Chapter 445 : The Struggle (2)

Yun Qing’s memorial arrived in Grand Chancellor Yu’s hands a few days later.

After reading it, Grand Chancellor Yu was a bit surprised. This time, Yun Qing’s memorial was of a much higher standard than before. Of course, Grand Chancellor Yu didn’t think much about it. He figured that it was written by Yun Qing’s newly recruited aide.

After presenting the memorial to the Crown Prince, Grand Chancellor Yu said, “Your Highness, the loss of more than 70,000 men in Yu City this time is all Qin Zhao’s fault. There is also the matter of leaking military information, for which Qin Zhao should be recalled to the capital to be held accountable.” Accountability was only secondary. The main thing was that once Qin Zhao was in the capital, he would no longer be able to interfere in the affairs of Yu City.

The Song family immediately opposed the idea. As for the Crown Prince, he did not want to replace Qin Zhao, one of his men, with Yun Qing, who was very close to the Yu family. His way of thinking was to think things to his advantage, but Qin Zhao’s crime was too great to convince the public to let Qin Zhao keep his job. At Grand Chancellor Yu’s insistence, the Crown Prince reluctantly allowed Yun Qing to become acting commander-in-chief of Yu City.

Han Jianming was pleased with the news. “As long as Yun Qing wins two more battles, this word ‘acting’ can be removed.” As long as Yun Qing was on the rise, he would not typically be stripped of his official position unless he lost a battle like Qin Zhao and suffered heavy losses.

Mr Zhao said, “My Lord, the people we sent there should have arrived as well.” These people, all of them, had been carefully selected by Han Jianming.

Han Jianming commented, “They should have arrived by now.” Those people had been travelling since the second lunar month, and now it was the beginning of the fifth lunar month. If they didn’t arrive by then, their speed would be comparable to a snail’s pace.

At that time, Yun Qing was reading a book in the bedroom. Yuxi didn’t allow him to read military books, only some leisure books like travelogues. After reading for a while, he turned to Yuxi, who was bending her head to make clothes.

After reading for a short while, Yun Qing could no longer stand it. He put down the book in his hand and muttered, “I’m going to the front yard to see Uncle Huo.” Huo Changqing had moved back to the front yard, and after recovering for so long, although he could not get out of bed yet, he could already get up.

After Yun Qing left, Yuxi shook her head. “Wow, how old is he that he can’t sit still even for a minute longer?” Making Yun Qing read a book was like asking for his life. He always gave the excuse that he was looking for Master Yang or Huo Changqing, which made Yuxi lose her temper.

Zijin chuckled and said, “Madam, you’re being too hard on the General.” How could a man who spent all his time in a war sit quietly in his house with a book in his hand?

Yuxi smiled a little and turned to ask, “How is Zisu these days? Is she in a better mood?” Zisu had been ill since she learned that Guo Xun had been killed in the war. Instead of staying in Yun Residence, she was recuperating in her own home. She had long recovered from her illness, but her spirits were not good. Yuxi went to see her once before to give her advice but to no avail.

Zijin shook her head. “She is still the same. When I spoke to her, she cried. She was always in tears, and she had lost so much weight. I told her to return to work and not stay home, but she didn’t want to.” She had said everything she needed to say, but no matter what, it had no effect, and now she did not know what else to say.

Yuxi couldn’t help but sigh. “To put it mildly, it’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have agreed to this marriage that day, so Zisu wouldn’t have been so upset.” Yuxi had also invited Zisu to the mansion earlier and had tried to comfort her but to no avail. The key to this kind of thing was to think about it yourself; nothing anyone else could say would help.

Zijin hesitated before saying, “Madam, we can’t let her go on like this. Otherwise, let her go to the farm! If we let her stay in her house, where she always sees and thinks of that person, it will be harder for her to get out.”

Yuxi nodded. “You can go ahead and do it!”

Zijin disagreed. “Madam, let’s leave this matter to Mama Qu. I didn’t know what to say when I saw Zijin Jiejie1 crying.” Mama Qu was so eloquent that she could be firm and gentle with her words, unlike her stupid mouth.

Yuxi nodded. “Then you can ask Mama Qu to accompany you.”

Yuxi put down the material in her hand, propped herself up on the table with her hand, stood up and said to Mama Xi beside her, “Help me take a walk.” She was the only mistress in the mansion, so she didn’t have to worry about all those messy things. Yuxi thought that if she were still in the Duke of the State Residence, she would have to be extra careful when pregnant because she could have lost her child just by going for a walk.

Yun Qing stayed in the front courtyard until it was time for lunch. Yuxi didn’t say anything. She just smiled and had the food set out.

The couple were eating when Xu Wu rushed in and loudly shouted towards Yun Qing, “General, Guo Xun is back. Guo Xun is back, General.” As he said this, Xu Wu’s eyes began to redden. It was a miracle that Guo Xun managed to come back this time.

As soon as Yun Qing put down his bowl and chopsticks, he rushed out like an arrow. It was the first time Yuxi had seen his excited expression.

Yuxi also got up quickly, called Shiliu and said, “Go quickly. Go tell Zisu the good news.” This time, Zisu didn’t have to grieve anymore.

