It was the day after the New Year's Festival, and Ye Suijin had drank some wine the night before, so she inevitably woke up a little late the next day.
Because she had things to do, the maids woke her up: "Duan Jin is here."
Ye Suijin opened her eyes.
After washing up quickly and putting on a robe, she came out to see Duan Jin: "What's the matter?"
Duan Jin said: "Qiu Sheng is back."
Qiu Sheng was sent to Hekou Town in Xiangzhou before the new year to deliver a letter to Zhao Jingwen. Based on the distance, he was quite late coming back.
Before coming to see Ye Suijin, Duan Jin asked him what had delayed him. But Qiu Sheng kept his mouth shut and said, "I'll report everything to our master later."
Duan Jin was a little surprised.
He was one of the most trusted people by Ye Suijin's side. So trusted that Ye Suijin had passed the Firearm to him, and the young masters all knew but said nothing about it.
He glanced at Qiu Sheng and went to report.
Since Qiu Sheng hadn't come back before the new year, Ye Suijin guessed something must have happened on Zhao Jingwen's side. Because when Qiu Sheng set off, she had told him, "Take a good look around."
She said, "Let's go."
The maid brought over the fur coat, and Duan Jin reached out to grab it.
The maid rolled her eyes at him.
Ye Suijin stretched out her hand.
Duan Jin shook open the fur coat and helped her put it on.
The two of them went to the study. Qiu Sheng was chatting and laughing with the young bookkeeper under the window.
Seeing her, he quickly stood up with his hands down: "Master."
"Let's talk inside," Ye Suijin said, stepping into the study.
Qiu Sheng followed her in.
Duan Jin had just put one foot in when Ye Suijin turned and said, "Go take care of your business."
Duan Jin paused for a moment. He never disobeyed any of Ye Suijin's orders. He bowed slightly: "Yes."
Stepping out of the study, he closed the door and looked around. The servant boy was warming himself by the fire under the window, ready to be called on.
Duan Jin took out a packet of candy from his jacket and beckoned to him.
The child came running over: "Brother Duan Jin~"
His voice was sweet as honey, even before he ate the candy—as expected of a child handpicked to be by Ye Suijin’s side, clever and tactful.
So Duan Jin sat with him in the corridor, basking in the sun by the fire, eating candy together.
"Why did Qiu Sheng come back so late?" Duan Jin asked.
"I know right,” the child replied with bulging cheeks, “he missed the New Year's rewards. I wonder if he'll get compensated for it."
"Of course he'll get compensated. If the accounts room doesn't remember, I'll remind them. Don't worry about it," Duan Jin said. "I haven't been to Xiangzhou yet. Wonder what it's like. Do you know?"
Children always love to show off. Even though this child's mouth had been carefully picked to be tight-lipped, he still took the bait, gesturing as he said, "Qiu Sheng said there are mountains over there, not too tall, just a lot of them. Not like here where it's all flat ground."
Duan Jin naturally asked, "Young Master Zhao is doing well?"
The child spoke admiringly, "Young Master Zhao is amazing, taking over land and training troops outside. That's expanding territory!"
Duan Jin laughed. "Oh? You even know the term 'expanding territory' now?"
The child stuck his neck out. "I'm studying! We servants in the study can't be illiterate."
It was a pity the child didn't know much more.
Qiu Sheng had a tight mouth. His master liked that about him. So Duan Jin chatted and joked with the servant boy, but didn’t get any leaks from him.
Duan Jin generously gave the boy the whole bag of candy.
The child was overjoyed. "Brother Duan Jin, go take care of your business. I'll be here, don't you worry one bit!"
Duan Jin smiled and ruffled his hair, "I don't have much to do anyway."
So he didn't leave.
It was truly strange.
Because there were almost no secrets from him regarding Ye Suijin’s affairs.
Of course, knowing more was also the privilege of being so close.
When Qiu Sheng left on his errand, Duan Jin happened to not be there. Later when he asked about it, he knew it was just to deliver a letter to Zhao Jingwen, a routine correspondence. There was nothing special about this trip.
Why was he dismissed like this?
Inside the study, Ye Suijin listened as Qiu Sheng recounted everything.
"So he carried out military law and beheaded those offenders?" she asked.
According to military law, those who harmed commoners’ lives without reason and those who committed adultery with proper women would be beheaded.
Those four nobles were guilty of both crimes. If Ye Suijin had been there, there would have been no need to tie them up before executing them. It would have just been a simple matter of unsheathing and sheathing swords.
"Yes, the young lord decisively beheaded them on the spot," Qiu Sheng said.
"At least he wasn't taught in vain," Ye Suijin nodded.
