Chapter 98
As soon as Lei Taishou arrived home, Wang Lang came to greet him and asked, "Father-in-law, how is it? Has Marshal Zhu agreed?"
Governor Lei shook his head.
Wang Lang's wife Lei Qian quietly came forward to refill their tea.
Upon learning that Marshal Zhu had rejected Governor Lei's invitation to join forces, Wang Lang couldn't help but curse Marshal Zhu for his shortsightedness, saying that he deserved to be bullied by Yao Chunnuan. At the same time, he felt powerless. He was only concerned about his own people and couldn't lead them.
In reality, Zhu Dashuai's refusal was within Wang Lang's expectations. He was a miser, a stickler for convention, lacking a long-term vision. He had seen the success of the Yichun military settlement, yet he hadn't considered emulating it. He showed no support for Zhu's work, and had never considered expanding his influence or increasing the strength of the Yichun camp. Wang Lang felt that if it weren't for the Crown Prince, Zhu Dashuai wouldn't have cooperated at all.
Suddenly, Prefect Lei's gaze fell on Wang Lang's face, which was intriguing.
"What's wrong?" Wang Lang felt that his father-in-law's look was a little strange.
"Nothing." Prefect Lei withdrew his gaze.
He had a close friend who was quite skilled in physiognomy, and through his observation and influence, he had also acquired a bit of the basics. Upon closer inspection, his son-in-law's appearance didn't seem like someone with bad luck; he clearly looked like someone destined for great wealth and power, a high position in the government. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been so willing to marry his daughter off. But Marshal Zhu's words did seem to make some sense.
He, who only knew the surface, didn't notice that there were several messy lines in Wang Lang's life palace. They were entangled together, making his life palace obscure and greatly destroying his good face of "full forehead and square chin".
Lei Qian listened quietly on the side. Last night was her wedding night and her husband did not sleep well with her. But there were reasons for it and she did not blame him at all. Besides, even her father did not sleep all night.
But when she learned that the culprit who had caused her father and husband so much worry was her husband's ex-wife, she became very dissatisfied with Yao Chunnuan. Then she heard that it would take her father and Marshal Zhu to join forces to deal with a woman, which seemed even more exaggerated.
She couldn't help but speak, "Dad, you're the governor of Yichun. It's not easy to embarrass a military settlement, but it's easy to embarrass a person. Yao has the support of the Yichun military settlement, but her family doesn't. If we just move our fingers, she and her family will be in trouble."
Lei Qian's words made Governor Lei fall into deep thought.
Wang Lang put himself in their shoes and still felt that this was inappropriate and that this issue could not be opened. He knew Yao Chunnuan well. If they attacked her family first, she would do something even more ruthless and excessive than them.
"Father-in-law, our main task right now is to deal with the Black Dragon Stronghold. We shouldn't start another war and distract our forces. We can make other plans after we take down the Black Dragon Stronghold."
Governor Lei also thought this was a good idea. By taking down Black Dragon Village, he could at least recover half of his losses.
His son-in-law had analyzed the situation with him. Given Yao Chunnuan's abilities, the military settlement wasn't stupid either. They wouldn't leave the loot they'd robbed from Black Dragon Village there. Half of the treasure from his plundered private vault had most likely been given to Pan Buyi of the Gaoshan tribe by her, and there was no way they could get it back. The thought of this made his heart ache. What a spendthrift woman! The point was, she wasn't ruining her own family, but someone else's. Wasn't that a sin?
Wang Lang comforted Lei Qian, "Don't worry about this matter, my father-in-law and I will take care of it."
"Yes." Lei Qian agreed on the surface, but secretly, she felt that Yao Chunnuan should still be punished slightly.
Later, after Lei Qian returned to her own courtyard, she thought about it and found a nanny to tell her about the matter.
*********
The Yichun military settlement was naturally keeping a close eye on Prefect Lei's movements. For example, they knew exactly what happened when he visited the Grand Marshal's residence, stayed there for less than two quarters of an hour, and then left. It was unknown what the two men discussed, but Prefect Lei's expression was not good when he left.
Meng Yi was extremely anxious and wanted to know what they had said. Looking at the calm Yao Chunnuan, he couldn't help but ask, "Aren't you curious?"
Yao Chunnuan didn't even raise her head. "What are you curious about? It's just one of those calculations. As long as I know that his calculations failed, that's enough."
At this time, Yu Chen opened a secret letter and said with a smile, "Got it. Governor Lei went to discuss the matter of the two of them joining forces to deal with us, but Marshal Zhu refused him."
"Ah, that's exactly what happened." Meng Yi asked Yao Chunnuan again, "You really got it right. Did you know that Marshal Zhu wouldn't agree to let Governor Lei join forces with him?"
Yao Chunnuan nodded, "Well, if you know Marshal Zhu, you will know that he will not agree to cooperate with Governor Lei." Regardless of Marshal Zhu's personality, the older people get, the less courageous they are. They tend to maintain the status quo rather than take a gamble.
She had people rob the secret vault of Lei Taishou, but not Marshal Zhu's. She simply spoke to both of them separately. To Lei Taishou, she said, "You are holding back our population and land. We can't do anything about you in this matter, but we can control your lifeline." To Marshal Zhu, she said, "Just be good and I won't touch you."
