Frost for a Thousand Years

Chapter 168: Maid
After visiting Song Shi'an and chatting for an afternoon, the two kings took their leave at the appropriate time, just before dinner.

Song Shi'an and Song Jing personally went out to see the two of them off to their car.

The royal carriage gradually moved away from the Song residence.

King Wu, still excited about the afternoon's conversation, couldn't help but say to Wei Wusheng beside him, "Wusheng, I think Shi An makes a lot of sense. Especially since the whole world is rotten."

"I hope Your Highness will forgive his harsh words," Wu Sheng said.

“It’s alright. Changqing and I have both said that there are no taboos when discussing state affairs,” King Wu said quite leniently. “Besides, you must admit that all the countries in the world, except for Nanyue, are too powerful to be controlled. They are all practicing bad governance.”

“Therefore, a reform that ensures absolute fairness in law enforcement is needed,” Wei Wusheng said.

“Yes, I understand now. To achieve the best, one must aim high; to achieve the middle, one must aim low.” King Wu said with emotion, “The nobles and aristocratic families of my Great Yu have become too pampered in the Central Plains, resulting in a pretty but incompetent person like Zhao Xiang who neither knows how to fight nor wants to fight. If the only policy is to defend, then we will lose territory. If the national policy is to attack, then at least we can stabilize our borders.”

Why keep launching northern expeditions?
The Northern Expedition will lead to certain death, but at least there is a glimmer of hope.

If we don't launch the Northern Expedition, we will definitely die, or die even faster!

“Then tomorrow’s court assembly will definitely talk about Zhao Xiang, Fourth Brother, you must…” Wei Wusheng reminded him.

“Understood. Even if I don’t say it, Changqing will speak for me and bring him down.” King Wu knew this.

"Yes, that's the attitude we need to have." Wei Wusheng was relieved.

"This Song Shi'an is truly a man of great talent." King Wu smiled and exclaimed again, "Give him free rein, and he will surely become a renowned minister for all time."

"I think so too."

"But."

King Wu placed his hand on Wei Wusheng's hand, looked into his eyes, and said with particular emphasis, "But this Great Yu ultimately belongs to our Wei family. Everything still requires us brothers to do our best."

The King of Wu spoke earnestly and slowly.

He regarded Wei Wusheng as his closest blood brother.

But just a moment ago he said that if he became the crown prince, he would definitely make Song Shi'an the prime minister, and now he says something that has a hint of 'provocation'...

Wei Wusheng knew that there was nothing wrong with what he said.

He also felt that, as a member of the Wei family, he had to consider the family more.

But he knew one more thing,
"Fourth Brother, I will definitely do my best to assist you."

Looking at the smiling King of Wu, Wei Wusheng revealed a resolute look in his eyes.

King Wu gently patted Wei Wu's hand and then turned his head away.

Wei Wusheng slowly turned his head back, turned to the side, and glanced out the window.

If the King of Wu were to truly ascend the throne, he would definitely kill me.

.........

It was getting dark. After all the gifts were received and the gates of the mansion were closed, Song Shi'an and Song Jing walked back together.

"I don't care what you do," Song Jing said. "Just now, Right Chancellor Cui said 'steady' three times to me. I'll give you those same words too."

“Father, I understand.” Song Shi’an nodded and said, “I fully understand your and Cui Youcheng’s political wisdom. Now is a time of change, and I will not allow the Song family to make enemies on all sides.”

After hearing his confession that he was willing to be a loyal subject, the King of Wu's words truly implied that he was willing to make enemies of the whole world and risk his life to reform his old Wei family.

They treated their buddy like a prostitute, without feeling any remorse.

In this respect, he is quite different from Xiao Wei, who knows how to care for others.

Of course, this was because I set the bar too high, so I can't blame him for going along with it.

However, the fact that he wished to become the "Prime Minister" reveals some aspects of this prince's character.

Did he say this to Ye Changqing?

