Chapter 619 The storm is coming! (Thanks to the book friend 18442 for the reward!)

Yijing, Military Governor's Mansion
“If we look back to ancient times, the sages were the first among all living things in the world. They observed the opening and closing of yin and yang to name things, knew the gateway to survival and destruction, and planned the beginning and end of all things…”

In the room, Murong Qingwu was holding "Guiguzi" in her hand and muttering to herself. She had read this ancient wonder book when she was eleven years old, but now when she read it again, she had new insights.

Half an hour later, Ying'er, the little maidservant who came with Murong Qingwu as a dowry, quietly came to Murong Qingwu's side. Noticing Ying'er's appearance, Murong Qingwu asked calmly:
"How does that go?"

"Last night, General An Tianyu was rescued in the South Fourth Alley of the West Gate of the Coordination Office. I heard that more than ten spies from the Supervision Department were also arrested!"

"After she got the news at midnight yesterday, she went straight to the coordination office and hasn't come back yet!"

Murong Qingwu raised her eyebrows upon hearing this, a faint smile appeared on her pretty face, and she said lightly:
"What a deep love between brother and sister!"

After saying this, Murong Qingwu pondered for a moment, then gradually made a decision in her heart. She put down the Guiguzi in her hand and walked directly to the south.

After walking for about a cup of tea, Murong Qingwu arrived at the southernmost courtyard of the Governor's Mansion. This courtyard was the worst courtyard in the Governor's Mansion except for the maids' and servants' residences. At this time, the old maid Wu Ma was sweeping the floor in the courtyard. When she saw Murong Qingwu, she immediately stopped sweeping the floor and bowed to Murong Qingwu, saying:

"Greetings, Madam Murong. My wife has caught a cold recently and is not convenient to see guests. Madam Murong, please go back..."

Murong Qingwu ignored Nanny Wu's polite refusal and walked straight towards the courtyard gate without waiting for Nanny Wu to finish her words. Seeing that Murong Qingwu was trying to force her way in, Nanny Wu was shocked at first, but then she was so eager to protect her master that she didn't care about status and wanted to stop Murong Qingwu. However, before she touched Murong Qingwu, she was stopped by Ying'er, the maid behind Murong Qingwu.

The old and frail Nanny Wu was no match for Ying'er, who had practiced martial arts since childhood. She could only watch Murong Qingwu walk into the yard.

Although she had long realized that Shen Yutong's situation in the mansion would not be good, Murong Qingwu frowned slightly when she saw everything in the yard in front of her.

Although the yard was very clean, it could not hide the shabby atmosphere in the courtyard. At this moment, the owner of the yard seemed to have noticed something strange in the yard and walked out with a slightly bulging belly.

Shen Yutong was a little surprised when she saw Murong Qingwu in the yard. At this time, Aunt Wu came over and said to Shen Yutong with a guilty look:
"I'm sorry ma'am, I didn't stop them, they just forced their way in!"

Hearing what Aunt Wu said, Shen Yutong smiled and said soothingly:

"Madame Wu, you've done a great job. Go back to your room and have a good rest!"

Listening to Shen Yutong's comfort, Nanny Wu nodded and bowed and left. Then Shen Yutong turned back to the house, and Murong Qingwu followed her into the house. After entering the house and looking at Shen Yutong, Murong Qingwu said calmly:
“She belongs to An Miaoyi…”

Shen Yutong was not at all surprised by what Murong Qingwu said. She picked up the teapot, poured a cup of tea for Murong Qingwu, and said calmly:
"She is a miserable person!"

"If because of me, she can earn more money to supplement the family expenses, why not do it?"

Murong Qingwu frowned slightly when she heard this, as if she wanted to say something, but seeing that Shen Yutong knew the answer, she did not say anything about this issue. Instead, she looked at the teacup with some doubt and asked:
"I remember the housekeeper assigned you two maids to serve you. Why don't I see them?"

Facing Murong Qingwu's question, Shen Yutong still asked calmly:

"Yes, she has two maids, but now there is a war going on at the front. The eldest lady ordered to reduce the expenses of the mansion to support the war at the front. She streamlined the staff in the mansion and sent dozens of maids and nannies in the General Affairs Office back to their hometowns. So now the General Affairs Office is short of staff, so she borrowed the maids from my courtyard!"

Murong Qingwu was a little surprised when she heard this and asked:
"I do not know how?"

