#618 - Leaving Beijing for Liangzhou
Leaving Fish Belly Mountain, Wei Changtian returned to the Wei residence bathed in the afterglow of the setting sun.
Yang Liushi was chatting with Li Zimu in the courtyard, and when she saw him return, she stood up and greeted him with a smile.
“Young Master, why are you back so early? I thought you would be discussing matters with Ning Wenjun until late.”
“Something happened in Xinfeng.”
Wei Changtian shook his head and walked into the main hall: “So we didn’t finish the discussion.”
“Oh? What happened?”
“Well, Xu SuiSui has gotten involved with the Buddhist sect.”
“It’s a good thing that Miss Xu can ask the Buddhist sect for help.”
“In this way, Xinfeng might be able to hold on.”
“Who knows.”
Wei Changtian curled his lips: “I don’t care about her, anyway, it has nothing to do with us for the time being.”
“Yes.”
Yang Liushi nodded lightly, and seeing that Wei Changtian's expression seemed a little off, she hesitated for a moment and then asked again.
“Young Master, did anything else happen besides this?”
“...”
Good heavens, Yang Liushi’s sixth sense is quite sharp.
Muttering in his heart, Wei Changtian didn't hide anything, sighed, and said:
“Alas, after leaving the palace, I went to Fish Belly Mountain again.”
“Fish Belly Mountain?”
Yang Liushi was stunned, and then seemed to understand something.
On the Double Ninth Festival two years ago, she was also at Fish Belly Mountain as "bait," and she asked Wei Changtian who the people killed by Xiao Feng in the carriage were.
At that time, Wei Changtian replied that one was Xiao Feng's woman, and the other was Xiao Feng's benefactor.
So...
“Young Master, do you feel guilty towards those two people?”
“Yes.”
Wei Changtian took a sip of tea: “No matter what, I ordered them to be put on the carriage.”
“At that time, I only thought that they wanted to help Xiao Feng, so they were my enemies, and their deaths were not a pity.”
“But later I thought about it, they didn’t actually do anything wrong, at least...”
“Forget it, let’s not talk about this.”
Suddenly, Wei Changtian shook his head and ended the topic on his own.
Yang Liushi looked at him gently, without offering any comfort.
Both of them knew that what had happened had already happened, and nothing could be changed no matter what, so it was useless to think too much.
Thus, the room fell into silence.
However, after a moment, Yang Liushi suddenly smiled again:
“Giggle, Young Master, I always feel that you are different from others.”
“Sometimes you are extremely ruthless, but sometimes you are very kind.”
“Where can ordinary people be like you?”
“Is that so?”
Wei Changtian rolled his eyes: “Then do you think ruthlessness is better or kindness is better?”
“I think it’s best for Young Master to be like this.”
Yang Liushi slowly stopped smiling, looked into Wei Changtian's eyes, and said seriously:
“I mean it.”
“...”
Seeing Yang Liushi suddenly become so serious, Wei Changtian couldn't help but be stunned.
He didn't say anything, just turned his head and looked at the small courtyard outside the house.
The breeze rolled up the setting sun, a gentle tranquility.
Two days later, the fifteenth day of the first month.
Today is the Lantern Festival, a day for family reunion.
Although a great enemy is at hand, there is still some festive atmosphere in the capital, and the faces of passers-by have a bit more smile.
During the day, Wei Changtian finalized the last few things about resisting the enemy with Ning Wenjun in the palace. At night, he went home to eat a reunion dinner, and then took Yang Liushi and Li Zimu into the carriage waiting outside the door.
From the eleventh to the fifteenth, he had stayed in the capital for five days, and all the things he planned to do had been completed.
Of course, Wei Changtian could have waited until early tomorrow morning to leave.
But the news that came back from Dajue an hour ago made him decide not to wait any longer, but to set off immediately to Liangzhou.
【Tomorrow at Chen time, the Jue and Ji kingdoms will send troops south, with approximately 800,000 enemies】
Sure enough.
As expected, after learning that Fengning had stopped the internal strife, the four countries did advance the time of their uprising.
