The concubine's favorite? Break off the engagement and marry another prince, please respect you

Chapter 174

On the day Lu Ziyan left the capital, the three armies set out together with great momentum.

The high officials and common people in the capital all went to see him off. Even the emperor personally led the army to the Ten-Li Pavilion and offered farewell wine to his beloved son.

Hearing about this popularity, the morale of the soldiers was greatly boosted.

The reason why I heard about it is because Xie Wan Ning didn't go.

Almost all the noble ladies in the capital went to see the young general off, but as a married woman she decided not to join in the fun.

As these chosen ones left the capital one by one, the capital seemed to suddenly become quiet.

Ji Chengfeng was ordered to tour the south, Pei Yuqing went to Yangzhou for some unknown reason, and Lu Ziyan was even more direct, leading troops to pacify the border.

I thought that was the end of it, but half a month after Lu Ziyan left, the Qilin Prefecture in the northeast reported that the area had suffered from drought for most of the previous year, and they had only survived the year by tightening their belts and relying on the relief grain from the imperial court. They had hoped that life would be better this year.

Who would have thought that this year would be even worse? Not a drop of rain has fallen from the sky since the beginning of the year, and thousands of acres of dry land have yielded no harvest. The drought is imminent and unavoidable.

When the news reached the capital, all the civil and military officials in the court cried out in grief.

This is a natural disaster. How can human power change the sky?

But it was no secret that the Han treasury was empty. In recent years, there had been disaster relief, wars, and suppression of rebellions. The already thin foundation could not afford such spending.

After worrying for a few days, what needs to be dealt with must be dealt with. The current emperor is not a foolish monarch and will not turn a blind eye to the suffering of the people under his rule.

He wanted to send people to survey rivers in various places to see if water could be brought in to control the drought.

But everyone knows that water flows to lower places, and the geographical location of the northern region is naturally much higher, so how can we divert the water back?

In recent years, floods in the south and droughts in the north have become commonplace.

Controlling floods and droughts will take time, and the most important thing right now is disaster relief.

The emperor is far away and of course he has to send his trusted ministers to see the disaster situation.

Xie Yanyu was the top scholar in the last session. He was well-versed in poetry and literature, and his theories on state governance were personally approved by the emperor. He also came from a noble family and was good at archery, horse riding, and martial arts.

The Khan is facing serious internal unrest in various places now, and His Majesty is short of talented people. Weak scholars are not suitable for traveling around, and they may die at any time. Only the proud sons of noble families who are extraordinary in both literary and military strategies will be the most valued.

This task fell on him.

When Xie Wan Ning got the news, she was extremely panicked.

Even when Pei Yuqing went to Yangzhou, she had never been so nervous.

This is her biological brother, and like her parents, he is her most important relative.

He was going to Qilin Prefecture, which was thousands of miles away. The road was long and winding, with mountains and rivers, and there were countless bandit riots. There was also a drought in the area.

If you are not careful, you may never come back.

But a man has ambitions to travel far and wide. Her brother did not take the imperial examination to enjoy peace in the capital. He had his own ambitions and a lot of strategies for governing the country that he wanted to implement. Now that he has the opportunity, he will not let it go.

Not to mention Xie Wan Ning, even Zheng was worried.

Her only son hasn't married yet!

This time, looking at his mother's tearful face, Xie Yanyu could no longer say no.

He was relieved, and the marriage proposal was put on the agenda almost immediately.

The prince of the Xuanping Marquis's mansion wants to discuss marriage, and countless young ladies in the capital are excited.

At the same time, the marriage between Princess Pingning of the Duke of Pei and the eldest son of the Zhao family was also finalized.

In the second month after the marriage agreement was signed, Zhao Rui asked to join the military camp and soon left the capital with the army.

After Zhao Rui left Beijing, Xie Yanyu's marriage was also decided by Zheng.

Li Rong, the daughter of the Chief Justice of the Dali Temple, was seventeen years old, the same age as Xie Wan Ning. She had met her several times and vaguely remembered that she was a well-mannered and very calm girl.

This daughter-in-law was chosen by Zheng herself, so it would be a good idea to bring her home to be the headmistress of the Xie family.

Xie Wan Ning was reassured about her mother's opinion, but her brother's marriage was arranged so hastily that she still felt a little complicated.

After all, compared to Pei Yuxuan, Xie Yanyu had never even met this girl from the Li family before.

But he refused to accept Pei Yuxuan's feelings, but was willing to get married with Li Rong.

