Chapter 171

Chapter 171

Su Yu treated the army generously, ensuring everyone received thick winter clothing.

Even though they were celebrating the New Year in Yuanzhou, everyone received two pounds of meat on New Year's Eve.

Before meeting Su Yu, Yu Chiyi had spent eight New Year's Eves in Yuanzhou. Back then, the Yu Chi army was barely scraping by. It was too dangerous to enter Luosuo in winter, so he could only turn to secretly raiding nearby military governors. Fearing that repeatedly targeting the same governor would arouse suspicion, he had to take detours to raid distant governors, which once led two neighboring governors to suspect each other.

Compared to those days, life now was infinitely better.

Yet, for some reason, Yu Chiyi felt this year's New Year's Eve was dull, and the wine and meat in his hands had lost their flavor.

Standing on the city wall, he gazed at the vast expanse of snow outside and suddenly missed the times he spent with Su Yu in Linde Hall during New Year's Eve. He remembered carrying Su Yu on his back as they raced through the palace corridors, and he also recalled the emperor giving him a red envelope on New Year's Eve—

Though the two gold ingots inside the envelope were always lost to Su Yu during mahjong games.

Suddenly, footsteps sounded from behind. Yu Chiyi snapped out of his thoughts and quickly turned around, only to find a jar of wine being offered to him.

Behind the wine jar was Su Chengying's stoic face.

Yu Chiyi took the wine jar but pointed at him, saying, "Why copy Cui Xingjian? Let me tell you, the emperor won't like a face as stiff as a coffin. You should smile more."

Su Chengying grinned at him, "Who says I can't smile?"

Yu Chiyi hesitated. The kid's smile was strangely unsettling. He glanced at Su Chengying, thinking that telling him to stop smiling might hurt his feelings. After a moment's thought, he held back and muttered, "Not bad."

He lifted the wine jar and took a large swig.

Su Chengying glanced at him, then followed suit, raising his own wine jar and taking a big gulp before setting it down. Like Yu Chiyi before, he stared out beyond the city wall.

The two stood in silence for a while until Su Chengying suddenly said, "Master, I miss the emperor."

Yu Chiyi didn't reply. Instead, he picked up his wine jar, clinked it against Su Chengying's, and took another large swig. "A real man has big dreams. It's not like we'll never see her again."

After New Year's Eve, Yu Chiyi granted the soldiers three days off. By the fourth day of the first lunar month, the camp was back to drills.

As Yu Chiyi said, entering Luosuo in winter was tough, but the Luosuo people had a bad harvest last year and might resort to desperate measures to attack. So, they had to prepare for the worst and couldn't afford to let their guard down.

For years, Yu Chiyi had drilled his soldiers this way. Those who had followed him through life-and-death battles knew it was his unyielding discipline that kept them alive. So, no one grumbled.

On the eighth day of the first lunar month, a guard reported to Yu Chiyi that someone had come to see him.

Yu Chiyi asked nonchalantly, "Who's looking for me?"

Since returning to Yuanzhou, everyone knew that Yu Chiyi was a favorite of the emperor. Merchants came to offer him money, and officials sought to curry favor with him, but Yu Chiyi refused to meet any of them to avoid complications.

He wondered who would come stirring up trouble during the New Year. Just as he was about to say he wouldn't meet them, the guard added, "That gentleman claims to be from the capital. He's wearing a veil hat, so his face isn't visible. Oh, and your nephew is standing beside him..."

Before the guard could finish, Yu Chiyi was already gone in the blink of an eye.

Yu Chiyi ran swiftly and indeed saw the veiled figure at the camp's entrance. From just the back, he could recognize that it was Su Yu!

As he approached, he deliberately slowed down, step by step, until he stood before Su Yu and asked with a smile, "Why has Su Yu come?"

Su Yu handed him the red envelope she had prepared in advance, "I came specifically to give Zhong Yun a New Year's red envelope."

As she walked inside, she smiled and asked, "Where's Chengying? I'll give him one too."

