Zhang Qingling took a few steps back in disbelief, shaking her head violently. Suddenly, she screamed, "You all threaten me, you all force me! Fine, then I'll die right now, die for you to see, are you satisfied?"
He turned and ran away, seemingly trying to find a way to die, perhaps by jumping into a river or hanging himself.
"Young mistress, you should go and take a look." Zhang Qingyu's maid looked anxious. She was originally a cleaning maid in the Shang family, but somehow she caught the eye of the newly arrived young mistress and was promoted to be her personal maid.
Now she doesn't have to do rough work; she only needs to serve the young mistress every day. Her monthly salary is also half again as much as before. Although the young mistress has two personal maids, the other one was sent by the madam. Although she was supposed to serve the young mistress, she was actually there to monitor her.
The young mistress naturally didn't trust that person, only her. The little maid was also very loyal and cared a lot for Zhang Qingyu. So at this moment, she was naturally afraid that Zhang Qingling would really commit suicide, which would be bad for the young mistress's reputation. People would say that the young mistress forced her sister to death.
"Ignore her, she doesn't have the guts to kill herself." If she's not even afraid of death, why would she be afraid of getting married? Why would she be so picky and cause trouble?
Zhang Qingling really didn't have the guts to commit suicide. She was just pretending to be crazy. Once she ran away, no one knew where she had gone. She was genuinely scared. She knew that her sister wasn't just talking; she was capable of doing it. Having grown up in a wealthy and powerful family, they had seen all sorts of shady dealings in the inner quarters. They had witnessed all kinds of ruthless methods while they were still living in the mansion. Her sister might really scheme against her, so she needed to stay away from her sister now.
Zhang Qingyu turned around and went back to her parents' home, but she didn't see her or Zhang Shen.
Zhang Qingyu was worried when Zhang Shen wasn't home. No matter what happened to anyone else, Zhang Shen couldn't be in trouble; he was the last and only son of the Zhang family.
"Quick, quick, go find Shen'er! Where did he go?" Zhang Qingyu's eyes were red as she grabbed her maid and ran outside.
After searching the entire neighborhood, they finally found him under the window of a private school. Seven-year-old Zhang Shen was squatting under the window, listening attentively to the teacher's lecture, his eyes filled with a longing and greed for learning.
In fact, Zhang Qingyu had given him some basic education. Zhang Shen could recognize quite a few characters and could recite the Three Character Classic and the Hundred Family Surnames. However, in the past two years, Zhang Qingyu had been preoccupied with finding a husband, and since her studies were limited to recognizing characters and she was not involved in the imperial examinations, she could not teach him much else.
In recent years, Xifeng has been in chaos, even worse than Songlin Village. In Songlin Village, Ye Moxun and Song Tantan still run private schools, but since the death of Prince Duan, all the private schools in Xifeng have been unable to continue operating. People are barely able to save their lives, so what's the point of studying?
There haven't been any scientific expeditions for many years, so studying is useless. Natural disasters keep happening, so farming is much more practical.
This private school was only established this year, it wasn't there before. If Shen'er wants to study, she's willing to pay for it. Although she doesn't have much money right now, she'll find a way.
She didn't marry into the business family to be tormented by her mother-in-law. She'll just have to put up with it for now, and it won't be long before she takes over the power of managing the household. If she can't do that, then she doesn't deserve the surname Zhang.
On the other hand, Ye Moxun and Zhong Qingyi led an army of 40,000—yes, not 50,000—leaving 10,000 to guard Xifeng. They couldn't take all their men to fight, and Xifeng also needed soldiers to defend the city.
Many refugees poured in from one place to another. Five thousand people were conscripted from among the refugees to serve as soldiers. These five thousand people were not required to go to the battlefield, but were responsible for defending the city. A city must have soldiers to defend it, so that it would be able to fight back if someone attacked it.
Why bring the main army along this time to Beijing? Because Beijing is in the north, closer to the border than Xifeng, so going through Beijing to the border won't take much time.
