Chapter 844: Keep the death a secret?

January 20th, Ye Mansion Study

Ye Mingsheng leaned back in his chair, playing with the white lion head in his hand while listening to Huo San’s report····················

Standing respectfully in the hall, Huo San reported in a deep voice:

"Sir, seven days ago Xu Zhaojie broke through Jinghai City, but under the cover of the Jiangnan Navy, Cao Huan led 5,000 remnants to retreat to Jiangnan. Xu Zhaojie was very angry about this and even ordered the Zhennan Army to open fire on the Jiangnan Navy. There was some friction between the two sides, and it is said that hundreds of people were killed and injured!"

"Although Xu Zhaojie conquered Jinghai this time, he also suffered many casualties and lost a lot of troops. According to our secret agents in the Zhennan Army, Xu Zhaojie originally wanted to wipe out Cao Huan in three days, but it took him eleven days and cost tens of thousands of soldiers!"

"However, what was a little surprising this time was that when attacking the city, Xu Zhaojie promised the soldiers of the Zhennan Army that he would capture Jinghai and allow the soldiers of the Zhennan Army to plunder Jinghai for three days. However, after capturing Jinghai, Xu Zhaojie did not fulfill his promise and strictly ordered his soldiers to harass the people in the city!"

"He only attacked Cao Huan's followers and some wealthy families in the city, and gave the silver he seized from their houses as a reward to the soldiers of the Zhennan Army! This is somewhat inconsistent with his past character of killing people!"

“In addition, Xu Zhaojie has recently issued strict orders to all units of the Zhennan Army to avoid conflict with our army and to exercise restraint in the face of our army’s provocations. Such behavior is very abnormal…”

Upon hearing the news, Ye Mingsheng couldn't help but sneer. Huo San couldn't tell what Xu Zhaojie was thinking, but in his eyes, the purpose of Xu Zhaojie's move was as clear as a mirror!

Xu Zhaojie thought he could sit on the mountain and watch the fight between two tigers, and reap the benefits, but in fact he is just relying on the natural barrier of Nanjiang River to survive. When the First Division has trained the navy in Kangyin, it will be the day of his death!

Putting down the walnut in his hand, Ye Mingsheng said calmly:

"Tell me about the news from the Luoan court!"

"Yes!"

After hearing Ye Mingsheng's instructions, Huo San organized his words and said:

"Yang Chongqing, the commander of the Shenwu Army of the Luoan court, is said to have recovered from his illness. A few days ago, he was said to have met Shangguan Hongyuan and had a family dinner at Shangguan's mansion!"

"Currently, Yang Chongqing has taken over the Shenwu Army again. It seems that Shangguan Hongyuan still favors him. However, there are also reports that Shangguan Hongyuan wants to arrange marriages between the Shangguan family's descendants and the Duke of Wei's Tang family, the Xuanwu Imperial Army Commander Ma Chongyang and others. This move is also believed to prevent Yang Chongqing's family from becoming the only one in power!"

Hearing this news from Huo San, Ye Mingsheng's eyes narrowed. He had been in the Great Zhou Imperial Guards for more than ten years, so he was no stranger to Yang Chongqing, the commander of the Shenwu Army. When he was in the Imperial Guards before, he had listened to this man's lectures several times...

There are countless elite soldiers and generals in the imperial guards of the Great Zhou Dynasty, but only this man is known as the first general under Shangguan Hongyuan and the person Shangguan Hongyuan trusts the most. He has made countless contributions to the Great Zhou Dynasty. The most famous battle among them is the Battle of Ulan River between the Great Zhou Dynasty and the Cumans in the third year of Anhe.

That year at the Ulan River, Yang Chongqing led 50,000 imperial guards to defeat the most powerful Tiger Division of the Golden Horde, killing more than 10,000 people and capturing more than 3,000 people in a range of 30 miles, sweeping away the shame of the Great Zhou's failure to win against the Golden Horde Tiger Division in the past 20 years. This battle also made Yang Chongqing famous and he was considered the pillar of the Great Zhou's country.

However, because of that battle, Yang Chongqing was hit in the abdomen by an arrow from the Cumans. Although his life was not lost, Yang Chongqing suffered from a chronic illness. From then on, Yang Chongqing's health was sometimes good and sometimes bad. After the seventh year of Anhe, he was bedridden until now.

Originally, Ye Mingsheng almost forgot the existence of such a person, but he never thought that he would appear again after many years!

