70 Chapter 70

◎First update◎

However, she said that since Li Cheng went to war, she had not heard any news from the front, but she had waited for Cao, who had just married not long ago, and now wanted to call her Second Madam. When she returned home to visit her parents, she specially prepared rich gifts to visit her.

Huiyin had seen her only a few times before, but now she looked as rosy as a peach and as tender as a tear. Knowing that she was newlywed, she must be living well, so she specially gave her two boxes of palace silk flowers and a white jade crown.

Second Mistress Xie stood up and bowed, then said, "Princess, you have been so kind to me, I have no way to repay you."

Although the second son of Xie whom she married was a bit philandering, he knew his limits and respected her as the main wife. The Xie family had many contacts with celebrities in Wu County. Her sister-in-law Qian was greedy and gave her some gold-plated handkerchiefs and gold-plated skirts at will, which pleased Qian. She had a harmonious relationship with the Xie family. Unlike in Xie Jiuyi's family, Yin, who couldn't even speak clearly and was narrow-minded, could become the mistress and was praised everywhere.

He is truly unworthy of his position.

Looking at the Princess Huaiyin in front of him, regardless of her appearance, her speech and behavior are first-class. The objects she gave as rewards are all exquisite and grand, and even a nail is worth a spit.

Huiyin smiled and said, "Just the harmony between you and your wife is better than anything else."

She did not ask about the relationship between Xie's second son and her. People live their lives, and if outsiders say something, even the most loving couples will easily test each other. Huiyin has met Xie's second grandmother's sister-in-law Qian, who is an open and honest woman. If she shows anything on her face, it's like she is dissatisfied with Xie's second son's excessive spending and inviting friends to Qinlou and Chuguan.

But she also really hoped that her younger uncle could make more progress and say to her that Xie Erlang was too idle and wanted to get an official position.

How can the sister-in-law next to her help a concubine brother? It shows that Qian is a good person.

When a woman gets married, her husband is one of her priorities, and she usually lives in the inner court with her mother-in-law and sisters-in-law. For example, Huiyin lived a comfortable life because she didn't have a mother-in-law, but Concubine Wu also gave her a good meal. If she encountered an evil mother-in-law and cunning sisters-in-law, it would be difficult to live a comfortable life. It was not easy to separate the family, so she could only endure it. The word "filial piety" could crush a person to death.

After drinking a cup of tea, Second Madam Xie said goodbye and went back to her hometown with her husband. The Cao family naturally slaughtered chickens and cattle to entertain the aunts. However, Mrs. Cao only asked her daughter in the inner room: "How is the Xie family? Are your sister-in-law and mother-in-law all right?"

Second Madam Xie smiled and said, "Don't worry, mother. My mother-in-law doesn't care about things anymore. It's my eldest sister-in-law who's in charge. She's not a bad person and she didn't set me up on purpose. It's better than my previous family, where they asked me to be nice to them every day. I don't know what's so good about Yin that she can hold such a high position. Forget about them. Your aunt in my in-laws' family is a soft person. Before I entered the house, the maid who served him in his room was sent away by his sister-in-law."

Mrs. Cao put her hands together and said, "Amitabha, this is a good thing."

"Yes, I was worried that there was someone in his room, so I prepared some gifts, but I didn't expect that the people in his room had been sent away. Even the servants in the study seemed to be unrestrained. I think we have endured those difficult days in the past, and now it is very good, mother, let's not talk about this. Whether it is good or bad in the future, it will be better than before." In fact, Xie Erlang also had some unsatisfactory aspects, but not everything can go as planned in the world. It is much better to think this way.

Not to mention that the Cao family was now entertaining their son-in-law, and Xin was pregnant. Huiyin saw that her niece had to go to school and was afraid that Xin could not take care of her, so she took the initiative to bring her niece Xianjieer to the palace to play.

Nan's mother looked at Xian Jie'er's appearance and couldn't help but say to Huiyin, "Look, your cousin looks a lot like our wife."

The lady was referring to Ji. Huiyin took a look and thought it was Ji. She was worried again, "I wonder how my father and brother are doing on the battlefield? My mother must be worried at home."

Nan's mother said, "Since the prince has already led the troops there personally, there must be no problem."

Not only was there no problem, but when Li Cheng saw his father-in-law and brother-in-law surrendering, and seeing that they offered him soldiers, horses, and food, Li Cheng deliberately declined: "I am trying to help my father-in-law and brother-in-law, how can I treat you like this? Who am I? If you treat me like this, won't I be seen as a villain?"

Zheng Fang occasionally had some random thoughts, thinking that if his son-in-law really came to help him, wouldn't he be able to occupy this place in the future? But when he looked at his stepson Pei Shuo, he saw him winking at him, and then he bowed and said, "Since ancient times, a son-in-law is half a son. Now Shi Chong is so powerful, and the banditry in Jizhou is also instigated by this group of people. My father and I are helpless. If the lord does not take us in, we will not get up."

So Li Cheng personally dismounted and helped Zheng and his son up, and then discussed the matter with them.

In fact, Jizhou suffered a famine last year, and the Zheng family was already running low on food and grass, not to mention that Zheng Fang was already weak in determination. Although Zheng Wuheng had the will, he was powerless.

The news that Zheng Fang and his son intended to offer Jizhou to Li Cheng soon spread. Not to mention how furious Li Heng was when he heard it, Xie Jiuyi was also shocked.

"Zheng Fang actually voted for Li Cheng. Did you hear it right?" Xie Jiuyi slammed the table, finding it unbelievable.

The spy said, "It has now spread. Shi Chong of Xizhou, under the order of the crown prince, led 100,000 elite soldiers to attack Jizhou. Zheng Fang and his son went straight to ask for help from the King of Huaiyin. The King of Huaiyin sent troops there, and Zheng Fang obeyed the King of Huaiyin as his leader."

