TGPSAC – Chapter 39

In the early morning, Chi Wan rose to face the wind and snow. After a full night of meditation, she felt an inexhaustible strength in her body.

In the modern world, she could only meditate for two hours before needing to sleep. But last night, her meditation had entered a strange state, and when she opened her eyes, it was the beginning of the Mao hour—just past five in the morning.

Who would get up at five o’clock on a winter morning? Wasn’t a warm bed more comfortable? But her bed wasn’t warm at all. After a night of meditation, her mind was exceptionally clear. Since she couldn’t sleep and felt that practicing her fist forms now would allow her to achieve a deeper understanding, she simply pushed open the door.

The young eunuch keeping watch outside heard the sound and opened his eyes in a daze. “Fuma?”

“You can keep sleeping. Don’t mind me.”

The young eunuch had insisted on sleeping in the corridor, so she had let him come inside to sleep just outside her bedchamber. Although he couldn’t have a bed, it was much better than sleeping in the corridor where the cold wind blew. After all, a charcoal brazier was lit in the room.

Chi Wan had her internal energy to protect her, so she didn’t need it. But the eunuchs and maids living nearby would occasionally come in to warm themselves. As long as they didn’t enter her bedchamber, she didn’t mind.

Early in the morning, Chi Wan practiced her fist forms in the courtyard. As she did, she entered a profound and mysterious state. If anyone had been watching, they would have seen her seem to merge with the heaven, earth, wind, and snow, her movements flowing from smooth to gradually indistinct.

Chi Wan didn’t know how many times she had gone through the forms. When she finally stopped, she stood in the snow for a long time. She was wearing only a single layer of clothing, yet in the sub-zero weather, she didn’t feel the slightest chill.

Yesterday, she had still felt cold without thick clothes, but today, her body had undergone a tremendous change. She knew her internal energy had advanced again.

It had gone from the volume of a well to that of a ceaselessly flowing stream.

“I was stuck for twenty years in my past life. I thought I’d be stuck at that level forever. I never expected to break through so soon after coming to this world.”

No wonder Grandma used to say that the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was dissipating, and even good medicinal herbs were hard to find. She had thought Grandma was just repeating nonsense from her own master. What spiritual energy of heaven and earth?

Ever since coming to this world, she knew Grandma had been telling the truth.

The spiritual energy of heaven and earth was similar to what was described in cultivation novels, but not entirely the same. It couldn’t grant immortality; it was more like the internal energy of a martial arts world. The difference was that a genius of the same caliber would progress at different rates in different eras.

It was like the progression in martial arts novels, where the martial prowess of one era could easily overwhelm that of a later one. It wasn’t just about the loss of martial arts techniques, but also the dissipation of the world’s spiritual energy.

When Chi Wan was a child, she could still see wild vegetables. As she grew up, they disappeared. The environmental conditions no longer allowed them to grow, leading to their gradual disappearance.

No wonder the books Grandma gave her recorded that the Daoist ancestors could walk on walls and fly on a single leaf. By her generation, it was already difficult just to cultivate internal energy, let alone walk on walls. At most, one could jump a little higher.

In this life, she should be able to experience that legendary realm. She wasn’t asking to fly on a leaf, but being able to walk on walls would be enough. That had been her childhood dream.

After finishing her practice, she had someone prepare warm water. After washing up, she began to tinker with her medicinal herbs again. She had many ideas for improving the medical techniques of this era.

Things like penicillin and allicin—it wasn’t that the physicians of this era were incompetent. To put it bluntly, their thinking was limited; they didn’t know what bacteria were.

But there were many difficult and complex illnesses that modern medicine couldn’t treat, which many traditional Chinese doctors could cure.

Pills, ointments, and potions—Chi Wan had nearly finished making samples of them all. Especially the beautifying, nourishing, and hydrating ointment mask. After applying it and washing it off… When she had time, she would make soap, infused with Chinese medicinal herbs, which could be used for cleansing the face and body.

It was just that doing so many things by herself left her schedule a bit too full.

Zheng Yi? Thinking of what she had said before, it wasn’t an impossibility.

