Han Yunxi accompanied Long Feiye to settle down at Rear Camp, splitting her time between looking after her womb, assisting Long Feiye with military matters, and listening to news from Medical City. Everything was going smoothly.
Soon enough, Han Yunxi received Ning Jing’s letter. She had found the doctor Gu Beiyue recommended. Although it was difficult to meet with him, Ning Jing had gone to his door with Gu Beiyue’s letter of introduction and gotten a warm welcome in exchange.
Her letter described how the doctor had examined her teeth and verified he could fix them, but that it would take some time. Not only did he have to pick out materials for the false teeth, he also had to observe her condition after they were put in. Frankly speaking, the entire process would last half a year.
Han Yunxi could relax at those words. She had been helping Ning Jing block all pressure from the Tang Clan without telling her a thing. Along with Ning Jing’s good news was Xu Donglin’s letter. The Tang Clan had been asking him for Ning Jing and Tang Li’s whereabouts this entire time. Tang Zijin personally paid a visit to Medical City, then sent more men to search Myriad Merchant Hall. He almost got into a fight with Ning Nuo.
Han Yunxi didn’t want to deal with Tang Zijin head-on, so she could only ask Long Feiy for help. She took Xu Donglin’s letter with her into the large meeting tent and placed it on top of his pile of letters. “When I let Ning Jing take Tang Li away from Medical City, I told Lady Tang that she was going to relieve their spirits for a bit. I didn’t explain Tang Li’s condition to her in detail, much less the state of Ning Jing’s teeth.”
Long Feiye read over the letter before lifting his head. “And then?”
“Now Tang Zijin’s asked Xu Donglin multiple times about their whereabouts. He even went to Myriad Merchant Hall to track down Ning Jing’s whereabouts. What’s he trying to do? Is he afraid that Ning Jing will abduct his son?”
Long Feiye actually nodded. “Yes.”
Back in the maze when their fates were uncertain, Long Feiye had told the shadow guards to inform the Tang Clan to bring Tang Li back if they couldn’t take care of him. Because of that, Lady Tang and Tang Zijin found out that their son had lost his wits.
“I’d rather Ning Jing do that, but she won’t!” Han Yunxi felt helpless. Ning Jing’s personality would never allow such a thing. She wasn’t selfish enough to choose Tang Li’s fate for him, much less leave little Tang Tang alone at the Tang Clan.
“The dentist says it’ll take half a year to finish her teeth, so I want to buy them some time,” Han Yunxi leaned over the table, pressing her palms on its surface. She looked less like a pregnant woman and perfectly capable of doing whatever she wanted.
“Maybe Tang Li will recover after they wander about a bit? Long Feiye, as soon as they go to the Tang Clan, Ning Jing’s days will grow difficult. You should know better than I do what kind of man your uncle is!”
Long Feiye patiently waited until she was finished before asking, “Recently many letters from the south have come in asking for the location of our capital city. Where do you want it to be?”
“I’m talking to you about Tang Li,” Han Yunxi was seriously. If she didn’t hate Tang Zijin so much and wanted to avoid a direct confrontation with the Tang Clan, she wouldn’t be asking Long Feiye for help.
Long Feiye rose to his feet and circled around the table to stand in front of Han Yunxi. He stroked her stomach, less nervous than before, but still very careful. “First answer me, then I’ll tell you how to deal with Tang Zijin.”
“Tianan’s capital city!” Han Yunxi said without hesitation. “It faces danger in the north, west, and south, but its east is by the sea. The navy can guard there and attack or retreat by sea if war breaks out.” She smiled and added, “Of course, that doesn’t include an internal rebellion like Tianning experienced in the past.”
Long Feiye nodded thoughtfully.
Han Yunxi went on, “Judging from the weather, it’s the most fitting choice. It has all four seasons, but its winters aren’t as cold as the north, nor its summers as dry as the west. Traveling north for half a month will give us refuge from the summer heat, the same going south to avoid winter’s chill. Also, there’s a big hunting ground in the west, so you wouldn’t need to go too far to hunt.”
Long Feiye inclined his head, his lips quirking into a wordless smile.
Han Yunxi then added, “Furthermore, the paths are open in eight directions on the territory of the Tianning imperial clan. It’ll be easy to transport goods, meet with courtiers, or travel elsewhere. Only Yunning is superior in this aspect.”
Long Feiye remained silent as he waited for Han Yunxi to go on.
“Yunning is located at the heart of Cloud Realm Continent. If we put the capital here, we’ll be held in check from the west and north. If we choose Tianan, the west and north regions will feel the emperor is too far away,” Han Yunxi mused as she continued. “Truthfully speaking, Yunning isn’t bad. Although its weather can’t compare to Tianan City, everything else is fine.”
“Give me a clear answer,” Long Feiye smiled.
Choosing the capital city was a big deal! Long Feiye had been busy with this very matter. Baili Yuanlong had already met with him multiple times, while the south central contingent had leaders personally coming by to request an audience. Naturally, they would prefer a capital farther south. Han Yunxi knew her own views would greatly affect Long Feiye’s decision. It was no problem to express her views, but having her make the final choice forced her to be prudent.
As she hesitated, Long Feiye’s smile widened. Finally, she realized what was up and cried, “I see, so you’ve long had ideas of your own! Hurry and say!”
“Let’s pick the same old place. Tianan’s Duke of Qin’s estate is still standing. We can build up a palace from its foundations and establish the capital there, alright?” Long Feiye asked.[1]
“You like the Duke of Qin’s estate?” Han Yunxi was surprised. She thought he disliked his days of concealing his identity in Tianning’s royal court.
