Rebirth of the Three Kingdoms: Da Qiao doesn't want to be a widow anymore

Chapter 375 Seizing the Son
At first, Zhou Xun felt a little unfamiliar with Qiao Rong, but after feeling Qiao Rong's gentle tone and sleeping next to her mother for one night, he immediately became close to her, following behind Qiao Rong and calling her "Mother" this and "Mother" that.

Zhou Yin, who had just turned one year old, was at the age of learning to speak. When he heard Zhou Xun call out "Mother," he also kept calling out "Amu Amu" to Qiao Rong.

This scene was witnessed by Gu Lingyun, who had come to pay her respects. Holding the baby in her arms, her eyes were red and her brows were furrowed as she knelt before Qiao Wei, on the verge of tears.

Having not seen his birth mother for a long time, Zhou Yin felt somewhat unfamiliar with Gu Lingyun's overtures, so he naturally turned his back and put his arm around Qiao Wei's neck.

Qiao Wei explained with a smile, "That's just how children are. They haven't seen you for a long time, so come and talk to them more often these next few days. They'll get to know you in no time."

The sight of Qiao Wei's resistance and his natural affection for the child was even more heartbreaking for Gu Lingyun.

This is the child she risked her life to give birth to. However, after only half a year apart, he has completely forgotten about his birth mother and is only concerned with pleasing the powerful woman who took him away from her.

A chill ran through my body, and my knuckles turned white from being clenched so tightly.

"Madam, the New Year is approaching. Please allow me to bring Yin'er back to the manor. With so many children in the manor, you are simply overwhelmed."

Upon hearing the first part of Gu Lingyun's sentence, Qiao Wei assumed that Gu Lingyun simply wanted to bring Zhou Yin back to the mansion for the New Year after not seeing her child for a long time. It was only upon hearing the second part that Qiao Wei understood Gu Lingyun's true meaning: she wanted to take Zhou Yin back home.

"Is this your idea or the lieutenant general's?"

Gu Lingyun gritted her teeth and said, "I am just a woman, how could I have any opinions of my own? It is naturally the general's will."

Her eyebrows drooped, and when she heard Qiao Wei's question, her gaze involuntarily drifted to the left, not daring to meet Qiao Wei's eyes directly.

Qiao Wei understood.

If it were truly Zhou Yu's intention, then he would have approached Sun Quan to request it, and Sun Quan would have informed her, rather than having a lowly woman in the household notify her.

Qiao Wei could roughly guess what Gu Lingyun was thinking. It was nothing more than that because she had given birth to a daughter, she thought she could not rely on her daughter for her future, so she wanted to take back Zhou Yin, her son, from Qiao Wei as her support in the Zhou family.

It's unclear whether Gu Lingyun truly didn't know why Zhou Yu used sending Zhou Yin to the Sun family for upbringing as a bargaining chip in a deal with Qiao Wei, or whether her selfishness had overwhelmed her reason.

Qiao Wei was too lazy to argue with Gu Lingyun about these things. Gu Lingyun taking Zhou Yin back meant that Zhou Yu had broken the agreement with her, so no matter how you looked at it, Zhou Yu had suffered a loss.

"Young Madam, please pack up Young Master Yin's things and have Madam Gu take them back. Youxuan, this matter also needs to be informed of the Marquis."

Upon hearing that she needed to inform Sun Quan before she could bring Zhou Yin back, Gu Lingyun hurriedly exclaimed, "Madam, you mustn't..."

Qiao Wei didn't speak, but instead scrutinized the panic on her face with his eyes.

Her pupils contracted slightly. "What I mean is, it's just a small matter. Why should we inform you, my lord? You have many affairs at the front, and matters at home have always been decided by your wife."

“The Zhou family has its own rules, and the Marquis’s mansion naturally has its own rules as well. My words are presumptuous. Does Madam need my guidance in her actions?” The maid Xiao Ran was very displeased upon hearing this and spoke up to stop her.