The Zheng family was essentially the Princess’s Residence’s private physicians. Although Zheng Yi was only accompanying her grandfather to help out, the Zheng family were all people of the Princess’s Residence. Using them was indeed more trustworthy than hiring physicians from outside.

It was difficult to recruit physicians, especially skilled and trustworthy ones. It was best to cultivate a group of her own.

This matter was better left for Yu Jiuzhou to handle. In ancient times, with power, a single word was all it took; there was no need to do everything personally.

For example, if she wanted to make something, she only needed to give a general idea, and the artisans would create it for her. She had drawn a rocking chair—just the exterior shape. Many of the finer internal structures had to be figured out by the artisans themselves. After Chen Yuan gave the drawing to the artisans and asked how long it would take, they glanced at it and said three days at most.

Chi Wan took the prepared mask ointment and headed for Yongning Courtyard.

Seeing her approach, Xia Qu exclaimed, “? Fuma, you’re up awfully early.”

“General Xia, you’re up quite early yourself.”

“I got up to practice.” Xia Qu brandished the long spear in her hand and raised an eyebrow as if showing off. “How is it?”

“Awesome!” Chi Wan gave her a thumbs-up.

For some reason, Xia Qu felt that the word “awesome” was very perfunctory, not a genuine compliment at all.

“Has Her Highness risen?” Chi Wan tilted her head and glanced inside.

Yongning Courtyard was huge, comparable to a palace hall. A single glance like that revealed nothing.

“Her Highness is up. What’s that in your hand, Fuma?” Xia Qu leaned in curiously and caught a faint scent of medicinal herbs, but it was very light and quite pleasant.

Chi Wan had prepared a good amount, which Chen Jin had packed into small ceramic jars.

“A face mask for Her Highness.”

Another unfamiliar term. Xia Qu scratched her head. “Go on in yourself. I’m going to get ready. I have to go see those old soldiers today. I’ll pass on your message to them.”

She already knew about the Fuma’s suggestion for Her Highness to employ retired veterans as workers. This was a great thing. With work, they could support themselves.

She heard that the workshop provided free room and board. For the unmarried veterans, it was like they finally had a place to belong.

Starting from the second day of the New Year, Yu Jiuzhou had arranged for her personal maids to take turns resting. Xia Qu had the day off and planned to go back and see the old soldiers who had raised her.

Chi Wan nodded. “The medicinal wine you asked for will take some time, but I have a prescription that can help the old soldiers recuperate. I’ll write it down for you in a bit.”

The old soldiers had many hidden and old injuries that needed conditioning.

“Don’t worry, it won’t stop them from drinking, but it’s still better to drink less.”

Xia Qu’s eyes lit up. “Thank you, Fuma.”

“You’re welcome.”

Chi Wan stepped into the main hall. A maid beside her curtsied. “Fuma, please wait a moment. This servant will go and announce you.”

“Thank you for your trouble.”

After a short wait, Yu Jiuzhou walked out, looking curiously at the items in her hands.

Seeing that Yu Jiuzhou was already fully dressed, Chi Wan set down the medicinal clay mask. “Your Highness, this is a new medicinal clay mask this subject has made. Apply it to the face in the morning and evening, then wash it off after a quarter of an hour. It can whiten, beautify, and moisturize the skin, as well as reduce fine lines and combat aging.”

Yu Jiuzhou was just twenty, and she herself was only nineteen. In truth, they didn’t really need such things yet.

Yu Jiuzhou seemed to understand her meaning and gestured for Chun Gui to accept it.

Women had little resistance to things that could whiten and beautify. Chi Wan had also proven her medical skills, so the medicinal clay mask should be quite good.

In her previous life, Yu Jiuzhou had lived into her thirties, and she’d had some fine lines around her eyes which she disliked. Naturally, she wouldn’t refuse something that was good for her skin.

When a subject presented something, a satisfied ruler was expected to give a reward. “The Lin family is visiting today. The one percent share you intend to give them will come from my portion.”

This meant Yu Jiuzhou would hold eighty-nine percent of the shares, she would have ten percent, and the Lin family would have one percent.