…

After discussing with his staff for a long time, Xie Jiuyi came back exhausted. Yin Liyi was reading a storybook at the time. When she saw him coming back, she immediately asked, "So it seems that the young prince has occupied the land of Jizhou again."

"Shi Chong is coming with great force and may not be able to really occupy Jizhou. However, Zheng Fang has been managing Jizhou for many years. If he turns against him, it will be two families against Shi Chong alone, and Shi Chong may not have a chance of winning." Xie Jiuyi said.

Yin Liyi thought: "Li Cheng is so lucky. The Zheng family even gave him the land. Who would dare to fight with him? I am convinced by him."

Yin Liyi had been very pessimistic about Li Cheng before, thinking that he had mostly relied on the King of Wei to start the rebellion, and as soon as the King of Wei left, he started to make trouble for dividing the family. Now it seems that he had been prepared for this.

"Do you think he is taking advantage of the situation?" Yin Liyi asked.

Xie Jiuyi frowned: "What does this mean?"

"Ever since Li Cheng married Zheng, I have a feeling that he should have been plotting to take over Jizhou. When you attacked Qingzhou, the King of Wei was still in power, and Zheng Fang was his father-in-law, and the two families were related by marriage, but the Zheng family stood idly by. When it came to Li Cheng, he and the Zheng family divided Qingzhou. When you attacked Yanzhou, Zheng Fang's stepson came over, and now he is even asking for the land of Jizhou." Yin Liyi guessed.

Xie Jiuyi didn't think Li Cheng had such great charm: "Then the Zheng family has brothers, how can Li Cheng be called a tyrant? I just think that Zheng Fang loves to stab people in the back, and now Li Cheng thinks he has gained something. Hasn't it been heard that Xiao He makes the difference in success and Xiao He makes the difference in failure?"

Xie Jiuyi was still calmly judging others, not knowing that Wei Duo, because of his failure in conquering Yanzhou, was coveting Jingzhou and Prince Yuzhang's territory. To him, such a large piece of territory was as easy as taking candy from a sack.

Suddenly, Wei Duo's army came southward. Xie Jiuyi had no time to care about Li Cheng. He felt that this place was like a dark cloud. In the past, the King of Wei had all kinds of talents under his command, and he and Li Cheng could discuss with each other, but now they were fighting alone.

As soon as Xie Jiuyi left, Yin Liyi was called to the palace by her sister. The two sisters often talked together and lived a comfortable life.

Concubine Yin Li heard someone crying in the back hall. Seeing Yin Liyi trying to go over, she quickly stopped her and said, "What are you doing? There's no need to go. It's Mrs. Huo who is crying there."

"Why is that?" Yin Liyi has much less contact with the Huo family now.

Yin Lifang had always respected Huo, but Huo had repeatedly provoked her son, and she was a little impatient even though she never said anything bad. Moreover, she glanced at her sister and said, "Wei Duo is about to come and attack us, and she still wants her daughter to marry Wei Duo's son. I can't convince her no matter how hard I try. The princess is a descendant of the dragon and phoenix, so she can marry anyone. Why must she marry the Wei family?"

She could only tell these things to her sister, as Huo was really too stubborn.

Not to mention that Mrs. Huo is stubborn, even Madam Xu is the same.

She came with Ji and Cui, and put Xu in the cramped carriage at the back. She cried all the way, but who would turn around when the pursuers were chasing them?

When he heard that his son had donated the land to Li Cheng, he was even more overwhelmed with tears. He pointed at Ji and scolded her, "You are pushing Deyin into the fire pit by doing this!"

"Madam, we have no other choice." Ji was about to go to her son-in-law. She was used to being the head of the family, so she had to compromise and not know what the future would be like. She still had to look at the mood of her daughter and son-in-law, so how could she mention Deyin?

Madam Xu said, "You don't know. If you really don't know, why would you let your husband lose all the land? How can I face the ancestors of the Zheng family in my grave..."

Cui rolled her eyes in her heart. If they hadn't run away when Shi Chong attacked them, they would have been captured and made concubines. Moreover, Li Cheng was her cousin, so she was not afraid after arriving in Xuzhou. She thought that the rampant bandits in Jizhou were probably caused by Shi Chong's conspiracy. Why did her father-in-law run away? It was because he was infiltrated.

But as a young person, she really couldn't say much.

According to Ji's previous temper, she was naturally not afraid of her, but she was also afraid that if she quarreled with the old woman, it would be bad for her aunt's side to hear it, so she felt that riding in the same car with her was simply the wrong decision.

Fortunately, after passing Jiahu Pass, there were special people serving at the post station. When Ji and others came in, they heard the wife of the post station chief flattering: "The prince ordered us to serve the marquis' wives well."

In this way, Ji finally got rid of her mother-in-law. When Mrs. Xu and the aunt and nephew Xu met, they hugged each other and cried bitterly.

In fact, Xu was also a resourceful person in the past, but Ji was pregnant and let her get there first. Now that she has left the nunnery, she will definitely not go back in the future.

"Grandma, it would be better for us to go to Xuzhou. My family members are all in Xuzhou. With them here, I have a backer, and you and I won't have to be bullied by Ji in the future. Otherwise, Ji's daughter will be criticized by the prince, and she is also afraid that we will expose her past." After taking a bath and changing her clothes, Xu came out, feeling full of fighting power.

Madam Xu sighed, "We are all going to be dependent on others, so please stop bothering me. I will ask Huiyin to help. She can't just watch her sister stay in the East Palace. It is imperative that she rescues her sister. After all, we are sisters who are connected by blood."

【Author’s words】

There will be another update at 9am tomorrow.