The time of intimacy and joy always passes quickly. Three days passed in the blink of an eye and Wei Jing ordered the camp to be moved.

It's time to leave.

He would not stay at the Qishan Pass for too long. After the army had rested, he immediately returned to Gucheng.

Wei Jing was already the actual ruler of Yizhou, and the couple's permanent residence would be changed to the provincial capital Gucheng.

The biggest problem right now is the southwestern counties, which are the core areas of He Yun and He Xin. However, the governors of these counties had basically died in the previous war, and without their leaders and most of their soldiers, it would not be difficult to recapture them. Wei Jing had already sent Chen Qi to lead the troops.

He took his wife and led the army northward at a leisurely pace.

He was in no hurry to travel, nor did he want Shao Qing to be jolted on the horse's back, so he ordered people to prepare the carriage early and arranged it carefully, and he even checked it out himself.

Shao Qing naturally wouldn't refuse.

We got on the bus and set off, first heading west along the north bank of the Nanshui River, then turning north when we arrived in Xinzheng.

Shao Qing suddenly thought of Bai Gu and asked hurriedly, "Husband, how is Dongshan?"

She knew Dongshan had been arrested, and that the man was Prince An's man. She also heard that he had been tortured. "Did he confess anything?"

She was also aware of Wei Jing's suspicion of Prince An.

When talking about Bai Gu again, Wei Jing looked calm. He would not let his wife know about some bloody things. He just said, "This guy is stubborn and has no tricks."

Shao Qing was a little disappointed. He consoled her, "Didn't Tao Hong send a message? He said there are some clues. Let's wait a while. We may be able to find out the truth."

Tao Hong was the intelligence chief of Luojing, the person Wei Jing contacted when he first entered Shanglinyuan. There is no doubt about his ability, but he has few subordinates now and his master's identity is sensitive, so he has to be cautious and cannot display his abilities.

What I was investigating was the matter of Prince Ji's private seal. After investigating for a long time, I finally got some clues.

Shao Qing comforted him, "In the future, we will have a war with Prince An sooner or later. If he has done anything wrong, he will not be able to escape."

In fact, what Wei Jing wanted to find out was the role Prince An played in the death of his mother and brother. Whether it is clarified or not, the actual meaning will certainly be different. But there is nothing I can do now, I can only comfort her like this.

"Um."

She tried to comfort herself, and Wei Jing felt relieved and kissed her: "Aqing is right."

The carriage shook again, so he simply held her in his arms and let her sit on his lap. He was so attached to his wife that after a few days on his journey, he simply abandoned his horse and rode in a carriage.

Shao Qing smiled at him.

When King Bai Gu'an was mentioned again, and the death of his mother and brother was involved, Wei Jing calmed down a lot, and the hostility between his brows was less.

Raising her hand and stroking him, she thought to herself, he will be fine.

When I first met Wei Jing, his sinister and cruel look left a deep impression on me. He would rather betray the world than let the world betray him. He even decided to kill the Kou family to silence them without hesitation.

But today, although he was in a dilemma, he was able to take the initiative to decide to rescue the Nanshui Dam.

Although there are many other factors that influence his transformation, they cannot conceal it.

In the future, he will definitely get better and better.

Shao Qing was happy.

"What's wrong?" He looked at her softly and smoothed her hair.

"I was thinking, my husband is so nice."

She didn't say anything, just smiled and hugged his neck coquettishly, and said, "Husband, let's go to the South Water and North Dike to take a look."

The car window curtains were shaking, and the river breeze brought a hint of coolness. The camping site for tonight was very close to the dug section of the embankment and would be there soon.

His wife smiled and whispered in his ear affectionately, saying how nice he was. Wei Jing was so delighted that he agreed immediately.

When they arrived at the camping site, the army stopped their busy work, but the royal guards escorted the carriage and continued to move forward, passing by the levee.

After more than half an hour, the river embankment came into sight.

Shao Qing ordered them to stop far away and let Wei Jing change into casual clothes. Without further ado, the couple walked towards the embankment hand in hand.

This section of the embankment that had been dug up is now crowded with people and busy. In addition to the soldiers led by Liang Dan, there were also river officials, craftsmen and others who arrived one after another, as well as many ordinary people in different costumes.

