Chapter 609 A big gift for Ye Mingsheng!

Although Ye Cui was very restrained in her love for Murong Qingwu out of consideration for An Miaoyi's feelings, Murong Qingwu also understood that if she wanted to gain a foothold in the Ye Mansion, she had to gain the old lady's favor...
So she also deliberately tried to please Ye Cui. During the time when An Miaoyi was recuperating, it can be said that Murong Qingwu took the opportunity to stay by Ye Cui's side.

In addition, An Miaoyi, who is known as the most talented woman in the world, has another advantage. She has been well-read since childhood and has a strong memory. She has a strong ability to understand words. She can basically retell those obscure Buddhist scriptures after reading them once and understand their meaning. This is undoubtedly something that Ye Cui, who is a devout Buddhist, appreciates very much. Therefore, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law often discuss Buddhist scriptures together during this period.

After the regular meeting, An Miaoyi wanted to stay with Ye Cui for a while as usual. However, what made her feel heavy was that in addition to her and Jinyu, Murong Qingwu also appeared beside Ye Cui and had a good chat with her. This undoubtedly cast a shadow on An Miaoyi, who had just recovered from a serious illness.

After finally waiting for Ye Cui to take a nap, they said goodbye and left Ye Cui's yard. An Miaoyi wanted to return to her own yard to look after her son Ye Jingren, but what she didn't expect was that Murong Qingwu took the initiative to call her.

Although she didn't want to pay attention to Murong Qingwu, An Miaoyi still held her ground due to her dignity as a lady. Behind her, Murong Qingwu walked up to her with a sweet smile, bowed and said:
"Qingwu congratulates Sister An on her recovery!"

Although Murong Qingwu's words seemed very sincere, An Miaoyi was not interested in Murong Qingwu's congratulations. She just nodded slightly as a response...
She knew very well that this seemingly innocent woman in front of her was probably the one who wanted her dead the most in the Ye Mansion. If she really died, she would probably be able to ascend to become the mistress of the Ye Mansion, and the status of the Murong family behind her in the Fengwu Army would also rise accordingly.

Although An Miaoyi acted very indifferent, Murong Qingwu didn't seem to care much. She still kept a smile on her face and said:
"Qingwu has just entered the Ye Mansion and will need Sister An's care in the future. I hope Sister An will not despise Qingwu for being stupid!"

Listening to Murong Qingwu's words, An Miaoyi smiled and said lightly:

"Sister Qingwu, you are the eldest daughter of the Murong family and the most talented woman in the world. I should be the one asking for advice from you!"

"Sister An, you're joking. Qingwu has always respected and admired you since she was a child. I dare not be disrespectful to you, let alone have any improper thoughts. I only want to serve my husband wholeheartedly. I hope you can understand!" After saying that, Murong Qingwu bowed to An Miaoyi again.

Although Murong Qingwu said this sincerely, An Miaoyi sneered in her heart. However, as the eldest wife, she still showed her proper demeanor and said with a smile:

"I understand your intentions, and I believe that with you, Murong sister, by my side, I will be able to achieve twice the result with half the effort! I hope that the world will be peaceful soon, and the people will live and work in peace!"

After saying some meaningless words, An Miaoyi turned around and left surrounded by her maids, while Murong Qingwu stood there and watched her leave.

"It's just that you gave birth to a son, but you're always acting so arrogantly!"

Seeing An Miaoyi walking away, Ying'er, the maid following Murong Qingwu, muttered in a low voice:
Hearing Ying'er's words, Murong Qingwu immediately turned her gaze to the little maid beside her, and Ying'er immediately lowered her head somewhat angrily...
After returning to her own yard, An Miaoyi first played with Ye Jingren for a while. Now Ye Jingren will be seven months old in a few days. Although he can't speak very clearly, he can already call "Mom". This naturally makes An Miaoyi very excited, so she has been teaching Ye Jingren to call "Dad" in the past few days, trying to learn it before Ye Mingsheng comes back, so as to give Ye Mingsheng a surprise.

Although Ye Jingren is the legitimate eldest son, with Pei Zhixiu and Shen Yutong becoming pregnant one after another recently, little Jingren's status is no longer unique. What's more, the appearance of Murong Qingwu also makes An Miaoyi sense a hint of crisis. You know, although the eldest son is the legitimate heir in etiquette, it does not mean that he must be the heir. There are also cases in history books where the eldest son is deposed and the youngest son is enthroned.

