Chapter 37: Shouyang Whenever she thought of her in that dangerous place in Shouyang Village...
"That's impossible. I'm telling you, don't dream about it. If the sky falls, your master and I will hold it up. It's impossible for you to lead a charge. Go back and have a rest."
Yin Yuzhen turned a deaf ear to Chai Heng's words and just wanted to send her back.
Chai Heng didn't intend to leave, but simply stood there stubbornly. It was unclear who she resembled in this temper. Yin Yuzhen was helpless and became anxious: "What on earth do you want to do?"
"I want to lead a team to rescue a dozen herdsmen. Master, you and Master can stay on Furong Mountain and rest for a few days."
"How long can we rest? There's trouble in Xirong again. Your master and I still have to go there." Yin Yuzhen looked at Chai Heng, feeling both angry and amused. He wanted to slap her away, but couldn't bear to do it.
"Every day of rest is a day of rest." said Chai Heng.
Yin Yuzhen was so angry that she wanted to kick her out. Second Senior Brother Zhou Jun, standing nearby, quickly tried to smooth things over: "Master's Wife, why don't you let Junior Sister give it a try? I'll go with her and watch her. Nothing will happen."
"My junior sister inherited the swordsmanship from you and Master. Didn't she return safely after spending so long with that Yang in Xirong? We've grown up and can handle things on our own. Master's Wife, please trust us just this once. We can help you out."
It is unknown when the order from the court was issued, and the military power that was previously returned to the saint has not been returned by the saint yet, but it will probably be returned in the next one or two days.
At this moment, the couple really needed to stay on Furong Mountain and see what the court required them to do next.
Prince Jing sighed. After hearing Zhou Jun's words, he decided to give the two juniors a try. "Yuzhen, why don't you trust Ah Heng and Ah Jun just once? You and I can't protect them forever. If they want to do it, let them try. With Ah Jun around, nothing will happen to Ah Heng."
Yin Yuzhen was still worried: "On the battlefield, swords and spears are blind. What if the Western Rong people use their numbers to bully the few?"
Normally, she wouldn't think too much when she went out on a mission, but when it came to the children she had raised, she would inevitably be extra cautious.
Prince Jing asked Zhou Jun and Chai Heng to go out first: "I'm here to talk to your master's wife. You should go back and rest first. It's getting late." As he said that, he put his arm around Yin Yuzhen's shoulders and began to persuade her slowly.
Chai Heng left his master and mistress's room, feeling somewhat depressed.
Today, when Cui Miao passed by Chen's shop at the foot of the mountain, he specially bought her favorite lotus root starch cake. After finishing his shift, he returned to the mountain early and waited for her to come out of Prince Jing and his wife's room, but she was greeted by a frown.
"After returning to Furong Mountain, I felt that you were happy every day, at least happier than when you were trapped by Lord Yang in the Marquis' Mansion. Why are you like this again today?"
Cui Miao, carrying the lotus root powder cake, climbed onto the roof with Chai Heng.
Just like before, she liked to stay on the roof whenever something bothered her.
"Because I'm human, I'm afraid. Because I'm afraid, I'm unhappy today." Chai Heng smiled helplessly. When she was first reborn, she followed Yang Yan to Xirong and had a vague feeling that some things in this life would be different. But at that time, she comforted herself that change was a good thing. Maybe Furong Mountain would not suffer again in this life, and maybe Master and Master's wife would not die.
This was what she thought when she left Shangjing and returned to Furong Mountain.
It wasn't until the commotion in Xirong started again over the past two days that she began to fear. She was afraid that the accelerated process in this life would be the death warrant for Furong Mountain and her master and mistress, and she was afraid that everything in her previous life would repeat itself.
But she had no way of telling Cui Miao about these worries. After all, she couldn't tell Cui Miao that she had died once, so she only briefly talked about the changes in Xirong and her worries about the health of her master and his wife.
Cui Miao listened carefully to her words, and when he heard her say that she was going to the border to rescue the dozen or so captive herdsmen for her master and mistress, he couldn't help but feel a little worried about her:
"I understand that you're worried about Prince Jing and his wife, but it's very dangerous for you and your second brother to go to the border together, even if you bring a team."
"Can I not go?"
Cui Miao was silent for a moment, and finally asked nervously.
Chai Heng shook his head. "I'm going. I can't bear to see Master and his wife running around at such an old age. They're not in good health, so every day they can rest is a day."
"But if something happens to you..."
Cui Miao wanted to say, "If something happens to you, I'll be worried too." But that sounded too corny, and he couldn't bring himself to say it, so he wound up saying, "If something happens to you, the people around you will be sad."
His words suddenly reminded Chai Heng of Yang Yan.
