"Get out of here! This is so inefficient. I'll write you a calligraphy model tomorrow so you can copy it!" Zhao Xiheng turned around and cursed at him through the window.
Wei Li quickly opened the window, clung to the window frame, and leaned half his body out like a big dog sticking out its tongue at the sight of a bone. "No, I promise I'll study hard and practice calligraphy. If you don't teach me step by step like that, I definitely won't be able to do it well. I don't like copying calligraphy models. I like it when you guide me in writing."
Zhao Xiheng picked up a small stone from the ground and threw it through the window, but still carefully avoided his face. "Write it or not, do you think I'm begging you to write it? If you make a mistake, it'll be your face that gets embarrassed, not mine, Zhao Xiheng's."
She took two steps before she realized that Wei Li wasn't unaware of her meaning; he was deliberately taking advantage of her.
When I was holding his hand while he was writing, we were very close, and he blushed so much, he seemed lost in thought. It was obvious he wasn't thinking about anything good.
Thinking about it this way, Zhao Xiheng's face also turned red as she carefully recalled that scene.
Oh no, if someone sees this, I don't know how embarrassing it will be.
She pressed the backs of her hands against her cheeks to cool them down, and soon her hands became burning hot.
What is he thinking about all day? He has such a smart brain, but he doesn't use it for good. He just thinks about lewd things all day long!
She took a nap with a flushed face. In her half-asleep state, she was pulled into someone's arms. Because the scent was familiar, she only opened her eyes slightly before falling back asleep.
He woke up in Wei Li's arms, his eyelashes fluttering, fast asleep.
Zhao Xiheng looked at him for a while, then, recalling the embarrassing scene from noon, she started to torment him.
She raised her hand and covered his mouth and nose, and Wei Li woke up instantly.
"What are you doing running in here? You've already finished writing?" Zhao Xiheng squirmed in his arms, clearly not wanting him to continue sleeping.
Wei Li wasn't angry at her antics. He kissed her palm and picked up several sheets of Xuan paper from the side for her. "Look, I've finished writing them all."
Zhao Xiheng glanced at it and said, "I don't think it's going to work. You should write another hundred."
Actually, it was already quite neat, but she just didn't want Wei Li to have an easy time. Besides, calligraphy is something that comes with practice; more practice always makes it look better than less.
Zhao Xiheng felt she had done a good job.
Wei Li could tell she was deliberately making things difficult for him, and angrily flicked her forehead. "What's wrong with you? Are you deliberately trying to make my life miserable?" He had almost exhausted his patience to write it a hundred times.
Zhao Xiheng rolled around, clutching her forehead and wailing, "Wei Li hit me! He can't write well, and not only does he not allow people to say anything, he hits people too. He's completely unreasonable!"
Wei Li quickly covered her mouth, "Who hit you? You're the one being unreasonable." He flicked her lightly, using very little force.
When Zhao Xiheng got angry with Wei Li, she didn't care about reason and pulled his hand off her mouth, saying, "I don't care, you hit me."
"Then fight back! Fight back!" Wei Li stuck his head out. "Fine, you can fight back now."
He muttered to himself, "Now he's acting like some kind of patriarch, you can't say anything to him."
Since he had asked for it himself, Zhao Xiheng didn't hold back and flicked him hard on the head, making a crisp sound. "Your little darling wants to eat now."
Wei Li now controls nearly half of Youzhou, making him the undisputed overlord of the North. Zhao Mingchen never expected that instead of using Liu Huan and Wang Zhiyao to eliminate Wei Li, he would instead cause Wei Li to annex six cities in Youzhou and stir up trouble in Qingzhou.
Everyone knows that Wang Fengjiang of Qingzhou is a beast who would risk his father's life for fame, fortune, and power.
Wang Fengjiang's brothers used this as a pretext to try to force him to abdicate.
The people of Qingzhou were also chilled to the bone. How could someone who didn't even value his own father's life possibly care about theirs?
Although Qingzhou has not lost an inch of land, it is already in internal strife.
Wei Li was not good at appeasing people's hearts. Although he wanted to personally appease the six cities of Youzhou and have a sense of participation, he could not think of a way to demonstrate his virtue and reliability.
He pondered this question in his spare time, whether he was practicing calligraphy, reading, or training.
Zhao Xiheng felt that Wei Li had a wrong impression of him. He shouldn't have taken the path of virtue. Everyone knew that he had killed his adoptive father and committed numerous misdeeds when he first came to power. Now that he was trying to act virtuous, everyone would think it was all an act.
It would be more reliable to appear assertive and tough, demonstrating one's ability to safeguard peace and tranquility.
"Really?" Wei Li questioned after hearing Zhao Xiheng's analysis. "Don't the people want a virtuous leader?"
"How long can you keep up this act of kindness and virtue?" Zhao Xiheng asked him sincerely. "It's not that I don't trust you, but this kind of persona doesn't apply to you at all."
Wei Li thought about it carefully and realized that if he were to kill someone in the street one day, his so-called "virtuous" persona would completely collapse, and it would be better not to establish it at all.
The two whispered and discussed all night, finally deciding on how to inspect the new cities to demonstrate their ownership.
