Chapter 441 : A Memorial To The Emperor

After staying at the Qin residence for less than half a shichen1, Yun Qing went to the Dingbei Army camp. Before the northern barbarians attacked the city, some escaped soldiers had arrived one by one. Still, only about three hundred had returned so far, and together with the two hundred or so who remained in the barracks, the total number of Dingbei Army soldiers was less than six hundred.T

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First, Yun Qing visited the soldiers who had escaped death and then walked through the entire Dingbei Army camp. Then he stood alone on the training ground, facing where the northern barbarians’ royal court was located, with a strong killing intent in his eyes, vowing that this blood debt must be repaid with blood.

Yun Qing had been standing on the training ground all afternoon. When Xu Daniu saw the sky getting dark, he couldn’t just let the General stand there until night! He could only toughen his scalp3 by going up to Yun Qing and saying, “General, it will be dark soon. It’s time to go back.”

Yun Qing came to his senses and said with a straight face, “Let’s go home.” If he didn’t go back, Yuxi would get worried.

When Yun Qing returned to the Yun Residence and knew that Yuxi had not eaten dinner, he frowned. “I’ll be home at an unpredictable time, so you don’t have to wait for me to eat.”

Yuxi smiled and said, “Just this once.”

Seeing that the table was full of vegetarian food, Yun Qing asked, “Has our family run out of money?” Xu Wu had told him all about what Yuxi had done. Therefore, when he saw the table full of vegetarian dishes, his first reaction was that his family could not afford meat.

Yuxi smiled and replied, “No. You’ve been eating meat lately. It’s not good to overeat it. Eat more vegetarian food these days!” Although all the poultry on the farm had been slaughtered, it was impossible for there to be nothing left, and there was still some meat and vegetables for the two of them. It was just that when Yuxi heard Cui Mo say that they had eaten raw meat during their escape, she felt that Yun Qing should eat more vegetarian food to cleanse his stomach.

After dinner, they talked. Yun Qing said, “Qin Zhao told us that Xia Hong leaked the military information. It’s just that a dead man can’t tell his side of the story4.”

Yuxi had already expected this. “Did Qin Zhao say how he would deal with the Xia family?” Xia Hong was dead now but still had to be held accountable for leaking military information.

Yun Qing shook his head. “Qin Zhao is not qualified to deal with Xia Hong’s family, but he said he would submit a memorial to the Emperor.” This meant it was up to the Emperor to decide how to punish Xia Hong’s family.

Yuxi chuckled. “Xia Hong is dead, and so is Luo Shi. How convincing can relying on Luo Shi’s testimony alone be? Not to mention that her statement won’t be able to condemn the Song family, and even Xia Hong might not be convicted?” The Xia family people could have backtracked and said that Qin Zhao had slandered Xia Hong to avoid responsibility.

Of course, Yun Qing knew this as well. “Without proof, it’s useless to say anything.” However, the Song family’s debt would surely be repaid one day.

Yuxi looked at Yun Qing’s reddened eyes and held his hand. “He Rui, this matter is not as simple as avoiding it. This time, the Xu family is also involved in this military leak.” After saying this, she felt as if the temperature in the room had dropped, and a chill ran down her spine.

Yun Qing pulled himself together and asked, “What do you mean?”

Yuxi explained, “The person in contact with Luo Shi often met with the shopkeeper of the Xu family’s satin store. The shopkeeper was an old servant of the Xu family. However, on the night of Luo Shi’s death, he left Yu City with his entire family. Qin Zhao used this move to ‘clear up’ the Xu family’s involvement.” All of this information came later, so Yuxi could guess that the leak of military information was related to the Xu family.

Yun Qing asked, “Is the shopkeeper of that satin store still alive today?” In fact, Yun Qing knew in his heart that nine times out of ten5, the shopkeeper was no longer alive.

Yuxi shook her head. “He is dead, and so is his entire family. Everyone involved is no longer alive, and no one is left.” Recently, because of the war, there was chaos everywhere. Bandits had even appeared on the road from Yu City to Xinping City. The Xu family’s shopkeeper died on the way, and those who didn’t know the inside story thought he had been murdered and robbed by those bandits.

Yun Qing could only utter these two words, “D*mn it.” Not only did the Xu family deserve to die, but so did Qin Zhao. Although Qin Zhao did not know about it beforehand, he was also an accomplice in helping the Xu family clean up the mess.

Yuxi said, “The top priority right now is overthrowing Qin Zhao. Otherwise, more soldiers will die in vain. I think you should also write a memorial to the Emperor. Write clearly what happened this time, then give it to Grand Chancellor Yu.” The Northwestern Army suffered heavy casualties under Qin Zhao’s command this time, proving that he was unfit to be the Commander-in-chief of Yu City.

Yun Qing said, “I’ll write it.” The Xu family must have information about Qin Zhao, forcing him to help the Xu family. They were lucky to be able to protect Yu City this time, but they might be less fortunate in the future.

After waiting in the bedroom for more than a shichen1, Yuxi couldn’t help but mutter, “It’s not that hard to write a memorial!” Little did Yuxi know that writing a memorial was more challenging than fighting a war for Yun Qing.

After a little more than half a shichen1, Yun Qing returned from the front yard and handed the memorial he had written to Yuxi, saying, “Take a look at it for me.”

