Chapter 56
In the depths of winter, with the war raging in the north, a large number of people crossed the Yangtze River southward to escape the chaos. Once they reached the southern territory, the problem of large tracts of fertile land being left uncultivated, which had previously worried the Southern King, was easily solved. As a result, he has been busy dealing with the resettlement of displaced people and has no time to worry about whether the Queen only loves her daughter-in-law.
Xie Qinghong was worried about her brother's disadvantage in fighting the Hu people, and also worried about Pei Du's accident at sea. She hadn't slept well for many days. Fortunately, she could talk to the Princess of Nan every day and talk about Pei Du's childhood, which eased her worries to some extent.
The Princess Consort of the South treated her extremely well, not only buying her clothes and jewelry, but also purchasing many estates and shops, saying that a young lady needs to have property to live freely. The Zhou family was a prominent family in the South, but agriculture was insufficient in the South, and commerce and industry lagged behind, so prominent families were not as extravagant as those in the North.
After receiving several gifts, Xie Qinghong felt a little embarrassed. The Southern Prince's mansion was relatively simple. Even for someone as noble as the Southern Prince, his daily expenses were not as extravagant as those of aristocratic families. The Southern Prince's mansion spent most of its money on supporting the army. Because Emperor Xingde was quite wary of the Southern Prince, he reduced the army's pay starting last year, under the pretext of not engaging in warfare. Since then, the troops stationed in the south have all been supported by the Southern Prince's mansion, and the Pei family's savings accumulated over several generations are dwindling.
However, Xie Qinghong had no shortage of money. Although he couldn't directly use it to pay the army, he would find a muddy and uneven road and ask people to hire craftsmen to repair it. If he saw that the refugees had no food, he would hire them to either reclaim wasteland in the fields to cultivate the land, build waterwheels by the waterways to irrigate the farmland, or build bridges and embankments on the river. He did good things for the people and also helped to resettle the refugees.
Within a month, the migrants who had come south had all found a livelihood and registered in the southern region. Their lives were far better than they had imagined for refugees. They had previously heard that the south was desolate, difficult to travel in, and rife with miasma. If it weren't for the war, they would never have left their homes to come here. But once they arrived, they realized that this was indeed a land of outstanding people and beautiful scenery. As a result, some people sent messages to their relatives in the north, saying that they had been settled in the south and that it was not much different from Wangjing.
Xie Qinghong's actions actually salvaged Pei Du's reputation. Everyone said that the Crown Prince's wife was beautiful and kind-hearted, and that the Crown Prince who married her must also be an outstanding person, otherwise he would not be worthy of her.
Even when discussing matters with his advisors, the Southern King couldn't help but say, "With Xie's daughter's character, it's no wonder she's so popular. That brat Pei Du, marrying one wife is worth ten scholars I could find to flatter him. It's just that he's so useless; he's been at sea for so long and hasn't returned yet, making his wife worry."
Xie Qinghong checked her accounts and found that this month's expenses were too high and income was too low. As a responsible wife, she naturally couldn't just sit around and do nothing. She had opened quite a few shops, but the profits were being used first to support Yuan Qingqing's research on improved breeds. The rest of the investments were long-term, and there were no obvious returns yet.
She closed the ledger and suddenly remembered the key Pei Du had left for her before his expedition. It was said to be the only key to his private vault. She had been too busy to take stock of the contents of Pei Du's private vault before.
Without hesitation, Xie Qinghong grabbed the keys and called his maid to check the vault.
As soon as the storeroom door opened, Xie Qinghong couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. Although the storeroom was as messy as a storage room, the miscellaneous items were obviously rare treasures. Ancient paintings from the previous dynasty hung on the walls, precious jade carvings were placed on the table, a bushel of pearls was poured on the table and shone brightly, and a coral tree as tall as a person was piled in the corner, with a dagger with a jeweled handle hanging on it.
She turned to Pei An to confirm, "These will be mine from now on?"
Pei An readily agreed, "Since the young master has given you the key, it is naturally yours." In the past, who would have thought that the young master Pei, who would draw his sword at the slightest disagreement, would give his entire fortune to his wife? Who would have thought!
Looking at the treasures filling the storeroom, Pei An couldn't help but think how come she wasn't born like the Crown Prince's wife, so that the Crown Prince could also spend a fortune on her.
Xie Qinghong accepted the money with a smile and ordered everyone to take inventory of the storeroom's contents, combining it with her own storeroom ledger, thus declaring it her property. With this large sum of money, she was in high spirits. She casually picked up a dagger from the coral tree in the corner and played with it. The dagger was quite handy, so she simply carried it close to her body and placed it under her pillow when she went to sleep at night.
As the Lunar New Year approached and she warded off evil spirits to welcome the new year, her first year as a married woman into the Southern Prince's mansion passed just like that. Pei Du had not returned from the sea, and the vast Southern Prince's mansion was somewhat deserted. A letter came from home saying that everything was fine; her father and mother were in good health, her sister Cui Luo and her brother had a successful marriage, and her brother had even made a small contribution in the battle against the Hu people at the front.
She suddenly realized that, regardless of whether this was in a book or not, as long as they were all safe and sound, as long as the country was not destroyed and the family was not ruined, the fate written in the book could be rewritten with their efforts. The future was not on paper, but in their own hands.
