After Rebirth, My Wife Turned Out to Be Myself - Chapter 51

The news about the West Jin Emperor was confirmed shortly after.

The West Jin Emperor was severely injured and in critical condition. The Eldest Prince was governing as regent in court.

The West Jin troops stationed at the border seemed to have stopped their designs on Da Yue’s northern territory; they were anxious and preoccupied with their own affairs.

The Eldest Prince had not ordered them to withdraw, and they could not, nor dared to, withdraw.

With internal turmoil in West Jin, if East Ming and Da Yue were to ally at this time, West Jin’s border would be in grave danger.

The immediate priority was to first quell the panic among the people caused by the West Jin Emperor’s severe injury.

But that was not so easy to quell…

As mentioned before, the West Jin Emperor had many children… West Jin was different from Da Yue; due to its smaller population, their bureaucratic system was not as strict and defined as Da Yue’s, yet they had a very strict imperial power system, with all governing authority tightly held by the royal family. Thus, almost every prince and princess held their own territory and jurisdiction.

Now that the West Jin Emperor was in trouble, although the Eldest Prince was the regent, if he were even slightly careless, he could be… by his other siblings.

In short, the one who survived to the end and seized power in West Jin would be the next West Jin Emperor.

All the hidden undercurrents were forced into the open by the West Jin Emperor’s incident.

West Jin was now, one could say, attacked from both front and back.

Da Yue’s soldiers stood on the watchtowers, gazing out, seemingly able to sense the instability in the west.

Similarly, East Ming was also not peaceful.

The West Jin Emperor’s incident pointed directly at East Ming. If the West Jin princes hadn’t first fought for power but instead united to demand an explanation from East Ming, East Ming truly wouldn’t know what to do.

Was the assassin sent by East Ming?

Perhaps not.

But the news circulating was such, and perhaps the assassin truly carried some proof that could confirm the assassination was related to East Ming.

Of course, there were also those who saw the situation clearly and boldly speculated that the mastermind behind it might be Da Yue, as in a standoff between three countries, the ultimate beneficiary of such an incident would be Da Yue.

Regardless of the truth, the West Jin Emperor’s assassination became a fact.

The news reached the capital, naturally causing the court officials to breathe a sigh of relief.

The one who least wanted to start a war at this critical juncture was Da Yue.

“No war, the north can finally catch its breath.” Li Mingxin’s face showed joy. There were still many plans for the north’s construction yet to be realized. As the current head of the Ministry of Works, Li Mingxin naturally hoped nothing would happen to the north.

“It seems Anyu can return to the capital for the New Year this year,” Xie Yunyu also said.

Xie Wan nodded: “Yes.”

The winter in the north was bitterly cold; those delicate little faces pampered in the capital would likely freeze and crack.

As for the matter of West Jin, Xie Wan wasn’t particularly surprised.

According to the trajectory of her previous life, it was indeed this year that the West Jin Emperor died from an assassination. Afterwards, West Jin’s Eldest Prince sent a peace treaty to Da Yue and signed some treaties involving land cession and indemnities.

The small skirmish in the northern border also ended with this.

And from then on, West Jin began its struggle for succession.

It was also from this time that the undercurrents surged more obviously, with disputes between countries occurring frequently.

Until Emperor Ruiming fell gravely ill, the Xu family rebelled, then Lingbei revolted… and neighboring countries invaded.

This northern border conflict seemed like just a test between the three countries, but in fact, it was the fuse.

In her previous life, the drought and famine in the north caused far more damage to Da Yue than the other two countries imagined. Although her father led the army in this northern border conflict and nothing major happened in the end, it was a very difficult struggle.

The north back then was not like it is now, where despite the disaster, everything is stable. Back then, the north was already littered with corpses due to the famine.

The northern army was not backed by the common people, but by empty cities.

Da Yue back then was truly afraid of war.

West Jin and East Ming’s probing revealed a powerless Da Yue and that the north was Da Yue’s best point of breakthrough.

Coupled with an empty treasury, the north’s recovery in both production and population had been slow.

Now, Da Yue, although weak, is not afraid of war.

At most, it would be a difficult fight.

It’s good, not fighting is indeed very good.

Xie Wan gently rubbed the letter sent from the north, her eyes terrifyingly deep.

