Chapter 57
◎Two chapters in one◎
Yin Lifang, who was also in Jianye, was also worried about her mother and sister. Her cousin Lijun's marriage was imminent, and her mother happened to remember that there was a cousin in her mother's family in Yuzhou who was both talented and handsome. Her uncle's grandson was just one year old, so she took this opportunity to go back. How could she have known that such a thing would happen? Yuzhou actually went to war with Xuzhou.
As the saying goes, when war rages for three months, a letter from home is worth ten thousand pieces of gold. Yin Lifang was a concubine of the second rank, and it was not easy for Princess Wei to go back to her parents' home, let alone for her to deliver a letter to the front line.
Princess Wei comforted her: "I think your Yin family has a deep relationship with the young prince. Your sister married Mr. Xie, and he is also a close friend of the young prince. He will not stand by and watch you die."
In the eyes of Princess Wei, there is nothing to worry about. Prince Huaiyin is a subordinate of Prince Wei, and the Yin family is Prince Wei's in-law. Even if Prince Huaiyin has nothing to do with Concubine Yin, he should try his best for the sake of Prince Wei. Otherwise, if Concubine Yin's son becomes the crown prince in the future, Li Cheng will not be able to afford to offend him.
Perhaps there was some rift between Li Cheng and the King of Wei. The King of Wei's wife discovered it subtly and her attitude towards Li Cheng changed slightly.
Concubine Yin was currently worried and had no time to pay attention to the attitude of Princess Wei.
When she was little, Madam Yin treated her the best. She was not as pretty as her younger sister, and her personality was not as likable as her younger sister. When she was in Prince Wu's Mansion, praised her for being honest and thoughtful, except her mother, who said that everyone she was too sensible because she was forced to be so.
It was because of my good mother that she adopted my cousin as her own daughter and treated her completely as her own.
Of course, my mother's trip to Yuzhou was also to take Li Yi out for a walk. Her brother-in-law was just taking a concubine from a merchant family, but she was so confused that she didn't believe him even though he said in a letter that he had never touched Cao. Instead, she got angry. At first, Mrs. Xie was indifferent to Cao, but she knew how to behave. Cao's family was from a merchant family, and she had so much dowry, but she gave her some unique and elegant little things, which didn't offend her, or she would do some needlework to send.
At first, Madam Xie refused to give anything to Yin Liyi because she was a concubine, but she still sent things to Yin Liyi, and even copied Buddhist scriptures for her and made shoes for her. Last time, when Yin Liyi's eldest daughter fell into the water, she jumped in and saved her. Since then, Madam Xie could no longer be hard on her.
Yin Liyi saw these changes and was anxious, but she was powerless to change them. Frankly speaking, Cao did not do anything out of line to win favor. She called her a sister, was very respectful to Madam Xie, was polite to her, and even took good care of her son and daughter.
It's just so good.
Perhaps in Yin Liyi's eyes, a concubine only flirts with a man, that is the real fight for favor, but Cao Shi had never even consummated her marriage, and she did not go around flirting with Xie Jiuyi. Moreover, Xie Jiuyi was in the army, so even if she tried her best, Xie Jiuyi would not be able to see it.
But Madam Xie's transformation made Yin Liyi feel that one day Xie Jiuyi would be slowly taken away, and she became unhappy. Madam Yin went to Yuzhou to take her daughter out to relax.
Unexpectedly, they were so unlucky that when they arrived in Yuzhou, they didn't expect that the two sides would go to war.
Compared to Concubine Yin's worries, Old Lady Xie has also been nagging about it for a long time. She and Yin Liyi have been mother-in-law and daughter-in-law for several years. Yin Liyi is a person who doesn't have too many thoughts and is warm to others. Old Lady Xie's relatives from her mother's family like her very much. So Old Lady Xie was originally disrespectful to Cao, but gradually she felt that Cao was not easy either, but she did not change her face towards Yin Liyi. How could she know that Yin Liyi would encounter these things when she went out?
Even though she heard Madam Xie talking about Yin Liyi, Cao didn't show any dissatisfaction on her face. Instead, she said, "Madam, don't worry. I think my sister is blessed by heaven and will be fine."
Madam Xie said to her unhappily, "It's easy for you to say that."
Even though Old Lady Xie said this, Cao did not get angry. She said calmly, "I have known my sister for a long time and I think she is a noble person. Don't worry, my brother has business in Yuzhou and can help me find out something."