After returning to Furong Mountain, she actually rarely thought of him anymore. When she was in the capital, she often dreamed about some of the things that happened when she was with him in her previous life, both good and bad dreams. But when she arrived at Furong Mountain, she deliberately made herself forget that past experience, and gradually she rarely thought of him anymore. But Cui Miao's words suddenly reminded her of the time in her previous life when she secretly followed her master and his wife to the battle. At that time, Yang Yan said something similar when he dug her out of the snow, but his tone was not so good.
"My only relatives in this world are my master and his wife. If anything happens to them, there will be no difference between me being alive and being dead. Cui Miao, I know you are worried about me, but you have to believe me, I will be fine." Chai Heng lowered her head and patted the dust off her skirt.
Maybe it's because they feel that when it comes to talking about life and death, all topics have become too heavy.
She didn't want Cui Miao to worry about her too much. She added, "I won't die so young. When I return from the Western Rong border, I'll tell you and we can continue hunting in the mountains."
Cui Miao knew her feelings for Furong Mountain and Prince Jing and his wife. He had no right to stop her, so he said, "Then you must be careful in everything you do. Once you have brought the herdsmen safely out of Shouyang Village, as soon as you see the post station, write to me to let me know you are safe."
"good."
Chai Heng nodded and readily agreed to Cui Miao.
*
Peace hadn't lasted long before war broke out again, which was not a good thing for the court. The Ministry of Revenue had just allocated funds for flood control last month, and this year's taxes had not yet been fully paid by the local governments. The treasury was empty, and finding money to give to the Ministry of War was no easy task.
In order to raise funds for the Ministry of War, Li Chang, the Minister of Revenue, has complained to Chu Mingjing in Wenhua Hall no less than hundreds of times in the past few days.
"There's only so much money in the treasury. I'm the Minister of Revenue, but I can't just make money out of thin air!"
"There's a war going on at the front lines, the situation is tense, and the soldiers need food and armaments. I know that. But we can't allocate that much money at once, Lord Chu. Look at the attitude of the Ministry of War. Is it my fault that the treasury has no money? Today we were supposed to solve the problem, but the Ministry of War coldly told us to find a solution ourselves and see enough money to buy three months of food within three days. How am I supposed to find a solution?"
"Look, we agreed to discuss this matter in Wenhua Hall today, but the Ministry of War hasn't sent anyone yet. When Lord Zhou was the Minister of War, he was always friendly. Why is he so different now?"
Li Chang kept mentioning the "Ministry of War" but never dared to mention Yang Yan's name. In reality, his complaint was about Yang Yan's ruthlessness. They were both officials in the court, colleagues, yet he simply refused to show any respect.
Although Chu Mingjing was Yang Yan's teacher and the cabinet's chief minister, he had felt unable to manage his student for the past two years. Furthermore, the situation in the Western Rong region was changing rapidly, and the war on the front lines truly required money. Yang Yan's pressure on the Ministry of Revenue was not entirely unreasonable. Given the Ministry's procrastinating approach, if they didn't put pressure on him now, they wouldn't receive food and fodder. When a war broke out, the soldiers would starve.
Chu Mingjing was old and felt a little tired after standing for so long. He found a chair and sat down, coughing lightly. "No matter how empty the treasury is, we can always scrape together enough money to fight a war. Go back and discuss this with your minister."
Li Chang originally wanted to come to Chu Mingjing to complain and ask him to discipline his students properly, but who would have thought that he would only receive these words in return.
"Lord Chu, you are Lord Yang's teacher. Why don't you try to persuade him to turn a blind eye? It's not that we don't want to provide the military equipment and food, but we just can't provide so much at once. When the front line needs it, we will naturally send it." Li Chang wiped the sweat from his forehead and spoke carefully.
Chu Mingjing: "Although I am Yang Yan's teacher, I also know that he never accepts being controlled by others. If he doesn't have enough food and grass now, he will be controlled by your Ministry of Revenue in the future. He won't agree to this, and this old man is powerless to do anything."
"Then, Lord Chu, could you please call Lord Yang over so I can talk to him in person? He won't meet with us now. If we don't meet, how can I explain the difficulties our Ministry of Revenue is facing?"
Li Chang sighed.
Chu Mingjing thought that it was useless to meet.
Yang Yan's mind will never change just because of a meeting.
"He is now in the Qinzheng Hall, conferring with Your Majesty. He has been there since the court session ended today. I don't know when Your Majesty will speak with him. You'd better wait."
Chu Mingjing was not going to interfere in these matters, but he still pointed out a clear path for Li Chang.
Li Chang understood and decided to stay in Wenhua Hall for the moment, waiting for Yang Yan to come out of Qinzheng Hall.