If you said that before and then told me, wouldn't you be a big liar?
If you didn't say that before, but only told me, wouldn't that be considered fickle?
His comprehension is indeed quite good. As the crown prince, he has the ability to make quick decisions. Once he becomes emperor, he will definitely do a good job and treat the people of the world well.

What does it matter to me if we treat hundreds of millions of people well?
What I want is to be treated kindly.

Song Shi'an discovered that the King of Wu, compared to Xiao Wei, had something more in his bones—cold-heartedness.

"Okay, let's go eat."

Song Jing was still at ease with his son because he had discovered that the boy was not just reckless.

"Father, you can eat yourselves. I need to go back to my room to write." Song Shi'an refused directly and then strode towards his room. "Just have the butler bring me my meal."

I've never seen you work this hard.

After making a sarcastic remark, Song Jing didn't seem to mind the rude behavior too much.

Well, it's good enough that I can stay at home.

.........

Song Shi'an returned to his room and saw Yun'er sitting on a small stool, holding a bowl, eating simple food.

Upon seeing him, she immediately put down her bowl and stood up: "Young Master."

"It's okay, you can eat."

Song Shi'an smiled and then went into the room. He found a small white gauze screen next to his bed, and a simple little bed placed horizontally beside it.

Didn't I tell her to go home tonight?

Did he really keep a concubine here?
Song Shi'an didn't ask any questions, and sat back down at his desk to polish the manuscript he had written earlier.

After a while, a servant brought in the food and placed it on the table.

Just as Song Shi'an was about to tidy up his writing materials, Yun'er came over and quickly cleaned his desk. She was efficient and not at all rough. The paper was wrinkle-free, and the ink writing she had just done was carefully put away.

Oh well, having someone who doesn't talk much here won't make much of a difference.

"Little Bean, come and eat with us."

Song Shi'an took the initiative to call out.

Yun'er blushed and quickly said, "This servant dares not eat with the young master."

"What, are you going to get beaten up?"

“They really are…” Yun’er said, “The new nanny in the palace is very fierce, and many people have been scolded and beaten.”

"If you don't come over, I'll hit you."

"Is it also spanking?"

Yun'er asked somewhat fearfully.

By the way, spanking is no longer considered a form of fun in this day and age.

Hands and feet are for work, so they can't be injured; the servants' faces represent the dignity of the nobles, so they can't be hit either. So, that leaves the fleshy buttocks, which can be whipped with a thorny branch, leaving a bloody welt with each strike.

"Oh yeah, it's also spanking."

Song Shi'an spoke of this matter with great seriousness.

"Yun'er is here." Yun'er didn't dare to resist, so she sat down opposite Song Shi'an and started eating her meal. "Get some food," Song Shi'an said.

The dishes on the plate were plentiful, with fish and meat, and all were heavily seasoned with oil and salt, unlike the simple meals with only a little bit of bland salt water.

Yun'er certainly wanted to eat it, but how could this servant eat such good food? So she was still very hesitant...

Suddenly, Song Shi'an picked up a piece of meat with his chopsticks and brought it to her mouth.

"..." Yun'er blushed, glanced at the other person, and then cautiously opened her mouth.

The meat was put into her mouth.

After chewing and swallowing, she revealed the joy of being favored: "Young Master, you are so kind."

"So, you want me to feed you every single bite, right?"

"The slaves dare not."

Yun'er finally picked up her chopsticks. Although she didn't eat much, she ate with Song Shi'an.

In ancient times, the promotion of human rights was a source of great anxiety.

Song Shi'an had no desire to change any of his bad habits.

But to do good deeds, to pamper a little girl and to show a happy expression, is purely self-satisfaction.

"Is it delicious?" Song Shi'an asked.

"It's so delicious. Yun'er never thought she would be able to eat so many dishes in her life."

The little girl said contentedly, looking at Song Shi'an with gratitude and admiration in her eyes: "Young Master, please let me follow you."