"Are you really willing to help?" Mrs. Xie looked at her.
Cao smiled and said, "Why not help? I am a humble woman, a merchant. I should not say this, but I dare to marry you because you are so kind-hearted. If you were someone who is not easy to get along with, where would I have a place to stay?"
Old Madam Xie thought so too. Yin was a clean-cut person, and she didn't have such deep scheming. Otherwise, during all these years when she was in charge of the family, Yin didn't even have the thought of seizing power. If it was someone else, let alone Huaiyin Princess Zheng, she was born beautiful and affectionate, and had deep scheming. She coaxed the little prince into not recognizing her grandmother, and even abandoned her cousin, and drove out the old servants that Concubine Wu used to use, and Li Cheng's wet nurse.
If it were Zheng, Cao might not even be able to get in the door, and even if they did, they would probably be tortured to the point of fleeing in fear.
Therefore, Mrs. Xie had a better impression of Cao, but she did not show it.
It is also said that Li Cheng was arranging the troops. He always ate and lived with the soldiers and never sought special treatment. Although it was Yuzhou that took the initiative to stir up trouble now, Li Cheng had done in-depth research on Yuzhou.
Yuzhou is on the edge of Xuzhou, which is different from Qingzhou. Qingzhou is above Xuzhou, and next to Qingzhou is Yanzhou. Yuzhou is located between Xuzhou and Jingzhou. If Yuzhou is captured, Jingzhou and Xie Jiuyi will be in a pincer attack if they go south.
"Commander-in-chief, the spies reported that the Yuzhou army may have set up an ambush in Dongxia."
"No wonder they are trying to make a feint to the east and attack in the west. It turns out they have set up an ambush long ago. Don't panic. Let's have our artillery and catapults ready. I will fight them personally when the time comes." Li Cheng is not afraid of them.
Long before Li Cheng trained as a naval officer, he had been looking for craftsmen to make weapons. He knew that if you want to do your work well, you must first sharpen your tools. However, these weapons were very expensive and all came from his private treasury. After his wife came into the family, he saved a lot of money every year, and he invested almost all of it in this.
If he could conquer Yuzhou, he would occupy Xuzhou, Yuzhou and half of Qingzhou in the future. You should know that Yuzhou is also a grain-producing area, so his territory would be even bigger. He might not have to rely on others in the future, because all these were conquered by his men, without relying on anyone else for a single blow or a single kick.
In conclusion, Li Cheng put on his armor, mounted his horse and touched his breastplate. This breastplate was given to him by his wife. She really cared about him and treated him like a little kid.
It was inevitable to get injured in the battle, but Huiyin was worried about himself, so there was nothing he could do, so he had to wear it.
In fact, he originally had a heart-protection mirror, but it was rejected as too fancy and impractical, so he replaced it with a bronze one. This was also a sweet burden from his wife.
Zhang Song of Yuzhou was originally a subordinate of Lu Wei and served as the governor of Yuzhou. After Lu Wei's death, he started to set up his own family and chose Li Cheng in the first round. To him, Li Cheng was already his grandson. He probably relied on the subordinates of his father, King Wu, and thought Li Cheng was a child.
Furthermore, if he took Xuzhou, he would occupy an important stronghold. If the King of Wei and Zhao Hongweiduo were both defeated, he could go south to occupy Jiangnan. Jiangnan is a good place, a first-class prosperous place.
But he was wrong. Li Cheng was not only smart and capable, but also very good at deploying troops. After two rounds of fighting, Zhang Ruo was defeated.
Li Cheng didn't just want to defeat him, he also wanted to take the land of Yuzhou, so after Zhang Ruo ran away, people thought Li Cheng would be quiet, but unexpectedly he caught up with him.
"Oh no, this guy wants my Yuzhou." Zhang Yu reacted.
His subordinates said, "Governor, Li Cheng is young, but he is very cunning. We set up an ambush but he figured it out."
Zhang Yu stretched out his hand to stop him from speaking. "Fortunately, I was prepared. I didn't intend to threaten women. After all, I didn't expect to lose. Now I brought the mother and daughter of the Yin family here."
Before this, Zhang Ruo knew that Yin's mother and daughter were coming to Yuzhou, so he asked someone to invite them to the governor's house to play, just in case.