Chi Wan didn’t refuse. Everything she had would belong to Yu Jiuzhou in the future anyway. “Thank you, Your Highness.”

“Furthermore, you are to take up your post in Qingyuan County on the seventh. Once the case of land annexation there is settled, I will appoint you as the Junior Minister of the Grand Court of Revision.”

A senior fourth-rank official! Didn’t that mean she would leap from a senior seventh-rank County Magistrate to a senior fourth-rank official? That was a jump of five ranks, from junior sixth, senior sixth… from a nobody to a high-ranking official in the capital.

It really was good to follow Yu Jiuzhou. Money and official posts were given so freely. If this wasn’t compensation for her, how could she possibly be given a senior fourth-rank position with real power just like that?

In any case, a promotion was a good thing. The higher her rank, the easier it would be for her to forge an identity for herself.

Wait a minute. Why was Yu Jiuzhou suddenly being so good to her? Rewards, promotions…

Chi Wan asked tentatively, “Your Highness, why are you suddenly being so good to me?”

Yu Jiuzhou: “…” Have I been good to you?

A superior must reward merit and punish fault. She might not say it, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t do it.

Chi Wan’s recent actions deserved a great reward. She had originally planned to find her a senior sixth-rank position as a Judicial Reviewer in the Grand Court of Revision, but given Chi Wan’s contributions, even the senior fourth-rank Junior Minister position was a bit of a slight.

For such merits, she ought to request a noble title for Chi Wan. But there was still plenty of time for that.

Chun Gui stood by, suppressing a laugh. After a moment, she said, “Fuma, your honeycomb briquettes, your salt purification method, and your role in making His Majesty determined to investigate the land annexation case—it’s only right that Her Highness values you.”

The Junior Minister of the Grand Court of Revision was a significant position; rewards weren’t usually given out like this.

Officials of the third rank and above could only be appointed by the Emperor. A senior fourth-rank position was the highest Her Highness could appoint, and it had to be done without His Majesty knowing who was pulling the strings.

Her Highness would surely find a way to have His Majesty issue the decree himself. The process was full of twists and turns.

The Fuma’s contributions were indeed great. Giving her a high-ranking but powerless position would have been sufficient. But the Junior Minister of the Grand Court of Revision was different. There were only so many positions with real power. It was clear that Her Highness had already established a level of trust in the Fuma.

It was just that Her Highness hadn’t realized it, and neither had the Fuma.

Hearing Chun Gui’s words, Chi Wan felt it made sense. The honeycomb briquettes benefited the common people. Great Zhou’s refined salt wasn’t very pure and couldn’t be made as white as snow. The method she provided could, and it could also produce sea salt. Seawater was much easier to obtain than salt from mines. The crude salt could be used to melt snow, and the refined fine salt could be consumed. This would drive down the price of salt in Great Zhou, which would also benefit the common people.

Given how much Yu Jiuzhou cared for the people of the realm, it was normal for her to place great importance on her. If she had presented these things to the Emperor, she might not have received a senior fourth-rank position with real power. After all, the Emperor was very possessive of his power and money. If she presented such methods to him, he would only see how much money could be made and would keep raising the price, never considering the common people.

If the price were lowered, the Emperor would certainly be displeased. To him, that was all his money. And given his obsession with power, he would at most give her a glamorous but empty title, the kind with no authority whatsoever.

In any case, she was Yu Jiuzhou’s person now, and Yu Jiuzhou was generous with her rewards. With the position of Junior Minister of the Grand Court of Revision, creating a few false identities for herself would be a piece of cake.

Having figured this out, Chi Wan grinned and sat down next to Yu Jiuzhou. “Your Highness, how about we go out and have some fun tonight? There’s no curfew during the New Year, and I hear it’s very lively outside.”

“I’m not going.”

“But His Majesty told me to pursue you. If we don’t make some kind of move for him to see, it won’t look good, will it?”

