Harem Daily Life

Chapter 507 The Concubine Who Gives Me Directly

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you!" Qi Yizheng bowed respectfully to Tao Yanyan, without even glancing at the scarred man next to him, as if the scarred man did not exist at all.

The King of Northern Yan couldn't help but feel a little annoyed, but due to the other party's identity and the presence of Tao Yanyan, he did not lose his temper.

Tao Yanyan saw Qi Yizheng appear here, and the scarred man who was pestering her refused to leave no matter how much she was persuaded. She thought that she couldn't just stand there and talk with them. If she got tired, it would be a waste of time.

So she opened her red lips and said, "Come in, all of you." After that, she turned around, and with the help of Qingfeng, she returned to the hall and sat in the main seat.

Qi Yizheng glanced at the scarred man, his lips slightly raised, revealing a barely perceptible contempt, and then he walked into the side hall without looking back.

The King of Beiyan naturally felt uncomfortable watching Qi Yizheng's arrogant and rude behavior. After all, he was the king of a country. When had he ever been treated so coldly? But the situation was special, so he couldn't say much. He could only suppress his unhappiness and followed everyone into the palace.

"What should I call you, sir from Yan State?" Qi Yizheng looked at the scarred man and asked.

Tao Yanyan then realized that although he had seen this man twice, he had never asked his name, so he looked at him curiously.

The King of Northern Yan said: "My name is Mu Chenfeng." It was his real name "Feng Chenmu" read backwards.

Qi Yizheng said coldly: "Lord Mu was invited to attend the banquet of the Great Zhou, but he did not sit at the table. Instead, he came to find Concubine Tao. I wonder why? Lord Mu, please give a reasonable explanation to avoid misunderstanding."

The King of Northern Yan raised his eyebrows. "I just drank a few more cups and came out to sober up. I just walked here. I happened to meet the Imperial Concubine here, so I stepped forward to greet her. My Yan State and the Great Zhou are on good terms, and we are like one family. It's the New Year, so I came here to pay my respects to the Imperial Concubine. There's no need to make a fuss. But this lord, you are here at this moment... Is it because your Great Zhou Emperor instructed you to monitor the Imperial Concubine's every move?"

The King of Northern Yan did not know Qi Yizheng's identity, but that did not stop him from coming up to stir up trouble and cause trouble for him.

Qi Yizheng clasped his fists and bowed to Tao Yanyan: "Your Highness, His Majesty saw that you have been out for a long time and was worried, so he did ask me to come out to check, but it is not the surveillance that Lord Mu mentioned. I hope Your Highness can understand."

The King of Northern Yan glanced at Tao Yanyan, wanting to see her reaction.

Tao Yanyan said calmly: "General Qi, you worry too much. I never doubt my own people."

She glanced at Mu Chenfeng and said, "Lord Mu keeps saying that the two countries are on good terms, so why are you trying to sow discord between me and the court officials in person? It's hard to believe that you are looking forward to the two countries being on good terms..."

Tao Yanyan finally discovered that Mu Chenfeng in front of him was a thick-skinned man. You really can't beat around the bush when talking to him, just be direct.

Moreover, she discovered that this person was not afraid of being rude tonight, and he would not worry even if Da Zhou blamed him. In the palace of Da Zhou, he seemed to be back home, coming and going freely, without the fear, anxiety and caution he had when he first entered the palace.

Tao Yanyan couldn't help but look at him twice more, and inexplicably felt that his temperament was really like He Linzhang at times. She pondered the man who called himself "Mu Chenfeng" and couldn't help but feel suspicious.

The King of Beiyan saw that Concubine Tao was not fooled and bluntly exposed his little thoughts. He was not angry, but smiled faintly and said: "It's just a guess. If there is any, correct it. If there is no, encourage it."

The King of Northern Yan said it lightly, showing no shame even when he was caught doing something bad: "I heard before that the purchase of iron ore between the Great Zhou and the State of Yan was proposed by Concubine Tao?" He changed the subject.

Tao Yanyan smiled and said, "I have lived in the deep palace for a long time, how could I know all this? It was all discussed by His Majesty and the court officials." Tao Yanyan never took credit for herself, and she didn't know why the person opposite her brought up this topic, so she didn't want to respond.

The King of Northern Yan didn't know what to say for a moment. It seemed that Concubine Tao always managed to kill the topic he brought up.

Hmm, it seems like you really don’t want to talk to me!

But the King of Northern Yan became more and more courageous. He continued, "Now the amount of iron ore purchased by the Great Zhou from the State of Yan every year has accounted for half of the total production of the State of Yan. I wonder why the Great Zhou buys so much iron ore?"

In fact, the King of Northern Yan had already guessed that it was for weapons manufacturing, and he also hesitated whether he should stop trading, lest the Great Zhou become more and more powerful, which would be detrimental to his plan to unify the world in the future. However, he had just unified the Yan Kingdom, and the strength was too weak. He urgently needed a lot of money to stabilize the people of Yan, so he had to continue trading with the Great Zhou.

But he has plans to gradually stop iron ore trading in the coming years.

Tao Yanyan's face was calm: "Iron ore is nothing more than used to make iron tools. These iron tools are either used by the military or by the people. Yan State is the seller, so it only needs to consider whether to sell it or not. As for what the buyer wants to use it for, it seems to have nothing to do with the seller."

The King of Northern Yan choked and thought to himself, "You really don't hide anything and just say it directly for both military and civilians to use."

Well, such a straightforward personality is really to the taste of the King of Northern Yan.

With so many beauties in his harem, it's rare to see someone so straightforward.

The King of Northern Yan looked at Tao Yanyan deeply, with obvious admiration in his eyes.

Qi Yizheng couldn't bear to watch this, and coughed lightly: "Lord Mu, do you want to keep disturbing the imperial concubine's rest here? Don't you want to go to the palace to eat?"

The King of Northern Yan glanced at him and said, "All I eat is the same dishes made by the imperial chefs. There is nothing new or fancy. It is more interesting to have a heart-to-heart talk with Concubine Tao."

Qi Yizheng: “…”

Tao Yanyan: “…”

The King of Northern Yan smiled and said, "If the concubine went to Yan State, she would find that there are countless delicacies in the world. During the New Year in Yan State, they eat roasted whole lamb. The lamb is roasted to a crisp and fragrant smell, sprinkled with seasonings, and eaten with a dagger, accompanied by fine wine. It is really satisfying. Although the dishes of your Great Zhou are exquisite, the taste, to be honest, is just so-so."

This description aroused the appetite of the foodie Qi Yizheng. Just imagining a fat, crispy roasted sheep in front of him and eating the meat in big mouthfuls, he wished he could ask someone to light the fire right away.

Tao Yanyan also swallowed her saliva, but she couldn't lose in the food race, so she said: "Lord Mu's way of eating is indeed heroic, but it's not very elegant, and it will take some time to roast. It's better to cut them into small pieces, marinate them first, string them up with a thin bamboo stick and roast them, sprinkle them with seasonings during the process, and it won't take much effort to eat, it will be more flavorful and more convenient."

The King of Northern Yan looked at Tao Yanyan in surprise. She continued, "And this kind of barbecue cooking method is not uncommon in our Great Zhou, but we mostly use it to make roast duck, roast chicken, roast pork belly, and roast fish. It's not something uncommon."