Ao Qi entered the tent, eyeing the two people with suspicious expressions, full of doubt.
But Pei Jue obviously had no intention of elaborating, he grabbed the helmet from the desk, and passed by Feng Yun, expressionless and cold, devoid of any emotion.
"Take him to claim the person."
Ao Qi was familiar with his uncle's temper, he saluted with a cupped fist and responded, "As you command."
Feng Yun didn't say anything, her gaze followed the silhouette until it disappeared into the tent, then her stiff body finally relaxed, as if she had taken a walk through hell. She took a deep breath and bowed to Ao Qi.
"Thank you, Guard Ao."
Ao Qi snorted, "The General really favors the lady. If it were someone else, committing military violations twice would have resulted in no less than thirty military canes."
Feng Yun: "When did I violate the military rules twice?"
Ao Qi quickly glanced at her, "Once for delivering food, and the second for delivering concubines."
Feng Yun paused, then smiled without saying a word.
Ao Qi: "The General always eats and drinks with his soldiers, never cooking separately, and especially detests having people sent to his quarters. The lady really knows how to cross the line..."
He glanced at Feng Yun again, displeased, "I don't know what's so good about the lady to make the General repeatedly lenient."
Feng Yun hesitated, then stopped and stared up at him, "Guard Ao doesn't know? Then take another look, and see more carefully, will you?"
Ao Qi abruptly met her bright eyes, and at that gaze, his ears began to burn, and a myriad of entanglements spontaneously tangled in his brain, throwing his heart into chaos. He hurried away, leaning on his sword, as if there were ghosts chasing him from behind.
The young man's discomfiture caught in Feng Yun's eyes, inevitably amusing her.
A mere youngster dares to contend with her!
At the least, she had lived two lifetimes.
·
Daman was detained in the Imperial Guard Camp, crouching on the ground like a rabbit, her eyes red, not daring to look at Feng Yun.
Feng Yun didn't say much, she led her back to the tent.
Xiaoman and two other maidservants had already returned.
Having narrowly escaped disaster, the women wept and laughed together.
Only Feng Yun remained silent. She waited until Ao Qi's footsteps had faded away before calmly pushing the White Glazed Lotus Seed Jar, brought back from the Central Military Tent, in front of Daman.
"Try it and see, if the chicken still tastes the same."
Daman fell to her knees with a thud, "Please punish me, my lady."
Feng Yun laughed, "Where did you go wrong?"
Daman lowered her head, ashamed and in distress, "Before leaving the city, the Governor repeatedly instructed me and Xiaoman to guard you closely... As a maidservant with a humble appearance and lowly birth, I know it's hard to win the General's favor, so I took it upon myself to dissolve antler powder in the chicken soup..."
Feng Yun snorted coldly, "You underestimate Pei Jue too much."
If a mere jar of chicken soup mixed with antler powder could make Pei Jue lose self-control, then would he still be the fearsome King of Hell General?
"Foolishness!"
Xiaoman, not understanding these abstruse words, looked bewildered at Feng Yun.
"My lady, sister... What's going on?"
Wen Hui and Ying Rong were at the side, they pulled Xiaoman and shook their heads, signaling her not to make a sound.
But Feng Yun did not avoid the topic, speaking methodically, "Deer antler nourishes the kidney and strengthens yang, and is beneficial for producing essence and enriching the blood. What are you saying your sister has done?"
She then turned her head to stare at Daman, "I sent you to deliver soup, not to deliver cheapness!"
Daman's body shook, suddenly feeling as though she didn't recognize Feng Yun anymore.
Was this the same dull and mild Feng Shi Er Niang from the Imperial Governor's Office?
Feeling fear in her heart, Daman prostrated further, "I was wrong, I should not have taken matters into my own hands... But I did it for you, my lady. Being in the enemy's camp, our lives are uncertain. If by chance I could gain the Great General's favor, from then on, you wouldn't have to suffer in this foul-smelling camp..."
Feng Yun was silent for a moment, "Before you left, how did I instruct you?"
Daman felt like her throat was constricted, and she dared not meet Feng Yun's eyes.
