Min Chi was stunned, watching her carriage slowly depart.
Song Chuyi did not return to the Tao Ding residence, but instead, led by Song Chen, took up lodging at the post station.
Once the servants and maids had withdrawn, Ji Huan could not wait to ask, “Sir, has the Lord of Song agreed to make peace?”
“He agreed. What reason does he have to refuse?” Song Chuyi knelt facing the small table, gulped down a large bowl of water, and only then said, “However, it will take some time.”
Ji Huan was taken aback for a moment, then asked, “Sir, can you guess how long it will take?”
“Two days at most,” Song Chuyi said with certainty. “Letting another country’s army remain stationed there will make everyone in Song, from top to bottom, uneasy.”
Ji Huan was somewhat worried. Two days… a great many things could happen in two days. The soldiers had already gone several days without a meal, and now it was early winter, with a night of heavy rain having fallen as well. That was enough to kill many people. And if Wei wanted to attack Wey, with Wey’s defenses, four or five cities could likely be taken in two days.
Seeing his expression, Song Chuyi sighed. “Rest assured. When I say two days, that is only the worst-case estimate. Today, in front of the assembled ministers of Song, I urged the Lord of Song to enact reforms. If things go as expected, the old clans will certainly persuade the Lord of Song before tonight.”
When Song Chuyi spoke of the reforms, it was not entirely in order to avoid staying in Song.
The reason Min Chi questioned Song Chuyi was fundamentally that he had underestimated the old clans’ rejection of reform. But Song Chuyi clearly knew how fiercely the old clans of Qin had resisted when Qin enacted reforms, and how much of their status, power, and interests had been stripped away after the reforms. With such a precedent before them, the old clans of Song would absolutely want to strangle such a possibility in the cradle.
The first thing they would do was prevent Lord Song Ticheng from coming into contact with Song Chuyi again.
Ji Huan decided to trust her, so he forcibly suppressed the anxiety in his heart and waited patiently.
Song Chuyi was quite at ease and comfortable, enjoying fine food and wine – the only thing missing was having a beauty in her arms.
Ji Huan watched from the side as she drank cup after cup, occasionally urging her to stop, but seeing that the more she drank, the clearer her eyes became, he was secretly amazed. It was not until she suddenly collapsed onto the small table with a thud, without any warning, that he turned pale with fright. He hurriedly carried her back to the bedroom and ordered the servants to brew sobering soup and pour it down her throat.
Her getting drunk was no small matter. Ji Huan and Yun Ruo instantly lost their pillar of support, like two ants on a hot pan, pacing back and forth outside the bedroom.
Song Chuyi slept all the way until the sun set in the west. Only then did she open the door with messy hair and vacant eyes. Seeing Ji Huan, who seemed to have aged greatly all at once, she could not help but sigh. “Oh my heavens, don’t tell me I’ve slept through decades in one dream?”
“Master Huaijin,” Ji Huan swallowed with a dry throat, “an hour ago, the Lord of Song sent someone to invite Master Min and you to a banquet, but your subordinate could not wake you no matter what, so only Master Min went.”
Song Chuyi scratched her messy hair, covered her mouth and yawned, then returned to the small table and sat down lazily. “He was supposed to go anyway. He brought beauties and jewels. Why would I go with nothing but the clothes on my back?”
Ji Huan’s eyes lit up. He was about to speak, but was glared at by Song Chuyi’s sharp gaze, and swallowed his words back down.
The remaining matters only needed to be solved with wealth. Song Chuyi had long since seen that Lord Ti Cheng of Song had the intention to enact reforms. If she attended the banquet tonight, she would certainly be summoned privately. Once that happened, the variables in the matter would become great, and it was uncertain whether it might even affect the peace negotiations.
Going beyond what is proper is as bad as falling short; one must know when to stop. She did not want to die at the hands of the old clans of Song. Therefore, she still had to stay active within their line of sight, so that everything could proceed steadily and safely.