It was simply because he couldn't bear Pei Yuxuan's strong affection.

In response, Xie Yanyu just looked at his sister and smiled: "Love is really not that important. Miss Li has a good character."

Fit is the most important thing.

The two of them respected each other. The other party took care of the household, supported his parents, and looked after the children, which relieved his worries and allowed him to focus on his ideals and ambitions.

If it were the princess, he would have to devote three-tenths of his energy to his family. Even so, he would still feel it was not enough, and eventually a rift would arise, resentment would develop, and troubles would continue.

Looking at her brother like this, Xie Wan Ning thought that she seemed to understand a little bit of Lu Ziyan's thoughts in her previous life.

During the two years in the dream, he was always busy, busy pursuing his ideals and ambitions. Perhaps all men have such ambitions, unwilling to be ordinary, and able to make things happen at will, playing political games. He was so busy that he could not even see the torture she was suffering in the backyard.

Because he was very confident, confident that he had arranged everything and she would not be treated poorly.

In fact, what he thought was correct. The ladies of the Lu family were indeed lenient towards her because they felt guilty about his favoritism towards his concubine.

Liu Manrou and Erxia were the second wife and concubines. As long as she didn't want to, they couldn't make trouble in front of her, the first wife.

Her Shaoguangyuan is indeed very quiet.

As for taking a concubine? He probably thought that all men took concubines, and with the Lu family's situation, he would just enjoy two extra women, so she wouldn't mind.

But he overlooked one thing, she was not an object, she would be sad and would give up.

He never thought that her love would slowly fade away. In his plan, she just had to wait for him quietly in Shaoguang Courtyard.

He probably thought, like Xie Yanyu, that love between young men and women was really not that important.

That’s right, how can we feel the importance of something we already have?

So, just as he said, until he was seriously injured and dying, and realized that he had left behind something, the thing on his mind was not the war, not the political enemies in the court, not the intrigues and calculations, but only her.

When you are about to lose something, you will realize what is most important.

It's so wrong.

Xie Wan Ning smiled bitterly and looked at the brother in front of him steadily. "Since it is not important, please remember these words, brother. In this life, you should devote yourself to the country and the people, and don't be attached to the love between men and women."

I don't know what Pei Yuxuan thought when she found out that he was going to marry a girl from the Li family who was inferior to her in appearance and birth, and that they had never met before the marriage. She probably thought, since you can marry a girl who is inferior to me in every way and has no feelings for me, you can reject my advances again and again.

Any girl with a bit of pride would think this is a huge loss of face.

How much do you have to hate yourself to do this?
In short, the damage has been done to these two people and it is impossible to turn back.

Now, Xie Wan Ning only hopes that her brother will never regret his decision today.

Even if I find myself attracted to someone one day, it can never be to Pei Yuxuan.

You have already offended people to death.

…………

With Xie Yanyu's departure from Beijing, the last ray of scorching heat faded away, and it gradually entered deep autumn, with the weather turning cooler.

The fighting in the northern border was in full swing, with urgent military reports arriving every now and then.

The Jin Dynasty was a nomadic people who ate raw meat and drank blood. The living conditions were extremely bitter and cold. When the weather got cold in autumn and winter, they were short of food and clothing. I don't know how many people starved to death.

It is an open fact that the Han Dynasty's national strength has been weakening in recent years. Therefore, at the end of every year, the Jin Dynasty's cavalry would become restless on the border, and burning, killing and looting were common.

If the country is weak, the people will suffer.

Women, cattle, sheep, and food were their main targets of plunder. The people living in the border areas suffered greatly from humiliation and were in great pain.

And this year, let alone harassing our border, the Jin army was even defeated by Lu Ziyan and had no power to fight back.

The battle reports sent back to the capital were more inspiring than the last.

The people rushed to tell each other, and everyone knew that the foreign tribes suppressed by the King of Zhenbei were out of breath, and retreated back to their grasslands, not daring to invade.

The emperor even praised the three good points repeatedly in the court, and kept saying that he would reward the three armies generously.

All the civil and military officials in the court were excited.

The Jin Dynasty in the northern border was the Han Dynasty's greatest enemy. They had been eyeing the Han Dynasty covetously for years, and it was unknown how much flesh and blood they had bitten off from the Han Dynasty to nourish themselves. Now that their prestige had been destroyed, how could this not be a great joy?

But not everyone is happy about such a big happy event.

For example, several other princes and their mothers.

As a legitimate prince, Lu Ziyan is now the King of Zhenbei with hundreds of thousands of soldiers, and has won the hearts of the people...