All the villagers nearby came, some carrying soil, some carrying stones. Shao Qing asked around and found out that they were not laborers, so they all came to help voluntarily and did not ask for any wages.

There were men and women, old and young, who cooperated well with the soldiers and government officials. They were full of energy and worked together in harmony, and the atmosphere was full of enthusiasm.

This scene was so soothing and peaceful that Shao Qing couldn't help but smile: "The common people don't ask for much, they just want to live and work in peace and contentment."

It was a sudden disaster, but luckily it was avoided. The best result would be the same as before, and there were a lot more laborers, but I was already smiling.

"We just want to have a clear conscience."

Everyone has different ideas and choices, as long as you don’t regret it in the future.

Shao Qing sighed, looked into the distance, and suddenly pointed: "Husband, look."

A little black boy of five or six years old, bare-chested, led a group of children younger than him, each holding a small piece of earth and stone, and skipped towards the river bank.

The youngest one, who was about two years old, stumbled along, but even after falling down he did not drop the clod of earth in his hand. He got up and followed.

Wei Jing remained silent, seemingly in a trance, until he heard his wife calling him, and he took a look.

"Does A-Qing like children?"

Thinking of something, he smiled, gently touched her belly, and said softly: "Now that Yizhou has been taken, the rear is safe. If we have a child, it will be a good time to give birth to it."

A child of him and A-Qing, the continuation of their bloodline. Just thinking about it made him excited.

Then take another glance at the group of dirty kids jumping around in the distance. Well, they seem to be much more pleasing to the eye.

However, he would definitely protect his and A-Qing's flesh and blood well, holding it in his hands and not letting it get hurt.

Wei Jing's anticipation was evident in his words.

Well, although I don’t know why the topic suddenly turned to this place, Shao Qing changed his mind and felt sorry for him because he was all alone and had no blood relatives in the world.

She is not opposed to having children at all, but is looking forward to it.

"Well, there is a natural birth, but we are not in a hurry."

They are both young, and her body is almost 18 years old. In fact, it would be more appropriate to wait and see. But let nature take its course. It's okay to have the baby if she's pregnant.

Wei Jing was thinking about another aspect. He really couldn't be impatient. Yizhou had not been completely cleared up yet, and Gucheng had not been taken over yet. He had to manage the territory steadily so that his wife could be pregnant and have children with peace of mind.

So he nodded solemnly: "Yes, you are right."

At this moment, Wei Jing was more eager than ever to go to Gucheng.

…

Gucheng is the seat of Yizhou and the central hub of the southwest. It is backed by high mountains in the west and faces plains in the east. It is well connected by land and water. The land is fertile and the products are abundant. It has been prosperous for thousands of years.

Shao Qing lifted the car curtain and saw the dark and ancient city walls in the distance like two giant dragons, lying on the ground and winding to both sides, standing tall and majestic.

Getting closer, the moat was rippling with water. The drawbridge had been lowered. Han Xi, who had arrived earlier, had cleared the city gate. Soldiers with spears stood in rows. She could even see many Gucheng officials in ochre and green official uniforms waiting outside the city gate.

Wei Jing had defeated He Xin's army and annihilated all of its leaders. The news had already spread back to Gucheng. Everyone knows what the current situation is like. Those who are not stupid and have the intention to submit will naturally wait at the city gate early to welcome him.

There are quite a lot of people, but is this all? Of course not. There were also many people who were He's close cronies or those who denounced Wei Jing's evil ambitions. Anyway, they were unwilling or disdainful to come for various similar reasons.

Wei Jing naturally didn't care. The victor makes the king, the loser the bandit. Those who were not He's confidants and were unwilling to submit to him could leave, but the unnecessary solar terms could be avoided.

Hundreds of thousands of troops were temporarily stationed in the east and west camps on the outskirts of the city. He led five thousand elite soldiers, escorted his wife and drove straight to the governor's mansion in the center of Gucheng.

