Chapter 1166 – Conquer Xu Pei, First Kill of the Lords (Thirty-Six)
“I can’t say I’m not bothered.”
Wei Ci found himself reminiscing about many past events, specifically the details of recruiting Bai Ning from his previous life.
In that past, he represented Lord An Huan in drawing Bai Ning in. Back then, they were impoverished and had only a few officers without troops—An Huan couldn’t afford to be picky, whoever joined was a catch. Bai Ning, though older, was still a vigorous warrior—a rare gem.
An old steed still aspires to gallop a thousand miles, so the nearly forty-year-old general shouldn’t be underestimated.
Recruiting Bai Ning wasn’t that hard, but he hit a wall with Bai Yuexia, who even managed to jab at An Huan with her words.
At that time, An Huan was weak and cold; Bai Yuexia spoke harshly but honestly, making it tricky to lose his temper in front of Bai Ning.
Looking back at his past life compared to this one, Wei Ci nearly choked on his blood.
In his past life, after much persuasion, he finally convinced Bai Ning to serve, while enduring Bai Yuexia’s mocking comments and maintaining an elegant smile.
But in this life, with the Lord’s backing, Bai Yuexia didn’t hesitate to have both her father and herself join the ranks.
It seemed so smooth, yet Wei Ci’s heart was filled with reluctance.
It was truly infuriating!
Since they decided to join, Bai Ning and his daughter had to gather their belongings to follow Wei Ci.
During this time, Wei Ci was busy persuading Yang Tao to form an alliance and send troops.
Until Wei Ci left, Bai Ning was somewhat dazed.
“Yuxia, do you really want to go to Dongqing? That place is incredibly far, leaving your home may mean I can’t protect you,” Bai Ning muttered, sipping on the slightly bitter sake, “I wanted to find you a decent family; if you leave Pengjun, I’m afraid it won’t be easy to find one.”
Bai Yuexia was busily packing their things.
“Once the battles are over, Father can come back anytime he wishes,” Bai Yuexia said, “As for my marriage, you needn’t worry about that. A bunch of rough men who only see appearances, to put it bluntly, they’re useless. I won’t settle for those flowery pillows; if I marry, it must be a remarkable man like Lord Lan Ting, or I won’t marry at all.”
Bai Ning was even more worried, his thick brows furrowing deeply.
“Yuxia, Lord Lan Ting is a woman.”
“Exactly, so I need to find a man who’s as formidable as she is. I’m not marrying Lord Lan Ting!”
Bai Yuexia looked at her father, wondering what kind of wild thoughts he was having.
“That’s a model for us women. Living life, if I could enjoy it as freely as she does, how wonderful would that be?”
Bai Yuexia indeed admired Jiang Pengji, almost becoming an obsessed fan.
She was a woman, and a woman criticized for her appearance.
Throughout her life, how much suffering had Bai Yuexia endured because of this face? How many tears had she shed?
If she were dull-witted, it would have been fine; if she was oblivious to others’ malice, she might have avoided heartache.
But alas, she was astoundingly clever, and couldn’t simply ignore it.
Why couldn’t her wisdom and talent win her the recognition or affection of others?
This question had troubled her for many years until she finally realized: It was because she was ugly!
For a woman, being ugly was a sin; one could forget about receiving others’ respect for a lifetime!
There’s a saying that women have four virtues: virtue, speech, appearance, and skill.
She believed she possessed all but “appearance” adequately. Yet, despite this, she still couldn’t compare to those illiterate women of the fields, who acted coarsely or were even unfilial but looked good—they were perfect simply by being able to bear children.
How utterly unfair!
Though Bai Yuexia didn’t show it, she had suppressed her feelings for years, finding ways to thwart her father’s marriage proposals.
Those men were merely commoners; the moment they saw her face, their eyes honestly reflected their thoughts—disgust, disdain!
Bai Yuexia, proud and haughty, could never tolerate crawling to someone who was beneath her in every way.
Once she submitted, it would shatter her pride and dignity.
Until the alliance meeting at Huangshui, when Jiang Pengji’s gender was revealed, making it public knowledge that Liu Xi was indeed a woman, not a man.
The moment Bai Yuexia learned this, it was like a traveler in the dark finally seeing a guiding light.
A dazzling light, shining high in the sky.
The joy and exhilaration she felt were beyond what others could comprehend.
That was her sun; in that moment, she truly wanted to become Kua Fu to chase after it, no matter the cost.
Bai Ning, unaware of his daughter’s thoughts, felt ashamed.
His aging parents and wife had turned to dust; apart from his daughter, he was all alone.
Not being able to provide his daughter with a good life was his failure.
Bai Ning observed his daughter packing the wood from the shelves, and asked, “Are we taking this too?”
“Of course, it might come in handy in the future.”
Bai Yuexia skillfully packed it into boxes.
The wooden materials were all devices she had made, filling up six large boxes.
“I heard Zixiao is trying to persuade Yang Tao to send troops; what do you think the chances are?”
Bai Ning, unable to contribute, decided to chat about something else.
“Fifty-fifty?” Bai Yuexia said, unsure. “Yang Tao has a personal grudge against Xu Pei; with half of Zhangzhou taken, how could he swallow that? However, I see that Wei Zixiao is quite confident, so there might be other factors that could easily sway Yang Tao.”
Bai Ning had heard of the situation in Dongqing but didn’t know as much as his daughter who was so absorbed in it.
He said, “Once I stabilize my position under Lord Lan Ting, I’ll find you a husband who is both talented and handsome.”
Bai Yuexia’s expression didn’t change.
She knew her father worried that if anything happened to him, she would be left lonely, hence wanting to give her a home.
However—
As for marriage, she had come to terms; a husband, whatever will be, will be.
After waiting two days, Bai Ning and his daughter saw a formidable squad of soldiers standing outside their house.
Upon inquiring, it turned out Wei Ci had successfully persuaded Yang Tao to form an alliance and asked Yang Tao to send someone to escort them.
“How did the gentleman persuade Yang Tao?” Bai Yuexia asked, astonished.
“The murderer of Yang Tao’s father, Zhao Shao, is under Xu Pei,” Wei Ci replied with a smile, “Yang Tao can’t possibly tolerate that emotionally or logically. Moreover, if I wait for my lord to subdue the Huang and Xu families, he won’t even be able to hold onto that half of Zhangzhou.”
No matter how well Yang Tao developed in Nansheng, his roots were still in Dongqing.
If he didn’t seize this opportunity to stabilize his footing, once Jiang Pengji wiped out the Huang and Xu families, Dongqing would be solely hers.
Bai Yuexia’s eyes sparkled a bit, but she said, “I’ve heard the Huang and Xu lords are quite powerful; since the war at Beikang, Lord Lan Ting has been worn out from a long battle. Now, to go to war again against the two lords, what are our chances of success?”
“It’s not that my lord is eager for battle; it’s quite clear that others refuse to lay down their arms, forcing her to fight,” he said. “The odds aren’t high, but ten to one is enough!”
If not for the Nie Clan’s temporary withdrawal from the stage and the Yi Clan being bogged down by political struggles, Jiang Pengji would face the dilemma of fighting on all fronts. Now it was one against two; the difficulty had dropped dramatically. With Yang Tao joining, even if it was two against two, if they couldn’t win, it was better to rest early.
Bai Yuexia pressed her lips together, a smile spreading across her face.
“I’ve heard that Lord Lan Ting wrote to Xu Pei, once saying, ‘In the land of the nine provinces and four seas, I want it all’…”
Why was her lord so charmingly arrogant?
Wei Ci: “…”
Bai Ning, how about I set your daughter up and marry her off early?