Chi Wan was also troubled. She was serving Yu Jiuzhou in the Princess’s Residence, which was heavily guarded. The Emperor would surely not know. Since she had agreed to the Emperor’s request, she had to make some kind of move to show him she was taking action.

She had to be an upright and remonstrating minister, a pure subject loyal to His Majesty. As long as the Emperor didn’t ask her to do anything heinous, she was supposed to agree.

Besides, as the Fuma, it was her duty to please the Grand Princess. There was nothing wrong with her doing these things; who on the outside would dare to say anything?

While bathing, she had reviewed the recent events, focusing on what Yu Jiuzhou had said to her, and she knew what to do.

Outwardly, she would offend all the high ministers of the court and occasionally provoke the Emperor a little. Privately with the Emperor, she had reached an agreement to help him keep an eye on Yu Jiuzhou, which she would just feign. Inwardly, she had only one task: to serve Yu Jiuzhou and help her achieve final victory as quickly as possible.

This was asking her to play a double agent. Well, she might as well give it a try.

Yu Jiuzhou was also different in private than she was in the imperial court or in front of the Emperor. In this life, it was all about acting.

Who didn’t act in front of the Emperor? Even being straightforward and reckless could be an act. Those who didn’t act would have long been cast aside by the Emperor.

This city of Shengjing was a stage built by the Emperor himself, and everyone was performing on it. You couldn’t refuse to act. As an outsider, she had to do as the locals did.

Chi Wan took a deep breath. She would be the Emperor’s secret agent, an upright and remonstrating minister in the court, and most importantly, she would be Yu Jiuzhou’s favored subject.

She just didn’t know when the Grand Princess would start to favor her.

Her main quest was definitely to win over Yu Jiuzhou. It seemed she had many tasks, but those were all side quests. They were extensions based on the main quest. If the main quest collapsed, it wouldn’t matter whether the side quests were done or not; everything would be ruined.

In other words, if anything happened to Yu Jiuzhou, she would be finished too.

All the side quests she had to do were predicated on Yu Jiuzhou being well.

Chi Wan understood this point deeply, so no matter what she did, she would not hide it from Yu Jiuzhou. She would discuss everything with her.

Currently, her main quest had actually made progress. Before, Yu Jiuzhou saw her as an enemy who must be killed. Now, she no longer exuded killing intent at the drop of a hat. Even if it was just a relationship between ruler and subject, not just anyone could become a subject of the Grand Princess. Moreover, Yu Jiuzhou never let those around her work for free.

In short, Chi Wan told Yu Jiuzhou everything she planned to do without any concealment.

Honesty was the way to get along, and it would make their relationship more stable.

While Yu Jiuzhou felt that Chi Wan’s words made sense, she also felt a strange sense of displeasure. So it was all an act.

“That is your business. I will not cooperate.”

Chi Wan thought for a moment. “That’s true. Your Highness is supposed to show your dislike for this subject in front of His Majesty. It would indeed be inappropriate to cooperate.”

Yu Jiuzhou: “?” Was that what she meant?

Chun Gui, standing nearby, almost burst out laughing. When an aloof Grand Princess met a sincere Fuma, it seemed neither could understand the other’s meaning.

Chun Gui spoke up, “Her Highness has already had someone spread the news that the Fuma personally cooked desserts for Her Highness last night. I imagine His Majesty has already received the message.”

Spreading a piece of news every now and then was enough. Doing it too frequently would only arouse suspicion.

Chi Wan raised an eyebrow. Last night, she had only wanted to give Yu Jiuzhou a surprise and hadn’t thought about this aspect at all.

“Her Highness is very thoughtful.”

When it came to political maneuvering and power struggles, Yu Jiuzhou was far beyond her. A person who had dominated the imperial court for years, only to be defeated by someone she herself had supported—and it wasn’t even a true defeat. She had been defeated by her own hand.

Defeated by her trust in her Imperial Father. Her father had indeed treated her well since she was a child. If it weren’t for the many court struggles she experienced later, she would never have realized that her own father had laid such a grand scheme against her.

Throughout history, few regents came to a good end. In the end, a regent either seized the throne for themselves or waited for the emperor to secure their position and turn against them.

