Chapter 52: Analyzing the Situation

Cheng Old Madam dipped her index finger in the water in her cup and drew on the tabletop.

"These past years, Da Yin first subdued Dongxun through war, then made Muyuan bow its head and become a vassal state."

"But without the Cheng Family, if Da Yin were to face Nanjiang again, it might seem to have no worries at its back, but in reality, Muyuan and Dongxun each harbor their own schemes."

Cheng Old Madam paused, took several letters from the cabinet, opened them, and placed them before the others.

"These past days, I also asked the Chen Family to find some books from Dongxun, and roughly translated these few letters."

"The Empress is actually a spy from Dongxun!"

"What?!"

Several people cried out in shock.

"Then the Crown Prince wouldn't be..."

Cheng Old Madam pointed to one of the letters again.

"This one also mentions the secret collusion between Dongxun and Nanjiang."

Hearing those two words, Nanjiang, the others clenched their teeth, wishing they could bite the name to shreds.

Wang Shi raised a hand to wipe the corner of her eye.

"Today's Da Yin is a piece of fat meat—everyone wants to take a bite. Nanjiang has always had its greedy ambitions and certainly won't let this chance slip by. If they join hands with Dongxun, I'm afraid there'll be plenty of chaos ahead."

"No, Nanjiang won't dare make any rash moves for now."

Cheng Qiuruo shook her head and continued slowly.

"Although Nanjiang won that battle through underhanded means,"

Speaking of this, her tone grew heavy, a little choked, but it was quickly swallowed up by hatred.

"the price they paid was no small matter—one could say it hurt the enemy eight hundred while costing themselves a thousand."

"And on top of that, the Southern Border Camp still has three hundred thousand Cheng Family Army troops stationed there. They won't dare send troops in the short term."

"As for Dongxun..."

Cheng Qiuluo narrowed her eyes slightly and took over the thread.

"I rather think, compared to Da Yin, their first step would be to take Nanjiang!"

"And even if Nanjiang can't guess their intentions, they won't trust Dongxun too much, so they'll be even more on edge and won't dare act rashly."

Hearing this, Cheng Old Madam nodded inwardly, looking at her two granddaughters with satisfaction.

The children of the Cheng Family—every one of them is fine!

The sisters Cheng Qiuruo and Cheng Qiuluo exchanged a glance and spoke in unison.

"So the first to lose patience will be Xiyue!"

"It's Xiyue!"

Cheng Old Madam raised a hand and pressed it downward.

"Alright, let's set that aside for now. We need to hurry and do our own work."

"Does Grandmother have any plans?"

The two sisters looked at her with anticipation in their eyes.

Cheng Old Madam gently patted the Little Booklet beside her hand and smiled mysteriously.

"First go shear the sheep's wool, wash it clean. These next two days, follow the booklet and spin the wool into yarn."

Cheng Qiuruo's eyes lit up.

"What does Grandmother mean?"

Cheng Old Madam smiled faintly and nodded.

"Although the Chen Family can offer us shelter now, we should also seize the time to accumulate more capital for the future."

"Yes! We'll go right now!"

The two sisters answered crisply.

Just as they were about to go out, Meng Shi and her daughter-in-law returned from gathering herbs on the mountain.

"Pomo, on the mountain I ran into a few hunters—judging by their clothes, they looked like people from Muyuan Kingdom."

Cheng Qiuluo's brows knit slightly.

"Hunters from Muyuan Kingdom?"

"How did they get here?"

"Could there be another route to reach Muyuan besides crossing the Snow Mountain?!"

Cheng Old Madam's eyes flickered, and she looked toward Meng Shi.

"Did they spot you?"

Meng Shi shook her head.

"No, we only saw them from afar. Your daughter-in-law has already sent Cheng Feng to follow them in secret."

"Mm, very good. You did right."

Afterward, Cheng Old Madam lowered her eyes, lost in thought, while the others quietly tiptoed out one by one, no longer disturbing her.