Upon hearing this, the conspirator clapped his hands and laughed, "This is a good move, Governor. You really plan carefully before you act. Madam Yin's daughter gave birth to the King of Wei's eldest son, and she also has another daughter who is the wife of Xie Jiuyi. With them in hand, I'm sure Li Cheng will definitely not dare to come over."
Zhang Ruo also felt that he had foresight.
However, it is said that after Madam Yin and the sisters Yin Liyi and Yin Lijun were placed under house arrest by Zhang Ruo, Madam Yin cried every day: "It is all my fault that you have been harmed."
"Mom, please don't say that. Who knew this man Zhang would be so capable?" Yin Liyi was better than her mother. After all, she was the sister-in-law of King Wei and the wife of Xie Jiuyi. If Zhang Ruo really wanted to do something, he would have done it long ago. It would be impossible for him to support them with good food and drink.
The youngest, Yin Lijun, grew up under the influence of her uncle and father. This was her first time encountering such a situation, but she was calmer than her aunt and cousin.
"Auntie, my second sister is right. That common man is fighting with the young prince. No matter what, the young prince will not ignore us." Yin Lijun thought more deeply.
After hearing this, Yin Liyi secretly thought that this was true.
When Madam Yin heard her two daughters say this, she sighed and said, "If I hadn't come to Yuzhou, everything would be fine now."
"Auntie, if you hadn't come, they would have threatened my grandparents. How would we know if they wanted to do something evil?" Yin Lijun was very calm.
Seeing her cousin like this, Yin Liyi couldn't help but sigh: "I usually think you are quiet, gentle, and thin, but I never thought you are so knowledgeable."
Yin Lijun smiled shyly again.
Yin Liyi recalled that when Yin Lijun was a child, she loved playing with her sister Lifang. The two looked more and more alike. When Lijun was a child, she liked to wear red and green. When she grew up, she became like her sister, not liking to wear rouge or dress up. Now, although she is still young, she wears a plain blue bodice, and only a pearl on the buckle makes her look noble.
As they were thinking about it, word came from outside that the governor had returned home, and they looked at each other in surprise.
But it is said that Li Cheng was thinking of taking Yuzhou, and he had already prepared sufficient food and fodder, and it was not just for display.
Just at this moment, a vanguard came to report that Zhang Ruo had sent someone to shoot an arrow at the gate tower. The arrow said that Madam Yin, Yin Liyi and others were in Zhang Ruo's hands. If he knew what was going on, he would retreat on his own. Otherwise, don't blame him for being rude.
Li Cheng held the note and slammed the table in anger: "They were staying well in Jianye, why did they go to Yuzhou?"
He even repeatedly warned Huiyin not to walk around freely. Huiyin would not go far away, even in Xuzhou, and she only went to a few houses. Even so, he sent people to protect his wife, fearing that she would be kidnapped. Unexpectedly, he did not get caught at home, but got caught at the Yin family.
Deputy General Yuwen Dang said, "My young prince, the land of Yuzhou is within easy reach. If you leave, you may not have such a good opportunity in the future."
Everything should be done with a legitimate reason. We are waiting for Zhang Ruo to make a stupid move, why can't we defeat him in one fell swoop? To be honest, they are all Li Cheng's subordinates. Now Li Cheng and the King of Wei are not as close as before. It would be nice if they could establish their own faction.
Li Cheng knew it very well in his heart, but there were some words he could not say. If he said openly that he would not save the Yin family, his subordinates would instead say that he was heartless and ungrateful. Who would truly obey him?
So, after hearing what Yuwen Dang said, Li Cheng pretended to be angry: "This is certainly a good opportunity, but Madam Yin is Uncle Wang's in-laws after all, and Madam Xie is the wife of General Xie. I can't just ignore it."
But the strategist Jian Tan pinched his goat beard and smiled, "Young Prince, if the Yin family wants to be rescued, this war must be fought. It is better to let him hand over the people first. If he refuses to hand over the people in advance, you can fight him."
"Okay, what the military advisor said makes sense." Li Cheng's eyes lit up.
Zhang Suo thought he had a hostage and was unwilling to release him easily, so Li Cheng could find an excuse to attack him. But if Zhang Suo released the hostage, Li Cheng could find an excuse to attack him, because he would have to fight anyway.
Soon Zhang Ruo received a message from Li Cheng, asking him to release the person first. Zhang Ruo snorted coldly: "Does he think I'm stupid? I definitely won't let him go. Tell Li Cheng that if he attacks, I will kill the entire Yin family."
