Chapter 119
At dawn, Yining waited for Wei Ling to return from the palace.
Before this, the news that Wei Ling had defeated the Oirat tribe and captured its deputy commander alive had spread among the upper class in the capital. Some were happy, while others were sad. The happy ones were eagerly waiting, while the sad ones hadn't slept all night.
Yi Ning knew he would be fine. But seeing her father, dressed in armor and looking haggard, still made her feel bad. Wei Ling had been brought into the palace by the Imperial Guards, and the Emperor certainly hadn't intended to treat him well from the start. Upon seeing him return, Yi Ning asked a maid to fetch water and personally helped Wei Ling wash his face.
Wei Ling couldn't rest yet, so he changed into casual clothes and went to pay his respects to Old Mrs. Wei. Old Mrs. Wei held her son who had been lost and found again and felt him carefully. She found a new wound on his arm, one foot long, which had already scabbed over. She couldn't help but burst into tears.
The general died in a hundred battles, and the warrior returned after ten years.
She suddenly realized how difficult it was for her son to be alive, and that no military merit or title was as important as his being alive.
Xu brought her son Wei Yi and daughter Wei Jia to pay their respects to Wei Ling. Wei Yi was extremely respectful to his uncle, who had made military achievements. He bowed and said, "Uncle, I wish I could go to the battlefield with you!"
Mrs. Wei said to her son, "When something happened at home, everyone else stayed away, but your cousin's wife was the only one who came to see me."
"You wouldn't be bad at being the clerk of the Wucheng Military Department." Wei Ling smiled after hearing his mother's words and said to Wei Yi, "In a few years, your father will ask you to be the commander of the Wucheng Military Department. If you're successful, I can ask the emperor to appoint you as the deputy commander of the Shenji Camp."
The Five Cities Army was merely responsible for patrolling the capital and maintaining law and order, while the Divine Machine Battalion commanded firearms, was an elite force trusted by the Emperor and capable of battlefield deployment.
How could Wei Yi not understand the importance of this promise? He was delighted and gave Wei Ling a big gift.
Wei Ling knew that while he was away, demons and evil spirits had been causing trouble in the family. Yi Ning had shown some strength and dealt with a steward named Li. But as the old lady had said, the Wei family was already small, and if they didn't unite the clan members, the family would fall if he fell. After this incident, Wei Ling realized even more deeply that the family's prosperity depended on the reproduction of descendants. Furthermore, he and Wei Ying had always had a good relationship. Wei Yi was Wei Ying's eldest son, and it was he who would inherit Wei Ying's legacy.
Mrs. Wei leaned back on the pillow with relief. Not seeing Yining around, she asked, "Where's Yining? She was busy all night trying to save you."
"She stayed up all night, and her son asked her to go to bed first." Wei Ling replied.
Old Madam Wei nodded and sighed, "She's had a hard time this time."
In reality, Yi Ning didn't sleep very well. She was so exhausted that she didn't feel like sleeping at all. She reluctantly fell asleep, dreaming of the sound of water dripping on a rainy night, the touch of unfamiliar lips, and even the words he whispered before leaving: "...You don't have to take it seriously."
That sentence even had an unprecedented sense of alienation.
She just suddenly realized some things. No wonder Luo Shenyuan was unhappy when she told him about Sun Congwan's marriage to him.
When Yining got up, it was already the afternoon of the next day. He had a splitting headache and felt that he might as well not have slept.
Zhenzhu applied some mint ointment to her temples, which helped to soothe her. Yining ate some red date porridge and two honey cakes for lunch, then went out for a walk. It had rained heavily the previous night, and now the sun was shining brightly outside, illuminating the trees and flowers in the courtyard. The cockatoo perched on its perch, pecking feebly at the water. The flower seedlings she had just planted a few days ago had been battered to pieces by the torrential rain, and she feared they would not survive.
Yining looked at her flower garden with a bit of regret, her thoughts drifting far away.
From the time she was a child, she knew Luo Shenyuan would become the future Prime Minister of the Cabinet, a leading civil official, a rival to Lu Jiaxue. So, from a young age, she'd devoted herself to clinging to him, striving to maintain a good relationship with him. But now, she felt she'd gone too far. When they were younger, he'd been indifferent to her, but now he had other feelings for her and was forcing her to get close.
Daimao brought her a cup of hot tea. Yining drank the tea and asked, "Where's father?"
"The Duke slept for two hours and got up to go to the Ministry of Justice to interrogate prisoners of war." Zhenzhu buttoned her jacket. Seeing Yining's skin was like snow-white brocade, even smoother than the jacket in her hand, she continued, "He asked me to tell you that he probably doesn't have time to manage the mansion anymore, so you should still take care of the affairs. Also, Guard Shen and the others will be assigned to your orders. You don't have to be polite when you order them around. When you get married, they will come with you as part of your dowry."
Yi Ning burst out laughing after hearing this; it was indeed Wei Ling's style! "All I saw were dowry belongings and servants, not even any guards as part of the dowry!"
Then her in-laws would think she was a shrew as soon as she entered the family.
Zhenzhu smiled and said, "Anyway, that's what the Duke said. Miss, just think about how prestigious this is. Others bring maids and servants as dowries, but you bring guards as dowries. No one will dare to bully you when you get to your husband's house!"
She is indeed very majestic, and Wei Ling is not afraid that no one will dare to marry her in the future.
Yi Ning lowered her head and drank hot tea. After a while, Old Lady Wei sent a maid to inform her that she was going to discuss going to the palace for a banquet tomorrow.
The Oirat tribe had been wreaking havoc on the border for years, a situation that had irritated both the late emperor and the emperor to the point of exhaustion. Wei Ling had driven them back fifty miles in this battle. It would likely take nearly a decade for them to recover. The emperor, naturally delighted, held a special palace banquet in their honor. Princes, nobles, civil and military officials were among the guests. Upon receiving the imperial edict, Old Lady Wei planned to bring Yining to the palace to express her gratitude to the Empress. She still remembered the Empress's previous kindness.
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