That night, the Cheng Family ate roasted lamb leg, sprinkled with seasonings generously contributed by An Luo. The whole courtyard was fragrant, not to mention An Luo had also sent plenty of fruit.

One bite of the roasted lamb leg meat, dripping with oil, followed by a bite of juicy fruit to cut the grease.

Yu'an held roast meat in one hand and fruit in the other, bite after bite—absolutely delicious!

Simply heavenly.

Cheng Yu watched as she sprinkled seasoning on the lamb leg, looked at the white salt in the jar, and sighed.

"It's all salt, but the kind we usually eat and use has big grains, looks yellowish, and even has a bitter taste to it—nowhere near as good as this."

Cheng Lei, beside her, chimed in.

"How could that be the same?"

"This is salt eaten by Immortals!"

Cheng Old Madam walked over, carefully examined the salt jar, then picked up a tiny bit and put it in her mouth. After tasting it carefully, her eyes lit up.

"I wonder how this salt was made."

Hearing this, An Luo turned her head and said a few words to Zaituan.

Although Yu'an only half-understood and didn't grasp it well, the little fellow had a good memory, which didn't stop him from repeating it word for word.

Just like that, in the courtyard filled with the aroma of roasted lamb leg, a childish voice rang out.

"Dissolve coarse salt in water, bring to a boil… filter through a clean cloth, then boil the filtered brine dry…"

"It's actually this simple! I'll go try it right now!"

Cheng Qiuruo sprang up from her stool and hurried toward Chu Fang.

"Old Madam!"

At this moment, Cheng Feng returned, having run so hard his voice had gone hoarse.

He took a large bowl of water from Cheng Yu's hands and drank two full bowls before finally recovering.

"Old Madam, this Subordinate followed behind those hunters the whole time. There really is a hidden path in the Mountain leading into Muyuan Kingdom!"

"It's just that the path is very narrow, and the mountain road is rugged. It looks like it could only accommodate two or three people passing through at a time."

Cheng Old Madam nodded, secretly pondering.

If that was the case, the plan could proceed even more smoothly.

Then she looked toward Cheng Feng.

"You've been tired all day too, sit down and eat quickly."

"Yes."

……

The third day after obtaining the Little Booklet.

In the small courtyard, Cheng Qiuluo's wails rang out from time to time.

"Ah, I knitted wrong again!"

"This is way too hard!"

Inside the room, Wang Shi shifted her gaze from the sweater in her hands, glanced at her younger daughter in a spare moment, and exchanged a look with her elder daughter. Mother and daughters both shook their heads helplessly.

"Luoluo, you'd better stop knitting."

Cheng Qiuruo suggested.

"Why don't you go roll some yarn instead."

Cheng Qiuluo ground her teeth as she unraveled the part she'd knitted wrong.

"The wool from those two Sheep has already all been rolled up. There's no wool left to roll."

Cheng Qiuruo flipped open the Little Booklet.

"Look at this—don't knit something hard like a sweater. How about knitting a scarf?"

Cheng Qiuluo held up what she had knitted and stared at her expressionlessly.

"Thanks for the suggestion, but what I'm knitting is a scarf."

Cheng Qiuruo: "……"

Fine, I'll just smile and say nothing.

Cheng Qiuluo sighed.

"Forget it, I'll go guide Yu'an in his saber practice."

Not seeing the little fellow in the courtyard, she went straight to Yu'an's door.

"Yu'an, have you trained today?"

Suddenly, her nose twitched. She craned her neck and sniffed around, then leaned close to the crack in the door—and immediately covered her nose and jumped back.

"Why does it smell so awful?"

She hurriedly opened the door.

"Yu'an, did you… in your pants?"

The next moment, seeing the unknown yellow substance at the little fellow's mouth, her expression changed drastically and she rushed over.

"You child, how can you eat everything?!"