In the southern territory, Feng Shu had two wealthy prefectures: Yuzhou and Hengzhou.

Hengzhou was coastal and almost monopolized half of the Da Xuan Dynasty’s official salt supply, while Yuzhou was known for being a granary.

After moving to Xizhou, the court cut off the salt and grain supply to the Xizhou garrison, which now relied on shipments from Yuzhou and Hengzhou.

Previously, he hadn’t reacted, so the grain supply routes to Xizhou went uninterrupted.

However, he needed to pay attention to this issue now.

Many ordinary people in Xizhou were still struggling to make ends meet; where would they get surplus grain for the military?

If the court sent troops to attack Xizhou and cut off the supply routes, it would be like cutting off the fish’s water.

After a discussion among the advisors, one of them pondered, “Yuzhou is located centrally; from there, one can travel south by water directly to Yuzhou and Hengzhou. To protect the supply routes, we must take Yuzhou.”

“But Yuzhou is under the jurisdiction of the Marquis of Xing’an, who holds military power. If we attack forcefully, we will suffer significant losses ourselves,” another advisor replied.

“It has always been said that one should first offer courtesy before resorting to force. Perhaps we should send an envoy to negotiate and gauge the Marquis of Xing’an’s stance,” another suggested.

One advisor shrugged and shook his head, “Who should we send? The Marquis of Xing’an is a renowned fierce general. If he is fiercely loyal to the court, anyone we send has a nine out of ten chance of not returning alive.”

They had to win over the Marquis of Xing’an.

Sending a cowardly or useless person might result in their death after just a few words, reflecting their lack of seriousness about the alliance.

However, sending someone brave and strategic also carried the risk of loss if the Marquis killed them.

Before they could reach a consensus, Fuxi entered with tea and whispered to Feng Shu, “My lord, Miss Jiang has come to the residence.”

Feng Shu rubbed his temples, “Take good care of her. I might take some time before I can see her.”

As Fuxi exited, Chi Qing entered.

He presented two written statements from the interrogation to Feng Shu: “My lord, Yuan Yi has confirmed that the girl who came is indeed the one who escaped last night.

Her confession matches what Lu Linfeng said. She arrived in Xizhou a few days ago and has been living at Lu Linfeng’s home.

That night when the incident occurred on Flower Street, she quarreled with Lu Linfeng, stormed out in anger, accidentally ended up on Flower Street, was harassed, and was then saved by the fleeing Turkic prince.”

“The deceased was killed by the Turkic prince. The girl was frightened and fled after seeing the officials searching, fearing trouble would come her way. Lu Linfeng concealed this matter, worried about damaging the girl’s reputation.”

A respectable girl being harassed on Flower Street and involved in a murder was indeed detrimental to her reputation.

Upon hearing this, the advisors and generals in the room began to murmur.

Feng Shu asked, “Can her identity be verified?”

Chi Qing replied, “The household registration documents on her seem genuine; her surname is Li, and she is from the capital.”

Upon hearing that the girl came from the capital, Feng Shu recalled that day in the carriage when Jiang Yiyi had her investigate people arriving from the capital.

A strange feeling arose in his heart, reminiscent of before.

Was this another coincidence?

He momentarily suppressed these doubts and slowly sorted through the discrepancies he found after listening to Chi Qing’s report: “Ugusidan saved her? Ugusidan likely didn’t act out of kindness.”

Chi Qing also had doubts about this.

He helplessly said, “Ugusidan is tough; we’ve tried all the torture methods available, but we still can’t get him to speak. The girl, Li, seems unaware of Ugueidan’s identity, even thinking he was a girl. During my interrogation, she kept pleading for Lu Linfeng and Ugusidan.”

Feng Shu pondered without immediately making a decision.

If both Lu Linfeng and the girl Li were not lying, then perhaps last night’s incident was indeed a misunderstanding.

Lu Linfeng went to such lengths just to protect the girl.

Li had not committed a crime, and pursuing Lu Linfeng would only reveal that he had failed to report a matter.

Feng Shu held the blue-and-white porcelain teacup, tracing the patterns on the lid with his finger but not drinking.

He said, “Take that girl to the dungeon. Make sure Ugusidan sees her being locked up, but they must not be allowed to communicate.”

Chi Qing understood Feng Shu’s intention and smiled, “Your plan is still brilliant, my lord.”

They suspected that the girl was Ugusidan’s accomplice, but both she and Lu Linfeng vehemently denied it.

Thus, they could observe UguSidan’s reaction upon seeing the girl imprisoned to deduce her innocence.

Seeing it was already noon, Feng Shu instructed the advisors and generals to go have lunch, while he went to find Jiang Yanyi.

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After the snow fell, the glazed tiles of the Feng residence’s flower house were covered, and the light inside was dim, causing the pepper plants to not thrive as before.

Jiang Yanyi even noticed that a few robust pepper plants had turned their skins white.

She wasn’t very good at directing the servants of the Feng residence, so she had the young servant guarding the flower house fetch a wooden ladder for her.

She also found a long bamboo pole, climbed up the ladder, and used the pole to clear the thick snow off the glazed tiles.

The bamboo pole was rather long, and since she had to use one hand to hold the ladder, using just one hand to clear the snow was quite strenuous.

After only a few attempts, Jiang Yanyi felt her arm aching and almost giving out.

She switched to her other hand to use the bamboo pole, but while busy, she suddenly heard a deep voice: “What are you doing?”

Jiang Yanyi looked down to see Feng Shu had come over.

