SBCEJM -Chapter 245 My Mother Was the Ultimate Winner! One Plate of Sashimi Decided Everything!

The system continued dropping bombshells without mercy.

“He knew those noble ladies were mostly being pushed by their fathers and brothers. Simply driving the women away would only treat the symptoms, not the root cause.”

“So he prepared a ‘special gift’ for every minister who had been stirring things up behind the scenes!”

The temperature in the Golden Hall seemed to plummet instantly.

The old ministers who had been named clenched their teeth so hard they almost cracked.

Feng Zexuan perked up immediately.

“What kind of gift? Hurry up and tell me!”

“Minister Lin still refused to give up and secretly had someone bring up the marriage proposal matter again in front of Feng Huai’an.”

Prime Minister Lin’s eyelid twitched.

A terrible premonition rose in his heart.

“A few days later, the poetry collection Minister Lin had written for his first love somehow ‘accidentally’ appeared at a banquet among colleagues. It was publicly read aloud and analyzed line by line…”

“After that, he never mentioned arranging a marriage for Feng Huai’an again.”

Prime Minister Lin clutched his chest as his blood pressure surged.

That humiliating incident was the last memory from his youth he ever wanted dug up again!

He still remembered the embarrassment vividly!

So it had all been a trap dug by that old dog Feng!

Beside him, the Minister of Justice struggled to hold back his laughter and whispered,

“Brother Lin, I read that poetry collection back then too… ahem, ‘I would become a stone bridge and endure five hundred years of wind and rain’—truly poetic indeed…”

“Shut up!”

Prime Minister Lin roared through gritted teeth, his face turning green.

The entire court trembled with suppressed laughter.

“And there was also that former Vice Minister of War. His favorite Ferghana horse, bought from the Western Regions at an enormous price, got half its mane shaved off overnight and became an ‘yin-yang horse.’”

“The next day, he rode that half-bald horse to court in broad daylight and was laughed at by the capital’s citizens for an entire year!”

Feng! Huai! An!

The Minister of War silently ground out those three words in his heart.

Back then, his father had smashed porcelain at home for half a month over that incident!

Every time he went outside, people pointed fingers at him and mocked his poor horse-raising skills.

The horse’s fur eventually grew back.

But his father’s dignity never did.

“So really, never provoke an honest person. Because you have no idea how much evil plotting is bottled up inside them.”

These dusty old scandals from twenty years ago…

One after another…

Were all dragged into the light today.

If this hadn’t been the Golden Hall, several old ministers probably would’ve already rushed forward to fight Feng Huai’an on the spot.

Xiao Juechen leaned lazily against the dragon throne, amusement flickering in his eyes.

Today’s morning court session had truly been worth attending.

Meanwhile, Feng Huai’an—the eye of the storm—still stood perfectly upright.

Only the faint redness at the tips of his ears betrayed him.

Feng Zekai stared at his father’s back in utter shock.

So his father had such a scheming, black-bellied side too!

No wonder his own tricks were nowhere near enough in comparison.

Inside her mind, Feng Zexuan gave her father countless thumbs-ups.

“My dad is basically the final boss of Peach Blossom Terminators!”

“As expected of my biological father. His level is insane!”

But then a new curiosity surfaced.

“My dad is so hard to crack—like an impregnable fortress. So how did my mom manage to win him over back then?”

That same question simultaneously arose in the hearts of all the officials present.

Exactly.

So many noble ladies of prestigious families, talented and beautiful alike, had all failed miserably.

How had Madam Li, a woman of ordinary background, managed to melt that ancient iceberg?

Several old ministers exchanged looks and saw the same confusion in each other’s eyes.

At the mention of his wife, Feng Huai’an’s expression softened ever so slightly.

“Heh, this is what they call one thing suppressing another!”

The system sounded oddly smug.

“Your mother didn’t win your father over with family background or talent.”

“It was because… she was also a hardcore face-con!”

A face-con?

The reason was crude and straightforward, yet impossible to refute.

“Back then, your father may have been poor, but that face of his was genuinely devastating.”

“The first time he went to the market to buy books, your mother—who was still helping at her family’s vinegar stall—saw him.”

“She was so stunned she dropped the vinegar ladle straight into the vat. Right then and there, she swore to herself: I absolutely must get my hands on such a handsome man!”

Feng Zexuan burst into laughter internally.

“Hahahaha! So my obsession with good-looking people really is inherited from my mother!”

Several younger officials couldn’t help whispering among themselves.

