Xu Linghai spoke each word deliberately, “If Your Majesty has the opportunity, perhaps you should leave the palace to observe the people’s sentiments, to see how deeply they yearn for ‘peace.'”
Peace?
Hearing these two words, Feng Miaojun felt a moment of realization, and a faint glimmer of hope flickered in her heart.
At noon the next day, Feng Miaojun altered her appearance with a shape-changing parasite and disguised herself as a palace maid to quietly slip out of the royal palace.
She didn’t want anyone to know her whereabouts; only this way could she discover the true sentiments of the people during her secret inspection.
As for who would replace her in the palace, the perfect candidate was naturally the liquid metal spirit, White Board. It could transform into a thousand strange demons, so naturally, it could also become the enchanting queen. Besides, the task Feng Miaojun assigned wasn’t difficult—just take a beautiful afternoon nap and refuse all visitors—there would be no chance to reveal any flaws.
The court session had ended in the morning, so she had plenty of time.
With supportive policies and situated on New Xia’s most prosperous trade route, Wusel City was now extraordinarily lively, completely transformed from half a year ago.
She had wandered around Wusel City more than a dozen times, so this time she easily found her way to a restaurant called “Food Fate Hall” on the main street and took a seat in the main hall.
Food Fate Hall’s storefront wasn’t the largest or most luxurious on the street, and its dishes weren’t particularly refined, but the taste was good and the prices reasonable, so business was thriving.
It was just past the lunch hour, and most diners had already eaten their fill. Those not in a hurry to leave remained in their seats, picking their teeth and chatting. This was exactly what Feng Miaojun wanted to hear. Food Fate Hall’s meals were affordably priced, so those who dined here were mostly merchants—either traveling from north to south or local businessmen—people with some wealth but not considered vastly rich.
She ordered a pot of good wine, and the restaurant sent over a plate of salt-boiled peanuts for her to shell and eat. Women drinking alone wasn’t uncommon, and since Feng Miaojun had changed into coarse cloth clothing and transformed her face to look ordinary, no one paid her any attention.
After shelling a few peanuts, she noticed that almost every table had a plate of wine-marinated dried fish, so she ordered one to try.
After taking just one bite, she wanted to slap the table in delight. The signature dish here was the wine-marinated dried fish. The rivers and lakes outside Wusel City were abundant with tiny fish no longer than bean sprouts, with little meat and many bones, really not much worth eating. However, years ago, many refugees had fled famine to this area, and when starving, they would eat whatever they could find without being picky. These fish grew quickly and were plentiful, easy to catch anywhere, and soon became a regular item on dining tables.
Over time, people began to experiment with ways to prepare them and soon invented the oil-pickling method. Food Fate Hall had perfected this technique. Their excellence lay not only in keeping the caught fish in clean water overnight to purge impurities from their bellies but also in soaking them in house-brewed sweet rice wine until the fish were full of alcohol before beginning the oil-pickling process.
Thus, the small fish served were fried until dry, fragrant, and crisp. When eaten whole with a crunch, even the annoying little bones dissolved, leaving a blend of wine and fish aromas as you chewed—even children could safely enjoy them.
As she nibbled on these snacks, she slightly expanded her divine perception, capturing every conversation in the room without missing a detail.
Honestly, this place wasn’t much different from a farmers’ market, with topics mostly trivial and scattered. For an ordinary person sitting here, the surrounding sounds would be mere buzzing, but only someone with a divine perception as powerful as Feng Miaojun’s could separate each strand, simultaneously hearing countless unrelated discussions.
Before this expansion of her divine perception, she couldn’t have accomplished this feat.
She sat there for more than two hours and finally heard the conversation she wanted about a dozen times. The content concerned Wei Kingdom’s peace proposal.
Somehow, rumors had begun spreading across the plains that the Wei Kingdom wanted to negotiate peace with New Xia. After all, at the Queen’s annual banquet, Wei Kingdom’s State Preceptor had personally appeared and announced this intention to the world.
News has no legs yet to travel faster than anyone, and before long, it had escaped the royal palace and spread among the common people. However, for it to reach the point where it was hotly discussed in every street and alley, Feng Miaojun suspected someone must be deliberately stoking the flames. Fu Lingchuan and his group probably wouldn’t do such things, so was it Yun Ya’s subordinates at work?
What exactly was this fellow trying to do?
However, most of what Feng Miaojun heard was the An Xia people’s ridicule, mockery, and contempt for this alliance proposal. Someone spoke bluntly: “The Wei Kingdom caused our families to be destroyed and our people scattered. Now they have the nerve to seek an alliance! The royal court cannot negotiate peace; sooner or later, we will counterattack to their capital!”
His companions all agreed: “That’s right, that’s right! If any Wei person dares set foot in Wusel, we’ll chop off their limbs and feed them to dogs!”
Eventually, someone weakly commented: “I heard the Wei Kingdom’s State Preceptor is still in the city. The Queen has received him and given him lodging in the palace.”
A companion sneered: “He’s lucky he knows his place, otherwise one person spitting one mouthful would be enough to nail him to death.”
Hearing this, Feng Miaojun sighed slightly. This scene felt just like being back in Du Yinzi City, at Shundong Wine House, which was also filled with people’s hatred toward the Wei Kingdom.
But just then, she overheard another conversation.
It happened to be from a table of guests to her front right. Now in late spring, the weather was growing warmer. These two men wore fine fabrics, one of them dressed in new clothing from a rather famous tailor shop in Wusel City. From their earlier conversation, mostly about merchant matters, Feng Miaojun knew these two were regular travelers on the Mituo trade route over the past half year.
One of them sighed and said: “If An Xia truly allies with the Wei Kingdom, there won’t be fighting or road closures in the west anymore. Goods could travel directly from Chikan Plains into Bogu Plains, significantly reducing transportation costs. The Wei Kingdom has many good products. I’ve heard that near Jin Jun City, there grows a Tiger Gall Grass that greatly enhances male virility! Smuggling it across the border costs five taels of silver per plant! If the border stops fighting, the cost could drop by eighty percent. Our leather goods are popular in Wei territories too.”
The other person agreed: “As long as there’s no war, our business thrives. Unfortunately, everyone deeply hates the Wei people, so it’s uncertain whether this alliance will succeed.”
“The previous king was killed by the Wei people. New Xia’s current Queen has both national enmity and personal hatred against the Wei Kingdom, so peace talks won’t come easily,” said the first merchant, taking a sip of wine. “It’s a matter of pride.”
“But anger hurts wealth.”
Just as these words fell, a man passing by spat twice, landing thick phlegm in their dishes.
The two merchants flared up in anger as the man pointed at their noses and began cursing first: “You two traitorous dogs, earning silver with blackened consciences! What benefits can Wei people give you to make you speak well of them!”
The two merchants weren’t mild-tempered either. As they stood up, four or five of their attendants who had come with them also rose.
Then, the restaurant erupted into chaos.
A burly man was shoved over, crashing right onto her table. Feng Miaojun, quick-eyed and nimble-handed, picked up the last dried fish and put it in her mouth: “Proprietor, the bill please!”