At Tongmen Gate, Wei Dongyang stood at the entrance of a tent, watching the heavy snow with a cold face. Since he'd arrived, this heavy snow had not stopped. The garrison was okay. The soldier cleaned it every day, leaving no snow, but the snow outside the city was already waist-high, and someplace could even bury people.
After leaving the city, the surrounding area was all white, even the roads were indistinguishable. It was impossible to walk on the road, and the troops couldn't get out. In addition, some soldiers in the army were southerners, who could not adapt to the bitterly cold weather at all, and many of them suffered from frostbite.
Not to mention them, even northerners couldn't stand such cold weather! The locals said it hadn't snowed this much in years, much less been this cold! When the snow fell to the ground, it instantly froze into ice, not the soft snow, but hard snow and ice.
The situation on their side was not good, but the people who lived on the grassland were adapting well as if the snow had no effect on them. The day before yesterday, a powerful force from the grassland had raided a village. They didn't kill anyone, only took away all the food. But in this kind of weather, taking away people's food was no different from killing them.
When Wei Dongyang arrived with his men, the other party had already gone for a long time. They came and went like the wind. It was unknown how their warhorses were not afraid of freezing.
The people on their side couldn't adapt, let alone those horses. Dozens of them had frozen to death.
Wei Dongyang felt some headaches. This battle isn't easy to fight ah, I certainly won't be able to return this New Year. I might even be unable to catch up for Qingqing's birthday......
Because of the worry, Wei Dongyang couldn't sleep well. As soon as there was movement outside, he immediately awakened.
There was chaos outside, constant screams could be heard, but it did not look like an enemy attack. Wei Dongyang got dressed and went out, then calmly asked, "What's going on?" The army had always been disciplined. There was never such chaos during an enemy attack. If I didn't know, I would have thought that a god had come down!
"General! The god has come down!"
Wei Dongyang: "..."
Without waiting for Wei Dongyang to react, the soldiers explained to him in a variety of ways.
"When I was about to finish patrolling, the sky suddenly became as bright as the day, and a strange wind was blowing..."
"What wind? It's obviously celestial wind!"
"Yes yes yes, it's celestial wind, celestial wind. The celestial wind was blowing, and all the soldiers felt warm..."
"Even the frostbite on my hand is mostly healed."
"Me too! I was injured a few days ago, the wound had been split open for the past few days, and it never healed. After the celestial wind blew, it's now surprisingly only leaving a scab!"
"That doesn't count. The celestial wind suddenly rolled up all the snow on the ground, trees, and roof. Such thick snow! and the thick snow was flown away by the celestial wind!"
"We ran after the celestial wind and saw it rolled up more and more snow, covering the sky. I reckon all the snow in Yanzhou City was swept away by it!"
"I have been chasing for 20 miles outside the city and saw that the snow built a wall three feet high, one foot wide, and was so long that the end can't be seen!"
……
Wei Dongyang was surprised when he figured out the whole story, and now brought people with him to take a look at the Immortal Wall.
The Immortal Wall was what the soldiers called it.
At this moment, the sky was faintly bright, and there was not even a single drop of snow left on the ground. The road was frozen hard, and the horses' hoof stepping on it made the regular "ta ta" sound. When Wei Dongyang saw the Immortal Wall from a distance, he was shocked and speechless. Such a big thing was definitely not made with manpower!
On a closer look, the wall was as smooth as a mirror, compact and dense, couldn't be broken by swords, and a knife wouldn't be able to leave a scratch. The wall was three feet high, and the ladder used to climb the city wall was not even half as high. Besides, there was no such thing as a ladder to climb the city wall on the grassland.
Wei Dongyang suddenly thought of the key point. With this wall standing here, the barbarians on the grassland couldn't get through.
Wei Dongyang usually had a half-believing attitude towards those gods and Buddhas. But seeing this wall, he believed. There were really gods in this world.
"You two, go east along this wall and see where it goes! You two go to the west."
"Yes."
The four men rode on their horses and didn't come back until night.
"Report to the General. The east side of the Immortal Wall goes all the way to Phoenix Mountain!"
"The west side went to Wentong Mountain. There is no gap at all!"
"Good! In this way, those barbarians on the grassland won't be able to take one step in!" Wei Dongyang couldn't help laughing. The problem that made him have a headache yesterday was solved today! "This is the miracle from Heaven! God bless our Great Zhao!"
