Chapter 67
◎Two chapters in one◎
But after Pei Shuo's family settled down, Pei Shuo got up early every day to practice boxing and swordplay, and also taught Gu'er and Jing'er how to box. Xin came over to talk to Huiyin, and they felt much more at ease.
Huiyin wrote another letter to Li Cheng, informing him of the arrangements for her brother's family and waiting for his reply.
However, it is said that when the spies on the prince's side found out about this, they were very happy. Pei Shuo was the son of Pei Ye, a famous cavalryman. He had been taught by Zheng Fang for many years and was brave and good at fighting. He was considered a fierce general in Jizhou. Now that he was missing because of his failure to suppress the bandits, how could they not be happy.
Perhaps because she was in a good mood, she smiled when she saw Deyin, which made Deyin feel flattered: "I pay my respects to the prince."
Li Heng helped Deyin up. He had his own yardstick for judging people. For example, Zheng in front of him was neither good nor bad, just like all the women in the harem. If he smiled at them, they would be happy for three days.
But do they really like themselves? No, they like the prince. If the person sitting on the prince's throne is not him, Li Heng, they will love anyone else.
"I've been busy these days and haven't come to the harem. How are you? I heard that you caught a cold a few days ago." Li Heng said casually.
Deyin smiled and said, "I was a little unwell, but now I am well again. I would like to thank you for coming to see me, Your Highness."
Before, when Deyin had just gotten married, Li Heng was very gentle to her and was good at talking. He could almost say the next sentence for every sentence she said. But now, the two of them didn't know what to say.
Because Deyin was becoming more and more numb, many things seemed unable to resonate with her. She could no longer be as natural as when she first entered the palace. Now that Li Heng came to her, she was even trembling with fear, fearing that if she said a wrong word, the servants would suffer.
In fact, she knew in her heart that Yunzhi betrayed her, most likely because of Lianzhi.
Of course Li Heng also found it boring. Moreover, Deyin was getting older and seemed to be numb, which made him feel dull.
Even when the two of them were having a meal together, she couldn't taste the food as if it were wax.
Fortunately, she carefully asked for her grandmother, Mrs. Xu, to come visit, and Li Heng agreed. This was the only comfort she could get.
After meeting Deyin, Madam Xu first criticized Ji's mother and son, saying, "If I were to say that this child is not a biological child, then it's different. Pei Shuo ran away with someone, and now the relationship between your father and brother is not as good as it used to be."
"He left? Could he have gone to seek refuge with Prince Huaiyin?" Deyin guessed it immediately.
In his previous life, Pei Shuo helped the prince conquer the world because Huiyin married him, but he died in the end.
Madam Xu thought to herself, this is an internal matter of my family. Even Ji and Zheng Fang only told her privately and asked her not to spread it to others, otherwise it would easily shake the morale of the army. How did Deyin know about it?
But seeing Madam Xu's expression, Deyin couldn't help but laugh and said, "It's obvious that Pei Shuo won't return to Hedong. His father died a long time ago, and his clansmen are busy taking care of themselves, so how can they have the time to care about him?"
Seeing that her granddaughter had guessed it, Madam Xu no longer concealed it: "Yes, he went to Xuzhou. I said that although Li Cheng took advantage of the death of the King of Wei to occupy the land, he is just a young man, what can he do? In the past, he relied on the King of Wei and really regarded these as his own abilities."
"Grandmother, do you mean that Li Cheng did not assist the son of King Wei?" Deyin remembered that Li Cheng was very loyal to King Yuzhang in his previous life, and the reason he died was because he helped King Yuzhang conquer the world.
How come this life is different?
Madam Xu also understood this point: "The King of Wei is only his uncle, not his master. The current Prince of Yuzhang is young, and who would be willing to have an elder brother assist his younger brother? Even Pei Shuoye is unwilling to assist Heng'er. He is from the same mother. Your father raised Pei Shuoye. The King of Huaiyin and the King of Wei are one level apart."
What else could Deyin say? In fact, she had always thought so, but she had no say in front of Li Cheng. Li Cheng doted on Yin Lijun, who was originally the daughter of a small clerk. Her sister Yin Lifang was lucky enough to give birth to Prince Yuzhang. She was so spoiled that she was always submissive to Li Cheng.
"Grandma, does the Prince of Huaiyin have a concubine?" Deyin suddenly asked.
