Rising Phoenix

Zhou Xizhong’s face was covered in ash and his expression as cold as ice; of course he did not actually tend the fire, but he also could not leave; so the poor, powerful officials had to squat in front of him, laboring over something they had never done before, suffering the sharp eyes of their boss.

In the main hall, Ning Yi drank tea with the South Sea Province’s General Commander and Judicial Commissioner — as leaders of the local departments, the General Commander, Commissioner, and Judicial Commissioner were the provincial powers, but Zhou Xizhong dominated the region and had blocked news of the Imperial Envoys arrival. These two department heads had just been informed of Ning Yi’s arrival and had rushed over.

When the two heads arrived, they were just in time to see Zhou Xizhong try to light the fire. They were both delighted, and General Commander Lu Bo called out insincerely: “We Minor Officials should also help.”

Beside him, Judicial Commissioner Tao Shifeng laughed mockingly and yelled: “Ai ya, Old Zhou. You’re not doing that right! The wind is wrong! Watch out for the sparks!”

Zhou Xizhong ignored their jeering as Ning Yi calmly replied: “The Three Departments of South Sea work together in unity. You two should also tend the fire.”

Lu Bo and Tao Shifeng stiffened, but Ning Yi continued: “But since you arrived late, there is no more space to squat, so let’s wait in the front hall.”

Lu Bo and Tao Shifeng smiled, and they accompanied Ning Yi to drink tea in the front hall while Zhou Xizhong squatted by the stove, his fists clenched so tightly they crackled.

An advisor moved over to him and whispered: “Master, this matter…”

 “The days ahead are long!” Zhou Xizhong bit back. “Prince Chu must head to Minnan sooner or later. Without the Prince, I want to see what kind of wave Wei Zhi can cause in my South Sea.”

 “Pa!” A piece of firewood slapped down next to Zhou Xizhong, shocking him from his thoughts. He looked up as Young Master Gu floated over and called out: “Burned!”

Feng Zhiwei looked over to check: “Ai ya! Burned! Start over!”

 “…”

After almost two hours, a standard table of dishes was prepared: Steamed Crab, Steamed Dried Fish, Egg Drop Stew, Stir Fried Vegetables, Stir Fried Clams, and a dried Tiny Shrimp Soup with Seaweed and Kelp.

Ning Yi sat in the seat of honor and calmly gestured to his guests: “Please.”

In order to hide his blindness, Feng Zhiwei had already arranged a small plate for him with all the food already prepared, masking his problem with eccentricity. As long as they played it off as Imperial habits while dining with strangers, no one would guess at other causes.

Ning Yi picked up his chopsticks and every one else followed suit. After laboring so long, Zhou Xizhong was famished; he did not think the Prince would poison him in front of so many people, so he picked up a piece of dried fish.

Just as he bit down, he noticed that Feng Zhiwei was ignoring her chopsticks, smiling as she slowly drank her tea. Her smile was peaceful and gentle, but Zhou Xizhong could not help but feel that it hid evil.

The Commissioner eyed her with confusion and asked: “Your Honor Wei is not going to eat?”

“This Minor Minsiter’s stomach has not been well recently, so I cannot eat seafood.” Feng Zhiwei replied, her smile radiant. “Please enjoy. Please.”

Zhou Xizhong murmured in understanding and bit down again. After chewing a few times, a crack filled his mouth.

In such a tense setting, everyone had been silently eating with utmost caution, so this crack was heard by everyone.

Zhou Xizhong sat quietly, his dark face turning purple, his hand on his pained cheek.

Feng Zhiwei loudly stage whispered to Gu Nanyi: “Hey, this dried fish, did you wash it?”

Young Master Gu loudly replied: “I scooped it out of the sea.”

His meaning was: the sea was filled with water, why would he need to wash it again?

 “…”

The unfortunate Commissioner’s sensitive teeth were hurt by the sand mixed in with the food, and none of the poor South Sea Officials could eat even after laboring over the food. Beside them, the hungry General Commander and Judicial Commissioner smiled joyfully, just happy to see the South Sea Tyrant suffer…

After rushing through the meal, the ship was barely saved from sinking and pulled to shore. When everyone disembarked, over half of the commoners had already left.

Yan Huaishi eyed the still large crowd with worry, and he voiced his concern to Feng Zhiwei: “Zhou Xizhong is not the only power here. The Chang Family is involved as well. This is not good; with so many people here, any sneak attack from within the crowd will be almost impossible to track.”

 “We have to move through them.” Feng Zhiwei replied. “Too many people are here, and if we have Zhou Xizhong disperse them, it will be too easy for saboteurs to inflame the crowd, and that will be even worse… Just have the men guards His Highness no matter what.”

She turned worried eyes to Ning Yi; she still had no idea how to fix his eyes. According to Ning Cheng, Ning Yi would most likely have to wait until Minnan to find a cure.

She had no idea what Ning Yi was thinking or feeling; he always hid his emotions, but she knew what she felt. She was partly responsible for Ning Yi’s injury, so no matter what happened, she would not allow anything to happen to him.

As they left the ship, the guards took lead and formed around them. The three department heads stood before them while Ning Cheng and Feng Zhiwei guarded Ning Yi’s left and right. The Qing Ming Academy students made a circle around them, and the guards an outer layer around them all; everyone surrounded Ning Yi like an iron wall.

Feng Zhiwei had Helian Zheng and Gu Nanyi take the front and back of the student team, exhorting them time and again to protect the students — these were the Young Masters of Dijing’s most powerful ministers; they all had great status and no accident could be allowed to befall them.

Ning Yi listened to the bustle around him and he quietly squeezed Feng Zhiwei’s finger, smiling as he whispered: “How rare for you to worry so much about me.”

Feng Zhiwei calmly replied: “Sharing His Highness’s burdens is this Minor Minister’s duty.”

Ning Yi chuckled and leaned over, whispering: “This Prince would rather hear you say — serving the Prince is this Minor Concubine’s duty.”

Feng Zhiwei was already quite anxious; not only did she have to watch the crowd, she also had to mind her team, and so when this man teased her, Feng Zhiwei reacted with anger, a smile blooming on her face as she replied: “Really? Then this Minor Concubine hopes you will be satisfied in your next life.”

With her words only half spoken, she suddenly snapper her mouth shut. An old woman in the crowd lost her footing and stumbled into her team; a guard in the outer circle hurriedly pushed her away, but the old woman fell to the ground and rolled back, the basket in her hand rolling past the guards’ feet towards Ning Yi.