Wei Li had already left the bedroom when he heard Zhao Xiheng's sobbing. He froze, unable to move an inch.
His heart suddenly ached, and his face turned deathly pale. In the end, he resigned himself to his fate and turned back.
"I think you should stop crying," he said to Zhao Xiheng, who was slumped over the table.
"Get lost, who wants...who wants to talk to you. Take it or leave it, my kindness...my kindness is being taken for granted."
She was crying so hard she could barely speak. Wei Li felt like there was something wrong with his heart; it was throbbing with pain. His initial shame and anger were temporarily forgotten.
He quickly bent down to touch her face and hugged her from behind, saying, "Don't cry, don't cry, I was wrong."
Oh my god, he felt so heartbroken that he couldn't breathe whenever Zhao Xiheng cried.
Unable to break free, Zhao Xiheng raised her hand and slapped him across the face. Both of them were stunned at the same time.
Zhao Xiheng thought he would be angry, but to her surprise, he simply touched her face and continued, "Don't cry, are you still angry?"
"I will never say such things again. I was just angry. If you are still angry, then keep hitting me."
Of course I'm angry! What nonsense was he just spouting?
She kept her head down, sobbing, "You're angry? What's wrong with you? What...what right do you have to be angry?"
Wei Li pursed his lips, remained silent, and picked her up from the small couch. She had become quite strong recently, and he was afraid she would fall if she struggled, so he held her tightly and carefully placed her in the empty bed, drawing all the curtains around to create a secluded little space.
Zhao Xiheng kept her head down, still sobbing and ignoring him.
Wei Li knelt upright on the bed, took her hand, and said, "Look at me, don't cry."
He knelt upright, seemingly showing remorse, but Zhao Xiheng shook his hand away, saying, "I won't look. You have no idea what you did wrong."
Wei Li muttered to herself, "I shouldn't have been so harsh with you and made you cry."
It was wrong of him to make his wife cry. He felt that as a man, he should be magnanimous and let her scold him a couple of times, since she was his own wife anyway.
"Is this what you did wrong?" Zhao Xiheng pinched the flesh on his waist. "Is my anger really that simple?"
Wei Li grabbed her hand and kissed it. "Tell me what I did wrong? I'll change. Don't cry, crying isn't good for the baby."
"Don't touch me." Zhao Xiheng pulled her hand away from his. "You've been yelling at me, ignoring me, and you're planning to die young. And you still care if my crying is good for the baby?"
"What short-lived ghost?" Wei Li exclaimed in surprise.
Zhao Xiheng pounded his chest while sobbing and scolding him, "You don't care about Pingzhou at all, you leave everything to others, you know nothing when asked, and you still plan to go to war like this?"
Even I understand the saying "an army marches on its stomach," yet you don't even know how much food you have, and you just charge forward blindly. If the troops aren't well-fed, you might be able to take on ten men, but can you expect to take on a hundred or a thousand?
"It's so cold, the compensation hasn't been paid, and the casualties aren't even estimated. Are you planning to add more lives to this? Don't you think about how painful it is for families to lose loved ones? If I lost my child, wouldn't you be heartbroken?"
Your disregard for human life will bring you retribution sooner or later.
Hearing her words, Wei Li's heart tightened, and he quickly hugged her, "What nonsense are you talking about? How could something happen to you and the baby? I will protect you both."
Zhao Xiheng kicked him, "If you keep going like this, my daughter and I will die at your hands sooner or later. What protection? You must first pacify the internal situation before you can fight external enemies. You can't even pacify the internal affairs of Pingzhou, and you're just recklessly expanding your territory. How can we be safe?"
"If you were just some minor general who takes orders, that would be fine. You wouldn't have to think so much and could just lead the troops into battle. But now you are in charge of the entire Pingzhou, yet you can't even do the most basic things like governing the prefecture, pacifying the people, and judging gains and losses. Have all those books you read the other day gone to waste?"
"Youzhou and Qingzhou are severely weakened, and are the Xianbei in the west not a threat either? My father died at the hands of the Xianbei, do you want my husband to die at their hands as well?"
Thinking this, Zhao Xiheng's tears fell even more freely. She hit him while scolding him, "I kindly gave you my father's notes, and you didn't even look at them, and you even yelled at me. You only got a little space, and you've become arrogant and reckless."
Wei Li fell silent. His expression, which had initially been one of heartache, became more serious. It was as if his heart had been struck and crushed, and the emotions that had been running high for the past few days suddenly calmed down.
He looked back at his original plan and broke out in a cold sweat.
If he were alone, he could recklessly wage war. After all, he had been given a decade or so of extra life, and it would be exhilarating to shed his blood on the battlefield. But Zhao Xiheng and his child were still alive, and he couldn't just ignore them.
Chen Ruojiang and Yang Zeli were young, and like him, they were full of enthusiasm and wanted to conquer the entire northern region.
Ah-Dan tried to persuade him, but he was too arrogant to listen and even yelled at her. How upset she must have been.
