The Beauties of the Song Dynasty - Chapter 139
Zhao Dezhao and Wanlan looked at each other, both pleasantly surprised.
"Open the city gates!"
Wanlan pushed him away and ran towards the city gate. The heavy gate slowly opened, and several points of light shone directly into her eyes under the dim sky. She squinted, but did not stop for a moment. She ran wildly out of the city gate, across the moat, and raised her hands to meet the man riding towards her from the center of the light.
"Zehua—"
Almost as soon as she spoke, the man at the front of the hundred or so cavalrymen bent down and swiftly lifted her onto the horse. She gasped for breath and immediately hugged him tightly, her eyes glistening with tears, but she smiled.
Zhao Defang carried her in his arms with one hand and ran all the way into Zhuozhou City. With a neigh, he reined in the rope and stopped right in front of Zhao Dezhao, who was waiting at the foot of the city wall.
The two did not dismount immediately. Zhao Defang changed from holding one hand to holding both hands tightly, his hoarse voice as if squeezed from his throat, "No... you can't do this again... if the soldiers behind him didn't have torches, and if he didn't see her, she would have been trampled by his horse."
Wanlan took a deep breath in his arms, smiled, and choked out a soft "Mmm..."
Volume Six: The Rise and Fall of the Song Dynasty, Chapter 118: The Moon Rises Silently (1)
In the Northern Expedition against the Liao and Khitan, the Song Dynasty suffered a crushing defeat, with over ten thousand dead and countless losses of weapons, seals, provisions, and currency.
To prevent the Khitans from taking advantage of their victory to invade the south, the emperor ordered Cui Han, the commander of the palace guards, and Meng Xuan, the military governor of Dingwu, to garrison troops in Dingzhou; Cui Yanjin, the military governor of Heyang, to garrison troops south of the pass; and Liu Tinghan, the military governor of Yunzhou, to garrison troops in Zhenzhou with Li Hanqiong, the military governor of Zhangde.
On July 13th, the army returned to the capital in triumph.
On July 28th, we returned to Tokyo.
On the second day of the eighth month, the emperor punished those who violated the law during the campaign, demoting Shi Shouxin, the garrison commander of Xijing, to military governor of Chongxin Army, and Liu Yu, the military governor of Zhangxin Army, to military governor of Suzhou.
Because the northern expedition was unsuccessful, even the reward for pacifying Taiyuan was waived. The soldiers who participated in the expedition were dissatisfied, and there was also a lot of discontent in the court. Prince Zhao Dezhao of Wugong wanted to meet with the emperor to fight for the reward for the soldiers who participated in the expedition.
Upon hearing this, Wanlan immediately instructed Zehua to summon Zhao Dezhao to the Prince of Qin's residence. Using the pretext of taking care of Zehua, she kept him there, leaving him with no energy or time to meet the Emperor.
Zehua was wounded twice during the Song-Liao War.
One instance was when she suffered her first defeat at Deshengkou due to the schemes of Yelü Xiezhen, the Southern King of the Liao Khitan. Lan Wu, whom she sent to pursue, was a step too late, resulting in Zehua being wounded by an arrow.
The second time was after the defeat in the siege of Youzhou. Zehua returned to the battlefield to search for the whereabouts of the Imperial Uncle and was shot again, so that he could only stay at home to recuperate for a month after returning to the capital.
Wanlan forbade him from leaving the mansion.
This was also a good excuse to bring Zhao Dezhao to the Prince of Qin's residence to keep him company and relieve his fatigue.
One month.
She kept Zhao Dezhao in the Prince of Qin's residence for a full month.
Zhao Dezhao, surprisingly, "obediently" stayed, neither pursuing her motives nor asking any questions. [TXT novel download: ]
In the nearly four years since they came to the Song Dynasty, she and Zehua had never had such a peaceful relationship with Zhao Dezhao.
This was also the first time Wanlan had witnessed firsthand the way the two brothers had interacted since childhood.
What they did most often was play chess in silence. The scene was quite peaceful and harmonious, with an atmosphere that could calm people down. Occasionally, they would spend an afternoon in the study, talking about who knows what.
Too lazy to pay attention to their conversation, Wanlan lived her life as a mother in peace. Watching her two sons grow up day by day, she would suddenly think of the "third son of Zhao Defang" whose whereabouts were still unknown. Out of boredom, she began to speculate wildly about whether she would really get pregnant again.
She didn't know when Zhao Dezhao and the Imperial Uncle would "fall out," but as the date drew closer, she became increasingly unwilling to let Zhao Dezhao leave the Qin Prince's residence.
She always remembered that Zhao Dezhao wanted to give her an answer, and she wouldn't allow him to meet with the Emperor until she got that answer.
She managed to keep Zhao Dezhao there, but she herself was summoned to the palace.
In early September, under the worried gazes of the Zhao brothers, Zhao Defang and Zhao Dezhao, Wanlan boarded the carriage sent by the Emperor to fetch her alone.
If it weren't for the fact that her uncle insisted on seeing only her, she guessed that Zehua would definitely have gone with her.
Unbeknownst to Wanlan, after she left, Zhao Defang watched her carriage until it disappeared from sight before turning to Zhao Dezhao beside her and saying in a low, hoarse voice:
"Brother, there's something I'd like to discuss with you."
Inside the Chongde Hall, Zhao Jiong, whose expression grew increasingly cold, frowned as he stared at her. Wanlan sat down beside him expressionlessly, letting him look at her.
After a long silence, he finally spoke in a deep voice: "Is there really no way to change the predetermined ending? Did Lian Yuan think he could turn everything around, but in the end it was all in vain?"
Wanlan remained silent.
In this first war between Song and Liao, she only knew one outcome: if the Imperial Uncle had given up from the beginning because of this known outcome, then the outcome would no longer be an outcome.
As the saying goes, what is destined will remain the same regardless of how the process changes.
Ignoring its existence might be the key to overcoming everything, but if you care too much about it, you'll never be able to break free.
"Deqing, I suddenly realize that your existence might really be a mistake."
"So you're considering letting me take Zehua away?"
She looked up at him quietly and asked in a soft voice.
Where do you want to take him?
"Whatever!"
Wanlan smiled faintly, her eyes narrowed. "Whether it's the south or the north, as long as there are no worries about the future, it's fine anywhere."
Zhao Jiong looked at her expectant expression and pursed his lips.
"I haven't even agreed to your request yet, you're being too happy too soon!"
Wan chuckled lightly, "Can't I even have a little fun in secret? Imperial Uncle, did you summon me to the palace today just to tell me this? If there's nothing else, I'd like to go back now."