Chapter 91 You said I heard that this person's underlying tone is not gentle...
Two days later, Xie Yan arrived in Yunjing. After returning home, he did not find Jiang Cichen in his room. When he arrived at the side room, he saw him leaning on the couch, flipping through the pages of a book, with a lazy look but revealing a subtle irritation.
"Why are you here? It's so hard to find you." Xie Yan glanced at the snacks on the round table and sat down without hesitation, picking up the snacks and putting them into his mouth. "Where's Chen Nanyuan? Why can't I see him?"
Jiang Cichen threw the book away and said, "I'm going to the East Palace with Luo Wan."
"Him?" Xie Yan took a sip of tea and swallowed the snack. "Why didn't you go with him?"
Jiang Cichen said unhappily, "I don't want to visit the Crown Princess, nor do I want to see the young prince. What's the point of going?"
Xie Yan looked at him and asked, "Did you have a quarrel with her?"
Judging from his expression, it was most likely true. After all, they grew up together. He would know why Jiang Cichen was worried once he tried it.
In military matters, Jiang Cichen would be distressed and irritable, but he had never been seen so depressed. This state was a bit like the state he was in when they left Yunjing last time.
"We're fine." Jiang Cichen became increasingly annoyed as he spoke. "You came here just to talk to me about this?"
"That's not the case. I don't bother to dwell on these sentimental matters." Xie Yan then continued, "Yangzhou has been captured, but it's already located deep within Xiliang territory. Xiliang will most likely send troops to retake Yangzhou. If we attack the several Xiliang cities near Yangzhou again, they'll likely be besieged and unable to defend themselves. The generals who captured Yangzhou should report these developments to Emperor Yun."
Jiang Cichen said, "After Yangzhou is taken, there will most likely be a ceasefire, and the main forces will be sent to Qingjiang. Behind Qingjiang are Jingzhou and Lin'an, so it will be a tough battle."
"Qingjiang has been taken? Sure, Ah Chen!" Xie Yan said with a smile, "As long as Jingzhou and Lin'an are taken, Beiye Ji will be unable to escape even if he has wings."
"Bei Yeji sacrificed Qingjiang City, and the entire defenders of Qingjiang were almost annihilated. Knowing that Qingjiang would be lost, he chose not to conserve his troops, but instead chose to deplete the forces of the Yun Kingdom."
"Delaying time?" Xie Yan guessed, "But why is he delaying time?"
"Bei Yeji's thoughts are easy to guess," Jiang Cichen said calmly, "but Shen Zhiyan, who is standing in the court of the Northern Kingdom, his thoughts are hard to guess."
If Bei Yeji hadn't ordered the Jiang family to be exterminated, the Northern Kingdom wouldn't have been left without any generals. But even without good generals, as long as Shen Zhiyan was there, the Northern Kingdom wouldn't have fallen so quickly.
After a pause, Xie Yan asked, "Should we give an order to Yanyun Pavilion to execute Shen Zhiyan?"
Jiang Cichen glanced at him and said, "Do you think Shen Zhiyan is easy to kill?"
"Is it difficult?"
"Although Shen Zhiyan doesn't know martial arts, he was held hostage in Xiliang for ten years without incident. This shows that his wisdom is beyond the reach of ordinary people. If we act rashly, we will only alert the enemy." Jiang Cichen said calmly, "Besides, I promised Luo Wan not to kill Shen Zhiyan."
Xie Yan thought hard, but could only think of the brief teacher-student relationship between Luo Wan and Shen Zhiyan. Could it be that the assassins of Tingyu Tower were so loyal and righteous?
"But then again," Xie Yan couldn't help but return to the original topic, "Did you really have a fight with her? Actually, a little friction is quite normal. We used to fight a lot when we were kids."
When they were young, both of them had arrogant personalities. Sometimes they played well together, and sometimes neither of them would give in to the other. They would not say a word unless they agreed with each other. Once they could fight, they would never waste words. Who would have thought that the more they fought, the closer their relationship would become.
Xie Yan felt that a little fighting was good for the mood, as were a few small quarrels.
Jiang Cichen looked away: "No quarrel."
There was indeed no quarrel, because after that night, Luo Wan didn't even say a word to Jiang Cichen.
Afterwards, he felt that he had gone a bit too far and was only concerned about his own pleasure.
