Chapter 164 Back to the Jin City
The war boosted the army’s morale considerably. Thousands of fine battle steeds were captured, and the army provisions were beyond count. Xu Linghe returned to the Jin City, and he thought his wife was so powerful that she assumed the responsibility at the crucial moment and could live up the trust to capture 10 cities accordingly. Would the Jin people know her contribution? Although the poison in Xu Linghe had been solved, he was still feeble. Wuyou accompanied him all the way. Madam Yu fell into coma after being attacked by evil energy. Zhan Ming showed great respect for this female General. Although she looked weak, she really made a good fight in the battlefield. The doctor felt the Madam Yu’s pulse, and was stunned by her pulse which was several times faster than the normal one’s. After knowing the reason, the doctor kept shaking his head and guessed that the General could not live any longer. Zhan Ming remembered that Mrs. Xu knew the shape-shifting, and believed that she might have some solutions. So Zhan Ming vaulted into the saddle hurriedly to catch up with the Commander in Chief’s carriage.
“Your Majesty, would you mind doing me a favor?”
“What favor?”
Xu Linghe unveiled the curtain. Zhan Ming took a look and lowered his head down hurriedly.
“Could Madam mind having a look at the patient?” Zhan Ming’s voice trailed away, and he felt embarrassed because Madam Yu was a woman.
“The patient is Madam Yu, right?” Wuyou replied in a serious way, which made Zhan Ming flush. Horse stopped at the road side. Wuyou followed Zhan Ming into Madam Yu’s carriage. It was too narrow to hold three persons, so Zhan Ming stayed at the entrance. Madam Yu’s face turned black and her lips looked ghastly pale. She looked unwell.
“She was bitten by the devil army.” Afraid of losing time, Zhan Ming told the fact to Mrs. Xu. Wuyou spread her spirit power to clear up devil poison for Madam Yu. Pangu Spirit flowed in the blood to the four limbs.
“Help Madam Yu up.” Zhan Ming helped the woman lean against the soft couch. Wuyou gathered spirit power and took a blue spinel out of her body. The spinel shone brightly in the candlelight. It was the Spiritual Stone formed by Pangu’s Qi, which could purify the poison gas. Wuyou sealed up Madam Yu’s acupuncture points and put the blue spinel into Madam Yu’s body. Zhan Ming found a soft pillow in case Madam Yu felt uncomfortable. The blue spinel diffused with blood. Spiritual Qi ran with the Blue spinel. Madam Yu’s bloodlines were activated. Gores were being eliminated little by little, and the wound bitten by the devil soldiers was being recovered. Madam Yu’s arms and legs, as well as muscles and vessels, regained consciousness. The blue spinel ran in her five viscera and six bowels. Those meridians injured by the devil poison were also being recovered. Wuyou sealed up the Spiritual Qi to give the blue spinel to a full play. Madam Yu’s body was getting warm. And then, she opened her eyes.
“Why are you?” Madam Yu struggled to sit up. Zhan Ming released his hands because he felt it was improper.
“Your enemy saved you. Unhappy, right?” Madam Yu did not know how to respond it at that moment, as she had forgotten the hatred to the fox spirit. It was the fate of Madam Yu’s daughter, and no one could help to change it. Madam Yu had gotten it straight and her heart became clear.
“What enemy? I hoped nothing but the Nanyi people have a place to live.” Madam Yu replied. It turned out that the two women had known each other before. Zhan Ming got nervous, afraid that the two would fight against each other. Madam Yu kept her head down. Seeing the naga was fine, Wuyou unveiled the curtain of the carriage.
“Thank you. Mrs. Commander in Chief.” Madam Yu said. The word “Mrs.” helped to remedy the breach between them, an recognition to Wuyou’s identity.
“You don’t need to say ‘thank’ to me, but just be good to your Commander in Chief.” Wuyou replied. If Madam Yu had not been Wuyou’s husband’s subordinate, Wuyou would not have leisure to save her. Then, Wuyou jumped down the carriage.
“Between you...” Zhan Ming asked curiously, as Madam Yu let out a long sigh. Zhan Ming guessed that there seemed to be no intersection between them, but something unpleasant did happen before.
“She killed my daughter.”
“What?”
It was really jaw-dropping information for Zhan Ming. It turned out that the two were enemies. But they did not look like enemies just now, because there was no such a thing as the person cured his/her enemy.
