Madam, don't do this!

Chapter 273 A Cannibalistic World (Thanks to Yong Su for being the Alliance Leader)
The crescent moon hangs low, casting a hazy white light on the night sky. The winter wind brushes past the branches, causing the bare branches, devoid of any dead leaves, to sway gently. Occasionally, it sweeps past the plum trees, causing a few petals to drift slowly down.

The guest hall of the governor's mansion was very quiet.

No one said a word.

Song Yan was slightly surprised and glanced at Kong Xiyan, wondering what this woman wanted to see him about.

Kong Lingyan and Kong Xinghuai frowned, their expressions serious, and their gazes at Kong Xiyan seemed grave, even carrying a warning... presumably a warning to Kong Xiyan not to act recklessly at this time.

Luo Tianxuan was somewhat curious. She wasn't angry at Kong Xiyan's presumption. As she always said, Luo Tianxuan never cared if her husband had other women around him, as long as the woman treated him sincerely. Jealousy and similar feelings never crossed Luo Tianxuan's mind.

It's not that I don't love you, it's that I'm madly in love.

I always wanted to give him all the good things in the world.

If this woman wants to do something bad to her husband... then she will make him understand what despair truly is.

With a smile, Luo Tianxuan didn't say much. She simply walked towards the door, glancing at Kong Lingyan and Kong Xinghuai as she passed them: "You two, come with me."

For some reason, although Luo Tianxuan had a graceful figure and stunning beauty, she seemed to be just an ordinary woman. Even the noble air of a princess was not particularly obvious. However, the moment Luo Tianxuan spoke, it was as if an invisible pressure enveloped Kong Xinghuai and Kong Lingyan, making it impossible for them to have any thoughts of refusing.

Subconsciously, he followed Luo Tianxuan out of the guest hall.

Luo Tianxuan had no intention of communicating with the two. She closed the door and went to the pavilion not far away by herself. She sat quietly. Next to the pavilion was a small garden with several plum trees and some unmelted snow on the ground.

night.

moonlight.

plum bossom.

snow.

And... a beautiful woman!
Looking closely, it is clearly the most beautiful painting in the world, making one's heart flutter.

Kong Lingyan sighed and looked away. As expected of a member of the imperial family, he had rarely seen such a beautiful woman, even as the eldest son of the Kong family.

I couldn't help but be tempted.

There is also regret.

She was a woman of exceptional beauty, yet she was already another man's wife.

Given the status of the Kong family, it was ultimately impossible for them to allow a woman to become the principal wife of their eldest son.

"Fancy it?"

A slightly teasing voice came from beside him. Turning his head, he met his second uncle's slightly smiling eyes. Kong Lingyan blushed, feeling a little embarrassed that his thoughts had been seen through: "Second Uncle, please don't talk nonsense. I just feel that Tianxuan is so talented, it's too much of a waste for her to be devoted to a crude martial artist. With Miss Tianxuan's status, appearance, and temperament, she deserves a better man."

"For example, you?" Kong Xinghuai raised an eyebrow and joked.

Kong Lingyan smiled, but did not deny it.

In reality, this is the true thought of the scions of aristocratic families in this era.

Pride etched into one's very bones.

In the eyes of true aristocratic families, imperial power is but a fleeting moment, while the aristocratic family itself is eternal.

They had little respect for imperial power. Even during periods of strong imperial power, it was extremely difficult for the emperor to arrange a marriage between a prince and a daughter of a prominent family.

"I observe that Luo Tianxuan has no feelings for Song Yan, otherwise she would not have allowed Song Yan to be alone with Xi Yan. Perhaps she has not yet consummated her marriage with Song Yan and is still a virgin."

"If you like her, then go for it. In my opinion, there's still a good chance."

Kong Lingyan shook his head: "The family won't agree."

Kong Xinghuai, however, had a different view: "A powerful family like ours has always diversified its investments and never puts all its eggs in one basket. For the Kong family, if you marry Luo Tianxuan, wouldn't that be another way out? I think the elders would agree."

Kong Lingyan then fell into serious thought: "But aren't we still planning to cooperate with Song Yan? If..."

"Hehe, if you really win Luo Tianxuan's heart and achieve this marriage alliance, does it really matter whether Song Yan is still alive? He's just a worm that bares its fangs and claws, seemingly fierce, but actually has no strength. He can be crushed with a little effort." Kong Xinghuai chuckled. "At that time, it will just be another Pingyang prefect. If we can place someone from our Kong family in this position, it might protect our Kong family for decades. Why not?"