Give her a few more years… she wants to incorporate both the Ming and Jin countries into Da Yue’s territory.

After court, Li Mingxin got into her carriage and started chatting with the person opposite her.

“According to everyone’s guess, West Jin will likely send a peace letter soon. Da Yue doesn’t want war, but they probably want it even less than Da Yue.”

Peace requires showing some sincerity.

And that sincerity would be perfect for building the north.

Li Mingxin thought happily, just wondering how much silver Minister Xie would allocate to her.

“I actually think Her Majesty didn’t intend to avoid war from the start,” Zhou Ning, sitting opposite Li Mingxin, said calmly.

Li Mingxin was surprised upon hearing this, “But Da Yue…”

Da Yue suffered a disaster this year, and Her Majesty still wants to build the north, how could she want to fight?

Seeing her look at her with confusion, Zhou Ning did not explain: “Just my guess. Not fighting is good.”

From Zhou Ning’s perspective, she actually believed Her Majesty did not want to avoid war.

Otherwise, why would she send both Xie Yunliang and Anyu there?

Training soldiers requires fighting to be effective.

Li Mingxin might not be clear, but her father was the Minister of War, so she naturally knew some things.

In fact, the Ministry of War had already prepared plans for what to do if war broke out. Provisions, military supplies, everything was within calculation.

It was just that this plan was halted.

Perhaps Da Yue would be stretched thin, but if they could truly take down West Jin, which was temporarily in great chaos due to the Emperor’s death, Da Yue’s treasury would instantly become full.

But this move was too risky, and there were too many variables.

But it had to be admitted, Her Majesty was prepared for such a possibility.

Zhou Ning thought, Her Majesty probably isn’t satisfied with just being a wise ruler who governs well. Her gaze… is even set on the surrounding countries.

After Ming and Jin, among the powerful nations, how far does she want to fight, how much does she want to expand Da Yue’s territory? Zhou Ning didn’t know, but just thinking about it made her heart tremble as a subject.

When the Emperor’s command arrived, they, the military generals, would surely ride into battle and be invincible.

“Not sleeping tonight?” Zhou Ning asked.

Li Mingxin yawned and shook her head: “Not sleeping. Always falling asleep in the carriage, and having to trouble you to watch over me.”

Zhou Ning: “I don’t find it troublesome.”

“It’s that I don’t want to trouble Commander Zhou,” Li Mingxin smiled, “But did Her Majesty ask you to escort me again?”

Zhou Ning did not answer.

Li Mingxin took it as a yes. After all, besides Her Majesty, who could command the Deputy Commander of the Imperial Guards?

“Official Zhou, do you find me troublesome…” Li Mingxin coughed lightly, “I’ll go tell Her Majesty tomorrow…”

“I had an errand outside the palace and happened to take Official Li’s carriage. Or does Official Li find me troublesome?” Zhou Ning said.

Li Mingxin immediately waved her hand, her cheeks slightly red, “No, how could I find Commander Zhou troublesome… So you had an errand outside the palace.” She felt a bit shy, “I thought Her Majesty ordered it…”

“It was on the way.”

“…Mm.”

The atmosphere became strangely quiet.

Li Mingxin’s mind suddenly recalled the scene from two or three months ago when she introduced Zhou Ning to potential marriage partners. Although that meeting wasn’t successful, she became good friends with Zhou Ning.

As for why it didn’t work out, it was only because she introduced Zhou Ning to men who were more or less skilled in martial arts. She originally thought a woman like Commander Zhou, if she married someone who knew martial arts, it would be suitable.

But the portraits she brought, the matchmakers she introduced, were all rejected by her.

Zhou Ning didn’t say much, only one sentence: “I don’t plan to marry a martial artist.”

This left Li Mingxin, who was in charge of the matchmaking, stunned.

She had good intentions but caused trouble.

“Compared to martial artists I can beat, I prefer gentle and polite scholars.”

Li Mingxin remembered Zhou Ning’s words.

Commander Zhou likes either martial artists she can’t beat, or gentle and polite scholars.

There are barely two people in the entire capital who can beat Commander Zhou.

As for gentle and polite scholars…

Li Mingxin clutched her wide sleeves, not daring to meet her gaze.

Every time Commander Zhou looked at her.

A fanciful thought would always pop into her mind…

That fanciful thought, Li Mingxin dared not voice it no matter what.