In the main hall, the fortress master sat in the seat of honor. Beside him sat the fortress master’s wife, and one woman knelt at his side.
Behind the seat of honor, other seats were arranged in a line extending outward on both sides.
On the right, the first seats were occupied by Feng Jiu’er and Jian Yi, followed by Long Feiyan and Xiao Yingtao, and behind them Zhao Yusheng and Feng Jiu’er’s four personal guards.
On the left, two women of comparable beauty were seated together first, followed by many more men and women of varying appearances.
Of these people, Feng Jiu’er recognized only the Grand Elder and the tall, dark, and stocky Captain Nanmen — the rest were all strangers to her.
“Come, Miss Feng — I offer you this toast. You may drink tea in place of wine.” The fortress master looked at Feng Jiu’er and raised his cup.
Feng Jiu’er picked up her tea and smiled faintly.
The two lifted their cups together in a brief gesture, then drained them in one go.
The fortress master set his cup down, his gaze still resting on Feng Jiu’er.
“Miss Feng, I will not belabor my gratitude. I know your whole group has been starving all day, so let us begin. Everyone — the food is humble and the wine is modest, but please — eat.”
The fortress master rose, clasped his hands in a respectful bow, then settled back into his seat.
Feng Jiu’er looked at him and smiled lightly. “Fortress master, then we will not stand on ceremony.”
The moment her words fell, she turned and looked back.
“Brothers, let’s begin — fill your stomachs first, then we’ll have the strength to work.”
“Yes.” Feng Yandong, Feng Yannan, Feng Yanxi, and Feng Yanbei answered in unison.
Feng Jiu’er smiled and looked back, reaching for the bowl and utensils on the table.
“Eat quickly — there is still business to attend to afterward.” Her voice was very soft, likely audible only to Jian Yi.
“Eat slowly — be careful not to upset your stomach.” Jian Yi’s voice was equally quiet, reaching no ears but his own and Feng Jiu’er’s.
“This miss’s stomach is perfectly fine — no need for your concern.” Feng Jiu’er cut off a piece of meat and placed it in her mouth.
The sight of the steaming, fresh meat awakened her appetite fully — she felt she could eat three whole pigs.
As Feng Jiu’er and her group began to eat, and as long as the fortress master did not speak, no one else dared to disturb them, and everyone quietly ate their fill.
A small servant stood at the fortress master’s wife’s side, attending to her meal.
Yet the wife did not appear to have much of an appetite — no matter what the servant offered her, she simply shook her head and said nothing.
“Fortress master, have more of this — it is nourishing.” The woman seated at the fortress master’s table kept placing dishes in his bowl from time to time.
The two of them were seated very close together, like a couple in the throes of a new romance.
Much of the time, the woman leaned right against the fortress master — she was barely short of sitting in his lap.
Watching her like this, this garishly dressed woman seemed far more like the fortress master’s wife than the one quietly sitting on his other side.
“Fortress master, here — have a bit more soup. I prepared it specially for you; it is good for the body.” After the hall had been quiet for a while, the woman’s voice rang out again.
Even with so many people present, she behaved without any restraint — as though she had long grown accustomed to carrying on with the fortress master in just this way.
Yet none of this seemed to affect the fortress master’s wife in the slightest. In contrast, the two women seated across from Feng Jiu’er were growing visibly more agitated by the minute.
At first, the two had been almost sisterly, exchanging warm words now and then.
But as the woman at the fortress master’s side grew increasingly brazen, they could no longer contain themselves.
Suddenly, the woman in the blue-green dress stood up. Holding a bowl in hand, she made her way toward the fortress master.
The woman in pink seated beside her was not about to be left behind, and picked up a dish of her own, heading in the same direction.
“Fortress master, this is a stew I prepared today — would you like to try it?” The woman in blue-green arrived at the fortress master’s other side, smiling brightly.
Before she could even sit down, she noticed the woman in pink closing in.
The woman in blue-green shot the newcomer a cold glance and pressed tightly against the fortress master, leaving not even half a space for the other woman.
“Fortress master, how do you find the soup I have been making?” Just as the fortress master moved to glance to his right, the woman who had been seated beside him all along grabbed his sleeve.
Before the fortress master could respond to the woman in blue-green, he was pulled back around to face his own concubine.
“It is good — the soup is very good.”
“Then fortress master, you must have more.” The woman took hold of his arm, angling him back toward her, then ladled a spoonful of soup and held it to his lips.
The fortress master swallowed the mouthful of soup, only for the woman in blue-green on his left to tug at his arm.
“Fortress master, will you not at least try the stew I prepared for you?” The woman in blue-green looked at him, fluttering her eyes.
“What stew is it? Try it I certainly will — I am sure to finish every last drop.” The fortress master said lightly.
“Fortress master.” The woman in pink, still holding her dish, called out softly from just behind him, a faint note of grievance in her voice.
The fortress master turned immediately and glanced at her. “Taohong, what have you made for me today?”
“But fortress master, were you not just about to try my stew?” The woman in blue-green was unhappy, and once again grabbed his sleeve.
“Fortress master, you still have not finished my soup — does it not taste good?” The woman who had been seated beside him all along simply leaned her whole weight against his side.
Surrounded by three beauties, the fortress master had utterly no idea how to proceed.
Even Feng Jiu’er was finding the scene difficult to watch.
Had the fortress master not cut quite an authoritative figure yesterday? Yet with beauties on all sides, this was the spectacle that followed.
What a pity for the fortress master’s wife, seated so far away. She occupied what looked like the best seat at the table, but the pain in her heart was likely something few could truly appreciate.
In the midst of the fortress master’s predicament, everyone heard the fortress master’s wife emit a faint, soft cough.
The fortress master glanced sideways at her, then looked away.
All at once, the smile vanished from his face, and he said plainly: “All of you — step back.”
The moment the fortress master’s words were spoken, the two women who had come over lowered their heads and hurried off with their things.
Even the woman who had been pressed against him drew back several inches, sitting properly in her original place.
From start to finish it had taken no more than the blink of an eye — all three women were behaving themselves, and the hall fell quiet again.
Feng Jiu’er raised her eyes to look at that composed, gentle woman across the way, and could not help but see her in an entirely new light.
From all appearances she seemed like someone who knew nothing of the ways of the world — yet with a single soft cough, without needing to say a single word, she had brought the entire situation completely under her control.
Such quiet authority — this was undeniably the fortress master’s true wife.
The hall settled into silence, and everyone continued with the meal.
After two or three quarter-hours, the evening dinner was more or less complete.
As expected — a full meal, and every trace of exhaustion lifted like smoke.
One small servant after another came in to clear the leftover food from the tables and replace them with fruits, pastries, and fresh tea.
Feng Jiu’er took the tea that Jian Yi had poured for her, sipped lightly, and then rose to her feet.
“Fortress master.” She looked at the fortress master and bowed with clasped hands. “Now that I have taken this matter on, there is no reason to see it only halfway through.”
“There is not much time left in the day. I would like to go and examine the situation again.”