Red Mansion: Bastards rule the roost

"Yes, the princess is very well-read and knows all the poems."

Huasheng smiled and said, "If I had never seen the princess, and the prince wanted to give me a beauty, I would gladly accept it, but now... Alas, no matter what beauty he has, it is lifeless in my eyes."

"Why don't you listen to advice? Where else can you go than the palace?"

Jiang Yuechen spat, "If you want to leave, just go. I'll return these things to you so they don't get in my way." Then he threw the wooden sculpture and puppet back to him.

Huasheng quickly took it and said distressedly: "Princess, please excuse me. I can't bear to leave. I really can't bear the pain of missing you. If Princess can find a way to let me see you more often, I will be satisfied and would rather die than leave."

Jiang Yuechen stamped his feet. Except for the wedding night, he felt his heart pounding again. He finally said, "If you just want to see me, there is a way."

Huasheng was overjoyed and said, "I swear, as long as I can always see that the princess is safe and sound, it will be enough for my life, and I will never dare to ask for anything more."

Jiang Yuechen hesitated for a moment, then said softly, "I will visit my old friend from time to time in the future. If you and the guards escort me out, won't you be able to see me?"

Huasheng hesitated for a moment, then shook his head and said, "I am the prince's guest, how can I go out with the princess every time?"

Jiang Yuechen glanced at him and asked, "What do you want?"

Huasheng tried to test him: "I just hope that the princess can allow me... to come and see me occasionally like tonight and just talk."

Jiang Yuechen blushed immediately after hearing this. What was the difference between this and a private meeting? What a bold barbarian! He spat, "You wish! If someone sees you, not only will you die, but how can I face others?"

Huasheng said hurriedly: "How could I implicate the princess? I would not dare to come to see you unless I was absolutely sure. Besides, when to meet is decided by the princess, and I will just follow her orders.

If the princess has the heart to not see me for a year, I am willing to do that. People always have to have something to think about, right? "

Jiang Yuechen was torn between his conscience and his desires, and after hesitating for a long time, he pretended to be calm and said, "That's it. You should behave yourself on weekdays and don't let others see your flaws."

Huasheng said hurriedly: "Everything is subject to the princess's instructions."

Jiang Yuechen glanced at him and said, "Don't get the wrong idea. I just want to leave a talent for the prince."

"Yes, Princess, rest assured. I will die for the prince. Please accept this packet of medicine powder. If you call me in the future, you can put a little of this in the tea and let the maid drink it. I guarantee that she will sleep until dawn." Huasheng took out a small packet of medicine powder and placed it on the table.

Jiang Yuechen said unhappily: "Why are you covered with so much low-quality stuff?" But he did not refuse.

Huasheng smiled and said, "Isn't this just to make a living? I would rather be a young master in the imperial court, drinking and talking every day. I am from a humble background, so only the princess would not despise me."

Jiang Yuechen covered his mouth and smiled, saying: "You barbarian can't even write a word, and you still want to be a young master."

"Princess, please forgive me for making a fool of myself. Please give me your guidance."

"Bah, I don't have time to teach you. It's getting late, why don't you leave? The girl will wake up soon." Jiang Yuechen said.

Huasheng nodded and said, "These two items are a gift from me. I hope your Highness will accept them." Then he stretched out his hand.

Jiang Yuechen glanced at his palm and cursed in his heart, this barbarian is so rude, he actually wants me to take it from him.

But thinking of getting rid of him as soon as possible, Jiang Yuechen pondered for a moment, reached out and quickly took the two dolls away.

When Huasheng put his five fingers together and wanted to grab her hand, she had already dodged him, so he just gently stroked her tender and slender fingers.

"How dare you!" Jiang Yuechen couldn't help but scold, feeling his fingers going numb and panicking.

Huasheng smiled bitterly: "The princess is so stingy."

"Hmph, if you still want to see me, then behave yourself. Who do you think I am?" Jiang Yuechen waved his sleeves and scolded.

"Princess, please calm down. I will prepare a gift to apologize to you next time." Huasheng said with a slight smile and slipped out.

"you……"

Jiang Yuechen wanted to say something more, but hurriedly followed him out. Seeing that there was no one outside, Huasheng disappeared without a trace. She spat inwardly, all men are bad, they just want to meet, but as long as you are polite, they can't help but make moves.

But even so, she was not really angry in her heart. Instead, she felt somewhat excited, as if her dull life had been given a touch of color. Even though she knew it was very dangerous to come into contact with Huasheng, she could not help but step in.

Not only am I not afraid, but I am actually looking forward to the next meeting. What gift will he bring?
Huasheng had already jumped onto the roof and left quickly with a wicked smile on his face.

He deliberately lowered his posture tonight, acting like a loving lickspittle, just to give Jiang Yuechen a sense of security that everything was under control, making her think that she could dominate their relationship and control her own behavior, but she didn't know that this was a carefully designed trap.

