From that day on, Wei Jing never mentioned Meng's mother and daughter in front of Shao Qing again, as if the two had never appeared.
Shao Qing didn't ask either.
However, she had heard some news about it.
The words were brought to her by her younger brother Shao Bo.
"…He has been moved to an empty courtyard in the mansion and locked up. Commandant Han took him there."
Shao Bo had been very busy since he followed Zhuang Yan to learn government affairs. He came and went in a hurry and Sun Shi could not easily see him. But since his sister was injured, he has taken time out every day to visit and accompany her. This boy's eyes secretly turned red behind others' backs, but he was beaming with joy in front of Shao Qing, and he would describe in vivid detail every day what he had seen and heard.
When talking about this today, he admired his brother-in-law Wei Jing: "Your Highness is magnanimous and kind," and then angrily: "That mother and daughter are not worthy, how dare they betray Your Highness's kindness?!"
Wei Jing himself, an army of 300,000, and his sister.
Shao Bo glanced at his sister who was listening to him with a smile, and felt sad, becoming even more angry with the mother and daughter.
Shao Qing blinked her eyes. She could conclude that the punishment of the Meng mother and daughter was by no means as simple as it seemed. But it's better this way. A monarch who is clear about rewards and punishments but is benevolent is definitely much better than a bloodthirsty and murderous one.
Sun also felt that it was not that simple. She was still terrified when she recalled Wei Jing's appearance in the dungeon that day.
However, the mother and daughter kept silent. Sun stroked her daughter's belly and said with a smile, "It's almost four months. You won't be able to wear these clothes soon."
In the second trimester, your belly should be swelling up soon, instead of being completely invisible after getting dressed.
Shao Bo was excited: "When my nephew is born, I will take him out to play!"
Having been severely suppressed in the past, he now has more youthful nature, but he is very mature in public and only reveals himself in front of his mother and sister.
Shao Qing laughed: "How do you know it's a nephew? Can't it be a niece?"
Shao Bo secretly glanced at Sun and scratched his head: "That's right, I'll take my niece out too."
The two siblings were laughing and talking, and Sun was watching with a smile. When she heard what they said, she spat, "You are just talking nonsense, be careful that my grandson will get angry if he hears you!"
Shao Bai was in a dilemma. Nothing he said made sense, so he just chuckled and tried to get away with it.
"What?"
Amid the laughter and joy of the mother and her two children, Wei Jing came back. He was handling official business in the next room. When he lifted the curtain and entered the room, he saw his wife's smiling face. His expression softened a little.
"Husband?"
"Um."
Shao Qing was leaning on the beauty couch by the window, Wei Jing was sitting on the edge of the couch next to his wife, and Shao Bai opposite her jumped up instantly as if he was equipped with a spring.
"Your Highness."
Wei Jing nodded and asked him to sit down. He had always taken care of his wife's younger brother. He asked him a few questions about his job in a gentle manner and then scolded him as usual.
Shao Bai straightened his back, sat upright, answered the questions seriously, listened carefully to the scolding, and responded loudly and hurriedly.
To be honest, in his heart, Wei Jing, his brother-in-law and lord, has much more prestige than his own.
Shao Qing smiled, leaned her head against Wei Jing's shoulder and listened.
She was also quite helpless. As soon as he came, the atmosphere immediately turned serious. There was nothing she could do. He was so majestic that even Sun felt restrained.
However, although Sun was reserved, she was more willing to let her daughter and son-in-law get along with each other. When the questioning stopped, she smiled and took her son back.
Madam Ping and the others left voluntarily, leaving only the couple in the room. Shao Qing smiled softly, "Erlang is very afraid of you. He got nervous when you came."
Wei Jing didn't care. There weren't many people who were unrestrained in front of him. He hugged his wife and kissed her forehead. "Well, shall we eat first or take a bath first?"
Shao Qing thought for a moment and said, "Let's take a bath first."
She loved cleanliness and would bathe every day even when the weather was cool. From undressing, washing, to changing clothes, Wei Jing did everything herself and never asked anyone else to do it for her.
His slender hands, with rough fingertips, were very gentle as he carefully untied her belt, coat, and skirt. The charcoal fire in the smoking cage was burning brightly, but Shao Qing didn't feel cold at all. He held her hand and moved away for a moment. After the hissing sound of clothes rustling, a warm and broad chest pressed against her.
When the vision is not bright, the other senses are really extra sensitive. From these small actions that seem ordinary to him day after day, Shao Qing can clearly feel his cherishment and love.
