Guan Xiaorou listened quietly until Jin Feng finished. For a long while she said nothing.
After some time, she sat up straight, looked him in the eye, and asked, “My dear, tell me honestly: if you follow the Ninth Princess to fight Tubo and we lose, will you die?”
“Probably not.”
Jin Feng replied, “Even if the princess and I join the war, we’ll be directing from the rear. We won’t be charging into close combat with Tubo warriors. It should be safe enough.”
“Then what are you worrying about?” Guan Xiaorou asked.
“The court,” Jin Feng said. “The princess is starting a war without imperial sanction. If we lose, the consequences will be dire. Even if we win, if the court later decides to punish us, as one of the main participants I wouldn’t have enough heads to chop.”
“The court… wouldn’t be that unreasonable, would it?” Guan Xiaorou asked anxiously.
“From the princess’s tone tonight, she has definitely left herself some cards at court. As long as we win, the court probably won’t pursue it and will reward us heavily instead.”
Speaking in bed with his own wife, Jin Feng held nothing back. “Of course, it’s also possible she’s only pretending to be confident to lure me aboard and ease my fears.”
“I think the Ninth Princess is a good person. She wouldn’t cheat us, would she?”
“You can never really know someone’s heart. The princess has been fighting those old foxes at court for years. She can be ruthless when she needs to be.”
Jin Feng continued, “Xiaorou, remember this: never fully trust anything the Ninth Princess says. Otherwise a sweet innocent like you would be sold by her and still help her count the silver.”
“Oh.” Guan Xiaorou nodded, half understanding. “What does ‘sweet innocent’ mean?”
“It means exactly what it sounds like: silly, pale… and sweet!”
Jin Feng cupped Guan Xiaorou’s face and planted a loud kiss on her cheek.
“Annoying!” Guan Xiaorou gave him a playful slap.
“Judging by the current situation, the princess truly wants what’s best for Great Kang and values my ability to make weapons. She has no reason to trick me.”
Jin Feng lay back with his head in Guan Xiaorou’s lap, talking partly to her and partly to himself. “My biggest worry is still Emperor Yong’an.”
“Emperor Yong’an is the current emperor, right?”
“Right, that very fellow.” Jin Feng said, “From everything the princess and Qing Mulan have said, Emperor Yong’an is a man without firm opinions. He acts without consistency and is easily swayed easily.
What I fear most is that he’ll turn on us once the deed is done. If that happens I certainly won’t wait meekly for the axe. The only choice would be to take to the hills and become an outlaw.”
“My dear, you’ve already thought about how to deal with the emperor. That means you’ve already made your decision, haven’t you?”
Guan Xiaorou looked down at him.
“I…” Jin Feng paused, then asked himself, “Have I already decided?”
Guan Xiaorou’s words were like a lighthouse guiding him through fog.
Yes, he had long ago become deeply entangled in this world and could no longer extricate himself.
More than ten thousand people now depended directly on him for their livelihood.
If making money had been his only goal, he would never have needed to employ so many, nor gone to such lengths to wipe out bandits.
He had done all those things simply because he could not bear to watch ordinary people suffer.
The descendants of the Yan and Yellow Emperors had already endured far too much hardship.
They worked diligently, never complaining, asking only to keep their families fed and warm.
If Tubo really invaded, he could escape comfortably to Jiangnan, but what about all these people?
Would they die beneath Tubo blades, or starve and freeze in the wilderness?
Then what meaning would anything he had done so far hold?
“Xiaorou, you are a sage!”
Jin Feng sat up and kissed her fiercely.
“Have you made up your mind?” Guan Xiaorou asked with a smile.
“Yes,” Jin Feng said. “Actually, ever since I followed Marquis Qing north to fight Xixia, I’ve carried the Qing family’s brand.
Now it’s even more obvious. The moment the Ninth Princess came to West River Bay, West River Bay became tied to her whether we like it or not.”
West River Bay’s defences were now essentially complete, and food reserves were ample.
His weapons and equipment were ahead of the age.
Whether Tubo came or the court sent troops, Jin Feng was confident he could withdraw in good order if needed.
If he truly threw caution to the wind and rebelled, he was eighty per cent certain he could seize Jinchuan and proclaim himself king.
He even had confidence he could overthrow Great Kang and take its place.
Only as a last resort would he ever do such a thing.
Was being emperor really that appealing?
Every wise ruler in history had spent their days locked in exhausting battles of wit with ministers, worn out like huskies.
He had been given a second life. Wasn’t it better to live comfortably as a rich landowner with loving wives and pretty concubines?
Why tire himself scheming and fighting?
Yet now there was no avoiding it.
From the instant the Ninth Princess arrived at West River Bay, he had been lashed to her war chariot.
If she were later purged by the court, he would be implicated whether he had helped her or not.
The only thing he could do now was help her win as decisively as possible. That would give him the most options afterwards.
“So be it. What will come will come, and what is meant to be evaded cannot be evaded! For now, the only path is to follow the princess.”
Jin Feng declared, “If we win and the court still wants my head, then the court is rotten to the core. Dodging once won’t let me dodge forever. In the worst case I’ll take to the hills, raise the banner of rebellion, and start my own kingdom!”
“If my dear becomes a bandit, I’ll follow and be a bandit’s wife!” Guan Xiaorou laughed.
“And then bear me a whole brood of little bandits!” Jin Feng grinned wickedly and buried his face in her chest.
When the princess joked about becoming his mountain queen, Jin Feng hadn’t believed a word.
But when Guan Xiaorou said she would follow him as a bandit’s wife, he didn’t doubt her for a second.
Though Guan Xiaorou had never studied and was far less clever than the princess, she was the person Jin Feng trusted most in the world, without question.
He believed everyone else in the world might betray him, but Guan Xiaorou never would.
No reason, he simply believed it.
“My dear, I don’t want to wait any longer.”
Guan Xiaorou gently stroked his face. “My monthly courses are due in half a month. This is the best time to conceive. This time… don’t… don’t do that thing any more, all right?”
“You knew?” Jin Feng asked.
In these times, giving birth was like walking through the gates of hell.
Countless women died in childbirth every year.
Guan Xiaorou was only eighteen. Jin Feng didn’t want her to bear children so young, so he had always avoided her fertile days and used withdrawal.
“Xiaobei told me everything,” Guan Xiaorou said. “I know you feel sorry for me and don’t want me to have a baby too early, but the whole village is already gossiping…”
“Why care what others say? Your own wishes are what matter!”
“But I want a child too!”
“Then at least wait until Xiaobei returns?” Jin Feng tried to stall. “Once you’re pregnant we can’t share a bed. With Xiaobei away, what am I supposed to do?”
“I don’t care. You’ll manage somehow!”
Guan Xiaorou turned shameless. “If you do that again this time and I don’t get pregnant, I’ll ignore you completely!”
“You’ve really thought this through? Don’t come crying later that I’m off chasing other women.”
“I have!”
“Then come here… hey, why are you holding me down… all right, all right, I won’t move, you’re in charge, you’re in charge…”
