Chapter 1664: Pursuit and Escape

Su Zixuan found Wang Yan very unpleasant to look at now.

No, it was ever since Wang Yan's artillery fire had left the Manchu Qing, the Heavenly Kingdom, and the foreigners with no temper that she found him unpleasant.

Because Wang Yan's eldest wife was Liao Xuan, this wild girl who popped out of nowhere with no name, not her, Su Zixuan!

She was the first to come into contact with Wang Yan and was captivated by Wang Yan's charm, incidentally investing in herself. As a result, while she was busy, a little girl appeared by Wang Yan's side, and as she kept busy, the two of them got married.

So much so that now, when the fruits of victory were harvested, Liao Xuan had directly become the Empress, while she, who had been busy for a long time and tossed for many years, could only be an Imperial Noble Consort. Compared to the Empress, it was truly one in the sky and one on the ground...

She had known long ago that Wang Yan was a ruthless person who would definitely have a place. After all, the Heavenly Kingdom had the momentum to sweep everything at that time, but Wang Yan was stubbornly stuck in Huoshan like a nail, unable to be pulled out or gouged out.

The most uncomfortable thing in the world is: "It could have been!"

In fact, Su Zixuan didn't care too much about being Empress or Imperial Noble Consort. After all, having been together for a long time, she knew that Wang Yan was definitely not someone who didn't cherish old feelings or would treat her harshly.

What made her uncomfortable was that after being busy for so long, it seemed like she hadn't accomplished anything, and she had also lost the good opportunity to be the big wife and give birth to the eldest son.

According to Wang Yan's theory, her revenge had of course already been taken. Although the Manchu Qing imperial family existed, it was basically finished and had no mountains and rivers to inherit. The bureaucratic system had also been shattered, and those big figures of the past no longer had authority; they ran outside the pass like dogs and were being driven further north.

What's more ridiculous is that they didn't have the guts to sabotage Wang Yan. This could be seen from the fact that Wang Yan had taken over the capital almost intact. Except for the lack of wealth, everything else in the palace was basically intact. Even some large furniture was well preserved, not chopped up for firewood.

The palace in Shengjing was the same; they were driven away and didn't dare to set fires or cause damage.

Because they knew that Wang Yan's army driving them away and a surprise attack by elite troops were two different things. Now Wang Yan was playing with them like teasing a dog, watching them like stray dogs with nowhere to settle, and finally with nowhere to escape. But if Wang Yan were truly angered, the situation would be different.

At the same time, one must never ignore Wang Yan's infiltration. They tried every means to insert people by Wang Yan's side and assassinate him, but Wang Yan had directly infiltrated their areas; how could he not arrange people by their side?

This is all mutual. If you respect me, I will leave you a line. If you don't respect me, then you will really suffer a great disaster.

In fact, Wang Yan was too lazy to spend effort on them because they couldn't be killed off. Below the imperial family were the Eight Banners, and within the Eight Banners, there were ranks, and after that, there was the distinction between Manchu and Han. Even after a hundred years, there were still so-called "Heavenly Patterns"; there were many problems in this.

It could even be said that if all relevant people were killed, after more than two hundred years of intermarriage, there were many with so-called bloodlines. Even if there were no purebreds, there was still bloodline theory.

It was mainly a problem of thought.

With the popularization of education and the passage of time, people with normal brains accepted the transformation of thought and could face the problem of ethnic integration from the bottom of their hearts. The remaining idiots were irrelevant to the overall situation; they were just clowns...

Watching Wang Yan teasing the child, Su Zixuan said: "Do you really want to let them go? There are many forests and medicinal herbs in the Northeast, and who knows how many mines are in the ground. Master, that is a good place. If you want to engage in construction, you will definitely need those things; you can't just let them have them for nothing, right?

There are Russians in the north, Japanese in the east, and foreigners. If they use the things in the Northeast to gain momentum, or simply run outside to enjoy happiness, and still covet us with evil intentions, looking for trouble for us at every opportunity, how disgusting you would be then. It would be better to cut the weeds and remove the roots now to avoid future trouble."

Wang Yan laughed heartily: "I knew you couldn't hold back. Third Master has already pushed toward Shengjing and driven people to Jilin. He is making arrangements and waiting to return. You have also finished your confinement, and you have practiced the martial arts I taught you diligently; your body has recovered well. You go to the Northeast yourself. Once you get there, Third Master will cooperate with you, and I will arrange for deputy generals to listen to your orders. Whether you can take revenge depends on yourself."

"Really?"

"How can you ask such a stupid question?" Liao Xuan pouted. "Master, I think we should consider it. If she goes over like this, I'm afraid she will harm the lives of our brothers in the army."