She tilted her head, pressed her face against the crook of his neck, and listened quietly to the sound of his blood beating. Wei Jing bent down and kissed the top of her head, then with his arms exerted a little force, the two of them immersed in the warm water.
Shao Qing actually felt that he could wash it himself, but he didn't want to, so he had to let him do it.
The big hand with a rough palm picked up the towel and wiped her skin carefully. It paused at her waist, loosened the towel, and placed the palm on her slightly bulging belly.
"If it's a daughter, that's great too."
He heard what Sun said and said very seriously that he also loved his daughter.
"Um."
This was not the first time he had said this. Shao Qing chuckled, "Who knows if it's a boy or a girl? Why don't you ask Yan Ming?"
Her slender hand slid down and covered his large palm.
The pregnancy was almost four months old, and the pulse diagnosis could actually tell whether the baby was a boy or a girl, but Shao Qing didn't care about it and never asked. Yan Ming didn't say anything about it due to his strange temper.
But Wei Jing probably also enjoyed this feeling of anticipation. Hearing this, he hesitated for a moment, then shook his head: "We'll know when he's born. There's no rush."
If you say you are not in a hurry, then there is no hurry.
Shao Qing chuckled, put her arms around his neck and kissed him.
Wei Jing returned the kiss, and the couple exchanged a soft but lingering kiss. However, it was winter after all, and he was worried that his wife would catch a cold, so after kissing her, he quickly washed her, carried her out of the bathtub and dressed them both.
Shao Qing changed into soft home clothes, grabbed a towel and wiped his slightly wet temples, and listened to the rustling of clothes in front of him with a smile.
Although being blind was a terrible treatment, she really enjoyed the treatment of a princess.
She joked: "When my eyes get better, this may become a good memory."
“Nonsense!”
Wei Jing loved to hear that his wife's eyes were healed, but he felt pained every time he saw his wife in pain. I don't like to hear this, but I'm happy that she forgets her worries and smiles. It's quite contradictory.
"Don't say that again."
Wei Jing just gave her a warning, but he didn't hesitate for too long. He quickly put on his clothes, leaned over and carried her out.
Dinner was ready, and the two filed in as they emerged from the bathing room.
It's okay for Shao Qing to be fed, he can slowly pick up the food in the bowl and eat it by himself. Wei Jing told her the dishes one by one, asked her what she wanted to eat, and served them to her one by one. He put a small amount of food at a time to prevent her from having difficulty picking up the food, but he put it in frequently so that her bowl was never empty.
I put the dish in the bowl into my mouth. It was mandarin fish, very fresh and tender. It was the small piece from the belly of the fish. I carefully removed the fish bones and it was not broken and was very easy to pick up.
This fish tastes sweet in your mouth.
Shao Qing smiled and asked again: "Huh? How is the battle situation in Hanshou?"
The couple kept talking in low voices. Wei Jing told her about what was happening outside every day so that she wouldn't be kept in the dark. Shao Qing calculated the dates. His side should have attacked Liling a few days ago. The battle report should have arrived by now, right?
By the way, Wei Jing stayed in the room for a long time today, but he didn't mention it when he came back. Could it be that the war was not going well?
The war was not going badly.
"Zhang Yong, Fan Ya, Bo Yan, and Chen Qi, two large armies rushed to attack Liling. After more than a day of encirclement, Liling had already fallen."
However, Wei Jing paused and said, "Prince An escaped."
"He led 40,000 elite soldiers and left Hanshou to head north to Luojing. According to the latest report, he has already left Hanshou and arrived in Yuzhou."
Although he was forced to abandon his old nest, his life was safe as long as he left Hanshou.
Shao Qing was surprised: "He ran away again."
This Prince An is quite a good runner. You should know that Wei Jing's strategy of rapid march to encircle Li Ling was aimed at his attempt to escape.
If you slow down a step, you won't be able to escape. You have to know that as the base camp that Prince An has been operating for a long time, Liling and even Hanshou have too many important strategic materials. They have been accumulated for such a long time, and they can be given up without any hesitation, which can be said to be decisive.
Wei Jing hated Prince An very much and did not want to comment. He just said calmly: "That Wei Xu is indeed a character."
…
Wei Xu played a great role in helping Prince An escape so promptly.
As early as the moment when they broke through the siege at Dongluan Road and successfully escaped back to Hanshou, Wei Xu had already asserted: "Within seven days, the Yizhou army will attack Hanshou. Hanshou cannot be defended, you need to make plans early."
