Jiuxi

Chapter 707 [Clouds and Mist]

When the sky is dim.

Lu Chen slowly opened his eyes, then turned his head and saw a rosy face leaning against his shoulder.

The woman slept very peacefully, even in her dreams she was cautious, with her hands clasped on her chest.

Lu Chen felt a little pity in his heart.

Lin Xi and Wang Chulong were pregnant, and their babies were gradually showing. They could only be a little affectionate when sleeping together, so the two mistresses were very generous and sent Lu Chen to Song Pei's courtyard. Now, Lu Chen sleeps at Song Pei's place for three to five days every ten days.

Among the beauties around Lu Chen, his relationship with Song Pei is the most fragile.

Apart from the brief time they spent together in Guangling at the beginning, Lu Chen had mostly been travelling outside in recent years. Even when Song Pei went to the capital to take care of him last year, the two did not have too much in-depth communication.

In the final analysis, it was just because Lu Chen didn't want to bother the old man, because Lu Tong had valued Song Pei very much a long time ago and was determined to let Song Pei become Lu Chen's roommate.

In fact, Song Pei knew this very well, so she always knew how to put herself in the right position.

After Lu Chen got married, he brought her parents to Guangling and accepted her as a concubine according to the rules. The maids and servants in the mansion also changed their names for her, but Song Pei still considered herself as the young master's maid and never became arrogant because of the change in status.

Besides, she was familiar with the affairs of the inner house. Whether it was managing the house or welcoming guests, she could handle it properly with just a few instructions from Wang Chulong.

With such a thoughtful and sensible housekeeper, Lu Chen, Lin and Wang will have less worries and can focus on their work.

Last night was a romantic night. Although Song Pei was not weak, she was not much better than Wang Chulong, so she slept soundly at this moment.

Seeing this, Lu Chen slowly got up, thinking of letting her sleep a little longer. However, just as he lifted the quilt, a gentle voice sounded beside him: "Master, are you awake?"

He stopped and turned to look, only to see Song Pei with sleepy eyes and a little confused.

"Practicing martial arts is like sailing against the current. If you don't move forward, you will move backward. Don't waste the early morning time. You were tired last night. Go back to sleep."

Lu Chen spoke in a gentle tone with a smile on his face.

Although Song Pei was a little shy, she still stood up and said, "I will help you wash up."

Lu Chen raised his hand and pressed her shoulder, asking her to lie back down, and said seriously, "Be obedient."

Song Pei held the quilt in both hands, revealing only her rosy face, and her messy hair added a bit of charm.

She felt the unusual concern in Lu Chen's seemingly domineering tone, and her heart felt sweet.

Looking at the girl's unconcealed joy in her eyes and eyebrows, Lu Chen suddenly sighed and said, "In fact, I have never asked you whether your current life is what you want."

"Uh?"

Song Pei asked nervously, "Master, is there something I did wrong?"

"You're fine."

Lu Chen didn't know that he had some strange problems again, and said slowly: "Thinking back over the past few years, since you came to the Lu family, your fate was arranged by others. You served me and now you are my concubine, and no one has ever asked you what you think. I am also very busy, with a lot of things to do inside and outside. Even though I have been staying at your place more recently, I don't have much time to talk to you."

Song Pei looked at him blankly, then suddenly plucked up the courage to stretch out a white and tender hand and touched Lu Chen's forehead.

Lu Chen didn't care and asked, "What's wrong?"

Song Pei smiled and said, "Master, you are not sick, why are you talking nonsense so early in the morning?"

"Is this nonsense?"

"Do you think, sir, that I have some inappropriate thoughts in my mind?"

"You know I didn't mean it that way."

"Master, who is Song Pei? If Master Lu hadn't been compassionate to the poor and weak, my parents would have sold me to a brothel, and I couldn't just watch them starve to death. After coming to the Lu family, no one has treated me harshly. I have no worries about food and clothing, and I can even save some money. This can be considered a blessing after a bad time. Not to mention that I am now your concubine. My parents say that this is a blessing that they have cultivated for several lifetimes. If I don't cherish it, I will be struck by lightning."

Lu Chen looked at her serious expression and couldn't help but ask curiously: "What do you think?"

"its me……"

Song Pei blinked her eyes, then said timidly, "I like you very much, Master."

In fact, Lu Chen has now realized that he was indeed a little pretentious. Different eras have different customs and people. How can we generalize?

Just as Song Pei said, she went from being a poor girl who sold herself to save her family to now being the concubine of the Duke of Daqi. This situation is enough to make most women in the world envious. In addition, Lu Chen is young, handsome, and noble, and he is not old and gray-haired. He is a real good match. Even if he is a concubine, he is better than the main wife of those small families.

If you give birth to several children in the future, wouldn't it be a life of wealth and prosperity?
"It seems you understand more than I thought."

Lu Chen smiled, then put on his clothes and stood up.

Song Pei did not hesitate, and stood up and said: "The master is kind, and the two mistresses are generous, but Song Pei dare not break the rules."

Seeing this, Lu Chen said nothing more. After washing up with her help, he walked to the training ground in the mansion.

After several years of hard training, his understanding of the Shangxuan Sutra has become increasingly profound. Now he is only slightly inferior to Lin Xi, and is ranked among the top masters in the world. However, he does not have as much fighting experience as Lin Xi, so he will inevitably be at a disadvantage when encountering truly top masters.