Upon hearing this, Shen Yutong picked up the teacup, took a sip and smiled without saying anything. Although Shen Yutong did not say it explicitly, the extremely intelligent Murong Qingwu quickly understood it and her eyes became complicated.

There is no doubt that these people in the mansion all treat people differently according to their social status. Although Shen Yutong is Ye Mingsheng's wife, firstly, she is not favored by Ye Mingsheng and he married her by mistake. Secondly, Shen Yutong does not have any good backing. Thirdly, although Shen Yutong is sought after by countless people in the opera world, in traditional concepts, the opera world belongs to the lowest class. As the old saying goes, whores are heartless and actors are disloyal...
Because of this experience in the opera world, Shen Yutong was despised by many people in the Governor's Mansion. The leader of them was Ye Cui. This old lady with traditional ideas always felt that Ye Mingsheng marrying an actor was a disgrace to the Ye family. Although Ye Mingsheng had already done it and she couldn't say anything openly, she always called Shen Yutong "the actor" in private.

As the saying goes, what goes up comes down. Ye Cui's contempt for Shen Yutong resulted in the servants not paying much attention to their master Shen Yutong. In addition, in order to ease the financial pressure on the Fengwu Army and concentrate all resources for external expansion, Ye Mingsheng started with himself and cut down all unnecessary expenses in the Governor's Office, making life in the Governor's Office not very comfortable.

Under such a background, Shen Yutong's life was particularly tight. The furniture issued to her by the General Affairs Office had been used by others, and the silk jewelry and other things issued were the leftovers of other ladies. Even the maids were borrowed by others. Although life was a little tight, fortunately, An Miaoyi managed the family strictly, and no one dared to deduct the money and other things, and the servants did not dare to contradict the master. Murong Qingwu, who was born as the daughter of the Murong family, honestly did not notice the changes in the mansion during this period. She had never lacked money, and she never asked about the money issued, and gave it to Ying'er for safekeeping. When she married Ye Mingsheng, in addition to preparing a large amount of wealth, the Murong family specially bought ten prosperous shops in Yijing as a dowry for Murong Qingwu so that she could use the rent to subsidize her life in the future.

Moreover, she had the powerful Murong family as her mother’s family. Even though Murong Qingwu was also a concubine, the servants in the mansion were all very respectful and dared not neglect her in the slightest...
Although she wanted to help Shen Yutong, Murong Qingwu knew her good friend's personality. She knew that if she opened her mouth, Shen Yutong would probably serve tea and send her away. After a moment of silence, Murong Qingwu looked at Shen Yutong and said solemnly:

"Although Pei Zhixiu is very much favored by Ye Mingsheng, she is not as simple as you think. An Miaoyi and the Cui family once planned to deal with her and secretly investigated her background in Gongdu, but in the end they returned empty-handed!"

"You came here today just to tell me this?" Shen Yutong asked calmly:

Murong Qingwu met Shen Yutong's gaze and said softly:

"You have to take care of yourself during this troubled time, Yutong!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Murong Qingwu turned around and left. Looking at her leaving back, Shen Yutong's eyes revealed a hint of disappointment.

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Zhuo County, Governor's Office
"Report to the Lord, the Anqing Army raided Kangyin, and the Huai Army was caught off guard and defeated in Kangyin. Kangyin City changed hands and at least 30,000 Huai Army soldiers were annihilated. Xu Zhaojie is leading the main force of the Anqing Army and marching non-stop towards Shouchun!" Wang Xuecheng bowed and reported to Ye Mingsheng in front of him:

Ye Mingsheng had expected this news, so he was not surprised at all. He just sighed and said:

"Feng Keqin is done this time!"

Because of Xu Zhaojie, he has always been paying close attention to the situation in Huainan. According to the intelligence from the Coordination Office, after a series of previous wars, Xu Zhaojie and Feng Keqin now occupy half of the Huainan territory each, with Kangyin as the boundary.

In order to resist the offensive of the Anqing Army, Feng Keqin assembled an army of about 50,000 in the Kangyin area. These people were nearly 70% of all the troops under Feng Keqin's command, and they were also the last elite troops of the Huai Army. The remaining troops were gathered in various towns and had been mobilized to the limit.

Therefore, now that Kangyin City has been captured and the main force of the Huai Army has been destroyed, it means that Feng Keqin is finished. Perhaps Feng Keqin can rely on Shouchun City to continue to hold on for a while, but this is ultimately just a dying struggle. It is only a matter of time before the Xu family of Huainan takes over!

