Chapter 675 The thoughts of mother-in-law and daughter-in-law!
Although he really wanted to kill Wang Songhe to vent his anger, Anqing General Chen Zongchang had just died at the hands of the Fengwu Army. If he killed Wang Songhe, the Zhennan Army in Anqing would be leaderless and fall into chaos, which was something Xu Zhaojie didn't want to see...
Therefore, Xu Zhaojie did not take action for a long time, just waiting for this secret inspection to capture Wang Songhe and select a good general to serve as the general of Anqing to command the 30,000 troops of the Zhennan Army here.
Although this was the idea at the beginning, Xu Zhaojie was quite satisfied after secretly coming to Chengfeng County to inspect the defense work of the surrounding Zhennan Army. At the same time, after listening to a lot about Wang Songhe, his understanding of Wang Songhe also improved.

In addition, it had been more than a month since Chen Zongchang was killed, and Xu Zhaojie's anger had subsided. So based on comprehensive considerations, Xu Zhaojie decided to give Wang Songhe another chance. After all, if he killed Wang Songhe, he would not be able to find a more suitable candidate in a short time.

Even if he transferred a trusted person from his side to take over the position of General of Anqing, it would take time to understand Anqing's current troop deployment and personnel structure, but the current situation did not allow much time.

Therefore, from a rational point of view, keeping Wang Songhe and letting him make amends for his crime is Xu Zhaojie's best option at the moment. This is also the reason why Xu Zhaojie is now so kind to him and trying to win him over.

Looking at the calm Xu Zhaojie, Wang Songhe seemed to remember something. After hesitating for a while, he spoke to Xu Zhaojie:
“Marshal, the scumbags in the Fengwu Military Commission are very rampant. When General Chen was in power, he launched several operations to wipe them out. Although the operations achieved some results, they were still unable to eradicate them completely. The news that you are now inspecting the front line is likely to be known by them...”

Hearing Wang Songhe's reminder, Xu Zhaojie was not surprised at all, and then said lightly:
"I just want Ye Mingsheng to know that I'm here!"

After saying this, Xu Zhaojie turned around and continued to look at Ji Yu, regardless of Wang Songhe's surprise, while his hands tucked into his sleeves were clenched tightly.

Seven days ago, a commander under the Zhennan Army was found to have connections with the United Coordination Office. Although Xu Zhaojie was very angry at first, he did not take it as a big deal. He just thought that he had accepted money and benefits from the United Coordination Office, and was dragged into the water and became a secret agent of the United Coordination Office.

But later, after severely torturing this person, Xu Zhaojie learned that this person had been a member of the General Coordination Office since he followed him to start an uprising in Anqing. He was following him secretly to gather intelligence under the orders of the General Coordination Office, and the General Coordination Office also had many people like him planted in the Zhennan Army!
Upon learning about this, Xu Zhaojie was furious but also suddenly realized something. No wonder he always felt that Ye Mingsheng was always one step ahead of him and always held him back at just the right time. It turned out that his Zhennan Army had already been infiltrated by the General Coordination Office like a sieve!

Realizing this, Xu Zhaojie was filled with infuriation. He found that the more he endured, the more unscrupulous Ye Mingsheng became. Not to mention the past grudges, just recently, Ye Mingsheng had someone blow up two of his fingers, making himself a cripple...

Then he exported firearms to Jiangnan, which hindered his next plan. Finally, he sent people to ambush and kill his confidants. All these things were like slaps in the face of Xu Zhaojie!

Originally, in order to seize Jiangnan, Xu Zhaojie planned to endure the provocation of the Fengwu Army for a while, and wait until he took over Jiangnan and his strength reached a higher level before settling accounts with the Fengwu Army!

However, when he thought that his forbearance would not buy him the time he wanted, it would only make Ye Mingsheng think that he was a soft persimmon and become more unscrupulous. In addition, after experiencing these things, the anger within the Zhennan Army towards the Fengwu Army increased sharply. After taking over Huainan, the Zhennan Army was very confident in its own strength, so they were eager to have a fight with the Fengwu Army.

Although Xu Zhaojie also wanted to fight against the Fengwu Army in response to the rising desire of these people, he still used his own prestige to suppress it for the sake of the overall situation. Although he was still able to suppress it, Xu Zhaojie could clearly feel that the sentiment within the Zhennan Army to eliminate the Fengwu Army was increasing rapidly. Therefore, for the sake of his own rule, he could not continue to suppress it.

