Chapter 1 Shi Fei Xuan, Who Are You Talking About?

"Sister, who is this Shi Fei Xuan you're talking about?" Tan Wei Shi couldn't wait to ask her sister after Ye Tao had just left.

Today, Ye Tao had come to the embroidery workshop to install boilers and shower facilities. Actually, after this business started, he, the boss and technical director, no longer needed to do it himself. Generally, a technician would lead a team to complete it. But Ye Tao always knew that Tan Wei Shi was a bit "narrow-minded." If he didn't come in person, he would be harassed by Tan Wei Shi later, saying that he didn't value her. So he came in person to solve this trivial matter.

It so happened that Tan Wei Xin was also at the embroidery workshop today. While the apprentices in the workshop were preparing, Ye Tao chatted with Tan Wei Xin about some fun things that had happened recently. For example, the Shi family of Nan'an had shamelessly sent forty people to the Ye family workshop as apprentices, their attitude being usually mixed with a bit of deliberate enthusiasm, as if the previous poaching targeting the Ye family had never happened. The Shi family was such a strange family, although very wealthy, with considerable influence inside and outside the court. But the Shi family's almost innate ability to make themselves at home and their thick-skinned skills were something that other families could never learn.

"How historically significant is the Shi family anyway? When other people mention the Shi family, they always have a strange emphasis, which makes me a little confused." Ye Tao had asked Tan Wei Xin in their conversation just now.

Tan Wei Xin furrowed her brow and said, "I'm not very clear either, could they be descended from Shi Fei Xuan and Xu Zi Ling's illegitimate child? Looking at their unreliable way of doing things, it really seems like it."

As a result, the two looked at each other and then burst out laughing.

As for what was so funny about this topic, and who exactly Shi Fei Xuan and Xu Zi Ling were, Tan Wei Shi, who believed that she was quite familiar with the history and current situation of the major aristocratic families in Dongping, thought for a long time but couldn't understand, and finally couldn't help but ask her sister.

"Just some people that the two of us know, just joking around," Tan Wei Xin said with a chuckle.

"That Xu Zi Ling is too?"

"Yes," Tan Wei Xin nodded.

Tan Wei Shi held her sister's arm and said with some jealousy, "Why do you two have so many topics to talk about? Sometimes I can't even get a word in edgewise."

Tan Wei Xin chuckled and said, "Are you jealous? Ye Tao caused such a big stir this time, not letting you get your wish, don't blame your sister, okay?"

"Of course not!" Tan Wei Shi said quickly, "It's such a great thing that Sister stayed. I'm so happy I can't even describe it. Ye Tao saved Sister's life this time."

Tan Wei Xin put her arm around Tan Wei Shi and said, "However, it will be even more difficult to let you get your wish."

"Sister..." Tan Wei Shi nestled in her sister's arms, her eyes gentle and helpless. As princesses of the Dongping Kingdom, their lives had too many unavoidable things. Now, although Tan Xiao Pei was still somewhat hesitant about Ye Tao becoming a royal consort, generally speaking, with the Queen Zhuo Xiu and several ministers advising and encouraging him, this matter would at most be delayed for a few years before being resolved. But Tan Wei Shi had no confidence in her own future. To have two princesses of the thriving country of Dongping marry the same person would probably be a huge problem.

"It's okay. In a few more years, when Father's heart is at ease, I'll hand over all the things I'm in charge of and marry Ye Tao. I probably won't live in Danyang, right? It's too busy here after all. When that time comes..." There was a bit of longing in Tan Wei Xin's eyes, "I'll have Ye Tao build a beautiful, comfortable garden. Facing the sea, with spring flowers blooming... Slowly waiting to die in a place like that."

"Sister," Tan Wei Shi said with a sad face, "Am I just supposed to be married off to some random son of an aristocratic family?"

"No need," Tan Wei Xin said with a wicked smile, "Come play at my place while you're not married. Then, the brother-in-law and the sister-in-law have a drunken indiscretion, a night of passion, and a secret pregnancy... Hehe, how do you think Father will decide then?"