Yu Chiyi was momentarily stunned but quickly tightened his grip on the red envelope and followed Su Yu. "He's... around. Let's go to my tent first, and I'll call him over."

When Su Chengying was summoned by Yu Chiyi, he still wore an expressionless face. Upon seeing Su Yu, his demeanor shifted instantly, his youthful smile both eerie and joyful, something one could grow accustomed to over time.

Su Yu extended her hand, and Su Chengying promptly lowered himself, offering his head to her hand. She tousled his hair like she always did and then slipped him a red envelope.

Su Chengying happily accepted the red envelope and gazed eagerly at Su Yu.

Su Yu had come this time because the demand for coal was increasing day by day. Since she had used coal for disaster relief in Shuozhou, the fact that coal could be used as fuel had spread throughout Great Qi. Now, three years later, not only did the nobility love using coal, but even slightly wealthier households had taken to it.

Although Su Yu had exclusive access to coal mines in Taiyuan, the output was just enough to supply her iron smelting. On New Year's Eve, inspired by Du Changxuan, she realized that promoting steam engines would necessitate a further increase in coal production.

So she casually inquired of Xie Yiguan if there were any untapped coal mines.

To her surprise, Xie Yiguan actually knew. He mentioned that years ago, coal had been discovered about twenty miles south of Yuanzhou. However, back then, the Zheng family monopolized coal mining and, considering Yuanzhou a border region, had not exploited the coal there.

Thus, on the first day of the New Year, while Cui Xuan was paying his respects to the emperor, he was abruptly informed that Su Yu wanted him to remain in the capital.

Su Yu informed Cui Xuan, "I'm taking Zhi Wei to Yuanzhou, and we'll return shortly."

Cui Xuan: "..." The emperor could have taken him instead and left Xie Yiguan behind. In his opinion, Minister Xie was now fully capable of managing affairs independently.

However, under Su Yu's expectant gaze, Cui Xuan refrained from saying this and simply restrained himself, saying, "Your Majesty, have a safe trip and return soon."

Su Yu, accompanied by Xie Yiguan and Yu Chiyou, traveled twenty miles south of Yuanzhou and, upon careful inspection, indeed discovered traces of coal. Su Yu had Yu Chiyou dig a bit, and they hit coal.

Su Yu then calculated the distance between the coal mine and Yuanzhou and quickly formulated a plan. With mountains and coal mines here, if iron smelting furnaces were constructed, although it was somewhat distant from the capital, once cannons were produced, they could be directly transported to Yuanzhou, significantly reducing transportation costs.

Since they were near Yuanzhou, Su Yu left Xie Yiguan to study the coal mine and seized the opportunity to visit Yu Chiyi and Su Chengying.

After the visit, Su Yu planned to meet up with Xie Yiguan and head back to the capital.

Noticing the faint dark circles under the emperor's eyes, Yu Chiyi promptly said, "With only Ayou escorting Su Yu and a scholar who might hold us back, I'm uneasy. I'll escort Su Yu back to the capital and then return."

Yu Chiyou: "?" What's there to worry about? Hasn't he been safeguarding the emperor all along? Besides, Xie Yiguan isn't a scholar who holds things back; he's the one who apprehended two assassins in the streets!

Su Chengying immediately protested, "General, you're the army's commander. Escort duty should fall to me!"

Yu Chiyi couldn't resist slapping Su Chengying on the back of his head, then calmly lowered his hand under Su Yu's gaze, "They're both still too young, and I truly can't rest easy. I'll escort Su Yu back to the capital, make it a quick trip, and return. With Mr. Wu and the Deputy General in the camp, and Aying here, I'm still at ease."

Su Chengying: "..." Are you hearing yourself?!

First, you say I'm too young, and then you say you're at ease with me in the camp?!

Yu Chiyi handpicked a team of personal guards to escort the emperor back to the capital. At the city gates, they came across a group of Western merchants.

The Western merchants, thirty in total, included ten who stood in a neat line from tall to short, their heights evenly spaced, their faces hidden by cloth, making it difficult to see clearly.