After reading the memorial, Yuxi looked at Yun Qing and asked, “Is that all?” It was written concisely, listing everything that happened in less than two thousand characters. But the problem was that it had taken almost two shichen1 to write it!T

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Yun Qing asked, “What? Is the writing that bad?” He was an average writer, and what he hated the most was writing a memorial for the Emperor.T

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Yuxi shook her head. “It’s not that bad. It’s just a bit too concise.” The leak of military information wiped out 20,000 men of the Dingbei army, which was a sad and tragic event. However, Yun Qing’s report merely recounted the incident calmly, without distinguishing between primary and secondary issues. He simply told the Emperor what had happened.

Yun Qing said, “Then I will rewrite it.”

Yuxi smiled. “Forget it. Just let me write it. When it’s done, you can make two copies. Have one sent to the capital tonight and the other to the post station tomorrow.” Simply put, one was a public copy, and the other was a secret copy. Yuxi did this in case the public one did not reach the capital.

Yun Qing nodded his head with a sense of relief. “Okay.” When it came to literary talent, even ten of him would not be as good as Yuxi.

Yuxi suggested with a smile, “Then you come and grind the ink. I’ll write.” In fact, she was only joking in order to relax Yun Qing and did not really want him to do it.

However, Yun Qing blatantly agreed. “Okay, I’ll grind the ink, and you can write.”

It only took Yuxi half a shichen1 to finish writing the memorial. After writing it, she handed it to Yun Qing and said, “Take a look at it and see if anything needs to be corrected.”

The revised version still talked about the same things but had a completely different feel. The first part was about the siege of the Dingbei Army soldiers, who didn’t know they were surrounded by twice as many enemy soldiers but didn’t fear death. Not only did they not surrender, they even killed more than 10,000 enemies. The later part of the memorial focused on the fact that the casualties of over 40,000 soldiers were caused by the leak of military information. The grief, resentment and helplessness that flowed from the words resonated with those who read them.

After reading it, Yun Qing’s expression softened as he said to Yuxi, “There is no need to correct it anymore.” After a pause, he continued, “In the future, you will help me fix all the folded booklets sent to the capital.” The same thing, written by different people, would have a completely different effect.

Yuxi didn’t object and said, “I’m fine with it as long as my health allows it.”

After everything was taken care of, Yuxi said, “You go to bed first. I’ll take a bath.” Actually, she had planned to let Yun Qing rest after lunch. Yun Qing had been running for his life these days, so of course, he had to get a good night’s sleep when he got home. It was only when Qin Zhao arrived that this plan was ruined.

Yun Qing went to bed after humming an agreement and fell asleep as soon as he touched the covers, even snoring. His mind had been tense all this time, and he could only relax when he got home.

Yuxi touched Yun Qing’s face. All the flesh he had raised over the past year had gone. Fortunately, he was not injured.

News of the defeat in Yu City quickly reached the capital. Han Jianming was a little unsettled when he received the information. “Yun Qing was actually killed in battle?” Yu City was too far from the capital, and even with the 800-mile rush from the post station, the news was still a few days late!

Mr Zhao said, “My Lord, perhaps things are not as bad as we thought. General Yun has been through many battles; he won’t die that easily.”

Han Jianming laughed bitterly. “With the entire army of 20,000 annihilated, will Yun Qing still be able to escape?” Agu had a deep blood feud with Yun Qing, so there was no way he would let Yun Qing escape.

Mr Zhao suggested, “My Lord, let’s wait for the Fourth Miss’s letter first.” He felt that it was better not to jump to conclusions before things had ultimately come to an end.

Han Jianming said, “I also hope Yun Qing is still alive. If he is, we can remove Qin Zhao from his position this time and put Yun Qing in power.” But if Yun Qing were to die, all their calculations would be in vain, and their previous investments would be like water drawn with a wicker basket8.

Mr Zhao nodded a little.

Han Jianming was worried that Qiu Shi’s health might be unable to withstand hearing the rumours outside, so he called the Chief Steward and told him to keep a tight lid on the news. Just in case, he also spoke to Ye Shi about it. “Make sure that Mother doesn’t find out about this.” If his mother knew that Yun Qing might have died in battle and that his Si Mei9 would be widowed, she would most likely become seriously ill.

Ye Shi was startled. “The Fourth Guye10 is gone? When did this happen?” She didn’t get any news.

Han Jianming shook his head. “The news only says that the entire Dingbei Army has been wiped out. Whether Yun Qing has died is still unclear.”

Although Han Jianming hinted that Yun Qing might still be alive, Ye Shi felt little hope. In all likelihood, he was already dead. “Si Mei9 is still pregnant, right?” If Yuxi, who was still pregnant, had known her husband was gone, she would have had difficulty giving birth!

Han Jianming said, “That’s why I can’t let Mother know about this. Besides, the capital is far away from Yu City. Even if I wanted to take care of it, I couldn’t. All I can do now is worry about it here.”

Ye Shi shook her head and commented, “Si Mei9 is plagued with misfortunes.” There had never been a peaceful day in Yuxi’s life since she withdrew her marriage from the Chen family until now. She had been married for less than a year and was about to become a widow. If anyone asked Ye Shi, she would say Yuxi was genuinely unlucky.

In a rare move, Han Jianming did not refute Ye Shi’s words. These bad things kept happening to Yuxi. Even though he was not superstitious, his heart could not stop wondering.