Chapter 142

Seeing the situation, Sun Shi Min’s first reaction was to furrow his brows.

Yan Yan was easy to recognize because of her consort’s outfit. This wasn’t to say Yan Yan was trying to bully others using her status. It was just more convenient to wear the outfit so she wouldn’t be stopped and questioned about her identity.

Sun Shi Min stood up and cupped his hands in salute: “Consort, was there something you wished to discuss with this subordinate official? Why knock down the doors? This isn’t something a consort should be doing. Hopefully consort will be more mindful in the future.”

A group of people were watching the show outside. They were all the adjutant office’s subsidiary officials. Everyone knew very well that the adjutant’s office had an old stick who constantly preached at the Yun Prince. The Yun Prince was really good-natured. If it were anyone else, he would have been beaten until his parents didn’t recognize him.

Didn’t the one in the Qi Province beat his adjutant? The court merely sent a note over rebuking the Qi Prince, but the beating had already happened. If you were capable, you can feel free to strike back! After the adjutant suffered his beating, the Qi Prince didn’t lose any skin and submitted a letter of apology. His majesty ultimately still had that adjutant relocated and thrown to some remote corner.

Therefore, although no one said anything about it, they were waiting for the day the Yun Prince could no longer endure and taught the adjutant a lesson. Actually, Sun Shi Min wasn’t only admonishing the Yun Prince daily, he also preached at the others which annoyed them greatly. Unexpectedly, the Yun Prince wasn’t provoked but the Yun Consort had been provoked into coming over.

Everyone knew the reasoning behind this. They had heard about Adjutant Sun urging the Yun Prince to take in concubines. This old man was really nosey. He fussed about everything and even fussed about who the Yun Prince was sleeping with. No wonder the Yun Consort’s expression was so ugly. He was clearly disrupting the couple’s harmonious life. Who else would she go find trouble with?

“Don’t bother preaching to this consort. This consort is just a woman and doesn’t understand these things. The reason I came today was to tell you to stop nosing into our rear court’s business. As the Yun Consort, I have yet to say anything so what sort of deity are you supposed to be, old man?”

Sun Shi Min saw the Yun Consort’s undignified conduct and lamented bitterly. He stomped his feet continuously and spoke a whole bunch of things related to the virtues of women. Yan Yan had never learned this before and didn’t understand a word. Seeing him shaking his head and not planning on stopping anytime soon, her gaze fell upon the memorandum on the table.

The whip in her hand curled and the document landed in her hand. After taking a look, Yan Yan grew furious.

“I called you an old man but you really seem to be an old stick! This consort has never seen someone like you. Since when did subordinates request women for their superiors? What great face you have! Aren’t you putting the cart before the horse? Whether someone gets admitted to the rear residence depends on this consort. Since when is it your turn to speak?”

Sun Shi Min was worried his written memorandum would be ruined in Yan Yan’s hand while also lamenting over these shrewish and tigress in makeup sounding words.

Yan Yan couldn’t be bothered to listen to him. She threw the memorandum into the air and flicked her wrist. That documents turned into a scattering of white butterflies that gently drifted downwards. Then, the whip struck out in all directions and loud cracks rang out. After the sound faded, a scattered mess was revealed.

What startling destructive force!

The crowd of officials all shrunk their necks as they snuck glances at the Yun Consort. They all wondered what it would look like if this whip landed on Adjutant Sun’s frail body. They ended up concluding he would probably no longer exist.

Sun Shi Min saw the bits and pieces of paper scattered across the room and was stunned for a long while. Then, he started crying heavily.

Err, he’s crying?

At this moment, Luo Huai Yuan hurriedly walked over, his forehead covered in sweat.

Seeing Yan Yan, he revealed a pleased expression and went over. The pleased expression remained for an instant until he saw the situation. It then became awkward and solemn. He leaned over and said quietly: “Ah Yan, don’t be angry. Adjutant Sun doesn’t actually have ill intentions. He’s just socially inept due to his brain being filled with books.”

