Chapter 295
Chapter 295
“The Barbarians are withdrawing.”
When this good news arrived, cheers erupted throughout Beizhen City from top to bottom.
Ji Yan’an smiled faintly. “They must have received news from the royal court.”
With the poisons Ji Yan’an had funded, the pressure his forces applied here, and the weather obstructing messages between the royal court and Yelü Qi, Yelü Can had gained more time to scheme.
Yelü Can was as cunning as they came, and he had succeeded.
This was only the beginning, and his grip on the position might not yet be secure.
But that had nothing to do with Ji Yan’an. Whether he kept his seat would depend on his own ability from now on.
“In that case, let’s give him one more helping hand.”
Ji Yan’an’s gaze sharpened.
“General Shen Yan will serve as commanding general and lead the troops in pursuit while we have the advantage. General Zhao will support the left wing. General Tang will pursue with the military dogs…”
Ji Yan’an himself mounted a horse. Since the poison had been removed, his health had steadily improved, and he could now gallop freely again.
“Song Jin will remain behind to oversee the rear.”
With that, he rode away, Nanmo at his side.
Jiang Yunsui said, “Zuozuo, Youyou, follow them. You have to protect Ji Yan’an.”
“Milk Tea, you go too.”
Zuozuo and Youyou obediently followed. After circling overhead for a moment, Milk Tea flew after them as well.
Ji Yan’an now carried a spirited confidence in his eyes and features. This was how a young man ought to look.
Jiang Yunsui and Song Jin stood on the city wall, watching the army depart.
“Let’s go. It’s getting colder. We should head back.”
Song Jin lightly patted the top of her head.
“If you’re bored, go run errands for Shen Qingzhu.”
Jiang Yunsui said, “I’m not bored! I still have five eagles to raise!”
She was very useful.
She truly did not want to venture outside that day, so Jiang Yunsui simply stayed home and had the eaglets keep her company.
The White Wolf was there too.
“Little Snow, you’re going to have babies. Eat some more.”
That was right. The White Wolf was pregnant.
Five little lives were growing inside her.
Jiang Yunsui had noticed when the White Wolf was one month pregnant. Afterward, she increased the wolf’s meals and fed her plenty of mushrooms that benefited her health.
Now Jiang Yunsui lay against the White Wolf’s belly and listened to the tiny lives beating within.
Animals became strongly territorial during pregnancy and often grew wary of and hostile even toward their mates.
So Jiang Yunsui had prepared a separate room for her.
At present, Jiang Yunsui was the only one allowed inside.
After all, her Imperial Flowing Essence benefited not only the White Wolf, but also her unborn pups.
Once she had checked Little Snow and confirmed that nothing was wrong, Jiang Yunsui left.
In the blink of an eye, New Year passed. Winter’s tail receded, and spring approached.
At last, Ji Yan’an and the others returned.
The moment Jiang Yunsui received the news, she found Song Jin and Shen Qingzhu, then ran with them to the city gates to welcome the army.
The thunder of countless cavalry horses racing across the earth was magnificent, a spectacle of a scale seldom witnessed in this ancient age.
Standing atop the wall, they saw the army racing toward Beizhen City from far away, along with the Ji Family Army’s banners streaming in the wind.
“They’re back! They’re back!”
After two months, they had finally returned.
That year, Jiang Yunsui was seven and Ji Yan’an was fifteen.
Despite his youth, Ji Yan’an had already taken part in several wars and won far more often than he lost.
No one in Mobei would dispute calling him a young general.
“Ji Yan’an!”
When the soldiers reached the foot of the city wall, Jiang Yunsui waved with all her might, a brilliant smile on her face.
Ji Yan’an had grown thinner again, but not with the frailty of illness. Fatigue had worn the weight from him.
Yet his eyes shone brightly.
“I’m back.”
He had spent two months pursuing Yelü Qi’s army and dealing it a devastating blow.
Although he failed to kill Yelü Qi, the troops the man brought home no longer posed a threat to Mobei.
This campaign had not been merely about cooperating with Yelü Can. Its greater purpose was to cripple the Barbarians. After suffering such heavy losses, they would hunker down for at least five years and not dare set their sights on Mobei again.
To Ji Yan’an, the external threat was gone. Now, even if the Emperor learned that he was alive and well and sent troops to suppress him, Ji Yan’an had nothing to fear.
But he did not immediately point his sword toward the Imperial Court. Instead, he began rebuilding their strength.
They had just fought a war, after all. Their provisions, funds, and military supplies had all been heavily depleted.
Meanwhile, the Emperor and the Prince of Nanyang were locked in conflict like two fighting cocks.
Ji Yan’an was happy to watch them struggle. He would gladly be the fisherman who profited while they fought.
Thus, Mobei settled into peace.
