The Empress’ Livestream

It was mid-June. Jiang Pengji had already changed into cool, summer clothing.

Using Liu Huan’s wedding as a time reference, Jiang Pengji had been in Shangjing for almost one and a half months.

“The weather is getting hotter and hotter. I’m about to finish touring Shangjing… I’m worried about how to spend my day tomorrow…” Upon hearing Jiang Pengji’s complaint, a light flashed across Feng Jue’s eyes. It instantly turned into a helpless gaze.

Others would have grown impatient already. Jiang Pengji was still eating and drinking. Her drinking capacity was excellent.

He did not know what his second brother was thinking. His second brother actually thought that she was better than Bogao. Bogao was indeed not as good as Liu Xi in terms of eating, drinking, and pleasure-seeking.

Compared to how Feng Jue probed her from time to time, Huang Song was the perfect friend for eating and drinking.

The three of them gathered together just for eating, drinking, and pleasure-seeking. They only talked about affairs, not proper business.

“It’s okay. We’ll have fun somewhere else tomorrow. You don’t have to worry about it. I know a lot of good places.” Huang Song winked at her, as if they were adults who had a tacit understanding of each other.

After they grew closer, he initially wanted to call Jiang Pengji “Brother Xi,” but she disliked it because it sounded cheesy. She insisted he change it.

With a peanut in her mouth, Jiang Pengji jested, “If you tell this to Huaiyu, I can enjoy my day tomorrow even if I don’t leave the house.”

Huang Song looked distressed all of a sudden. “Brother Liu, you can’t be like that. I’m doing this for your own good. It’s fine if you don’t return the favor. Why do you want to get me into a fix?”

If Feng Jin found out that he had been taking Feng Jue to dodgy places every day, would he not slap him?

“Hasn’t Confucius mentioned that the desire for food and sex is human nature? Grabbing food with one’s left hand and beauties in the other is simply the pursuit of life. Saints are no exception––let alone ordinary people. Moreover, Huaijie isn’t a three-year-old kid anymore. He’s just here to visit, and he hasn’t done anything wrong. The Second Brother Feng is too strict,” Huang Song muttered rashly. He wanted to use that reasoning to ease the guilt in his heart.

Feng Jue teased Huang Song for being semi-literate. There was not a problem with the comment.

Huang Song had indeed encouraged Feng Jue previously to look for prostitutes, but Feng Jue’s upbringing was strict. It was not a problem for him to drink and watch dancing, but he was unwilling to do anything that crossed the line.

“Haha. Justify your sophistry in front of Huaiyu.” Jiang Pengji sneered.

Feng Jin’s control of his brother was rather reserved on the outside, but wild on the inside. Huang Song was getting bolder and bolder. If it was not for Wei Jingxian, who was close to labor––which in turn almost drained Feng Jin’s spirits and gave him no time to deal with other things––maybe he would have found out long ago that Huang Song dragged Feng Jue about and created trouble.

“Brother Liu, your words hurt me.” Huang Song’s face crumpled into a ball. He was teasing her.

He was good at livening up the atmosphere. In order to achieve his goals, he did not care about his personal image. He was very unrestrained when he was playing. Even if the aristocrats in all of Shangjing spoke harshly to him, most of his peers of the same stratum followed his lead.

Jiang Pengji only knew about that after having close contact with Huang Song. He was extremely popular.

“How is it hurtful?” Jiang Pengji asked with a smile.

Huang Song pretended to sigh. “It hurts everywhere. My heart is bleeding.”

Jiang Pengji held back her laughter and teased, “Amongst all the people I know, you’re definitely ranked first in terms of glibness.” She glanced at the sky outside after peeling another peanut.

Dusk had gradually fallen. The yellowish-orange sky was full of a beauty of another kind. In the words of the audience in the streaming room, it was twilight when humans and devils met.

After paying their money, they each got on a horse to leave.