Yan Yan harrumphed and ignored him.

Sun Shi Min came over crying and grabbed the Yun Prince, “Highness, take a look! Take a look! The consort is truly too excessive. These actions are not something a woman should be doing. How should a woman behave? A woman should should stay at home, assist her husband and educate her children…..”

Yan Yan glared at him, “You’re still going on? Wanna test whether the whip will land on you this time!?”

The Yun Prince smiled fawningly at his consort and pulled Sun Shi Min to the side, “Speak a little less. This humble prince’s consort has a short temper. Everyone knows this. If she really hits you, this humble prince cannot stop her.”

Sun Shi Min had wanted someone to mediate for him. Unexpectedly, the Yun Prince was only for show and wasn’t any use. A grand six-foot tall man actually had no way of dealing with his wife.

He stamped his foot and howled to the heavens: “This elder is going to report to his majesty! This elder is going to report to his majesty!”

Yan Yan idly gave him a glance: “Hurry up and go. Tell him this consort hit you. Let’s see if royal father will be biased towards his daughter-in-law or an old man like you!”

Being called old man repeatedly made Sun Shi Min’s face turn the color of pig liver. He spun in circles on the spot and cried to the heavens again: “What a disgrace to society. This elder has no face to live anymore. Might as well die and be done with it!”

After speaking, he charged over at the wall. Luo Huai Yuan grabbed his sleeve and continuously consoled him.

Yan Yan continued to fan the flames on the side: “That wall won’t do. It’s made of wood. Choose this spot. That wall is a little harder. Don’t worry. After you die, thie consort will personally write a letter of apology. However, royal father probably won’t do anything to a woman like me. It’s too bad this consort is an insensible woman!”

In the end, Sun Shi Min didn’t ram the wall. The Yun Consort’s words were truly too infuriating. Death could be a trivial or heavy affair. How could he let a woman spur him on to his death? It would be a useless death at that. Along with the Yun Prince and several minor officials persuading him on the side, Sun Shi Min trembled in anger but also had some excuse to step down.

Because of this matter, the Yun Consort’s name was spread.

Not only did everyone in the Yun Prince Estate know of her, she even became known throughout the province. Everyone said the Yun Consort shouldn’t be provoked. She was extremely skilled in martial arts and her status was also high. Furthermore, she was an extremely unruly and headstrong woman. She really shouldn’t be provoked.

She could use her identity to suppress you to death. If that didn’t work, she would kill you outright. She’s part of the royal family and her husband had authority over life and death within the vassal sate. It really wasn’t a big deal if she killed someone. Even if they reported it to his majesty, would he punish his own daughter-in-law? Even if he did discipline her for appearances, you’d be dead. Would that be worth it?

Even if this wasn’t mentioned, just with the Zhenguo Duke Estate behind her, it was sufficient for her to look down on everyone.

The people outside suddenly understood. No wonder this girl dared to be so domineering!

After seeing the Yun Prince’s interactions with his consort, they had another flash of understanding. No wonder the Yun Prince seemed to be a bit scared of his wife. It turns out this happened within the family too!

On the other side in the Xianyun Hall.

“That Sun Shi Min is behaving recently?”

Luo Huai Yuan rubbed his nose and laughed awkwardly, “So much more behaved than before.”

Yan Yan smiled only on the surface and twitched her lips. He hurried over and fluttered his eyes brightly.

“Ah Yan, you’re the best. You’re the greatest wife under the heavens, the cutest madam.”

“I hear the two of you are getting along quite well recently. You always chat endlessly together and have a lot to talk about?” Yan Yan raised her brows.

“This, how could that be?” Luo Huai Yuan widened his eyes and had an expression of disagreement: “We have nothing to talk about. He’s just in low spirits after suffering a blow so I’m doing some good deeds and comforting him a little.”

Luo Huai Yuan didn’t dare tell her that he was actually the one being comforted. Sun Shi Min saw that he had married a tigress in makeup and gave him many pitying looks.