At this point, there is no point in hiding anything. Wei Jing also never intended to keep his intentions secret and stayed directly at the governor's mansion. All the people in Yuanzhou Mu's Mansion were moved out, and five thousand elite soldiers were guarding and obeying orders. As for the manpower, Nanny Ping, Chunxi and others had already arrived from Gaoling.

As early as at the Qishan Pass, Wei Jing had ordered his confidants to lead troops to take over the various checkpoints in Yizhou. Now that he has entered the governor's mansion, he has been busy with various cleansing and takeovers, making sure to take complete control of Yizhou as soon as possible.

Everything is extremely complicated and makes people dizzy, but in the face of powerful military forces, it is basically not difficult.

It is worth mentioning that because He Xin dug the dike and Wei Jing saved it, the subsequent impacts of this incident gradually emerged.

When the common people learned about it, they naturally cursed He Xin, but they generally had a positive attitude towards Wei Jing taking over. Most of them were happy about it, but there were also some who missed He Yun's benevolent rule over the years, but they did not object either.

Among the officials and noble families, most of the learned and upright people highly praised this move. Even the great scholars who had been loyal to the He family for many years remained silent. At most, they resigned from their posts and refused to obey Wei Jing's orders.

Wei Jing disagreed. Since he was not loyal to him, there was no point in keeping him. He could just leave and make room for him.

In addition to Wei Jing's original men, many wise men who had lived in seclusion in the mountains began to come and join him. Although Wei Jing was young, he was dignified, calm and composed. He judged the talents and employed the virtuous. His reputation became even better for a while, and many talented people came to him.

Dai Guang of Anfeng, Yan Xian of Yueyi, Tian Yue of Donglin, Wang Yi of Liyang and many others were truly talented people in Yizhou. These were all descendants of centenary families in Yizhou, who had been famous for many years. It was basically impossible for them to be instigated by outsiders to become spies. Now was the time to employ people, so Wei Jing ordered people to investigate them carefully, and after finding no danger, he made use of them.

Yizhou was firmly under control and everything was moving in a good direction. But there are problems, too.

The first one is the position of governor.

Even though uprisings broke out frequently and armies broke out everywhere, and the imperial court gradually lost its control over the local areas, Yizhou was still nominally the territory of the Great Chu, and the governor of Yizhou was still a minister of the Great Chu. If you want to be legitimate, you have to go through the court's appointment procedures.

But "Yang Ze" is not a He brother, so how can he go through the procedures? Hanging.

But no matter how dangerous the situation is, we have to give it a try first, otherwise we will become traitors and be completely at a disadvantage in terms of justice.

Even though they both know it.

Wei Jing was very clear about the above logic. Therefore, after arriving in Gucheng, Ji Huan suggested to submit a memorial to Luojing. Wei Jing agreed and directly asked Ji Huan to draft it.

Ji Huan spoke in great spirits, praising the emperor and expressing his sincere loyalty. Finally, he tactfully stated that He Yun was dead, the He twins were fighting for the throne in a civil war, and He Hong also unfortunately died. Originally, they should have surrendered to He Xin at this point, but He Xin was not a good person. Not only did he want to wipe out the surrendered generals and soldiers, he also went against the trend and wanted to dig a dam to flood hundreds of thousands of civilians and lead the rebels into Cangwu Pass.

Prince An outside Cangwu Pass, but they may not know about it, they just think they are rebels anyway.

Then at this time, Yang Ze, the governor of Anyang County, had to step forward to save the river embankment and prevent the rebels from entering the pass. Originally, He Xin should have been arrested and awaiting the court's punishment, but unfortunately, he died in the battle.

There are a lot of parallel sentences, but they just avoid the main point and make it clear that both sons of the He family have died. Yang Ze had to accept the order and deal with the affairs of Yizhou first.

All the face-saving work has been done. The ideal situation, of course, is for the court to commend Yang Ze and make him the governor of Yizhou.

But everyone knows that the possibility is very small.

Wei Jing read the memorial expressionlessly and nodded, asking it to be sent to Luojing.

A month later, the court's reply arrived, and the result was as expected.

"The court appointed Zhou Yuan, the Grand Counselor, as governor of Yizhou and ordered him to carry out the order."