Although Yang Chongqing was a very famous person, Ye Mingsheng was not too afraid of him. Not to mention that he had been bedridden for many years, and not to mention how much strength he had left, it was no longer the time for Yang Chongqing to control the world!

After pondering for a moment, Ye Mingsheng asked Huo San:
"How is Shangguan Hongyuan doing?"

Although he expected Ye Mingsheng to ask this question, Huo San felt a great deal of pressure when Ye Mingsheng really opened his mouth. Under Ye Mingsheng's gaze, he answered very cautiously:
“There is not much news about Shangguan Hongyuan’s physical condition at present. However, according to some rumors, he should still be alive. However, his physical condition should have deteriorated greatly, which is what happened in the past few months…”

"Once Shangguan Hongyuan dies, the Luoan court is bound to be in turmoil. Although Shangguan Hongyuan has made a lot of preparations for this and wants to help his son Shangguan Changgong take over smoothly, our army is now in Yun and exerting tremendous military pressure on the Luoan court!"

"So I speculate that with the internal and external troubles facing the Luoan court, even if Shangguan Hongyuan passed away, Shangguan Changgong would most likely try to keep the death a secret in an attempt to get away with it and relieve the pressure on himself!"

After hearing this, Ye Mingsheng nodded slightly. The situation that Huo San described was indeed very likely to happen.

Even though everyone now knows that Shangguan Hongyuan does not have much time left, as long as his death is not confirmed, no one dares to be too reckless. After all, the last time Shangguan Hongyuan carried out a purge in Luoan was still fresh in people's memory. What if Shangguan Hongyuan was also trying to lure the snake out of its hole this time?
If things really developed in this way, Shangguan Changgong might be able to survive for a year or two by keeping the death a secret. However, this period of time was the most dangerous time when he had just taken over and the regime was unstable.

It seems that when Shangguan Hongyuan carried out the purge in Luoan a few months ago, he seemed to have left this trick for Shangguan Changgong!
While Ye Mingsheng was thinking secretly, Huo San continued to report:

“Sir, the false information we passed to the Supervisory Office through Sun Taihai worked. Based on that false information, Chen Jingyu has been arresting people inside the Luoan court during this period of time. Currently, Zhao Rui, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Chen Xingquan, a captain of the Supervisory Office, and 17 others have been arrested by him…”

"After what Chen Jingyu did, some people in the Luoan court seem to be in a state of panic. Our undercover agents in the Luoan court are hiding even deeper!"

Looking at Huo San who was seeking credit, Ye Mingsheng nodded and affirmed his work during this period, then changed the subject and ordered: "You should think of a way to stir up trouble in the Luoan court, and don't let their evil plot of keeping the death a secret come to fruition!"

Huo Sandun felt a great deal of pressure after hearing this, but under Ye Mingsheng's order, he had no choice but to take on the task.

Huo San finished his report. It was almost noon. Ye Mingsheng wanted to keep Huo San to have a meal, but he didn't expect Bai Yuanyuan to come to him with a big belly to bring him food. Huo San also said goodbye and left very tactfully.

"My husband, this braised beef is made with the best beef tendon sauce. It is not only full of flavor but also very chewy!"

“There is also this boiled cabbage. I started preparing this dish this morning and it took me several hours to make it. And this scallion-fried sea cucumber is Chef Xu’s best dish. She used her exclusive secret recipe in it…”

Looking at Bai Yuanyuan's attentive expression and the delicious dishes she brought, Ye Mingsheng couldn't help but feel hungry.

What interested him most was the boiled cabbage. Although he knew that the so-called boiled water was actually chicken soup, he could not help but marvel at how clear it was without a trace of oil, just like light tea.

With a little curiosity, Ye Mingsheng took a sip of the soup. The next second he felt the fresh and rich taste and nodded slightly.

Seeing that Ye Mingsheng seemed very satisfied with the boiled cabbage, Bai Yuanyuan picked up some cabbage for Ye Mingsheng and said:
"My husband, please try this cabbage. This is the heart of the cabbage. There is only this much heart in the whole cabbage!"

The more Ye Mingsheng heard this, the more interested he became as he tasted the cabbage. The heart of the cabbage had a slight sweetness to it, and with the help of the rich chicken soup, it became even more fragrant and mellow in flavor.

After tasting this boiled cabbage, Ye Mingsheng couldn't help but sigh at the ingenuity of this dish. It seems that it does not conform to people's traditional perception of Sichuan cuisine. Instead, it is a bit like Huaiyang cuisine, which is famous for its exquisiteness!
Although the dishes such as the braised sea cucumber with scallions and the braised beef tendon in sauce were all very good, Ye Mingsheng was a little uninterested because of the boiled cabbage dish. But overall, Ye Mingsheng enjoyed this lunch very much...

