Once his troops leave Shuozhou, it will be tantamount to handing over his base to the imperial court. If the imperial court cuts off his supplies, he will be in dire straits and become the one attacked from both sides.
To persuade the King of Qin, one must first ensure that the court will not plot against him from behind.
But who can guarantee that?
“I can guarantee,” Wei Chi said to Yao Yuzhi, “that after we conquer the Great Jin, Shangchuan will remain my fourteenth uncle’s fiefdom and will never be taken back.”
"But what I say... my fourteenth uncle might not believe it."
He looked at Yao Yuzhi with hopeful eyes, "So, Grand Tutor, I can only beg you. Please write a letter to persuade my fourteenth uncle to do his part for me and for the Great Liang."
"Your Majesty must be joking."
After Yao Yuzhi returned to the mansion, Steward Chang frowned and said.
"It is common knowledge that you have a grudge against the King of Qin. How can the King of Qin listen to what you say?"
Although Yao Yuzhi was nominally Wei Hong's father-in-law, this relationship was only due to the late emperor's bestowal of the marriage. Wei Hong never considered him as a father-in-law, and he certainly wouldn't listen to him just because he married his daughter.
"His Majesty knows this, so he asked me to write a letter to Ning'er and ask her to persuade him."
"Isn't this...the same thing?"
Chang, the housekeeper, said.
The King of Qin disliked the master, and naturally he wouldn't like the master's daughter either. This is why the master was worried every day about his daughter's life in Shangchuan.
"This is the cunning of the King of Qin!"
Yao Yuzhi said indignantly.
"His Majesty only sent someone to Shangchuan once, and now even he believes that the Prince of Qin has truly fallen for Ning'er! Ning'er is innocent and naive, how could she possibly know that man's despicable methods! She might just have been tricked into going with him!"
His eyes reddened as he spoke, and a sharp pain shot through his heart.
Butler Chang remained silent for a moment, then sighed.
"Let's not even talk about whether the King of Qin's feelings for the young lady are real or not. Even if they are real, he wouldn't send troops to attack Jin just because of a few words from the young lady."
If the King of Qin were the kind of person who is easily swayed and makes such decisions based on a woman's pillow talk, he wouldn't have been able to stay in this position for so long.
“I know,” Yao Yuzhi said, “His Majesty also knows, so he never really wanted me to persuade the King of Qin from the beginning.”
"Then what was his purpose?"
Butler Chang was puzzled.
"To solidify my reputation as an unruly and arrogant ruler who holds military power and disregards the court and the emperor."
Wei Hong looked at the letter Yao Yuzhi wrote to Yao Youqing and said.
“He knows I will never send troops, so he can say in front of all the officials in the court that he has tried everything, both soft and hard, but I just won’t listen.”
"That way, even if he does something to me in the future, no one will say he's heartless and discarded me after he's done his bidding; instead, they'll say I deserve what I got."
Although Wei Hong had clashed with the late Emperor Wei Feng several times and could be said to have openly offended him, Wei Hong had not done anything to him after Wei Chi ascended the throne, so he could not take the initiative to strike against Wei Hong first.
Firstly, he genuinely lacks the ability at present; secondly, he is Wei Hong's relative and, moreover, a junior.
His father came up with all sorts of excuses when he killed those brothers, let alone him killing his own uncle.
“This little kid is using the same methods his father used.”
Wei Hong sneered, and then added another sentence.
"Like begets like, and even a rat's offspring are a blessing in disguise."
Yao Youqing frowned: "Your Highness, please don't say that."
Wei Hong's face darkened upon hearing this, and he tightened his grip on the letter: "Why can't I say?"
Is she still thinking about her nephew?
Just as he was gritting his teeth, Yao Youqing said, "His Majesty is the son of the late Emperor, and the late Emperor was the son of Emperor Gaozong. Aren't you insulting yourself by saying that?"
Wei Hong choked for a moment, then burst out laughing: "You're right."
After saying that, he felt something was off and raised his eyebrows slightly.
"Don't you think I'm deliberately smearing His Majesty?"
Yao Youqing was taken aback by his question and opened her mouth as if she didn't know what to say. After hesitating for a moment, she whispered, "I think... His Majesty might... be capable of doing such a thing."
"Why? Wasn't he very good to you?"
Logically speaking, she should have trusted him a lot.
Yao Youqing lowered her head, her fingers tugging at her sleeve.
"His Majesty is indeed very good to me, but... he shouldn't be so good to me."
Wei Hong remained silent, waiting for her to continue.
The girl seemed to be recalling something, her gaze drifting into the distance.
"As the old saying goes, feelings should be expressed but restrained by propriety. At that time, His Majesty and I were both unmarried. He treated me so well that everyone thought there was something between us, even my father thought so."
"Although his intentions may have been good, it has caused me a lot of trouble."
At that time, Wei Chi was the crown prince, a man of noble status. He made no attempt to hide his affection for Yao Youqing, revealing his feelings for her. Who would dare to propose marriage to him?
Yao Youqing only felt a lot of pressure at the time, but didn't think much about it.
Today, Wei Hong sent her a letter from her father, in which he asked her to persuade the prince to send troops to attack the Jin dynasty. Only then did she realize that his intentions might not be so simple.