But he hasn't figured out how to coax people yet. Jiang Cichen has never coaxed anyone since he was a child. It's always others who rush to curry favor with him.
*
When Luo Wan came back, it was already evening.
Originally, she was too lazy to explain to the Crown Princess because she felt it was unnecessary, but the Crown Princess gave her the hand warmer, implying that an explanation was needed. Since the Crown Princess needed it, Luo Wan went.
The Crown Princess expressed her understanding. After all, Miss Xu was best at getting along with everyone.
As soon as I stepped into the mansion, I smelled bursts of fragrance coming from the backyard. When I got to the backyard, I saw Jiang Cichen and Xie Yan setting up a barbecue grill.
Chen Nanyuan said in surprise: "Master Xie is back!"
Luo Wan exchanged a glance with Jiang Ci Chen and went back to the house.
Someone immediately dropped the skewers in his hand and followed without hesitation.
Inside the house, Luo Wan took off his cloak and hung it on the clothes rack, ignoring the living person standing beside him.
Jiang Cichen stepped forward and took her hand: "Xie Yan brought a lot of beef and mutton from Yangzhou, let's go and try some together."
Luo Wan never thought of leaving him alone. There were some things she couldn't say, and she didn't know how to express them, so she ended up with this lukewarm attitude, which was not her intention.
The young man held her hand and gently placed it against his warm cheek to provide warmth to her cold hand.
Luo Wan frowned slightly: "Jiang Cichen, can you..."
"Yes." He answered quickly.
"I haven't said what it is yet."
Jiang Cichen bent down to look her in the eye and said softly, "You speak, I listen."
It's impossible to say I wasn't angry at all. But facing such a handsome face, such affectionate eyes, and such a sincere apology, any anger I had instantly vanished.
She could feel that Jiang Cichen was not a gentle person at heart, and would throw tantrums once he got angry. For example, when Jingshi dragged her into a shabby house and picked out a portrait of a noble lady, he got so angry that he went back to his house and threw things.
But Luo Wan is not really an eighteen or nineteen-year-old girl after all, so she naturally would not get angry with the twenty-year-old Jiang Cichen over a trivial matter.
"From now on, be more restrained and respect my wishes." Luo Wan looked into his deep pupils and saw the little self in them. "Did you hear me?"
Jiang Cichen nodded seriously: "Then don't ignore me in the future."
"I'm not ignoring you."
Jiang Cichen complained: "You have said very few words to me in the past two days."
Luo Wan said, "Neither you nor I are talkative people."
"Didn't you notice?" he said without any context.
"What did you find?"
"I have a lot to say to you as soon as I see you."
"..." Luo Wan said, "You are trying to trick me."
The aroma of barbecue filled the backyard, even luring the little fox over.
Just as it was about to take a bite of the sizzling greasy skewers, Luo Wan grabbed the little fox. If he had been a step later, it would probably have been burned into a black fox by the charcoal fire.
Chen Nanyuan was concentrating on flipping the skewers of meat. Xie Yan saw the white ball and asked, "Since when did the mansion keep a fox?"
Jiang Cichen said calmly, "I caught him on Hengye Mountain."
Chen Nanyuan grilled the meat and placed it on a plate. He grilled it in large chunks. Xie Yan wasn't particular and usually just ate it straight away, but Jiang Cichen, on the other hand, insisted on cutting the meat into smaller pieces.
During this period, the butler brought over several jars of fine wine from his collection. Jiang Cichen did not drink it all in one gulp, but he did not sip it in a pretentious manner either. He was reserved but not lacking in heroism.
He filled a plate with neatly sliced meat and handed it to Luo Wan. He then took the restless little fox out of her arms and stuffed it into Xie Yan's arms.
The little fox was restless in anyone's arms, so the housekeeper finally ordered the servant to take the little fox away.
The bright moon hung in the night sky. After everyone finished their meal and left, Jiang Cichen finally got permission to sleep back in the master bedroom.
Luo Wan looked at the moon through the window lattice, lost in thought, and suddenly asked, "Have I ever told you that I was reluctant before? Why did you suddenly change your mind?"
Jiang Cichen looked at her steadily: "No."
Luo Wan's eyes flickered. "During those days when I was comatose, I seemed to have dreamed of you. When I was alone, you were the only one who appeared before me."
It seemed to be a scene from the previous life: the deserted and dilapidated Tingyu Tower, a bright moon, and the only person who could be called "Your Majesty".
