After Ye Jiajun finished the big examination for new recruits, Ye Suijin brought all the Ye family members with military positions to live in the barracks.
There were not only her cousins, but also her uncles, and even Mr. Yang.
Everyone slept in the dugouts with the new recruits.
Every morning when Mr. Yang crawled out of the dugout, he would grin and ask Chang Sui to pound his back.
Ye Suijin said, "Why don't we give Mr. Yang a tent? If we really march, the camp bed in the tent will also be more comfortable than this."
But Mr. Yang refused: "If we march in a hurry, there won't be so many comforts. I've been too comfortable for too long. I'm fine. I'll stretch my waist, ouch, ouch..."
If Mr. Yang, a scholar, was like this, Ye Suijin's uncles, as descendants of a military family, could not show weakness even more.
Even her eighth uncle - the only literary man among the uncles of the main family - gritted his teeth and followed along. Because Ye Suijin had given him the position of a judge.
Now under the Jiedushi of Dengzhou, he was the only judge,
and the eighth uncle was both happy and worried.
Because Ye Fourth Uncle and Ye Eighth Uncle were brothers of the same mother, the two of them squatted at the head of the dugout at night looking at the stars and discussed this matter.
Ye Fourth Uncle said, "Suijin has a big heart."
Eighth Uncle asked, "What do you mean?"
Fourth Uncle said, "If we just defend Dengzhou, many things don't need to be practiced."
The training of soldiers was not blind training, it had to have plans, arrangements, and must-complete indicators and tasks, desk paperwork and daily attendance records of completion.
The Ye family fort was the home of a martial arts family from the previous dynasty. These were all family teachings. It was just that later it degenerated into a local squire, and although it also trained private troops, it had to be greatly simplified.
And this time Ye Suijin's military training plan that she personally directed was surprisingly detailed, complex, and intensive, astonishing everyone.
According to the results of the first major examination, the new recruits were divided into more detailed arms. This month, the training of formations began, and in addition to this, each arm also had its own emphasis.
Now due to the limited number of people, infantry and infantry archers were still the majority, while other arms looked thinner. But as long as there are any, they will surely grow in the future.
During the day, Ye Fourth Uncle walked with Ye Suijin among the troops. The boys were bare-chested, steaming hot, and shouting loudly.
The flags changed, and the formations adjusted accordingly. Raise the knife and lower the spear, collect the shield and draw the bow!
Truly feeling the solid ground beneath their feet.
As long as the foundation is solid, what tall buildings can't be built?
"I'm not joking." Ye Fourth Uncle chewed on a blade of grass and slapped his knees, "She said she wanted the granary of Jingchu..."
More than a month ago, he really thought she was joking, and Mr. Yang also said she couldn't afford it. Ye Fourth Uncle felt that what his niece said was ridiculous.
But now that she has Dengzhou, looking back at what she said at first... Ye Fourth Uncle no longer felt it was ridiculous.
Eighth Uncle also rubbed his neck.
In the early morning before the birds sang their first note, Qiuqiu had already crawled out of the dugout.
She was Ye Suijin’s head maid. She was originally engaged to be married and waiting to get married next year. She had already changed her previous fiery temperament and was only responsible for teaching the little maids in the yard. But this time Ye Suijin wanted to live in the barracks, she couldn’t care about propriety and followed along to serve closely.
Of course the maid had to get up before the mistress. At first light, Qiuqiu roused several little maids to prepare Ye Suijin’s washing up.
In fact, in the barracks, although Ye Suijin was a woman, the matter of "washing up" was also simplified to the extreme. The time she spent getting up in the morning was no longer than that of a soldier.
Qiuqiu often felt distressed for her.
The cold water had been prepared last night. She got up and went to boil hot water for Ye Suijin first.
As soon as she got out of the dugout, she saw that Duan Jin was already up.
Bare-chested, with sturdy muscular knots. Grass mats were spread on the ground, and the youth was doing dragon back exercises in the morning light.
Qiuqiu sat on the smoke pipe of the dugout to build a fire, and from time to time looked over.
These days, tanned by the sun with the bare-chested men, the skin had become wheat-colored. Bending down, you could see the muscles on the back bulging as the vertebrae were stretched open one section at a time.
The boy who used to learn rules with her had gradually grown into a man.
As Qiuqiu watched, she even forgot to add firewood.
Suddenly her eyes shifted and she saw Ye Suijin crawling out of the dugout—to train the new recruits, she required all Ye family members with military positions to eat and live with the soldiers, including herself sleeping in the dugouts as well.
The mistress stood in the morning light looking at the youth just coming of age.
The corners of her mouth held a smile, and her eyes shone with love.
Qiuqiu withdrew her gaze and added a piece of firewood to the hearth, also revealing a smile.
Ah Jin grew up at the mistress' knees. Although a little wild, with the mistress' doting, he would surely have a great future ahead.