Obviously, Marshal Zhu understood.
"What will happen if we touch Marshal Zhu's treasure house?" Meng Yi asked. Marshal Zhu seemed quite cowardly. They had robbed a secret vault of his before, so how could he let it go?
Yao Chunnuan looked up and said to him, "He will mobilize his troops and fight us to the death." His tone was serious.
Meng Yi: ...is that so realistic? He was just thinking that more people would make the work easier, and they could eat meat and drink soup together. He didn't think too much about it. Fortunately, their military settlement had a shogunate, and the shogunate had many wise counselors. Otherwise, if he had messed around, even if he succeeded last night, he would have been disgraced today.
Yu Chen laughed at the side, "So, when you go out to fight in the future, you must use your brain. You can't just grab one person to fleece the sheep. The same goes for offending people. Only offend a small number at a time. Don't offend a large group. Don't offend everyone. Otherwise, you will be attacked by everyone. Also, the current situation of our military settlement is pretty good. It's not to the point where we need to take risks. Don't try to fish in troubled waters."
"I've learned my lesson."
*******
Because she worked an extra night shift last night, she stayed at home to rest after returning from the shogunate today and did not go to work.
When she woke up from a nap, she found her daughter lying beside her with her limbs spread out, snoring soundly, her little belly breathing in and out, which was very funny.
Little Yao Xi was just four months old, well-fed and plump, but not overweight. Ever since she could recognize people, she'd been chasing after them, especially Yao Chunnuan. Perhaps because of the mother-daughter bond, Yao Chunnuan spent less time with her, yet the little girl clung to her.
Now that it has only been four months, she is no longer satisfied with just lying down.
When Yao Chunnuan was with her, she would occasionally let her lie on the pillow with a soft cushion underneath, and she would then look up tremblingly.
The little one especially likes to be held upright. The completely different perspective makes her very happy. Every time this happens, she always kicks her legs excitedly, her eyes smiling into crescent shapes, revealing her pink gums.
Yao Chunnuan looked at her daughter sideways for a while, covered her belly with a thin blanket, and then got up to take a shower and wash her hair.
When she finished washing and came out with half-dry hair, the little guy had already woken up and was being taken by Luo Suyi to the big kang to play.
Yao Chunnuan was wiping her hair while watching the little girl's feet kicking in the air. Suddenly, Yao Chunnuan's eyes widened in surprise, "She turned over!"
It turned out that in just a blink of an eye, little Yao Xi learned to roll over. After successfully rolling over, he smiled at her, which was extremely cute.
Luo Suyi was also surprised, "Really? This is the first time the little lady has turned over."
Yao Chunnuan threw away the handkerchief in her hand, walked over and picked up the little girl, "My little darling can roll over now, that's great!" As she said that, she couldn't help but kiss her a few times.
The little girl thought her mother was playing with her and giggled with joy.
As evening approached, Yao Chunnuan's hair was almost dry, so she decided to take the little one out for a walk. Getting some sun in the morning and evening would provide a little calcium, and they could also pick up Qi Yingshan along the way.
Qi Yingshan had gone to pick her up from work many times, so as to return the favor, she went to pick him up this time as well.
She dressed the little one, carried her in her arms and walked outside.
The little guy was so excited to be able to go out for some fresh air that he felt like his eyes were not enough.
Yao Chunnuan carried little Yao Xi to the exchange building. When she arrived, she did not go in, but waited by the door of the exchange building. The afterglow of the setting sun shone on the mother and daughter, and it was as beautiful as a painting.
When Qi Yingshan came out, he saw this scene, "Why are you here?"
"I'm here to pick you up."
Passersby were slightly surprised to see Yao Chunnuan bringing her daughter to pick up Qi Yingshan. She then said hello and hurried off. It seemed like Chief Secretary Yao wasn't indifferent to the man; he was probably just busy most of the time. Now that he had some free time, wasn't he bringing his daughter to pick him up?
Yao Chunnuan nodded slightly to these people, her discomfort evident. With the woman being stronger than the man, some backbiting was inevitable. She could only do her best.
Yao Chunnuan's eyes fell on the man beside her. Seeing that his eyes kept falling on little Yao Xi, she shook her daughter in her arms and asked him, "Do you want to hug her? She's very funny."
Qi Yingshan asked nervously, "Me? Is it okay?" He rarely held such a young child.
"Try it." Yao Chunnuan said and stuffed his daughter into his arms.
He hurriedly caught it and held it tightly in his arms.
Yao Chunnuan saw that he was holding little Yao Xi like he was holding a bomb, and his whole body was very stiff. She almost couldn't help laughing.
From her mother's arms, she suddenly landed in the arms of a strange uncle. Little Yao Xi was confused at first, and then she started to pout.
Yao Chunnuan quickly came over, took her little hand and coaxed her, "Mommy is here, don't cry, don't cry. Mommy is tired, let uncle hold you."
Grandfather Yao came out of the exchange building and saw this scene. He couldn't help shaking his head, then said hello to them and walked away leisurely.
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