Madam, don't do this!

Chapter 553 Please Help My Sister Cultivate (5,000 words)
The night wind blew.

The stars in the sky were all obscured by dark clouds, making the sky gloomy.

Unbeknownst to many, Pingyang City had quietly fallen silent.

In my ears, I could hear clicking sounds, as nearby shops closed one by one, with slivers of light seeping through the cracks. Then I saw feather-like things sliding down from the rays of light, landing silently on the ground, shimmering with a silvery sheen.

That's... snow.

It really snowed.

It's only August.

“Ah…” In the guest room, Manager Feng sighed heavily, a hint of worry in his eyes: “This weather is getting stranger and stranger.”

However, there shouldn't be any more deaths this year, right? Thinking back to last year, when people in Pingyang City were forced to eat each other, Manager Feng still felt lingering fear.

The calamity that befell Ningguo was not only caused by foreign tribes, but also by internal factors.

The number of civilians killed by that scoundrel Qian Yaozu was probably no less than that of the Jurchens.

With a sigh, Manager Feng walked to the door, hung up a sign that said the inn was full, and closed the door. As the door was sewn shut, Manager Feng glanced outside again and saw that the falling snowflakes were slowly melting, but the melting speed seemed to be slower than the falling speed. Perhaps when he woke up tomorrow morning, the outside world would be covered in white snow and a silver-white landscape.

He glanced back at the people sleeping on the floor in the inn's lobby, his face showing even more sorrow.

He didn't know why, but an image of salty, fresh blood splattering on the snow inexplicably flashed into his mind, like plum blossoms in bloom—bloody and eerie. This inn was packed with several hundred people today; who knew how many would actually cross the threshold of death?
"Shopkeeper, what's wrong with you?"

The servants sleeping on the floor in the lobby were exhausted, but most of them were not sleepy. Firstly, there were no beds, and lying on the table or the hard floor was very uncomfortable. Secondly, it was too cold. Although Manager Feng had brought out all the bedding in the inn, it was not enough for so many people. So many people simply sat up and gathered in groups of three or five, whispering to each other. Occasionally, someone would take out a pot of wine, and everyone would take turns drinking it to ward off the chill.

These days, having a drink is already a blessing, and nobody cares about things like cleanliness or hygiene.

Seeing Manager Feng sighing, someone couldn't help but ask, "Your inn is packed with business today, I wonder how much money you're making, why do you look so worried?"

“Hey, what do you know? I’m not worried about myself, I’m worried about you.” Manager Feng sighed. “Don’t be fooled by the fact that this inn is now packed with hundreds of people. In a few days, who knows how many will survive.”

"Why is that?" The shopkeeper's words caught the attention of the servants, and they all looked over. It was truly rare to see a shopkeeper cursing his own customer like that.

As it happened, the innkeeper wasn't too sleepy, so he simply joined the crowd and told them everything that had happened at the Wind Inn. This time, he didn't charge them; he just recounted the events as they were... Of course, people are bound to have a bit of a boasting nature, and when the innkeeper told the story in detail, he couldn't help but embellish it a little.

It wasn't too excessive, though.

It's simply that the three groups of people who were going to die at the Wind Inn have become thirteen groups.

The dozen or so unlucky people at the Wind Inn turned into over a hundred.

Incidentally, the way these people died was depicted to be even more gruesome and bloody, with added embellishments such as severed limbs, internal organs, bits of flesh, and broken bones.

Then he fabricated some stories, such as often hearing indescribable sounds in the middle of the night, and a high monk once passing by the inn's entrance, glancing up at it, then changing his expression drastically, shouting "Amitabha" and fleeing away.

It must be said that Manager Feng had an exceptional eloquence. Even if the inn were to go out of business in the future, he could still make a living as a storyteller. What was common knowledge in Pingyang City, something that could be explained in a few words, was told by Manager Feng with dramatic flair and captivating storytelling. Those temporarily residing in the main hall were either guards from the Cui family or servants from the Yang family, all of whom followed their masters north and south, risking their lives for a living. Most of them had seen blood and killed people, yet they were all terrified by Manager Feng, their necks twitching incessantly, swallowing hard, and goosebumps rising on their arms.