Kong Lingyan's eyes gradually brightened.

No wonder my second uncle, despite being born out of wedlock, held considerable power and status within the clan; such wisdom was indeed beyond the reach of ordinary people.

"However, even if you have such thoughts, don't rush to make a move. Wait until you get to the inn and discuss it with the young master. Ultimately, it's up to the young master to make the decision."

Kong Lingyan nodded.

Among these aristocratic families, the eldest son holds an extremely high position. Although his second uncle's analysis was correct, the one who could truly make the decision was still his eldest brother, Kong Lingchen. Thinking this, Kong Lingyan suppressed the restlessness in his heart and looked at the figure dozens of steps away. As he gazed at him, his eyes became somewhat dazed.

It is truly beautiful.

Even the legendary Chang'e, who lives in the Moon Palace, is probably no better than this.

He was very confident... Although he didn't want to compare himself to Song Yan, as it would be beneath his status, he was ultimately far superior to Song Yan; they were never in the same league. Perhaps Song Yan held a higher official position, while he was merely a lowly merchant... However, their backgrounds were vastly different. Compared to the profound foundation of the Kong family, no matter how high Song Yan climbed, he would ultimately be as insignificant as an ant.

……

Inside the living room.

Song Yan probably had no intention of getting up.

Kong Xiyan stood quietly opposite her, her brows furrowed, as if she wanted to say something but was extremely hesitant. Perhaps what she was about to say was too significant, and she couldn't be sure whether it would bring good fortune or disaster.

She was conflicted and struggling.

Song Yan wasn't in a hurry and just waited quietly.

Kong Xiyan was indeed an extremely beautiful woman. At twenty-seven, she exuded the charm of a mature woman… Even compared to Luo Tianyi and Luo Tianxuan, she was only slightly inferior. Unfortunately, having seen many more beautiful women, Song Yan felt no stirrings of emotion towards Kong Xiyan; his heart remained as still as water. Perhaps this meant his threshold had been raised?
She was probably not of one mind with the rest of the Kong family.

Song Yan was quite the shrewd little fox, a master of reading people, even more so than many elders. He could tell that although Kong Lingyan seemed to respect her, his elder sister, and spoke to her with impeccable manners... this politeness also revealed a sense of distance, as if she was deliberately doing things she didn't like in order to maintain her persona.

The pride and disdain deep in Kong Lingyan's eyes could not be concealed.

When Kong Xinghuai and Kong Lingyan used Kong Xiyan as a commodity for trade, Kong Xiyan did not resist at all. However, Song Yan could see that Kong Xiyan suddenly lowered her eyes at that moment, as if she wanted to cover up something hidden in her eyes.

The silence continued until Song Yan finally sighed and put down the empty teacup in her hand: "Miss Xi Yan, I just heard that you are already twenty-seven years old, is that true?"

Kong Xiyan, who was lost in her own world, was startled by Song Yan's voice. She paused for a moment, then nodded: "That's right."

"Excuse me for asking, but why are you still unmarried at twenty-seven?" Song Yan blinked. "Is it because you don't want to?"

Kong Xiyan rubbed her temples, feeling a bit of a headache. She realized that the governor in front of her wasn't very good at speaking. "Is this going to get me beaten up?" she thought. But then she remembered the people who had died at Song Yan's hands. Kong Xiyan suddenly felt that even if Song Yan were to ask someone such a question so rudely, the person would most likely just smile and give a serious answer: "As a daughter of the Kong family, whether I want to get married or not has nothing to do with whether I can get married."

"Too."

Kong Xiyan pursed her lips: "My life is not good... My grandfather passed away when I was born. When I was fourteen, my family arranged a marriage for me. But not long after the engagement, my fiancé, whom I had never even met, also died. A year later, my mother also died."

"They are generally considered to be somewhat unlucky in their relationships with relatives."

Song Yan suddenly realized.

She's similar to the third daughter of the Cui family. Except that the third daughter of the Cui family was cursed to the death of three fiancés, and even the emperor dared not neglect her, hastily breaking off the engagement with the Cui family.

