Raising a wife? The mistress of the Hou family divorced and remarried her younger uncle

Chapter 241 Provocation
Xilin Yongxuan has lived leisurely in Huainan City for quite some time.

Chen Feng led his men to closely monitor his every move day and night. Xilin Yongxuan had fun, eating, drinking and having fun every day, as if he had forgotten his homeland. The entire delegation was immersed in this carefree life. They left their footprints in the brothels, art galleries and casinos in the city. Xilin Yongxuan also submitted a visiting card to the Huainan Palace every day, looking forward to meeting the little princess Su Qingwan.

Su Qingwan never showed up, but Xilin Yongxuan was not disappointed at all, and waited patiently. Prince Xilin could not stay in the city for long, and Su Qingwan hoped that Xilin Yongxuan could return home as soon as possible, so she asked Chenfeng to send a message to invite him to meet her at the palace.

When Xilin Yongxuan got the news, he specially prepared generous gifts and visited him.

Su Qingwan did not show too much courtesy, but waited quietly in the flower hall of the mansion, and only sent General Xiaoning to greet him. General Xiaoning had a happy event recently, and he looked radiant, but when he saw Xilin Yongxuan, the smile on his face disappeared instantly, and his expression became cold. After all, Dawan and Xilin had been fighting for many years, and the two sides had long been mortal enemies.

Xilin Yongxuan had a very good memory and recognized General Xiaoning at a glance. A few years ago, he had seen General Xiaoning from a distance in Xilin City, when General Xiaoning was protecting the Grand Princess of the Southwest.

He secretly wondered in his heart, how could General Xiao Ning appear in Huainan? However, Xilin Yongxuan was a calm person. Although he was full of doubts, he did not ask, just thinking that it was the first time he met General Xiao Ning.

When General Xiao Ning was with Su Qingwan in Xilin before, he had never met Xilin Yongxuan directly, and never thought that Xilin Yongxuan would recognize him.

Su Qingwan, wearing a summer dress embroidered with peony, stood gracefully in the flower hall. The gorgeous dress made her look dignified and elegant. In the sunlight, her beauty, which was so stunning that it could captivate fish and geese, became even more beautiful and charming.

Xilin Yongxuan was stunned when he first saw her. He really didn't expect that the Princess of Huainan would be so stunningly beautiful. Su Qingwan seemed to have suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The outside world knew very little about her. It was only heard that after she returned to Huainan, she vigorously promoted agriculture and sericulture, attached importance to the development of commerce, and put down the rebellion of mountain bandits in one fell swoop.

In just a few months, Huainan City was completely transformed, and many people who had moved away from Huainan due to war or banditry moved back to the city. The bandits in the Eighteen Mountains of Huainan had been causing chaos for a long time, and they had accumulated deep hatred with the people. The two sides had long been irreconcilable.

Yun Zhizhou negotiated with the bandits many times, trying to resolve the conflict, but he never reached any results. The bandits continued to act recklessly, and the caravans passing through the Eighteen Mountains of Huainan complained bitterly. Gradually, the number of caravans decreased.

At first, the bandits only robbed caravans and had a good relationship with the people. However, as the number of caravans decreased and Huainan was located in a lawless area, they became a hot potato.

After the death of King Huainan, people were in panic, and bandits came in droves. In order to survive, they had to enter the city to rob. It was not easy to quell the hatred between the two sides. After all, the ice was not formed in a day.

No one expected that the young princess Su Qingwan would resolve the years-long feud between the bandits and the common people in just a few months. She moved all the bandits to the vicinity of Huainan City and let them live and work in peace.

Although there were constant conflicts of varying sizes during the process, Su Qingwan was very skillful in mediating, and both the bandit leader Zhang San and Yun Zhizhou obeyed her orders. She only needed to stabilize Zhang San to control the bandits.

On weekdays, Su Qingwan often organizes various activities to build relationships, such as opera performances, peony festivals, horseback archery, hunting, etc. The palace will also reward those who perform well.

