Because so many people helped, the village canal was built and their houses were renovated.
During this time, Wan Xueying didn't ask the people of Liushu Village to work for nothing. Besides a satisfying staple of whole grains, they also provided two dishes and a soup daily. The villagers of Liushu Village were already struggling to find food and shelter, but when they came here to repay their gratitude, they were offered free food and shelter. One can only imagine how motivated they were to work.
This also made the villagers of Yushu Village very jealous. This was originally their village's work, but it was taken advantage of by people from other villages.
But there was no other way. Building a canal in the village was a big deal. It affected whether they could grow another batch of vegetables, so building the canal was definitely the priority.
The An family was much luckier in this regard. They managed to save the wheat that was not completely wasted, and also harvested nearly an acre of soybeans. At least this year's hard work was not in vain.
In order to make the villagers feel more balanced, Wan Xueying took the An family members in after the new house was renovated. Taking advantage of the cheap prices of bricks and other materials, she asked the villagers to help rebuild the An family's old house.
Liu Laolai and Liu Ergou, father and son, had already reformed considerably. They had expected Wan Xueying to refuse their help, but she acted as if nothing unpleasant had ever happened before, not even mentioning it. Anyone who came to help, like the villagers of Liushu Village, received a whole grain staple for every meal, along with two side dishes and a soup.
Shen Yu accompanied Wan Xueying to buy things for the house after it was divided into two families. After saying goodbye to everyone, he left Yushu Village with Bei Wu, his personal soldier, and Wan Hesu, who wanted to join the military camp.
Shen Yu planned to visit Pei Xuanqing at the Northern Frontier Reserve Camp first, inquire about the Ningjiang County Reserve Camp, and then proceed to take up his post there. Unexpectedly, he was met with disappointment, as Pei Xuanqing had not yet arrived for his post. Shen Yu had no choice but to proceed in the dark.
At this time, Pei Xuanqing, after settling the third prince Ning Ze, rode at full speed to the imperial ancestral tomb to meet the commander of the tomb guarding army there.
"Is this the wind that brought our Deputy Commander Pei here?" He Wenxuan, the commander of the army guarding the imperial ancestral mausoleum, joked as soon as they met.
"Commander He, I'm so ashamed of you." After being demoted, Pei Xuanqing and He Wenxuan became commanders, but he was only a fifth-rank official, while He Wenxuan was a fifth-rank official. Pei Xuanqing also served as the deputy commander of the Dark Forest Guard, and although he was a fourth-rank official, he was not allowed to mention it publicly.
"Tell me, what are you doing here?" Even though He Wenxuan's position was higher than Pei Xuanqing's, he didn't dare to offend him too much. Although he didn't know that Pei Xuanqing had another identity, he couldn't afford to offend him simply because he was from the Huai'en Marquis Mansion and was the nephew of Empress Pei.
"Of course it's about the Third Prince."
"Ha," He Wenxuan laughed, "Don't you know that's a fake?" He then pretended to mutter casually, "I don't know what the emperor is thinking. Can a place like the imperial ancestral mausoleum be casually allowed to have an outsider guard it?" That would be an insult to the ancestors! Not to mention the emperor, even ordinary people would not do that.
"So that man isn't exactly an outsider."
"Oh?" He Wenxuan raised his eyebrows slightly, "Could it be that he is a person with a background and is related to the royal family?" Then they must have offended that person a lot in recent times.
"Of course." Pei Xuanqing nodded.
"Stop keeping us in suspense." Pei Xuanqing made this special trip, it must not be in vain, He Wenxuan urged.
"Have you heard of Princess Wen'an?"
"Of course, the emperor's sister died of illness on the way to the Northern Hu Kingdom in her early years."
"In fact, Princess Wen'an did not die, but escaped from her marriage."
"Could this man be Princess Wen'an's son?"
"That's right." Pei Xuanqing nodded, "She was born to Princess Wen'an and the late Emperor of Xijiang."
"Does this mean that Princess Wen'an later married the late emperor of Xijiang?" Then why didn't she marry into the Northern Hu Kingdom in the first place? After all, she was still a princess, and the Northern Hu Kingdom was much larger than the Xijiang Kingdom. It was definitely better than changing her surname and still entering the palace! This was explosive news for He Wenxuan.
"Yes, she is now Madam Wen of Xijiang State." Princess Wen'an faked her own death and escaped her marriage, only to be rescued by a Xijiang noble. What happened during this time is unknown. However, due to her exceptional beauty, she was renamed Wenji and entered the palace as an imperial consort, where she even gave birth to a prince. Upon ascending the throne, the new emperor treated her with special care, and rather than expelling her from the palace, he granted her the title of First Rank Madam, allowing her to remain in the palace.
"Then what about this prince? Why is he here to guard the imperial tomb for the third prince?" He Wenxuan asked.
"The poisoning of Xijiang's former crown prince and the sudden death of the former emperor are both related to Xijiang's current emperor. Madam Wen was afraid something might happen to her fifth prince, so she secretly sent him to our emperor to seek protection. That's when the emperor came up with this plan."
"Your Majesty, this move is truly brilliant." He Wenxuan took the opportunity to compliment Lian Zong. "I am so stupid that I didn't even guess it." He then asked, "Is there any other use for this Fifth Prince?"