Huang Song offered, “Brother Jue and Brother Liu, I’ll go to the residence of the Second Brother Feng with you both.”

“All right. Please.”

The doctor and midwife said that Wei Jingxian would give birth sometime in the next two days. Upon learning the news, Jiang Pengji planned to visit her.

Feng Jin and his wife were also “put under house arrest.” Their personal freedom was not restricted, but pregnant women were sensitive and tended to overthink things. No experienced elder was there to look after her. Moreover, it was their first child, so they were feeling uneasy.

On the way there, Jiang Pengji looked at the streets and frowned. Something was not quite right…

Huang Song looked at her and asked with concern, “Are you not feeling well?”

“No. I just feel that the streets are a lot quieter these days. The stray cats and dogs that are usually around have disappeared…”

Huang Song replied, “Yeah. Now that you’ve said that, it is weird… I suddenly remembered something. Two days ago, my dog was in a weird mood… It scratched the wall the entire night and howled nonstop. My father wanted to kill it.”

Jiang Pengji’s heart jolted. “Really?” She had never raised an animal, so she had no way of noticing things like that.

“Sigh… Why would I make that up? I’ll probably see the dog being stewed in the pot when I get home tonight…” Huang Song quite liked the dog, but his father was the master in the house. He could not do anything even if he liked it.

Jiang Pengji laughed and replied, “Since we’re close, I’ll have a snack tonight.”

Huang Song responded, heartbroken, “Brother, your words are hurtful.”

Hearing their conversation, Feng Jue was suddenly struck dumb. He felt like he had two wild kids with him.

Jiang Pengji felt somewhat oppressed on the inside. She vaguely had a bad premonition. Her mentality was very strong. In the words of martial arts, a martial artist had a stronger intuition than ordinary people. To put it simply, her intuition was a hundred times stronger than that of a beast.

“Lately… Have you seen anything unusual when you patrol the streets?”

Huang Song was startled. He asked, “Like what?”

“Do the stray cats, dogs, snakes, worms, rodents, ants, and insects, like cockroaches, have any abnormal behaviors?”

Snakes, worms, rodents, ants, and insects could not be seen where Jiang Pengji lived, let alone stray cats and dogs.

As the patrol of Shangjing, even if Huang Song was just a city guard, he was often outside and definitely saw more things than her.

Feng Jue smelled something unusual and frowned.

Huang Song carefully recalled and answered, “They do. Anyway, there are fewer and fewer stray cats and dogs lately… This is normal. Anyway, many people secretly catch them and cook them. Now that the weather is hot, it’s normal for the cats and dogs to not like coming out.”

Huang Song’s explanation seemed to be very plausible, but Jiang Pengji’s heart was beating madly. Dark clouds, which could not be chased away, lingered in her heart.

“What’s wrong, Brother Liu?” Huang Song asked.

“Nothing. Perhaps the weather is too hot. My chest feels stuffy, and I feel that something bad is going to happen.”

“Like what?”

“It’s been dry recently, and it hasn’t rained for a month. As the patrol of Shangjing, you should be more careful, lest some places catch fire.” Most of the buildings were wooden. It would be hard to put the fire out if it caught. Jiang Pengji warned him, “This isn’t impossible.”

Huang Song was at a loss for whether to cry or to laugh. “Brother Liu, you should pray that good things happen to me. If the buildings really do catch fire, I’ll lose my minor position as the patrol of Shangjing.”

“If you don’t want to lose your job, then care about it more.”

Upon hearing what she said, Huang Song thought it was reasonable. Even though Jiang Pengji said it bluntly, she had good intentions.

Huang Song was now dedicated to the people. He was of a humble origin, but he had a heart to serve the country and the people. He was usually utterly carefree, but he was upright and outspoken whilst enforcing the law. He could be described as someone who loved the people as if they were his children… One had to say that it was not unreasonable for Feng Jue to regard him with special respect.

“Okay. I’ll work harder during the day, and take my comrades to patrol more at night…”