Obviously, Yuxi was too happy too soon. Not long after, she learned that although Guo Xun had returned alive, the enemy managed to cut one of his legs off. This time, he could come back thanks to two other men who had crawled out of the pile of the dead and brought him back with them. In addition, his face was scarred, and one of his ears was missing, so it was fair to say that his appearance was extremely frightening.

Yuxi smiled wryly when she found out. If she had known that Guo Xun was so severely injured, she wouldn’t have told Zisu so quickly, and she didn’t even know if Zisu could bear it.

It wasn’t long before Zisu arrived at the Yun Residence, and when she saw Guo Xun, she fainted with excitement.

Yuxi rushed over when she heard the news, and Zisu had woken up by then. When Zisu looked at Yuxi, she cried very sadly. “Madam, my husband, he…” She couldn’t even finish her sentence.

Zijin couldn’t understand Zisu’s half-dead appearance and said, “Zisu Jiejie1, even though Guo Jiefu2 was badly injured, you should be happy that he finally came back home alive.” Even if he had become handicapped, at least he was still alive, right?

When Zisu heard this, she cried even more.

Yuxi was so distracted by the sound of crying that she coldly said, “Why on earth are you crying? When you thought Guo Xun was dead before, you cried so much. Now that he is back, even though he is missing a leg, he is still alive. What you need to do now is not cry but take care of him.” Guo Xun must have suffered a lot to return home alive. What would he think if his wife was not there to look after him with compassion? Surely he would think that Zisu did not like him. Once he had that impression, how could their relationship still be good in the future?

Thinking about Guo Xun’s appearance just now, Zisu didn’t dare to look at him again, fearing that she would faint from fright. Was that even human? He almost looked like a ghost.

Yuxi rarely got angry now, but the look on Zisu’s face made her particularly furious. “If you still want to live a good life with Guo Xun, go over there and take care of him now.” That was another matter if Zisu didn’t want to live with Guo Xun anymore.

Under Yuxi’s scolding, Zisu forced herself to see Guo Xun with Zijin’s support, only to faint the second time she saw him.

When Yuxi heard that Zisu had fainted again, she was so angry that she went into the room regardless of Xu Daniu’s obstruction. Just as Yuxi was about to go in, Xu Daniu stopped her, saying that the scene inside was inappropriate for Yuxi to see.

When Xu Daniu saw that Yuxi still wanted to go in, he had no choice but to say, “Madam, wait a moment. I’ll ask the General first.” Madam fainted last time, and he feared the same thing would happen again.

Yun Qing didn’t want to let Yuxi in either. The last time Yuxi fainted, he was almost scared to death and didn’t want to go through that again.

After hearing the whole story, Yuxi said, “This is easy to handle. I’ll cover my nose with a veil. The veil was scented with the smell of flowers, so she was unafraid of the stench.

Just as Yuxi entered the room, she smelled a strong unpleasant odour through her veil. As she entered, she looked at Guo Xun lying on the bed and noticed that he was nothing but skin and bones3. He had lost his right ear and left leg. His hair was all stuck together, and his body emitted a foul stench. Even with a handkerchief over her nose, Yuxi could still smell it.T

/C

Yuxi now knew why Zisu had fainted and said to Guo Xun, “Zisu thought you had died in the war all this time, so she could neither eat nor sleep. Because she always washed her face with tears5 all day long, she fell seriously ill. Now that she sees you like this, she suddenly can’t accept it. Please don’t be offended.”

The extremely weak Guo Xun shook his head as he said, “It’s all right. I know she just couldn’t take it for a while.” It was normal for his wife to react like that after seeing him in his current state.

Because Yuxi was afraid that Guo Xun would be so upset by this incident, she had to come over to tell him in person. She was relieved that he did not take it to heart.

Yun Qing realised that Yuxi’s expression had gone wrong, so he said, “This is not a place for you to stay. You should leave quickly.” Please don’t faint again.

Yuxi didn’t dare to try to be brave and went out quickly. After going out, she vomited and spat out all the food she had eaten at lunchtime.

Mama Qu patted Yuxi’s shoulder as she reminded her, “Madam, please don’t be so reckless next time.” In Mama Qu’s opinion, the General was not an attentive person. How could he not remember that Madam was heavily pregnant and still allow her to see such a scene? He would have nowhere to let go of his regret if anything happened to Madam. That was why it was not good not to have an elder around.

Yuxi took the water Shiliu handed her and rinsed her mouth before she felt more comfortable. “I didn’t know that Guo Xun’s condition was so serious.” She had only thought that Guo Xun was in a similar condition to Yun Qing. She would not have dared to go in if she had known that his state was so severe.

When Mama Qu saw Yuxi was not in serious trouble, she said, “Madam, don’t worry. Let me take care of Zisu’s affairs.”

Yuxi nodded. “Okay, you should convince her.” Although Yuxi also regretted marrying Zisu to Guo Xun, now that they had been married for so long, it was useless to regret any more.

Having thrown up everything she had just eaten, Yuxi was soon hungry, and with nothing else to eat, she asked Mama Bai to prepare a bowl of vegetarian noodles for her to eat.

After Yuxi ate, Mama Xi said, “Madam, you should rest!” She was too old to be scared! Fortunately, there was still half a month before Yuxi gave birth. Otherwise, she would have been really short-lived.

Yuxi was indeed tired, so she nodded. “Okay.” It was also time for her nap. She was always sleepy around this time. After using too much of her energy just now, she really couldn’t take it anymore.