Having many children brings many blessings; the struggle for power begins with marriage.

Chapter 171: Finally Back

Seeing that Lin Xiuming was about to lose his temper, Li Feng quickly said, "General Lin, don't be anxious, we don't need to be too nervous."

"There are at most five thousand barbarian soldiers in the distance. Even if they attack the city, they won't be able to get in."

"And they are most likely not here to attack the city."

Seeing Li Feng's nonchalant attitude, Lin Xiuming asked suspiciously, "General Li, how do you know they're not here to attack the city?"

Li Feng replied, "After we repelled the Northern Xian King's army, they would send several thousand men to harass us from time to time. However, they mostly just made empty threats and didn't attack the city. I guess they wanted to wage psychological warfare."

"I guess they won't be able to launch another attack on Tianguang City until at least next spring."

Upon hearing Li Feng's answer, Lin Xiuming looked at Li Feng with a suspicious expression.

At this moment, Li Feng said to Lin Xiuming's soldiers, "Do not attack. We are short of bows and arrows. Let's conserve our arrows and attack when the barbarians attack the city."

Just as Li Feng finished speaking, a barbarian rode up to the city and shouted in the barbarian-accented Xia language, "Our king said that the Northern King must immediately hand over his queen and compensate us with ten million taels of silver, otherwise next spring, our Northern Xianwang tribe will gather a million-strong army and march south."

"At that time, wherever the barbarian warriors go, nothing will grow and rivers of blood will flow."

No sooner had the barbarian soldier finished speaking than thousands of barbarian cavalrymen in the distance rose to their feet and shouted, "Let not a blade of grass grow, let rivers of blood flow!"

"Not a blade of grass will grow, and rivers of blood will flow!!!"

……

Then the barbarian soldier said some very offensive things, insulting the Xia people as two-legged sheep, cowardly, afraid to go out, and only daring to stay in the sheepfold.

Upon hearing those words, the imperial soldiers brought by Lin Xiuming all wished they could shoot the barbarian soldier to death with an arrow. However, they did not act impulsively, since the general had not yet given the order, and they would be punished by military law if they attacked without authorization.

At this moment, Lin Xiuming noticed a strange phenomenon.

When Li Feng came to find me earlier, he was in a panic, looking like a barbarian army was about to invade. But now he's standing on the city wall as if nothing happened.

Not only him, but also the soldiers who remained in the North County were like that.

Only the soldiers he brought were on high alert.

This makes it seem like the barbarian siege had nothing to do with the soldiers of their Northern Commandery.

It's bizarre, so very bizarre...

Lin Xiuming simply stopped caring and handed over command of the battlefield to Li Feng, letting Li Feng decide whether to attack.

Li Feng stood on the city wall until the barbarian soldiers finished their speech and left.

For a long time afterward, barbarian cavalry would come to Tianguang City every few days, but they would only shout and not attack.

Later, when Lin Xiuming heard the soldiers report that there was a barbarian attack, he didn't bother to pay any attention.

Lin Xiuming wasn't stupid; he could see that the barbarians had no intention of attacking Tianguang City at all, and it wasn't even certain whether they were barbarians or not.

However, as a general sent by the Great Xia Dynasty to provide support, Lin Xiuming still wrote down everything he saw in a battle report and sent it to the capital.

Of course, he didn't include some minor details in the battle report.

half a month later.

Skylight City.

Li Feng was tidying up his things in his room when a soldier from Beijun entered and whispered, "General, the prince is truly a prophet; someone really did dig up the grave."

Hearing this, Li Feng was taken aback for a moment. Then, after glancing at the doorway and confirming that it was filled with soldiers from the Northern Commandery, he asked, "How much soil has been turned over?"

The soldier replied, "I checked, and there are about twenty such places, each about one square meter in size."

Upon hearing the soldier's reply, Li Feng said, "The imperial court is indeed not at ease with Beijun, but this is probably not Lin Xiuming's intention. It is most likely the work of spies planted by the imperial court within the army."

The reason Lu Chen had the clothes of all the barbarian corpses changed to those worn by the Great Xia people was mainly to prevent anyone from digging up the graves to determine the identities of the dead.

To be honest, Lu Chen didn't believe that the army Lin Xiuming brought would do such a thing, nor did he believe that Lin Xiuming would dig up graves to identify the corpses.

Regardless of whether the mound contained soldiers from the Northern Commandery or not, they were at least nominally Black Cavalry from the Northern Commandery, and nominally they all died fighting for the Northern Commandery and for the Great Xia.

If people find out their graves have been dug up, it will definitely have a bad impact.

Lu Chen's decision to have the corpses dressed was purely based on the most malicious assumptions about the soldiers in Lin Xiuming's army. In his view, even if Lin Xiuming did not have the idea of ​​verifying whether the corpses were Black Cavalry, it was very likely that someone among the people Lin Xiuming brought would do so.

As it turned out, Lu Chen had only been away from Tianguang City for half a month, and he hadn't even returned to Yancheng yet, when the graves were indeed dug up. But at this point, verifying whether those graves contained people from the Great Xia Dynasty would probably not be so easy.

