Chapter 175 [VIP]
The hat in Lin Sui's hand fell to the ground with a thud, and the next second the world spun before her eyes, and she almost fell to the ground.
Wang Ying reacted quickly and helped him up, "Sorry, boss, we'll postpone buying the hat."
Leading the person out of the shop and sitting on the steps beside it, Lin Sui finally came to her senses after a long while and said, "Sister-in-law, that person just said... said..." She choked up and couldn't finish her sentence, hot tears falling one after another.
"Don't worry, that person is probably just talking nonsense. Even officials might not know these kinds of military secrets, so how could an ordinary person like him know so much!"
Lin Sui also didn't believe that Marquis Wuping would die in battle at the border. He wiped away his tears and said, "Sister-in-law is right! That person must be talking nonsense!"
"Let's go back and wait for news. If anything happens, we'll definitely get news in the next few days."
"Um."
The two returned home anxiously, their desire to go out for a spring outing gone. During dinner that evening, Yuanbao kept asking what food to bring for the next day's outing. Wang Ying said, "Father has something to do tomorrow, so he probably won't be able to go out."
"Huh? Didn't we already agree on that..."
"I'm sorry, Father will definitely take you out to play next time."
Yuanbao pouted but didn't say anything. Wang Ying patted his head and planned to take her son to the experimental field for a walk that evening to make up for the regret of not being able to go on a spring outing the next day.
Qing'er was also a little disappointed. After finishing her meal, she sat listlessly next to Lin Sui. Lin Sui already had something on her mind, and seeing her like this, she couldn't help but tear up again.
Qing'er was startled and quickly reached out to wipe his tears, but the more she wiped, the more tears he shed, leaving the little girl at a loss.
Lin Sui reached out and hugged her, thinking to herself that if something really happened to the Marquis, she and Qing'er would have to rely on each other for survival from then on...
After dinner, Wang Ying took her son into the experimental field. The upgrade during the day must be related to her husband, but she didn't know what ranking he got.
The two hadn't seen Chen Qingyan from the hour of You (5-7 PM) until the end of the hour of Xu (7-9 PM). Their son was sleepy and kept yawning while sitting in Wang Ying's lap, unwilling to go to sleep so he could see his father.
"Why don't you go to sleep first, and I'll wake you up when your father comes over?"
Yuanbao shook his head, "No, I want to wait for Father to come."
Wang Ying pinched the soft flesh of his cheek. She didn't know why, but even though they hadn't known each other for long, they were so close. Blood ties were indeed a strange thing.
The two waited for another half hour, and when they ran out of time in the experimental field and started spending experience points, no one came in.
"How about we forget it? Father will bring you in again tomorrow..." Before he could finish speaking, Chen Qingyan arrived.
"Ah Ying, Yuanbao!"
The two turned around and saw Chen Qingyan wearing a red robe and a flower crown, his cheeks flushed and smelling of alcohol, running excitedly towards them. He accidentally stepped on the hem of his robe and tripped.
Wang Ying and Yuan Bao quickly went over to help him up. "Have you been drinking?"
Chen Qingyan grinned foolishly and said, "I've passed the imperial examination with top honors."
"What?! The top scorer?!"
Chen Qingyan nodded, "Tonight was the Qionglin Banquet, and I had a drink with His Majesty."
He couldn't hold his liquor; after just one cup, his face turned as red as a monkey's bottom, much to the emperor's amusement. Before leaving, the emperor reminded the others not to force the top scholar to drink, thus saving Chen Qingyan from getting too drunk.
The wine in the palace was strong, and I was dizzy when I got home. I quickly locked the door and went into the experimental field, only to find my husband and son there.
"I'm still in a daze. It feels like I'm in a dream. I didn't even come out on top in the provincial and metropolitan examinations, but I never expected that His Majesty would personally select me as the top scholar in the palace examination."
Wang Ying was so excited that tears welled up in her eyes. "I knew you would amount to something, but I never imagined you would amount to this much!"
Chen Qingyan sighed and hugged him. Half the credit for this top scholar position belonged to Aying. If he hadn't married her back then, he might be overgrown with weeds by now.
Having saved himself from dire straits time and time again, he has finally lived up to expectations...
"I will have to wait two more days in the capital for the reward before I can come down. I will be back soon."
"good."
Little Yuanbao, who had been ignored all along, jumped up and hugged the two of them, "Father, Daddy, I'm here for you!"
Chen Qingyan smiled and reached out to hug Xiao Yuanbao in the middle, and the family of three laughed happily.
Once he entered the field, he was no longer sleepy. Since it was a joyous occasion, Wang Ying was willing to spend a few extra hours, letting the father and son play wildly in the experimental field for a while until Yuanbao was so sleepy that he couldn't keep his eyes open before they rested.
Wang Ying coaxed her son to sleep in her arms. Recalling the events of the day, the smile on her face faded slightly. "Have you heard any news from the border while you were in the capital?"
Chen Qingyan shook his head. "I've been preparing for the exam these past few days and haven't dared to go out at Lord Liu's residence. Has something major happened at the border?"
Wang Ying recounted what had happened on the street that day to him, saying, "Neither Lin Sui nor I believe that Marquis Wuping could have died in battle."
"However, the situation at the border is not optimistic. Every day, many officials can be seen coming and going at the Liu residence, and sometimes you can hear the noise from inside from a distance."
"What's all the noise about?"
"Not everyone wants to fight. War is no small matter. The daily food and supplies consumed by 100,000 troops on the border are astronomical. Then there are the expenses for the compensation of the dead and wounded. These expenses can be sustained in the short term, but a long war will slowly drain a country."
Wang Ying understood all of this. Although there was no war in the place where he lived in his previous life, he saw in the news that many Middle Eastern countries had gradually fallen from their original prosperity to ruins due to war, with people being displaced and the economy regressing by decades. The impact of war on a country is really too great.