Song Chuyi reached out and poured herself a cup of water, then asked, “Did you get a look at the beauties sent from Wey? How do they look?”
“I was too busy worrying. How would I have the time to go look at them?” Ji Huan said.
“Mhm.” Song Chuyi took a sip of water and nodded. “No matter. They are meant to be given away anyway. However many glances you take, they still belong to someone else. But whether the Lord of Song agrees quickly or not will likely depend on the looks of these beauties.”
Lord Ti Cheng of Song had a hobby of collecting beauties, and it had already become an addiction. If this batch of beauties was especially beautiful, and just happened to be a type not already in his palace, the matter would be settled.
Ji Huan had not expected that back in the countryside, Song Chuyi had not been joking, and that they really would have to rely on beauties to get things done. At that moment he felt some regret. When he had seen the beauties passing by the door earlier, why had he not stepped forward a few paces to look more carefully?
After recalling for a while, Ji Huan said, “I noticed two or three with excellent figures.”
Song Chuyi put down the teacup and looked Ji Huan up and down several times, until he became somewhat embarrassed, before speaking. “Your standards are quite high.”
“How do you know?” Yun Ruo, who normally spoke little, could not help asking out of curiosity. Because Ji Huan indeed had quite high standards. He was tall and powerfully built, and many beautiful women admired him, yet he looked down on every one of them.
“Of seventy carefully selected beauties, he only says two or three have excellent figures. That level of standards might well be a match for the Lord of Song,” Song Chuyi teased.
Just as they were speaking, a maid came up to ask whether they wished to have a meal.
Song Chuyi happened to be hungry, so she had another table of fine wine and good food brought up and called Ji Huan and Yun Ruo over. The three of them ate and drank with great gusto, and within less than half an hour, all the food had been swept clean.
After the meal, Song Chuyi brought out a chessboard, wrapped herself in a blanket, and sat in the corridor playing against herself. Two serving maids stood to one side holding lanterns, and steam rose in faint wisps from the tea in a pottery cup beside her.
She was in the midst of a satisfying slaughter when she noticed the light on the chessboard dim. She looked up and saw that it was Min Chi, returned from the banquet.
“You are quite at ease,” Min Chi said in a flat voice that carried a slight chill.
Song Chuyi still had a black stone between her fingers. She waved her hand to motion him to stand a little to the side. “Just stealing a moment of leisure amid busyness.”
“Busy?” Min Chi did move a few steps to the side as she wished, but he was rather dismissive of her words.
Song Chuyi placed a stone and nodded in satisfaction, then picked up his words. “You should be returning to Wey by now. Or have you also stolen a moment of leisure to come watch me play against myself?”
“You are hostile toward me.” Min Chi fished a white stone from the jar and placed it on the board with a crisp click.
“You noticed?” Song Chuyi grinned and took a black stone and placed it.
The two of them traded move after move, placing more than ten stones, before Min Chi continued asking, “What about me makes you dissatisfied?”
Song Chuyi was silent.
Min Chi looked down at the fierce killing intent on the board, and a flicker of surprise passed through the depths of his eyes. The white stones he held had already been forced into a hopeless position.
“I have a premonition that we will become rather good opponents.” Song Chuyi gathered the blanket around herself and looked at him with a smile.
Min Chi looked at her calm, clear eyes and asked, puzzled, “Why must we be opponents?”
“If one goes through life without one or two opponents of comparable strength, would it not be dull?” A smile seeped into Song Chuyi’s eyes. “Toppling the current you – I find it quite uninteresting. So I will give you one chance.”
Under Min Chi’s astonished gaze, Song Chuyi stood up. “Therefore, Master Min, you had best not disappoint me.”
Thinking of crossing swords with the future Min Chi, Song Chuyi’s blood began to boil. The fighting spirit in her eyes made everyone present feel a sense of dread.
Now, even tearing the present Min Chi limb from limb would hardly dispel the fury in Song Chuyi’s heart. Since she had been defeated in strategy, she would recover it doubly in that same arena.
