Chapter 283

“Everyone, everyone, quiet down and listen to me!” Lady Qiao Jin shouted with all her might. However, her voice clearly could not intimidate them. At this moment, Qiao Ruoyin came up and said, “Silence!” When Lady Qiao Jin heard her family members talk about Qiao ruoyin, they all said that her personality was as weak as Qiao Ruoyun’s. However, she did not expect her voice to be so loud. “Silence, this is the current crown princess consort. All of you, quiet down first and listen to the Crown Princess’Admonishment!” The crowd quieted down. Some of the commoners who were stirring up trouble in the crowd shouted, “Rumor has it that the Crown Princess Consort stole the National Treasure of Xiliang for the sake of beautifying her appearance. That’s why Xiliang came to attack our cloud province.” For a moment, the crowd became noisy again. Qiao ruoyin shouted loudly, “Everyone, silence. If anyone still doesn’t listen to the Crown Princess Consort, Kill Without Mercy!” The words ‘kill without mercy’finally calmed these people. Qiao Jinniang coughed and said in the loudest voice she had ever heard in her life, “People, I didn’t steal the Heavenly Mountain Snow Lotus, the National Treasure of Xiliang. It was stolen long ago! The National Master of Xiliang was a fraud. The people of Chang ‘an had long seen through his trickery in Chang ‘an. More than 20 years ago, Yunzhou city was destroyed. My grandfather and his brothers died in battle here. What was the reason for the invasion of Xiliang? It was just an excuse for Xiliang’s wild ambitions. Today, I came here to ask all the elders of Yunzhou City to stay in Yunzhou city and not to run around. If Yunzhou city was destroyed, even if you escaped to another city, you would still suffer! When I returned to Marquis an Yuan’s residence, I often heard about the heroic days of my ancestors. I also heard about the people of Yunzhou city when Xiliang slaughtered Yunzhou city, it was the people of Yunzhou City who forcefully held on to Yunzhou City without surrendering. Today, the Xiliang Army has yet to set foot in Yunzhou city. If you run away like this, you will only disturb the morale of the army. “Also, many of you are military relatives, and many of you are retired border guards. At this juncture, if you run away without protecting your home, you will be worthy of the martyrs who bled here twenty years ago!” “Crown princess, that’s easy for you to say. We don’t want to Die!” “That’s right. We haven’t lived long enough, so why should we die?” Qiao Jinniang listened to the people below, “Who isn’t afraid of death? I’m also afraid of death. If Yunzhou City Falls today and we can’t defend it, you have to live. If Yunzhou City Falls, you have to run. If you make the world uneasy, I Won’t stop you from running. But now, the army is still 300 miles away. The emperor’s great-grandson is still in Yunzhou City. What are you hiding from? What are you running from? Apart from disturbing the morale of the army, what benefits do you have! My Sister, Qiao ruowan, is still a month away from reaching marriageable age. She is on the battlefield right now. The crown prince could have returned to Luoyang safe and sound, but he is still on the battlefield. Aren’t they afraid of death? “Aren’t the 100,000 Generals Afraid of death? “Why do they want to seek death? “Because they want to protect the people of Yunzhou. Only by living and working in Yunzhou can their morale be greatly boosted. “As the people they want to protect, if you don’t believe in our great Tang’s army, how can the morale of the army be boosted! “The soldiers are at war, but some of you go to their homes to rob them. Won’t that make their hearts cold?” Qiao Jinniang’s words made many of the people in the crowd blush. Another man in the crowd said, “Crown Princess, aren’t you saying this to protect the throne of the Lu Family? We don’t have to lose our lives for the throne of the Lu family!” Qiao jinniang said, “Men, tie him up. How can there be a complete egg when the nest is overthrown? His Majesty has worked hard for more than 20 years to create the current era of Great Tang. Now that Xiliang has attacked Great Tang, how can the people of Great Tang have an easy time. Why are you still instigating people here? What are your intentions? Men, tie him up and interrogate him in detail. He is a spy sent by Xiliang to disturb the morale of the army! Also, from today onwards, if there is a man under the age of 15 who is willing to join the army and is under the age of 30, he can go to the JIEDU Envoy’s residence to receive 50 taels of silver. In the future, his salary will be calculated separately. “If the women are physically strong, they can also receive 50 taels of silver to join the army.” Many people’s eyes lit up when they heard 50 taels of silver. This was not a small amount of money. Qiao ruoyin asked, “Crown Princess Consort, where did you get this silver?” Qiao jinniang said, “I will pay. I will have to trouble brother-in-law to properly register the money.” “You will pay from your private vault?”Qiao Ruoyin asked. “I don’t think that’s appropriate, right?” Qiao jinniang said, “It’s the same for me. Without the golden age, it’s useless for me to keep so much money.”. “The northern desert is about to send troops. I think the reinforcements will go to the northern desert first. They won’t come to the southwest so soon. Recruiting troops from the cloud state is the fastest and best way.” Qiao ruoyin cupped her hands and said, “Elder sister is truly admirable.” Qiao Jinniang returned to the Qiao residence and saw Little Lu Xi practicing with a tree branch as a sword. When he saw Qiao Jinniang, he went up and said, “Mother, when Xi’er has mastered the sword, she will be able to go to the battlefield to kill the enemy.” Qiao jinniang smiled and said, “Xi’er is so obedient. Practice your sword well. When you’re done, help third maternal grandfather and your father kill the enemy together!” Qiao Jinniang returned to her room and felt a little dizzy. She didn’t know if it was because she had injured her Dantian by talking loudly just now, but she felt waves of discomfort in her throat. Lu Chen had left the imperial physicians accompanying her in the army to be military doctors. Hong Ling then went to invite the Qiao family’s imperial physicians to check Qiao Jinniang’s pulse. The imperial physicians checked her pulse and said, “I wonder when was the last time the crown princess and Consort had a small life?” Hong Ling replied, “It’s the end of September.” It was already November and a half, and the October trip was on the road. Qiao Jin had thought that she had not come because she was not used to the environment. Now that she heard the doctor say this, she asked with some joy, “Am I pregnant?” The Doctor of the Qiao family said, “The Empress’pulse is already showing signs of a faint pulse. It’s just that the time is still short. We still need to wait for a few more days before we can check her pulse.” Qiao Jin motioned for Hong Ling to give the Doctor a lot of rewards. She touched her lower abdomen, thinking that it would be great if she was a daughter. It was just enough to form a good character. Qiao Jin wrote a letter about this matter and passed it to Lu Chen, who was on the battlefield three hundred miles away. Lu Chen opened Qiao Jin’s letter in the tent. Seeing the joy in her words, he could not help but think of the delicate look on her face when she was pregnant with Xi’er. He called over third master Qiao and the other generals and said, “The attack on Xiliang needs to be done quickly. We’ll just wait for the Imperial Court’s order and attack directly. After all, we can’t let the Crown Princess give birth to a little princess in Yunzhou.” Most of the generals in Yunzhou were soldiers of Marquis an Yuan’s manor. When they heard this, their morale was greatly boosted. Only third master Qiao asked, “Your Highness, a few days ago, the Crown Princess’stomach was still flat. Can you tell that she’s the Little Princess Now?” Lu Chen smiled indulgently. “She wants a daughter.”