Because the most skilled hunters often appear as prey.
-
On the fifth day of October, the remaining bandits in the northern border were wiped out. Liu Jiezhen launched another offensive, personally leading a large army from Dihua to raid Dabacheng, the throat of the Tianshan Mountains.

At the same time, he ordered Su Can and Zhao Lingkong to divide their troops into two groups, starting from Hami and Barkol, crossing hundreds of miles of desert trails, and launch a surprise attack on Turpan and Toksun, the two cities behind Tashkurgan, and attack Tashkurgan from the front and back with the main force.

The three cities of Dabashancheng, Turpan and Toksun are mutually supportive and arranged in a T-shaped layout, firmly guarding the gate to southern Xinjiang. Whether the three cities can be captured is the key to victory or defeat in this battle.

The rebels in Tashkurgan had anticipated this and diverted water in advance to turn the only way into a swamp in an attempt to hinder the government army's offensive. Liu Jiezhen was unmoved and ordered a vanguard of 3,000 men to charge with light cavalry, and they arrived at Tashkurgan overnight.

At the same time, they surrounded the enemy from all sides and built artillery batteries. Liu Jiezhen then led the main force and the artillery team to the artillery batteries, pushed the various types of cannons that Jia Cong bought from the Western Yi onto the artillery batteries, and bombarded from above.

Red-hot iron bullets fell like raindrops, and a huge fire broke out in the city in an instant. Soon the gunpowder depot was also detonated.

The night wind howled, fanning the flames. The bandits were powerless to resist the divine troops descending from the sky, and could only flee in all directions like dogs that had lost their homes.

On the ninth day of October, Tashkurgan was conquered. The government troops killed more than 2,000 enemies, captured more than 1,200 people, seized 800 war horses and more than 1,000 artillery pieces.

Afterwards, they continued to march forward and divided their troops into two groups to attack Turpan and Toksun.

At this time, the allied forces of Su and Zhao had joined forces at the city of Turpan. The White Army guarding Turpan learned that Dabashancheng had been lost, and they no longer had the will to fight, so they abandoned the city and fled.

Su and Zhao cooperated with Yang Zhi who came from the direction of Dabacheng, and easily beheaded thousands of them and displayed the head of the bandit leader to the public.

Liu Jiezheng personally led the main force to march day and night to attack Toksun City. The bandits were unaware that Dabancheng had fallen and were looting outside the city, so they were caught. The two armies fought outside the city, and without a doubt, the bandits were defeated at the first blow, leaving behind thousands of corpses, and fled westward in a panic, fleeing into Karashar.

After the three cities were conquered, the door to southern Xinjiang was wide open. Next, the government troops moved westward along the southern foothills of the Tianshan Mountains and attacked Karasar, Kuche, Kashgar and other places.

The rebel army was defeated and had no more strategic locations to defend. The balance of victory had tilted towards the government army. It was only a matter of time before the rebels were annihilated and the Western Regions were recovered.

Liu Jiezheng looked at Fatini who had come over with the food and military equipment, smiled and nodded, then turned back and ordered his personal soldiers: "Send the battle report back to the capital as soon as possible."

"Order."

Fatini rode forward, saluted, and complained, "General Liu, when will you send me to fight the enemy? Transporting food and grass is so boring. I am almost fed up with it."

Liu Jiezheng said with a smile: "Miss Fa, don't underestimate the job of escorting grain and grass. The victory or defeat of an army depends entirely on grain and grass. This is a very important job. When he wins a great victory one day, I will remember you as the first merit."

Fatini pouted and said, "Since it is so important, please ask General Liu to send an important general to escort it, and I will just be a small soldier charging into battle."

Liu Jie Zheng said firmly: "Absolutely not. Since we are in the army, military orders are as heavy as a mountain. Miss France cannot act arbitrarily."

Then he looked at her gradually growing belly and said, "After this battle, Miss Fa, you will return to Dihua with the army and take good care of yourself. Don't make any mistakes, otherwise how will Old Liu explain to Shao Bao?"

He was not a fool. At Fatini's strong request, it was an exception for him to allow her to stay in the rear to escort food and fodder. How could he allow her to fight in the war while pregnant with Jia Cong's child?
If there is any mistake, even if a great victory is won, it will leave a huge stain on Jia Cong.

Now she is not even allowed to go to the battlefield.

Fatini wanted to fight for it again, but Liu Jiezheng took out a bamboo tube from his arms and threw it to her, saying, "Miss Fa, it's ok that you don't listen to me, but don't you even listen to the young guard?"

Fatini unscrewed it quickly and took out a piece of letter, which read:

Fatini:
The battlefield is no joke. You must not act on your own and must obey General Liu's orders. If you disobey military orders, I will immediately order you to be taken back to the capital, and I will not take care of you Kyrgyz people in the future. You have to decide for yourself.

