Chapter 18 Aying's Motivation

midnight.

darkroom.

"Han Zhong greets the general!"

"Zhao Meng greets the general!"

"Song Ji greets the general!"

"Huang Dai greets the general!"

The four men half-knelt and bowed in a neat and upright manner, and every word they said demonstrated their military fortitude and character.

Xie Chengyi looked at the four people quietly. Although his tone was light, he saw that the four people bowed their heads and listened respectfully as if he was being instructed. "Is there any movement in the army?"

Han Zhong replied: "Since the general left the border, Nan Jing has been ready to make a move. However, given our strong defense, we did not give Nan Jing any chance to take advantage of it."

Xie Chengyi frowned, "Nanjing's young prince Helancha has recovered from his injury. With him in charge, Nanjing is like a tiger with wings. Although the border is well defended, once the young prince sees through our plan, the border will be in danger."

"General, what is His Majesty thinking? The King of Qi has never led troops. His orders in the barracks are blind! He even kicked us out from the group of generals. I can't tolerate this!" Zhao Meng is the most famous and powerful general under Xie Chengyi. Although he has a fierce temper, he will not disobey military orders. It is obvious that the King of Qi has a purpose for doing this.

"General, when can you go back? The soldiers all said that as long as you give the order, they will follow you to the death!" Song Ji said sternly.

Huang Dai also echoed, "That's right, General, we all obey your orders!"

Several people were filled with righteous indignation, but Han Zhong suppressed his anger and said, "We are here to comfort the general. Aren't you making it difficult for the general?"

Zhao Meng was dissatisfied and said, "Isn't this the truth?"

Han Zhong glared at him. "The fact is that His Majesty is trying to take back the general's military power at this moment! If the general makes any unusual moves at this moment, His Majesty will be able to accuse him of a crime! The name of the Xie Family Army is not a good thing for the general at this moment!"

"Hiss——" Zhao Meng's dull head seemed to have turned on a switch and he instantly woke up.

"Are you saying that Your Majesty did it on purpose?" Song Ji still couldn't believe it.

Huang Dai also seemed to have cleared up his confusion and said, "No wonder! No wonder all of us have been stripped of our air power."

"What should we do now?" Song Ji was unwilling to see the empire he had built over many years go to waste.

Xie Chengyi then put down his teacup, looked around at a few people, and said faintly: "Wait..."

"Wait?" The four of them stared at each other in confusion.

"Yes! We can only wait! If I don't join in the game that Han Zhong can see through, won't His Majesty become even more suspicious?" Xie Chengyi didn't admire this His Majesty that much.

"But what about Nan Jing?" Song Ji asked worriedly.

Zhao Meng patted his chest and said, "Why should I be afraid of him? If Nan Jing dares to raise his hand, I will kill him without leaving a single piece of armor behind!"

Han Zhong kept frowning in deep thought. The more Zhao Meng said this, the clearer an idea in his mind became. He asked tentatively, "May I ask, General, are you just waiting for Nan Jing to lend a hand?"

Xie Chengyi looked at Han Zhong with approval. Among the brave and resourceful generals he led, Han Zhong was the most courageous and resourceful.

Huang Dai's mind turned and he understood. His eyes sparkled as he said, "No wonder the general has been going to brothels to drink wine and seduce people since he returned to Beijing. It turns out that he wanted to paralyze Nan Jing?"

Xie Chengyi nodded slightly, "Is this a good idea?"

Han Zhong nodded: "Okay!"

Zhao Meng praised wildly: "It must be good!"

Song Ji couldn't help but give a thumbs up, "High! It's really high!"

"What if things get messed up?" Huang Dai didn't distrust the general, he distrusted the King of Qi.

Xie Chengyi looked at them steadily, and said solemnly as if entrusting an orphan to someone else: "So, I need you to hold on!"

"General, the King of Qi has driven us out of the camp. How can we hold on..." Song Ji was about to explode when he mentioned this.

"Just do your own job well, and don't worry too much about other things." Xie Chengyi said with three parts indifference and seven parts solemnity.

"Don't think too much?" Huang Dai looked at Xie Chengyi's face thoughtfully.

Han Zhong's mind moved, and he immediately understood the general's meaning. He bowed and nodded and said, "I obey your command!"

The other three looked at each other and understood Xie Chengyi's "intentions". They all bowed and said firmly: "I obey your orders!"

"You don't have to go to Beijing again. If there is any emergency, send a carrier pigeon to report it! Remember, be careful!" The look in Xie Chengyi's eyes as he looked at several people contained not only instructions but also exhortations.

By the time the four of them set out at midnight, the sky was almost bright.

***
"Prince, take a nap." Zhan Li looked at his master's gloomy face and couldn't help but want to persuade him.

Sleep? He wanted to, but it was fine during the day. Now that he was done with his sleepiness, his mind was surprisingly clear.

Xie Chengyi was wearing a moon-colored wide brocade robe, sitting in front of a stone table, stroking the wine glass with his hand, his brows slightly furrowed, as if he was thinking about something.

Somehow, at this moment when the night was quiet, he felt a little emotional.

Ten years of abstinence, one day of miscalculation, he thought he didn't take it seriously, but when he heard that he was going to pick up A Ying, his heartbeat quickened. On the way to find A Ying, he thought that it was not difficult to keep a woman in the mansion, but Xie Chengyi would never allow anything to get out of control. He didn't want to experience that kind of powerless pain again. At this time, he sat here quietly, thinking about countermeasures, how to restore his life to the state without fluctuations before.