The sky was pale blue, and a few birds were perched on the glazed tiles at the angles above the palace eaves. Inside the Qinzheng Hall, the aroma of ambergris lingered.
Yang Yan knelt in the hall with his eyes lowered.
"Do you think it's inappropriate for me to let Chu Yanhuai be the head coach?"
"Yang Qing, this Great Qi will not fall apart without Prince Jing. Chu Yanhuai may be young, but how do you know that his strategy in ten years won't surpass that of Prince Jing and his wife?"
"Prince Jing and his wife have made great contributions to the Great Qi, but why can't they be led by Chu Yanhuai in this battle?"
Broken pieces of cups and porcelain lay on the ground. The sage coldly regarded Yang Yan. He had once thought this young man was intelligent and calm, a good candidate to assist the future emperor, and that was why he had promoted him all the way. But who would have thought that at the critical moment, he would actually side with Prince Jing.
Yang Yan said calmly, "Your Majesty is absolutely right, but Prince Jing and his wife are already old. If they were to obey the orders of an unknown young general, it would be a disgrace to the Jingnan Army and would only shake their morale. So I hope Your Majesty will reconsider."
"Think twice?"
"Whoever shakes the morale of the army will be executed. Why should I think twice?"
The sage sneered and looked at Yang Yan, "Do you think I need to think twice, or do you think I am too old to be the emperor?"
After hearing this, Yang Yan's eyes dimmed: "I absolutely do not have such intention."
"You have no such intention? Oh, I actually forgot that you used to be Furong Mountain's son-in-law." The saint seemed to have suddenly realized something, and his smile became even colder. "As a fellow minister of mine, I think you are not clear-headed enough. Lu Shichu from the Ministry of Justice is much clearer than you. This morning, I proposed to make Chu Yanhuai the commander-in-chief at the morning court, and he didn't say anything!"
"Yang Yan, you must remember who promoted you to this position! I value talent and want someone who can assist the future ruler. But if your heart is not on my side, I can promote you, or I can kill you at any time."
The memorials on the table were thrown to the ground casually by the saint.
After saying this, he seemed extremely tired and beckoned Li Dehai over: "Take Lord Yang out and have him kneel outside the hall for twelve hours. Think carefully about who is the master."
Then he added, "Yang Qing, since you are so supportive of Furong Mountain, I will appoint Chu Yanhuai as the commander-in-chief and Prince Jing and his wife as deputy commanders. You will go to Furong Mountain to announce it."
Yang Yan narrowed his eyes and said, "Yes."
*
The lights were bright in the Pingling Marquis Mansion.
Yang Yan has not returned since he went to court yesterday. Zhou Jiu sent someone to ask about it, and was told that his master was kneeling outside the palace as punishment.
Zhou Jiu was extremely worried and asked a few more questions. He then learned that it was because of the matter between Furong Mountain and Prince Jing. He was constantly worried that the emperor would change his mind and change the punishment of kneeling to imprisonment. That would be bad. It was not until this moment, seeing Yang Yan return with a slightly exhausted look, that he finally felt relieved.
"My lord, you are back. I asked the other servants in the mansion to go to Doctor Bai to get some blood-activating and blood-stasis-removing ointment. Let's apply some on the knee first."
"No need." Yang Yan waved his hand. Instead of applying the medicine, his mind was now full of the thought of sending someone to the Imperial Guards early tomorrow morning to find Chu Yanhuai.
"Tomorrow morning, at noon, go to the Imperial Guards and find General Chu Yanhuaichu. Tell him that the Sage wants him to be the commander-in-chief of this expedition to the Western Rong. If he wins, the fame will be his, but if he loses, the blame will be borne by Prince Jing and his wife. He was appreciated by Prince Jing when he first joined the army, and he has said that he wants to repay Prince Jing and his wife's kindness. Now that the Sage has given him a smooth path, ask him if he will step on the flesh and blood of his benefactor to rise to the top, or give up this opportunity and rely on himself one day in the future."
"Okay, but sir, the saint has just come to you. If Lord Chu goes to the saint tomorrow out of gratitude and says he doesn't want to be the Grand Marshal, wouldn't that be too deliberate?" Zhou Jiu asked.
Yang Yan said calmly: "It was intentional, but there is nothing we can do about it."
The day he knelt outside the Qinzheng Hall made his mind particularly clear. If he simply went to Furong Mountain to announce the decree, allowing Prince Jing and his wife to continue leading the troops and take the Jingnan Army to attack the Western Rong, he naturally had nothing to refuse.
But he removed Prince Jing and his wife from their positions as Grand Marshal of the Army and made them serve as deputies to Chu Yanhuai. If he announced such an order, he would know without a doubt that Chai Heng would suspect that he was the one who was obstructing the process and doing it on purpose.