Cong character.

"This person... is so annoying. He still controls me even though we are thousands of miles apart."

Fatini smiled awkwardly, put the bamboo tube away and no longer mentioned the war.

Liu Jiezheng smiled and said, "Young Master is very smart. He knew that Miss France was as capable as a man. He was afraid that something bad might happen to you, so he gave me this letter before leaving Beijing, saying that if you don't obey the rules, he would show it to you. Now that Miss is pregnant, it's even more inappropriate for her to travel and take risks."

Fatini smiled heartily and said, "Well, I will listen to my man. I wish General Liu success in battles. I'm going back now. Please give him a letter for me later."

Liu Jie Zheng bowed and smiled, "Thank you very much. Old Liu also hopes that the young lady and her child will be safe and happy to have a baby boy."

A few days later, Jia Cong was overjoyed when he received the battle report from the Western Regions. What made him even happier was that he didn't expect that he could really hit the target with one strike and actually had a mixed-race child.

After telling Baochai and the others, they were all delighted and quickly ordered people to prepare several large carts filled with things for the babies of wealthy families and gifts from everyone, and then sent them to the Western Regions.

Sister Feng spat in a low voice, "There's no legitimate seedling at home yet, and you're spreading your branches and leaves far away. Aren't you afraid that the princesses will be angry with you?"

Jia Cong smiled and said, "I have already told them that it is not appropriate for them to get pregnant since they are not old enough. Let's wait two years."

"You idiot, aren't Bao, Ping'er and Chan old enough? You are too partial." Feng Jieer said.

Jia Cong said hurriedly: "This... How should I know? I told them not to take the contraceptive soup earlier. Do you blame me if they can't get pregnant? Mr. Ye also examined them and said that they are in good health and the opportunity has not yet arrived."

Sister Feng mocked, "It's because you didn't pay enough attention, how come that girl from the Western Regions got pregnant overnight?"

Jia Cong pinched his chin and smiled, "How difficult is it to have a baby? Go and write down for me the days before and after their menstruation. Excluding these days, the remaining days are the most likely times for conception. I have a target in mind, and I don't believe that I can't get pregnant."

Feng Jie'er's eyes lit up and she said, "Where did you hear that? Is it true?" She was a woman and had never heard of such a statement before.

Jia Cong smiled proudly and said, "This is my exclusive secret. There is only one of its kind in the world. Even Mr. Ye may not know it. You will know if it works after you try it."

Feng Jieer hurriedly told Jia Cong's theory to all the girls. They all cursed him out of shame, but they were all secretly planning their own days.

For the next two months, Jia Cong and the Western Region army lived in a world of constant gunfire, and each gained something.

In early November, the government troops traveled thousands of miles to recapture Kuqa, and the bandit troops fled with property and refugees.

The government troops pursued the victory and fought several battles, large and small, and successively conquered Baicheng, Aksu, Wushi and other places. At the end of November, they captured Kashgar, Yingjishaer and other places, and captured alive the foreign bandit leader Abulai and the tribal leaders of his followers.

The overall situation has been decided, and the outcome has been decided.

In mid-December, the government troops captured Yarkand without a fight, turned eastward, and conquered the last important town, Khotan. From then on, except for the Ili River Valley in the north, the Celestial Empire had retook the entire Western Regions under its rule, restoring the territory it had decades ago.

Liu Jiezheng was not satisfied with the results of the battle. He mobilized troops and stored supplies, preparing to recapture the Ili River Valley in one fell swoop and wipe out the Russians who occupied the valley. At the same time, he sent the battle report to the capital.

Jia Cong was overjoyed when he received the victory news from the front in the capital. This was the first war that he had experienced personally and participated in deeply without going to the battlefield, which made him feel a great joy different from before.

As long as it is about winning battles, strategizing and fighting thousands of miles away are equally fascinating.

Of course, he was not idle either. In the past two months, he had successfully made Baochai, Ping'er, Fengjie and others pregnant.

The girls were astounded by his handsome appearance and believed in the theory of safe and dangerous periods that he "researched and invented himself" and took it as their guiding principle.

The urgent military news of the great victory in the Western Regions was sent back to the capital over a distance of 800 miles. The whole country was jubilant, and the people all applauded and praised the Holy Emperor for coming to the throne, making his power known beyond the borders, and conquering his homeland.

At the same time, a memorial drafted by Qiu Zhixin and written according to Jia Cong's wishes had been sent from Gansu Town to Dingguo Mansion. It would be presented to the emperor after he had signed and sealed it.

The soldiers fought hard to win a battle, and the rewards should be arranged. Jia Cong is responsible for this task, which is to collect money and collect debts. (End of this chapter)