Just then... Whew...

A gust of cold wind swept into the lobby through the crack in the door.

In an instant, countless people couldn't help but tremble, their faces turned pale, and their hands instinctively went to the hilts of their swords.

grandma's.

This place is really eerie. They shouldn't be that unlucky as to actually get into trouble, right?

Compared to the tense atmosphere in the lobby, the atmosphere upstairs was much more harmonious.

Cui Yingying sat quietly by the window, letting the cold wind outside tousle her long hair. Her eyes were fixed on the falling snowflakes, her gaze deep and lost in thought. Cui Shi'an sat quietly in his chair, his brows furrowed.

“Now, our Prince Yan is probably going to make a fortune.” Finally, a smile appeared on Cui Yingying’s lips as she slowly said.

"Why?"

“Because… it’s snowing.” Cui Yingying stretched her arms lazily. “Last September, it snowed in Pingyang, and then came an unprecedentedly cold winter. Countless people starved and froze to death in the northern deserts and the western sea. This year, the snow fell a month earlier than last year. Guess what the weather will be like in the northern deserts and the western sea this year? And how many Xiongnu and Jurchen people will not survive this winter?”

"Without food or anything to keep warm, what do you think the Xiongnu and Jurchens will do?" Cui Yingying asked with a smile.

“It will start a war, it will lead to looting,” Cui Shian said.

“Indeed, plundering is ingrained in the very nature of these barbarians, and they cannot be reformed. In previous years, this would certainly have been the case, but now Anzhou and Pingyang have both become the fiefdoms of the Prince of Yan, and General Mei Wu is stationed here. Do you think those Jurchens can break through the pass of Xinhou County? Or do you think the Xiongnu can break through General Mei Wu's blockade?”

A snowflake, caught in the wind, drifted down and landed on Cui Yingying's head. She reached out and wiped it away, only to see the snowflake quickly melt on her fingertips.

Cool.

With a gentle flick of the finger, the water droplet flew out like a pearl.

"The Jurchens and the Xiongnu have just suffered a great loss. Now they can't defeat either of them. Even if they manage to break through the blockade, the price they pay will be severely weakened, and they will never have the resources to plot against the Central Plains again." Cui Yingying sighed and said again into the wind, "Alternatively, the Xiongnu can go west, but that's the Chu Kingdom. I heard that General Lin Xue of Chu was immediately dispatched to the border by the Chu Emperor after his return, just to guard against Xiongnu raids. This General Lin Xue is not someone to be trifled with."

"Therefore, the Xiongnu had only two options. The first option was to freeze or starve to death in hunger and cold, kill their horses, cattle, and sheep, or even kill people to eat their flesh, just to survive. The second option was to spend a lot of money to buy grain, warm clothes, and charcoal from Chu and Ning."

Cui Shi'an nodded slightly, clearly agreeing with this point: "But will Song Yan sell? According to the intelligence we have, Song Yan is not short of money for the time being. In addition, with the ten million strings of cash we sent this time, Song Yan probably won't have to worry about money for at least the next few years or even the next ten years. In that case, wouldn't it be better to use this cold disaster to freeze and kill a large number of Xiongnu people?"

“Song Yan will sell, and… he will sell them in huge quantities.” Cui Yingying shook her head slightly: “There’s no other reason than that Song Yan is not short of money, but he lacks… warhorses.”

"Moreover, the entire Central Plains region is almost entirely lacking in high-quality warhorses."

"Even if Song Yan doesn't sell, the emperor of Chu won't miss this excellent opportunity to expand his cavalry. So Song Yan will definitely sell, and he will rip off Suo Chuo Luo severely. If Song Yan can take advantage of this opportunity to purchase a large number of warhorses and train an elite cavalry, then no one in the vast Ning Kingdom will be able to defeat him."