Although the letter was indeed written by my father himself, it was not sent by the Yao family, but by someone from the palace along with the military order. The contents of the letter did not seem to be something my father would have brought up on his own initiative.
Since he had always opposed women interfering in court affairs, how could he possibly let his daughter persuade the prince to send troops?
In his eyes, how could the prince be the kind of person who would change his mind just because of a few words from her?
If this letter wasn't written by Father himself, then someone forced him to write it, and the purpose of writing the letter is probably just as the Prince said.
Based on this, Yao Youqing recalled the events of that time and realized that Wei Chi might have intentionally let people know that he liked her, so that they wouldn't dare to get close to her and she wouldn't be able to marry someone else.
Wei Hong's gaze narrowed slightly as he stared intently at the girl's profile.
"You don't like him?"
Yao Youqing shook her head: "Although His Majesty is good to me, I have always only regarded him as an older brother, and I have no romantic feelings for him."
These words brought a smile to Wei Hong's face, and he felt a sense of relief.
After talking for a while, Yao Youqing suddenly remembered the important matter and asked anxiously, "Then what should Your Highness do? Are you really going to disobey military orders?"
Wei Hong smiled and slammed the letter onto the table.
"I can send troops, but first I need to pay the military pay owed to Shuozhou over the years. Otherwise, how can I go on a campaign when I'm short of food and troops?"
Upon hearing this, Yao Youqing's eyes widened: "Is the imperial court withholding military pay from Shuozhou?"
Wei Hong nodded, stroking his chin as he made a rough estimate.
"It must be at least a million taels."
The girl gasped, "So many? How has the prince managed all these years?"
Wei Hong smiled, took the girl's hand, and kissed it on the lips: "I came from poverty."
After saying that, seeing her looking at him with a worried expression, he smiled and said, "Don't worry, we were just very poor in the first few years, but things are better now."
The most difficult time has passed. Shuozhou today is not the Shuozhou of the past, and he is not the same person he was before.
Yao Youqing nodded and sighed, "Your Highness is truly amazing..."
This praise also contained a hint of bitterness, as if one had personally witnessed the hardships he had endured over the years.
Wei Hong smiled and pulled her onto his lap, kissing her for a while. When he reached out to slip his hand under her clothes and into her back, she refused, grabbing his wrist and saying, "Your Highness, I've already... put that in your bundle. Please don't tease me."
Ever since Wei Hong first took Yao Youqing's undergarment, he would take one of her undergarments every time he left.
Yao Youqing blushed deeply with embarrassment, but she couldn't resist and could only watch him leave triumphantly with his undergarment.
Wei Hong was leaving again today. As soon as he reached out his hand, Yao Youqing knew what he was going to do, so she quickly stopped him.
Wei Hong chuckled: "I want the one you're wearing. This one has Ning'er's essence."
After saying that, he reached his hand in again.
Yao Youqing frowned and shook her head repeatedly: "It's what I'm wearing, I just changed out this morning, really, I'll show you if you don't believe me!"
Wei Hong raised an eyebrow as he watched the girl take the bundle she had packed for him. Opening a corner, he saw a pink undergarment, the pattern of which was indeed the one she had worn that morning.
"So conscientious today?"
He smiled and reached out to take the retied bundle.
"It's all the prince's fault. He always takes it away... Now that you're gone, I have to go get a new one. Even Zhou Mama can tell."
Yao Youqing muttered in a low voice.
Wei Hong laughed, pulled her over and kissed her a few more times, and only after he had smelled her enough did he pick up his bag and leave.
The bundle contained very few items, none of which were things Wei Hong would normally use on the road, so he didn't open it until he reached the camp, lest others see it.
But when he opened the bundle and took out the undergarment, he found that although the color and pattern of the undergarment were exactly the same as the one Yao Youqing was wearing, it was much larger than that and was not her size at all.
Wei Hong's forehead vein throbbed, and he inexplicably held the bodice up to himself. Sure enough, it was just the right size, as if it had been made to fit his body perfectly.
"You brat," he gritted his teeth, holding the undergarment, "just wait until I get back and teach you a lesson!"
As he was speaking, someone outside called him, saying that several generals had arrived at the meeting tent and were waiting for him to come over.
Wei Hong responded, casually covered the undergarment with another garment, and then turned and left.
After everyone finished discussing the latest military situation in the tent and dispersed, Wei Hong stayed behind alone to handle the backlog of military affairs.
He was checking the military reports when he noticed something was wrong. One of the reports contained discrepancies in the amounts of money and provisions. After looking through it carefully, he realized that it should correspond to another report, which he had seen on the way and had been suspicious of, so he put it away separately.
Just then, Guo Sheng came to deliver something to him, and he casually said, "Ziyi, could you help me get a military report from my tent? It's on the table; you'll see it as soon as you go in."
Guo Sheng nodded and turned to go to his tent.
He hadn't served Wei Hong closely for a long time, and when he received the military report and saw that Wei Hong's tent was in a mess, he frowned.
"It's only been a short time since I last served the Prince, and now there's no one even folding his clothes?"
As she spoke, she walked to the bedside and tried to tidy up Wei Hong's haphazardly piled clothes for him.