The taste of home cooking is so comforting.
Both of them relaxed as a result. Si Xitong helped Xie Lanzhi undress, and Xie Lanzhi followed her around. She took her sword and put it back on the sword rack. She went wherever she was, and she helped her remove her armor, helping to lighten the load with one hand. She prepared a towel and brought over a basin of water.
When Si Xitong dipped the towel into the basin of water she brought, she took it out and gently wiped Xie Lanzhi's face, as if tracing her features. Xie Lanzhi squinted comfortably; the girl's movements were gentle, as light as down. She lifted the basin, and not a single drop spilled from the full basin.
"You've had a tough time these past few days."
It's rare that the two of them, each busy with their own things, can find time to be together.
Si Xitong wiped her down, and Xie Lanzhi took the basin of water out and handed it to the palace servants. She then came back in and ordered someone to prepare some light porridge.
Si Xitong closed the memorial, no longer weary. She said, "Nothing can be rushed, Lanzhi. Do you remember what I said at the birthday banquet last time?"
Xie Lanzhi thought for a moment and said, "It's about the Northern Region."
Si Xitong said, "Yes, the Northern Region will definitely take action once they learn that the Xie family and their direct descendants have begun to unite."
“You know the Crown Prince of the Northern Region, and you are also part of his main force. So you need to convey that the Crown Prince of the Northern Region still remembers the agreement you made with him to support him as the Crown Prince.” Xie Lanzhi was a little confused. The fact that the Crown Prince of the Northern Region had told her when the Empress had just come of age that he hoped she would support him to ascend the throne seemed to have a premonition.
He was also the one who lent a helping hand to Si Xinian.
This person seems to be an important character in the second half of the original work; she needs to be careful.
She said, "Could it be that his position as crown prince is unstable?"
“Then we’ll see how he treats you,” Si Xitong said. “If he fights you, it means he’s confident he can secure his position as crown prince. If he fights someone else, it means his foundation is not yet secure. Although the first force was strong, a mere 30,000 men were all wasted on defending against 200,000 Hun troops.”
"He urgently needs external support now."
Moreover, after Xie Lanzhi captured Tianjing, she took the initiative to block trade and exchanges in the Northern Region. Now, almost three months have passed, and although there has been no response from the Northern Region, they are probably under great pressure behind the scenes.
Thinking of Xie Lanzhi's blockade.
Si Xitong's eyes lit up, and he suddenly asked her a question: "Lanzhi, how do you know that blocking the Seven Jin has greatly shaken the Northern Region?"
Xie Lanzhi replied, "The Seven Jin have many waterways, but the northern region is half sand and half paddy fields, so the grain production is not enough. Merchants from the southern region usually exchange rice and grain for sheep and horses to buy meat for Xie's army. Therefore, merchants from the northern region are particularly dependent on the southern region in this area."
She only needs to impose a simple economic blockade. The Northern Region will definitely suffer losses, while the Southern Region will at most get a little less meat and more vegetables. Rice will not be lacking.
Finally, she added, "Oh, I call Fu Feng's move an economic blockade."
"Economic...lockdown." Si Xitong murmured a few times, her eyes sparkling like night pearls. She seemed very interested in this knowledge.
Xie Lanzhi taught her: "The so-called economic blockade is when the buyer or seller is extremely dependent on a local resource, and cannot function without it. Their daily life depends entirely on it. Once the resource is cut off, the party that urgently needs the resource will inevitably raise the price of the resource in a short period of time. After a long time, once the stockpiled resources are used up, they will be useless. At that time, the whole country will be short of this resource, which will inevitably shake the foundation of the country."
However, three months is not enough to shake the entire Northern Region; at most, it will cause prices to rise for a period of time. The longer it drags on, the more advantageous it is for the Southern Region. On the contrary, the Northern Region will tighten its belt until it can no longer afford to do so and will have no choice but to beg her for help!
Chapter 33 The Showdown Between the Brother-in-Law and the Brother-in-Law
The little girl is a studious person.
I learned a lot about modern knowledge from her that day, especially about people's livelihood.
The next day at the Golden Palace.
Xie Lanzhi took the list of officials to the examination board and held a special exam, asking the selected candidates to answer a paper on the theme of people's livelihood.
Similar to a random test.
Lanzhang Palace.
Si Xitong was still organizing the knowledge she had learned. She copied it down and translated it into annotations that everyone could understand.
She even called Xie Shangguang over and asked him, "Shangguang, can you understand it?"
Xie Shangguang read it through once, then nodded: "Sixty or seventy percent, but why are you suddenly interested in these things, Mistress?"
"Moreover, I have never seen this book in the study before. Its contents are profound and it directly addresses reality. It is unique in the world. Could this be a secret manual of your royal family?"
Si Xitong looked somewhat pleased and shook her head, saying, "It's a secret."
This left Xie Shangguang completely baffled. His mistress was treating him like a treasure, though it was true that she was quite precious.
"Young General! Someone outside has sent a message into the palace." Suddenly, a soldier appeared at the door and handed him a yellow envelope.
Xie Shangguang checked it and found no problems, so he handed it over to Si Xitong.
After Si Xitong opened the letter, she found two sheets of paper. One of them still contained two words: "All is well."
One photo shows the Fourth Prince at the Imperial Hospital.
Her pupils suddenly contracted, and she almost crumpled the letter in her hands.
Ah Nian, something happened to him!
Xie Shangguang was still on guard outside the palace when he saw a beautiful and graceful figure walking hurriedly out of the palace.
"Where is the mistress going?" Xie Shangguang quickly followed.
In the Golden Palace, after Xie Lanzhi distributed the exam questions, her eyelids suddenly twitched.