There are only more than 70,000 soldiers left in Hanshou County. Facing 300,000 Yizhou troops, there are not many natural defenses, so it is not surprising that they cannot hold the county. But at that time Wei Jing left the camp and rushed back to Pingcheng, while the Yizhou army, without its commander, had just captured Quyang and had not yet deployed its defenses or gained a firm foothold.
Moreover, the winter snow is about to fall, and it is hard to say whether the Yizhou army will turn around and attack Hanshou without even taking a break.
Guo Huai and others believed that there would be at least a small gap in between.
Prince An originally thought so too.
But he immediately believed what Wei Xu said.
In this case, we must make plans early. Prince An still has the path of Luojing to go. He does not have to live and die with Han Shou.
If we are to leave, we must bring soldiers with us. He immediately dispatched troops, with 30,000 to guard the front line, 20,000 to defend Liling, and the remaining 20,000 to guard the northeast defense line. The latter two are more elite and are his trusted camps. If they leave, he can take them north with him.
In addition to soldiers and horses, there are also baggage, weapons, minerals, food, money, etc., which are important resources he has accumulated over the years. Unfortunately, they had to flee in such a hurry that they had to reluctantly abandon the heavy baggage, minerals, grain and other items, and had to focus on packing up gold, silver, valuables, good bows, weapons and other easily portable resources.
But even so, these things cannot be cleaned up in a few days.
On the third day after Prince An arrived at Liling, just as Wei Xu had expected, the Yizhou army attacked Hanshou and marched straight to the southwest defense line with a fierce offensive.
Prince An was anxious and ordered everyone to pack up quickly, and the families of the generals also had to get ready.
Originally, everyone thought that there were at least a few days left, but Wei Xu said, "We must set off before sunset tomorrow. We can't wait any longer!"
He asserted that the pass could not hold out for more than two days, and then the Yizhou army would surround the three cities of Nanguang, Xinyang and Luqiu, and then divide its troops and march quickly to attack Liling. If you don't leave before dawn the day after tomorrow, you will be surrounded; but if you leave before sunset tomorrow, you can escape the pursuit.
"You set up the Dongluan Dao fire attack, and there is also the Princess of Qi."
The Prince of Qi went straight to the Jinquan Temple and hurried back to the city with his wife. They had already received the message. Meng and others failed, but the Princess of Qi must have suffered some serious injuries. With such a great hatred, one can imagine that the King of Qi wanted to capture King An alive.
Wei Xu made some calculations and concluded that they had to leave before sunset tomorrow at the latest.
Time was so tight and more things had to be given up, but Prince An had great faith in Wei Xu and gave the order hastily with a shudder in his heart.
At dusk the next day, the gates of Liling were opened, and Prince An led his elite troops and their families out, rushing north and joining up with another 20,000 elite troops.
Wei Xu's deduction was absolutely correct. The Yizhou army even arrived earlier than expected. After chasing for more than 200 miles, Prince An's troops narrowly escaped from Hanshou. They pushed down huge rocks and logs in time to block the road, successfully blocking the relentless Yizhou army.
Zhang Yong cursed loudly: "Damn it! Prince An is really good at running, is he a reincarnated rabbit?"
Ji Huan frowned. Prince An had run away, and the important task entrusted by his lord had not been completed.
But there is nothing we can do now.
Prince An has fled, and now we have to take over the vacant Hanshou County.
Ji Huan immediately sent back a handwritten letter with the latest battle report, and then arranged for the generals to lead their troops to the various city checkpoints in Hanshou.
This was not a difficult task. When the news of Prince An's escape spread, the remaining defenders in Hanshou County panicked. It was a piece of cake to capture him, and the task was accomplished in just a few days.
At this point, the seven counties of Jingzhou all fell into the hands of Wei Jing.
The battle is over.
Ji Huan did not stay long. He commanded the deployment of troops according to Wei Jing's instructions while dealing with important matters in Hanshou. The important tasks were explained in detail, and Dai Guang and Wang Yue were asked to carry out the specific operations. Chen Qi was left in charge, and he and Zhang Yong and others would return immediately.
The army returned victoriously and rewarded the three armies. When Ji Huan and others followed Wei Jing back to the county governor's office, the latest news from Luojing had already arrived.
Wei Jing said calmly, "Four days ago, Prince An arrived in Luojing, and 40,000 elite soldiers were temporarily stationed in Ping County. He has entered the palace to meet the emperor."
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