The Princess and Her Rough-Rider Khan
Chapter 155 The Princess Consort doesn’t like you and wants to leave you? (Second update)

Chapter 155: 155 The Princess Consort doesn’t like you and wants to leave you? (Second update)

After Yelu Yan came of age, Yaduo began to arrange his marriage.

Yelu Yan, tall and handsome, valiant in battle, with a backbone of steel, was the dream husband for many women.

When it was heard that Yelu Yan was to marry, many high-born ladies came knocking at his door.

Yaduo easily gathered beauties of all types:

The gentle and graceful ones, the lively and cheerful ones, the knowledgeable and reasonable ones, the valiant and heroic ones...

They were of unblemished background, beautiful as flowers, and simply looking at them would evoke affection.

But Yelu Yan rejected each one under the excuse of being preoccupied with the affairs of the world.

The grandfather and grandson would often part on bad terms over these matters.

Ten years flickered by in this manner, with Yelu Yan remaining obstinately unenlightened, and Yaduo, her heart grown cold, finally left him to his own devices.

However, when she left Shangjing for Mount Tian to live out her remaining years, she still left behind a harsh warning:

"Ayan, if you don’t find a precious granddaughter-in-law for me, don’t you ever come to see me again!"

Now, hasn’t the granddaughter-in-law arrived?

Yelu Yan had anticipated how happy Yaduo would be upon hearing the news.

She would undoubtedly hasten back to the capital, traveling day and night.

Jinwu was startled by Yelu Yan’s words and asked respectfully, "Khan, is the princess displeased with you and intending to leave you?"

Talk about hitting a sore spot.

Yelu Yan looked coldly at Jinwu.

Jinwu felt a chill down his spine and, terrified out of his wits, hurriedly bent his arm in salute and said, "I will take care of it immediately."

Nevertheless, on his way to carry out the task, he couldn’t help but sigh: The Khan rarely shows worldly concern, and now that he has finally taken a liking, the princess does not reciprocate his feelings.

It was truly a pity to see.

After bidding farewell to Yelu Yan, Li Xianyun saw that the table in the carriage was laden with many things:

Two plates of pastries, a plate of naan, a plate of roasted buns, two plates of fruit.

What was most striking were the five or six water bladders filled with water.

He was that afraid she’d be thirsty.

Li Xianyun looked at Zhuo Ma and Youlan.

Zhuo Ma said with a smile, "My lady, this was specially prepared by the Khan’s kitchen for you, for fear you would be hungry or thirsty on the road."

Youlan expressed her joy, saying, "The Khan is really good to my lady."

Just a moment ago, they had witnessed Yelu Yan brushing Li Xianyun’s hair with such tenderness.

Zhuo Ma and Youlan kept saying at the door, "It’s settled, it’s settled."

They were so happy they could almost jump for joy.

Yelu Yan and Li Xianyun were so intimate; if anyone still said they were not together, it would be against all conscience.

With boldness, Zhuo Ma asked, "My lady, will you be moving to the main hall to sleep tonight?"

Since the two of them were on good terms, it was natural to share a room.

Li Xianyun’s face turned red as she said, "Don’t talk nonsense, I and the Khan are not what you think."

Zhuo Ma and Youlan looked at Li Xianyun and said with a smile, "Yes."

The smiles at the corners of their mouths betrayed their inner thoughts; obviously, they hadn’t taken a single word she had said seriously.

Li Xianyun knew explanations were futile, so she said no more.

Li Xianyun and her entourage quickly arrived at the saline-alkali land to the west of Shitoutun.

Today, the line of people waiting to sell grapes was just as long.

Upon seeing Li Xianyun arrive, Habu hurriedly fetched the ledger for her to review.

Thanks to Zhuo Ma’s example, the accounts were recorded quite clearly and systematically.

Li Xianyun finished reviewing the ledger and went to inspect the Drying Room.

One of the Drying Rooms was already filled with grapes, and they were starting to fill the next one.

Li Xianyun walked around inside and noticed a problem, so he said to the muscled man who was laying out grapes:

"I just took a round and found quite a few unripe grapes mixed in. Is someone bringing in unripe grapes for you to lay out?"

To make raisins, you must use ripe grapes, otherwise, the resulting raisins will be very sour and unpleasant to eat.

Drying ripe grapes was something she had emphasized many times.

If they were still making such mistakes, there was only one possibility: someone was doing it on purpose.

The strong men all remained silent.

Li Xianyun said:

"Actually, I already know where the problem occurred. I won’t force you to tell me the truth today, but the primary condition I had when asking Habu to hire you was integrity and hard work. I don’t appreciate behavior that involves forming cliques, hiding the truth, or covering for each other. This time it’s fine, but if it happens again, I will dismiss you directly and never rehire you."

Hearing this, the strong men hurriedly said: "Yes."

They had struggled to find such an easy and profitable job and didn’t want to lose it because of this.

When Li Xianyun spoke, they were very nervous.

They thought the gentleman who looked so handsome and gentle would be easy to talk to, but when he became angry, his presence was fearsome without him even being angered, making them dare not defy him.

After Li Xianyun left, one of the strong men said to another dark-skinned muscled man:

"I said we shouldn’t do this. The young master is a good person. He is here to help us. We should work with all our heart and not take his money, accept his kindness, and then neglect our work."

The dark strong man said: "After I agreed, I regretted it so much."

Another strong man said: "You should learn from this mistake and not be too agreeable next time, to avoid bringing trouble upon yourself."

The dark strong man grunted in agreement, his guts almost turning green with regret.

Li Xianyun went to the place where grapes were purchased and had Zhuo Ma and Youlan take over the task of inspecting the quality of the grapes, pulling the two strong men who had been doing the checks aside and also calling Bater to bring Habu over.

Seeing that Li Xianyun didn’t look happy, Habu knew something was wrong and suppressed his emotions, looking angrily at the two strong men.

The two strong men glanced at Habu and didn’t dare meet his eyes.

Li Xianyun looked at the two strong men and asked, "Will you tell me yourselves, or should I speak for you?"

The two strong men looked at each other, undecided.

Li Xianyun said calmly, "If you confess yourselves, I can give you a chance to redeem yourselves. If I have to be the one to reveal it, then you can pack your things and leave."

Her words were not very pleasant, for such a matter of principle, if given leeway, could get out of hand.

Lax management and lazy workers lead to disastrous outcomes, like a dike breached by ant holes, ultimately resulting in complete failure.

One of them, upon hearing this, spoke hurriedly: "Young master, please don’t dismiss them, it’s my fault, all my fault."

Li Xianyun looked at him coldly.

The strong man continued:

"I have a distant relative who is very poor. Hearing that I was in charge of grape quality, he came to me crying and begging. My heart softened, and I allowed his unripe grapes to pass through."

Li Xianyun looked at the speaking strong man; his readiness to admit fault at least showed hope.

"What do you plan to do about this?" Li Xianyun asked calmly.

The strong man looked at Li Xianyun and said:

"I’ll make up for the money from the unripe grape purchase and then leave this place. I hope that you can spare those who were involved in this matter. They only helped me out of pity."

Li Xianyun asked calmly, "Who else was involved in this matter?"

The strong man, full of regret, hesitated for a moment and then told the truth.

Li Xianyun looked at Bater and said, "Call the people he just mentioned here."

"Yes."

Bater quickly called over the five or six strong men mentioned earlier, including the dark strong man who had been laying out the grapes.

They all stood in a row, looking uneasy and anxiously at Li Xianyun, awaiting the news of their dismissal.