"Sister!" Tan Wei Shi buried her head in Tan Wei Xin's arms, her face burning. The lively Tan Wei Shi since childhood was now quite a bit taller and healthier than Tan Wei Xin. Her body also faintly had graceful curves, but Tan Wei Shi's years of reliance on her sister had become stronger and stronger. After all, from a very young age, Tan Wei Xin was not just her sister. She participated in her life and education, and the various things she learned from Tan Wei Xin made Tan Wei Shi unconsciously place herself in a smaller position when dealing with her sister.

"It's okay. You have to know that my method is at least useful for ordinary families. Although our Tan family is said to be an imperial family, we are the most unpretentious and unaffected of all the imperial families. Father and Wei Ming are both determined to make progress and aspire to unify the countries in two generations, or even longer, but this is a long-term matter after all. Kings and emperors are still different after all. If... well, if you act fast enough, you should be able to get your wish." Tan Wei Xin's tone was still teasing, but what she said was quite serious.

"Really?" Tan Wei Shi never had any big ideas. Seeing that her sister's words made sense, she couldn't help but be a little tempted.

"Look at you, so anxious. If you let Father, Mother, or Wei Ming, Wei Ran, or even Ye Tao himself understand this matter beforehand, then it's all impossible. You have to be careful yourself. There's only one thing that you can do boldly," Tan Wei Xin said.

"What?" Tan Wei Shi asked suspiciously. She naturally knew that the strand of affection she had for Ye Tao would be a huge trouble if anyone else knew about it, but she had never thought that there was anything else she could do now.

"Silly girl, make good relationships with Qiu Yan. She's been destined to be the young mistress of the Ye family for many years. Before you enter the Ye family's door, you better have a relationship with Qiu Yan so good that what's yours is mine, and what's mine is yours, without any distinction," Tan Wei Xin said, scratching Tan Wei Shi's nose with a smile.

Tan Wei Shi's face was full of questions. She felt that her sister's words sounded very reasonable, but she couldn't explain why it seemed like there was a bit of a problem somewhere. Her sister shouldn't be trying to harm her, right? But why did it sound so strange? Why did it sound like she was a bad woman who was going to destroy someone else's family?

While the two princesses were having a conversation that could cause a huge uproar if anyone heard it, outside the embroidery workshop, the young man from Xiling who had appeared at the clock tower construction site was quietly waiting. His current attire made him look like a delivery boy from a restaurant.

The embroidery workshop, which was based on the Wangshi Garden, was actually not very suitable for the embroidery princess Tan Wei Shi, who liked to entertain friends. Once there were too many friends gathered, the embroidery workshop wouldn't even have a place to park carriages and tie up horses. To alleviate this embarrassment, a space specifically for parking carriages and tying up horses was opened up outside the embroidery workshop. Since most of the residences near the embroidery workshop were those of mid-level officials, and the traffic of the embroidery workshop was quite large, a small market had even formed on the street next to the parking lot. Usually, the servants who drove carriages and led horses for the people who came to the embroidery workshop would pick a tea stall or wonton stand in this small market to sit down and chat to pass the time. Those restaurant delivery boys, after delivering takeout to the nearby officials' residences, often had to wait to retrieve the tableware and food boxes, and would habitually come here to wait. Over time, this small market had also become a little prosperous.

In the eyes of the young man from Xiling, without a doubt, such a place was the best place to gather information. The time that Xiling had sent spies and secret agents to Dongping wasn't short, but whether it was Princess Zhaohua Tan Wei Xin or Ye Tao, they were both figures who had just risen in recent years. Their penetration into these two people's inner circles was far from reaching a point where they could send out important enough information at any time. In this situation, creating coincidences that were conducive to gathering information was particularly important. Although the voices of several servants in the Ye residence and the princess's residence had already been lowered as much as possible, it wasn't a problem for the young man with deep gong li (internal energy).

Tan Wei Xin's secluded lifestyle could be understood in a certain way as her outings being very rare. And the importance that various parties placed on Tan Wei Xin meant that every time Tan Wei Xin went out, arrangements would be made several days in advance. The one who decided whether to go out was certainly Tan Wei Xin, but the one who decided on the specific arrangements was still her servants. Time, route, arrangements for the day, as long as the young man heard some of these details, plus the information gathered from other sources, that would be enough. And now, the young man had learned with satisfaction that Tan Wei Xin would definitely appear at the clock tower's test time reporting ceremony.