Madam Xu didn't want her granddaughter to be sad, so she just said, "It's common for men to have three wives and four concubines, so how could the Prince of Huaiyin not have one? I heard your father say a few days ago that he wanted to marry the daughter of Governor Song of Yanzhou to Li Cheng. Who knows, she might even be a concubine at that time."
When she said this, Deyin breathed a sigh of relief and thought to himself, the world is as black as crows.
But Madam Xu asked again, "How is Yunzhi's little hoof?"
"During the birth season in early spring next year, the prince treated her indifferently, even worse than the singer mentioned earlier." Deyin also found it strange that the prince only favored those low-class people, while both Wei Liangdi and her were favored for a while and then let go of them.
Madam Xu said, "If you ask me, Yunzhi is just a servant of our family. Although she has risen to a high position, she can never become a phoenix. Now that she has given birth to a child, she is incapable of taking care of the child. You don't have to get angry with her. Just let her make a fool of herself while the prince is here, and the prince will take care of the child."
In Madam Xu's opinion, if servants who betrayed their masters were not punished, how would Deyin be able to control the servants in the future? Wouldn't everyone in Liangdi's room rebel?
Let's not talk about how the grandfather and grandson discussed it. Three days before Huiyin's letter was sent, Li Cheng came back. Yanzhou asked Guo Zhao's Yuzhou to help, and they made a thunderbolt move. Song Laoer took his daughter and ran to Wei Duo, so he let others occupy Yanzhou.
When he came back, he saw Huiyin and said, "I think Wei Duo will definitely confront this old man. I'm afraid there will be a fierce battle in the future."
Seeing that he was exhausted, Huiyin helped him wash up first. The couple talked about private matters in the bathroom, such as Pei Shuo's coming to seek refuge and bringing a message. She wiped the water off him and then asked, "What kind of bandit do you think he is to have such a thing in his hands?"
Li Cheng closed his eyes and rested, enjoying his wife's service. After listening to her, he said, "This does seem strange. Now your brother has come to me. I have heard of his reputation. Don't worry, I will use him well."
"Although he is my brother, this territory is yours, and you have the final say on how to employ people. But my husband is the best at knowing how to employ people, so don't show favoritism, which will cause chaos in the army." Huiyin said.
This is reasonable. Pei Shuo came to Xuzhou with his 300 troops from the Pei family. These 300 people were his personal soldiers. Huiyin asked the chief secretary to properly arrange for them to stay outside the city. After Li Cheng finished bathing, he thought of these things and was about to do them, but was stopped by Huiyin.
"Look at you, you're so quick to act. I've already asked someone to prepare some wine and food. Eat some first, and I'll have someone come over later."
When Li Cheng saw Huiyin's brother coming, she still put herself in charge and felt relieved. Some girls don't know what kind of love potion their parents have given them, but they only care about their parents.
So he agreed.
Huiyin had someone prepare the meal, all of which were Li Cheng's favorite dishes, and she also accompanied him to eat.
"These shrimp balls are fried crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. They are served with coriander soup. It's light and tasty. Try it." Huiyin served them in a small bowl and placed it in front of him.
Li Cheng took it, tasted a meatball, and somehow he started laughing again.
Huiyin was still puzzled: "What are you laughing at?"
"I am laughing at why so many people are trying to seduce me with their beauty. They all think that wine and women cannot seduce me." After Li Cheng finished speaking, he glanced at Huiyin.
Huiyin knew that he was confessing his feelings in a roundabout way, so she didn't say anything sarcastic. She just smiled and said, "You are a hero, you won't be fascinated by these things." After that, she held his hand again and said, "But I know you are doing this for me."
If it wasn't for her, why would he make such an excuse? Men usually accept such things.
Whether it was her father or her husband in her previous life, they were all like this. Li Heng loved Lu Xiao, but Lu Xiao was dead. She was just a woman. She didn't want this kind of love.
After saying that, she looked at Li Cheng. Li Cheng was embarrassed and just focused on eating, but the pink on the tips of his ears revealed his mood.
After Li Cheng finished his meal, he handed her another list. Huiyin led people to open the warehouse and asked people to check all the gold and silver jewelry, antique calligraphy and paintings, and boxes that Li Cheng brought. Among them were large and small pearls and jewelry. She had to make a list for each one to make jewelry for the New Year.
