Chapter Thirty-Four: Yan Yingfang

  Chongzhen Emperor was taken aback, marrying Ah Qi as his wife. Ah Qi was just a palace maid who had already been bestowed upon him, and it was common for him to take her in as a concubine. It was easy to understand. But Zhong Jiwei solemnly brought up the matter of making her his wife, wondering if there was a misunderstanding, not understanding the meaning of "wife".

  Then Emperor Chongzhen confirmed: "You confirm?"

  Confirmed!

  "Is it for a wife, or is it for a concubine?"

  Oh, right, this is ancient times, it seems like you can have three wives and four concubines. However, Zhong Jinwei's mind immediately thought of Aqi's figure, remembered her meticulous care for him, remembered how he was played by her but felt happy, remembered the happy expression on her face when he woke up, remembered his previous life as a miserable and unloved loser, hmm, decided.

  "Your Majesty, I am determined to marry her as my wife, not as a concubine."

  "All right, I'll let Wang Cheng'en take care of this matter. I'll go ahead and attend to other business!" The Chongzhen Emperor instructed Wang Cheng'en on the matter and then went off to deal with Zu Dashou's case. As he walked away, his mood was naturally different from when he had arrived.

  Wang Chengen received this errand, a bit stunned. As soon as he woke up, he had to marry his daughter-in-law, wasn't it a bit hasty? However, Emperor Chongzhen ordered it, and knowing the weight of Zhong Jingwei in Emperor Chongzhen's mind, he didn't dare to slack off. His own position as the commander of the Eastern Depot was also obtained through Zhong Jingwei's recommendation.

  But what happened next left Wang Chengen stunned: Aqi's family situation can still be checked according to the file, but what about Zhong Jinwei's? And what's with the birthdate and eight characters, from ancient times to now, it seems like no one has ever encountered such a situation.

  Wang Chengen then called Aqi to Zhong Jinwei's bedside and told her that Zhong Jinwei was going to marry her, and this was something that the emperor had promised and was already settled.

  Aqi was overwhelmed with immense happiness when she heard that the Emperor had agreed to let Zhong Jinwei marry her. Originally, she thought she would spend the rest of her life as a palace maid, but then she met the young master and was given to him by the Emperor. At first, she thought it wasn't bad if she could just leave the palace, but as time passed, she found that the young master was kind and could talk to her about many strange and interesting things, and he respected her, so serving him wasn't bad either. With her status, she thought that even if she could only be his concubine in the end, it would be enough. But now, she was going to be his wife, Aqi fell into a daze.

  Wang Chengen also ignored Aqi's dizzy state and immediately told his own helplessness to the parties involved.

  Actually, Zhong Jinwei didn't say to get married now, Jian Yu is still in the capital, and he's still lying in bed, what kind of marriage can they have? It's just a pre-arranged thing. The flower blooms and should be picked, don't wait until there are no flowers to pick the branches. The old saying from his university dormitory classmates still has some influence on Zhong Jinwei.

  Zhong Jinwei quickly explained to Wang Chengen, "We're not in a hurry, the enemy is still there, how can we think about this? We just made an appointment first, let's talk about it after we've driven away the enemy." Fortunately, Zhong Jinwei's brain was still working well, and he changed the phrase "what about our family" to "the enemy has not been destroyed".

  Wang Chengen let out a sigh of relief, so he'll just take it easy for now. Then he found an excuse to hurry away, as a eunuch stuck between these two people wasn't a good thing, and it was heartbreaking.

  A Qi's face remained red as he looked down at the ground with his head lowered, as if trying to find a small ant that didn't exist on the ground.

  Zhong Jinwei looked at Aqi's shy appearance and felt sweet in his heart. Suddenly, he thought of something and asked: "Aqi, what is your surname and where are you from?"

  "Ah, the voice is too soft, can't hear clearly."

  "A Qi looked up at Zhong Jinwei, finding him staring at her, and quickly lowered her head: "I've told you many times, young master." A Qi had accompanied Zhong Jinwei for these few months, and really didn't have anything to say anymore. She had repeated all her affairs over and over again, even reciting the "Nüjie" three times."

  "Oh, when I fainted?"

  Yes, the young master is indeed unconscious, how could I have forgotten?

  "Ah, right, don't be so servile, it doesn't sound good. From now on, you're my wife." Zhong Jinwei saw that the other person's face was thin-skinned, and immediately his own face became thicker.

  Yes, I will be a noble lady in the future. Thinking of this, my heart feels delightful. Remembering that I haven't responded to the young master's words yet, I hastily said: "As your wife..."

  Suddenly hearing Zhong Jinwei's "heh heh" laughter, I immediately remembered that I had misspoken, not even married yet, and already said "as a wife", as if I couldn't wait, my whole person fell into shyness again.

  Zhong Jinwei suddenly felt it was very fun and happy to tease Aqi.

  After a while, the two of them finally calmed down and continued their self-introduction: "I am from Tongzhou, Hebei Province, my family has an elder brother who likes to dance with swords and spears, and my mother is at home. My surname is Yan, my name is Yingfang, and Aqi is my nickname. My brother's surname is also Yan, his name is Yingyuan..."

  Zhong Jinwei started listening, nothing much, then seemed to think that Aqi's name was familiar, and suddenly remembered, interrupting Aqi's words, asking: "What's your brother's name, is it Yan Wang's Yan, should be Yuan of the Yuan Dynasty?"

  Aqi looked at him in surprise and nodded.