"That depends on the future direction of Xijiang State."
"What about our third prince? Is he dead or alive?" He Wenxuan hesitated for a long time before asking.
"Don't worry about this, Commander He. However, there will definitely be a chance for you to make a contribution and leave here."
"Then I will have to rely on Brother Pei's support in the future." This was a rare opportunity, so He Wenxuan immediately became brothers with Pei Xuanqing.
"Brother He, you're too polite. I may need to rely on you a lot in the future."
"There's no need for us to be polite to each other, brothers."
Afterwards, He Wenxuan, as the host, arranged a banquet for Pei Xuanqing to drink and chat. After a few drinks, the two of them seemed like brothers who had been separated for many years, and they chatted with each other like a family.
He Wenxuan's words became noticeably more frequent, mostly expressing dissatisfaction and complaints about the current situation. Just imagine, how many aspiring military commanders could maintain a peaceful state of mind while holed up in the imperial mausoleum year after year, unable to fight and establish themselves on the battlefield?
He also complained about someone else: the Third Prince's wife, Xue Jiaying. She had been making a lot of noise and fussing about the fake Third Prince, wanting to know where the real Third Prince was. He Wenxuan then asked Pei Xuanqing what he should do.
"Don't worry about that woman. Just treat her the same way you treat other people sent here." Pei Xuanqing replied.
"But what if the Third Prince takes that position?" Wouldn't Xue Jiaying become the Queen? That would be something she couldn't afford to offend.
"Don't worry about this. No matter what the Third Prince does in the future, she will never get the position she wants. Maybe she will have to stay here for the rest of her life." Pei Xuanqing was very sure about this.
"Why is that?" Hasn't the relationship between the Third Prince and his wife always been sweet and sweet?
"Just trust me." The Third Prince already knew that the person who saved him wasn't Xue Jiaying, but her half-sister. The two of them were now living together, and there would be little chance of Xue Jiaying having anything to do with them in the future.
"Of course I believe you."
"Let's not talk about this anymore." Xue Jiaying was actually a sore spot for Pei Xuanqing. If possible, he really didn't want to hear or talk about that woman anymore, let alone see her again.
But things just went against his wishes. He had just talked to He Wenxuan about Xue Jiaying. After Xue Jiaying heard that he had come to the Imperial Ancestral Mausoleum, she blocked him at the door of his temporary residence.
"I'm not looking for you for anything else, I just want to know where the Third Prince is now? Why didn't he take me with him? And what about my father and brothers?" Xue Jiaying asked without hesitation. After all, this was the Emperor's ancestral mausoleum, and everyone here knew the Third Prince was a fake. She wasn't afraid of others knowing he wasn't dead. On the contrary, she wished everyone knew he was alive, so they would respect her even more.
Pei Xuanqing frowned slightly, but had to reply: "You'd better not worry about the Third Prince's affairs and don't ask about them. Just do what you should do. That way, you will have a chance to leave here in the future."
This was completely different from what he had just said to He Wenxuan, because he came here with another mission, which was to appease this crazy woman and make her cooperate and not cause trouble.
"Does this mean that the third prince is really not dead?" Xue Jiaying's eyes lit up.
"Yes," Pei Xuanqing nodded, "but don't tell this to anyone. Also," he continued, "please be polite to the person pretending to be the Third Prince. His identity is extraordinary."
"Okay, as long as I know that the third prince is still alive." Only then will she have hope and be able to leave here and become the queen.
"Don't worry about the people of the Xue family. With the third prince here, no one dares to make things difficult for them." Pei Xuanqing fooled Xue Jiaying again. In fact, the father and son of the Xue family also participated in the last escape and had been escorted to the military camp as slaves.
"Okay, I understand. Thank you." After Xue Jiaying happily left, Pei Xuanqing breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, another problem had been solved.
The next day, he went to see the fake Third Prince, who was also the Fifth Prince of Xijiang Kingdom. After explaining some things to him, he rode his horse at full speed to the Northern Frontier Reserve Camp again.
His status was clear, and he had served in the military before, so even if he went to the Northern Frontier Reserve Camp, no one would dare to embarrass him easily. Shen Yu was different. As soon as he brought Bei Wu to the Ningjiang County Reserve Camp, he was given a cold shoulder.
The ones who gave him a warning were not his immediate superior, Sun Jianzhang, the garrison commander of the Ningjiang County reserve camp, nor were they Yang Gencheng, one of the four general flags in charge of military supplies, and the four small flags under his charge, but the three general flags in charge of training new recruits and the twelve small flags under them.
After Shen Yu entered the army and met Sun Jianzhang, Sun Jianzhang was very polite to him and gave him a general account of the situation of the Ningjiang County reserve camp.
But when Sun Jianzhang summoned all his subordinates to meet Shen Yu, the future second-in-command of the reserve camp, except for Yang Gencheng and his four subordinates mentioned above, the remaining three generals and their subordinates had not arrived for an hour.
"Ah!" Sun Jianzhang sighed and shook his head. "Don't be upset. Those people are now even disobeying my words, let alone you, a newcomer."
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