Third Son Ye understood the meaning of “front” and “back”: “The harem?”
He squinted and looked ahead.
As a “home”, the walls of the imperial city were indeed too high.
In fact, the restrictions on women in recent years were much looser than in the previous Dai Wei period. It was always like this during the years of war and chaos.
After Zhao Jingwen's Great Mu dynasty stabilized, the civil officials started to nitpick and pretend to defend etiquette and law with their lives, determined to force Ye Suijin back into the harem.
When she led the army, sleeping and eating outdoors, soaking in ice rivers at night, no one jumped out saying that women should not lead armies.
Once settled down, men started to bother women.
In fact, Zhao Jingwen didn’t care much about discussing politics with her in the same hall. Later, even when she retreated to the harem, Zhao Jingwen would still come to ask her for advice and listen to her opinions when he had difficulties in making big decisions.
Because this was the model they had as a couple from the very beginning.
Zhao Jingwen was indeed a smart person, but at first, at the very beginning, it was Ye Suijin who taught him hands-on.
Deep down in his heart, when he was most hesitant, he still preferred to listen to Ye Suijin's ideas.
Facing him, Ye Suijin would definitely fight for the interests of the Ye family and Duan Jin and his people. But when facing the group of civil officials, Ye Suijin and Zhao Jingwen had common interests as a married couple.
Third Son Ye grew up during this period when women were relatively liberated.
Since he was little, his sister Ye Suijin could fight anyone in Ye Manor.
When grown up, his sister Twelfth Sister could ride horses and leave the manor whenever she wanted.
But he also knew that the women living in the crimson-red-walled "back" area of the palace on the other side of the high wall in front probably did not have such freedom.
He glanced at Ye Suijin and saw her frowning at the high wall. He couldn't help but laugh, "Of course it’s meaningless to you. The women living inside are not like you and Twelfth Sister. You two are used to freedom. If Twelfth Sister doesn't go out for three days, she’ll start tearing down the roof.”
Ye Suijin let out a long sigh, relaxing her eyebrows.
"Third brother, I will never let myself be locked up behind such high walls in this life," she said. "I still have a lot to do."
Third Son Ye smiled and said, "Who dares lock you up? Who can lock you up?"
The cold wind rose.
But Ye Suijin's heart was very warm.
That's right, such a person didn't exist.
She really wanted to shout at the majestic palace-
Yes! No one can lock me, Ye Suijin, up again in this life!
I won’t be the empress again!
I won't be trapped in the harem again!
In the eyes of others, the trip to the capital was just a whim of Ye Suijin’s.
She took Third Son Ye to taste many specialties of the capital city and let him see the scenery of the capital. Although the current capital city looked quite shabby in her eyes, it was still much more prosperous than Dengzhou.
And they were lucky enough to see the emperor traveling.
The emperor’s guards wore shiny iron armors.
Third Son Ye's eyes were fixed on them.
Last time when the Jin Emperor granted Dengzhou twenty sets of iron armor, they all exclaimed that the emperor was generous, starting out with twenty sets of iron armor. Who knew that after seeing it today, they realized what the real imperial style was-four long columns of guards, all tall horses, shiny armors.
So neat!
Third Son Ye had never seen so many iron armors before in his life, and couldn’t take his eyes off them at all.
Even on the way back, he was still obsessed with those armors, and his eyes were full of envy whenever he mentioned them.
Ye Suijin laughed and said, "Don't worry, we'll have it sooner or later."
Dengzhou had already recruited some craftsmen and established an arsenal. In order to produce weapons earlier, she had temporarily mobilized almost all the blacksmiths in Dengzhou. She also confiscated all the weapons and iron stored in the county treasuries.
Only in this way could all the new soldiers be equipped with their own weapons in such a short time.
But armors could only be the next step.
All these had to be solved step by step. Even a reborn Ye Suijin couldn't accomplish everything in one go.
They returned to Ciqiu in late October.
Fourth Son Ye guaranteed: "Any leftover bandit nearby, take my head if you can't kick it around like a ball!"
A lot of labor was needed for the renovation of Tang North Fort. Fourth Son Ye had tasted the sweetness of using captive labor and brought his brothers to sweep Ciqiu and Shangma clean.
No matter what gang you were, as long as you ran into Ye family’s troops, there was no escape.
Also influenced by the incident of the Tang family, Fourth Son Ye was enlightened now. For those who had families, he also allowed them to be ransomed. After all, renovating such a big fortress required a lot of money for every brick and tile.
Fourth Son Ye and his father Fifth Uncle suddenly understood Fourth Uncle. They calculated accounts with abacuses every day, reluctant to spend every penny.
They often lamented: Raising an army really costs money!
They asked about the trip to see the General.
Mr. Yang stroked his beard and smiled, "Get ready, we’ll take Biyang."
Everyone immediately rolled up their sleeves eagerly.
Tenth Son was even more gleeful, "Ninth Brother and I have sneaked over several times. If not for Big Sister's order, we wouldn't have dared to act rashly."
Which gang to beat first and which one to beat later, they had already planned it all.
Now the border with the General to the north had been drawn. They could swallow Tang Prefecture with ease.
As soon as Ye Suijin came back, she handed Tang North Fort to Mr. Yang and Fifth Uncle and led her brothers south to advance on Biyang.
Only when Mr. Yang sent away these vigorous young men from the fortress, he stood gazing for a long time.
Fifth Uncle Ye: "Teacher?"
Mr. Yang came to his senses before turning back with him.
Fifth Uncle Ye asked, "What's wrong?"