But this does not mean that he has no ability to fight. If he were to face Yin Qianjue, the swordsman ranked sixth on the martial arts list, again today, he would at least have the ability to protect himself.

Nowadays, he basically never goes out alone. He is protected by a large number of elite soldiers when he goes in and out, so it is difficult for anyone to threaten his safety.

After more than an hour, Lu Chen was sweating all over. He took a shower, changed his clothes, and went to the side hall. He had breakfast with his wives and concubines, and then went to the meeting hall in the front yard to start dealing with various military affairs.

"Sir, from November last year to the day before yesterday, a total of five months, a total of 12,000 special long swords have been forged. According to your arrangement, these long swords were distributed to the Ruishi Battalion, Feiyun Army, Qixing Army, and Zhenbei Army, 3,000 each. The drill manual compiled by you has also been distributed to the commanders of each army, and the progress of the drills is in line with expectations. I will urge the Arms Department to speed up the forging and equip the remaining armies with this special long sword as soon as possible."

Liu Yuan, the chief clerk of the Governor's Office, stood in front of the desk with an attitude neither humble nor arrogant.

Lu Chen looked up and saw bloodshot eyes of the famous scholar from Huaiyou. Knowing that he had worked hard and was quite tired, he smiled and said, "Mr. Bingyuan, thank you for your hard work."

Liu Yuan said: "This is my duty, no matter how hard or tiring it is, it is natural. Since this sword will play a great role in future battles, please give it a name, sir."

"Give me a name..."

The word "Mo Dao" came to Lu Chen's mind, and he shook his head and said, "No need to give it a name, we can wait until the outcome of the battle is decided on the battlefield."

Liu Yuan bowed and said nothing more.

At this time, Chief Clerk Huang Xianfeng came over, presented the official document in his hand, and said respectfully: "My Lord, this is the military report sent by Marquis Yongyi and Governor Liu. It arrived in Ruyin early this morning. Please take a look."

Lu Chen took it and took a look. He saw that the military newspaper wrote about the early results achieved by the Western Route Army in a very reserved tone.

The Western Army set out on March 14 and recaptured Taikang on March 19. On the 23rd, it captured Guixian, a small town northwest of Taikang, and on the 25th, it captured Xinping City on the western front.

In just ten days, we won battle after battle with great momentum.

Lu Chen looked at the battle report, tapping his fingers lightly on the table, his expression slightly solemn.

At this moment, all the officials in the meeting hall were attracted by the military newspaper in his hand, but no one dared to speak rashly.

"This is good news. Don't worry. Just take a look."

Lu Chen handed the general report to Huang Xianfeng and motioned for everyone to take turns reading it. However, judging from his expression, he did not seem to be happy about the success of the Western Route Army.

After everyone finished watching, Huang Xianfeng was the first to say, "Sir, it seems that the Jing army has indeed been seriously affected this time."

Chen Xun, who was standing on the other side, frowned and said, "Sir, I feel something is a little strange."

Lu Chen asked, "What's so strange?"

Chen Xun said calmly: "From the battle report, the Western Army is advancing step by step with superior forces, and the Jing Army is defending very resolutely. It is not easy for our army to win these battles. But there is a problem here. Our Western Army is not a surprise attack. From the time Your Majesty decided to march north to the time the army crossed the border, the commander of the Jing Army had enough time to react. If he decided to hold the city, he should have sent more troops to various places on the border instead of ignoring it like he is now."

Huang Xianfeng shook his head and said, "Chen Zhonglang, a good cook cannot cook without rice. With the Duke in charge of Dingzhou, how dare Wu Yanshu ignore the troops in Dingzhou? He must allocate part of his forces to defend the eastern front, and then the troops he can mobilize will be stretched to the limit."

Chen Xun insisted: "Even so, Wu Yanshu can still ask for help from the Jingguo court."

Huang Xianfeng glanced at Lu Chen, and seeing that he did not interrupt, he slowed down his tone and said, "Earlier, Yang Jianxiao from the Textile Bureau sent us information that the Emperor of Jingguo had transferred 10,000 cavalrymen from Wu Yanshu's cavalry. This shows that the situation in the court of Jingguo is already very tense, otherwise he would not do this. Now Jingguo is plagued by internal troubles, and the Emperor of Jingguo has used his energy to deal with the Qingyu family. Wu Yanshu can only support it alone, so he let his troops defend the city to the death. This is obviously a helpless move."

Lu Chen coughed lightly, and they both stopped talking. He looked at Chen Xun and said, "De Zun, is Wu Yanshu deliberately showing weakness?"

Chen Xun bowed his head and said, "That may be possible."

Lu Chen said calmly: "He is deliberately showing weakness to lure our army deeper into our territory. But even if he can achieve this goal, how can he defeat our army later?"

Chen Xun showed a trace of shame on his face, and said, "I am stupid. Although I feel that Jing Jun's reaction is quite strange, I can't figure out the connection for the time being."

Lu Chen turned his head to look at the giant map hanging on the wall, with waves rising in his eyes.

What exactly is Wu Yanshu planning?
In other words, even if he wanted to show weakness on purpose, he had to have the capital to turn the situation around, so where would Jing's troops come from?
(End of this chapter)