Twenty days later, Ye Moxun's army was stationed on the outskirts of the capital without entering the city. Ye Moxun and Zhong Qingyi went to the palace to see Liu Chengyu. Well, the inner palace was basically burned to the ground, but the front hall was still intact. Of course, Liu Chengyu could not sit on the dragon throne, but received Ye Moxun and Zhong Qingyi in a side hall.
"Since the capital is already in such a dilapidated state, it would be better to move the palace to Jiangnan. Why bother repairing this remote and ruined place?" Upon seeing Liu Chengyu, Ye Moxun merely cupped his hands in greeting, and his first words were a suggestion to move the capital.
Liu Chengyu's smile froze. Such a major matter as moving the capital naturally required his father's consent. Now that his father was seriously injured and on his way back from the border, any plans to move the capital would have to wait until his father woke up and ascended the throne before they could be discussed.
Ye Moxun was just making a suggestion, and he didn't care whether people listened to him or not. He then told Liu Chengyu that he would not be the commander-in-chief to fight in the border region, but there was someone who could go in his place.
"You've known my uncle for a long time, and you know how skilled he is in martial arts. Although he doesn't have much experience in leading troops, he's definitely a rare and valuable general..." Ye Moxun subtly hinted that Zhong Qingyi had a secret weapon that could play a decisive role in defeating the Hu people.
Liu Chengyu had always intended to recruit Zhong Qingyi, so he wasn't too surprised when Ye Moxun said he didn't want to go to Bianjiang. That's how the other party should be—free-spirited, doing things according to his own whims, and disliking being ordered around.
"In that case, I'll leave it to General Zhong." At this moment, Liu Chengyu addressed Zhong Qingyi as "General," meaning he agreed to let him lead the troops to the border.
However, Ye Moxun demanded that the troops led by Bai Pingfeng and Zhong Qingyi be under their complete command, and that no one else have the right to command them.
After the matter was settled, Ye Moxun did not linger and left with Zhong Qingyi. Tomorrow, Zhong Qingyi would lead the army to the frontier, where the situation was critical and could not be delayed any longer.
When news of the King Xian's defeat arrived, Bai Pingfeng was sent to the frontier by Liu Chengyu to provide support, and he should be arriving at the front line soon.
Song Tantan and Song Zhuiyan wandered around the capital and found that the once bustling city was now no different from a deserted city. It was dilapidated, many shops were closed, and there were hardly any pedestrians on the streets. It was really deserted and there was nothing to see.
"Uncle is leaving for the front lines tomorrow, let's go with him, this place is no fun at all." Originally she wanted to stay in the capital for a few more days, but since we're already here, we should naturally look around and see what's going on. The army can't possibly move very fast, so she can just ride her horse and catch up with them.
But now she dismissed the idea and decided to leave. It was no fun here; the girl was still thinking about going to the front lines to fight.
However, they couldn't go together in the end. That night, Song Zhuiyan felt dizzy and nauseous, had no appetite, and felt listless.
Zhong Qingyi was startled, thinking that Song Zhuiyan was seriously ill. She grabbed Ye Moxun to take her pulse, and immediately received good news: Song Zhuiyan was pregnant.
Pregnant, she could no longer go to the frontier to fight with Zhong Qingyi, and Song Tantan could not go either. The group traveled with the army for a few days before parting ways.
We can't travel together anymore; the road forks here on the way back to Xifeng.
"You must come back alive. The children and I are waiting for you. When you're fighting, don't just think about fighting to the death. If things don't look right, run away as soon as possible. Saving your life is the most important thing." Song Zhuiyan solemnly taught him how to be a deserter.
Zhong Qingyi disagreed with her in his heart, but he dared not show it on his face. He obediently nodded in agreement and finally hugged his wife tightly for a long time before letting go.
"Did you bring enough poison? Bring more, just in case it's a lifesaver." Song Zhuiyan didn't care about anything else now, she just hoped he could come back alive to see her and the child.
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