Moreover, after being with Ye Mingsheng for such a long time, An Miaoyi has a deep understanding of Ye Mingsheng's character. Ye Mingsheng has never been a person who sticks to the rules and follows the routine. The constraints of etiquette and law have a great effect on others, but to Ye Mingsheng, they may not mean anything at all.

If it is in the interests of Ye Mingsheng, then Ye Mingsheng might pick it up and use it, but if it is not in the interests of Ye Mingsheng, then it is just a piece of empty paper, and Ye Mingsheng will sweep them all into the trash without hesitation!
Therefore, the position of the eldest son alone is not safe for An Miaoyi, Ye Mingsheng's love is the basis! The combination of the two is the real double insurance!

Although she really wanted little Jingren to learn how to call “Dad” as soon as possible, seeing how tired and sleepy the little guy was, An Miaoyi, as a mother, softened her heart. She held the little guy in her arms, hummed a lullaby, and coaxed little Jingren to sleep···················
After leaving little Jingren in the care of a maid, An Miaoyi picked up the teacup and drank slowly, carefully recalling her conversation with Murong Qingwu today.

Murong Qingwu's statement just now was similar to what An Miaoyi expected. She showed weakness to herself and did everything she could to make herself look like a pure and harmless white lotus. Although Ye Mingsheng was busy with affairs and did not get involved in the affairs of the women in the backyard, it did not mean that Ye Mingsheng was unaware of it. In addition, with Ye Mingsheng's personality, he would not like women who were too arrogant and strong. So even though he wanted to challenge himself, it was the most unwise to challenge him directly in public. Instead, it was the most effective and safest to take it step by step like now and destroy his foundation from the Ye Cui family!

In addition to showing weakness to herself, Murong Qingwu may also be hinting to herself that the rumors a few days ago were not spread by her! An Miaoyi believed this. After all, doing this would not benefit Murong Qingwu, but would make Ye Mingsheng annoyed.

It seems that there might be a third person hiding in the dark in the Ye Mansion, eyeing her covetously, wanting to see a fight between her and Murong Qingwu. She wants to take advantage of the situation!
Thinking of this, An Miaoyi also felt a little headache. Although she had the help of Cui Shao and others, as the Fengwu Army's territory became larger and larger, Ye Mingsheng had more and more power. Naturally, there would be more and more women, and more and more people would stare at her. Although it was expected, it really made people feel like a mountain of pressure!
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30 miles southeast of Zhuo County, Nanhe Mountain

Although he couldn't see the entire picture of Zhuo County because it was nearly thirty miles away, Dong Cheng's heart was pounding as he stood on the top of the mountain. He knew that his goal was just ahead!
The 5,000 Anqing troops traveled day and night for nine days, sleeping in the open air, disappearing without a trace. They took the country roads that were rarely traveled. They traveled nearly 800 miles in nine days just for this day!

Ye Mingsheng, who was said to have the eyes of an eagle and the back of a wolf, and who led the Fengwu Army to dominate the north in just a few years, is probably unaware that his death is imminent. He is probably commanding the battle situation in Hebei and Henan without knowing it. He never thought that his sword would soon harvest his head and use his blood to make his name, Dong Cheng, resound throughout the world!
Thinking of this, a sinister smile emerged on Dong Cheng's rough face. The Marquis had already promised him that as long as he could be killed in this battle, he would be made the general of Bozhou and have the power of life and death. Therefore, this battle could not be lost, and Ye Mingsheng must be crushed to pieces!
In order to ensure the speed of the raid and reach Zhuo County on time, the 5,000 cavalrymen were lightly equipped and almost abandoned all their baggage and supplies. They relied entirely on the food and supplies that the Qi army secretly left behind along the way. Even in this case, the Anqing cavalry led by Dong Cheng carried tens of thousands of kilograms of gunpowder and hundreds of firearms craftsmen.
These gunpowder and firearms craftsmen were given by Shangguan Hongyuan, and were also Xu Zhaojie's real killer move against Ye Mingsheng this time...

When formulating this battle plan, Xu Zhaojie already had a clear understanding of the city structure of Zhuo County through the defeated and exiled Yan army soldiers.

Although Zhuo County has a very important geographical location and is an important town in the southern part of Youyan, judging from its name, it is not a large county town. Although the defense of Zhuo County was strengthened to a certain extent when Zhao Fuqu retreated to Zhuo County, the thickness of its city wall is still only about half a zhang.