The mother and daughter of the Yin family were extremely anxious. They were still being well-fed and well-dressed by Zhang Ruo. After all, Zhang Ruo was afraid of causing trouble. If the hostages were gone, he would have no leverage to threaten Li Cheng.
"Mom, what should we do? This old man named Zhang just won't let us go." Yin Liyi was very anxious.
Madam Yin was also at a loss: "Yes, the young prince asked him to hand over the person, but he refused."
The mother and daughter were secretly worried.
Seeing Xue Huanhuan coming again, Huiyin said, "The young prince didn't send anyone back, so there's nothing I can do."
In fact, this matter has something to do with her, but she can't do it. If she just turns the door away, it will be equivalent to directly breaking off relations with the Xie family. Now is not the right time.
Xue Huanhuan only suspected that Huiyin was not conscientious, and said: "If this matter had been told to the young prince earlier, arrangements could have been made earlier. General Xie also said so."
"In fact, it would be better to ask General Xie to send it urgently within 800 miles. How can my letter be delivered during the war that has been going on for three months? Just think about it." Huiyin did not stop others from saying it.
Xue Huanhuan said: "You are right, I think so too."
In fact, Xie Jiuyi is now fighting outside, and even the King of Wei is personally on the battlefield. How could he have thought that Yin Liyi went to Yuzhou and asked Li Cheng for help? Li Cheng is fighting with Yuzhou, and Yuzhou is also the territory that the King of Wei once wanted. Xue Huanhuan thinks that Xie Jiuyi can't give up the territory because of a woman, but Li Cheng can. After all, he and the King of Wei are uncle and nephew, unlike Xie Jiuyi, who is an outsider.
But Li Cheng has a good relationship with Xie Jiuyi, so he will definitely help.
Seeing that she didn't continue, Huiyin said that she was tired. After Xue Huanhuan left, Nan's mother and Fugui came in to talk. The two of them scolded the Yin mother and daughter, saying that they were the troublemakers and troublemakers.
"Forget it, let's not talk about him. I heard that the war in Jingzhou is getting worse and even the King of Wei has joined the battle." Huiyin thought that when she was the queen mother in her previous life, the King of Wei seemed to have passed away, but she didn't know when he died.
Mother Nan nodded: "Yes, isn't this what Miss Jiang said a few days ago? She really would rather adopt a child than get married again."
Huiyin understood: "What kind of man with backbone can you get by recruiting? Miss Jiang is a capable woman, so she naturally hopes to find a man with both talent and appearance. But how can such a man be a live-in son-in-law?"
In that case, it’s better not to get married.
But to be honest, adopting someone else's child is not a long-term solution. The adopted child will grow up in just ten years, and Miss Jiang is only in her twenties. When someone else takes charge of the family, she will have no share. This is the most unfair thing in the world. Some men are stupid and foolish. As long as they are men, they think they are better than women.
Fu Gui said, "Princess, let's put her affairs aside. Miss Jiang sent salt to the front line, saying that the young prince beat Zhang Ruo so hard that he peed. If the young prince can occupy Yuzhou, I will say that I don't care about the life and death of the Yin family. It's not us who let her go."
"You understand this principle, doesn't the young prince understand it? He has his reasons for saving them or not." In Huiyin's opinion, Xue Huanhuan came to say that there was no trace of the Yin family, so Yin Liyi and her daughter might have really fallen into Zhang Ruo's hands. Li Cheng probably saved them for the sake of King Wei. Now is not the time to turn against him. The time is not right. If he doesn't save them, then he will prepare to set up his own family.
But no matter which one Li Cheng chooses, Huiyin doesn't think it's wrong.
But she didn't expect that Li Cheng was approaching step by step while asking Zhang Ruo to hand over the people. The Yin mother and daughter still had hope before, but now the three of them were tied up like dumplings, with their mouths covered, and they couldn't even talk to each other.
Outside, Zhang Ruo could be heard cursing, "Damn it, Li Cheng is really a stubborn person. He only chases me and doesn't even care about the women in the Yin family."
Madam Yin and Yin Lijun were about to fall down after hearing this, but Yin Liyi was stunned. She remembered that Li Cheng went down the well to save Li Jing. This time, he asked Zhang Ruo to hand over the person, but ignored Zhang Ruo's threat to kill them. She suspected that Li Cheng didn't want to save anyone at all.