But Long Feiye simply caressed her neck lightly to pull her close and said, “I liked the days when you were living in Leisurely Cloud Pavilion. In the future, we can still live there.”
The Hibiscus Courtyard, Leisurely Cloud Pavilion…
Han Yunxi suddenly remembered the secret she uncovered in his gloomy cold study. [2]
“Alright! We’ll always live there!” she agreed without hesitation. Her forehead was softly touching his lips as she murmured, “Long Feiye, can you tell me…tell me…”
“What?” Long Feiye asked.
“Can you tell me when you started liking me?”
She was already pregnant with his child, but she still felt bashful and blushed when asking him the question. Han Yunxi didn’t even dare to meet his eyes.
His answer was very straightforward. “I won’t tell you.”
She immediately looked up with a glare, but he simply gave her a soft kiss, afraid that something more passionate would cause him to lose control. Han Yunxi was truly disappointed. She wasn’t burning to know his answer, but being rejected after she asked really left her itching for more.
Unresigned, she asked, “Long Feiye, then do you know when I started liking you?”
She wanted to whet his appetite, but he only said, “I do!”
“When?” she pressed quickly.
“I’ll tell you in the future,” he couldn’t help laughing.
“Long Feiye!” Han Yunxi got mad.
Long Feiye had probably steeled his heart to keep it secret, because he immediately changed the topic. “Tomorrow I’ll issue orders to have the Tang Clan take care of building the palace. That’ll be enough to keep Tang Zijin busy, so you don’t have to worry about Tang Li.”
His words immediately caught Han Yunxi’s attention as she looked at him speechlessly. She never thought he’d hand over the palace project to the Tang Clan at a time like this. As far as she knew, plenty of people wanted to establish the capital city at Tianan Country, Baili Yuanlong and the south central region amongst them.
But actually building it up was a thousand times more troublesome than choosing a location!
Long Feiye could just pick a spot with a clap of his hands, but that easygoing attitude wouldn’t work for construction. The supervisor would have to consider the fengshui of the area, then draw up blueprints and carefully discuss every single brick used to construct the imperial palace. Moreover, it would take more than a few months to build up the palace and the city around it. At the very least, they were looking at one to two years of work.
Meanwhile, all of the major and minor issues along the way would face countless opinions and discussions. By handing the task over to Tang Zijin, Long Feiye could ensure the security of the palace and its capital city so that none of the blueprints leaked. Currently, no other clan could compare to the Tang Clan’s knowledge and design of switches and traps.
Secondly, the Tang Clan had been a faction of East Qin from the very start, and Tang Zijin was Long Feiye’s uncle by blood. If he was dealing with Baili Yuanlong, the other side would naturally restrain themselves.
Thirdly, Tang Zijin wouldn’t be able to manage the construction single-handedly. He would need to concentrate the Tang Clan’s forces to complete the designs in the shortest time possible. In that case, Tang Li’s matters would fall into Lady Tang’s hands. Leaving aside the future, it would reduce the pressure on Ning Jing in the present.
While Long Feiye took care of the construction issue, he summarily helped Han Yunxi wrap up Ning Jing’s troubles along the way. Han Yunxi stared at him and didn’t know what to say.
“I’ll issue orders later. If you have any requirements for the palace, you can simply bring them up with Tang Zijin,” Long Feiye added.
At last, Han Yunxi broke into a smile. “Alright, I definitely will!”
Since the construction will take one to two years, I won’t be polite to Tang Zijin if he dares to cause trouble for Ning Jing. I don’t usually have requirements for places, but when it gets down to that, I can drive Tang Zijin crazy just with a single drainage ditch or wall!
Now that the Tang Clan was taken care of, Han Yunxi didn’t dare to disturb Long Feiye any longer. He was truly extremely busy. Before the new capital was built, Yunning would be their temporary replacement. Construction had already begun on palace halls here.
Long Feiye couldn’t possibly shoulder the duties of establishing a kingdom alone, either. While keeping an eye on the battles in the west, he discussed military affairs with his military and civic ministers, matters of politics, and did various other tasks.
The military was concerned with the distribution of garrisons, appointment of officers, deployment of troops, and consideration for both the overall situation and specific matters in different locales. Politics had more troublesome, trivial matters such as the appointment of officials at all levels, division of administrative regions, and unification of currency, taxes, and laws. Although there was no rush to finish everything before he took the throne, Long Feiye needed to discuss with his people to gain an understanding of all aspects and views so he had a better grasp on the bigger picture.
Han Yunxi turned to glance at Long Feiye as she left the meeting tent and felt a strong pang in her heart!
1. To clarify: the “Tianan City” they’re talking about is the original capital of Tianning. After Long Tianmo rebelled, he took over that place and renamed it “Tianan” while Emperor Tianhui and co. fled west into present day Yunning. It’s just confusing because Emperor Tianhui continued to call his region “Tianning” when the original capital city was still with Long Tianmo under the “Tianan Country” name.
2. It’s vague, but I believe the “secret” she discovered way back then was that Long Feiye’s window had a perfect view of her rooms at Leisurely Cloud Pavilion, so whenever he had his lights on in the study, he was likely staring at her just as she was staring at him. The revelation came in one of the very early chapters of PGC and made HYX realize that LFY might have feelings for her after all. Feel free to correct me if this is wrong, or if something else comes to mind!