But she was disappointed in Zhao Jingwen for letting things develop to this point.
Because with some thought, she could easily understand his motivations and logic behind his actions.
Sure enough, people were often pushed along by circumstances.
Having three hundred men versus one hundred men were two very different situations. When you had enough cards in hand, there was less urgency and you wouldn't make such mistakes.
Qiu Sheng continued, "The young lord also said he was negligent in governing the troops. He took off his robes as punishment and was going to take the law upon himself. But he was dissuaded by the elders in town. He also compensated the victims, and the matter was considered settled. The townspeople even praised the young lord..."
Ye Suijin's mouth twitched.
Qiu Sheng quickly lowered his eyes.
Ye Suijin was born heroic and dashing. The collar of her robes were trimmed with fur, accentuating an indescribable magnificence and nobility in her features.
Young men like Qiu Sheng didn't quite dare look at her directly.
In this, they all admired Duan Jin.
They also envied Duan Jin, and were possibly somewhat jealous at times too.
It was only human nature.
Ye Suijin asked, "Why did you take so long to come back?"
Qiu Sheng said, "That day, I reconnected with Er Bao. Er Bao was tasked by you to keep watch. There really wasn't anything special happening on the young lord's side. I thought since it wasn't urgent, why not stay a few more days to observe myself."
Making a name for oneself wasn’t easy.
Among Ye Suijin’s personal guards, especially those from the Ye Family Fort, those who were selected and got to stay by her side were all clever and martial arts masters.
Despite Duan Jin's young age, he was one of the best.
Trying to stand out among so many people was too difficult.
It was hard to get an errand like this.
While it looked like a routine task, his master had given him special instructions in Duan Jin's absence.
Qiu Sheng understood this was no ordinary mission.
But when he arrived, he didn't get anything useful from Er Bao.
Everything that happened after Zhao Jingwen left Ye Family Fort seemed perfectly normal. Perhaps there was some impatience that led to the incident.
But he and Er Bao agreed it was understandable given Zhao Jingwen’s mindset.
In fact, it was the same as them—eager to make a name for themselves.
How could Qiu Sheng bear to leave just like this?
He was just a lowly soldier, able to blend in inconspicuously among the troops. He stubbornly stayed for several more days.
It wasn't until later that Zhao Jingwen accidentally discovered him and was shocked, "You haven't gone back yet?"
He thought the messenger had returned long ago.
On one hand, he was too busy. On the other hand, Qiu Sheng intentionally avoided being seen.
Qiu Sheng spoke very respectfully with a smile, "Before I left, my master told me to take a good look around and report back properly when I return."
Zhao Jingwen was even touched. He told him, "Then look around properly."
And also, "Go back and only say the good things, don't let her worry about me."
He even rewarded Qiu Sheng generously.
"So other than these people, he didn't meet anyone special?" Ye Suijin asked.
Qiu Sheng affirmed decisively, "No one."
"Hekou Town is situated between the confluence of waterways and opposing mountains, forming a gorge. If people from other places came, Er Bao wouldn't have missed it," he said. "Er Bao is very meticulous in his work. If he says there was no one, then there really was no one."
Ye Suijin also praised, "Yes, Er Bao has always been reliable."
They were all her personal guards. She had deliberately assigned some to Zhao Jingwen originally to monitor him.
Zhao Jingwen had clearly misunderstood her intentions. He kept looking back before he set off, full of tender feelings.
Perhaps he thought she was worried for him.
Tsk!
"Go on," she said.
Qiu Sheng continued, "Then the young lord started enforcing military discipline. He dealt harsh punishments to some."
Ye Suijin said, "A rabble is bound to have deserters."
"That's right. Indeed some ran away. The young lord caught them back and also beheaded them," Qiu Sheng said.
Desertion during battle versus during peace time was different. Only hiding during battle warranted death penalty.
The circumstances at Hekou were unclear, but Zhao Jingwen dealt with it as if it were wartime and beheaded the deserters.
Clearly he had learned his lesson and hardened his resolve, hence the harshness.
His reactions and improvements were as quick as ever.
"And so things improved a lot after that," Qiu Sheng said. "Our men weren't so resentful anymore either."
"Were they very resentful originally?" Ye Suijin asked.
What was particularly interesting was that Ye Suijin noticed that Qiu Sheng used the term "our people" very naturally and clearly.
"Er Bao said that the old and new people here often clash with each other, big and small conflicts. They look askance at each other."
"Don't Xiang Da and Man Cang manage them?"
"Er Bao said they both made suggestions to the young master, but the young master persuaded them. It seems to be in order to quickly gather more manpower – this was Er Bao's guess. Over there, the young master still has the final say."
