Chapter 33 Chapter 33
Wei Xuan glanced at Xiao Jingzhao, knowing that there was no chance to chat with him privately now, so he said to Jiang Huai: "You should have a good rest. I have to go back to Anyuan Mansion tomorrow. Do you want to come with me or..."
But before Jiang Huai could make his choice, Wei Xuan frowned and rejected it again: "Tomorrow, you should not return to Anyuan Mansion for the time being. Wait until I have sorted out Anyuan Mansion before you go back."
Wei Xuan had no doubt whether he could wash away the humiliation of the Wei family and regain control of Anyuan Prefecture. After all, the military exploits he had obtained were not fake. Unless the emperor was determined to kill the Wei family, otherwise, in the face of such military exploits, he could only commend Wei Xuan.
If the emperor were to turn against him, even if he won, it would be a pyrrhic victory, and someone else might benefit, so Wei Xuan was not worried about himself.
But if Jiang Huai went with him, it would be unsafe if he was noticed by others, not to mention that Jiang Huai was accompanied by Xiao Jingzhao, so he couldn't be too high-profile.
Jiang Huai had not originally planned to go with Wei Xuan. After all, once Wei Xuan returned, there would definitely be chaos in the city. He felt relieved to hear him say that, as he didn't have to explain any more.
Wei Xuan turned around and prepared to leave, but when he saw Xiao Jingzhao standing silently beside him, he couldn't help but glance at him again, and this glance was noticed by Jiang Huai.
Jiang Huai didn't think about it, just thinking that Wei Xuan was worried about Xiao Jingzhao. He held Xiao Jingzhao's hand to comfort him and whispered, "Brother Wei is just very cautious. Once he gets to know you better, he won't be so vigilant anymore."
"I know." Xiao Jingzhao watched Wei Xuan leave, and suddenly noticed the other party's gesture, his eyes dimmed slightly.
"Then let's quickly eat the remaining mutton and go to sleep. We are so tired from traveling today and feel sleepy earlier than usual." Jiang Huai yawned and urged.
Xiao Jingzhao noticed that Jiang Huai was a little sleepy, so he collected his thoughts and roasted and ate the remaining mutton with Jiang Huai. He then washed up a bit. When Xiao Jingzhao came back, he found that Jiang Huai had fallen asleep with his quilt wrapped around him. There was a place left next to him, which was obviously reserved for him.
Xiao Jingzhao paused, opened the curtain again, and quickly closed it before the north wind blew in. He walked out quietly and came back after a long time. He stood in the cold wind for a while. His clothes were all cold, and even his body was a little cold. Xiao Jingzhao warmed himself up by the fire to warm his body, and then lay down.
Even though there was a stove in the tent emitting heat and the bedding was very thick, Jiang Huai was in poor health. After sleeping for a while, he gradually felt cold again. In a daze, he found a heat source next to him, rolled over, rubbed over, and held the hot water bottle tightly.
Xiao Jingzhao was hugged tightly, his thoughts interrupted. He looked down and saw Jiang Huai, his expression softened slightly, and he finally fell into a deep sleep.
…
The next day, Wei Xuan led his army back to Anyuan Prefecture. The army marched in such a mighty force that almost everyone saw its movements.
At first, some people thought it was a barbarian invasion, but when they saw the flags of the army flying in the air, they calmed down immediately.
The movements of such a large army are also difficult to conceal. In Anyuan Mansion, Su Ding heard the report from his subordinates and learned that Wei Xuan had returned with a large army. After asking about the number of the army, Su Ding's eyes went dark and fear arose in his heart.
"Where is he?" Su Ding asked his men, somewhat at a loss. "Hurry up and have someone close the city gates. This Wei Xuan must have been bribed by the barbarians and is going to bring a large army to attack Anyuan Prefecture."
Su Ding was frightened by Wei Xuan's appearance. After all, he knew what happened to the Wei family. It was obvious what Wei Xuan would do to him after he came back and learned the news. Concern for his own safety made Su Ding ignore how ridiculous his order was at this time, and urged his men to pass on the order quickly.
But this was not enough to reassure Su Ding. Su Ding turned around and found a carriage to escape. He was afraid that if he didn't escape now, he would not find a chance to escape later. He also knew Wei Xuan's character. He was young and impetuous. What if he got angry and killed him directly? Even if the emperor might avenge him later, he would be dead anyway.
He came to Anyuan Prefecture for military merit, and now he has achieved his goal. As long as he is not in Anyuan Prefecture, Wei Xuan will have no way to deal with him unless he wants to go against the Great Zhou court. In this case, what is he waiting for if he doesn't run away?
As for the reason for running away, Su Ding hastily wrote down that he would report to the court that Wei Xuan was attempting to rebel, and then hurriedly left with his family.
The soldiers in Anyuan Prefecture all received the order sent by Su Ding's subordinates. This order was obviously ridiculous, but they had to follow it. After all, Su Ding was now the temporary general of Anyuan Prefecture, and his orders were military orders that must not be violated.
Anyuan Prefecture suddenly decided to close the city gates and go on alert, which immediately caused chaos in the city. Especially the actions of the city defenders made many people think of the last barbarian attack. Some people wanted to quickly enter the city to hide, while others wanted to escape before the city gates were completely closed.
Su Ding ran away quickly and left Anyuan Prefecture with his family and gold, silver and jewelry before the city gates closed.