Su Qingwan was fair and just, and the conflicts between the people and the bandits were gradually reduced, and the contradictions were slowly resolved without anyone noticing. While Xilin Yongxuan was eating, drinking and having fun in the city, he did not forget to gather intelligence. He found that the people in the Huainan fiefdom were very convinced and respected the princess, and Su Qingwan was deeply loved by the people there.

Xilin Yongxuan had only seen one young girl who could do this, and that was the Grand Princess of the Southwest. The two of them had very similar styles of doing things, and when dealing with these complicated affairs in the city, Su Qingwan seemed to have experienced them thousands of times and was able to handle them with ease.

Although Xilin Yongxuan was not trained as a crown prince, he learned how to manage government affairs since he was a child.

Huainan has a vast territory and rich land. Although it is a border area, it has a dense population. Even though it is no longer glorious, Huainan is still a big city. A young girl who just turned 20 years old can firmly control the livelihood, economy and military power of a city in just a few months. She has her confidants in the government and the military. She has become the real ruler of Huainan, which is amazing.

Xilin Yongxuan had a preliminary impression of Su Qingwan in his heart, and he dared not underestimate her any more. When he saw Su Qingwan, he politely bowed to her. Su Qingwan also politely returned the greeting.

Su Qingwan set up a buffet with Huainan style for Xilin Yongxuan and invited Xilin Yongxuan and several officials from the delegation. General Xiaoning and Yun Zhizhou were also present.

This arrangement was intended to show Xilin Yongxuan that Huainan City would always be the Su family's territory and the fiefdom was still firmly controlled by the Su family. Even if the imperial edict had not yet been issued, it was only a matter of time before the fiefdom was returned.

"This princess has a lot of daily affairs to attend to. I hope you will forgive me if our hospitality is not good enough." Su Qingwan spoke first, with a hint of apology in her tone.

Xilin Yongxuan smiled and said respectfully, "My lord, you are too polite. It is my great honor that you are willing to meet me today."

Both of them were very good at dealing with people, and after some pleasantries, they gradually got down to business. Xilin Yongxuan stated his purpose, hoping to open up the trade route between Xilin and Huainan and seek cooperation with Huainan.

Su Qingwan had originally intended to open up trade, especially after the ceasefire between the two sides. As a defeated country, Xilin had to pay tribute to Dayuan every year, and the right to speak on border trade naturally fell into the hands of Huainan and Southwest.

"Xilin's border is very wide and borders the southwest, and the trade between the southwest and Xilin is already very mature. I originally planned that even if Huainan and Xilin established trading ports, the transportation of goods would also take the southwest trade route. According to what you said, you want to open a water port between Huainan and Xilin?" Su Qingwan asked sharply and to the point.

Because of the special geographical location, there has been no port between Huainan and Xilin for many years. If it can be opened, it will save a lot of time for goods from Jiangnan to Xilin, and Huainan can also collect a considerable amount of tolls, which will be of great benefit to the economic development of Huainan.

"Exactly. I hope to open a port to connect the trade between Huainan and Jiangnan. In the past, the caravans from Jiangnan had to transport goods through Huainan first, then go to the southwest, and then go out of Lianyang Pass in the southwest to reach Xilin along the trade route. The journey is long, time-consuming, and the freight is expensive. If a port is opened in Huainan, the goods from Jiangnan and Huainan can be transported through the port, which can save half a month of travel. The freight will be reduced and the profit will naturally increase. This is a great thing for the caravan, and it will also benefit the economic development of Huainan." Xilin Yongxuan explained with a smile, thinking to himself that although this princess is very capable in domestic affairs and military politics, she may not be able to see the overall situation clearly.

He tried to tempt Su Qingwan with benefits, hoping that he could convince her.

Su Qingwan's lips curled up slightly, revealing a light smile, and slowly said: "What you said is indeed reasonable. The opening of the port is indeed a great thing for Huainan, and the people will certainly welcome it. But have you ever thought that the goods from Jiangnan and Huainan previously went through the southwest trade route, which was opened up by the southwest after hardships. The southwest relied on the income from this trade route to support the army and maintain people's livelihood. Now we Huainan cut it off, where is the morality? As the saying goes, cutting off someone's financial resources is like killing their parents. If Huainan cuts off the trade route regardless of morality, won't Huainan and the southwest become enemies?"