When it came to "persuading" people, whether in her previous life or this life, Ye Suijin always admired Zhao Jingwen.
She had asked all she could and roughly understood the situation on Zhao Jingwen's side.
In fact, she didn't have the idea to continue probing westward, or perhaps she did but hadn't been able to implement it yet. Anyway, she had found a suitable place to settle for now, and was recruiting troops and buying horses.
She really, really wanted to have her own power.
Hearing a summons from the study, the servant boy hurriedly wiped his mouth and ran in. Duan Jin followed along.
Ye Suijin turned to look, and saw that the servant still had sugar powder around his mouth, oblivious, and was waiting solemnly for orders.
Qiu Sheng held back a laugh.
Duan Jin wiped it away from the servant without changing his expression.
The servant turned red with embarrassment.
Ye Suijin also laughed, and instructed him: "Take Qiu Sheng to receive a reward."
After explaining the reward amount.
It was quite generous, indicating she was satisfied with how the task had been handled, putting her mind at ease.
Duan Jin swiftly glanced at Qiu Sheng.
Qiu Sheng left following the servant boy, and Ye Suijin said: "Bring out the maps."
Duan Jin went to fetch them and spread them out. Without her saying, he took out the overall map and detailed Xiangzhou map.
Ye Suijin looked for a while, then suddenly irrelevantly said: "Zhao Jingwen really learns things very quickly."
When the master says irrelevant things, others may listen blankly, but Duan Jin doesn't allow himself to do so.
His gaze immediately fell on the maps, trying to understand why she said this.
After a moment, he said: "The river mouth, very suitable for stationing troops."
Ye Suijin sighed: "What a miscellaneous general, yet he chose Gucheng."
In troubled times there were countless generals, like dogs. Just yesterday they were slaughtering pigs and feeding horses, today they gather a group of men to occupy a corner somewhere, and stand up calling themselves generals.
From the place he chose to station, it was clear he had no military knowledge.
One thing Ye Suijin couldn't change was the point in time she had been reborn back to.
When she opened her eyes, Zhao Jingwen had already been her husband for three years.
What had she done to him in those three years?
- Hand in hand teaching him to read, correcting his speech and accent, training his etiquette, so he would not embarrass her.
Zhao Jingwen was born into a very ordinary farming family.
But the family had some fields, and his parents were able bodied. They had lived a comfortable small life in the village before. His parents doted on him, even sending him to the village private school to gain literacy.
But Zhao Jingwen wasn't very interested in the saint's teachings and such from school. He often questioned what the teacher taught, using fallacious arguments to anger his teacher.
So his parents felt he wasn't suited to studying. They didn't have high hopes to begin with, just being literate and not ignorant, so he wouldn't be easily cheated in the future, they were satisfied with that. They didn't continue his education after that.
Later he fell into destitution on the road while fleeing from disaster, almost becoming a beggar. When Ye Suijin chose him as her husband, his speech and manners were not refined, and people had laughed at him.
A proud woman like Ye Suijin, how could she allow her own husband to be ridiculed.
She fiercely pressed him to study.
Study literature, martial arts, military affairs, speech, dressing.
Her husband could not be Zhao the dog, he had to become Zhao Jingwen.
Zhao Jingwen was no longer a carefree child. His parents had died, and he was displaced from his hometown, with no property to his name.
At the time when he had nothing, with one correct step, he rose like flying to become the son-in-law of the young mistress of Ye Family Fort. Ye Suijin taught and he learned whatever she taught.
One taught fiercely without reservation, the other learned fiercely gritting his teeth.
They were both fierce people to begin with. After three years of polishing, by the time Ye Suijin was reborn back, Zhao the dog had become presentable.
His attire was refined, his speech courteous, his conduct polite.
He started martial arts later, not as solid as the Ye Family's young masters. But military affairs relied on brains, and he was not inferior there.
He really was an intelligent person.
Ye Suijin sighed.
When she looked up again to see Duan Jin, she was slightly cheered up, letting out her breath, and said: "You also learn things very quickly."
Old fondness comforted her.
"This place is not bad. Zhao Jingwen has good judgement." Ye Suijin laughed and said, "It just so happens to solve a problem for me."
Duan Jin's back straightened: "Are we going to take control of this place?"
It was still an enclave for now. To completely take control, they would need to clear a path through the middle, and then station troops there long term.
Ye Suijin said: "No rush, it's not time yet."
She had done everything like thunder these past few months, so why was she particular about "timing" now.
Duan Jin watched as her finger traced along the river mouth westward on the map, circling a certain spot.
Duan Jin could remember very clearly everything Ye Suijin did.
This was not the first time Ye Suijin had paid attention to that place.
Why exactly did that place catch her interest?!
