Chapter 1230 Qingwu’s sorrow!

Feeling the doubt and curiosity in his son Sun Teng's eyes, Sun Wenheng did not give a direct answer, but stroked his beard and said lightly:
"Son, what do you mean by marching before the troops move?"

After Sun Wenheng finished speaking, Sun Teng looked even more hesitant. After a moment of hesitation, he said:

"Dad, of course the food and fodder should be sent before the troops move!"

“But recently the Fengwu Army has not made any large-scale mobilization of food, medicine, and military equipment. Even if there were any such movements, the two generals Zhang Meng and Ma Zhongjun would not be unaware of it…”

Listening to his son's words, Sun Wenheng smiled with some pride and said:
"Son, you're right about sending food before troops move, but today I want to teach you a lesson!"

"This is called intelligence before troops move!"

"The intelligence comes before the troops move? What do you mean by that, Dad?"

Sun Wenheng said in a deep voice:
"Old Liu just came back from Baiyue with a caravan last month. He told me that there are more Great Zhou merchants heading to Baiyue than usual? And some of these merchants are completely new faces!"

"Although these strangers are dressed like merchants, they are very generous compared to the usual merchants who haggle over every penny. They are also more curious about the affairs of Baiyue. They seem to be very interested in everything about Baiyue!"

As the successor trained by Sun Wenheng since childhood, Sun Teng is also very smart. Hearing his father say this, he immediately realized what his father meant and said in a low voice:
"Dad, you said they were spies from the Central Coordination Office?"

After hearing this, Sun Wenheng gave Sun Teng a teachable look and continued:
"You also heard Marshal Ye's speech. He is definitely not someone who is satisfied with unifying the world. Moreover, it seems that he attaches great importance to overseas trade!"

"But overseas trade is subject to overseas situations, especially in Nanyang. Nanyang is very chaotic right now. There are the Black Dragon King Fang Zhi, the Pure Sea King Zhang Dapeng, and Wang Le who is very close to Dongdao, as well as the Bazhe tribe, the Gaoding tribe, and other native tribes!"

“This group of people never stop fighting for power and profit!” Every day either you hit me or I hit you…”

"If Marshal Ye wants to develop overseas trade, he must deal with these people to prevent the maritime trade from being disrupted. If he fails to deal with them, developing overseas trade will be just empty talk!"

"If Nanyang were a landmass, it would be easy for the Fengwu Army to deal with them. But the problem now is that Nanyang is full of islands. If you want to control it, you must have a strong navy. Although the Fengwu Army is very good at land warfare, their naval power is very weak. It is a pipe dream to control Nanyang in a short period of time!"

"This is also the fundamental reason why Marshal Ye encouraged the development of overseas trade so much, and why old foxes like Hu Wenjie, Cao Genwei, and Fu Yixiang are still standing still. When the shipping routes are not protected, rashly increasing investment will only result in losses!"

"Marshal Ye is such a hero that he naturally realized this, so he did not hold Zhu Chen responsible, and he is preparing to start building warships to enhance the navy's combat power. However, the construction of ships and the training of navy officers and soldiers take time!"

"According to the current progress, it will take at least three to five years to build a strong navy fleet. However, Marshal Ye obviously cannot wait that long, so it is only natural that he will attack Baiyue and Yunqian from land!"

After listening to his father's analysis, Sun Teng gave a thumbs up and praised sincerely:
"Dad, this ginger is really still spicy with age!"

In response to his son's praise, Sun Wenheng stroked his beard with some pride, but at this moment Sun Teng still asked in confusion:
“Dad, since you judged that Marshal Ye would attack the Baiyue region in this way, then why did you hide it from General Zhang…”

When Sun Wenheng heard his son mention Zhang Meng's name, he immediately snorted and said:
"Why would I tell this country bumpkin?"

After hearing this, Sun Teng also looked embarrassed and regretted asking this question. At this time, Sun Wenheng said coldly:
"Although this Zhang took our family's money, he didn't look down on us at all. From the look on his face, it was as if he was giving us a great honor by taking our money!"