The emperor keeps talking about rewards, but it can be said that apart from the chair under his butt, there is nothing else to reward him. Once he returns victorious, the position of crown prince will be the only reward he can get.

By that time, he will be loved by the people, hold military power, and be the legitimate crown prince. There will be no place for them to operate.

...How could the princes, who are from the royal family, bear to live a life of dependence on others?

Especially the eldest prince and the second prince. It would be fine if they had never seen any hope, but before Lu Ziyan’s identity was restored, they were the most promising candidates to become the crown prince!

The enemy of my enemy is my friend, and this is absolutely true.

The two princes fought for their own interests, but were also tied together for their own interests. They discussed this with their aides countless times.

At first, they wanted Lu Ziyan to die in Northern Frontier and put an end to it once and for all.

But Lu Ziyan was no ordinary man. He was strict in military discipline and all of his lieutenants were promoted by him personally. Not to mention that their means could not reach the military camp, even if they did, they could hardly do anything, let alone plot against him.

Finding that they couldn't kill anyone, the two princes had to change their method. They wanted Lu Ziyan to lose the battle. Even if the emperor was partial, he couldn't reward a defeated general, right?
But Lu Ziyan was indeed a good fighter. As the commander-in-chief, he made the final decision on all deployments and never made any mistakes. Apart from him, no one could decide the outcome.

Finally, they wanted to attack the defensive supply line.

It is said that food and fodder must be sent before troops move forward. Even if you are a military genius, you still have to make sure your soldiers have enough food.

But how could the food and grass be tampered with so easily?

It can be said that all the civil and military officials in the court, including the emperor, have their eyes fixed on the battlefield in the northern border. If there is any disturbance there, no one can escape.

At that time, let alone being dependent on others, even if he is a prince, he will not be able to escape death for such a crime of harming the country.

The Qi royal family had precedents of killing their sons. Not to mention the distant past, the late emperor personally issued an edict to execute two princes who colluded with foreign tribes for their own interests.

The idea of ​​moving the food supplies was thus abandoned.

It's so difficult to make Lu Ziyan lose the battle!

Is he really a natural born general who is as strong as an iron wall and has no weaknesses at all?
…………

No one except these people knew about their secret intrigues, and everyone in Shengjing City, from top to bottom, was immersed in the long-lost joy of victory.

Everyone was hoping that Lu Ziyan would continue to win big, suppress the Jin Dynasty all the way, scare them, ensure the stability of the border, and make them dare not commit crimes again for a hundred years before returning to the court.

The Khan will change from being a setting sun to a rising red sun.

Xie Wan Ning was of course happy about the victory on the frontier. The patriotism is not only possessed by men. Although noble ladies like them are raised in seclusion, they are well-read and have good manners and integrity.

Compared with the rise and fall of the country, her personal grudges are nothing.

She was truly happy, and every time she went to the temple, in addition to praying for her husband and brothers, she would also pray for safety for the soldiers fighting on the battlefield.

Pei Yuqing left Beijing in early spring and said he would come back in March or May. Now he has been gone for half a year and his return date has not been determined for a long time.

Because of the unrest in various places, the three-day letter-writing became five-day letter-writing and then gradually became half-month letter-writing.

Every word in his letters was filled with longing, but he really couldn't get away. After the affairs in Yangzhou were settled, problems arose again in Xuzhou. Xie Wan Ning knew that he was eager to return home and was even more reluctant to urge him. She always told him to just focus on his work and be careful.

The only good news was that Ji Chengfeng, who was supposed to have an accident in midsummer in the dream, did not die. He was alive and well and even sent a letter.

For an unmarried cousin to write a letter to his married cousin is actually a very untenable thing to do, even in the Khanate, where people are open-minded.

Therefore, this letter was not made known to Zheng, but was sent directly by Ji's servant to the Xie's house to deliver the holiday gift, saying that a small gift was left for Xie Wan Ning alone.

Of course Zheng would not open the gift her sister prepared for her daughter. When Xie Wan Ning opened it, she found a letter inside.

The content of the letter was very simple. In addition to saying that he was safe, he also solemnly thanked his cousin for saving his life.

Finally, he praised her palm reading skills. In the box of gifts, there was a rare book describing various magical skills.

I guess he thought his cousin had a talent for being a charlatan, so he found it and gave it to her.

In response to this, Xie Wan Ning expressed that she did not know whether to laugh or cry.

However, she actually read the book several times and found it quite interesting.

Four thousand words, there will be another chapter later~~~