It wasn’t that Yu Jiuzhou hadn’t considered this in her past life, but at that time, she was a cripple, her lineage severed. As a result, half of her subordinates would not have supported a coup. In that situation, Prince Bao’an, who had already gained momentum, could easily use the Emperor’s name to win those people over and deal her a fatal blow.

When Chi Wan read the novel, she had often felt regret for Yu Jiuzhou.

The limitations of the era—it couldn’t be helped. In this life, they had changed the beginning, and they would surely change the ending as well.

Still, being rejected the first time she asked Yu Jiuzhou out was a little awkward for Chi Wan.

Maybe… she should ask again?

“Your Highness, if not today, how about another day? The curfew is lifted until the court reconvenes anyway.”

Yu Jiuzhou looked at her smiling face and, after a long moment, uttered two words, “We’ll see.”

Not a direct refusal. That meant there was a chance.

Chun Gui cleared her throat and asked, “Your Highness, Fuma, it is time for the meal.”

“Mm.”

Breakfast in Great Zhou was quite rich, with things like lamb soup, steamed buns, mantou, and baked flatbreads. This morning, they had congee with side dishes and steamed buns.

As a martial artist, Chi Wan had a large appetite. In front of Yu Jiuzhou, she ate three steamed buns and two bowls of congee, and that was her holding back.

Practicing martial arts required wealth, mainly because it consumed a lot of energy. It was better for her, as she practiced internal arts. Those who practiced external martial arts could easily eat half a pig in a day.

Take Xia Qu, for example. Yesterday in the kitchen, she ate so much bread and cream, yet at dinner, she still ate three bowls of lamb noodles. And she was considered one of the smaller eaters among external martial artists.

Besides food, there was also body tempering with medicinal herbs, all of which cost money.

Just as the two finished their meal, a maid she hadn’t seen before came in. “Your Highness, the salt purification method can also be used on other types of salt. The salt produced is as white as snowflakes and tastes better.”

Producing sea salt from scratch was time-consuming, but purifying already-made crude salt only took a day.

Yu Jiuzhou was still marveling at Chi Wan’s appetite when she heard the report, and her happiness was palpable.

Chi Wan immediately said, “The snowflake salt can be marketed as a high-end product, sold to the nobles and wealthy households. This way, ordinary salt won’t be able to sell at a high price, and its price will naturally drop.”

What they needed to do now wasn’t to popularize snowflake salt. It couldn’t be popularized anyway. The salt mines had long been carved up. Even if they could get some, it wouldn’t be enough to monopolize the salt supply for all of Great Zhou.

Their goal was to make salt affordable for all the common people in the realm. The launch of snowflake salt was destined to prevent simply-refined common salt from selling at high prices, forcing a price drop.

The snowflake salt would continuously suppress the price of salt, gradually making common salt affordable for the people. Only then would they promote snowflake salt throughout Great Zhou.

Yu Jiuzhou had a very capable subordinate skilled in business. After she relayed Chi Wan’s idea, the subordinate thought Chi Wan was a business genius and wanted to meet her.

But she knew that Chi Wan wasn’t particularly interested in business. Otherwise, with so many methods at her disposal, she could have become a world-famous merchant by managing any one of them.

The two chatted for a while, with Chi Wan mostly talking and serving her on the side, until the end of the Chen hour.

Regarding Chi Wan’s service, Yu Jiuzhou was at a loss. This person had clearly never served anyone before, constantly causing minor mishaps.

However, she felt a sense of ease in her heart. Although Chi Wan was occasionally clumsy and not as attentive as Chun Gui, it was psychologically more satisfying.

She was very curious about Chi Wan’s true identity, but some things could not be asked directly.

At the beginning of the Si hour, the people from the Lin family arrived. Naturally, Yu Jiuzhou would not be the one to meet them for business matters; the person the Lin family sought was Chi Wan.

The head of the Lin family came in person, showing how much importance he placed on this business.

The Grand Princess had received an imperial decree to procure a batch of supplies to be sent to Wucheng, and she had entrusted this task to the Lin family.