"Therefore, in the Jin region, no one of equal social standing would marry me. I am considered to be somewhat good-looking, and my father did not want to marry me to an unimportant person. In addition, I am not very valued in the family, and sometimes they forget about me. Before long, I have reached this age."

Song Yan's expression was somewhat strange. The Kong family knew that Kong Xiyan was a jinx to her relatives, yet they still sent Kong Xiyan to his side. Could it be that they wanted to use this woman to bring about his death?

Where did this feudal superstition come from? Don't they know they should believe in science?
Of course, Song Yan could vaguely sense that things were not as simple as Kong Xiyan had said, and there must be many secrets involved. But the fact that she had even brought up such a thing was enough to prove that Kong Xiyan and the Kong family were not of one mind.

"So, Miss Xiyan, what exactly do you want to say by staying behind alone?" Song Yan smiled, his tone gentle, completely unlike his previous violent demeanor: "Could it be that you want to make some kind of deal with this lord?"

"A deal?" Kong Xiyan took a deep breath, but realized it was just a simple conversation, and she felt less flustered: "That's right, Xiyan wants to make a deal with Lord Jue."

Song Yan waved his hand: "Please demonstrate your value."

It is value that gives a commodity its value.

However, this time, Kong Xiyan was not as angry as she had been when she was traded by the Kong family before. After all, she was the one who initiated this transaction, and if she could not demonstrate value, she would not be qualified to trade.

Kong Xiyan pursed her lips, as if she was carefully organizing her thoughts: "Lord, you probably don't intend to cooperate with the Kong family, do you?" Song Yan remained noncommittal, and Kong Xiyan didn't seem to care as she continued, "Lord, you killed all the officials in Pingyang City and slaughtered the Huang family, but you spared the Zhang family."

"The Kong family doesn't really care about this family that's only a hundred years old. However, in reality, the Zhang family has also gotten involved in the business with the Jurchens. Although the business is small and short-lived, and can't compare to other families, the Zhang family is at least clear about how much profit is possible on this trade route."

"The profits are simply outrageous, so outrageous that even knowing they might lose their lives, many people are still willing to try. The head of the Zhang family is also a businessman, so naturally he can't just watch such a big piece of meat slip away. Therefore, the head of the Zhang family will definitely approach the Duke to seek the opening of trade routes. Because of the Duke's previous methods, the Zhang family should not dare to hide anything from the Duke."

"And the price set by the Zhang family is naturally extremely high, 40% or even 50%."

"Therefore, when the Kong family offered that insulting half-percent profit, the cooperation with the Kong family had already fallen apart. The Duke's demand for real money was probably just a final attempt to rip off the Kong family before the deal fell apart."

Song Yan clapped his hands and chuckled. Kong Xiyan's words made Song Yan look at her with new eyes.

Was Kong Xinghuai treacherous? A cunning and treacherous old fox!

Was Kong Lingyan intelligent? He was extremely intelligent.

However, these two had been high and mighty for too long, and they didn't see things as clearly as the woman in front of them.

“Go on, go on. I’m curious what else you can say. By the way, this doesn’t mean it has value. What I don’t know is what has value.” Song Yan said with a smile.

Kong Xiyan secretly breathed a sigh of relief. She knew that she had at least gained the right to negotiate, which was already a very good thing.

"Young master wants to destroy the eight great families of Jin, at least the Kong and Fan families among them."

“How come you see?”

“I have studied your life, young master. Judging from what you have done, you are a person who hates foreign races very much, whether it is the Jurchen or the Japanese pirates. This time, the Jurchen broke through the pass, and nine out of ten houses in Pingyang Prefecture were empty. Countless property was lost, and countless people were killed or captured. Outsiders say that you are a demon sent from heaven, a bloodthirsty butcher, but in fact, you have the world in your heart and are kind and compassionate.”

Is it Bloodhand Butcher?

That's a good nickname.

But is it really appropriate to describe him as having the world in his heart, being kind and compassionate? He has killed so many people.

For some reason, Song Yan felt a pang of sadness in her heart.

"It was seeing the tragic state of Pingyang Prefecture that led you, young master, to defy public opinion and slaughter officials and their families. In your mind, the deaths of the Han people in Pingyang Prefecture were partly due to the Huang, Kong, and Fan families. Your earlier inquiry about whether the Kong family in Jin was related to the Kong family of the Duke of Yansheng was a test. If they are indeed related to the lineage of the Duke of Yansheng, some of your plans and arrangements may need to be changed accordingly."