But she always felt that Li Cheng would not do that, just like when they were studying and fooling around together, although Li Cheng said that she was a useless person, he would not let Princess Wu chase them out. Instead, he often gave them delicious snacks.
Finally, Li Cheng forced Zhang Yu to the edge of Yuzhou. As long as he passed this point, Li Cheng would occupy the entire Yuzhou.
When the two armies were at the battlefront, Zhang Yu dragged the Yin family, mother and daughter, out. In fact, he already knew that Li Cheng definitely didn't care about the Yin family. If he really cared, why would he force himself so much? He wasn't afraid that he would kill them.
"Don't come over here. If you come over here again, I will kill them." Zhang Yu said.
Li Cheng chuckled: "I see you don't know who these three people are, and you want to fool me. Zhang Ruo, your death is coming."
Yin Liyi's eyes widened and she was about to speak when she found her mouth was blocked. She was Yin Liyi, and this rude man had made her look so dirty that she was unrecognizable.
At this time, Zhang Ruo said, "Shuzi, you are simply a wolf in nature. You don't even recognize your own relatives. Your uncle has been so kind to you in vain." He asked someone to take the cloth out of Yin Liyi's mouth, intending to let the Yin family speak. Even if Li Cheng took over Yuzhou in the future, he would still be suspected by the King of Wei.
As soon as he took the cloth ball, Yin Liyi shouted, "Little Prince, I am Yin Liyi, the wife of Xie Jiuyi. We grew up together. It was Zhang Ruo who captured me."
She was looking forward to it, but Li Cheng sneered, "What a jerk you are, Zhang Ruo! You are at the end of your rope, but you actually thought of such a way to deceive me."
"Is it really me?" Yin Liyi stamped her feet anxiously.
Li Cheng was not moved. Instead, Yu Wendang beside him said, "Young Prince, you look a bit like Madam Xie."
"He must have done it on purpose. How can people see clearly? Don't listen to this old man's nonsense. Everyone, stop talking nonsense." Li Cheng didn't seem to believe it and just wanted to fight.
When Zhang Ruo saw that Li Cheng was serious about it, he became anxious. Li Cheng really didn't care about this group of people. After all, he might not have even met the women in the backyard many times.
"Wait, I'll send them over so you can watch carefully." Zhang Suo ordered two brave men to put knives on Yin Liyi's heads and force them forward.
At this moment, two feather arrows hit the forehead of the soldier who was holding Yin's mother and daughter. Zhang Ruo knew that he had fallen into Li Cheng's trap, but it was too late now and he just wanted to escape at all costs.
Li Cheng sent a few people to escort Yin's mother and daughter back to the nearest Xuzhou, while he himself led people to chase after Zhang Ruo.
Madam Yin, Yin Liyi, and Yin Lijun hurried on their way. Yin Liyi then realized, "It turns out that the young prince had been prepared. I was scared to death."
"Second sister, didn't you see it? Even if Zhang Ruo killed us, the little prince wouldn't care. Although he pretended to save us in the end, he didn't really take us to heart." Yin Lijun saw clearly that Zhang Ruo was originally planning to kill a man's head to scare Li Cheng, and he was serious about it. Li Cheng didn't send spies to protect them.
Yin Liyi didn't want to think badly of him: "Lijun, what's wrong with you? You always have so many thoughts."
Seeing Yin Liyi like this, Yin Lijun thought to herself, she is really dull, no wonder she is so cheerful all the time and has no worries, yet her only concubine who comes from a merchant family can make her uneasy.
But it was said that when Huiyin met the mother and daughter of the Yin family, she asked Mother Nan to take them to the guest room, prepared a banquet to welcome them, and told them that a boat would be arranged to take them to Jianye in a few days, and each item had a clear time.
Yin Liyi originally had some opinions about Huiyin, but now that Li Cheng saved her, she just let it go for Li Cheng's sake. But she thought that this time Li Cheng occupied Yuzhou, and she didn't know whether the King of Wei would let him become more powerful. people, and she was afraid that he really had some intentions.
Just as she was thinking of this, she saw Zheng in front of her raising her glass to drink, and Yin Liyi also raised her glass quickly.
But a soldier came in hurriedly and said, "Little Princess, it's bad. The King of Wei was killed on the way to attack Jingzhou."
Huiyin was shocked and asked, "What did you say?"
Yin Liyi was also stunned. The King of Wei had passed away, and her nephew was going to inherit the throne?
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