To be honest, Xu Zhaojie's forceful invasion, as the governor of Huainan, Feng Keqin's performance was not bad and could be said to be satisfactory. Although he could not gain the upper hand on the front battlefield, he had accumulated the support and prestige of the people in Huainan for more than ten years. He had been doing his best to stir up trouble in Xu Zhaojie's rear, making it impossible for Xu Zhaojie to go all out and concentrate all his energy to deal with him····························
Honestly speaking, if Ye Mingsheng had not gone south this time, it would have caused a domino-like chain reaction among various forces. Without external interference, it would have been hard to tell who would have won the situation in Huainan. Unfortunately, Feng Keqin mistakenly believed Shangguan Hongyuan's promise of mediation, and Xu Zhaojie's determination to go north to fight against Ye Mingsheng.

During the time when Xu Zhaojie was gathering his forces to march north, Feng Keqin and his Huai Army, without the pressure from the Anqing Army, were too relaxed and had no sense of vigilance at all. They never thought that Xu Zhaojie, who was confronting the Fengwu Army, would make a feint and then suddenly turn his spearhead on them!
After pondering for a while, Ye Mingsheng instructed Wang Xuecheng:

"Make some moves behind Xu Zhaojie. I remember that the Third Division left several thousand cavalry in Fengqiu. They can send troops to assist you when necessary. In short, I don't want to see Xu Zhaojie capture Shouchun before our army's southward battle is over!"

Although Ye Mingsheng's tone was calm, it was full of unquestionable flavor, which made Wang Xuecheng feel deeply pressured. However, when he thought that he had the cavalry from Fengqiu to help him, as well as the resentment of the Anqing army and the people in the rear, Wang Xuecheng felt more confident. He took a deep breath and assured Ye Mingsheng:

“Before our army finishes the war in the south, I will hold Xu Zhaojie back so that he has no time to spare…”

Feeling the determination in Wang Xuecheng's words, Ye Mingsheng nodded slightly and ordered:

"Good job!"

"Yes!"

After Wang Xuecheng took the order and left, Ye Mingsheng shifted his attention back to the sand table in front of him and focused his gaze on Yujing.

Three days ago, Guo Zhiping's Third Division of 10,000 cavalrymen were already in position, and together with Peng Ce's Fourth Division, they launched several attacks on Duan Yanfeng's 30,000 Qi troops, but the results of the battle were never able to achieve the expected effect!
With the dual guarantee of cavalry and artillery, the Fengwu Army maintained a great advantage over the Qi Army in the battle situation, suppressing the Qi Army firmly and making them unable to move. They suffered thousands of casualties in just a few days, but they were still unable to completely defeat the 30,000 Qi Army!

I have to say that Cao Changping made the right choice in selecting the generals this time. The old ones are indeed the wisest. Duan Yanfeng is really a man who is getting stronger with age. His combat idea is to build a strong camp and fight a stupid battle. Under the watchful eyes of the Fengwu cavalry, he did not underestimate the enemy and did not advance rashly. He did not give Guo Zhiping any chance to take advantage of. Under the leadership of this man, the 30,000 Qi troops were like stones in a toilet, smelly and hard!
According to the opinion of the General Staff, in order to completely defeat Duan Yanfeng's 30,000 Qi troops, the Fengwu Army needs to deploy Zhang Meng's 7th Division that is guarding Zhuo County into the battle. Not only that, in addition to the 7th Division, it may also cost more than 5,000 casualties...
Zhang Meng's Seventh Division was the strategic reserve force in Ye Mingsheng's plan. After being ambushed by 5,000 Anqing cavalry, Ye Mingsheng felt that his defense in Zhuo County was not enough, so he followed He Jingyun's advice and left Zhang Meng's Seventh Division in Zhuo County.

In this way, Ye Mingsheng can be protected in Zhuo County and the military deterrence against Qi and Lu can be guaranteed, preventing Cao Changping from attacking Fengwu Army from Youyan in the north. Although Ye Mingsheng believes that Cao Changping does not have the courage to do this to him, he still has to be on guard for safety reasons!
As for the casualties of 5,000 people, that was something Ye Mingsheng was unwilling to pay. Although Ye Mingsheng also understood the truth that a kind man cannot command an army, the life of every soldier in the Fengwu Army was very precious. They had at least a family behind them, so unnecessary sacrifices must be avoided!
The key to breaking the deadlock now lies in Yujing. A few days ago, Yujing has reported that the Gao father and son have taken the bait, so let's see what happens next····························
(End of this chapter)