Although corpses do not decompose easily in winter, they will still change after being buried in the soil. Even frozen corpses, when contaminated with soil, will not be easy to determine whether the soldiers were barbarians or Da Xia people.

The soldier then asked, "General, is there anything we need to do?"

Li Feng said calmly, "You don't need to do anything. Just tell our people to keep their mouths shut and not to talk nonsense. If they let something slip, they'll know the consequences themselves."

The Northern County soldiers who are still in Tianguang City were all personally selected by Lu Chen. These soldiers are extremely loyal and will not easily betray the Northern County.

On the surface, they were assisting Lin Xiuming in guarding Tianguang City, but in reality, their role was to monitor the imperial army of 20,000 men.

Of course, their main role was to cooperate with the barbarian soldiers of the North County.

Those soldiers who came to Tianguang City every day to check in and curse were all from the Great Xia army. Since the war was over and there was nothing to do in winter, Lu Chen assigned Mu Changtian and his son, as well as Xiao Pengtian, the task of having them come to Tianguang City from time to time to harass the imperial army and create the illusion that the Northern Xian King was still alive.

at the same time.

Yancheng.

As Lu Chen rode his horse, looking at the north gate of Yancheng, he sighed inwardly, "I'm finally back."

Heavy snow blocked the roads, and what should have been a journey in a few days took Lu Chen and the soldiers of Beijun half a month to complete.

Lu Chen didn't even want to curse the Northern King, who was already dead from being shot. After all, the man was already dead.

At this moment, Lu Chen couldn't help but have an idea: if all the barbarians had the same mindset as the Northern King, wouldn't it be very easy for him to control the barbarian tribes in the north in the future?

Just as Lu Chen was lost in thought, Qin Yushan and Li Rui led the officials of Yancheng to the city gate to welcome Lu Chen.

"Welcome back in triumph, Your Highness!"

Although they told the outside world that the heavy cavalry of the North County was gone, Lu Chen's men basically knew that the Black Cavalry were fine. They had won a great victory in the North County with zero casualties.

Lu Chen snapped out of his daze and quickly rode his horse towards the city gate. As he rode, he asked Qin Yushan beside him, "Commander Qin, has anything major happened in Yancheng these past few days?"

Qin Yushan followed Lu Chen's horse, reporting on the situation in Yancheng as they went.

"Your Highness, there has been nothing major happening in Yancheng recently."

"However, there is some intelligence that I did not send to Tianguang City in time. I will report to Your Highness first."

"In the past few days, many merchants from the Great Wu have appeared in Yancheng, and the number of disciples from the Xuan Yue Palace has also increased significantly."

Because of the heavy snow blocking the roads, it took some time for the Jinyiwei's intelligence to reach Tianguang City, so Lu Chen didn't know if anything had happened in Yancheng in the past few days.

He rode his horse slowly forward, listening to Qin Yushan's report.

By the time Lu Chen reached the gate of the Prince's Mansion, Qin Yushan had finished reporting the remaining intelligence. Lu Chen glanced at his wives and concubines at the gate, then turned slightly to Qin Yushan and said, "Commander Qin, you can go about your business."

"Yes, Your Highness, I shall take my leave."

After Qin Yushan left, Lu Chen immediately dismounted and walked towards the entrance of the Prince's Mansion.

Mu Zixuan immediately led Lu Chen's women to surround him, and Mu Zixuan, Da Zhou, and Xiao Zhou all rushed into Lu Chen's arms.

Mu Zixuan said, "Your Highness, you're finally back. We were very worried about you after hearing the news of the Black Cavalry's annihilation."

Feeling the soft, warm fragrance of the women in his arms, Lu Chen smiled slightly and patted the three beauties on the back as he said, "Don't worry, ladies, I'm fine."

At this moment, Lu Chen's gaze fell on Lin Wanyun. Lin Wanyun was standing far away, but her eyes were fixed on him, as if she was plotting something.

After listening to Qin Yushan's report, Lu Chen had already guessed what Xuan Yue Palace was going to do next.

Xuan Yue Palace believes that the destruction of the Black Cavalry is an opportunity for Xuan Yue Palace, an opportunity to get closer to the Northern King's Mansion. It seems that it won't be long before Xuan Yue Palace will find a way to negotiate cooperation with them.

Lu Chen's gaze swept over Lin Wanyun and then fell on Chu Yuqin. Chu Yuqin looked at him with a worried expression. It was clear that she wanted to come over and ask about her situation. However, Chu Qingli was standing next to Chu Yuqin, which made Chu Yuqin dare not get too close, lest her sister overthink things.

Looking at the women surrounding Lu Chen, Chu Yuqin felt a sense of emptiness in her heart.

She couldn't help but recall the time she spent in the capital, when Lu Chen didn't have so many women around him.

Every time Lu Chen came back from outside, she was the only one who would ask him how he was doing.

Things are different now. Lu Chen has grown up, started a family, and has many wives and concubines. She, the woman who has always been by Lu Chen's side, has become an outsider and can no longer get close to him.

Thinking about this made Chu Yuqin feel depressed.