After saying a lot in one breath, Kong Xiyan finally looked at Song Yan and asked, "I wonder if what Xiyan said is correct?"

Song Yan narrowed his eyes into slits. Are all women this smart these days? He never expected that this woman, without any substantial evidence, could guess the truth so accurately based solely on his behavior and some speculation.

The Kong family must be dealt with.

It's not about being merciful or compassionate, or wanting to avenge the millions of people in Pingyang Prefecture... but rather that Song Yan has already taken up the position of Prefect of Pingyang and is in control of the border, so it is absolutely unacceptable for the situation of aiding the enemy to continue.

The Zhang family is an exception.

He needed the Zhang family's caravans to provide intelligence and draw maps, and to understand the true strength of the Jurchens and the relationships between different tribes. Moreover, the Zhang family was under his control, and even when they did trade, it was mostly with fine wines, teas, silks, and coarse salt; the quantity of ironware was kept under control.

The Kong family's side was different. Those six carriages probably contained tens of thousands of catties of pig iron. If they weren't so heavy, the ground wouldn't have been left with such deep ruts.

If the Kong family continues to trade with the Jurchens, the Jurchen barbarians will continuously arm themselves, which will put increasing pressure on him as the governor of Pingyang, and may even lead to the deaths of his soldiers. This is something Song Yan absolutely does not want to see.

He could forcefully stop the transaction, but the Kong family would never give up such a profitable trade route. What would follow would be impeachments in the court, assassinations in private, and all sorts of insidious and cunning methods. Even those around him could be implicated.

It can be said that from the moment Song Yan became the prefect of Pingyang... no, from the moment he became the magistrate of Xinhou County, the conflict between him and the Kong family was destined to be irreconcilable.

Since that's the case, why not strike first?
Not receiving a reply from Song Yan, Kong Xiyan didn't mind: "I can roughly guess some of your plans, young master. You pretend to agree to the passage order, and when the Kong family's caravan leaves the pass to trade with the Jurchens, you can directly collect evidence on the spot, but that's unlikely."

"The Kong family's caravan will not leave the pass. At most, they will stay in Xinhou County, and then arrange for people to enter the Jurchen to negotiate the details of the transaction. After that, they will break up into smaller groups and have their servants sneak out of Xinhou under the guise of backpackers, hunters, farmers, fishermen, or even beggars."

"Although such transactions are slow and troublesome, they minimize the impact of being caught."

“Young Master, you may find pig iron when you search the Kong family’s caravan, but the laws of Ningguo do not prohibit caravans from transporting pig iron within Ningguo’s territory. If you arrest them after they leave the pass, you can only arrest the lower-level servants. The Kong family has enough ways to make sure that they don’t get blamed.”

Song Yan frowned; this was indeed a troublesome situation.

I never expected the Kong family to be so cunning; our original plan is truly going to be scrapped.

Kong Xiyan was indeed a remarkable woman, but unfortunately, being a woman born out of wedlock, the Kong family ultimately failed to discover this hidden gem.

"I'm curious, why do you want to cooperate with me? Why do you want to break with the Kong family?" When Song Yan picked up the teacup to take another sip, he found that the teacup was empty, so he could only put it down helplessly.

Kong Xiyan paused briefly: "Young Master is also born out of wedlock, so he should be able to understand the status of concubines in a large family."

Song Yan nodded.

"My mother was also a concubine."

One day, a guest came to the Kong family... He took a liking to the mother's beauty, so the father asked the mother to sleep with him.

It's hard for modern people to understand. How many men would willingly send their woman to someone else's bed? Unless they have a cuckold fetish.

But for the ancients, it was perfectly normal.

After all, for people in ancient times, only the principal wife was considered their woman.

A concubine is nothing more than a plaything for daily amusement.

Exchanging, gifting, or sleeping together are all acceptable.

Some scholars and literati would even keep beautiful concubines at home to entertain relatives and friends. At worst, they would just have to drink contraceptive soup the next day. As for whether it would harm their health, the masters would not care.

She gently bit her lower lip with her pearly white teeth: "The next day, my mother died, her body covered in wounds."

"When my father saw this, he only said one sentence..."

"unlucky!"

This cannibalistic world.

(End of this chapter)