With spring’s arrival, everyone in the region became busy with the spring planting.
Jiang Yunsui’s estate bustled as well.
The various fruit trees, now much larger and properly pruned, were dug up, transported to the estate, and planted.
At the same time, they acquired a group of piglets and began raising them with the same castration method as before.
They set aside a small plot for potatoes and began sprouting sweet potato slips and corn seedlings.
After Jiang Yunsui’s improvements, this batch of corn seed was now comparable to the high-yield varieties of later generations.
She even began experimenting with mushroom cultivation.
A room on the estate was prepared specifically for growing shiitake mushrooms on logs.
“Can this really work?”
Nanshu and the others looked at the pile of logs in the room and voiced their doubts.
Jiang Yunsui planted her little hands on her hips, absolute certainty in her eyes and expression.
“Of course it can!”
She was a mushroom herself. No one knew how to raise mushrooms better than she did.
She had even provided the shiitake spores.
Ji Yan’an let her do as she pleased.
He sat beneath a tree in the little courtyard, holding a letter and radiating ease and contentment.
Naturally. Now he needed only monitor the situation between the Emperor and the Prince of Nanyang. He no longer had to fear an invasion from the grasslands, he was not as busy, and the poison no longer threatened his life. How could he not feel relaxed?
“Ji Yan’an, who sent you that letter?”
Jiang Yunsui came bounding over, her little face filthy.
Ji Yan’an looked her over.
As the child grew older, her figure had become a little taller and more slender.
She was no longer quite so plump after the beginning of spring. With fair skin and large, lively eyes, she looked just like a beautiful porcelain doll.
“It’s a letter from my family.”
Jiang Yunsui blinked.
“My grandmother and aunts are coming here.”
After the Ji Family’s men died, some of their wives divorced and returned to their birth families under Grandmother’s supervision, but others remained.
His third aunt, fifth aunt, and eldest sister-in-law were among them.
All three had chosen to stay. Some had reasons involving their birth families, while others had genuinely loved their husbands and refused to leave the Ji Family.
After Ji Yan’an left the Capital City for Mobei, the Ji Family withdrew completely from public life. They shut their gates and kept to themselves, rarely communicating with outsiders.
Gradually, the Ji Family’s presence in the Capital City faded further and further.
At the proper time, the people Ji Yan’an had arranged quietly smuggled the Ji women away and settled them on a safe, secluded estate.
If his current circumstances were discovered, the Emperor would inevitably turn his attention to the Ji Family again and might even use them to threaten Ji Yan’an.
Therefore, Ji Yan’an had already sent people to escort everyone from that estate to Mobei, and they were now on their way.
“So they’re coming to Mobei. Then… what if Grandmother and the others don’t like me?”
Little Mushroom began to worry.
Ji Yan’an looked at her with amusement. “Even you get scared sometimes?”
Jiang Yunsui glared at him.
“Don’t worry.”
Ji Yan’an stroked her little head.
“I can’t be certain about everyone else, but Grandmother will definitely like you.”
“Even if someone doesn’t, it won’t be because there’s anything wrong with you. It will either be a conflict of interests or jealousy. In any case, I won’t let anyone hurt you.”
Jiang Yunsui immediately cheered up.
“Then it’s a promise. You have to protect me.”
“I will.”
After agreeing, Ji Yan’an brought up another matter.
“I also have a lead concerning your family.”
He had not forgotten the promise he once made to Jiang Yunsui.
“The people who murdered your parents weren’t bandits. After their deaths, the family estate fell into the hands of one of your father’s younger half brothers. Within a short period, that man became an Imperial Merchant.
“My people followed that lead and discovered that he has ties to the Marquis of Huai’an’s residence in the Capital City. He’s practically become their private purse.
“So your parents’ deaths may have been a trap devised jointly by that half brother and the Marquis of Huai’an’s residence.”
The killers had left no clues, but if someone had sent them to murder Jiang Yunsui’s family, there were only two likely reasons: either there was profit to be gained, or her parents had learned some extraordinary secret.
If profit was the motive, the only worthwhile prize belonging to the Jiang Clan was its considerable fortune.
Following that thread, Ji Yan’an learned that Father Jiang’s half brother had inherited the entire estate, yet he was not the ultimate beneficiary. The greatest beneficiary was the Marquis of Huai’an’s residence.
Ji Yan’an had also discovered that while Father Jiang was in the Capital City, people from that residence had approached him, and the encounter appeared to have ended badly.
When all the pieces were connected, the Marquis of Huai’an’s residence had unquestionably played a part in the deaths of Jiang Yunsui’s relatives.
Jiang Yunsui said, “Then you have to avenge me!”
Ji Yan’an said, “Don’t worry.”
Naturally, that vengeance would be taken-but not yet.