The young man stood up with satisfaction from the simple chair next to the wonton stand, threw down a few copper coins, and left holding the food box. He had already learned the time arrangement for the test time reporting day from Lao Feng, and the two added together were enough for him to make a judgment. Now he needed to fight for every minute and second to set up a killing trap.

Originally, he didn't understand why, instead of killing the many important officials of Dongping, they insisted on making the frail and sickly Princess Zhaohua the number one target, and that Ye Tao could actually be ranked second, but just before he set off from Xiling, his master had shown him several documents.

These documents included Ye Tao's lecture notes on *Qun Xue* (Social Studies) for the Blood Kirin Army, Tan Wei Xin's teaching outlines for *Economics* and *Mathematics* for several important young figures of Dongping, including Tan Wei Ming, Tan Wei Ran, and Tan Wei Shi, the membership manual and business norms of Deloitte Accounting Firm, and the most shocking of them all was the *Ten-Year Monetary Reform Outline* memorial that Tan Wei Xin had just presented to her father. Especially the *Ten-Year Monetary Reform Outline* memorial, some important ministers and officials of Xiling had studied it day and night for several days, and when they suddenly understood how much of an impact Dongping's successful monetary reform would have on Dongping's strength if they followed this step-by-step approach. Dongping had resolutely reformed its maritime taxes and adjusted the additional taxes on different goods, which had greatly benefited Dongping within a few years due to the huge improvement in the quality and variety of import and export goods, but that was at most taking it to the next level on the original relatively high foundation. Once the monetary reform was successful, Dongping would have the most powerful financial system of this era, with unparalleled financial security, and financial weapons with extremely strong offensive and corrosive power against other countries... The cultural differences between Dongping, Xiling, Chunnan, and Beiliao were not very large. Once Dongping grasped such an economic weapon, it would create a *fait accompli* of economic integration before the war, which would almost be equivalent to paving the way for Dongping's unification.

Even if Xiling obtained the full text of the memorial and knew the huge power of this memorial, they would not be able to follow it blindly. Because Xiling did not have talents like Tan Wei Xin who had an extremely thorough understanding of economics and finance, and did not have officials who could supervise the implementation of the regulations with charisma, affinity, and skill. Then, the only way to obstruct Dongping was to make sure that Dongping also did not have anyone who could implement such a strategy. Naturally, this target was placed on Princess Zhaohua Tan Wei Xin.

The clock tower's test time reporting ceremony gave this young man an excellent opportunity to kill both the first target and the second target in one fell swoop. And for this goal, he made a great determination, so great that he felt it was worth sacrificing all of Xiling's arrangements in Danyang to date.

In just a few days, he ran around, mobilizing a large number of manpower and materials with the unquestionable authority that Xiling had given him, and made a series of arrangements. The most terrifying thing was that he actually got the long-hidden spies to dig out a batch of fire oil bombs that had been secretly hidden for who knows how long, and quietly transported them to the clock tower construction site and handed them over to Lao Feng...

Even if this batch of fire oil bombs was placed on the walls of Danyang, it would be enough for the two hundred and sixty trebuchets deployed on all four sides of the city wall to launch a volley once. If it were in actual combat, it would be enough to kill thousands of enemy troops. The spy who had been lurking in Dongping's logistics department for seven years applied to his superiors to resign on the grounds of poor health on the same day he handed the fire oil bombs to the young man, and then abandoned his wife and children and fled back to Xiling at full speed. And Lao Feng, after learning of the young man's plan and receiving such a large batch of fire oil bombs, actually froze for half the night before slowly recovering from the shock and going to arrange this terrifying killing trap.

It must be said that as a landmark building site, although the clock tower had a fairly high level of construction quality and construction management, it did not do well in terms of safety management. Lao Feng actually didn't spend too much effort to transport four fire oil bombs, totaling eighty pounds of fire oil, to the top-floor observation hall, hiding them among the large and small packages of tools, ropes, lime powder, and wall coverings, and no one noticed. When the test time reporting day came, Xiao Yu would bring the fire to try to ignite the fire oil bombs by any means possible. Although Xiao Yu would inevitably not be able to return alive, the many important figures and their attendants who would be gathered in the observation hall and the higher observation platform would also be buried with them, which would be such an honor. Everyone was desperately grabbing the schedule and rushing the construction period, and everyone had become a little lax about safety issues. Perhaps this era had never seen such a thing as terrorism?