Everyone knew this was a money-losing venture. Even as an imperial merchant, they would have to spend at least one hundred thousand taels of silver. But as an imperial merchant, you weren’t afraid of the Emperor asking you for money; you were afraid of him not asking for your money.

Because if the Emperor didn’t want this small amount of money, what he would want later would be the confiscation of your entire clan. The money would still end up being his. Therefore, Lin Buwei supported his son’s business partnership with Chi Wan, hoping to connect with the Grand Princess through her.

But his son came back and told him that Chi Wan had refused to cooperate, saying she would only talk to someone who could make decisions for the Lin family.

Lin Buwei hadn’t paid it much mind at first, until the Grand Princess sought him out and spoke of the crisis facing the Lin family. Although the Grand Princess didn’t explicitly say he had to cooperate with the Fuma, the Fuma was the only connection the Lin family had to the Grand Princess. To resolve their crisis, they had to go through the Fuma to get to the Grand Princess.

Especially on New Year’s Eve, when Chi Wan was ennobled and given several official titles. More importantly, she was granted a rank equivalent to a commandery prince, with a fief in Shangyu. Shangyu was a good place, right next to Mingzhou and very prosperous. It was clear that Chi Wan was in the Emperor’s favor.

Perhaps they wouldn’t even need the Grand Princess; the Fuma alone could solve the Lin family’s crisis.

Coming to see Chi Wan, Lin Buwei’s mood was complicated. He had only known Chi Wan as a profligate good-for-nothing who loved gambling and drinking, but had little money in her pockets. When she lost money, the people from the gambling dens would go to the Marquis… no, the Earl of Huai’an’s Residence to collect.

He heard that the old grand madam of the residence doted on her excessively, and Madam Liu also spoiled her only child. One could only say that a Kun Ze from a minor house lacked foresight. The old grand madam doted on Chi Wan because the earldom already had an heir. Madam Liu didn’t understand that to spoil a child is to ruin them. Whether male or female, Qian Yuan or Kun Ze, they should not be spoiled.

Madam Liu allowed the old grand madam to spoil Chi Wan, and not only did she not discipline her, she joined in, leading to Chi Wan growing up to be a profligate piece of trash.

The old grand madam’s doting was not a good thing, but Madam Liu couldn’t see it.

But that useless piece of trash had suddenly become the Fuma. When she had announced her admiration for the Grand Princess and her intention to pursue her, many people had egged her on, actually wanting to see her make a fool of herself, hoping the Grand Princess would humiliate her in a fit of anger.

Who would have thought she would actually marry the Grand Princess? Even if it meant marrying into the Princess’s Residence, for a scion of a noble house who couldn’t inherit the title and had no abilities of their own, let alone marrying the Grand Princess, even an ordinary princess would have been a great opportunity.

After Chi Wan succeeded, many people lamented that the Emperor hadn’t had more children, while inwardly thinking: She’s really so useless.

And that useless piece of trash had suddenly shone brilliantly at the New Year’s Eve banquet. Although her reputation was criticized, so what? She had won the Emperor’s trust and favor.

The Emperor’s words were golden. He said the Fuma was loyal to the sovereign and the nation, and filial to her lord and father. Who would dare to say otherwise? That would be showing disrespect to the Emperor.

Lin Buwei recalled his son’s words: “The Second Young Lady Chi used to be a scoundrel, but she isn’t one anymore. She’s not so easy to fool now. If Father thinks he can fool Chi Wan like the scoundrel she used to be, the Lin family will never be able to connect with the Grand Princess.”

When Chi Wan saw Lin Buwei, she noticed his preoccupied expression.

She remembered what Yu Jiuzhou had told her before he arrived: if the Lin family was not sincere, just send them away.

Chun Gui had explained: “If Lin Buwei shows you any disrespect, Fuma, or makes you feel uncomfortable in any way, just tell him to get lost. Her Highness has your back.”

Chi Wan was curious how Chun Gui could interpret so much from Yu Jiuzhou’s brief sentence.

Although Yu Jiuzhou looked exasperated, she ultimately did not refute it.

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