Wei Jing glanced at the vermilion imperial edict, threw it aside, and opened the secret report from Luojing that arrived just after.

In fact, the civil war in Yizhou had been going on for some time, and Luojing had been mentally prepared. However, when the emperor received the memorial from "Yang Ze", he was still furious.

How angry was Lei Ting?

Even Tao Hong, who was staying in the Zhongcha Mansion and was seriously short of staff in the palace, received the accurate news and immediately sent a message to Wei Jing.

Wei Jing sneered: "If Zhou Yuan is not afraid of death, then come on."

Wei Jing himself, the ruler and his ministers in Luojing, and Zhou Yuan, the counselor who was appointed as the governor of the new province, all knew what was going on in Yizhou.

But it was impossible to get the emperor to agree to teach "Yang Ze" legitimately. So, a cannon fodder, Zhou Yuan, was introduced.

If Zhou Yuan was not a fool, he would know that taking up the post would mean death. Even if he had not encountered bandits on the way, he would have certainly died of illness after entering Yizhou. Then Yizhou argued with the court again and sent more people to kill again.

Anyway, it's all done behind closed doors, and as long as they don't fall out openly, Wei Jing won't be at a disadvantage in terms of justice.

Anyway, the imperial court's approval was for him to hand over the power to the new governor, but the new governor had not shown up, so he had to "take over temporarily".

Now, let’s see if Zhou Yuan is a fool. He rushed in even though he knew he was going to die.

However, after reading what Luo Jing had found out about Zhou Yuan's life, Shao Qing said, "It's not certain that Zhou Yuan will come directly. He seems to be quite smooth, not an upright person."

I was just unlucky and was casually named by the emperor.

"Come if you want, or not, it doesn't matter." Anyway, the court is busy dealing with Zhenquan Army and Prince Ji, and has no time to spare.

Wei Jing put down Tao Hong's secret report and was not in a hurry to open the second one. He pulled his wife to sit on his lap and leaned over to kiss her.

Shao Qing was caught off guard by the soft touch and said angrily: "Are you going to read the secret report?"

It has been more than a month since she agreed to give it a try, and the passion has not only not subsided, but has become more and more intense. It would have been fine if the couple had been affectionate at night, but Wei Jing was also reluctant to leave his wife during the day and even wanted to set up the duty room next to his.

Shao Qing disagreed. You have to know that Wei Jing's study is not just a room, it is a general term for a very large courtyard. Various important official documents and files of the prefecture and governor's office are located in a central place and are heavily guarded.

It is easy to vacate a room for her, but it will be very inconvenient for her to handle daily official business.

Shao Qing continued to serve as the Shaofu, in charge of financial affairs. He had many clerks under him, and many official duties were more appropriately handled in person.

Wei Jing's proposal was rejected, so he had to settle for the next best thing and found a suitable courtyard near his study to serve as Shao Qing's duty room. He would always take time out of his busy schedule to visit her, and would solemnly request that his wife reciprocate.

Shao Qing couldn't bear it any longer, but because she felt sorry for him, she had to agree.

No, it is happening now.

But while you're just looking, can you please sit still properly?

Shao Qing was annoyed and pushed his big head, wanting to sit back next door. Wei Jing quickly retracted his arms and said hurriedly: "Can't we see this too?"

Similar conversations happened every day. The arm didn't hurt her, but it was like a pair of iron pliers that couldn't be pulled away. Shao Qing didn't want to waste her energy and said with a straight face, "You said so. Don't touch me anymore."

"Even the mouth won't work." She poked him on the head with a slender finger.

Wei Jing was embarrassed and said hurriedly: "I just miss you. You didn't come to see me this morning. I miss you."

He was too busy today to even have lunch with his wife, and she didn't come either.

Shao Qing was busy when she said this, and she glared at him unhappily. Wei Jing coughed twice and sat up straight, indicating that he was reading the secret report carefully.

The atmosphere in the study finally returned to normal, and the couple read the secret report head to head. After reading several letters from Luojing, they were all pretty much the same, so the two didn't pay much attention to them, until the last one, when Shao Qing noticed it was from Yuzhou.

She immediately frowned: "Could it be that someone is investigating Yang Ze again?"