Xie Qinghong took out that miraculous biography again. This time, she didn't hesitate. She ordered someone to light a brazier and threw the entire book directly into the flames. Watching the pages turn to ashes in the fire, it was as if an invisible shackle had been removed from her body.
In the royal tent far away in the north, the wizard suddenly coughed up blood, gazing at the ever-changing stars and muttering to himself, "The third attempt has failed again..."
In the first chapter, Tusha was invincible, occupying half of the Sheng Kingdom's territory. Even the emperor became a prisoner, and the powerful families of the Great Sheng Kingdom all bowed down to him. However, he was stopped at Changhe and could not advance an inch further. The Southern King Pei Liangsong led his troops to fight to the death and died for his country. His son Pei Du then became emperor and won over the old troops of the Sheng Kingdom. In two years, he fought his way from south to north and recovered the entire northern territory.
The second chapter is based on the fantasy of Qin Heng, the former Prime Minister. The sorcerer takes advantage of Qin Heng's misfortune to win over the powerful families of Sheng State, plotting to help him rise to a high position. Then, he plots to harm the Prince of Nan and his in-laws, the Xie family. The Xie family is demoted and their entire family leaves Wangjing. The Prince of Nan's mansion is raided for treason, the Prince of Nan is imprisoned, but the heir apparent escapes to sea with his wife. Ten years later, he makes a comeback and defeats Tu Sha decisively.
In the third instance, the wizard's power was insufficient, and he could only repair the fragmented foundation of his past life, abducting the uncertain element, Song Lingxi, and absorbing her memories. However, his attempts to assassinate the peerless war god, Prince Pei, repeatedly failed. The closest he came was when he was severely wounded and thrown into the sea—a seemingly certain death—yet he miraculously survived. He thought that a preemptive invasion would guarantee victory, but at this crucial moment, the wizard's power… vanished.
He no longer had the ability to foresee the future, and even the memories of the previous two times scattered like willow catkins. His shoulders slumped, and the brown hair under his hood turned white in an instant. He stretched out his hands, which were as withered as old tree roots, and his vitality was rapidly draining away, turning him from a thirty-year-old into an eighty-year-old in an instant.
Unwilling to accept it! He was so close! If only he had marched south, the Tusha cavalry could have breached the gates of Sheng Kingdom and wiped them all out. Even if Pei Du were a war god reborn, how could he possibly make a comeback without troops?! He was unwilling to accept it!
Xie Qinghong brushed aside the ashes in the fire, making sure not a single page remained before she felt relieved. This book was somewhat eerie; several times, looking at it, she couldn't help but want to make a small wish, but clearly, such a thing didn't exist in this world. If there were gods, she prayed that this time would not be filled with bloodshed.
In the firelight, her eyes revealed a hint of sorrow, and when she lowered her gaze, she seemed like a holy and inviolable celestial maiden.
With the moon high in the sky, Xie Qinghong had the brazier removed and went to sleep fully clothed. As she drifted off to sleep, she felt as if someone was beside her. She instinctively turned over and touched the hilt of a dagger under her pillow before slowly opening her eyes.
Sure enough, there was a dark figure by the bed. She silently gripped the dagger, ready to stab at the shadowy figure at the slightest movement. However, the figure seemed surprised and leaned back, saying, "You're awake?"
Xie Qinghong swiftly drew his dagger and held it horizontally in front of his chest, glaring at the person in front of him and angrily rebuking, "Why didn't you turn on the lights when you came in?"
"That's because I'm afraid you'll have a bad temper when you wake up. You can't have any noise or light when you sleep. If I hadn't begged and pleaded, I'm afraid no one could be near you." Pei Du sighed softly. "Now you're just like Cao Cao in the past. You really can't get close to me in my dreams. Otherwise, who would I complain to if I got stabbed?"
As he spoke, he obediently lit the lamp. The dim candlelight flickered, and he stood tall and straight by the table. When he turned around, he still had a smile on his face. However, Xie Qinghong could tell at a glance that he had a new scar on his face and his skin was darker than ever before.
Her nose stung, and her voice trembled with a hint of tears as she asked, "Why have you gotten so tanned?"
Pei Du's expression fell, and he stiffened, taking two steps forward. Looking at her with brimming eyes, he stammered, "Well, the sun at sea is scorching... no, you can't blame me for that, can you? Don't cry, I promise I'll get my fair skin back... But you really only care about my face? Thank you, it's been a long time..."
Before he could finish speaking, he saw the girl on the bed throw away the dagger. He was terrified, afraid that she might accidentally cut her hand. The next moment, a soft body bumped into him. He picked her up and felt quite relieved. Xie Ayao hadn't lost weight. She was well taken care of.
"It's been so long since we last met, I've missed you so much." Xie Qinghong recovered from her shock and felt overjoyed to see him. She wondered if it was the influence of the nightmare she had, but it felt like she hadn't seen Pei Du for a very, very long time.
“I miss you too, but I can’t get out of bed without shoes.” Pei Du pretended to be indifferent, helped her back to bed, took off the outer robe he had just changed into, and then gently kissed her as soon as he got into bed. “I love you.”
However, he complained, "You only like my face, so it's my fault if it gets dark."
Xie Qinghong reached out and touched the new wound on his face, then leaned in and kissed it, murmuring, "No, I still like you even though you're tanned."
From the very first moment she saw him at Yechun Tower, she could only love Pei Du. He was like the bright moon beside her, shining so brightly that she could no longer see anyone else.
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