After having a good meal and a good drink, Ye Mingsheng gently stroked Bai Yuanyuan's pregnant belly and asked:
"Have you checked out the medical school?"

Bai Yuanyuan has been pregnant for almost five months with her second pregnancy, and her belly is already showing. At the beginning of Bai Yuanyuan's pregnancy, the medical school warned her that Bai Yuanyuan was 35 years old and was an elderly mother. Her condition was not good and she was very likely to have a miscarriage during the pregnancy. Even at the end, there was a high possibility of dystocia.

Therefore, the medical school would come to give Bai Yuanyuan a prenatal checkup every half a month to keep a close eye on her pregnancy status.

Listening to Ye Mingsheng's words, Bai Yuanyuan responded softly and said:
"The medical school prescribed me some pregnancy-preserving medicine, and I've been taking it recently!"

Ye Mingsheng nodded slightly and instructed:

"You are in a special situation now, take good care of yourself!"

Listening to Ye Mingsheng's words, Bai Yuanyuan nodded and seemed to have thought of something and whispered:
"The doctors in the Imperial Hospital all said that Sister Zhixiu is a highly skilled doctor and is better than them at handling pregnancy and childbirth issues, so they suggested that I go see Sister Zhixiu and get her advice..."

Ye Mingsheng was a little surprised when he heard this, but after thinking about it carefully, he felt that it was reasonable. Although the old doctors in the medical school had good medical skills, they were all men without exception. The social atmosphere of that era was very conservative, and there were differences between men and women. All matters related to childbirth were left to midwives.

Bai Yuanyuan's identity is very special and her situation is not very good, so now that there is a female doctor named Pei Zhixiu, the people in the medical school don't seem to want to get involved too much.

When I asked about the situation at Changshan Clinic before, Pei Zhixiu told me that because the clinic only treats female patients, she mainly treats gynecological diseases and pregnancy conditions in the clinic, and basically sees dozens of patients every day.

In this way, Pei Zhixiu has accumulated rich experience. It is also very helpful to listen to Bai Yuanyuan's opinions on her current situation, so Ye Mingsheng said without thinking too much:
"Then go talk to Ji-soo!"

Listening to Ye Mingsheng's words, Bai Yuanyuan hesitated for a moment before whispering:
"My relationship with Sister Zhixiu is just average, I really don't know how to start the conversation."

Seeing Bai Yuanyuan's hesitation, Ye Mingsheng understood her thoughts and immediately frowned and said:
"Gossiping about others behind their backs again?"

Listening to Ye Mingsheng’s words, Bai Yuanyuan lowered her head and said nothing. In the backyard of the Ye Mansion, several women were fighting for Ye Mingsheng’s favor. As Ye Mingsheng’s favorite woman, Pei Zhixiu was naturally envied by others...

Everyone envied and was jealous of Pei Zhixiu and said bad things about her, but at the same time they wished they could take her place. Among them, Bai Yuanyuan and others said the most.

Therefore, when Bai Yuanyuan needed to ask Pei Zhixiu for help, she was a little hesitant. On the one hand, she was an elderly mother and her condition was not very good. The doctors in the medical school all recommended Pei Zhixiu. If she could get her help, the safety of mother and child would be more guaranteed.

However, because she had said too many bad things about others behind their backs in the past, even though Pei Zhixiu had never argued with them, Bai Yuanyuan was still very worried. She was afraid that Pei Zhixiu was still holding a grudge against her and would do something bad to her at this time, causing her to die!
To be honest, at the beginning of her pregnancy, the doctors at the medical school suggested that she go to Pei Zhixiu for help, but because of this concern, Bai Yuanyuan did not dare to do so.

However, recently the doctors at the medical school said that her condition was not very good, and to be on the safe side, they once again suggested that she seek help from Bae Ji-soo!

Bai Yuanyuan was very conflicted about this. She was worried that Pei Zhixiu would reject her because of past events, but she was also worried that Pei Zhixiu had ulterior motives after agreeing.

After she pondered for a few days, she finally came up with a good idea, which was to let Ye Mingsheng come forward. Bai Yuanyuan thought that with Ye Mingsheng coming forward, firstly, Pei Zhixiu would not refuse, and secondly, at Ye Mingsheng’s request, Pei Zhixiu would not dare to make any small moves····································
(End of this chapter)