My vicious dog, my horse, I can do whatever I want with it

Chapter 292 Wait a Little Longer

"In Wuhuan, keep an eye on Mr. Pei's news." Zong Yanli frowned slightly, tapped the table with his fingers and said, "Keep watching Lu as well."

"Yes." Sang Caijie quickly leaned over and agreed.

Before Zong Yanli could understand the whole situation regarding the Wuhuan, he received a letter from his mother.

My eldest aunt, Ms. Zhou, died of illness in Guiyun Temple. She left a will asking the head of the family to allow her a letter of divorce and to be buried in the mountains as a girl from the Zhou family. In this life, she would be the wife of the Zong Yan family to repay her kindness to Zong Yanhongfeng in the past, and she would not be the general's wife in the next life.

Ask for a divorce letter to set her free.

Zhou spent his entire life confining himself to the same place. Perhaps many people don't understand why Zhou did this, but everyone has his own thoughts and will.

At that time, my uncle fell in love with Zhou, and the two of them could be said to be in love and willing, and this marriage was made possible by their mutual consent.

Unfortunately, God is blind and separates the two lovers.

Zong Yanli looked at his mother's letters, among which was a page of his great aunt's suicide note. Every word in the letter was filled with sadness. She remained loyal to her husband for a long time and finally became herself again at the moment of her death.

There was relief and liberation in her words, and she never mentioned Zong Yan's ambitions. Perhaps her wish that she would never be a general's wife in her next life was her answer.

Now that Zong Yanli is the head of the Zong Yan family, and Zhou has been widowed for many years, the divorce letter should have been given to her long ago.

Zong Yanli picked up his pen and, in the name of the head of the Zong Yan family, wrote this divorce letter for Zhou on behalf of his eldest uncle, which was delayed for most of his life. His heart was filled with sighs. After a long time, he sent someone to pass a verbal message to Changfeng County to his second uncle.

This divorce letter was first delivered to the ancestral home in Huai'an, where it was reviewed by several clan elders. Finally, the name of the Zhou family was removed from the Zongyan family tree.

In this way, the divorce letter was delivered to Zhou's mourning hall as they wished, placed in her coffin and buried with her, and the words engraved on the monument were in the name of Zhou's daughter, not Zong Yan's clan wife.

The shackles that had imprisoned Zhou's entire life were completely removed at this moment, which could be considered... fulfillment of his wish.

When the summer solstice arrived, Zong Yanli received another letter from Pei Liang. The content of the letter became shorter and shorter. It mentioned that Wuhuan had caught a tiger and wanted to tame it and give it to the general, asking them to stay for some time.

"Wu Huan's repeated rhetoric is clearly intended to detain Mr. Pei." Monkie slammed his fist on the table and said, "What treasures, what tiger training, they are all excuses!"

"If we keep delaying like this, Mr. Pei will be able to marry in Wuhuan!" Meng Qi's words immediately made everyone laugh. Long Feiguang coughed twice and said, "General, I think Wuhuan is indeed suspicious. Are they going to detain Mr. Pei?"

"Then what is the purpose of detaining Mr. Pei?" Zhan Haoyue raised his eyebrows slightly and asked, "Could it be that they want to lure him with money and sex, and want to turn Mr. Pei against the government?"

"Mr. Pei doesn't seem like someone who would be tempted by money and sex." Zhuang Chengbi said quietly.

“The Wuhuan and Lu have no dealings with each other. With Duzhe’s ability, he should not be able to threaten them.” If Duzhe dares to threaten them, he should be prepared to suffer the destruction of his country. The blood on the northern land has not yet dried!

No one could figure out what was going on, and Zong Yanli's plan to cut off the trade routes between Wuhuan and Daqian had no effect, and Wuhuan did not show any signs of letting anyone know.

On the other hand, Ning Chi received a letter saying that He Jiarong went to pay homage to his deceased mother after returning to Beijing, and did not even interact with the court officials while staying in the palace, let alone take any other actions. He was so honest that people could not find out anything about him. Even Prince Ping could not find out anything.

Zong Yanli couldn't help but feel confused. Could it be that he was wrong?

In June, Zong Yanli gathered enough troops and sent out another attack, heading straight for the State of Lu.

At Xitong Pass, where the Lu soldiers were stationed, when they saw the Daqian troops, many of the soldiers defending the city had the same thought in their hearts: they had finally arrived.

"Send the letter of surrender." Following the principle of using courtesy before force, Zong Yanli ordered several gentlemen to write a letter of surrender with great effort. The letter talked about how the Daqian cavalry came to the north to conquer the northern country and achieve what it is today. The king of the northern country was still able to surrender for the sake of the people with such enthusiasm, and the State of Lu should not be ungrateful.

"Arrogant!" Baines glanced at the letter of surrender and his face turned blue with anger. He slapped the paper on the table and said angrily: "My Lu country is strong in military and horses, how can the mere Northern Kingdom compare to us!"