"These Westerners are up to something!" Yu Chiyi and Xie Yiguan nearly said in unison.

Su Yu trusted their judgment, "Don't tip them off. Let's see where they're headed."

Their group was also disguised as merchants, so entering the city gates didn't attract attention, and trailing the Western merchants, they remained unnoticed.

The Western merchants had a clear destination; they headed straight for the Cui residence upon entering the city.

The gates of the Cui residence weren't easy to enter, so the leader presented a pair of glass cups as a bribe.

Great Qi didn't produce glass; even the glass in the palace came from the West, making glass a rare item in Great Qi.

Cui Xuan originally had no intention of meeting the Western merchants, but the sight of the pair of glass cups stirred some desire in him. He had gifted Su Yu with southern pearls and jadeite, but never glass. The pair of cups had a good meaning, and he wanted to buy them from the Western merchants, so he instructed the gatekeeper to let the Western merchant caravan in.

No sooner had the Western merchant caravan entered than another caravan arrived at the gates of the Cui residence.

The gatekeeper was about to refuse them when the leader took out a jade pendant. On the front of the pendant was inscribed "Cui Xuan," and on the back was carved "Xing Jian."

The gatekeeper thought, '...' Even if he didn't know much about valuables, he recognized the significance of this jade pendant.

He bowed deeply, respectfully presented the pendant, and then discreetly glanced over. No wonder the two people beside the leader looked so familiar—they were none other than the famous Yu Chiyi and Xie Yiguan of the capital! How could he have even thought of stopping them earlier!

Su Yu smiled at the gatekeeper and said, "We'll go in by ourselves, you may carry on as you please."

She led the group and entered the Cui residence openly.

Premier Cui received the Westerners in the front hall. Upon seeing them, he straightforwardly said, "I want to buy this pair of glass cups. Name your price."

The leader performed a Great Qi bow and smiled, "This pair of glass cups is just a small token of my respect for Premier Cui, and of course, they are free of charge. Besides these glass cups, I have an even better gift for Premier Cui."

He clapped his hands, and the ten veiled Westerners not only removed their veil hats but also uniformly took off their outer garments. Underneath, they wore thin summer gauze, adorned with delicate gold chains around their waists. As they swayed gently, the bells on the chains emitted a pleasant sound.

Premier Cui frowned slightly, his cold gaze lifting as he suddenly stood up. His usually impassive face showed a rare look of surprise.

The leader was inwardly pleased, thinking that Premier Cui indeed had a reputation for being attracted to men, as the rumors suggested. He then thought disdainfully, 'What a cold and noble gentleman, yet he couldn't resist beauty!'

However, he failed to notice that Premier Cui's gaze went beyond those men and landed on Su Yu behind them—

Even with her veil hat, Premier Cui recognized her instantly. His eyes showed both surprise and barely concealed joy—she had finally returned!

Su Yu waved her hand at him, signaling him to stay put, while she stepped forward and said with a smile, "What a coincidence, I also have a treasure to present to Premier Cui. I wonder what treasure you are offering?"

She tilted her head, remembering a similar scene from the original story. She casually turned her head, finally getting a clear look at the faces of the ten men.

Although these ten men had Western facial features, each had their own distinct characteristics. The tallest had the darkest skin, a prominent nose bridge, and emerald green eyes. Beneath the gauze, his eight-pack abs were visible, with a perky butt and long legs. The fairest had deep-set eyes, round and large blue eyes, and though he lacked abs, his slender and delicate figure exuded a pure allure.

The eight in the middle spanned from ruggedly masculine to enchantingly charming, creating a seamless transition. Truly, they catered to every preference in handsome men.

Su Yu clicked her tongue lightly. Indeed, it was quite tempting.

As she pondered, Premier Cui stepped forward, effectively cutting off her view. Before she could shift, Yu Chiyi and Xie Yiguan had already stepped in front of her.

The three of them solidly blocked her view of the handsome men.