“But my daughter ruined her face.”
Madam Yu spoke out the truth, which made sense for Zhan Ming. Women had an inherent love for beauty. Mrs. Xu was such a powerful woman that she would kill anyone who dared to ruined her appearance.
“General, you are from Nanyi. Why do you submit to Yan Shen?”
Zhan Ming would like to know more about Madam Yu. How could the Empress of Nanyi come to the human realm to suffer hardships? Zhan Ming did not understand.
“Nanyi’s fall was because of naga pearls. Naga pearls are of wide use. They can be used to pacify soul, to make as rich women’s ornaments, and be ground to beautifying the skin. The queen of the Wind City exterminated my tribe just for the man named Jiefei of the Teal Hill. So Nanyi people were forced to come to the human realm.”
“Teal Hill?” Zhan Ming asked. The Commander in Chief had mentioned the place before, but Zhan Ming was a common person and knew nothing about the spiritual realm.
“Mrs. Commander in Chief’s hometown.” Madam Yu told the truth and thought that the common person was so limited and curious about everything.
“Mrs. Xu is a fox?”
“Now she is not... A common person as you.”
“General Yu, your words confuse me. How can Mrs. Xu be a common person?”
“I am tired... I want to sleep for a while...”
Madam Yu felt dizzy and tired to talk with a mortal. But she was grateful to Zhan Ming, because it was he who rescued Madam Yu out of danger regardless of his personal safety.
“Thank you.” Madam Yu leaned to her side and fell asleep. When Zhan Ming came to himself, he found Madam Yu had slept, so he unveiled the curtain and jumped off the carriage. After the man left, Madam Yu opened her eyes and thought that the common person was so enthusiastic to all the people. But since she was used to being alone, she felt unsettled about others’ unexpected care.
A frost flower fell on the grass stems and got her tiptoes wet. Wuyou squatted down to flick the dust on her shoes. Since they had been marching at night for several days, the flowers on her shoes were torn out, and chill shot up from the tiptoes. Wuyou stamped her tiptoes, and the frost flowers fell down accordingly.
“Wife, you are really in excellent spirits.” The man held the woman on his shoulder.
“You... Aren’t you afraid of being laughed? We are marching.” The woman closed her eyes and felt delighted inwardly.
“So what? I don’t care about being the Commander in Chief.” The man replied with an air of arrogance, just like a child in front of the woman.
“Xiao Douya will laugh at you.”
Xu Linghe calmed himself down when hearing his child’s name and thought that he did owe his child too much. Every time he was about to leave, his child would burst into tears. Wuyou entered the carriage and held the warm handbags immediately. She kept sneezing with cold.
“Know what it is called cold now. See, how wet your shoes are.” The man grumbled and put her little feet into his arms.
“It’s really warm...” Wuyou’s tears came out somehow.
“Why are you crying again? I cannot pay back this life what you’ve done for me.”
The two cuddled up each other closely. The man’s hoarse voice was full of infinite affection. It was called love: a person could not rest his/her heart reassured till he/she knew his/her lover was safe.
Yan Shen looked into the distance. A huge cloud of dust rose from the horizon. He could rest his heart finally, as Xu Linghe came back safely. Yan Shen was filled with a lot of emotions. Based on the real strength, Jin army defeated Di army, and then the people of the Jin City could lead a stable life. The city gate was tightly packed, because people gathered together to welcome their heroes. Xu Linghe brought back the soldiers’ bones, hoping these heroes would be laid to rest. Naga soldiers suffered great casualties. 50,000 soldiers out, and only 20,000 soldiers back. Old-aged fathers looked for his own kid. Piles of bones were placed in the square. When the father held up his son’s bones, the father choked with tears. The war could bring nothing but pains. As the owner of the Jin City, it was Xu Linghe’s duty to pacify his people. On the side of the square were set tables and chairs. Zhan Ming took the order to distribute taels to the dependents of martyrs. Xu Linghe discussed with Yan Shen to give more pension. So the rich and influential families took out their personal wealth to support Xu Linghe’s work. Since Xu Linghe became the new governor of the Jin City, he was deeply loved and respected by the people. There was a steelyard in each person’s heart. And they would support the good one. As for the pension for 20,000 people, the rich and influential families covered half, and the other half came from the tax revenue. There were many external finances flowing into the Jin City. Water routes extended in all directions. And the commercial ships coming to and from were fully loaded with silks and chinaware. In the past, the Jin City was a main source of tax revenue. Di Qing launched several attacks to the Jin City merely because of its developed economy.