"Then you should just do your job properly. Keep quiet when I'm reading and writing, and don't ask questions you shouldn't ask. Don't touch anything in the room without my permission," Song Shi'an demanded.

"Yes, if the Lord doesn't look for Yun'er, Yun'er will be a mute," she assured him.

"Okay, then you'll be able to eat such good food every day."

"Mmm." Yun'er nodded and continued eating.

Without realizing it, my eyes were already glistening.

"What's wrong? Missing your family?" Song Shi'an asked, puzzled.

"Huh?" Yun'er looked up, looking confused. "No."

"Then why are you crying?"

Yun'er sniffed, looking at the table full of dishes, and was filled with emotion: "Just thinking about being able to eat so much food every day from now on, with fish and meat, makes me want to cry. Really, I'm so happy."

Damn, I almost forgot.

Salted white rice, with the occasional dried fish, was the standard for raising assassins in ancient times.

"Then go ahead and cry."

Song Shi was relieved and stopped paying attention to her.

Then, they continued eating.

After he finished eating, he got up.

Yun'er also immediately finished her meal and began cleaning the table.

Quite naturally, Song Shi'an got used to her presence.

I leaned against the headboard, reading a popular novel, until nightfall.

At this moment, Yun'er brought hot water and washed Song Shi'an's feet.

Sitting on the bed, he read a book while letting the other person take off his socks, wash his feet, rub and dry them.

A truly intelligent life.

No wonder we want to resist extravagance; it's really comfortable.

After washing up, completely relaxed, Song Shi'an leaned back on the bed and read, eventually turning to the last page...

Tsk, gone again.

Song Shi'an closed the book with a sense of unfinished business, but just as he looked up, he was forcibly restrained.

Across the semi-transparent gauze curtain stood Yun'er, who had stood up. In the candlelight, her body trembled as she removed her clothes.

Holding a cloth, Yun'er bent down. The screen only served as a partition, and the snow-white flesh was faintly visible. The cloth moved across the wide, rounded, crescent-shaped body, which was as thick as a white jade plate and as round as a crabapple, and the flesh shone with a lustrous sheen.

After washing, he stood up again and half-squatted down...

She was wiping her body with the warm water she had used to wash her feet.

The whole process took only three minutes, and the cleaning was done thoroughly.

A short while later, Yun'er, dressed in a thin undergarment that barely covered her thighs and a light blue underpants, walked past Song Shi'an carrying a basin of water. The rim of the basin pressed against her lower abdomen, stretching the plain cloth underpants into a tight, rounded shape, and her hips made the underpants slippery as she walked. With each step, her upper body trembled like tender white tofu.

Upon reaching the doorway, she bent over, her slightly damp undergarment instantly clinging to her back, while the front of it hung loosely, leaving a gap about half a palm's width wide...

A basin of water was splashed out.

She closed the door and came back to find Song Shi'an looking at her.

As the sun-dried meat turned red, she asked somewhat embarrassedly, "Young Master, is there anything Yun'er can do for you?"

Song Shi'an looked at her and asked, puzzled, "Is your family quite wealthy?"

"Young Master is too kind. My family is wealthy, so we wouldn't have sent me to the Song family to be a maid," she said with a smile.

"Then how did you get so fat?"

She is truly voluptuous, and now, wearing clothes that accentuate her figure, it is perfectly showcased.

"Yun'er's parents are both fat, so Yun'er is fat..."

"No wonder the female manager calls you Little Bean."

After Song Shi'an finished speaking, he felt something was off.

Yun'er blushed and lowered her head, then slowly raised it again, asking shyly, "Does the young master think I'm too fat?"

"It's okay, being a little chubby is good," Song Shi'an said casually. "Go to sleep."

"Alright, young master, you should also get some rest."

Yun'er nodded, then walked to the bed next door and lay down.

Song Shi'an, leaning against the headboard, held his forehead and remained silent for a long time.

Looks like I really need to find a partner.

They've been so repressed...

(End of this chapter)