  Wow, a famous heroic figure of the late Ming Dynasty, an idol! I didn't expect that I would be marrying his younger sister, what good fortune!

  "Gongzi, has Jian Yu's army arrived at the capital?" Ah Qi asked with some concern, having been taking care of Zhong Jinwei all along and not knowing anything about the outside situation. She had just overheard the conversation between Zhong Jinwei and Wang Chengen.

  "Yes, they just attacked the capital but didn't take it down, however, on their way, they looted and killed, a band of robbers, many places were destroyed in an instant."

  "Ah, my home..." Archie's face turned pale in an instant, and the term of address changed back to his usual habit.

  Oh, Beizhuan State is just outside Beijing City, but it's definitely nothing to worry about. Yan Yingyuan will be hanged now, and who will lead the Jiangyin 81st in the future? But there shouldn't be such an opportunity anyway.

  "Don't worry, your brother will be a heroic figure in the future, nothing bad can happen to him now."

  "Really?"

  "Honestly, I promise."

  It was about his closest relative, Archie still had some worries.

  At this time, it's necessary to show the power of men, definitely no problem. I'll ask Wang Chengen to help investigate later, and there should be news soon. Wang Chengen is the commander of the Eastern Depot, after all, this is a big deal, just like growing up wearing open-crotch pants with the commander of the Eastern Depot, but he has a good relationship with his boss, so it shouldn't be a problem.

  Let's not mention the thick and thin of these two, to say that half a day later, Sun Chengzong received the imperial edict, heard that Zu Dashou actually led his troops back privately at this extraordinary time, and couldn't help but get angry and curl up his mustache.

  After inquiring about the situation from the official, he figured out Zudashou's mind and the situation of Guanning Army. He immediately set off to chase after Zudashou, as they were all cavalry and had a head start. Alas, poor old Sun, at his age, still having to rush on horseback, fortunately, his body was in good shape.

  Fortunately, Jian Yu was not on the road where Sun Chengzong was chasing his ancestors. If he had taken a detour, the situation would have been even worse. He finally caught up with the Guanning Army before Shanhaiguan.

  Actually, Zu Dashou did this just to coerce the imperial court, wanting the imperial court to give him a guarantee, and not really wanting to return to Ningyuan. He's not stupid, if he were to run back to Ningyuan at this time, could his lone Guanning City withstand the imperial court's wrath afterwards? Unless he surrendered to Jian Wokou. But surrendering to Jian Wokou is a joke, just a gang of bandits, and he, a proud general, roaming free outside the pass, would go to be a minor leader under the bandits? Isn't that just asking for trouble?!

  The Guanning Army saw that their old leader had arrived and none of them dared to stop Sun Chongzong, some even led the way, and they directly found Zu Dashou.

  As soon as they met, Sun Chengzong shouted in a loud voice: "Good you, Fuyun, your guts have grown bigger, haven't they? You actually dared to run away secretly. What was the intention of changing this character for you back then, do you still remember, Fuyun? Do you understand?"

  Zu Dashou watched as Sun Chengzong panted and roared with anger, feeling a bit weak and not daring to speak. He also knew that when the old leader scolded like this, nothing would happen. Zu Dashou didn't speak, and the other generals were even more afraid to speak, all lowering their heads to take the blame. These people had all been scolded and educated by Sun Chengzong before.

  As soon as Sun Chengzong finished speaking, he hastily smiled and said: "General, take a break, have a drink of water, and continue scolding. Fu Yu knows his mistake." After finishing speaking, he shouted at his younger brother: "You don't even have any eyesight, hurry up and deliver the water to General Chengzong!"

  Sun Chengzong knew that Zu Dashou was a thick-skinned person, so he scolded him and the other party obediently admitted their mistake. Since it wasn't necessary to take him down, Sun let it slide.

  Then began haggling, mainly means:

  Sun Chengzong: Going back is a must, you can set the conditions.

  Zu Dashou: Going back is no problem, as long as I'm fine.

  He Kexin interrupts: The governor will also be fine.

  Sun Chenzong: You can rest assured, I have an imperial edict here that was obtained in advance, which I can show you. However, Yuan Chonghuan has already been taken into custody and it's impossible to release him immediately. His case is not trivial, so this cannot be agreed to.

  Both sides insisted on it, and finally made a deal under Sun Chengzong's angry eyes.

  It's not going to work, the imperial court actually sent over a veteran leader of the Genghis Khan army, and he is a prestigious one at that. Not only do the generals recognize him, but many of the soldiers under them also acknowledge his leadership, so surrender is certain.

  So Sun Chengzong didn't have time to rest and took this group of worrisome younger brothers on another overnight trip.

  Hong Taiji led the main force of Jianzhou to attack several weak places of the Ming army, and after burning, killing, looting, and boosting the morale of the soldiers who were frustrated by the defeat under the city wall of the capital of the Ming dynasty, he decided to try his luck again in Beijing. If it still can't be taken, the Ming army's relief troops will increase, making it inconvenient to fight again, so they will return home.

  On the 17th day of the 12th month of Chongzhen's second year, just on the second day after the Guanning Army returned to the capital, Huang Taiji brought his men and came again. They had a fierce battle, but at this time there were already 40,000 to 50,000 Ming troops under the city of Beijing. They couldn't take it down, and they suffered relatively heavy losses, so they retreated. The only gain was that they gathered a group of Ba Ya La divine archers, who secretly launched a concentrated attack on the Ming army commander Ma Guangyuan, who was fighting bravely, and killed him in secret.

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