"The deputy generals are not fools; they won't listen to orders that send them to their deaths."

Su Zixuan listened to the two of them arranging her and laughed wildly: "Say whatever you want, anyway, when I go over this time, I must kill those people. After that, I will honestly be my Imperial Noble Consort in this palace."

"I haven't been lazy, so do you have the share of a little wife hiding in leisure?"

Wang Yan would of course not let women hide in the back. In fact, fully liberating women's productivity is extremely critical. Of course, in reality, women's productivity has never been sealed.

After all, young ladies from wealthy families are ultimately a minority; they are all the working masses, so how could they not work? The term "men plow, women weave" fully explains the importance of women in production. Plowing the land is definitely more tiring, but the work of raising silkworms, reeling silk, and weaving is also not easy.

It is just because men and women are physiologically different that men's work is heavier than women's, but when implemented, both are very tiring.

However, the development of industry has increased the labor value of women, leveling the labor force of both sides in some jobs, or rather, improving women's labor ability.

With the development and improvement of industry, the social and labor division of men and women naturally needs to be redistributed, which is "women can hold up half the sky."

Previously, Liao Xuan was responsible for women and children-related affairs. Now that the Chinese Autumn Begonia leaf is basically unified, there are naturally more affairs. Wang Yan assigned all matters of women and children to Liao Xuan. Don't look at Liao Xuan being quite leisurely now; that's only because she had to dine with the Heavenly King's family today, which is why she stole some leisure; otherwise, she would also have a pile of things to do, also lighting lamps and boiling oil.

Su Zixuan had only given birth to a child not long ago. During this period, she was idle and helping Liao Xuan; they were all their own people, and her ability was not bad, so she could always do more things.

In the future, Wang Yan planned to let them handle matters like women and children's health...

Having received Wang Yan's guarantee, Su Zixuan arranged for a wet nurse overnight, packed her luggage, and after having breakfast with Wang Yan early the next morning, she took a part of Wang Yan's guards out of the capital and rode fast toward the Northeast.

She was truly impatient, fearing that the Manchu Qing imperial family would run away.

Riding fast all the way, when she arrived at the place, she just happened to enter Shengjing together.

"Sister-in-law, this dragon throne is not as comfortable as the one in the capital."

In the palace of Shengjing, Su Zixuan was sitting on the dragon throne in a rebellious manner, while Jiang Wuyang, standing below the steps, was cupping his sleeves and laughing heartily.

Although he had no achievements in fighting, the prestige he had cultivated from controlling troops was not fake. And because of the fighting, one wrong step meant a life, so he had changed from the original jumping around to being stable.

Su Zixuan dangled her legs on the dragon throne: "Yo, Third Brother, sitting on the dragon throne is a great crime; it's a beheading offense."

"Sister-in-law, don't scare your younger brother. I sat on it when I was in the capital, and Big Brother even said if I liked it, he would have one made for me to put in my prince's mansion, to sit however I want. He would also have several dragon robes made for me to wear however I want."

"Then you really sit and wear them?"

"Sister-in-law, younger brother thanks you for the reminder, but I'm not stupid." Jiang Wuyang shook his head repeatedly. "I know Big Brother definitely doesn't care, but I've had quite a few children in these years, and I'm afraid my children will seek death in the future, so it's better not to touch these."

"As long as you have count. Actually, dragon thrones and dragon robes don't matter; your Big Brother really doesn't care. You don't know, when we first entered the city and checked the accounts, when we said we were short of money, your Big Brother wanted to open the palace. He said to sell tickets for people to come in and visit; ten dollars to walk to the Hall of Preserving Harmony, one hundred dollars to sit on the dragon throne..."

Jiang Wuyang laughed heartily: "Big Brother cares least about these things. Based on my understanding of Big Brother, he probably has already made a decision. When the time is right in the future, he will definitely be able to do this."

"The front hall is basically useless. I think his proposal is really feasible. You don't know, the expenses of such a large palace are too high. This is also a subsidy and can earn quite a bit. It was just collectively rejected by Lord Chen and the others. Especially the matter of sitting on the dragon throne; they argued until the beams almost fell."

Of course, the dragon throne cannot be sat on casually. It is not just a chair, but a symbol of the supreme imperial power of the feudal imperial system. If anyone can sit on it, the majesty and sanctity of the emperor will be discarded.

But what Wang Yan wants to do is to weaken the influence of imperial power. The real power is in his hands; he doesn't care about the influence of imperial power.

The two chatted for a few words and finally talked about the main business.