There are already so many misunderstandings between him and Chai Heng that he can't stand any more trouble.
Therefore, he would never announce such an edict, but the saint had made up his mind, so he could only start with Chu Yanhuai.
"Will General Chu give up such a great opportunity?" Zhou Jiu was a little worried.
Yang Yan: "Others won't, but he will."
In his previous life, when the saint forced the merits of the Jingnan Army onto Chu Yanhuai, this stubborn boy even went to the palace and made a big fuss.
This time, he naturally would not allow the saint to use him as a tool to humiliate his benefactor.
After Yang Yan finished speaking, he thought that as long as Chu Yanhuai went to see the saint tomorrow, the saint would be forced to hand over the military power and the seal of the Grand Marshal to Prince Jing and his wife because there was no one else available in Da Qi. Then, he could go to Furong Mountain to announce the decree, and while doing so, he could also see Chai Heng. This way, he would kill two birds with one stone, and today's kneeling would not be in vain.
As he thought about this, he immediately instructed Zhou Jiu: "After you go to see Chu Yanhuai tomorrow, come back immediately. Take Xiangqiao with you to the market to buy some things that Madam usually likes."
Although she didn't like the people in the capital, there were still many other things in this place that she was used to.
For example, the rouge and powder from Qibaozhai, the sachets from Liji Shop, and the short blades made in Chengjia Blacksmith Shop.
"Buy everything?"
“I buy everything.”
Zhou Jiu suddenly remembered what Yang Yan said when Chai Heng just left: "Life can be lived without anyone, I don't have to hang myself on a tree with her." How could life really be lived without anyone?
How can two people who have been married for such a long time really break up cleanly?
"You still miss your wife." Zhou Jiu said.
Yang Yan rarely said anything stubbornly: "Yes, I miss her very much."
How could I not miss her? The person I'd shared a bed with for over a decade now really didn't want me anymore. As soon as I closed my eyes, all I could think of was her.
Only when I thought that she was still living well, staying well in Furong Mountain, and living well with Prince Jing and the others, would the little worry about her in my heart be alleviated.
"You will be able to see the lady in a few days. Talk to her nicely. Even if you can't be husband and wife, you can at least be friends." Zhou Jiu said.
yes.
You'll see him in a few days.
On the way back from the palace, he wondered if she would be happy to see him. Would she welcome him like she had when she saw Cui Miao, or would she be as happy as if she had seen a ghost?
Yang Yan didn't know and didn't dare to think about it.
*
From the capital to Furong Mountain, Yang Yan rode in a carriage that was almost as fast as horses all the way, so he arrived at Furong Mountain earlier than the deadline set by the saint.
After entering Furong Mountain, he did not see Chai Heng, the first person he saw was Cui Miao.
"Master Yang? Are you here looking for Chai Heng? She's been gone for days, heading to the border, and she hasn't sent a single letter yet."
Cui Miao went to the post station every day, hoping to receive a letter from Chai Heng reporting his safety as soon as possible, but as the days passed, he did not receive a single letter, and he could not help but feel very anxious.
He couldn't show his anxiety in front of Prince Jing and his wife, because Prince Jing and his wife had been very worried these days. Only when he suddenly saw Yang Yan could he reveal a little bit of his worry.
Yang Yan: "Where did you say she went?"
"The border, Shouyang Village. Calculating the date, we should be there two days ago." Cui Miao led Yang Yan into his room. Although he had a delicate relationship with Yang Yan, Yang Yan had rescued him from a fire when he was in the capital. So Cui Miao was still very polite to Yang Yan and poured him a cup of tea.
When Yang Yan heard that Chai Heng had gone to Shouyang Village again, he had no appetite for tea at all.
In his opinion, she was lucky to have accompanied him back from Xirong alive. This time she traveled thousands of miles there again, which was no different from committing suicide.
"She went alone?"
"No, she brought a team of people, including her second senior brother Zhou Jun." Cui Miao said.
Yang Yan's face became more and more ugly. He also knew Zhou Jun. He had only mediocre skills. Bringing him along would only be a burden to Chai Heng.
Especially since Tuoba Ye, Tuoba Yuan and Tuoba Ying were all different. If they ran into her, they would basically be dead.
"Did she say anything before she left?"
"He didn't say anything, just said he was not afraid of death, then promised me nothing would happen, and then left," said Cui Miao.
Chai Heng has always been like this. Once she makes up her mind, nothing can change it. She is determined to go, and no one can stop her.
But whenever he thought about the dangerous place where she was in Shouyang Village, Yang Yan felt that he would not be able to sleep for the next few days.
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