Concerned for her safety and seeing her climbing so high, his expression was somewhat stern.

Jiang Yanyi said, “I’m clearing the snow off the glazed tiles! The sunlight isn’t enough, and the chili peppers are starting to develop white shells.”

Feng Shuo looked up at her. “Come down; I’ll send someone to clean it later.”

The bamboo pole was indeed a bit short for the higher parts of the roof.

After handing down the pole, Jiang Yanyi was about to climb down the wooden ladder when one of the young servants who was stabilizing the ladder let go to catch the pole.

The ladder tilted dangerously.

The sudden feeling of weightlessness nearly made Jiang Yanyi’s heart stop.

Fortunately, she was used to wielding knives and handling heavy pots, so she had more strength than a typical noble lady.

She managed to grip the ladder tightly, preventing herself from falling.

Feng Shuo reacted quickly, steadying the ladder, allowing Jiang Yanyi to regain her balance.

The young servant turned pale with fear, and Jiang Yanyi was also shaken.

Once her feet were back on the ladder, she felt a bit steadier.

Feng Shuo’s expression darkened, but not wanting to scare her, he restrained his temper and said, “I’m holding the ladder; just come down step by step.”

Jiang Yanyi nodded, still shaken.

She turned back to reassure Feng Shuo that she was fine and not to worry too much.

However, standing so high, she noticed Jiang Yanxi being taken away by Chi Qing just a wall away.

At first, she thought she was seeing things, but when she focused, Jiang Yanxi seemed to sense her gaze and looked up in this direction.

As the fine snow fell, their eyes met through the wind and snow—one’s appearance was as stunning as a begonia, while the other was as delicate as a daisy.

Both of them were shocked and hesitant, but Jiang Yanxi’s eyes showed a hint of panic.

She quickly averted her gaze and began to walk away in a fluster.

Jiang Yanyi watched Jiang Yanxi’s retreating figure, stunned, then began to ponder.

Feng Shuo noticed she hadn’t come down and called out, “What are you looking at?”

Jiang Yanyi came back to her senses and replied, “I think I saw an old acquaintance.”

As she climbed down from the roof, her hands were already frozen red.

Feng Shuo grabbed her hands, warming them in his palms, completely losing his authoritative demeanor in front of the servants.

With a dark expression, he scolded her: “Just moments ago, you almost fell, and now you’re not being careful again! Do you have to lose an arm or a leg before you learn your lesson? In the future, when you climb ladders, don’t let anything distract you, even if you see an old acquaintance.”

Jiang Yanyi felt as if he was treating her like a child, and with a young servant managing the flower house nearby, her face turned red with embarrassment. “I understand; why are you being so fierce?”

Feng Shuo glared at her. “If I don’t scold you, will you remember anything?”

After reprimanding her, he asked about the old acquaintance she mentioned. “Who did you see earlier that made you dazed for so long?”

Jiang Yanyi was a bit confused.

Jiang Yanxi was in his mansion, led there by Chi Qing.

How could he not know?

She looked at Feng Shuo suspiciously. “Chi Qing just took a lady through the corridor on the other side of the wall.”

Upon hearing this, Feng Shuo immediately understood who she was referring to and led her back calmly. “Someone just died in Huajie, and that woman is related to that case. Do you know her?”

Jiang Yanyi thought it was truly a small world.

She had never imagined that her life would intertwine with the original female lead again.

However, it seemed that Feng Shuo genuinely did not know Jiang Yanxi’s identity.

Seeing the surprise in Feng Shuo’s eyes, she complexly opened her mouth, “That is my half-sister.”

This revelation was like a thunderclap.

Feng Shuo recalled the two testimonies Chi Qing had extracted and was both amused and angry. “It seems Lu Linyuan is really treating me like a fool!”

His words startled Jiang Yanyi.

Was this matter also related to Lu Linyuan?

It was no wonder Jiang Yanyi was confused; in the original story, neither Lu Linyuan nor Jiang Yanxi had any connection with Feng Shuo.

Now, due to her own changes, the entire Chu family had relocated to Xizhou, and because Chu Changping had rushed to Xizhou, bringing news from Fan Yaonian, Feng Shuo managed to uncover the Turkic prince and expose the conspiracy involving Fan Yaonian and Xie Zhizhou.

These military matters were not something Feng Shuo or Chu Changping would voluntarily share with her, leaving Jiang Yanyi in the dark about the current situation.

Only occasionally would Feng Shuo inform her of something, allowing her to piece together useful information from the mostly tragic and romantic plot of the story.

However, considering how Lu Linyuan was portrayed in the original story—lonely and devoted to the female lead, vowing never to marry—she wasn’t surprised he would help Jiang Yanxi conceal her identity.

Feng Shuo evidently thought of this as well.

He had investigated many of Jiang Yanyi’s past matters and naturally knew about the complicated relationship among the three of them.

She had once adored Lu Linyuan to the extent of sacrificing half her life for him.

Feng Shuo had always restrained himself from thinking about her past with Lu Linyuan.

Now that she had revealed Jiang Yanxi’s identity, he wasn’t sure if there was any connection to Lu Linyuan behind it.

Yet, he could feel a twinge of unease in his heart.

It was the uncomfortable sensation of cherishing someone, while knowing a part of her heart might still be attached to another.

Feng Shuo wrapped Jiang Yanyi in his arms and hugged her tightly, finally asking the question he had wanted to ask countless times but had avoided due to pride: “If I deal with Lu Linyuan, what will you do?”