The dragon back stretch requires strong exertion of the waist and back muscles to hold the posture.
After stretching for a stick of incense, fine beads of sweat had seeped into Duan Jin's lower back.
When he finally released the posture and stood up with a long inhale, he saw Ye Suijin standing in the morning light.
"Mistress!" Duan Jin's voice always carried a delightful mood that made people happy as soon as they heard it.
He got up and put on his shirt, about to go over.
Ye Suijin rubbed her eyes: "Don't come over, I have eye boogers."
Duan Jin laughed loudly and said "I'll go get breakfast", then ran off.
He was already a captain, and miscellaneous chores like fetching meals weren't something he should do anymore. But he always regarded himself as Ye Suijin's attendant, happy to do these handyman tasks that involved running errands and being close by her side.
On the contrary, others felt that the boy didn't forget his roots and didn't get arrogant just because he had an official position.
Qiuqiu hurriedly prepared the warm water for Ye Suijin to wash up.
After breakfast, Ye Suijin went to the main tent of the central army for roll call.
Ye Fifth Uncle and Ye Eighth Uncle got an errand.
"Fifth Uncle and Eighth Uncle, take a trip to the capital city." Ye Suijin assigned tasks to the two elders.
Ye Fifth Uncle practiced martial arts, while Ye Eighth Uncle was literary. Naturally, Ye Fifth Uncle was responsible for escorting, while Ye Eighth Uncle was responsible for official business.
"What do you want me to do? See the Emperor?" Ye Eighth Uncle asked.
Ye Suijin smiled and said, "This time there is no need to alarm the Emperor for the matter, it is to deal with some yamens. Little ghosts are hard to deal with, the affairs at the yamen gate are the most vexing. I have asked County Magistrate Sun to accompany you. Eighth Uncle, watch carefully how County Magistrate Sun deals with these people. We will all need it in the future."
After explaining clearly what to do, Ye Fifth Uncle and Ye Eighth Uncle then packed up and left for the capital with the scowling Sun Xiangxue two days later.
Ye Fourth Uncle asked Ye Suijin, "Still no news from Jingwen?"
By now it was already August 13th, and the Mid-Autumn Festival was coming soon.
Ye Suijin's mouth curled: "Don't worry about him, he'll be fine."
Ye Fourth Uncle also agreed: "Jingwen is smart."
Just after mentioning Zhao Jingwen, his scout came back on Mid-Autumn Day, bringing back another pile of lime-sealed human heads.
"Young Master said to go southwest to see what the situation is, to see if there is any threat to our Dengzhou. He may come back late, so My Lady need not worry." The scout reported, "It's possible he'll come back late, please don't worry, My Lady."
In this life, Zhao Jingwen did go in that direction after all. As if by some irresistible force in the dark.
What would happen this time?
Ye Suijin felt excited.
In the previous life, everything was settled, and the main branch of the Ye family declined severely.
In fact, it wasn't completely without male heirs, but Ye Suijin gave the hereditary title to Twelfth Sister, making Twelfth Sister a female aristocrat, and letting one of her sons take the Ye surname and become the heir.
She also had Zhao Jingwen personally write "change surname and forfeit title" on that plaque of hereditary nobility.
If you want to keep the title, don't even think about continuing the family line for three generations.
She forcibly continued this branch of Fourth Uncle.
The clan naturally also had objections.
Ye Suijin herself had no children, so this branch of Fourth Uncle was the orthodox branch of the Ye family. Men naturally felt that the bloodline of a nephew was closer than an outsider grandson, even if a cousin grandson.
But Ye Suijin was a woman, she didn't think so.
In her eyes, Twelfth Sister was the closest bloodline to Fourth Uncle, Twelfth Sister's children were naturally closer in bloodline to Fourth Uncle than cross-house cousins.
Third Son, Fourth Young Master, and Fifth Son had all enjoyed the ancestral temple. Even without descendants, there was no lack of incense to enjoy, not even needing adoption.
No one else was allowed to grab Twelfth Sister's title.
In the previous life, Zhao Jingwen would no longer allow the Ye family to touch the military and power. In return for the Ye family's support, he rewarded them with wealth and nobility, allowing the Ye family to become wealthy and noble layabouts.
People all said that descendant houses aroused envy. Indeed, compared to the imprisonment and suicide of the Crown Prince, and the complete severing of the Pei family's lineage, the descendant house looked quite bright and shiny.
Only Ye Suijin understood that this was what the Ye family deserved.
This was the result of her fighting with all her might.
That was all she could accomplish in the previous life.
But what about this lifetime? Ye Suijin gazed towards the southwest, and a flame arose in her heart.
She had never actually resigned herself to this.
How did she go from being Zhao Jingwen's wife to Zhao Jingwen's empress? Was she inferior to Zhao Jingwen?
