After some persuasion from Shen Qingfeng, Xiang Cheng let down his guard considerably. He stayed in the Shen Mansion and began to receive treatment from Yu Shuang.
Shen Qingfeng was quite delighted and would visit Xiang Cheng's residence almost every day. However, Xiang Cheng remained aloof towards Shen Qingfeng. Sometimes, he was even reluctant to say an extra word to him.
After Yu Shuang finished treating Xiang Cheng each time, Shen Qingfeng would take Yu Shuang out to attend to matters concerning other members of the Listening-to-the-Wind Pavilion. Since no one was available to take care of Xiang Cheng, A Man was arranged to continue serving him.
"Time to eat!"
A Man slammed the food box onto the table, deliberately making a loud noise, and said, "Come on!"
Xiang Cheng, who had just been treated with acupuncture by Yu Shuang and was sitting on the bed, glanced at her. Then his eyes drooped again. After a short pause, he slowly got up. He walked to the table, picked up the chopsticks, and started to pick up the vegetables. As his body hadn't fully recovered yet, his hands trembled violently. He tried several times but failed to pick up a single piece of green vegetable.
Considering Xiang Cheng's inconvenience, Shen Qingfeng had specifically told A Man to take good care of him. A Man had witnessed Shen Qingfeng's kindness towards Xiang Cheng, but Xiang Cheng seemed as cold as a stone towards Shen Qingfeng. So A Man also felt annoyed with Xiang Cheng. She just watched him struggling to pick up the vegetables on the table and refused to step forward to help. She even had a malicious thought, waiting for this man in front of her to beg her.
However, to her surprise, Xiang Cheng stubbornly kept trying on his own. The vegetables would fall off each time he picked them up. After a cup of tea's time, he still hadn't eaten much, and the food in the bowl was almost cold.
A Man didn't expect this man to be so stubborn. Although she wanted to punish Xiang Cheng a bit, since Shen Qingfeng had specifically told her to take care of him, A Man didn't dare to be too negligent. She walked forward sullenly, snatched the chopsticks from Xiang Cheng's hand, and in Xiang Cheng's stunned gaze, picked up a chopstick of food and held it to his mouth. She said bluntly, "Here, eat."
Xiang Cheng looked at her, was slightly stunned for a moment, and then nodded slightly and said, "Th... Thank you."
Hearing this, A Man couldn't help but get angry again. She "slapped" the chopsticks and the bowl onto the table and said indignantly, "The one you should thank isn't me!"
Xiang Cheng didn't expect her mood to suddenly become so agitated. He was stunned again and stood there motionless, looking at A Man blankly with his big eyes.
A Man stamped her foot in anger: "You fool! My young master has really had bad luck for eight generations to meet someone like you! My young master had a conflict with his lover in order to save you and specially fetched the antidote from the palace for you. My young master cares about you so much, but you still ignore him. Don't you have a single bit of gratitude in your heart?"
Xiang Cheng paused for a moment, then suddenly came to his senses and seemed to want to defend himself: "I, I..."
"What about you?" A Man didn't want to listen to him at all. She continued, "My young master has really been blind. He has been so kind to you, but he didn't expect to save a white-eyed wolf!"
Xiang Cheng had slurred speech and simply couldn't argue with A Man. So he kept silent and lowered his head, not knowing what he was thinking.
A Man stood there glaring at him, extremely angry. For a moment, neither of them said a word. They just stayed on each side of the room.
After a while, Xiang Cheng, who had been lowering his head, suddenly moved. He said in a muffled voice, "I, I don't know... him. I... haven't seen him before."
A Man snorted and said, "Even so, has my young master ever treated you badly?"
Xiang Cheng said, "N... No."
A Man glared at him and said, "Then why do you still look so reluctant? Do you know that my young master..."
"I!" Xiang Cheng interrupted her and said, "I, I know he is... saving me."
A Man didn't expect this dull guy to interrupt her. She was stunned for a moment, and then stared at him coldly and said, "Since you know that the young master is saving you, you should have some self - awareness, right? The young master has been so good to you. Don't you have any gratitude at all?"
"I am very... grateful to him." Xiang Cheng said hoarsely, "But... I've been imprisoned by someone for so many years. Now I don't recognize... anyone... I can't even remember clearly the... memories before... I have nothing... So when he rescued me, was he really... rescuing me, or..."
A Man was stunned.
Xiang Cheng lowered his head again and continued, "Sometimes I think, is it... better to just stay in that tomb... It's... not bad either..."
A Man looked at him, walked up to him, and asked, "Do you think that since you have nothing now, it's better to stay in that tomb?"
Xiang Cheng lowered his head and didn't say a word.
A Man grabbed his head and made him look directly at her. She scolded, "Fool! If you have nothing, then go and find something! Why are you so self - defeating? Do you think it's good to go back to that gloomy place?"
Xiang Cheng said painfully, "But I... have nothing... left..." He looked at his hands again. "I can't even be a... normal person..."
"Just take it slowly, okay?" A Man got even angrier. She didn't know if she was angry at Xiang Cheng or something else. She quickly cleared away the cold food on the table and said, "You think you have nothing, but you are still living here safely. You think you can't even be a normal person, but isn't that why I'm here to help you? Do you think the young master told me to serve you for nothing?"
Xiang Cheng stared at A Man with wide - open eyes. His mouth opened, but no sound came out.
