Chapter 151 Chapter 151 Dingnan Jiedushi stayed behind and led his relatives to enter...
The emperor really doesn't want to wait any longer. Wu Renyou is dead. If he doesn't take this opportunity to take Hexi back into his possession, will he wait for the Dangxiang people to unite again, continue to harbor dissenting ambitions, and occupy the five states?
Originally, the emperor really wanted to follow Pang Wenzhen's strategy, using both kindness and force against the Dingnan Army, and proceeding slowly.
However, Wu Renyou, who had served as the governor of Dingnan for more than ten years and was quite influential in the tribe, just expressed his intention to return to Chen to his brothers, but some of them refused to obey and dared to secretly collude with the Hu people. After the matter was exposed, they even killed Wu Renyou.
The government knew that although these Dangxiang people had changed their surnames to Han ones, they were still uncivilized barbarians at heart who behaved like beasts.
What else is there to say? The army has arrived in Xiazhou. Those who can relocate should relocate. Those who are unwilling to relocate must be Wu Renli's accomplices and should be eliminated.
At the beginning of June, Wu Cong'an led his relatives to the capital and offered five states of land, expressing his willingness to live in the capital with the Wu clan for a long time. After the government rewarded him handsomely, it also gave official titles to his obedient uncles and brothers.
Everyone in the Ji family thought that Liu Lang would finally come back this time, but they had to wait until the weather turned cooler and August came. Fang Ying was already very ill before they finally welcomed him back.
When Mrs. Li saw her son, she was relieved to see that although he had an unshaven beard and a dark face, he looked stronger than when he left. She asked him a few questions and told him to go back to his room to wash off the dust and come back later.
He also left Hong'er, who didn't recognize his father, behind so that the young couple could go back and talk in peace.
Fang Ying and the other person left the main room. Ji Yanlang looked at her bulging belly and sighed, "Finally, I'm back before you give birth."
Fang Ying had been feeling a bit teary-eyed and tearful since she saw him. Now, hearing him say this, besides feeling teary-eyed, she also felt a bit aggrieved: "I'm still talking about it. Hong'er can't even recognize you."
Ji Yanlang touched his beard and said with a smile, "It will be fine after shaving."
He stretched out his hands, supported Fang Ying and walked slowly back, asking her how she was feeling and whether the pregnancy had caused her any pain.
When Fang Ying sent him some clothes in June, she also brought a letter with her, but she simply said that everything was fine at home and the fetus was safe to reassure him, but she didn't go into details.
"My waist has been hurting badly these days, and my legs are very swollen when I wake up in the morning." Fang Ying held her waist with her back hand and said as she walked, "I remember when Huai Hong'er was there, my waist was tired, but it didn't seem to hurt like this."
Ji Yanlang also put his hand up and asked with concern, "Is the fetus bigger? I remember that in the same month, Hong'er, your belly didn't seem this big then?"
Fang Ying said, "Not only is my belly bigger, I'm fatter too." She was troubled when she mentioned this, "My appetite has also increased. I don't even dare to eat my fill."
"You can't not eat enough, right? Didn't your letter say that Imperial Physician Cao came to Xijing? Didn't you ask him to come and see you?"
Imperial Physician Cao was the same one who had previously seen Fang Ying. He had only been summoned to Xijing in May. Fang Ying nodded and said, "I've seen him, but I'm worried the baby might be too big to deliver."
She had checked it, but she didn't mention what the imperial physician said. Obviously, the imperial physician still told her to eat enough, but Ji Yanlang also knew that her worry came from the concubine in the third room who died in labor because the fetus was too big.
He said, "Don't be afraid. Now that I'm back, I can just walk with you more often every day."
"Don't you need to go to Xiazhou anymore? A few days ago, Uncle Wu heard that half of the imperial guards going to quell the rebellion would stay in Hexi to garrison. Mother was a little worried, afraid that you would have to stay there too."
Ji Yanlang asked with a smile, "Is mother the only one worried?"