At the same time, the pressure from Shangguan Hongyuan was increasing, and they even suggested that if Xu Zhaojie did not launch an offensive from Hebei and Henan, they would stop supplying firearms to the Zhennan Army.

Although he was disgusted by Shangguan Hongyuan's threat to him, Xu Zhaojie also understood that he still needed Shangguan Hongyuan's help before the firearms he was developing could be put into large-scale production. So under internal and external pressure, Xu Zhaojie finally made up his mind to confront the Fengwu Army here.

Looking at the clouds in the sky, Xu Zhaojie felt extremely powerful at this moment. He even thought of how to kill Ye Mingsheng with his own hands...
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Governor's Mansion

In Ye Cui's house, the sound of reciting scriptures could be heard.

"Deeply penetrate into the Bodhisattva Dharma Treasury, attain the Buddha's Avatamsaka Samadhi, and preach and expound all the sutras. Abiding in the gate of deep concentration, one can see all the immeasurable Buddhas present. In a single thought, one is all-pervasive. One can help all those in great difficulty and make all idleness possible. When one distinguishes and reveals the truth, one obtains the wisdom of the eloquence of all Tathagatas..."

Ye Cui leaned back in her chair with her eyes slightly closed, listening carefully to the scriptures beside her, while beside her Murong Qingwu was patiently reading to her mother-in-law.

The scripture that Murong Qingwu was reciting at this time was called "The Sutra of the Formless Life", which was one of the three Pure Land sutras. It recorded the past practice of Amitabha Buddha in the causal realm. It was one of Ye Cui's favorite scriptures. Every few days, Ye Cui would take it out to review it.

Listening to Murong Qingwu talking about the key points, Ye Cui, who was familiar with the scriptures, couldn't help but whispered:
Why is that? The Tathagata’s concentration and wisdom are profound and boundless. He is free in all dharmas. Listen carefully, Ananda. I will tell you now.”

After reading this paragraph, Ye Cui opened her eyes, looked at Murong Qingwu and said kindly:
"Qingwu, you and my Buddha are destined to be together!"

Facing Ye Cui's gaze, Murong Qingwu said very obediently:

"Mother, you are too kind. Qingwu is naturally dull, how can she have a destiny with Buddhism!" Ye Cui smiled and shook her head when she heard it, thinking that Murong Qingwu was just being modest. As a mother-in-law, she liked Murong Qingwu more and more. This was not only because Murong Qingwu was the legitimate daughter of the Murong family, but also because they shared the same interests and hobbies!
Born into the scholarly family of the Cui family, Ye Cui was deeply influenced by her family before she got married and loved reading and writing poetry. However, because she was a girl, she was not cultivated by her family. After she married into the Ye family, she no longer had such an environment...
Ye Cui originally thought that this was the regret of her life, but the appearance of Murong Qingwu rekindled the talented heart in her heart!
With Murong Qingwu's encouragement, Ye Cui mustered up the courage to write poems and study Buddhist scriptures with Murong Qingwu. During this process, Ye Cui felt more and more that she and Murong Qingwu had similar interests, and the relationship between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law also warmed up extremely. Ye Cui even began to feel sorry for Murong Qingwu.

With Murong Qingwu's background, character and talent, she could definitely be his son's wife. Now she's just a concubine, which is a waste of her talent!

After this thought came to her mind, Ye Cui began to unconsciously compare Murong Qingwu and An Miaoyi.

First of all, in terms of her background, An Miaoyi was born into the An family of Kunshan Hou. Although it was also a powerful family, compared with the Murong family, which was at the core of power in the Great Zhou, it might be an exaggeration to say that there was a huge difference between them, but the gap was also very large.

Secondly, in terms of character, Ye Cui felt that Murong Qingwu and An Miaoyi were both good children with good morals. However, compared with Murong Qingwu's reputation as a talented woman, An Miaoyi, who was once rumored to be the reincarnation of Baosi and brought disaster to the country and the people, was a little worse. After all, in traditional concepts, a reputation for beauty was not a good thing for a woman! Especially for a wife!

When An Miaoyi first married Ye Mingsheng, Ye Cuishi was a little uncomfortable with An Miaoyi because of this matter. However, because Ye Mingsheng was only a general at the time, and An Miaoyi was the legitimate daughter of Kunshan Marquis, Ye Mingsheng marrying her was considered marrying up, and with the relationship with the Cui family, Ye Cuishi did not say anything...

