Seeing his predicament, Song Liyun did not urge him. She simply put down the coral tree and said calmly, "Judging from the Qi family's reaction tonight, it's the final moment."
Their willingness to take action against the censors indicates they are prepared for a fight to the death.
"The incident happened suddenly, and the Zhenbei Army did not set up a control point in advance. Even if they react quickly, they can only capture most of the people. The real core members should have already escaped!"
Abu only vaguely understood these things, but he had to admit that what Song Liyun said was true.
He did indeed see a scene of chaos when he was with the eldest son.
Song Liyun continued, "I'm afraid the Qi family will let outsiders in to destroy evidence, and the Zhenbei Army will also be held responsible for dereliction of duty. If the Wuda tribe wants peace and quiet, it's best to withdraw as soon as possible."
In fact, she was just saying these things casually; she personally had no power to influence the changes in the political situation.
The Qi family has been in Hecheng for quite some time now. Behind the so-called borrowing of troops and returning of slaves, the brothers Zhao Tinglei and Zhao Tingduo must have had a prior discussion.
Abu's hair stood on end. He had naturally overheard the young master and the eldest son's secret conversation, but how did the young mistress find out?
He shook his head. Forget it, he still preferred riding horses and fighting. These questions about what might happen in the future were too much for him to answer, and he didn't want to hear them.
Besides, it's impossible for the Uda tribe to withdraw, as their young master is still leading troops outside!
When the young master was mentioned, Abu started scratching his head again.
The young master is still outside the pass. If the young mistress really leaves, should I stay or leave?
Moreover, the young master repeatedly instructed his wife to wait for him in Hecheng...
Abu, unusually, put his mind to work: "Sister Song, you can't leave!"
Why?
Song Liyun was curious; if Abu called her "Sister Song," there must be some secret behind it.
"Aren't you afraid that when the young master comes to Hecheng, the eldest young master will give those two maids to him?"
"Oh! I really forgot about that!"
Song Liyun raised her voice, "This really is a question worth considering."
During the Wu Dynasty, wealthy families could freely give away their maids.
Moreover, these two maids were bestowed by the emperor, and it would be an honor for any man to have them.
Zhao Tinglei gave them away as a sign of deep brotherly affection.
It was only natural for Zhao Tingduo to accept it, and there was no room for refusal.
Abu then spoke fluently: "Madam used to dislike the young master staying in Hecheng too long, saying he was too young. But now that the eldest young master is sending beautiful women, Madam can't stop him!"
Back when the Marquis of Zhenbei was still in Xiashi Pass, he wanted to arrange several concubines for his young master. Lady Wuya disagreed and even had a big argument with the Marquis over it.
It is said that the Di people do not have concubines; those who serve are slaves. All that is needed is to have hands, feet, and a belly. Once they are sent, they must be branded on the face.
The Marquis, of course, couldn't allow anyone to burn the beautiful woman's face, so he had no choice but to give up!
Now that the madam is not here, it is the young mistress's turn to take charge.
Song Liyun began to make plans in her mind.
Although she is not a "pure" person, she still has to be absolutely clean when she is with herself.
Her bottom line is that men and spoons should not be shared with others.
However, for a woman of this era, it was considered a transgression of the rules and a sign of jealousy for a wife not to take the initiative to allow her husband to take a concubine.
Song Liyun had no confidence that a man raised under this kind of education would be morally upright.
Cats are bound to steal fish.
Even though Zhao Tingduo said he only liked her, it was just talk. We don't know how he would react when faced with a beautiful woman in real life. He still takes it for granted.
It is said that seeing is believing, and hearing is deceiving.
I'll stay for two more days and see how Zhao Tingduo deals with these two beautiful women when she gets back!
Song Liyun did not mention leaving again, and prepared to stay at the garrison headquarters in peace.
That night, she moved to a different courtyard, and Song Dekui, Lin Qingyuan, Lao Qian, and others came to stay with her in Anhua Courtyard.
Although the two people in the previous room were not dead, the floor was stained with blood and no one had cleaned it up.
Fearing the possibility of further spies, the servants and maids in the garrison were placed under the watchful eyes of the Zhenbei Army, and the people inside were not allowed to move around freely; this was the only option for the time being.
Daylight returned to the city, but the garrison had not been quiet all night, and neither was the city.
Zhao Tinglei is a soldier, and procrastination is not his style.
An Huayuan left behind a contingency plan, while the city went all out.
The entire Zhenbei Army camp was mobilized, sweeping through the streets and alleys twice with overwhelming force.
By daybreak, smoke was rising from nine places and fires were burning in ten places in the city. The place with the largest fire was the main courtyard of the Qi family.
Zhao Tinglei, dressed in military uniform, stood outside the courtyard, directing his soldiers to extinguish the fire.
However, someone deliberately splashed oil on the main courtyard of the Qi family and piled firewood on it, causing the fire to rage. Water poured on it only caused a cloud of black dust to rise.
A lieutenant, covered in soot, ran over from the back of the main courtyard and said to Zhao Tinglei, "Sir, apart from the corpses of a few maids and servants, we didn't see any members of the Qi family in the courtyard, but everything in the house is still there."
My subordinates asked the neighbors, and they said that no members of the Qi family came out when the fire broke out at dawn.
Zhao Tinglei said with a dark face, "These people ran away long ago!"
Hecheng was originally a remote area, and the Qi family had been operating here for decades. It was only natural that they would dig several tunnels in their home to take refuge and escape.
Moreover, once Zhao Tinglei took over the post of garrison commander, it was only a matter of time before the two families went to war.
First, the Wuda tribe returned the slaves, then Qi Heng disappeared, and then the Lin family was arrested, giving the Qi family head ample time to evacuate.
As long as the Qi family's main branch in the capital remains standing, all Qi Kexian will leave behind are some worthless trinkets. The merchants will still be there, and they can make a comeback at any time.
So after failing at Anhua Academy, he fled overnight.
Zhao Tinglei glanced at the fire and turned to leave. His deputy hurriedly followed, as the matter needed to be decided as soon as possible.
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