Jiang Wuyang said: "Sister-in-law, the Manchu Qing imperial family is retreating toward the Changbai Mountains. Scouts report that there are foreigners following them. I don't know if they are going to run with the foreigners. The situation here is good. Next, we will slowly push to Jilin and then stop. I'll give you twenty thousand men; I'll have the Assistant Regional Commander cooperate with you.

I originally wanted to go back quickly, but since Sister-in-law wants to do things, younger brother will first handle government affairs here and be a helper for Sister-in-law."

"You go back. A group of stray dogs, what kind of waves can they make? Even if they still have tens of thousands of people, they are not worth worrying about."

"That won't do. Only with preparation can there be no trouble. If there really is a one-in-a-million chance, how can I go back to see Big Brother? Anyway, there needs to be someone here. I'm not in a hurry to go back; it's settled."

Jiang Wuyang didn't argue with Su Zixuan anymore, immediately found the Assistant Regional Commander and staff officers, told Su Zixuan about the escape situation of the Manchu Qing in front, and handed over the military power to Su Zixuan.

He didn't leave, besides handling government affairs in Shengjing, he also had to arrange the supplies for this large army. After all, when a large army moves, it's not something that can be done just by walking. So many people are basically equivalent to locusts passing through. If there are no sufficient supplies, wherever they go, it will be cleaned out. The old saying goes: bandits pass like a comb, soldiers pass like a harrow, officials pass like a razor.

Su Zixuan also didn't talk nonsense. Hadn't she been tossing for so long for these things? She directly led the troops to attack.

She wouldn't lead troops, but fortunately, Wang Yan's soldiers were good soldiers. Although they usually advanced slowly layer by layer, they had plenty of time to train. Now that it was time to be fast, they were really fast.

Su Zixuan was even more courageous, directly taking the lead with three thousand people to chase and attack...

In the heavy snow, a huge team of people walked quickly. One couldn't see the head from the front, nor the tail from the back.

People's cheeks were frozen red, and in some places, they were cracked and festering, yet this was the lightest. There were also people who walked and fell into the snow. The people together with them would squat down to take a look, and after seeing the person reveal a smile, they would silently sigh and continue to follow the team numbly.

There were also people who walked and suddenly ran into the forest. Immediately, someone would ride a horse and shout to chase in. After the sound of bang, bang, bang gunshots, the person would be tied up and dragged away, deterring these numb followers.

Many people had no choice. They didn't want to come at all; they only hated that they ran too slowly when the war started...

Different from these people, even if the road was difficult, there was a huge carriage, in which luxurious carpets were laid, and a stove was lit inside, which was simply warmer than spring.

Just at this moment, the carriage door was opened, and cold air surged in.

Vanguard Commander, served by Cixi, was drinking medicinal soup, looking at the person who came in.

"What's the matter, so panicked." His voice was very weak, but very calm. Having reached the end of his rope, he hadn't died yet.

Yixin sighed and said: "A fast horse came from behind to report that there are pursuers. This time it's different from the past; the speed of the advance is very fast, and the distance is only three days away. At this moment, it might only be two days left..."

Cixi's hand holding the spoon paused, and it took a few breaths before she continued to feed Vanguard Commander medicine.

After swallowing the medicine, Vanguard Commander laughed hoarsely, but when he opened his mouth to speak, it turned into a cough.

After tossing for a while, he made a hoarse sound again: "What, scared?"

Without waiting for Cixi to speak, Yixin sighed again: "We overestimated Wang Yan's kindness at the beginning, thinking we could have a place in this Northeast. Now it seems we should have gone overseas with the foreigners directly, which would have been better than being caught and humiliated here."

"Your Majesty, aren't there foreigners following? After crossing the Changbai Mountains, there is an outlet to the sea, and their warships are parked there..." Cixi couldn't help but interject.

Vanguard Commander laughed even more happily: "You are really stupid. Going overseas with foreigners won't lead to humiliation? Once we get outside, we are monkeys, specially for others to laugh at. I originally thought about leaving a place here to live a peaceful life, but I didn't expect them not to let us go..."

Their actions were of course not brainless choices, but decisions made according to Wang Yan's consistent style of doing things. From the fact that they launched countless assassinations and Wang Yan didn't arrange for anyone to kill them once, it could be seen that Wang Yan didn't value their lives.

At the same time, before fighting the capital, although he had the strength to solve the problem early, he still dragged it out for a period of time according to the original plan, and then came over slowly, giving them plenty of time to run away. From this point of view, Wang Yan didn't trap them to death or plot to seize their two hundred years of accumulation.

Combining various factors, they made the judgment that Wang Yan had no intention of killing them all and was unwilling to invest too much energy in them...

?? Daily thanks to the good brothers who gave rewards, monthly tickets, recommendation tickets, and silently read the book for their strong support! ===== CHAPTER 1665 =====