While she was busy, Li Cheng had already met Pei Shuo, "Uncle, please sit down."
Pei Shuo said to Li Cheng: "I want to join my brother-in-law, but I am afraid that he has too many talented generals under him. I really am -"
"Uncle, why do you have to say this? I have heard of your talents. Most of my subordinates are good at sailors, but few cavalry. It's a good thing that you are coming here. For me, it's like a blessing after a long drought." Li Cheng was very happy.
Pei Shuo was very happy and knelt down immediately: "In the future, I will obey your orders."
Li Cheng was pleased to have a good general, but was afraid that his brother-in-law would be too proud and would not listen to his orders. Seeing Pei Shuo kneeling down and sincerely serving him, the two talked about the situation on the battlefield. As a general of Jizhou, Pei Shuo also knew a lot about Yanzhou, and he had many contacts in Beijing, so this information was exactly what Li Cheng needed.
At that moment, Li Cheng gave a mansion to Pei Shuo and his wife, and said that his own army was in need of a center forward, so he asked Pei Shuo to employ the center forward and choose a day to meet with the other generals.
People like Pei Shuo, who came here with great difficulty, were most afraid of being left alone. Now that he had heard Li Cheng's words, he felt relieved and felt that he was being valued. He spoke to Li Cheng from the bottom of his heart.
Now the King of Huaiyin no longer owns only Xuzhou like before. He also owns Yuzhou, Yanzhou and half of Qingzhou. A good minister must meet a good master.
However, Xie Jiuyi was very worried because he almost lost Nanjun. But he heard news from Xuzhou that Li Cheng had recruited Pei Shuo under his command.
Yin Liyi didn't understand: "Pei Shuo was doing well in Jizhou, why did he come to Xuzhou again? Is he unlucky?"
"It's easy to imagine that he is Zheng Fang's adopted son. Although he is valued, he is always inferior to his own brother. Moreover, the Zheng family already has a daughter married into the Eastern Palace, and now they are joining the Prince of Huaiyin. I'm afraid they are also thinking of making the most of him." Xie Jiuyi said.
Yin Liyi asked again: "What about Pei Shuo's ability? Do you know?"
Xie Jiuyi said: "I heard from the rumors that he is a brave and decisive person, loyal and reliable, and brave and good at fighting."
"I never thought that such a powerful general would be captured by him again." Yin Liyi felt vaguely uneasy.
Xie Jiuyi smiled and said, "Don't think that Li Cheng has taken over Yanzhou now, and he will be in big trouble soon. Wei Duo will not let him go."
"I don't understand. It's okay for him to take over Yuzhou?" Yin Liyi didn't understand.
Xie Jiuyi shook his head: "Wei Duo has the ambition to dominate the Central Plains. He now has Bingzhou, Silu, Nanyang County, Nanxiang County, and Xiangyang County. He has long regarded Yanzhou as a piece of meat on the chopping board. In the future, whether it is to conquer Qingzhou, Jizhou, Xuzhou, Yuzhou and other places, Yanzhou is the key. But now, except for Jizhou, the rest are occupied by Li Cheng. Jizhou is also his father-in-law's home. If Wei Duo loses Yanzhou, he will lose his barrier."
In fact, Yin Liyi couldn't even read the divination map clearly. She just heard what Xie Jiuyi said and said, "If he can't win, then we can take the opportunity to take back the land he occupied before."
In their view, these lands were taken by Li Cheng when the King of Wei was in power. These lands belonged to the King of Wei. Li Cheng had occupied them for a long time, and seeing that the Prince of Yuzhang was young, he took over the land on his own.
Xie Jiuyi smiled and said, "It's not a skill to take it down, it's a skill to hold it."
After Pei Shuo was given a title, the crown prince in the capital soon learned about it. He looked at De Yin, who was making tea, and said, "Why did your brother go to the King of Huaiyin?"
Deyin wanted to smooth things over, but she thought she was walking on thin ice in the palace, so she should distance herself from the matter, so she said, "This brother was originally brought by my stepmother when she remarried. I have never been close to him since I was a child, and I really don't know what you are talking about. But he and my sister, the Princess Huaiyin, are from the same mother, so naturally their relationship is not as good as others. I often heard from my grandmother that he was depressed and frustrated."
"He ran away like this, could it be that he wants to join a famous master who looks down on me?" Li Heng glanced at Deyin.