Fang Ying glanced sideways at him: "Who else do you want to make worry?"
"No, no." Ji Yanlang said quickly, "I hope you don't worry."
Fang Ying said, "Why should I worry? Wherever you go, the child and I will follow."
Ji Yanlang felt a surge of emotion in his heart, but he smiled and said, "I can't bear to let you and the children go. There's a desert to the north of Xiazhou, and the wind and sand are extremely strong. Look, my face is rough."
"Of course it's better not to go if you can."
"We're not going," Ji Yanlang said. "But my cousin and his army have all stayed. The court has also dispatched 10,000 troops there to build forts. I heard they're also going to relocate Han people there to cultivate wasteland."
The two returned to the room while talking. Xing Niang reported that the hot water was ready, so Fang Ying told Ji Yanlang to take a bath first. "I can't serve you now, how about calling..."
She wanted to ask a maid to wash Ji Yanlang's hair, but he said first: "I will wash it myself. You just need to lean over to talk to me."
Fang Ying followed his lead.
After Ji Yanlang entered the bathtub, Fang Ying leaned against the bed in the inner room and told him about the recent situation at home: "Fourth Mother and her family arrived in May. The Duke of Ju's Mansion hosted a banquet, and Mother took me with her."
"They are legitimate in-laws, not outsiders, so it would be nice to go and have some fun."
Fang Ying laughed and said, "It's strange. Huai Hong'er always wanted to go out for a walk back then, even just to go to the riverbank and enjoy the breeze. But this time, she was too lazy to move and didn't want to go anywhere."
Li saw that she was particularly inactive and was afraid that she would be bored at home, so she specifically asked her to go to Liu's house for the banquet.
"Really?" Ji Yanlang was surprised. "Even this will change?"
"Yeah, before you left, you said we should go out and play again. I was still willing to go out then, but after... around the time the news of the Xiazhou rebellion reached the capital, I became increasingly lazy."
Ji Yanlang found it very strange. He couldn't help but stare at Fang Ying's belly for a few times and said, "Could it be that she is a quiet and inactive daughter?"
Fang Ying reached out and stroked her belly, smiling, "It might not be related to this." Then she remembered, "Oh, Sister Hehua is pregnant too."
"Really? When did you find out? How many months?"
"My second sister-in-law wrote to me last month saying that he's about... five months old now, so he should be three months younger than us." Fang Ying paused, then continued, "My second sister-in-law told us not to worry. She's already asked the people at the farm to take good care of him."
Ji Yanlang calculated the date and asked, "Will the birth take place in the twelfth lunar month?"
"It should be."
Ji Yanlang was very happy. No matter whether the baby was a boy or a girl, the Deng family would have a successor.
The two chatted for a while. After Ji Yanlang took a bath and put on his clothes, he went to the outer room to wait until his hair was dry and combed into a bun. Then the couple went to their mother's room together.
He had been away for three or four months and had finally returned. Of course, he would have two tables of banquet in the evening to celebrate the reunion.
Fang Ying now eats small meals frequently and feels heavy, so she only stayed at the table for a while before returning to her room early.
Ji Yanlang drank a few more glasses with his two brothers until Fang Ying was so sleepy that she yawned.
"Are you sleepy? Why don't you go to bed first?" he said as soon as he saw Fang Ying as he entered the room.
Fang Ying replied lazily, "If you don't come back, I'm going to sleep."
Ji Yanlang came over and sat down, picked up the half-finished cup of water in front of her and drank it in one gulp. He asked Lichun to pour him another cup, and then said, "I've been getting impatient for a long time. Third brother is really talkative and drunk. He has said sourly many times that I have made great contributions in suppressing the rebellion. The government has recovered Hexi and it is a time for celebration. I will reward you according to your merits and give you at least a promotion of three levels."
"Level three?" Fang Ying laughed. "Third uncle, how dare you say that."