"So for this guy named Zhang, we have to let him know that our Sun family doesn't just rely on him!"

"Didn't you see that he smiled more this time when he came to our house? Isn't it because he thinks that I, the old man, have connections?"

Listening to his father's relationship and recalling Zhang Meng's expression, Sun Teng nodded heavily and said:
"This Zhang Meng is really a piece of shit! Our family gave him so much money and even slept with Xiang'er, yet he still complains when he does something for us, as if we owe him a big favor!"

Sun Wenheng took over the conversation and continued:
"After what happened this time, that bumpkin Zhang Meng will be wary of our family, but our family can't rely on him alone!"

"Dad, what do you think?"

"I heard that Murong Yuliang also came to Jiangnan with Marshal Ye. Find a chance to meet him in the next few days!"

Hearing Murong Yuliang's name, Sun Teng was very surprised. He hesitated for a moment and said:
"Dad, this Murong Yuliang was just dismissed from his position as the governor of Huainan!"

Sun Wenheng said calmly:

"It is normal for officials to have ups and downs. It is better to help people in need than to add icing on the cake!"

"Give Lord Murong a gift for me. Remember that the gift cannot be too expensive, or he will not accept it. But it must be meaningful and express my admiration for Lord Murong!"

Although it was still a little difficult to understand why his father was so interested in Murong Yuliang, Sun Teng still agreed:

"Dad, I understand. Leave this matter to me. I will go to pay a visit to Lord Murong tomorrow..."

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Yijing, Ye Mansion

Murong Qingwu, who was in confinement in the room, looked at Ying'er beside the bed and asked in a deep voice:

"When did this happen?" Ying Er lowered her head and said:
"This happened in May. The news reached Yi Jing half a month ago. Madam, you were pregnant at the time, so I didn't dare to tell you at the time. I thought I would slowly find a chance to tell you after you gave birth and finished your confinement!"

Although Murong Qingwu was very angry at this time, she felt helpless when she heard Ying'er say that!

Originally, Murong Qingwu got what she wanted and was very happy to give birth to a son for Ye Mingsheng. Looking at the little guy sleeping soundly, Murong Qingwu also had a feeling of waiting for the clouds to clear and see the moon. But before she had time to be happy for too long, Murong Qingwu heard a piece of news that was like a bolt from the blue!

The news was that her husband Ye Mingsheng not only did not praise her father Murong Yuliang's work results during his inspection of Huainan as she expected, but instead dismissed Murong Yuliang from his post as the governor of Huainan!
When she first heard the news, Murong Qingwu couldn't believe her ears. She really couldn't understand why things turned out like this!

At first Murong Qingwu was unwilling to believe the news, she even thought it was a lie, but seeing how these maids and nannies spoke so confidently, Murong Qingwu's belief was gradually shaken, and she brought her trusted maid Ying'er to the front...
Although she was very angry about Ying'er's hiding the truth from her, Murong Qingwu realized that Ying'er was doing it for her own good. She was pregnant at the time and would have been extremely worried if she knew the news. Anything could happen if she had a baby under such circumstances!
Therefore, in that situation, Ying Er’s decision might be the most correct one!
After realizing this, Murong Qingwu's resentment towards Ying'er was reduced a lot. After a moment of silence, Murong Qingwu said to Ying'er:

"Ying'er, I know you are doing this for my own good, but apart from this matter, are there any other things you are hiding from me?"

After saying this, Ying Er hesitated for a moment, and then wanted to tell Murong Qingwu that she didn't, but before she could say anything, she felt Murong Qingwu's sharp gaze, and the words were on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn't say them. Seeing this, Murong Qingwu said in a deep voice:

"Ying'er, you should serve me in Murong's house. I am your master and you should not hide anything from me!"

Hearing Murong Qingwu say this, Ying Er no longer concealed it:
"I heard that Master Zhengshan is dead!"

If hearing that her father Murong Yuliang was dismissed was a bolt from the blue, then the news of Murong Zhengshan's death was like another bolt from the blue that hit Murong Qingwu's heart hard..."

