Jiaohua

Chapter 1640 The Zhao and Xia families are a good match

After handing Zhao Yu over to Feng Ping, Xia Zhaoyi hurriedly went to the Hall of State Affairs.

A group of people were chattering and making a huge fuss.

Over the course of a few days, Song Zhiyi's officials gradually relaxed.

They, as Song Zhiyi's political team, had already thoroughly understood and mastered Hejing's methods of governance. After further working with Xia Zhaoyi and Shen Lie's people to refine their approach to each other, their minds were opened, their thoughts surged, and all sorts of ingenious ideas came to mind.

However, the most heated argument still came from the two former arch-enemies, led by Yan Qinglin and Jin Hongkang.

There's also Wen Chan in the middle, a smooth operator who stirs up trouble in every way.

Wang Yitai sat painfully in the middle, holding his temples with both hands. There was a chaotic noise in his ears, and books were flying around in the air.

Suddenly, the noise subsided.

Wang Yitai was overjoyed and immediately turned around to look behind him, and sure enough—

Xia Zhaoyi stood with her arms crossed over her chest, her slender and upright back leaning against the door frame, her clear and bright eyes coldly watching them.

Everyone fell silent, obediently sitting down, while a few slunk away to retrieve their books.

Xia Zhaoyi walked in, and several lackeys quickly got up and pulled out a chair for her.

Xia Zhaoyi said, "Talk to each other properly, don't fight."

Everyone: "Yes, yes, yes."

"Discussion is a good thing; creative ideas come from clashes of ideas, but taking action is not."

Everyone: "Yes, yes, yes."

"Don't bring personal grudges into the discussion."

Everyone: "Yes, yes, yes."

"Then you can continue."

After saying that, Xia Zhaoyi looked at Wang Yitai and said, "Lord Wang, come out with me."

Wang Yitai immediately replied, "Yes!"

After Xia Zhaoyi left, the room remained quiet. After a while, someone broke the silence and spoke again.

Xia Zhaoyi summoned Wang Yitai to discuss the reconstruction of Dongping Academy.

The major powers in the world originally checked and balanced each other, which allowed Hengxiang to barely maintain peace in the midst of the chaotic power struggle.

But now, with Ying Jinliang and Song Zhiyi gone, and Jiao Jinhu having accomplished nothing all these years, the scales have suddenly tipped, Tian Dayao has become the biggest threat, and Hengxiang is very likely to become a piece of fat meat in his mouth.

Wang Yitai said solemnly, "I will regard the reconstruction of Dongping Academy as the most important matter. In the next few days, I will make this my top priority and supervise its implementation!"

After giving the instructions, Xia Zhaoyi discussed with him the accommodation and travel arrangements for the officials from Hebei after they arrived in the capital in a few days.

In addition, she wanted to build a direct road between Yong'an and Hejing, but Xia Zhaoyi ordered Wang Yitai to let those quarrelsome officials discuss how to build the road.

After talking with Wang Yitai, Xia Zhaoyi went to the Ministry of Personnel and then to the Ministry of Revenue. Finally, she was stopped by Zhao Yu, who was waiting for her.

Zhao Yu waved his fan and said leisurely, "Ali, you're such a busy person."

Xia Zhaoyi asked, "Did my men explain it to you clearly?"

"There's no need for her to say that. I now have a strong and well-equipped army. I'll defend Yong'an for you!"

"What do you mean by 'replacing me'? Aren't you staying here? Then go back to Zhengbei."

Zhao Yu revealed his rogue-like nature: "It's easy to invite a god but hard to send him away, unless you give me some benefits."

Xia Zhaoyi didn't argue with him. Instead, she said generously, "The original Duke Zheng's mansion is still yours. I'll let you stay in the original Duke Ding's mansion for two years."

Zhao Yu raised an eyebrow: "Can we still lend this?"

Xia Zhaoyi nodded: "The war in the Northwest will eventually end, and my second brother will eventually return. I don't want him to live in the dilapidated Duke of Dingguo's mansion, nor do I want him to live in the Duke of Dingguo's mansion where Yan Qinglin once lived. If you stay with me for two years and make my home vibrant again, I will give you five thousand warhorses, ten large boxes of wound ointment, and three thousand bundles of herbal bandages." Zhao Yu was dumbfounded: "So generous?"

"Add one more thing: if the barbarians to the north invade Zhengbei again, the Xia family army will come to your aid at any time."

Zhao Yan slowly stopped waving his folding fan: "Ali, are you serious?"

"really."

"Do these words really stand?"

"count."

Xia Zhaoyi looked very serious, her eyes were dark and bright.

"Zhao Yu, thank you for being there for my second brother during those most difficult years in the capital," Xia Zhaoyi said solemnly.

Zhao Yu looked directly into her eyes, his cheeky smile fading: "You're being so generous, it's all for Second Brother."

"I remember both grudges and kindness."

Zhao Yan suddenly had an indescribable feeling; the more he looked at her, the more familiar and approachable her eyes seemed…

"Ah Li, you and your sister are starting to look more and more alike?"

Xia Zhaoyi didn't react much: "Sisters, how could they not look alike?"

Zhao Yu sighed: "Indeed, if you don't resemble her, who else does? And my daughter with her hasn't been born yet."

"...What nonsense are you talking about?"

“Otherwise,” Zhao Yu’s mood clearly dropped. “If she were still alive, our children would be riding horses and playing with spears. The Zhao and Xia families are well-matched and have a long-standing friendship. My marriage to her would be a natural and perfect match.”

Xia Zhaoyi wanted to scold him, but there was no need: "You can grieve all you want, I have things to do."

"She hasn't come to my dreams in recent years. To be honest, her features are almost blurry. But today I saw your eyes, and they are very similar to hers. Only, her eyes are more beautiful."

Xia Zhaoyi glanced at him, nodded simply, and left.

But because of Zhao Yu's words, Xia Zhaoyi had the same feeling.

That is, she can hardly remember what she used to look like.

But what does it matter?

Even if I remember it clearly, what good will it do?

There are still several places to visit, and we also need to go to Jingzhao Prefecture.

She didn't actually have to be so busy, but she thought that by filling her schedule for the next few days, she could spend more time with Shen Lie.

Zhao Yu's troops have arrived, and the people from Hejing will arrive in two days, so there's no need for her to stay in Yong'an any longer.

But she wasn't in a hurry to return to Beiyuan. She wanted to go south to see Yun Bozhong, while Shen Lie was definitely going to the east to suppress bandits.

This "bandit" refers to the Li family's iron cavalry and the Guan-Ning army, which were Li Qian's regular troops back then.

Previously, with the help of Bi Jiajun, Xia Zhaoyi had worked with them to make things difficult for Song Zhiyi, but this could not be considered a friendship, since they always managed to extract a lot of benefits from Song Zhiyi's Daping Dynasty.

Moreover, their target wasn't Song Zhiyi, but only this piece of land.

Even if Song Zhiyi is gone, they will still come to rob him; they cannot survive without robbing him.

However, these "bandits" are easy to deal with.

After dealing with these "bandits," the real challenge will be facing formidable enemies next.

Tian Dayao and Jin Hongkang.

This raid was a clever maneuver. The strength of the Taiping Dynasty was actually quite formidable. Jin Hongkang held a large army, and Song Zhiyi's Xingping Army was still in force.

The troops Zhao Yu brought were definitely no match for them and could not defend the city. However, they could not send all their troops to Yong'an.