"This is not persuading me to surrender, it's clearly a slap in my face!" Baines went to the city wall in full armor, tore up the letter of persuasion in front of Zong Yanli and cursed: "If you want to fight, then fight! If you want to fight, then fight! I will fight you to the end!"

The State of Lu was unlike the Northern States, which first suffered a war with the State of Qi and was later defeated by Zong Yanli.

Today, the military strength of the State of Lu is still sufficient, and there are many brave generals under its command. If it can really be persuaded to surrender with just a letter of surrender, it would be truly ridiculous.

Therefore, he was not surprised to see Baines's move and just challenged him.

The two sides are old acquaintances, and no matter who comes out to fight, there is a way to deal with it. This challenging battle has a mixed result, and no one gets any benefit.

The State of Lu was not like the Northern States, which only dared to stay inside the pass and not go into battle. Baines had often gone out of the city to launch surprise attacks, and they chased each other and fought back and forth. Zong Yanli did not gain any benefits, and the momentum of the siege gradually slowed down.

"Lu is difficult to conquer. We need external help." Zong Yanli sat in the military tent with a piece of paper spread out on the table. She lowered her head and wrote as she said, "Send this letter to the Queen Mother and order Cai Kangyu to dispatch siege chariots and crossbow carts to deliver it."

Since obtaining the blueprints of siege crossbows and other equipment, they have been used in military affairs over the years and have been improved repeatedly.

Due to the huge cost and too much manpower and material resources required, and the fact that Daqian was constantly at war and its territorial expansion was extremely rapid, such important matters were carried out slowly, and the treasury stored silver for the people, which led to the construction of chariots being carried out in secret for decades.

The chariots and crossbows used by Zong Yanli were all old. They had been severely damaged in many wars, and only one in ten of them remains today.

Transporting chariots from Daqian took a long time and the journey was quite far. If Lu was not difficult to conquer, she would not want to waste the people's time. But if she fought against Lu head-on, it would be a complete waste of the soldiers and civilians. How could she do that?

Zong Yanli dried the ink, carefully packed it up and handed it to Gao Feilin, saying, "Don't let anyone know about this. You should deliver it in person and be careful."

"Yes." Gao Feilin took it carefully and put the letter in his arms.

"If you encounter any difficulties, take my token to Prince Ningchi Heping for help. Be sure to deliver the chariot." Zong Yanli gave detailed instructions and Gao Feilin nodded in response.

"The situation of Wuhuan is unclear now, and He Jiarong suddenly returned to Beijing. I'm worried that someone is plotting something secretly. I'll feel at ease if you go and do it yourself." Gao Feilin said nothing more. He followed the military order, packed up his things simply, and left the camp overnight without disturbing others.

After Gao Feilin left, when others asked about Zong Yanli, he just said that he had other important tasks to arrange for him. He only had one personal soldier around him. Apart from Long Feiguang and others who asked a few more questions, no one else wanted to ask more questions.

In July, Pei Liang sent another letter, saying that Queen Sai Ya was about to give birth. General Du Zhe urged them to witness it together, saying that the Wuhuan high priest said that this child was born with auspicious signs, and Du Zhe wanted to establish a crown prince.

The letter said that Pei Liang and his companions were going there on behalf of Zong Yanli, and Du Zhe was very sorry that he could not let Zong Yanli watch the ceremony in person, so he asked Pei Liang to stay.

Zong Yanli looked at the letter with a frown, feeling that it was increasingly sounding like Pei Liang's letter asking for help.

"Wait a little longer." Zong Yanli calmed down and said, "Once the siege vehicle is successfully transported, I will immediately send someone to pick up Mr. Pei."

"I'll write back." Zong Yanli picked up her pen to write back to Pei Liang, and then wrote a letter to congratulate Du Zhe, expressing how touched she was by his thoughtfulness. Finally, she complained bitterly that the State of Lu was difficult to conquer, and that Pei Liang and Bai Xiuyun were her powerful generals, so they must not be kept any longer.

He asked Duzhe to send me back as soon as possible, with a hint of warning and displeasure in his words, and even mentioned: "If General Du really cares about me, I can go to Wuhuan in person."

After pausing to write, Zong Yanli narrowed his eyes, put down the pen, reviewed the wording again, and finally called Sang Caijie in to deliver the letter.

The summer wind made people feel stuffy. It had been a long time since she last saw Zong Yan Guanghe. When she first saw the black coal-like Zong Yan Guanghe, she looked him up and down for a long time and said, "It seems that he trains very hard every day. Look at how tanned he is..."

"Father." Zong Yanguang smiled, his big white teeth standing out under the scorching sun.

"Grown taller?" Zong Yanli looked at Zong Yanguang's leaping height, raised his eyebrows and said with a smile: "Come, let me see if your swordsmanship has improved."

"Please give me some advice, father!" Zong Yanguanghe was overjoyed and immediately started fighting with Zong Yanli outside the tent.

Zong Yanli fought with one hand calmly. Zong Yan Guanghe's sword style was well practiced, but his strength was just average. After all, he was not of the Zong Yan family's bloodline, so his strength was just within the range of ordinary people. Although his strength had improved a little through hard practice, he was definitely not as good as Zong Yanli's.

