FID – Chapter 909

Chapter 909: Can You Spare His Life?

The King’s villa was located at a countryside estate thirty miles out, called Xiaoqiao Manor, nestled in Xiaoqiao Village.

When the carriages entered the estate grounds, Grandma Liu and the others huddled by the window, marveling all the way.

“All this farmland and mountain land all belong to the estate? It’s huge! How much can they possibly grow here? Can they even finish all the harvest? How many people are there in the manor anyway? This seems like such a waste. What do they do with the leftover food?”

“Don’t speak so much or you’ll just reveal your country bumpkin nature,” the Empress Dowager scolded her. “The estate keeps only a little for its own use; the rest is sold. The estate is meant to make money for the manor. Otherwise, with so many people in the manor, just relying on Feng Qingbai’s salary wouldn’t cover even half a month’s expenses. How else could he have hundreds of thousands of taels to repair the ship?”

“Repairing the ship costs several hundred thousand taels? If all that silver came from the estate, how many estates would have to keep earning just to afford building one ship?”

An estate was just a small farmstead growing crops. Grandma Liu might not know much else, but she certainly understood the value of crops. 

Even if an estate had thousands of acres of fertile land, the silver earned from selling the crops wouldn’t buy a single mast on a merchant ship.

“Do you think Feng Qingbai survives just off the estate? He has plenty of side businesses we don’t know about. The silver he gets each year isn’t any less than what your Liu family earns from ten or so distilleries.”

The women of the Liu family listened in astonishment.

“Making more money is a good thing, right? The more Feng Qingbai earns, the fuller our Nannan’s piggy bank gets. Isn’t he basically earning for her? There’s no difference. It’s like our Liu family’s wealth is multiplying without any investment.” Liu Zhiqiu’s words made everyone twitch at the corners of their mouths.

That was the blunt truth.

Because there were too many people traveling, the carriage couldn’t fit them all, so Feng Qingbai, Qin Xiao, and Xue Qinglian didn’t squeeze in; instead, they rode horses at a moderate distance behind the carriage as an escort.

Taking advantage of his absence, Liu Zhiqiu winked secretly at Liu Yusheng and said, “Nannan, quietly tell your brother. How much property do you have? They say the Qian family is now the richest in Nanling, but I guess you’re not far behind. Even if you don’t have half of their wealth, you at least have a third of theirs, right?”

“What’s the point in telling you? All that silver is mine. If you heard it, you’d just get jealous and restless. To avoid upsetting you, I’ll just keep quiet, alright?”

Liu Zhiqiu’s face darkened.

Laughter echoed inside the carriage, drifting over to the ears of the three men behind.

Although there was some distance, those trained in martial arts had keen senses; that distance was almost nothing to them. So they heard every word clearly and all smirked with amusement.

“I heard you and Dongyue and Beicang jointly issued a capture order for my uncle. Has there been any news from their side?” After the laughter died down, Xue Qinglian asked.

“It’s not that fast. If any news had come back to the manor, you’d never miss it. Are you worried I’m hiding it from you?”

Xue Qinglian didn’t answer Feng Qingbai’s words but instead asked, “If the person is caught, what will you do with him?”

“There are still many things about the past that I haven’t figured out. If the person is really caught, naturally we’ll first clarify what happened back then. As for Xue Zhong, whatever he did, he must bear the consequences himself.”

“If he’s really caught, can you spare his life?”

“That depends on the choices he makes.”

Feng Qingbai didn’t give a definite answer. Because no one could predict what would happen next.

It was still too early to talk about the outcome.

Xue Qinglian fell silent, not pressing further.

But his thoughts churned deeply.

Although he wasn’t as loyal to his uncle as Honglian was, his uncle was the only remaining relative by his side. If something really happened to him, he couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.

By then, there would likely be a rift between Feng Qingbai and himself, making it hard to go back to how things were.

Qin Xiao looked at the two who had fallen silent and after a moment spoke, “Xue Zhong is disabled. If all the conspiracies are exposed and laid bare to the world, regardless of whether his life is spared, his fate won’t be good. Maybe dying would be a true release. Staying alive might not be any better. To live, he must endure the world’s scorn, the hostility and retaliation from royal families and powerful nobles of various countries. When he’s left with nothing, can he really escape? If Your Highness wants to spare his life, that’s not hard. What’s difficult is whether he himself can bear the consequences.”

A heavier silence settled over them.

Ahead, they had already arrived at the gate of the villa.

The large plaque above the main gate bore the three characters ‘Xiaoqiao Manor’ in lively, flowing calligraphy—restrained yet sharp. It was clearly the work of Feng Qingbai himself.

“We’re here, just on time, exactly half an hour. Everyone get off.” Voices inside the carriage called out, and one by one people jumped down. The members of the Liu family looked around curiously and excitedly as they walked into the manor.

Hearing the sound of the carriage outside, the gatekeeper had already opened the big gate ahead of time, bowing his head and waiting at the entrance for their arrival.

Earlier, the villa’s steward had received a letter from the King’s Manor, informing him that the King would bring his family to stay temporarily at the manor.

All the servants throughout the villa were already prepared and awaiting the arrival of their master.

Passing the gatekeeper and stepping into the villa, the layout and decoration immediately came into view.

The front courtyard was spacious and bright, with landscaped gardens, rockeries, winding corridors, and a bluestone path paved all the way to the main hall.

Maids and servants stood lined up on both sides of the main path, bowing and greeting in unison, “Welcome, Prince, Princess Consort, and Empress Dowager!”

Such a grand reception was routine for the Empress Dowager, Feng Qingbai, and the others, but for the Liu family, it was somewhat uncomfortable.

So after entering the main hall, Feng Qingbai dismissed all the servants except for the villa steward.

The steward’s surname was Zhou, a man in his fifties who spoke and acted with propriety.

He took orders to arrange bedrooms and luggage placement for everyone.

After a brief rest, the group set out to explore outside the villa.

On the way, everyone in the carriage had already roughly surveyed the vast grounds of the manor. Now walking through it again, they were still continuously amazed.

Although it was called a manor, just the endless rice paddies stretching as far as the eye could see around it were more than all the fields in their entire Xinghua Village.

Among the fields, many figures were still seen working, dressed no differently from ordinary villagers.

“These people are the villagers of Xiaoqiao Village, and they are also the tenant farmers of the villa,” Feng Qingbai explained.

“Tenant farmers? Then aren’t you a landlord?” Liu Zhiqiu blurted out.

“If you want, you could be a landlord too. The rent paid by the tenant farmers every year is enough for you to live a life of ease,” Feng Qingbai said.

“……”

Everyone thought Liu Zhiqiu was left speechless, but when Liu Muqiu saw her Brother Zhiqiu, her eyes sparkled brightly.