"The young lady instructed her servant... to be cautious. If the general takes a fancy to me, I will stay and serve well inside the tent... But if the general has no interest, I must not seek hardship for myself, flatter unnecessarily, nor engage in seduction..."
"So what did you do, what did you say?" Feng Yun took the small curved knife that she brought from Andu County into her hand, gently caressing the blade as if it was a treasure.
Daman knocked her head on the ground, trembling with fear.
Feng Yun narrowed her eyes, "Speak."
Daman's lips moved stutteringly; her cheeks flushed red, unable to utter a word.
Xiaoman wept as she knelt down, "My lady, please forgive Sister..."
"Stand up!" Feng Yun said sternly as she flung the curved knife away, it grazed past Daman's forehead and crashed to the ground, causing her to scream in terror, crawling and hugging Feng Yun's legs.
"My lady, spare my life, spare my life! Your servant will not dare again, never dare again."
Feng Yun's expression remained unchanged, "Serving under me, betraying your master is absolutely intolerable."
Daman sat down on the ground in a daze, her tears causing her lower lip to tremble, "My lady, do you really have the heart to take your servant's life? When I was in the residence before... just because my eyes and eyebrows had a slight resemblance to yours, Lady Chen tormented me at every turn, your servant is also a person with a tough fate."
Upon hearing this, Xiaoman also started pleading tearfully, "Sister has made a mistake, but Sister's intentions were good, my lady..."
Feng Yun brushed her fingertips over her knee, calmly saying, "Do not be afraid. I saved her, so I will not kill her, but hear this well, you only have this one chance, there will be no exception next time."
Daman sobbed and kowtowed forcefully.
Feng Yun turned her face away wearily, "Enough, rest."
—
This night was destined to be sleepless.
The soldiers patrolling the camp occasionally sent sharp footsteps mingling with the night wind's moans, making it effortlessly easy for Feng Yun to sink into prolonged and distant thoughts.
Having lived her previous life, Feng Yun didn't consider herself a paragon of chastity any longer, and she certainly didn't harbor naive dreams of maintaining chastity for someone in these chaotic wartime years. Pei Jue, born handsome without equal and commanding heavy forces, could currently ensure her safety, and there was originally nothing unacceptable about that.
But...
The beloved of the Empress Dowager Li Sangruo of Jin Country, the one cherished above all others, sleeping with him, would be like stepping into a raging inferno, she found it too troublesome.
Moreover, what she wanted in this life was not these things.
She did not want to exhaust her wits in competing with other women for a man's fleeting affection.
It was with this understanding that she gained a new insight into Empress Dowager Li Sangruo.
A young woman of the harem, surrounded by a pack of wolves, had to support her young son's accession to the throne and rule in her son's name as the Empress Dowager. How could she possibly manage without the ability to manipulate people's hearts?
With such ability, what couldn't Li Sangruo rightfully aspire to have?
Pei Jue, fighting desperately in wars afar, with horse hooves trampling over mounds of bones, was it not all for the sake of protecting her and her son's empire?
He was in love!
Feng Yun chuckled in the darkness.
Let that fortune teller's fourteen-character motto go to hell!
Why should she be doomed because of her beauty? Why couldn't she, after being betrayed and forsaken, carve out a grand path for herself that went beyond merely serving in the bedchamber?
Why couldn't she pass through the midst of countless flowers without a single leaf sticking to her?
Perhaps lost in her thoughts, it wasn't until she heard the quiet night interrupted by a shout for "Puyang Medical Officer to hurry over" that she came back to her senses.
Were they referring to Puyang Jiu?
Summoning him in the middle of the night here in the camp, it couldn't be that incident with Daman and the deer antler causing trouble, could it?
The chicken soup in that jar, she had only had a small bowl, and Pei Jue had guzzled down the rest.
Feng Yun got up, wanting to tiptoe around the servant girl sleeping at the doorway, quietly heading outside...
"My lady?" Xiaoman opened her eyes groggily.
"Shh..." Feng Yun shook her head, signaling her to be silent, "I'm going to check it out."