Xu Linghe got off the carriage. Yan Shen came up to welcome him and found that the young man did not look well.
“Young man!” Yan Shen held Xu Linghe’s arms. The Jin City could not be kept without Xu Linghe. The victory of war blazoned out the Jin’s prestige. They captured 10 cities and expanded the Jin City’s territory several times, which Yan Shen had never imagined before. A seemingly unending supply of food was carried back to the city. Jin people stood at the city wall, unwilling to leave. People could finally see the hope, as they had run out of food for a long time. It was life-saving food. Wars tortured the Jin people, and they even had to pay high tax. They had little food left because they were required to pay tribute to the imperial government every year. In order to support the military forces, all the people had to tighten the belts and backed up without any complaints. Xu Linghe saw all with his eyes and bore in mind. Food was carried back to the city, and thousands of gallant horses were captures as well. These horses were rather useful in marching. Xu Linghe ordered some special people to take care of them. As for the things on the horse backs, Xu Linghe had them kept in a safe place. Now, the sharp weapons that Di Qing had developed was in the Xu Linghe’s palm. Xu Linghe asked someone to take the iron things apart, because he also wanted to study them. These were the gifts that Wuyou presented to her husband, and she hoped that her husband could put down the chaos in the world with the help of the sharp weapons, so that he could accompany Xiao Douya everyday.
“Transmit the order: at the noon tomorrow, people can get rice in the eastern market. A pipeful of rice for each household.”
“Distribute the food per capita. The more people in a family, the more they can get, while the family with less people should be distributed less. So everyone can have food to eat.”
“Well, let’s distribute the rice per capita.” Xu Linghe changed his command. The little palace servant took a glance at Wuyou and thought that the Majesty just took in the woman’s words. Then, the servant retired carefully.
“Go to the stable. I will show you a little thing.”
The two stepped to the backyard. These gallant horses were accustomed to the northern climate. So they needed special breeding in the south.
What brought the Majesty to the stable? The stableman prostrated to the Majesty in a hurry.
“Wait outside.” The two walked into the room. The stableman poked his head out, because it was rare for him to see the Majesty. Horses became vehement and agitated at the sight of strangers. Wuyou came up to pat the horse back. The leading stallion rocketed out and kicked toward Wuyou. Wuyou swung herself into the saddle. The horse gave a loud neigh and reared up. Wuyou pacified the horse’s head. When the horse calmed down, a little thing appeared in Wuyou’s hand.
“Husband, do you know it?” Xu Linghe turned over and over, and was pretty sure that he had never seen it before.
“This is called ‘chip’. It is a good thing. This time, it was this little thing that helped us win with a small effort.” Wuyou said and giggled, because she could finally baffle her husband.
“It’s not like a spiritual thing...” Xu Linghe looked at it carefully again, with his eyebrows knitted more tightly.
“This little thing is very useful. See...”
The chip fell into Xu Linghe’s body. Wuyou used the Spirit Power to activate the brain waves. Then, Xu Linghe traveled with the brain waves. He saw dropping ears of rice, boundless wheat fields, wind power generators, and some galloping monsters. What a fantasy world! Xu Linghe wanted to touch, but these flowing light gathered and slipped away from his mind. Besides, he saw ammunition in iron pipes. Fire sparked with a bang. The black iron monster dashed into the sky. Xu Linghe’s divine consciousness flew with the warhead. Xu Linghe wondered whether it was the artillery, so he followed all the way.
“The little thing is amazing, right?” Wuyou said. Dragged back to reality, Xu Linghe was in a trance, as if he were in where he had seen. He looked at the little thing in his hand, a common but magic thing.
“A very magical little thing...” In the picture, the rice ear and the trapezoidal mountain both represented a scene of prosperity. Especially the galloping iron thing attracted the man.
“Husband, don’t look down upon it. It is of great use.” Wuyou raised her little face and looked serious. She knew that her husband needed the technology in the chip.
“There are a number of refugees in the Jin City. And food is a big problem... So I must first solve the problem of food and clothing for the people.”
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