Chapter 265 The Great General
Two days later.
It was a rare opportunity to attend the morning court session, and there were no matters in court that required his attention. Zhao Yunjing just wanted to hurry back for lunch. As soon as he stepped out of the main hall, a voice came from behind him: "Lord Zhao, please wait!"
Zhao Yunjing paused, and could only console himself that it was fortunate it wasn't the emperor who had summoned him, otherwise he would have rolled his eyes to the heavens.
Maintaining a polite smile, Zhao Yunjing turned around and saw that it was Minister Xu from the Ministry of War. He was slightly surprised, after all, the Hanlin Academy and the Ministry of War did not usually have much contact. Even when he discussed matters with the emperor, there was no one else from the Ministry of War except for their vice minister.
So when Lord Xu suddenly came to call him with an embarrassed smile, Zhao Yunjing wondered if Lord Xu had encountered some trouble.
Thinking this, the smile on his face became more genuine: "Lord Xu."
Lord Xu blushed even more, and waited until there were no more people around before stammering, "Lord Zhao, I would like to ask, how is your relationship with your parents lately?"
The question was abrupt and somewhat impolite. Anyone else would have been angry, but Zhao Yunjing was a reasonable person. He wasn't angry or offended; he just found it strange: "Lord Xu, please speak plainly."
"My wife told me that Madam Zhao said she wants to go on a trip and travel all over the beautiful landscapes of the Great Liang Kingdom. So I wanted to ask if there's some misunderstanding between you and Madam Zhao, or if there's some unpleasantness between Doctor Zhou and Madam Zhao..."
"So that's what it was about."
Zhao Yunjing smiled: "The idea of sending my parents on a trip was proposed and planned by Ah Jiao and me. My parents have worked hard for most of their lives, and it's time for them to fulfill their own wishes. Before, they were afraid to be themselves because of other people's opinions. Ah Jiao said that the bravest and most blessed people are those who are true to themselves. Once they start being themselves, others can only envy them. My parents only realized this in the last two days."
Lord Xu was silent for a moment, then said, "Master Zhao and Madam Zhao are naturally blessed; they are your parents, which is an immense blessing. As for others—"
“You’re wrong. It’s my blessing to have parents like them.” Zhao Yunjing patted the other’s shoulder. “Madam Xu is beautiful and intelligent, and she’s good at both home and work. You’re lucky too.”
Lord Xu originally intended to subtly ask Zhao Yunjing to keep an eye on the women in his household and prevent them from leading others astray. After the tea party that day, Madam Xu's emotions had become unstable. Not only was she always reading, but she had also been talking about many things from her childhood. Until today, when he went to court, Madam Xu directly confronted him, saying that she wanted to travel the world with Madam Zhao and the others. He was furious and ordered her to be locked in the inner quarters and not allowed to go out.
But after talking with Zhao Yunjing, Lord Xu felt that he was a terrible person. On the way back, he kept thinking about what happened before and after his marriage to his wife. The more he thought about it, the more guilty he felt. So when he got home, he didn't even drink water and went straight to his wife to apologize.
The couple had an open and honest conversation, and they learned each other's bottom line and true thoughts. Their relationship continued to grow stronger. However, in the end, Mrs. Xu couldn't let go of the huge Xu family and put her own wishes aside, thinking that she would wait a few years until her daughter-in-law was in charge of the household before going to visit.
Half a month later, when Uncle Zhao and his wife, along with the Duchess of Wei, left the capital, Madam Xu secretly went to see them off. As the procession walked further and further away, she regretted it. She knew that if she didn't seize this opportunity, she would never have another chance.
After the Zhao couple left the capital, only Chu Jiu and Shi Ba remained at home. Shi Ba was already twelve or thirteen years old. She originally wanted to go with them, but her medical skills were not good enough, so she had to stay with Zhou Mu Jiao to continue learning. In addition, only Xiao Jiu remained in the Zhou family.
To make it easier to take care of him, Zhou Mujiao simply had Xiao Jiu move to the Zhao family's house. Anyway, he usually lived at the academy and had a break every two weeks. In the past, he would spend all his time at the Zhao family's house except for sleeping. Moving here would be more convenient.
With Zhu Yan and the housekeeper looking after the family, and Jiang Wuyu also taking care of things, nothing could go wrong, so Zhou Mujiao was very relieved. However, no matter how busy she was with work, she would go home for a meal every three or four days and chat with her children.
Without adults supervising them at home, the children were initially a little unaccustomed to it, especially Shiba, who would always subconsciously look for her mother. After three or four days, they didn't feel it anymore. There was food and drink at home, and they had a lot of homework. When they were unhappy, Zhou Mujiao could talk to them about their feelings. It was quite nice.
So she put away the three-page letter and replaced it with a few simple words: "Have fun, don't worry."
After receiving several letters with similar content, Aunt Zhao finally felt relieved and, following the original plan, headed south along the route taken by Zhao Yunjing and his promotional team to see if the Jiangnan region in March was truly as beautiful as it seemed.
Time flew by and it was already the end of the year. Zhou Mujiao received Lingnan specialties sent back by Aunt Zhao. For the Spring Festival that year, the palace did not prepare a banquet. Instead, following Zhao Yunjing's suggestion, it prepared New Year's gifts and allowances for each official, so that everyone could have a family reunion.
As for Zhao Yunjing himself, he stayed in the palace for three days after the New Year's Eve dinner. When he came out on the third day of the New Year, Xiao Wu and Feng Wei's letter had just arrived.
Each person opened a letter, and the couple read it at the same time, then looked at each other simultaneously.
Zhao Yunjing said, "Congratulations, Xiao Wu became a general in just one year."
Zhou Mujiao also smiled: "Congratulations, your plan to unify the world with the Emperor can be launched two years ahead of schedule."
After saying this, the two looked at each other and smiled, but they also knew that from today onwards, they would face more separations.
The clarion call for the unification of the world by Li Chang'an, the monarch of the Great Liang Kingdom, was first sounded from the direction of the northern desert when the Great An Kingdom once again harassed the northern border. The young general, who had just turned sixteen, personally led his troops into battle, winning battle after battle, and heading straight for the palace of the Great An Kingdom. In just three months, he conquered the Great An Kingdom and turned it into one of the prefectures of the Great Liang Kingdom.
The second bugle call came from General Tang in the north. General Tang was a very experienced general, and with the assistance of his young generals, he took over the entire northern border in just five months.
The third bugle call came from the southern battlefield, where Prince Li Changyi of Anding personally led the charge. He took a month longer than Xiao Wu to pacify the Baiyue Kingdom.
The fourth bugle call was sounded by Meng's army. He struggled with it for a bit longer, taking eight months.
With simultaneous attacks on four battlefields and victories on every front, the great undertaking that was originally planned to take three years was accomplished in just eight months, and it only took a year for everything to settle down.
The retired emperor returned to court, patted Li Chang'an on the head and said, "Chang'an, you are more capable than your father. Very good, excellent!"
Li Chang'an understood that it wasn't because he was particularly capable, but because the retired emperor had paved the way well, the people he left behind were excellent, and most importantly, he had Zhao Yunjing.
Zhao Yunjing is truly an auspicious omen for the Great Liang Kingdom!
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