She frowned slightly, a sense of unease creeping over her.
After the court session ended, she returned to Lanzhang Palace. Xiao Xiu was waiting near Gongyue Bridge. Upon seeing her approach, she hurriedly bowed and told her, "Your Highness has gone to the Imperial Hospital."
Upon hearing this, Xie Lanzhi immediately rushed to the Imperial Hospital.
She tightened her grip on the sword, her expression remained calm, and her pace was neither hurried nor slow. Behind her followed a large group of personal guards, they rushed to the Imperial Hospital as if they were going to tear it down.
The imperial physicians were so frightened that they spilled the medicinal herbs all over the floor.
"Greetings, Marshal!"
Xie Lanzhi walked straight into the Imperial Hospital and asked the physician at the counter, "Which room is the princess visiting?"
The physician said, "Reporting to the Marshal, it's in the Imperial Pavilion upstairs."
Xie Lanzhi saw a wooden staircase on her right, a spiral staircase leading to the second floor. She jumped up directly, and the guards behind her also tried to squeeze up, but Xie Lanzhi stopped them: "Wait where you are."
"Yes, sir!" The guards had no choice but to stay on the first floor.
As soon as Xie Lanzhi went up to the second floor, she saw Xie Shangguang guarding at the end of the corridor, eight rooms away.
There it is!
Xie Lanzhi walked forward step by step, suddenly becoming tense. Her steps became heavy.
Just then, the door that Xie Shangguang was guarding opened, and Si Xitong came out. She was supporting a boy who was half a head taller than her. The boy was dressed in simple gray clothes, and a blush appeared on his face as he walked.
Xie Lanzhi just stopped walking.
"Marshal, what brings you here?" Xie Shangguang noticed her and clasped his hands in greeting from a distance.
The Si siblings turned around at the sound. Both pairs of eyes focused on Xie Lanzhi.
Xie Lanzhi subconsciously looked at Si Xitong, who met her gaze for a moment before looking away.
"Fu Feng".
"Greetings, Marshal. I am currently in a precarious situation, so please return to Lanzhang Palace first." Si Xitong did not look at her. She helped Si Xinian down the other side of the stairs and took her younger brother to bask in the sun.
Before leaving, Si Xinian coughed lightly and glanced at Xie Lanzhi, who was still standing there.
Clad in black armor, tall and slender, with a fierce expression, his eyes, when fixed on his elder sister, almost welled up with tears.
When her elder sister saw her, she unconsciously tightened her grip on her hand, clearly indicating that she was also concerned.
But Xie Ying is a woman.
Thinking of this, Si Xinian went downstairs and sat down on a chair in the courtyard. His fluctuating emotions made him cough involuntarily.
"Cough cough."
Si Xitong's expression tightened, and she looked him up and down: "Is there anything else that's bothering you, Anian?"
“Royal sister, she…” Si Xinian took a breath, then hesitated before continuing.
Si Xitong said, "She is Lanzhi."
The siblings remained silent for a while, both knowing in their hearts who Xie Lanzhi was.
Si Xitong and her younger brother's emotions had calmed down considerably, and she took the initiative to say, "I acknowledge her."
"No one in this world has ever treated me better than you."
Si Xinian's face was bitter. He had been waking up gradually for a month and had learned about his elder sister. He had heard that the Southern Region's Fiend God was infatuated with his elder sister and what he had done for her.
However, he was not by his elder sister's side when she needed help the most, and he was even unconscious.
Hearing Master Si speak highly of Xie Lanzhi, he felt even more bitter and asked, "Does Your Majesty really like a woman?"
Si Xitong did not answer immediately. She looked up at the second floor, where the person slowly descended the stairs, tiptoeing, and Xie Shangguang followed suit, also tiptoeing into the courtyard.
She smiled slightly and answered her brother, "I don't know how much I like her yet, but I don't feel nervous or scared when I'm with her. I've also found a sense of shared interests with her."
"Perhaps it's not just that; I also have a lot of curiosity about her. She seems to possess something that I yearn for from birth."
Si Xinian felt that after two years apart, he was almost unaware of his elder sister, but he understood the feeling she was describing.
"The Southern Region's fiend is eccentric and unconventional, truly unrestrained and free-spirited. And you, my elder sister, have always yearned for freedom."
The terrible thing is that this freedom has now appeared in a woman, stealing her sister's heart.
Si Xitong smiled gently at his answer: "Not only that, she has many other sides, and I want to see them all and get to know her better."
Si Xinian asked in confusion, "Royal Sister?"
"A-Nian, can the Imperial Sister choose her?" Si Xitong asked as she watched Xie Lanzhi get closer and closer, her tone unconsciously becoming more intense, and her attention shifting halfway to Xie Lanzhi.
Si Xinian looked at Xie Lanzhi, walking slowly, but his hand was always on his sword at his waist, as if he had never let his guard down.
After seeing her elder sister concerned that she was alright, her gaze kept unconsciously drifting towards that person.
His eyes dimmed instantly, and he replied, "I don't know what it feels like to like someone. If my elder sister cares about her, I don't care about having one more person."
Si Xitong's eyes softened, and she reached out to gently stroke his head: "Thank you."
"But can she guarantee she'll like you forever?" Si Xinian is an insecure person, and he is extremely distrustful of outsiders, even when he worries about those around him.
Si Xitong clenched her hands and said frankly, "I don't know, but I will try to keep her."
Then, her tone became somewhat domineering: "She is not allowed to leave me."
She answered with such confidence, without the slightest panic or fear of loss. This was a side of her that Si Xinian had never seen before.