Deyin quickly knelt down and kowtowed "bang bang bang".
When she had finished drinking, Li Heng said, "This matter has nothing to do with Liang Di. You can get up. I know your father's loyalty."
Deyin, however, found the palace increasingly unbearable. She blamed her family for never helping her and for making her live in fear in the palace, unlike David's father, who was loyal to the king.
As soon as she finished saying this, she was slapped in the face. Before the Chinese New Year this year, Li Heng participated in ice skating as usual. He is an ice skating expert and he also needs to meet good people when skating.
But he never expected to be stopped by Wei Duo, who said: "Prince, you must not lose your ambition by playing with things."
"Prime Minister, I selected these people simply because I thought they were interesting and I just want to keep them by my side," said Li Heng.
Wei Duo was very strong: "The emperor has been ill for a long time. If the prince plays too much, others will think that the prince is disrespectful to his father and the emperor."
Li Heng went back with a grudge, but he didn't dare to say anything to Wei Liangdi. Deyin wanted to say something from her heart, but when she looked around, she saw that they were all palace maids sent by the palace, so she didn't dare to do so.
Deyin was not convinced. Why was Wei Duo so rude to Li Heng, and Li Heng didn't dare to do anything to Wei Liangdi? She was considerate and submissive to the prince, and her father also helped the governor of Jizhou, but she was rejected by Li Heng?
Now Li Heng treated her more and more like a servant. Then she heard congratulations that Zhou Chenghui had given birth to a daughter. The prince was very happy and Empress He had already intended to raise the child.
Yunzhi finally gave birth to a daughter. She recalled that when Deyin and the prince were reciting poems a few days ago, she deliberately asked her about the allusions, but she didn't know how to do it. She was also afraid that her daughter would be sent to Deyin after she was born. She was her old master, and she didn't know how to treat her child after she saw her betrayal. Fortunately, the empress raised her.
Normally, when a grandmother raises her granddaughter, the granddaughter can all become self-reliant, or like how Madam Xu raised Zheng Deyin, she was so thoughtful that she gave all the furniture to her granddaughter.
She was originally a humble person, but her daughter was raised by the queen and had a bright future. As a mother, she was also benefited by the success.
Everything is going wrong for Deyin, who blames everyone and everything, but Huiyin is extremely happy.
This year, my brother will be with me for the New Year. My sister-in-law Xin has had a good relationship with her since she was a guest at the school. Besides, she is not the kind of wicked girl who would compete with her sister-in-law for the position in my brother's heart. We get along well.
"Look, sister-in-law, this is a pair of antique bronze colored flower vases, which can be used to display famous paintings and calligraphy, and are perfect for my brother's study. And this antique display stand is really elegant, so I'll let someone take both. And this large fish-shaped chime ornament can be placed in the room for you to play with." Huiyin smiled and pointed at several things for Xin to see.
They will be able to move into the new house after the new year. The house has three entrances and three exits and an exquisite little garden. No matter how good the relatives are, they will easily have conflicts if they live there for a long time.
Xin originally thought that it was too rash to move south like this. She was a meticulous and smart person, but her husband always had the final say at home, so she didn't dare to interfere. Now that she saw that Li Cheng and his wife treated them kindly, she looked forward to moving to the new home.
Outside, Gu Ge'er and Xian Jie'er were playing with Jing'er, Zhan'er and Guo Zhao's son Guo Xing. Guo Xing was Guo Zhao's son. He was smart and clever, but also very sensible. He knew when to play with a group of children.
The aunt and sister-in-law looked through the window at the living room and saw that everyone was throwing themselves into the pot together without running around.
"Princess, I think the boy from the Guo family is really good. He is only a few years older than my boy Gu, but he is so sensible." Xin said.
Huiyin nodded: "Yes, he is a very stable child, not at all like a seven or eight-year-old child. Sister-in-law, I have something to tell you."
Xin said seriously, "Princess, please speak."
"There's no need to be so serious. I'm saying that you just arrived and others don't know your character. Xuzhou is an area of war. We just separated from the King of Wei. There are many spies trying to gather military information. You have to take good care of the house. If you have nothing to do, bring the children over to play." Huiyin warned.
As for other interpersonal relationships, it was not Huiyin's business to instruct Xin. Xin placed her entire life on Pei Shuo. If Pei Shuo was capable, she would naturally be honored by her husband. However, if Pei Shuo wanted to gain a foothold here, he had to win the trust of Li Cheng with his real abilities.