*
After the autumn harvest, the soldiers returned to the camp one after another and continued to train during the winter without slacking off for a single day.
Jiang Cichen never hid Luo Wan away, and often took her to visit the streets and alleys of Yunjing, appreciating paintings, listening to music, and spending money like water.
If they had nothing to do in the mansion, the two of them would sit by the fire and play a game of chess, of course, avoiding Chen Nanyuan first.
The housekeeper felt sorry for the flowers and trees in the yard that had frozen to death. Jiang Cichen couldn't bear to see a man of his age looking so sad, so he ordered people to transplant a large batch of them.
The little fox seemed to be very dissatisfied with General Lingyun's Mansion. It escaped over the wall several times. Chen Nanyuan took people out to look for it several times.
The most dangerous time was when the little fox was hung upside down on a rack by the butcher and was about to be skinned. Fortunately, Chen Nanyuan arrived in time.
Since then, he prepared an iron cage for the little fox and locked it up when he was not teasing it.
One day, a father and daughter came to Yunjing and set up a martial arts competition in the street to find a husband. The girl was beautiful, and many people came to try their luck, but they all failed.
Xie Yan had been bored in Yunjing recently and was itching to fight, so he went up to fight without understanding the situation. After he won, the girl wanted to marry him, and he was so scared that he quickly used his lightness skills to run away.
With the guidance of a kind-hearted person, the father and daughter found General Lingyun's mansion. Xie Yan was hiding in the mansion and refused to show up.
In the end, it took the steward a lot of negotiation and some money to settle the matter.
The days passed slowly and peacefully, and the year passed quickly.
A golden light shone on the snow, which seemed particularly dazzling. As the weather warmed up, the snow slowly melted under the sunlight.
After half a year of peace and quiet, it was time to go to war again.
Xie Yan returned to Yangzhou first and took Chen Nanyuan away with him.
Yangzhou was only defended and not attacked, and most of the troops and food supplies went north to attack Jingzhou and Lin'an.
Jingzhou and Lin'an are very close to each other, so troops must be dispatched simultaneously, one to hold back the enemy while the other launches a full-scale attack. If they are not simultaneously contained, and the two cities are allowed to support each other, the Yun army will easily be caught in a situation where it is attacked from both sides.
Everyone in the government and the country knows that this battle is not easy to fight, and no one is willing to take on this tough task.
It was a foregone conclusion that Jiang Cichen would lead his troops to attack Lin'an, but the decision on who would lead the troops to hold back Jingzhou had not been made yet, and a fierce dispute broke out in the court over this.
But it was all due to selfish party struggles, and Emperor Yun saw it clearly.
In the end, it was Crown Prince Xiao Ce who requested troops to go to war.
In the past, when Jiang Cichen was in charge of the Northern Kingdom, he often clashed with the generals of the Yun Kingdom, including Xiao Ce.
At that time, the Northern Kingdom was at its peak, with strong soldiers and horses, so it was naturally easy to defeat the Yun Kingdom.
On the day of the expedition, the weather in Yunjing was exceptionally clear. The sky was a clear blue, cloudless, yet a gentle breeze blew, making the battle flags flutter and billow like clouds.
Xiao Ce put on his armor and reined in his horse, standing side by side with Jiang Cichen. Recalling the past, he couldn't help but sigh, "I never thought that one day I would be able to fight side by side with you."
A few years ago, before the battle line of the two armies, they had glanced at each other hastily across the heavy armor, without exchanging a single word, only facing each other with weapons.
"Back then," Jiang Cichen stared straight ahead, "why didn't you tell me the truth about my parents' death?"
Kunyi put such a big hat on Yun Guo's head, but Yun Guo did not send anyone to reveal a single detail to Jiang Cichen.
Xiao Ce shrugged his shoulders and said helplessly: "If I told you that back then, would you have believed it?"
Jiang Cichen was silent for a moment, then said frankly, "No."
He has always respected Kunyi as his elder. His childhood growth experience can be divided into three parts: the Jiang Mansion, the military camp, and the Princess's Mansion.
He also firmly believed that his parents died at the hands of the Yun people. If someone from the Yun country had told him the so-called truth at that time, he would have only sneered and thought it was a clumsy counter-espionage plot.
"Look, even if we could do it all over again, we would still fight each other." After a pause, Xiao Ce continued, "Some roads can only be seen clearly after walking them yourself."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