"Zhan Li!" After a long time, Xie Chengyi called out calmly.

Zhan Li then walked in, "Prince."

"Pack your things, I'm going to live in another courtyard tomorrow." Xie Chengyi probably thought that out of sight, out of mind.

Zhan Li was stunned. "Go to the other courtyard? You've hardly ever lived in the Marquis' Mansion, and the other courtyard is not cleaned often. I'm afraid it's not suitable for living."

Maybe he really didn't understand, so he asked in confusion: "Sir, why do you want to live in a separate courtyard?"

Xie Chengyi glared, "What? Do I still need to report to you?"

Zhan Li's face froze, and he quickly shook his head, "My subordinate has overstepped his bounds!"

"Find someone to clean up the place! We'll move in tomorrow!" Xie Chengyi's heart was like a surging wave, he was restless and his tone was a little impatient.

Although Zhan Li didn't understand, he explained a little: "Sir, if you want to move out, the old lady's place..."

"It's okay. Grandma is in good health these two days. It doesn't matter if I leave the house." Xie Chengyi said.

Zhan Li then nodded, "Yes."

***
Yimei Courtyard.

"No...no..." Huo Aying, lying on the bed, frowned, his hands tightly clenched the corner of the quilt, as if he was suffering from some unspeakable pain.

Su Jian hurriedly comforted her: "Don't be afraid, young lady, we are already home."

But this comfort didn't seem to work. The sweat on Ah Ying's forehead became more and more dense, and his brows became more and more furrowed.

"Girl! Girl, wake up! Girl, wake up!!" No matter how Su Jian called, Aying didn't respond, which scared Su Jian.

"Shuang'er, Shuang'er, go call Doctor Xu!" Su Jian shouted.

Shuang'er jumped up and ran to the pharmacy in the mansion, "Doctor Xu, help, help..."

Xu Kuang woke up with a start and quickly got up to open the door.

Shuang'er's face flushed, "The girl seems to be in trouble!"

Xu Kuang came hurriedly.

As soon as I entered the room, I heard Ah Ying crying and clenching her palms, "No, no! Mother, no! Brother!"

Su Jian quickly described to Xu Kuang who came in: "Doctor Xu, the girl has a high fever and is talking nonsense. Please take a look!"

Xu Kuang gathered his sleeves and reached out to test the temperature of Huo Aying's forehead. He was shocked: "Hiss! It's so hot!"

"Please think of a solution quickly." Su Jian was really anxious seeing Aying like this.

Xu Kuang said solemnly: "Don't worry, don't worry, I'll go boil the medicine now!"

In a trance, Aying seemed to have returned to the time when she was nine years old. Her father had lost money in gambling again. His eyes were bloodshot and he had lost his mind. He even made her mother sign a contract to sell her body and wanted to send her to a brothel. Her mother, who loved her father wholeheartedly, was heartbroken. She looked at Aying in despair and resolutely hanged herself in the house. Aying tried desperately to push the door open, but her small body was covered with scars, but she still couldn't push the door open. She could only bang on the door and cry to her mother, calling her, wanting her mother to look at her and have pity on her. But her strength was too weak. No matter what she did, it seemed useless. She could only watch her mother die through the crack in the door.

Finally, it was her brother who broke through the door, rushed in and carried her mother down. He held her mother's cold body and looked at her father counting money at the door in deathly silence. At that moment, Ah Ying wished she could kill her father with a sword. On the same day, when several gangsters dragged her brother away, Ah Ying almost cried to death. The mother who protected her was gone, and the brother who protected her was gone too...

"Girl, wake up! Girl--" Su Jian kept calling anxiously.

Huo Aying felt someone pulling him hard as he fell into the ice. He was startled and woke up slowly.

"Girl, are you awake?" Su Jian cried and laughed when she saw Aying wake up.

Ah Ying looked around and then remembered that he had come back, and struggled to get up.

"It's okay, I just had a nightmare." Aying said in a muffled voice.

Su Jian patted her chest and said, "I'm glad the girl is okay." Then she quickly handed her a glass of water.

Ah Ying held the cup in her hand, her mind restless for a long time. She must have died several times before. This time, she would crawl to a place where no one could hurt her even if she had to...

into the night.

When everyone fell asleep, Huo Aying quietly got up.

The silver bills in the brocade box were neatly placed. Ah Ying counted them again with concern. Well, there were two thousand three hundred and fifty-two taels.

She didn't know where her brother was sold to, or whether he was dead or alive. The only thing she knew was that her brother was taken to Hangzhou at first. However, she knew that her brother loved her so much that he must be desperately trying to find her, just like herself now. If he was alive, the money to redeem him would be a lot, so much that she was shocked, so much that she had never dared to think about it before, so much that she would have to pay the silver note to take her brother away at any time. But now she had no capital and could only rely on absolutely enough money to rescue her brother.

She often fantasized that after she rescued her brother, she would open a school for him. When he was a child, his brother loved reading the most. As long as she could hold on until she found her brother, she would have hope.

Thinking of this, Huo Aying felt a glimmer of light in his heart.

At the moment, the fastest money-making place is the Dingyang Marquis Mansion, but the speed of making money is still too slow...

I wish everyone can find the one they love on 521

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