“So… that’s it? Just because he was handsome?”

“Would someone as shrewd as Lord Feng really be moved by such a reason?”

The redness on Feng Huai’an’s ears deepened further.

“Your mother knew her family was poor and that she wasn’t worthy of the top scholar.”

“So unlike those noble ladies, she didn’t send poems or embroidered handkerchiefs.”

“Instead, she took a completely different route—”

“Attack the heart first, attack the stomach second!”

Feng Zexuan: “???”

“She secretly found out that your father’s ancestral home was in Shu and that he loved sashimi-style fish dishes.”

“So the very next day, beside her family’s tiny vinegar stall, she set up an even smaller stall.”

“A wooden sign hung above it. It sold only one dish—secret pickled vegetable and houttuynia grass carp sashimi!”

The moment the dish name was spoken, several officials from Shu instinctively swallowed.

The tangy pickled vegetables, the distinctive fragrance of houttuynia, paired with tender fresh fish slices…

Just hearing the name alone was enough to whet one’s appetite.

“Your father was immediately attracted. He already loved that flavor, but authentic versions were hard to find in the capital.”

“He took one bite and was utterly stunned on the spot!”

“The fish slices were cut paper-thin and practically melted in the mouth. The pickled vegetables had been fermented in an aged crock, sour yet fresh.”

“And the best part was the sauce. It used her family’s homemade fruit vinegar and secret spices, elevating the fish’s freshness to perfection while completely suppressing the fishy smell of the houttuynia, leaving behind only a lingering exotic fragrance!”

“From then on, your father became a regular customer at that little stall. He went every single day, rain or shine.”

Hearing this, many ministers revealed enlightened expressions.

“A hero cannot resist good food…”

someone sighed softly.

“So Lord Feng was conquered by her cooking skills.”

“You think that’s all?”

The system snorted.

“Would a thousand-year-old fox like your father really be subdued by one plate of fish?”

“While eating the fish, his brain was still working overtime.”

“Actually, he fell in love with your mother at first sight too.”

The sudden reversal stunned everyone.

Prime Minister Lin raised a brow, while even the Minister of War’s expression softened slightly.

Love at first sight?

Someone as calculating and meticulous as Feng Huai’an was capable of that?

“But he believed feelings based solely on appearance were unreliable. After all, looks and skills are superficial.”

“So he spent an entire year ‘evaluating’ her.”

“Every day, under the excuse of buying vinegar and eating fish, he was actually observing your mother’s character.”

The system’s tone gentled.

“Once, a little beggar stole fish from her stall. The neighboring vendors wanted to seize the child and send him to the authorities, but Li Yunluo stopped them.”

“She even chased after the child and stuffed a packet of dried fish into his hands. ‘If you want food next time, just ask. Don’t steal. If you steal, your hands could get broken. That hurts a lot.’”

“The child stared blankly at her while tears streamed down his face.”

The Golden Hall gradually fell silent.

“Another time, during a heavy rainstorm, she gave her umbrella to a woman carrying a child and packed up her stall while getting drenched herself.”

“Feng Huai’an watched from afar. That girl, soaked from head to toe yet smiling so brightly—”

“In his eyes, she shone far brighter than all the finely dressed noble ladies in the palace.”

Someone in court let out a soft sigh.

Prime Minister Lin stroked his beard, recalling his own marriage from years ago, a trace of melancholy flickering in his eyes.

Chu Tiankuo thought of his late wife and gained a newfound respect for Feng Huai’an.

Feng Zexuan felt incomparably proud.

“My dad… really does have good taste.”

Feng Zekai lowered his eyes slightly as well.

No wonder Father respected Mother so deeply.

From the very beginning, she had been the life partner he himself had chosen.

Xiao Juechen looked toward Feng Huai’an and thought of the women in his own harem—women who had entered the palace for利益, for family, for politics.

At that moment, he suddenly understood why Feng Huai’an had rejected so many powerful marriage alliances.

Some things truly were more precious than power.

Just as Feng Zexuan was about to sigh emotionally again—

the system abruptly changed topics.

“Your parents were mutually in love, but there are plenty of arranged and political marriages in court.”

“Guess whose family life is the most miserable?”

Feng Zexuan froze before her gossip-loving soul instantly reignited.

“Who?! Hurry and tell me!”

“Which family has it that bad?”

The officials, who had just been immersed in emotion moments earlier, instantly perked up their ears.

A new piece of gossip was coming!