Under normal circumstances, with a light army and no baggage or heavy siege weapons, unless the 5,000 cavalrymen under Dong Cheng were lucky enough to charge directly into Zhuo County when the Fengwu Army was caught off guard, once the city gates were closed, it would be difficult for Dong Cheng's cavalrymen to capture Zhuo County in a short time. By then, the main force of the Fengwu Army in Hebei and Henan would withdraw, and Dong Cheng's troops would not only fail to successfully kill Ye Mingsheng, but would become fat meat in the mouths of the Fengwu Army.

So in order to capture Zhuo County, Shangguan Hongyuan and Xu Zhaojie joined forces to prepare a big gift for Ye Mingsheng...

With the help of firearms, the Fengwu Army led by Ye Mingsheng achieved great success and controlled two provinces in just a few years. The princes of the Great Zhou all had a new understanding of the importance of firearms. On the one hand, they tried to imitate the firearms of the Fengwu Army and wanted to replicate its success. On the other hand, they were also inspired by the Fengwu Army's use of firearms and tried to innovate according to the needs of their respective armies!
Shangguan Hongyuan, who owns Luoan and has the largest number of firearms craftsmen in the world, has strong competitiveness in both imitation and original creation. Before they imitated the firearms of the Fengwu Army and developed the Shenwu Gun and the Zhengdong Cannon, they created a weapon called "fire coffin" because of the need to break through the city in Sichuan and Shu.

The so-called "fire coffin", as the name suggests, is to put a large amount of gunpowder into the coffin, and then cover the surface of the fire coffin with a layer of sand and gravel to prevent it from being attacked by fire. Finally, the fire coffin is brought to the bottom of the city wall and detonated, using the power of the gunpowder explosion to blow a big hole in the city wall. Although this method is simple and crude, it does not require much technical content.

However, when it is used for the first time and the opponent has never seen such a thing, it can still have a good effect. The imperial guards under Shangguan Hongyuan relied on this method to capture several cities in the previous battles in Sichuan and Shu. However, later the Shu army also had combat experience and reacted. When they saw the appearance of the fire coffin, they concentrated their arrows and muskets to attack fiercely. The effect of the fire coffin was very limited...
As the imperial guards under Shangguan Hongyuan developed a more powerful Zhengdong cannon, the Fire Coffin was retired. In this conspiracy against Ye Mingsheng, in order to kill this scourge Ye Mingsheng and eliminate the threat from the Fengwu Army on the eastern front, Shangguan Hongyuan reluctantly gave Xu Zhaojie ten Zhengdong cannons and thousands of Shenwu guns.

However, Xu Zhaojie took into consideration that this operation was a surprise attack and the roads to be taken were all country roads. Although the Zhengdong cannons were powerful, each of them weighed several thousand pounds and was very inconvenient to carry. If the roads became muddy on some rainy days, it would be a disaster and would not meet the requirements of a surprise attack at all.

Therefore, Xu Zhaojie did not let Dong Cheng's troops carry the Zhengdong cannon. Instead, he equipped Dong Cheng's troops with tens of thousands of kilograms of gunpowder and hundreds of craftsmen, and asked Dong Cheng to start making fire coffins after arriving near Zhuo County.

According to the customs of the Great Zhou Dynasty, when an old person reaches a certain age, he or she will prepare a coffin for himself or herself, so you can get a lot of coffins by just finding a village. At that time, there are raw materials and craftsmen. In addition, the fire coffin itself does not require much technical content, so the fire coffin can be made quickly.

According to the experience of the Imperial Army in Sichuan and Shu regions, a fire coffin equipped with enough gunpowder can completely destroy a half-zhang thick city wall. Therefore, Xu Zhaojie hoped that the fire coffin would give Ye Mingsheng a big surprise when it first met the Fengwu Army.

In Xu Zhaojie’s opinion, as long as the city wall of Zhuo County was breached, then with the weak defense force of Zhuo County, facing the 5,000 most elite cavalry of Anqing Army, it would be an extremely inhumane massacre. Even if these 5,000 cavalry failed to withdraw and were wiped out in the end, as long as Ye Mingsheng was killed and the imminent danger of Fengwu Army was resolved, it would be a good deal with huge profits...

(End of this chapter)