The beloved baby has a space

Chapter 802 The Death of Goro
Wang Wulang felt he was wronged.

He performed well in Jiangsai, and the surrounding bandits were basically wiped out.

Some were beheaded, others were incorporated into the military, and only a very small number escaped across the border.

After several battles, he accumulated real military merits.

According to convention, people like him who have been in the army for a short time, no matter how powerful their background, will always have their military merits deducted.

Unfortunately, he has an extraordinary younger sister.

Although Ayu did not stay in Jiangsai for a long time, she brought about tremendous changes to the lives of the local people.

They now live a peaceful life and enjoy the favorable weather that is only found in the Jiangnan region.

The water circulating inside and outside the city is crystal clear, and after drinking it, one feels much more relaxed.

Privately, everyone refers to the water here as divine water or holy water.

Unfortunately, Jiangsai was too remote, and even if merchants spread the word about the strange things that happened here, not many people believed it.

Occasionally, a few believers would travel thousands of miles to Jiangsai, drawn by the place and reluctant to leave, and then the news would cease again.

In short, the Jade County Lady, personally appointed by the imperial court, enjoyed absolute popular support in Jiangsai. Her brother, Wang Wulang, also rose to prominence along with her, and was beloved by the local people.

When the people truly love and respect someone, they want to see him do well. With the people supervising him, no one else would dare to act recklessly; they would simply report whatever military achievements he could make.

There was always someone reporting more than they deserved; no one dared to report less.

According to custom, generals who have accumulated enough military merits on the border would usually try to go to a more prosperous and comfortable place, or simply return to the capital city of Yongning, unless there are special circumstances.

But Wang Wulang was an oddball. He liked to stay here and spent his days either fighting or running around the city with his wife, saying he was looking for gifts for his family.

His wife was a reckless woman. She somehow managed to gather a large tribe that could have become a country on its own. Yet, she and her tribe established a neutral zone, claiming that they would be on good terms with Chang and Xifeng for the next hundred years.

As for the Wang family, they were initially inconspicuous, but in recent years, in addition to producing top scholars in both civil and military fields, they have suddenly become rising stars in the imperial court.

Perhaps because their family foundation was shallow and their vision was short-sighted, they all used their descendants to gamble for their future, sending them wherever there was danger, one here and one there, all in harsh and desolate places.

Having finally accumulated some merit, whether it was being promoted to prefect, becoming a royal merchant, or even quietly establishing a children's academy, they refused to enjoy it and insisted on continuing to suffer.

Wang Wulang also followed this style; even after gaining military merit, he didn't leave but went to find more battles to fight.

A few days ago, his wife told him, "Recently, a lot of suspicious people have appeared around the tribe. I had someone investigate and found that they are petty thieves from some small countries who seem to be trying to unite and cause trouble."

Small countries are like fly eggs; they may seem insignificant at first, but if you ignore them, they will eventually breed a bunch of maggots. Although they may not be able to cripple a dynasty, they can still be disgusting for decades or even centuries.

Thanks to Ayu, Wang Wulang, who didn't like reading, was forced to read some military books under the pressure of Old Madam Wang, and learned that those small countries were not to be trifled with and could not be destroyed.

The only way is to extinguish them completely, that is the fundamental solution.

So Wang Wulang wrote a letter to Yongning City.

A memorial to Your Majesty: The neighboring small countries have been restless recently, and seem to be plotting rebellion. I request to lead an expedition to uphold the prestige of our nation!

Emperor Minghua glanced at the memorial and felt a pain in his eyes: "Still fighting? Is this Fifth Prince of the Wang family addicted to war? He's going to empty the national treasury!"

Empress Qin, who was standing nearby, glanced at him coldly and said, "What is Your Majesty so smug about? The Fifth Prince of the Wang family did not take a single penny of the wealth he handed over when he was ordered to suppress the bandits. The military pay from the national treasury is not even 30% of his share. If you are really not happy, just refuse him."

Emperor Minghua's feigned serious expression immediately crumbled, and he approached Empress Qin with a grin. When she dodged him, he wasn't annoyed and continued to move closer.

“Your Majesty, the Wang family is different. If we can let them grow up, each of them can become a capable minister and general. I’m just afraid that he’s too reckless. If something happens to him, wouldn’t we lose a great help for nothing?”

"You are the emperor, this is something you should worry about, why ask me?" Empress Qin knew that Emperor Minghua wanted her to express her opinion and give him some advice, so that if something really happened in the future, Qin Huai could ask her about it and the couple could work together to give an explanation.

Before even formally acknowledging the child, he was already weighing the pros and cons—such is the habit of emperors. The former Empress Qin was even worse.

She doesn't acknowledge it now.

Emperor Minghua was still hesitant. He had high hopes for the Wang family, not only because they were united, but also because they were loyal to the emperor.

"Let me think about it some more."

While the emperor and empress hesitated, Wang Wulang's second letter had already been delivered to the Wang family.

Grandma Wang opened the letter, and there was only one line on it: "Grandma, I want to go to a faraway place to fight."

In front of everyone, Grandma Wang picked up her pen and responded.

Two days later, the eagle arrived at Jiangsai with a letter, which Wang Wulang received.

It was clearly a letter he had written in the past, except that one word was circled: the word "hit".

At the same time, Emperor Minghua met Old Madam Wang in the Empress Dowager's palace, and the old lady smiled gently at him.

He pleaded with him: "The traitors are rampant. If they are not punished, it will not be enough to restore the prestige of the country. I humbly request Your Majesty to allow my grandson to go on the expedition."

Emperor Minghua then issued an edict, agreeing to Wang Wulang's expedition against the small country.

It took a month for the imperial decree to arrive in Jiangsai City after it was issued.

The imperial eunuch, who had been riding in a carriage all the way, was so tired from the jostling that he dared not delay and immediately sent someone to fetch Wang Wulang to receive the imperial decree.

But then came the devastating news: "General Huwei has already subdued three small neighboring countries, and they have all submitted to our Great Chang. Five days ago, General Huwei set off westward and has not returned since."

The imperial messenger wiped the sweat from his brow and silently told himself: It's alright. A general in the field may disobey orders sometimes. This is common; as long as everyone else is safe, it's fine.

The father-in-law waited for another ten days, and his anxiety grew.

Every few days, military reports would arrive, announcing which small country General Huwei had conquered, and the army would frequently bring back a pile of spoils of war.

This included many prisoners.

The father-in-law was getting anxious. Even if the surrounding small countries were like rabbit burrows, shouldn't they have been wiped out by now?

Dachang's territory should be expanded.

But where is General Huwei?
Ten days later, he saw a bloodied man and his heart skipped a beat.

No way?
When the man was turned over, he was still alive, but it was not General Huwei himself, but his wife, the young tribal chief.

She coughed up mouthfuls of blood, gripping her father-in-law's wrist tightly, and cried urgently, "Quick, quick, save him!"

Before he could finish speaking, he fainted.

The father-in-law was so frightened he almost jumped out of his skin. Good heavens, what happened?!

He quickly dispatched all the royal guards who were escorting the imperial edict to search for people.

Only then did we learn that General Huwei had gotten lost in the Gobi Desert and had fought his way for eight hundred miles!
He was ambushed by a small, secluded country and was killed.

"The person... is gone?" The father-in-law collapsed to the ground, tears welling up in his eyes.

He received a lot of benefits and was instructed to take good care of that Wang family's fifth son.

Now everything has to be returned.

Wang Wulang's first death occurred in the year he was at the height of his career.