"Forget it. A fool is just a fool." A Man spat and walked out with the cleared - up food box.
Xiang Cheng stood there motionless, just watching A Man's figure walk to the door.
"You..."
"What about me?" A Man said irritably, "The food is cold. I'll go and heat it up for you."
-
Not long after Lu Yan arrived in Liangcheng, Marquis Chen Luo of the Southwest also returned to his vassal state, Xiqí.
Previously, due to the mission from the Donghu tribe, Xiqí had suspended the mutual - trade with the Xirong state. The Xirong state had a single - product economy. Without the commodity trade from Lixia, many of its common people were suffering. Now that Chen Luo had returned to his fiefdom, he immediately started training his troops as soon as he got back. His intention to attack the Xirong state was very obvious. This scared the king of the Xirong state so much that he quickly announced publicly that his state would remain neutral between Lixia and Donghu and would not participate in the confrontation between the two countries. He also expelled the young lord Yuwen Jian of the Donghu tribe who had come on a mission, hoping that Lixia would resume the mutual - trade.
Unfortunately, King Xia Jie didn't seem willing to agree to the Xirong state's request to resume the mutual - trade. Instead, he ordered Chen Luo to speed up the troop - training.
Shen Qingfeng frowned as he looked at the letter sent by Lu Yan.
Yu Shuang, who was standing beside him, replaced Shen Qingfeng's tea with a hot one. Seeing Shen Qingfeng's strange expression, she asked, "Young master, is something wrong?"
Shen Qingfeng put down the letter and rubbed his temples. He said, "Yu Shuang, what do you think of King Xia Jie's decision not to resume the mutual - trade?"
Yu Shuang thought for a while and said, "I don't quite understand what you mean, young master."
Shen Qingfeng said, "The Xirong state has poor land and abundant rainfall, so its grain output is very low. Before the mutual - trade with Lixia was opened, the population of the country was relatively small. It was still possible to get by barely. Many years ago, in order to improve the people's livelihood, the king of the Xirong state married Princess Liuli to King Xia Jie and opened the mutual - trade between the two countries. Only in these years have the people of Xirong lived a good life."
Shen Qingfeng then spread out the map and pointed at the location of the Xirong state. He said, "Look, the Xirong state is located in a basin. To the west is a desert, to the north is the Donghu tribe, to the south are high mountains, and to the east is Lixia. The Donghu tribe is mostly made up of nomadic people. They eat little wheat, and their food mainly consists of beef and mutton. They can just about make do with self - production and self - consumption, but it's difficult to sell their products outside. So, the Xirong state can only rely on Lixia for trade."
Yu Shuang suddenly understood and said, "That means that if the king doesn't want to continue the mutual - trade with them, it's equivalent to cutting off a large part of Xirong's trade?"
"Not just trade." Shen Qingfeng shook his head and sighed, "In recent years, due to the mutual - trade with Lixia, the population of the Xirong state has increased. The local grain can no longer support its people. Now, if the mutual - trade is cut off, it's equivalent to cutting off some people's lives."
Yu Shuang paused for a moment and said, "Then isn't the king afraid of pushing the Xirong people too far and making them join hands with the Donghu tribe to attack Lixia?"
"That's exactly the problem." Shen Qingfeng said, "Lu Yan wrote in the letter to me that he is also worried about this. As the saying goes, a cornered dog will jump over a wall. If the Xirong state really joins this war, Lixia may face the possibility of being attacked from Xiqí, the Northern Kingdom, and Qimen. Lu Yan didn't bring any troops on this expedition. King Xia Jie originally told him to transfer troops from the Northern Kingdom to support Qimen, but Lu Yan doesn't dare to do so until now."
Yu Shuang said, "Doesn't the king understand this?"
Shen Qingfeng thought for a while and said, "I don't know. Maybe this is his intention on purpose. Don't forget, he has never had a good impression of the Xirong state. Maybe he just wants to force the Xirong state to rebel and then let Chen Luo wipe them out in one fell swoop."
Yu Shuang thought for a while and asked, "Young master, since the king doesn't have a good impression of the Xirong state, why did he marry Princess Liuli in the first place?"
Shen Qingfeng suddenly let out a sneer and said, "Maybe it was - a momentary infatuation."
Yu Shuang asked again, "Was Princess Liuli killed by the king?"
Shen Qingfeng's body paused for a moment and he fell into a long silence. Just when Yu Shuang thought that Shen Qingfeng might not answer this question, he suddenly said, "I don't know... Princess Liuli died suddenly in the palace. There are actually many rumors about her death, but none of them can be verified because we were all too young at that time."
Yu Shuang nodded. She understood that the "we" in Shen Qingfeng's words referred to himself and the Crown Prince.
"However, this matter will become clear." Shen Qingfeng said softly. It was not clear whether he was talking to Yu Shuang or just muttering to himself.
In his previous life, he had rushed into the Mountain - River Hall through a pool of blood and saw Xia Chuli standing in front of the dragon throne with King Xia Jie's head in his hands. As for the matter of Princess Liuli, he didn't know if Xia Chuli had asked King Xia Jie about it before his death because after that, every time he asked Xia Chuli, the latter would keep silent. But in this life, Shen Qingfeng had already made up his mind to kill King Xia Jie with his own hands. By then, he must ask clearly about all those past events.