Such recklessness will lead to no good end; he'll die sooner or later, leaving his mother and child all alone. Thinking this, Wei Li couldn't help but tighten his grip on her, and gently kissed the top of her head.
“Ah Dan, I really know I was wrong. I won’t do it again. Talk to me from now on, and I’ll listen carefully. I’ll understand. Please don’t be angry. I shouldn’t have ignored your advice and wasted your good intentions. I shouldn’t have said those things either. Wei Li can live without anyone but he can’t live without Zhao Xiheng. He knows he was wrong. No matter how much you scold him, he won’t act foolishly again.”
"Am I your husband? Should I explain things to you later? How much do I know that I can tell you? I've only learned a little bit from my father. I can tell you now, but what if I encounter something else I don't understand? Who will you listen to then? You'll have to figure it out yourself."
"You're brainless now, and you'll be brainless later. You don't think about anything; you'll just die eventually."
No matter what he said, it didn't seem very sincere. Wei Li got out of bed, his face flushed, and knelt on the cold ground. "I swear, from now on I will think twice before I act, never be rash, work hard, and never make Madam angry again."
Wei Li lowered his head, as if he had been stripped naked and paraded through the streets, overwhelmed by immense shame.
With that kneel, he appeared even more humble in front of Zhao Xiheng.
But he couldn't care less about anything else. Compared to Zhao Xiheng's sadness and anger, his pride was more important. Besides, the curtains were already drawn, so no one but Zhao Xiheng would see anything.
He knelt down on the ground, and Zhao Xiheng's anger subsided. She got up from the bed, sobbing, and quickly grabbed his hand. "You swore yourself that you would be struck by lightning if you broke your vow. Get up, the ground is cold."
Zhao Xiheng never expected that someone as proud as him, who was also somewhat sensitive and insecure, could do something like this.
She hugged Wei Li and said, "Actually, you don't have to do this. If you apologize properly and know you were wrong, I will forgive you. Next time, I will talk to you nicely and won't yell at you. I was also wrong today. I didn't explain to you properly and just scolded you."
Wei Li hugged her back, "Go ahead and scold me. The harsher you scold me, the more I'll learn my lesson and won't do it again."
He was too eager to achieve strength, but forgot to seek stability.
Wei Li made himself stronger so that Zhao Xiheng could live a good life without worrying about someone else taking her away or sending her around like before when she was sent away for a political marriage. He didn't want to make her worry more.
Just as Zhao Xiheng was about to speak, her stomach suddenly clenched, and a feeling of nausea surged up, a feeling that was both familiar and strange.
She tried to push Wei Li but couldn't move him, and ended up vomiting on him.
"Ah-Dan, Ah-Dan." Wei Li didn't mind her being dirty, wiping the stains off her lips with his sleeve, and hurriedly went to call for a doctor!
Just like last time, there's nothing seriously wrong. It's just that getting emotional can trigger morning sickness. Just try to keep your mood calm and relaxed on weekdays.
Zhao Xiheng ate a few sour apricots before she was able to suppress her nausea.
Her face was sallow, and Wei Li felt extremely distressed. He changed both of their clothes, then snuggled into the blankets to hug her, encircling her from behind and kissing the top of her head. "Are you still feeling unwell?"
"It's alright." Zhao Xiheng closed her eyes and nestled in his arms.
Wei Li still carried the fresh scent of cold pine needles, but when his body heat was on them, it felt strangely comfortable, like the warmth of sitting around a fire and enjoying the snow in winter.
He placed his warm palm on her lower abdomen and continued to kiss the top of her head, saying, "The little one is being naughty and making you uncomfortable."
Zhao Xiheng said with her eyes closed, "Don't think that just because the child can't hear you now, you can put the blame on others. It was clearly some jerk who made me angry and made me cry that caused me to vomit."
Wei Li felt guilty and squeezed her hand. "Now that this bastard knows he was wrong, can you forgive him?"
"We'll see how she performs." Zhao Xiheng drifted off to sleep, gradually losing consciousness.
The next day, Wei Li got up earlier than usual. He took the notes from the table and carefully spread them out on the desk. He ground ink, laid out paper, and began to write stroke by stroke.
He had seen his father-in-law's calligraphy before, and this was undoubtedly his own handwriting. The strokes were strong and powerful, with the force of thunder and lightning. It was clear that the person who wielded this long brush was a man of great talent and wisdom.
Wei Li couldn't write as beautifully as his father-in-law, so he could only strive for neat and tidy strokes.
General Song had been asked to leave, thinking he had angered Wei Li and would be sidelined. However, when he woke up in the morning, he received a grand reward from Wei Li's residence, praising his bravery and strategy in the battle of Tiangang City.
This surprised General Song. He had humiliated Wei Li greatly last night, yet Wei Li, a man known for his vindictiveness, still rewarded him.
Immediately afterwards, Wei Li instructed the centurions, commanders, and junior officers in the camp to go door-to-door to distribute pensions, deliver food and charcoal to the families of soldiers who had died in the war, and comfort the families.
Not only General Song, but even Chen Ruojiang pinched himself hard when he heard the news, thinking he was dreaming.
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