Originally, after such a long time, Ye Cui had gradually forgotten about this matter. However, with the growing power in Ye Mingsheng's hands and the appearance of Murong Qingwu, Ye Cui would think back to this matter from time to time, and she still had some resentment in her heart!

As for what is in line with her own wishes, if Ye Cui was completely on An Miaoyi's side before, now Ye Cui is more of a neutral person considering the relationship with the Cui family.

In addition to the increasingly good relationship between her and Murong Qingwu, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, she was also a little dissatisfied with An Miaoyi. Ever since Murong Qingwu came to accompany her to study Buddhist scriptures, Ye Cui always heard people around her speaking well of An Miaoyi. Then she found out that An Miaoyi would give money to the maids and old women who served her as a reward for serving her well.

At first, she thought An Miaoyi was being filial to her and didn't think much about it, but she soon realized that things were not that simple. Although she was a little suspicious, because An Miaoyi's reasons were bright and clear, Ye Cui couldn't say anything. She could only tell An Miaoyi not to give money to the people around her anymore.

After experiencing all this, Ye Cui began to feel that An Miaoyi might be a little too scheming. However, as a person who had experienced it, she could more or less understand An Miaoyi's thoughts. After all, Murong Qingwu was simply impeccable in all aspects, and she put too much pressure on An Miaoyi.

In general, although Ye Cui likes Murong Qingwu very much, because of the relationship with the Cui family and Ye Jingren, the eldest grandson, Ye Cui does not intend to stand on Murong Qingwu's side.

After accompanying Ye Cui to study a passage of Buddhist scriptures, and then having a vegetarian meal with Ye Cui, Murong Qingwu took the Buddhist scriptures and said goodbye and left.

After walking out of the yard and looking at the maid Ying'er standing not far away, Murong Qingwu finally relaxed. Ying'er took the thick scripture from Murong Qingwu and said softly:

"Thank you for your hard work today, ma'am!"

Murong Qingwu sighed softly when she heard this. To be honest, she didn't like writing poems and studying scriptures with Ye Cui!

The first of these is writing poetry and prose. Although Ye Cui had some basic skills back then, there was nothing left after several decades. Although the poems she wrote now are not completely rubbish, they are still very difficult to read for Murong Qingwu, who is known as the most talented woman in the world.

However, in order to please Ye Cui, Murong Qingwu could only say against her conscience that Ye Cui wrote well. What made Murong Qingwu most painful was that when she guided Ye Cui to write poems and essays, she had to carefully take care of Ye Cui's emotions on the one hand, and on the other hand, she had to make her opinions as simple and understandable as possible so that an old woman like Ye Cui could understand.

Murong Qingwu had never done this kind of job in the past few decades. She was the eldest daughter of the Murong family and others had always flattered her. When had she ever been so servile to please others? As a result, she hid in the quilt and cried secretly many times. She felt very aggrieved and wanted to give up and not embarrass herself anymore, but she finally persisted...
In addition to writing poems and essays, studying Buddhist scriptures was also a torture for Murong Qingwu. Compared with Buddhism, Murong Qingwu admired Taoism more, but in order to please Ye Cui, Murong Qingwu could only pretend to be very interested in Buddhism and accompany Ye Cui to study Buddhist scriptures with great interest.

Although Murong Qingwu felt very painful and depressed during the time she stayed with Ye Cui, she felt that her efforts had paid off. Ye Cui had an increasingly better impression of her and even began to hint to her that in the competition with An Miaoyi, she, as a mother-in-law, would be fair and just and would not help either side!
Realizing this, Murong Qingwu was very excited. She had never thought of asking Ye Cui to support her in the competition with An Miaoyi. After all, with the relationship with the Cui family and Ye Jingren, her grandson, the relationship between An Miaoyi and Ye Cui was obviously closer.

Therefore, as long as Ye Cui really does not interfere, it will be the biggest victory!

Thinking of this, Murong Qingwu felt a little comforted, and at this moment Murong Qingwu heard Ying'er calling her softly, so she subconsciously looked forward, and saw a woman who was dressed dignifiedly but had a gentle and charming look, holding a child, and leading a group of maids walking towards her...

(End of this chapter)