Roughly estimated, they would need to march for about a month to reach Liangzhou.
That would mean that Da Ning still had a month to prepare defenses.
A month, neither long nor short.
Since Wei Changtian had nothing to do even if he continued to stay in the capital, it would be better to go to Liangzhou early to prepare.
After all, this time he not only had to win the war, but also had to win decisively.
“...”
“Young Master, the two countries only have 800,000 people, which is less than we expected.”
The carriage was driving slowly and steadily on the streets of the city, with bright lights shining on both sides. Although it could not compare to the Shuzhou city on New Year's Eve, today's Da Ning capital could be considered lively and festive.
Yang Liushi's face flickered in the light, like a fairy who secretly descended from the sky on the night of the full moon.
However, her expression was quite serious, and she was now carefully analyzing the future war.
“I just don’t know how strong the Jue and Ji kingdoms are.”
“Especially Dajue, they are following the path of witchcraft and Gu, and I am afraid they will have some different methods.”
“It would be best if we could find a few people who understand witchcraft to ask in advance, so as to avoid improper response after the war begins...”
“...”
It has to be said that Yang Liushi's military books were not read in vain, and she could now speak a lot of things in an orderly manner.
Wei Changtian listened while discussing with her from time to time, and did not dismiss her words just because she was a woman.
Overall, the two were relatively optimistic about the situation of this "anti-aggression war."
Although Da Ning plus Da Shu only had more than 500,000 troops in total, the number was indeed at a disadvantage.
However, the armies of the Jue and Ji kingdoms had to cross the Tianshan Mountains to reach Liangzhou, and they would inevitably be exhausted along the way.
More importantly, their logistics supply must be very difficult.
As long as Liangzhou could hold on for more than a month, the other party's logistics would be in trouble.
And the longer the time is dragged on, the bigger the problem will be.
As the defending side, Wei Changtian was confident that he could hold Liangzhou for a long time.
He was not even satisfied with just "defense."
If the time is right, taking the initiative to attack is not impossible...
Of course, the above are currently just "armchair strategies". The specific situation will definitely have to be carefully discussed with Han Zhao, Du Chang, and others after arriving in Liangzhou.
But at least after learning that the two countries would only send 800,000 people, the atmosphere in the carriage was quite relaxed.
Thus, Wei Changtian and Yang Liushi talked casually, while Li Zimu, who did not understand warfare, naturally could not get a word in. After listening for a while, she quietly lifted the curtain and looked outside.
Thousands of doors unlock, ten thousand lamps shine, the capital is lively in the middle of the first month.
At this time, the carriage was about to reach the North City Gate. Since Pingchang Fang, which was the most lively during festivals, was also in the north of the city, the festive atmosphere around it was becoming more and more intense.
Li Zimu had never seen such a lively scene before. She was both curious and yearning, so she couldn't help but look at it for a while.
It was not until the tall city wall appeared in front of her and the surrounding crowd gradually became sparse that she withdrew her gaze and reluctantly closed the curtain.
“Huh?”
Turning her head, Li Zimu suddenly realized that Wei Changtian and Yang Liushi had stopped talking at some point, and were now looking at her with smiles.
“Yo, Young Master...”
She lowered her head embarrassedly, wanting to admit her mistake.
However, Wei Changtian waved his hand and smiled:
“It’s okay, look as much as you want.”
“Yes.”
Li Zimu was also straightforward. Hearing Wei Changtian say this, she responded and actually turned her head back again.
She slightly opened a gap in the curtain, and a firework trailed a long golden tail into the night sky, and then bloomed into a myriad of golden lights with a loud noise.
“Bang!!!!”
Listening to the huge sound, watching the fireworks blooming in the night and the crowd laughing and looking up in the firelight, Li Zimu slightly opened her mouth, only feeling that this should be the most lively scene in the world.
And the current Li Zimu does not know that she will see a scene almost the same as this one month later.
The same loud noise, the same fireworks.
It's just that the people standing under the firelight at that time no longer have smiles on their faces.
There is only endless fear and despair.