Without the Ye family, could Zhao Jingwen still have become emperor? Free of Zhao Jingwen, no longer taking those wrong paths, how far could she get by relying on herself?
...
Let's give it a try!
Sending heads as gifts during holidays was inauspicious for commoners, but joyous for the military. These were military achievements after all.
Ye Suijin had a scout pass on the message: "Tell the young sir that Dengzhou has ample manpower and there is no rush for his return. He may do as he pleases."
Mr. Yang even asked: "Do you need supplies?"
Mr. Yang could not have known about Pei Lian's existence. So in Mr. Yang's eyes, Zhao Jingwen was still Ye Suijin's husband, their interests were one and the same.
The army's Marshal Xi should have inquired about this.
Zhao Jingwen had given instructions about this matter already. The scout replied: "The young sir said there is no need. The young sir has already acquired quite a lot of wealth abroad, it will suffice."
Besides, it was only August now. They had just collected grain in June. No matter which power had plundered it, or the commoners had hidden it away, Zhao Jingwen could certainly get supplies from somewhere.
At the moment, Dengzhou really did not need to send any supplies to him.
Fourth Uncle Ye even praised: "Jingwen is capable."
Fourth Uncle Ye was suited for defending, so with Zhao Jingwen declining supplies, he looked upon it favorably. Otherwise, it would be a wastrel's behavior.
Waging war could bring gains, martial families naturally understood this well.
It was the Mid-Autumn Festival on the 15th day of the eighth month.
For sacrificial offerings on festival days cattle were used, for offerings to the moon sheep and pigs were specially used.
Ye Suijin led the Ye family for offerings to the moon in the military camp. After the ritual sacrifice, the slaughtered pigs and sheep were given to the troops as rewards.
At that time, people mainly ate mutton. They ate pork less often.
The mutton was stewed into pancakes. Though each person may have only gotten one or two thin slices of mutton, they practically swallowed their tongues.
They could also get a piece of steamed pork.
This holiday was spent too perfectly.
Since all the important people were in the camp, many people also came from Ye Manor to celebrate the festival together.
The Eleventh and Twelfth Sister refused to wear pretty dresses, insisting on wearing gallant attire like Ye Suijin's.
After the little girls learned the backhand spear themselves, no one could control them anymore. Or in the words of Aunt Ye Fourth, they had "gone crazy".
In fact, the little girls had not been close to Ye Suijin before. Because of their young age, they were not as attached to Ye Suijin as the brothers who grew up playing with her since childhood. Since they already differed in age, plus Ye Suijin's estrangement from the main house these past few years, their relationship was inevitably distant.
But when Ye Suijin passed on the backhand spear to the children of the main house, she also called for the Eleventh and Twelfth Sisters. Only then did they realize their Sixth Sister whom they did not see often was actually so nice.
She even knew what they liked to eat, what colors of fabric they liked.
This was just so magical. Their parents and elder brothers may not even know, but Sixth Sister actually did.
How could the little girls not adore Sixth Sister? From then on, they started down the path of imitating her, madly charging down it.
The clan gathered in the camp for a banquet, the firelight bright and laughter unceasing.
Ye Suijin raised her wine cup, her gaze sweeping over:
Uncles were already standing on stools waving fists in the firelight.
The Eleventh and Twelfth Sisters ran wildly with the still young Eleventh, Thirteenth and Fourteenth Young Masters, playing army games.
The aunties had all dressed up, wearing gold and silver, faces full of joy. Especially those whose children were not betrothed yet.
Now that the Ye family held Dengzhou, the engagements of their younger siblings could only become even better than those of the elder brothers and sisters. How could they not be delighted?
Ye Jingyi the Sixth Son of the Loyalty and Distant Hall had also rushed back. He did not sit with the elders of the Loyalty and Distant Hall, instead gathering with the Fourth and Fifth Brothers, telling them about how ruthless the Third Son was in his dealings in Nanyang.
The Fourth and Fifth Brothers listened till their blood boiled, constantly saying: "He should kill them! If I was there, I would also raise the knife!"
The Third Son sat together with his wife.
His wife whispered something in his ear. The normally calm and composed Third Son was suddenly agitated, and actually reached out towards his wife's belly. She smiled and pushed his hand away.
He also held his wife's hand and said something to her. She was suddenly moved to tears.
Ye Suijin recalled what was going on.
The Third Son was going to be a father again.
The Third Son had lost a child prematurely before. His wife had grieved for a long time, and only this year conceived again.
But this child, and subsequent children, would also pass prematurely in the end.
There was also the Fifth Brother's wife. Due to excessive worry about her husband on the battlefield, she developed pica during pregnancy.
The fetus grew too large, resulting in her difficult labor and death.
But that was all in their past lifetime!
Ye Suijin downed all of the wine in her cup!
Since I know the direction fate will take, how can I let it happen again?
