Thinking of how Feng Bai Wei, as the legitimate daughter of the primary wife, still hadn’t been established as Crown Princess, it wasn’t hard to guess that she would feel dissatisfied because of this.

When Feng Bai Wei saw Feng Bai Su, her face showed a hint of surprise: “Seventh Imperial Sister? I didn’t expect you to arrive today! I thought you wouldn’t be back for some time. Why were you in such a hurry on the road?”

Hearing her words, Feng Bai Su’s peach blossom eyes swept over her face. She didn’t know if she really didn’t know or was deliberately saying this.

She laughed lightly and replied in a calm voice: “Our army has won a great victory! Your Imperial Sister has been in that remote frontier for over two years, of course I had to rush back without stopping.”

“Staying in that frontier for over two years, Seventh Imperial Sister has indeed suffered! I see you’ve lost quite a bit of weight!”

A look of just the right amount of pity appeared on Feng Bai Wei’s face.

“Thank you for your concern, Fifth Imperial Sister.”

Feng Bai Su smiled and thanked her, then cupped her hands, “Your Imperial Sister still needs to go to Xuan Wu Hall to have an audience with the Emperor, so I’ll take my leave first!”

“Then your Imperial Sister won’t detain you any longer! Seventh Imperial Sister, walk slowly.”

Feng Bai Wei immediately stepped aside to indicate she should go first.

Until Feng Bai Su left, watching her back as she walked away, the smile on her face was withdrawn again, her black eyes somewhat deep.

Meanwhile, when Feng Bai Su arrived at Xuan Wu Hall, as soon as she walked in, she heard the Emperor coughing, seeming to be in poor health.

She heard but didn’t react, lowering her eyes and paying respects: “Your child greets the Emperor, wishing the Emperor golden peace!”

“You’re back.” The Emperor’s voice sounded somewhat hoarse and weak, seeming much weaker compared to two years ago, “How is the situation at the frontier?”

“Reporting to the Emperor, this is the southern barbarians’ letter of surrender and the surrounding thirty-six tribes’ letters of allegiance.”

Feng Bai Su immediately raised both hands, presenting them to the Emperor.

The Emperor glanced at them, a look of satisfaction appearing on her face, “Not bad! My child has done well this time!”

“Your child doesn’t dare accept the praise, it’s all thanks to General Wei Yang! Your child merely assisted by her side.” Feng Bai Su immediately humbly declined.

Unexpectedly, as soon as she finished speaking, she heard the Emperor on the throne suddenly snort coldly, her voice somewhat gloomy: “Wei Yang? As the general guarding the frontier, doing these things is her duty!”

Hearing this, Feng Bai Su’s brows furrowed almost imperceptibly, then she concealed her emotions again.

The Emperor had always been excellent at putting on a facade, never letting people hear emotions in her tone. She often gave people a sense of being unfathomable and unpredictable.

But hearing her words now, it seemed her dissatisfaction with Wei Yang ran deep!

In the past, although she was wary and rejected the Zhen Bei Prince’s mansion, she would never show it openly.

Now her emotions of joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness were increasingly revealed on her face!

Feng Bai Su raised her eyes to look at the Emperor on the throne, then quickly withdrew her gaze.

The Emperor seemed very different from before!

Her wise black eyes had become somewhat murky, and her inscrutable face was tinged with a hint of turbidity, no longer as shrewd and wise as before.

She lowered her eyes to hide the changing emotions within them, standing quietly in place.

At this moment, the Emperor sitting on the throne suddenly began coughing urgently again.

Feng Bai Su had just raised her head when she heard the Emperor shout loudly, “Where is Master Gao? Quickly summon Master Gao! I want to see him!”

The palace servants waiting outside immediately sprang into action.

Soon, a man in gray robes walked into the great hall. He was also carrying a box.

Feng Bai Su was somewhat surprised to see this Master Gao, not expecting him to be a man. And he was a young man with an extraordinary appearance!

Her gaze couldn’t help but fall on him, her peach blossom eyes containing a hint of inquiry.

As Master Gao passed by her, he bowed to her with a gentle expression: “This humble one pays respects to the Seventh Imperial Princess!”

This voice happened to startle the Emperor on the throne. She looked at Feng Bai Su with displeasure and said, “Why are you still standing here? If there’s nothing else, you may withdraw!”

Hearing this, Feng Bai Su immediately cupped her hands, turned around and took her leave. Before leaving, she turned her head again with an inscrutable expression.

She only saw this Master Gao taking out a porcelain bottle, approaching the Emperor with gentle eyes and brows. The two seemed somewhat too intimate.

Seeing this, Feng Bai Su couldn’t help but furrow her brows slightly again, then withdrew her gaze and walked towards the outside.