"And what is the Emperor's opinion?"
"His Majesty's decision to appoint me as the top scholar is very clear: this war must be fought to the end! If we seek peace, given the current momentum of the Turks, they will surely take a huge chunk out of the Wu Dynasty. Otherwise, they would never agree to peace. However, ceding territory to negotiate peace is tantamount to raising a tiger to cause trouble. The destruction of the country and the extinction of the race are only a matter of time."
Wang Ying was glad that the Wu Dynasty emperor had backbone and did not choose to cede territory and sue for peace like the Song Dynasty in history books; otherwise, the Great Wu Dynasty would have been doomed sooner or later.
It was getting late, and Wang Ying felt extremely distressed watching Kuku fall. "You should go back and rest. We should go back to sleep too. It's a pity we can't share this good news with our families. We'll celebrate properly when you come back!"
"Okay." Chen Qingyan was also exhausted. He had been under a lot of mental stress all day and was now at his limit. He fell asleep as soon as he left the experimental field.
Wang Ying was so excited she couldn't sleep. She put the child on the bed and paced back and forth in the room.
The number of top scholars in the imperial examinations throughout history can be counted on one's fingers. I never expected that my husband would actually become the top scholar! This joy is no less than winning the first prize in the lottery, especially when you buy ten tickets and all of them are correct.
While happy, she couldn't help but worry about Lin Sui. She wondered how Marquis Wuping was doing. What would they, a widow and orphan, do if something really happened to him?
Lin Sui was also unable to sleep; the news had been lingering in her mind ever since she heard it that afternoon.
He still remembered what Li Mu said before leaving, and that shallow hug before him, the coldness and rusty smell of which made his heart skip a beat.
In fact, Lin Sui might not have liked him that much. After all, the two had only spent a short time together. If it weren't for Qing'er, the two people who were completely unrelated would not have gotten together.
Even so, Lin Sui was still extremely distressed. Looking at her sleeping daughter beside her, who was one of her few remaining relatives, she wondered what would happen to Qing'er if Li Mu really died on the border.
I'm afraid that my status as the godfather won't be enough to protect this child...
Lin Sui finally managed to doze off just before dawn, but she had a nightmare as soon as she fell asleep, dreaming that Li Mu was crawling on the ground covered in blood.
Lin Sui was terrified and reached out to press on the bloody hole on his body to try to stop the bleeding, but the more she pressed, the more blood flowed, and in the end, the blood stained his clothes red.
Li Mu stared at him with wide eyes, muttering, "Take good care of Qing'er for me..." and then breathed his last.
"Ah!" Lin Sui woke up from her nightmare and saw Qing'er sitting next to her, looking at her anxiously.
During his nightmare, he kept talking nonsense, and Qing'er couldn't wake him up no matter how much she tried, which worried her terribly. Seeing that he had finally come to his senses, Qing'er nestled in his arms with a pitiful expression.
Lin Sui hugged the child tightly, trembling all over. Fortunately, it was just a dream.
*
Let's go back a month.
Outside Yumen Pass, the Turkic cavalry had been stationed outside the city for four days. For now, they could only hold their ground and not rashly launch an attack. The terrain here was wide and ideal for cavalry charges, and a direct confrontation would certainly put them at a disadvantage.
Inside the military camp, Commander Zhao Yi stared intently at the sand table, his brows furrowed. The two deep lines between his brows were the result of years of worry. He was only thirty-six years old, but the wind and sun of guarding the border made him look older than forty, with gray hair at his temples.
Strategist Guan Shiqian and Lang Ping sat on either side of each other, their faces all very serious, indicating that the situation was not optimistic.
"The Marquis should have arrived at this position by now." Guan Shiqian picked up a flag and planted it near Lishan.
Lang Ping pointed to the canyon next to them and said, "It's still a bit further. The Marquis's three thousand elite troops march much faster than ordinary troops."
Zhao Yi asked, "How are things going with the people we sent out to spread the false information?"
"Reporting to the general, everything has been arranged and the message has been sent out in the past few days."
The plan to fake Li Mu's death was a last resort, as enemy spies were hiding in the army, and previous expeditions had all ended in failure and heavy losses.
In particular, the Battle of Jiaohe resulted in the loss of more than 3,000 men. The reason for the defeat was that spies had revealed the direction and time of their departure in advance, which led to them being ambushed by the Turkic army and caught off guard.
Forced to retreat, the army retreated to Yangguan, only to find that the Qiang people had already occupied the area and bypassed Lishan to intercept the army.
Of course, the Qiang people could not stop hundreds of thousands of troops, but it did delay them for a period of time, which led to the loss of Yangguan and their eventual retreat to Yumenguan.
The successive defeats not only affected the war situation, but also caused increasing criticism in the court.
The four months of bitter fighting have consumed too much grain and silver. But war is all about grain and reserve resources. Now, there are people in the court who are interfering, and the next batch of grain cannot be delivered in time. There are also spies in the court. If they do not find a solution when they are beset by internal and external troubles, they will be defeated by the Turks sooner or later.
Under immense pressure, they had no choice but to take a risky approach, feigning defeat and death for Li Mu, while actually taking a roundabout route to launch a surprise attack on the Turks from behind.
To make the lie more convincing, Lang Ping even found several trustworthy people to spread the news around, so that the spies would believe it and launch a surprise attack on the Turks.
If we win this battle, we will surely inflict a heavy blow on the Turks.
Zhao Yi planted the Wu Dynasty's military flag back in Xizhou. "We only need to hold this position for ten days. After ten days, Li Mu will arrive at the Turkic rear. Then we can attack them from both sides and wipe them out completely!" "Yes, sir!"
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