The battle was over, Zong Yan Guanghe received the news, clenched his numb hands, and looked at Zong Yanli with a little nervousness.

Zong Yanli smiled at him and said, "Yes, now your sword style has made some progress, and you need to gather your energy to form a force."

"Weakness is nothing." Zong Yanli looked at Zong Yanguanghe and said, "You are still young, practice more."

"Have you finished reading the military books given to you?" Zong Yanli waved his hand and led Zong Yanguanghe into the tent and asked.

"I've read almost everything, but there are still some things I don't understand..."

Outside the tent, Zhan Haoyue looked at the father and son who entered the tent, and was very sensible not to disturb them. Instead, he turned around and invited Zhou Cang to find Lu Peibai for tea. When Pei Liang was not around, Zhan Haoyue would harass Zhou Cang whenever he had nothing to do, so that Zhou Cang, who had always been a loner, had a lot of things to do for no reason.

A simple shed was built outside Lu Peibai's military tent to provide shade in order to entertain Zhan Haoyue and his companions.

Lu Peibai was a woman after all, and even though they were colleagues, it was not convenient for her to enter her tent to avoid gossip, so they set up such a tent outside her tent.

"New tea?" Zhan Haoyue came over excitedly and smelled the refreshing tea fragrance before he sat down.

"Mr. Wujiu, you've arrived at the right time." Lu Peibai was still dressed in green, holding a fan in his hand to cool down. He looked up at Zhan Haoyue and Zhou Cang, and nodded slightly to the latter.

"Did the general send it?" Zhan Haoyue sat down, smiled and reached out to pick up the teapot on the table. He looked at the mark of the Northern Kingdom and laughed, "The general is really generous. He actually brought something that was once used by the Northern Kingdom for us to enjoy."

"You have plenty of good things too, so why envy me?" Lu Peibai smiled.

They conquered the Northern Kingdom, and all these were spoils of war. Zhan Haoyue got antiques and paintings, and Zhou Cang also got top-quality inkstones and wolf-hair brushes. They were all looted from the Northern Kingdom and were indeed rare treasures.

Since following Zong Yanli, I have never been treated unfairly!

"It smells so good, so good..." Zhan Haoyue was very pleased. Zhou Cang beside him also raised his eyebrows and smiled. Who would have thought that they could still enjoy tea in the center of war.

"Did you often do this in the past?" Zhou Cang felt the sweet aroma of tea on his tongue and almost forgot that he had been so comfortable in the past.

"Why, is your General Sha treating you harshly?" Zhan Haoyue looked at Zhou Cang with a smile.

Zhou Cang: “…”

There is no need to praise one and criticize the other like this.

He just felt that Zong Yanli was very good at managing his subordinates. He could raise such a powerful army even with such indulgence. The soldiers under his tent seemed to have been accustomed to it. When the patrolling guard saw them sitting here peacefully drinking tea, no one blamed them or got jealous, and no one took the initiative to sue them.

The soldiers just kept their eyes on their own work, and occasionally someone they knew would come over and ask for a cup of tea.

He was just an ordinary soldier, so Zhan Haoyue and Lu Peibai didn't mind. Seeing that he couldn't taste the tea, they even laughed and scolded him: "Don't waste my tea, go find Doctor Xiao to drink your summer heat soup!"

The soldier ran away smiling. Such friendly and common things happened frequently.

In this light, it doesn't seem surprising that Lu Peibai, a woman, is also respected in the military camp.

"You didn't even call me." When Zhuang Chengbi came over after hearing the news, he had already drunk half a pot of tea. He was so angry that he was fuming. Zhan Haoyue had to give him a chess manual as an apology before he was satisfied.

"The weather is too hot, and you're hiding in the tent and refusing to come out. How could I think so much?" Zhan Haoyue really felt wronged.

"I won't tell you." Zhuang Chengbi took out a book from his sleeve and handed it to Lu Peibai, saying, "I once heard the general mention that Mr. Mingxi's piano skills were amazing. Today, when I was tidying up my bookcase, I found an old piano score. My musical temperament is average, so it would be a waste to keep this score with me."

"If Mr. Mingxi doesn't mind, please accept it." Zhuang Chengbi said with a smile.

He just came out of nowhere and brought such a polite manner which shocked Zhan Haoyue and the others. Then they looked at the half cup of tea in their hands and suddenly felt a little uneasy.

Lu Peibai was slightly surprised and took it and said with a smile: "Mr. Zhuang, you are so polite. Thank you very much."

This was the first time that Zhou Cang felt a sense of solidarity with Zhan Haoyue. They both glared at Zhuang Chengbi. Zhuang Chengbi pretended not to know and took a sip of the hot tea, praising Lu Peibai's increasingly sophisticated tea-brewing skills.

Then that night, Lu Peibai looked at the "gifts" sent by Zhan Haoyue and Zhou Cang on the table and felt quite amused.