Now that Li Cheng has given Pei Shuo an opportunity, it depends on how he establishes himself.
Xin secretly pondered Huiyin's words and went back to tell her husband. Pei Shuo also said to her, "When we go to the new house, we don't need too many servants, but we don't want those with problems. In the past, Dad only took over Jizhou, and Jizhou was difficult for me to manage. Now that the prince is fighting in the south and the north, the territory is so large, how can I not do my best? I must go to Yanzhou, and if we write letters, don't mention military information."
The couple discussed it together, and Xin said enviously, "The gifts from my aunt are so many that I can't even touch them, but she doesn't care at all. Everyone looks at her. I think she is more majestic than Empress He."
Pei Shuo liked to hear this. If his sister really became the empress one day, his future would be more than this.
Not to mention how lively the Chinese New Year was, after the New Year, Pei Shuo's family moved to a new house. Pei Shuo followed Li Cheng to train soldiers outside. He was a cavalryman and came from a martial arts family. He had rich experience over the years and was also a fierce general under Li Cheng.
Li Cheng prepared a martial arts competition at the beginning of spring. Pei Shuo actually tied with Yuwen Dang, a subordinate of Li Cheng. However, Yuwen Dang's extraordinary strategy also impressed Pei Shuo.
The men have their own world, and the women get along well with each other. The Huiyin that Xin had originally seen at her parents' home was not the type of person who meddles in other people's business. Apart from being nice to her relatives, she was average to outsiders.
Nowadays, she marries wives in the east and has children in the west. As long as someone comes to her for help, she will help.
The noble ladies here seem to revolve around her, and her status is even higher than that of Ji's in Jizhou. You have to know that in Jizhou, when mother-in-law Ji gets angry, everyone has to look at her face, but here, everyone trusts my sister, and waits for her to make the decision when there is something, and she always makes people convinced.
Unexpectedly, just three months later, Wei Duo returned from Shangjing with an imperial decree to attack Li Cheng, and Li Cheng was about to go to war again.
"It's just spring, the seeds haven't been planted yet, and last year's harvest was poor. Will there be enough food and fodder when you go there this time?" Huiyin asked.
Li Cheng shook his head: "That's not it. Wei Duo is older than my father. He also started from humble beginnings and has a lot of experience. This is a fierce battle. If I win, my prestige will increase greatly. If I lose, I'm afraid that everyone around me will gang up on me."
Huiyin smiled and said, "You have extraordinary talent. You used to be inferior to others, but now you are the master of your own house. I believe in you."
"Well, I was a little scared at first. That was because when my father was around, he felt that this guy was difficult to deal with. Now that it's my turn, I should fight him with all my strength." Li Cheng said this with a mixture of nervousness and joy.
Huiyin adjusted his armor for him and said, "I admire your decisiveness. You are not like others who are hesitant and miss opportunities. But sometimes, slow things down and you will succeed. Here, keep your breast protection on."
"Okay, I'll go now." Li Cheng strode out, otherwise he would be reluctant to leave his wife.
Pei Shuo was also going to go with them this time. He was full of confidence, while Xin was very nervous. Li Cheng breathed a sigh of relief and looked as if he was sure of victory, which greatly boosted the morale of the soldiers below him.
However, the Guo family in Wei had been dissatisfied since Xie Jiuyi came to power, especially in Wu County. The original tax was collected by them, but they gave it to Li Cheng. They were really dissatisfied. Before Xie Jiuyi gave the order, their scouts knew that Li Cheng was going to Yanzhou to fight with Wei Duo, so they took the opportunity to take back Wu County.
When the troops were dispatched, Xie Jiuyi learned about it. Yin Liyi saw that he was panicking and couldn't help asking, "What's wrong with you? Although the Guo brothers will be arrogant after conquering Wu County, it's really a good thing if they can beat the small one?"
Xie Jiuyi frowned: "You underestimate Li Cheng. I'm afraid his brothers will suffer."
"He has gone to Yanzhou, how can he take care of it?" Yin Liyi didn't believe it.
Li Cheng, who was still in Yanzhou, curled his lips when he heard about this. They were really courting death. Wujun and Xuzhou were adjacent to each other. Even for Huiyin's safety, he could not easily let these people attack him.
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