Wei Li did not go personally; if he had, it would have seemed as if he valued the city's wealthy and powerful figures too much. Instead, he sent Yang Zeli and General Song to patrol the city. One was brave, and the other was calm; they complemented each other perfectly, and nothing bad was likely to happen.
The day they entered the city, their black armor was like a cloud, their ranks imposing and their disciplined army almost flattening the ground, leaving nothing but barren land. This also served as a warning to those with disloyal intentions: if they wished to rebel, they would have to consider whether they could defeat such an army.
People who had been incorporated from Youzhou into Pingzhou gathered in teahouses or secretly observed from their homes, and were inevitably shocked and terrified by the spectacle.
While they were intimidated, they couldn't help but sigh. With such a mighty army guarding them, how could they possibly be invaded? They no longer wanted to experience the suffering of war and displacement.
Wei Li was very good at scaring people. He knew how to make a big show of things to intimidate others. For example, when he reunited with Zhao Xiheng, he used the snow-capped mountains to scare the entire wedding procession so much that they ran away in terror.
He is now simply using his strengths to both intimidate the powerful families in the newly surrendered cities and distribute grain to the people. He is now more like a lord, using both kindness and severity, and is no longer the petty brat he once was.
Liu Huan was unable to participate in the hustle and bustle of the neighboring city, which was originally his territory.
Liu Huan was already narrow-minded, and Wei Li deliberately provoked him by having General Song and others make a big scene. Within two days, Liu Huan, who was already weak, suddenly vomited blood and fainted. But he didn't know who to blame. Should he blame his wife and subordinates for ransomed him?
With Qingzhou and Youzhou in decline, only Pingzhou remained dominant in the north. Hua Shangyue knew that his Jizhou had no strength to oppose Wei Li, and he had also gotten involved in the affairs of Qingzhou and Youzhou. Therefore, he could only cling tightly to Wei Li and follow his lead.
Jizhou has many things to offer, but it has many mountains, mines, and money. It is rich in gold, silver, and gunpowder, and it is also famous for fireworks. Fireworks with names like "Ladder to the Clouds," "Prosperous Country," "A Thousand Charms," and "Queen Mother's Garden" may sound rustic, but they are very gorgeous. They were invented in Jizhou.
As the Lantern Festival approached, Hua Shangle, in an effort to show goodwill, sent several truckloads of fireworks to Wei Li, saying it was for him to set off and add to the festive atmosphere.
"I heard today is the Lantern Festival." Wei Li's cheeks flushed slightly as he hinted at it to her during the meal.
"Hmm, you even know about the Lantern Festival?" Zhao Xiheng was slightly surprised. "Didn't you forbid the people of Pingzhou from celebrating the festival?"
Wei Li immediately bristled, "That's ancient history, why are you bringing it up again?" He stopped doing that a long time ago. He has a family and a career, and he enjoys a comfortable and lively holiday. Zhao Xiheng even makes him new clothes.
"An old almanac is still an almanac," Zhao Xiheng said earnestly.
"Can we skip this old-fashioned thing? Think about today, it's the Lantern Festival." He propped his arm on the table, trying to pique Zhao Xiheng's interest. "The Lantern Festival, it's so lively, don't you want to go?"
Zhao Xiheng wanted to go, but Wei Li seemed to want to go even more than she did. She deliberately teased her, so she said with a cold face, "Some people say that if I dare to step out of the courtyard, they will break my legs."
Wei Li scratched his head in frustration. "Why are you checking the almanac again?" How long ago was this? "I said it, but did I really do it? Zhao Xiheng, do you have a heart?"
Chen Ruojiang said that the Lantern Festival and the Qixi Festival are good times for young men and women to date. It makes no sense that while other couples are watching fireworks and lanterns together at the foot of the mountain, the two of them are staying on the mountain, eating, practicing calligraphy, and going to sleep.
Besides, Hua Shang Le gave him so many fireworks, he can't just leave them there to look at, can he?
Zhao Xiheng didn't look at it, so there was no point in him keeping it.
"Go out and play, I told you to go out," Wei Li said, nudging her arm again.
Zhao Xiheng coughed twice, preparing to act coy again, when Wei Li hugged her from behind and gently touched her lower abdomen. "It's been three months. If we don't go out to play now, the baby will be too big later, and it won't be comfortable for you to walk."
"If you don't go out now, you won't have another chance. Besides, I've been vomiting a lot lately, so just keep me company."
Wei Li hugged her waist and rocked her back and forth to coax her.
Strangely enough, Zhao Xiheng didn't vomit much when she was supposed to have morning sickness, but Wei Li was often pale, vomited in the morning, and vomited at the smell of fish, looking exactly like a pregnant woman.
The doctor came to take his pulse and said that it wasn't a physical problem, but a mental one; he was probably too stressed. This kind of case does exist, but it's not common.
During his wife's pregnancy, the husband experienced a series of reactions typical of pregnant women due to excessive anxiety and worry. He not only shared his wife's worries mentally but also felt her pain physically.
Zhao Xiheng said she didn't really empathize; she didn't vomit as badly as Wei Li.
But I never expected that Wei Li, who usually seemed so relaxed, was actually so nervous about her pregnancy.
"Okay, go ahead." She looked up and kissed Wei Li's chin, then stopped teasing him.
He's been really working hard lately, not only managing Pingzhou but also suffering physically.
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