"As for the Jurchens, Song Yan will probably win over some and slaughter others to continue reducing their numbers. These barbarians will do anything for food... I suspect that some important figures will appear on the Jurchen side this time when Song Yan gets married."

"Therefore, we must take advantage of the time before Song Yan makes a trade with the Xiongnu and Jurchens to establish a marriage alliance. This will make our allegiance more valuable. We cannot delay. We will send the letter of invitation tomorrow."

Cui Shi'an nodded and stood up: "Alright, I'll make the arrangements right away. By the way, Third Sister shouldn't go out today. Even if she goes out tomorrow, she must wear a veil so that no one can see her face. The group of guests behind us are from the Yang family, and the person in charge is Yang Xiao."

"He actually chased after his third sister all the way to Pingyang. If he recognizes her, it might cause some unnecessary trouble."

Cui Yingying yawned softly and closed the window: "It's alright, Yang Xiao wasn't coming for me, he was coming for Song Yan..." "I underestimated Yang Hexing."

"This old fox is truly a ruthless and cunning man. If I'm not mistaken, Yang Xiao must have come to reconcile with Song Yan on the orders of Yang Hexing. Even though his own brother and his most valued grandson died at Song Yan's hands, this old man can still hold back and even swallow his pride to seek peace. He's truly extraordinary."

Just as Cui Yingying and Cui Shi'an were talking, Yang Xiao and his elder sister Yang Yunshu were also in a bedroom on the third floor.

Of course, the two are siblings after all, and nothing sordid happened between them.

The two were simply discussing plans for tomorrow.

"Elder sister, we are going to visit Song Yan tomorrow. It's a pity that you have to go through this for the sake of the Yang family," Yang Xiao said with a sigh.

Grandpa did indeed want to keep Song Yan calm.

Yang Xiao could tell that his grandfather was already planning to overturn the day.

However, training laborers and recruiting rebel troops both require time. As for producing weapons and armor, the Yang family had already been doing that for a while, but if they recruited too many rebels, it would be insufficient. Given the current situation, the Yang family needs more time—three to five months would be fine, a year and a half would be even better; in short, the longer it takes, the more advantageous it will be for the Yang family.

To this end, Yang Hexing even arranged for one of the seven elders of the Yang family to personally go to the Eastern Mausoleum to help Yang Hetong take control of the government and apologize to Emperor Ninghe, with the aim of temporarily easing tensions.

Meanwhile, Song Yan arranged for Yang Yunshu to come and form a marriage alliance.

To be honest, the Yang family of Langya has tens of thousands of members, including many young and beautiful women who have just reached marriageable age. However, Song Yan has rather unusual tastes, preferring older women, especially married women, widows, and widowers. In this regard, the eldest sister would be the most suitable.

At twenty-seven years old, she was exactly within Song Yan's preferred age range.

She was another widow whose husband had died.

Although Yang Yunshu killed her husband herself.

My brother-in-law was the legitimate son of a noble family. He was handsome and tall, but my elder sister didn't like him. Although she consummated her marriage with him, she never had any feelings for him. After my elder sister became pregnant with a pure-blooded Yang family member and gave birth to a baby boy, she sent my brother-in-law away with a packet of poison.

As for the eldest sister's son, he naturally became the next Marquis of the Marquis's mansion.

Logically, it should have been time for him to retire and live happily ever after with his lover, but unexpectedly, his grandfather sent him out again. Thinking of this, Yang Xiao's expression became somewhat awkward.

Yang Yunshu, on the other hand, seemed unconcerned about these matters: "It's alright. No matter what, the family should always come first. It's just a matter of using one's looks to please others. It's nothing to me... After all, I did spend some time in the Hehuan Sect, so I can certainly make Song Yan fall head over heels for me."

Yang Yunshu's tone was quite arrogant.