Luckily, Sun Shi Min was tactful. He was still very fussy but no longer raised the matter of taking in concubines. It seemed the vicious and domineering Yun Consort had given him quite the blow. He also realized that he had to lower his precious head when faced with insurmountable might. He focused on the minor matters, as though nothing had ever happened.

The only thing was that Yan Yan’s fierce reputation was increased by another level.

However, to Yan Yan, she had long since stopped caring about this.

***

Now that Sun Shi Min was temporarily settled, Luo Huai Yuan put all his thoughts onto Yun Province’s commander of the troops Luo Bi Shi, who was about to arrive.

This Luo Bi Shi was someone from the Yun Province and was born into a military family. He had been garrisoned at various outposts for ten years until being assigned as the Yun Province’s commander of the guards. He was one of the outstanding figures within the province. However, he had always been low-key and there was no news about him overstepping before.

Luo Huai Yuan had met him once when he just arrived at the Yun Province. However, Luo Bi Shi had hurried back to the barracks afterwards. They hadn’t seen each other again afterwards until the estate was completed and the various officials came to report.

The Yun Province had over ten thousand-troop barracks and around forty hundred-troop barracks. There were over forty-thousand people within the military of the Yun Province.

Luo Huai Yuan naturally coveted this military authority. However, to get involved would require him to go over Luo Bi Shi. Luo Huai Yuan didn’t dare underestimate someone who had a decade of experience as a commander. Therefore, it would be extremely difficult to overcome Luo Bi Shi.

To deal with Sun Shi Min only required some minor schemes. To deal with Luo Bi Shi was a huge undertaking.

The commander of the troops Luo Bi Shi arrived punctually and the Yun Prince laid out the welcome mat.

They both weren’t simple people. They went back and forth for several days. Luo Huai Yuan arranged banquets daily to entertain Luo Bi Shi and he attended everytime without any signs of difficulty. However, Luo Huai Yuan had several interactions with him and had tried everything, but didn’t manage to get anything out of him.

Luo Bi Shi was like a senior monk and remained calm in a crisis. He didn’t reveal the slightest signs. When faced with a senior who was good at tai-chi, Luo Huai Yuan paled in comparison.

On this day, Luo Bi Shi said his farewells. He said it was time for him to return.

Luo Huai Yuan had yet to accomplish his goals but he also knew this matter couldn’t be accomplished overnight. He didn’t reveal any displeasure. He arranged a farewell banquet and bestowed a large sum of gold, silver and other things prior to his departure.

Luo Bi Shi merely responded with a single mysterious phrase: “I hear the Yun Consort is unyielding and her skills in martial arts are extraordinary.”

These words made the officials at the banquet feel Luo Bi Shi truly had a lot of guts. He actually dared mock the Yun Consort for being a shrew. However, Luo Huai Yuan felt these words were more profound.

After the banquet, he hurried back and asked Yan Yan if she knew this Luo Bi Shi.

How could Yan Yan know a soldier who had been stationed at the Yun Province for so long? Could it have something to do with the Zhenguo Duke, that elder?

The couple inevitably thought of this.

Luo Huai Yuan deliberated and decided to have his subordinates investigate properly. He had naturally investigated Luo Bi Shi before, but there was little information on this person. After another thorough investigation, he confirmed that this person had nothing to do with the Zhenguo Duke. Otherwise, Luo Huai Yuan wouldn’t have such a headache.

Yan Yan stopped him and told him not to make things so difficult for himself. Might as well write a letter to her grandfather. After all, some relationships weren’t appropriate to be laid out in the open. Just like how everyone said the Zhenguo Duke and the Ministry of War’s high official had an extremely bad relationship. The two often argued until their faces were red in court, and almost came to blows. But Yan Yan knew the two had been friends for a long time. The so called bad relationship was just for others to see.

Luo Huai Yuan didn’t argue and had Yan Yan send a letter back to the capital.