Mr. Yang waved his hand: "Nothing."
It was great that Mr. Yang came back. Fifth Uncle Ye was really troubled by the fortress renovation. With Mr. Yang here, he could heave a big sigh of relief and focus on defense wholeheartedly.
There were just too many things to do. Fifth Uncle Ye couldn't help but tick them off one by one to Mr. Yang.
Mr. Yang listened patiently, only glanced up at Fifth Uncle Ye occasionally.
It seemed that no one noticed that from his arrival at Tang North Fort, accompanying Ye Suijin to the General's station, and then to the capital city, and Ye Suijin mobilized the army again...
She didn't ask about Zhao Jingwen at all.
Indeed everyone was too busy now, especially the young masters who were immersed in the excitement of expanding territory.
But if others couldn't think of Zhao Jingwen, how could Ye Suijin, as his wife, not.
This was not "someone else".
Mr. Yang stroked his beard and shook his head, letting go of this matter for the time being.
After all, Zhao Jingwen was just "someone else" to him. The Ye family were his masters.
Biyang was a big city where the former governors of Deng and Tang prefectures were stationed. The city wall was high and thick, with many powerful households. Since the years of turmoil, the powerful families contributed money and effort to protect themselves, and also mobilized the common people to defend the city.
Like Shangma, although they couldn’t fight wars, they could lock the gates for self-protection when necessary.
They also had more or less connections and even paid tributes to the surrounding forces.
As the surrounding forces disappeared one after another, the people of Biyang City became uneasy.
More than a dozen powerful families gathered together to discuss this matter.
The leading family surnamed Li claimed that their ancestors were the Li family of Longxi. They had a huge business in Biyang, and the other families had to watch their faces.
Today, the person they sent out to inquire about the news came back and was briefing everyone.
"It's the Ye family of Dengzhou," the Li family owner told everyone. "It seems that they have surrendered to the new dynasty."
The new Jin State was established in the north, but the Jin Emperor was busy clearing the remnants of the pseudo-Liang, and his hands had not reached Tang Prefecture yet. Everyone was watching.
If the new dynasty's army came, they would naturally have to bow their heads. But now, wasn't it that the new dynasty's army hadn't arrived yet? So what should they do? Everyone looked at Master Li.
"Don't panic," Master Li said. "The Ye family of Dengzhou didn't just emerge out of thin air either. I've also heard about them these years. There's nothing strange. I heard three years ago they changed to a new family head. The young man must have finally sat firmly and wanted to expand outwards now."
He stroked his beard and smiled, "Young people are really keen, ah."
"But the Ye family of Dengzhou, after all, is not a gang of bandits. They are people who care about face. Since they care about face, we can talk. Don't be afraid." he said.
Since Master Li was not worried, everyone else was not worried either, all nodding that he was right.
Li Laoye dusted his sleeves: "It's better to remain still than to act rashly. Let's wait for them to come to us."
Around the same time, Ye Suijin was talking to a captive: "So the one in charge of Biyang now is this Li Laoye?"
The captive still had bandages on him. He answered with his head bowed obediently: "That's right. Our money and food supplies are all given by him. He also told us to operate around Biyang all this time."
After the captive was taken away, Third Son Ye and the others knitted their brows.
Third Son Ye asked: "This Li family sounds like an influential figure in Biyang. Why would they associate with these petty rascals?"
"Raising bandits is naturally to empower oneself," Ye Suijin had seen much of the world, and smiled knowingly. "Take a guess, has anyone been collecting taxes in Biyang over the years?"
The others were enlightened at once.
Third Son Ye nodded: "I see."
After interrogating the leaders of several groups, they had all been in contact with this Li family to some extent.
Ye Silang said: "This Li Laoye is crafty indeed."
The Li family funded these people, and incited them, causing the situation in Biyang over the years to be one where multiple forces coexisted. None of them grew powerful enough to swallow Biyang.
Ye Suijin scoffed: "He played the balance well."
And he was also ruthless, having committed some appalling acts that Ye Suijin forced them to confess under interrogation.
Third Son Ye grasped the hilt of his sword behind him. Although he said nothing, his fierce eyes contained traces of killing intent.
Since Nanyang, he understood the term "local despot" all too deeply.
Ye Suijin stretched out two fingers to press down on his wrist, smiling: "Don't be impatient, brother. There will come a time for you to draw your blade."
Third Son Ye loosened and tightened his grip on the sword, and nodded.
The families of Biyang gathered together once more.
This time, it was because the Li family of Biyang received a letter from the Ye family of Deng Prefecture to Biyang.
The signature read:
[Ye Suijin, Governor of Deng and Tang Prefectures, General Who Holds the Authority of the Special Imperial Emissary, Commander of the Two Prefectures]
Ye Suijin wrote this herself.
When she was writing, Third Son Ye was watching by her side. Seeing what Ye Suijin wrote, his expression was a bit complicated.
She even made the seal of the Governor of Tang Prefecture. The Emperor had only given her Deng Prefecture's gold seal, when did she make the (fake) seal for Tang Prefecture?
Ye Suijin blew on the ink to dry it, and glanced at him.
"Brother, don't be too much of a goody-two-shoes," she said.
"Yes, His Majesty only appointed me to be in charge of Deng Prefecture. So what?"
"Now I'm adding Tang Prefecture in. The people of Biyang can't possibly take this and ask His Majesty whether he really gave me Tang Prefecture as well, can they? Deng and Tang Prefectures are both small, giving me one or two makes no difference to His Majesty."
"Truly, brother. Having thicker skin won't hurt."