She was naturally beautiful with a graceful figure.

Having also acquired the bewitching techniques of the Hehuan Sect, she has never encountered a man she couldn't win over in her life... Just like the Marquis's mansion, where all four brothers believed that the current heir was their child.

However, Yang Yunshu was unaware that although Song Yan enjoyed beautiful women, he had little interest in fickle people, mainly because he was afraid of getting sick.

Meanwhile, on the fourth floor.

Cheng Xu's expression was solemn. This inn, which usually had hardly any guests, was suddenly packed with people, which made Cheng Xu feel a surge of alarm.

"Tonight, everyone stay alert. Two people per room, take turns resting. No matter what, make sure at least one person is awake. Those people outside are very likely after us."

……

The Wind Inn is almost in complete chaos.

Song Yan, of course, knew nothing about these things.

At this moment, Song Yan had already returned to the Prince's Mansion. After taking a bath, he was lying on the bed preparing to rest when a series of slightly chaotic footsteps came from outside the door.

Not long after, the door creaked open.

Looking up, one could see three figures standing at the doorway. The petite and voluptuous figure was Bu Yu, the tall and plump figure was Gu Banxia, ​​and the other one, who was well-proportioned and slender, was Hua Lianyue.

Song Yan was somewhat surprised.

After returning home, Song Yan told Hua Lian Yue about Bu Yu and Gu Banxia's desire to learn the *Ji Yin Su Nu Jing*. Just as he expected, Hua Lian Yue readily agreed. Song Yan then left Bu Yu and Gu Banxia behind and went back to sleep. He assumed Bu Yu and Gu Banxia were currently cultivating with Hua Lian Yue, but who would have thought that the three of them would suddenly appear in his bedroom?
What do you want to do?
Just as Song Yan was filled with doubt, Gu Banxia had already turned around and closed the door.

As for Bu Yu, she walked to the table, picked up the flint and steel and lit the lamp. The leaping flames brought an orange light that shone on the faces of the three of them. Hua Lian Yue was all smiles, and Gu Ban Xia, especially Bu Yu, had a blush on her face.

"Lianyue, you're not..."

Hua Lianyue smiled gently: "I am teaching Bu Yu and Sister Banxia the Extreme Yin Su Nu Jing as requested by my husband."

"Now, both of my younger sisters have memorized all the incantations of the Classic of Plain Girl."

“But cultivation is something that has certain thresholds.” Hua Lian Yue spread her hands, her tall figure swaying gently like a golden cat as she walked towards Song Yan: “Although the threshold for the Plain Maiden Scripture is relatively low, this kind of cultivation is ultimately better when one is younger.”

"Sister Banxia has long passed the best age for cultivation. Although Sister Buyu has a foundation, it would be quite troublesome for her to switch to other secret techniques midway."

"If my two younger sisters were to follow the normal path and practice the Su Nu Jing step by step, I'm afraid they would never achieve great success in this lifetime."

As she said this, a slightly ambiguous smile suddenly appeared on Hua Lianyue's pretty face, which showed no signs of aging: "So, if the two younger sisters want to achieve something in the Su Nu Jing, they can only find another way."

As she spoke, Hua Lianyue sat down on the bed, her slender fingers gently touching Song Yan's chest.

The fingertips traced along the middle of Song Yan's chest, causing his robe to billow open to the sides. The touch of the fingertips on his skin made Song Yan's body tremble slightly.

"Fortunately, my husband has the 'Hundred Flowers Precious Mirror' for his cultivation."

"Therefore, we can only ask you, sir, to help our two younger sisters with their cultivation."

Song Yan's eyes suddenly widened. Why did those words sound so familiar?

what is this?
Dual cultivation?
And, it was four people together?
Seriously, isn't this some kind of party?

Just as Song Yan was shocked, Hua Lianyue smiled charmingly and bent down in the next moment, under the gaze of Gu Banxia and Bu Yu.

(End of this chapter)