Ji Yanlang snorted, "He probably thought I was just like him, that after a few compliments he lost his compliments. He took it seriously, and in the end he didn't get promoted to level three. He'll be a laughing stock."
After saying that, he suddenly remembered to ask Fang Ying: "He hasn't done anything ridiculous in the past few months, right?"
"No, after you left, Third Uncle wrote a long letter to Father admitting his mistakes and promising to mend his ways."
Ji Yanlang scoffed, "Repent your past? I think you're trying to coax father into finding him another official position, right?"
Fang Ying smiled and said, "Isn't this good? With this matter hanging in the balance, even if he pretends to mend his ways, he'll be able to keep quiet for a few months."
Ji Yanlang was still a little unhappy, because since the third brother had made this gesture, his father could not ignore him and would have to find him an official position sooner or later.
He took two sips of the water Lichun had poured, and suddenly an idea came to him. "Northwest China is in need of people, and there are many vacancies. What do you think about asking father to send him to Hexi?"
"I'm afraid Uncle San doesn't want to endure the hardship and won't go."
"Isn't he jealous of my achievements? How can one achieve success without enduring hardship?"
Fang Ying laughed and said, "Even if you can coax Third Uncle to go, what if he relapses and causes trouble..."
"You don't have to worry about that over there."
"Why?" Fang Ying asked curiously.
"Because the governor of Xiazhou is strict in his military discipline, and he looks down upon a general like my third brother."
Fang Ying burst out laughing, but continued, "How can you talk about your brother like that?"
"He can do anything, so why should I say anything?" Ji Yanlang, under the influence of alcohol, said bluntly, "He deserves to be thrown into a place like Xiazhou to hone his skills."
Does this mean that since you can't manage your own family well, you want to send them to someone else for strict discipline? But Ji Yanchang is not stupid. Knowing that life in the northwest is hard, how could he be willing to go?
Fang Ying thought that Ji Yanlang was just talking, but who would have thought that after the court awarded him a reward and promoted him to a higher rank, Ji Yanchang was really moved by his words.
"Those commanders who stayed in Xiazhou and were originally at the same level as me all received more generous rewards than me. Some even received two promotions. I pretended to regret it and said that I should have stayed in Xiazhou earlier."
Ji Yanlang described it to Fang Ying in a vivid way: "Third brother pretended to comfort me, saying that I was still young and there would be plenty of opportunities to make merit and be rewarded in the future. I said, that's right, wait until you are born, and then I will try to transfer to Hexi next year."
Ji Yanchang was very puzzled. The five states had been recovered, and there would be no military achievements to be gained if he went again. Wouldn't it be just suffering?
"We have apparently recovered the Five States, but the Wu clan is not the only one in the Five States. The other powerful Tangut clans are unwilling to return to Dachen."
Ji Yanlang deliberately lowered his voice, as if he was discussing something confidential: "There's still a fight to be done later, otherwise why would we need to leave so many troops to guard this place?"
Ji Yanchang was immediately tempted. It seemed that the north was only defending and not attacking, and the government's attention was on Hexi. If he wanted to be promoted based on his military merits, he would have to go to Hexi faster.
"He asked me a lot about Xiazhou. I deliberately asked him if he wanted to go there, and then said that the governor was difficult to deal with, the local people were fierce, and the foreign soldiers were very dissatisfied with us."
Ji Yanlang laughed as he spoke, and Fang Ying couldn't help laughing as well, saying, "Now that you mention it, Third Uncle will have to go."
"I'm telling the truth." Ji Yanlang said with a wicked smile, "He always thinks the worst of me, who can he blame?"
At about the same time, Ji Yanchang was also saying to An, "He's just afraid that I'll get to Xiazhou first and make great contributions. Humph, why should he take all the benefits? I'll write a letter to father right away."
He was very anxious and wrote three letters to Zhenzhou in a row. Finally, he got his father's approval. Shortly after Fang Ying gave birth, he was appointed as the head of the Imperial Guard and went to Xiazhou to serve.
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