Recalling the appearance and voice of her cousin Murong Zhengshan, Murong Qingwu said with a trembling voice:
"This is how the same thing?"

"A few months after Master Zhengshan disappeared in Jiangnan, he appeared in a small town in Jiangnan, and then encountered a group of bandits and was killed by them. The Jiangnan Censorate also handled the matter in a low-key manner. However, according to the rules, murder cases must be reported to the Ministry of Justice, so the Jiangnan Censorate submitted the matter to the Ministry of Justice!"

"And the person in charge of this matter in the Ministry of Justice happened to be one of our people, so he quietly reported this matter to me!"

Hearing Ying'er say this, Murong Qingwu closed her eyes and tears ran down her face. She still said with some hopelessness:

"Is this matter certain?"

Ying Er said in a deep voice:

"The Jiangnan Governor has already verified his identity, and has also captured the bandit who killed Master Zhengshan. The matter should be confirmed!"

After hearing this, although Murong Qingwu tried hard to control her emotions, her tears still couldn't stop flowing!

Ever since Murong Zhengshan disappeared in Jiangnan, Murong Qingwu hadn’t heard from this cousin of hers for a long time. At that time, Murong Qingwu already had some bad premonitions in her heart, but as Murong Zhengshan’s cousin, Murong Qingwu still hoped that her cousin could survive...

Even though Ying'er said that Murong Zhengshan was killed by bandits, Murong Qingwu knew in her heart that Murong Zhengshan's death was related to Ye Mingsheng!

Although Ye Mingsheng did not love An Miaoyi very much, she was his legally married wife after all. So Murong Zhengshan's use of the torture scheme to frame An Miaoyi still violated Ye Mingsheng's taboo, so Murong Zhengshan had to pay the price for it. Even the Murong family paid the price for it with the demotion of Murong Yuliang and Murong Hui, uncle and nephew!

In fact, Murong Qingwu was a little curious at that time. Murong Yuliang and Murong Hui were both exiled, but there was no movement from Murong Zhengshan. At that time, Murong Qingwu thought that Murong Zhengshan had run away, and Ye Mingsheng took out his anger on his father and cousin!

But now it seems that no one can escape. Recalling the past between herself and Murong Zhengshan, and thinking about her husband whose hands are stained with the blood of her brother, Murong Qingwu was in agony and burst into tears.

Seeing his wife crying so sadly, Ying Er beside him also became anxious and said:
"Madam, please stop crying! These are all An Miaoyi's evil schemes!"

"When you were pregnant, the old lady issued a gag order for your own good, not allowing anyone to talk about the master in the mansion!"

"After you gave birth to the young master, the news of the old master's accident spread like wildfire. It was obvious that this was An Miaoyi's doing. Madam, you gave birth to the young master, which disappointed this bitch. That's why she played such a shady trick, hoping that you would not be able to take good care of yourself after the baby's birth and get sick!"

"An Miaoyi's plan is really too sinister! Madam, please do not fall for her evil plan, which will only make your loved ones sad and your enemies happy!"

Hearing Ying'er say this, Murong Qingwu tried hard to adjust her mood, and at this time Ying'er also gave her a handkerchief.

After a cup of tea, Murong Qingwu calmed down and thought about Ying'er and said in a deep voice:

"Does my father know about Zhengshan's affairs?"

Ying Er nodded and said:

"The master knew about this matter, and he was the one who sent someone to take back Master Zhengshan's remains!"

Murong Qingwu couldn't help but sigh when she heard this. It was obvious that Ying'er was not the only one who was hiding the truth from her. Even her father Murong Yuliang was hiding the truth from her. However, even though he was hiding it, it was obvious that her father was doing it for her own good, just like Ying'er. He was worried that she, who was pregnant at the time, would worry too much and something might happen!
Looking at her wife's sad face, Ying Er wanted to use some good news to ease Murong Qingwu's mood and comforted her:

“Madam, although the master was dismissed by the Marshal, the Marshal took the master with him during his inspection of Jiangnan this time. In my opinion, there may be a turnaround for the master’s case…”

(End of this chapter)