It is impossible for Anyuan Prefecture to just close the city gates and be done with it. Su Ding still needs to decide how to deal with the situation afterwards. Wang Jin and a group of soldiers are still waiting for his next order. After waiting for a long time, Su Ding did not give the second order, and all the soldiers were a little confused.
"Does the general have any other orders?" Wang Jin asked.
The messenger shook his head.
Wang Jin frowned, feeling a little restless, and stood up to go to the camp. Su Ding should have been giving orders here at this time, but now that the other party had not given any orders, they could not act rashly. They had to know what the other party's attitude was.
If possible, Wang Jin also wanted to explain to Wei Xuan how the Wei family could bring barbarians to attack Anyuan Prefecture. There must be some misunderstanding. Maybe Wei Xuan got lost when he attacked the barbarians before, which caused him to come back a little late. As long as he explained it clearly, the misunderstanding could be resolved.
Wang Jin subconsciously ignored the fact that he was lost for a long time and the conflict between Su Ding and the Wei family.
However, when Wang Jin entered the camp and saw the servants in the camp, his brows unconsciously frowned. Normally, there should be no servants in the military camp, but Su Ding preferred to enjoy himself. He was the acting general and could do whatever he wanted. No one could stop him, so he let these servants enter the camp.
But now, seeing the panicked appearance of these servants, Wang Jin felt a little strange and asked, "Why are you panicking? What happened?"
"General Wang, General, the General is gone." A servant spoke tremblingly after seeing Wang Jin.
Gone?
Wang Jin almost didn't react. After hurriedly entering the camp, he saw the empty tent and realized what this meant.
Su Ding is missing.
Wang Jin turned around and went to where the Su family members were. Because Su Ding was reluctant to give up women, some of the Su family's female relatives were in the tent next to the main camp. Wang Jin lifted the curtain and saw that the female relatives were gone. There were even some gold and silver jewelry scattered in the tent, which were obviously accidentally left behind when cleaning.
There was no time to pick up the jewelry that fell on the ground, which shows how hurriedly the other party left.
After returning to the camp, Wang Jin suddenly found a piece of paper on the table. He picked it up and found that it was a farewell letter written by Su Ding. After reading the contents of the letter, he fell into deep silence.
Wang Jin had not returned for a long time, and the other generals were a little surprised. When a few of them came over, they saw Wang Jin in a daze. Just as they were about to make fun of him, they heard from Wang Jin that Su Ding had run away with his family. They were all completely dumbfounded.
Su Ding had previously disguised himself well, though he appeared somewhat clueless and lacked any military talent. However, he led his troops obediently and was able to appoint the right people. Except for the incident with the Wei family, when Su Ding's sudden rise to power made the other generals feel a bit uneasy, most of the generals still thought Su Ding was a good person and were convinced of his control over Anyuan Prefecture.
But now, when Wei Xuanyi came back with a large army, Su Ding commanded others to block him while turning around and running away. This made them feel that they had been blinded by their own greed and could not see through Su Ding's true face.
"Now that Su Ding has run away, do we still need to stop General Wei?" someone asked.
To be honest, at this point, the person asking the questions didn't want to stop. He didn't want to have a conflict with Wei Xuan in the first place. What's more, Anyuan Prefecture itself lacked military strength. If a conflict broke out, not only would they not be able to win, but there would definitely be heavy casualties.
If Su Ding were still alive, they might have to struggle with it for a while, after all, refusing to follow military orders is a serious crime. But now Su Ding has run away, so what can they do to stop him?
…
Jiang Huai returned with the army, but he did not go to Anyuan Prefecture. Instead, he planned to carry the wool to his residence outside the city. After all, even if there was a war, the processing of the wool could not be delayed.
The most important thing is that Jiang Huai still remembers some of the plot, so he is not worried about Wei Xuan's situation, nor does he think it will affect him.
Seeing that Jiang Huai was really relying on wool to make a living, Wei Xuan frowned. He didn't have a deep impression of Jiang Huai, but he also knew that it was a huge change for a child of a noble family to suddenly go into business.
Still some distance away from Anyuan Mansion, Wei Xuan took the time to talk to Jiang Huai: "Before, you had no one to rely on, and you could only make some money by doing business. Once Anyuan Mansion stabilizes, you won't have to do business anymore, otherwise Master Jiang will blame me for not taking good care of you."
As for Jiang Huai's exiled status, Wei Xuan didn't care. Once he returned to Anyuan Prefecture, Anyuan Prefecture would be under his jurisdiction, and Jiang Huai could resume his previous life. As for what the court's attitude would be, Wei Xuan didn't care.
As long as the imperial court tolerated it at the beginning, it would not have turned against it because of Jiang Huai. After all, Jiang Huai was just an insignificant chess piece in this game.
The only person Wei Xuan had no legitimate reason to take care of was Xiao Jingzhao.
No need to do business?
If this happened when he first arrived in Anyuan Prefecture, Jiang Huai might have accepted it, but now, Jiang Huai felt that he quite liked the feeling of making money, and it was better to rely on oneself than on others. If he had to live a life of asking for money, it would be better to make money by himself, at least he would not feel guilty about spending it.
However, Jiang Huai also knew that Wei Xuan was not someone else and was somewhat familiar with him. If he did not find a suitable reason but directly said that he liked doing business, it would be easy for the other party to notice something wrong.
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