At this moment, Lu Chen turned his gaze away from Chu Yuqin and then looked at Yelü Nanyan and Xiao Wenyao.

Although Yelü Nanyan and Xiao Wenyao also came over, they seemed a little awkward and just stood next to Mu Zixuan and the others, unlike Mu Zixuan and Da Zhou and Xiao Zhou who rushed into Lu Chen's arms.

Although the two women had just married into the royal family and already had deep feelings for Lu Chen, they couldn't just pounce on him directly because of Mu Zixuan and Da Zhou and Xiao Zhou's presence.

If they pounced on each other directly, wouldn't that be vying for favor? The two women were well aware of their status, so they restrained their impulses.

Looking at Lu Chen's handsome face, Yelü Nanyan smiled slightly. After hearing about the destruction of the Black Cavalry, she thought something bad was going to happen in the Northern Prefecture, but in the end nothing happened.

To be honest, she didn't believe that the Northern Xian King had the strength to defeat the Black Cavalry of the Northern County. Even the 300,000-strong army of the Heavenly Wolf King was no match for the Northern County and those Black Cavalry. How could the Northern Xian King possibly be a match for the Northern County? She had some understanding of the strength of the Northern Xian King's tribe.

It's obvious at a glance that this little man is up to some kind of scheme.

And judging from his appearance, he didn't seem like he had suffered a defeat.

Now that Yelü Nanyan has fully integrated into the Northern Prince's Mansion, she wouldn't be happy if Lu Chen really lost the battle, since this young man is already her husband.

Moreover, the life in the Northern Prince's Mansion was something she had always longed for, and she didn't want to see her wonderful life destroyed.

At this moment, Lu Chen said with a smile, "My ladies, I'm back from the war, you won't even let me into the Prince's mansion, will you?"

Mu Zixuan and the other important women of the Prince's Mansion all came to the gate of the mansion. The maids and servants of the mansion also stood at the gate, making the entire gate of the mansion crowded with people, so Lu Chen could not get in.

Upon hearing Lu Chen's words, Mu Zixuan, who was in Lu Chen's arms, suddenly woke up and hurriedly said to the servants and maids at the gate of the Prince's Mansion, "Disperse, everyone, go about your own business."

"Your Highness, let's go back to the main hall first. The renovation of the manor is now complete."

Lu Chen asked curiously, "Is the renovation complete? Does it already have a greenhouse?"

When Lu Chen went north, he told Mo Fei and the others about his plan to renovate the Prince's Mansion, intending to have them help oversee the renovation of the mansion's greenhouse.

Judging by the time, they have been in the north for more than two months, and the renovation of the greenhouse should be completed by now.

Mu Zixuan said, "Yes, most of the rooms in the Prince's Mansion are no longer cold, especially the main hall, which is very warm."

Lu Chen smiled and said, "Let's go, I'll go see if the greenhouse renovation has met my expectations."

Lu Chen then led his wives and concubines to the main hall. As soon as he entered the hall, he felt a warm current, and the cold feeling instantly dissipated. The entire hall was very warm.

The main hall is so warm because there is a smoke channel underneath, and there is a coal-burning room outside. It works on a similar principle to a kang (heated brick bed), except that the main hall is larger and consumes more coal every day.

Lu Chen turned to Xiao Zhou and asked, "Youyou, is your room finished being renovated?"

The main hall is where Lu Chen and Mu Zixuan live. If only this place is renovated, then his other women will not be able to enjoy it.

Zhou Youyou replied, "Your Highness, most of the rooms in the manor have now been converted into greenhouses, and the North Courtyard is no exception."

Hearing this, Lu Chen said, "Then I'm relieved."

Upon entering the main hall, Mu Zixuan and the others knelt and sat around Lu Chen. Lu Chen nestled among them and chatted about things in Tian Guang City.

At this moment, Chu Yuqin stood outside the courtyard of the main hall, looking at the heartwarming scene inside, and she couldn't help but sigh.

Chu Qingli looked at Chu Yuqin with a puzzled expression. "Sister, why are you sighing?"

Chu Yuqin snapped out of her reverie and quickly said, "It's nothing, I was just thinking about some things from the past."

"Alright, there's nothing else to do now, you can go on patrol."

Chu Qingli looked at Chu Yuqin with suspicion, but she didn't think much of it.

Although Lu Chen, that lecherous fellow, has returned, he is surrounded by so many women that his sister cannot be alone with him. Therefore, Chu Qingli is still at ease about Chu Yuqin for the time being.

After chatting with his wives and concubines for a while, Lu Chen went to his study.

The study has accumulated a lot of intelligence, but most of it is from Tingyulou. Unlike the Embroidered Uniform Guard, whose intelligence is usually delivered to Lu Chen as soon as possible, most of Tingyulou's intelligence is sent to Lu Chen's study.

Lu Chen was eager to know the current movements of the various dynasties, especially what the Dayue Dynasty was doing recently.

As Lu Chen approached the study door, he saw a figure of exceptional elegance.

A look of worry, a hint of expectation, and utter confusion crossed her face.

She lingered at the study door, as if on patrol, but more like she was waiting for someone to arrive.

(End of this chapter)