Gu Lingyun's face turned pale and then flushed, looking extremely unpleasant. However, she had already stated that it was Zhou Yu's idea to bring Zhou Yin back, and she couldn't go back on her word now. She could only force a smile and hope that this matter wouldn't offend Sun Quan and Zhou Yu.

Not long after, Youxuan came back to report that the Lord was aware of the matter and that Qiao Wei could make his own arrangements, without saying anything else.

Gu Lingyun breathed a sigh of relief when she didn't hear Sun Quan's objection. She was secretly delighted that she could successfully bring Zhou Yin back to her side.

"Thank you ma'am!"

Qiao Wei had all of Zhou Yin's clothes, bedding, and other belongings packed up and also sent back all the servants who had come with the Zhou family.

After leaving the Sun residence, Xiao Ran returned and reported, "That young mistress Gu walked as if she were flying. She acted as if the madam had mistreated her young master."

When Young Master Yin was first brought here, he was so thin and frail, hardly resembling a six-month-old child. Madam had to coax him to eat and have Physician Hua prepare countless medicinal meals to make him so strong and healthy, yet she didn't even offer a word of thanks. She's truly heartless!

“A mother's heart is full of love for her child, and it is understandable that she wants to bring Zhou Yin back to her side.” Qiao Wei stopped Xiao Ran’s complaints and looked coldly towards the direction outside the mansion gate. “Besides, I took Zhou Yin in and raised him by my side, not to gain her gratitude.”

Holding the handkerchief in her hand, Gu Lingyun looked at Zhou Yin, who was fast asleep in the wet nurse's arms, and couldn't help but cry tears of joy. She hadn't expected that bringing Zhou Yin back this time would go so smoothly.

But her joy didn't last long. When Zhou Yin woke up from his wet nurse's arms, he found himself in a completely unfamiliar place. He instinctively wanted his wet nurse to carry him to find his older brothers or to play in the familiar courtyard, but he found that the faces holding him and surrounding him were all unfamiliar.

Even though Gu Lingyun repeatedly explained that she was his biological mother, Zhou Yin, who was young and could not yet understand what blood ties and family affection were, could not listen to her at all. He could only express his resistance and fear by crying.

The following day, Qiao Wei, Huang Yueying, and Ou Bei's wife Huang Ruifeng inspected the newly established workshop for improving the wooden ox and flowing horse.

The original wooden oxen and flowing horses were sufficient for the terrain of Jiangdong, but after Sun Quan conquered some counties in Jingzhou, Zhuge Liang made some new plans for the grain transport routes within Jingzhou.

Jingzhou has a well-developed water system, so in order to be efficient, it has always relied on waterways to transport grain and fodder.

However, this also gave rise to a problem: river pirates were rampant in Jingzhou, and incidents of intercepting and killing grain supplies were so frequent that local officials had become accustomed to it.

The grain transport officers of the Jingzhou navy would even "tribute" some grain to the pirates along the way for the sake of convenience.

If the river pirates are not eliminated, there will never be peace in Jingzhou. Moreover, over the years, the appetites of these river pirates have grown little by little, and they have become a hindrance.

Sun Quan also deeply agreed with this point.

The rampant presence of river pirates in Jingzhou was unimaginable. After all, Gan Ning and Jiang Qin, two of the most famous generals in the Jiangdong army, were originally from the Jinfan pirates, and Zhou Tai, Sun Quan's most trusted general, also had a history as a river pirate.

Therefore, Sun Quan and Zhuge Liang shared the same idea: to deal with the river pirates, they needed to take a two-pronged approach. First, they needed to eliminate their forces, and second, they needed to re-plan the land-based grain and fodder transportation within Jingzhou.

Therefore, the wooden ox and flowing horse also needed to be improved according to the terrain of Jingzhou.

While the three were on patrol, Youxuan came to report that Zhou Yu had come to the mansion to ask Doctor Hua to come and make a house call, saying that something had happened to Zhou Yin at the mansion.