"A miracle has descended from Heaven! God bless our Great Zhao!"
"A miracle has descended from Heaven! God bless our Great Zhao!"
"A miracle has descended from Heaven! God bless our Great Zhao!"
……
The voice started from Wei Dongyang's tent, then the whole barracks followed. The sound was deafening and spreading in the sky!
Since the Longevity Festival ended, Wen Qing stayed in the palace for a few more days. Emperor Yuan Chang dead set on not letting her go. He was afraid that once she was out of the palace, she would slip out to the border gate.
"Uncle, I've gone to the border gate already. I saw my father was fine, so I came back."
Emperor Yuan Chang did not believe her and thought that Wen Qing only said that to coax him. It took half a month to go back and forth while she had been under his nose these few days. How could she have the opportunity to go? It's faster to dream. But he had the patience to go along with his niece's nonsense, so he smiled and asked her, "When did you go?"
"It was the second night of Longevity Day. I went there in my dream."
Emperor Yuan Chang: "......"
She really went there in her dream.
"Then what did you do in your dream? Tell uncle." He totally treated it as coaxing her.
Wen Qing naturally knew he was coaxing her, but did not care. She still said with a serious face, "I saw the snow in the border area is three feet thick as hard as a stone. The warhorses froze to death, and the soldiers suffered from frostbite. An Guo saw father was worried, so An Guo helped him."
When Wen Qing said the first few sentences, Emperor Yuan Chang listened with a heavy expression. Because Wei Dongyang had already reported what Wen Qing said. But when he heard the back, Emperor Yuan Chang did not know whether to laugh or cry. She is indeed a child.
"Then how did An Guo help your father?"
"Anguo piled the snow into a high wall so that we don't have to be afraid of those barbarians coming in!"
She had always had a calm expression, but at this moment, she could not help showing a bit of pride. Emperor Yuan Chang laughed. This niece of his, perhaps because she was the descended Goddess Xuannü of the Ninth Heaven, she had always been a stable and understanding girl since young. Her expression was cold and indifferent. She really looked like a goddess, untainted by mortal life. It was rare for her to be so childish, so he was very happy.
He did not put her words about building up a wall to guard against the barbarians to heart. He only thought it was mere childish words.
Two days later, Emperor Yuan Chang received an urgent letter from the border 800 miles away. "A miracle has descended from Heaven! God bless our Great Zhao!"
"The Immortal Wall stands across the sky overnight!"
"All the ice and snow in Yanzhou turned into a thousand miles long, three feet high wall! Its surface is as smooth as a mirror, unbreakable by the swords."
……
Each character could be understood by Emperor Yuan Chang. But why couldn't he understand them when put together?
Two days later, Emperor Yuan Chang rewarded Wen Qing with a bunch of treasures, and the things were delivered directly to Duke Zhen's manor. The Duke manor had long been used to it, the civil and military officials had long been numb. It was no longer a secret that the Emperor favored Princess An Guo. He even broke the rules and conferred a title to her, rewarding her because the snow stopped, another reward because it rained. Even when Princess An Guo got rewarded because the flowers in the imperial garden bloom, it was not so strange anymore.
His Majesty had gathered thousands of reasons to reward Princess An Guo. They just did not know what reason would be used this time. Because the snow stopped? Or the sky was clear?
But no one thought about the news of the miracle on the border gate that had arrived in the court two days ago.
After solving the border wars and snow disasters, Wen Qing had nothing to do. Thanks to the female lead, the amount of food in the official's house had all increased. She could eat and drink every day while waiting for the New Year.
She was so carefree, but the male lead did not have it easy. After the Longevity Festival, King Huainan and his whole family returned to their fiefdoms. No matter how good the capital was, how could it be more comfortable than being the local tyrant?
On the first day when he returned home, King Huainan did not go to his wife's concubine's courtyard.
In the dead of the night, King Huainan had a dream. In the dream, he planned and schemed secretly. Finally, when that jar of medicine cousin of his was about to die, and that dumb Zhao Jie had a lot of problems that the imperial clan did not want him to succeed the throne, he was elected to succeed him. King Huainan was almost waking up from his dreams, but something happened suddenly. First, the princess's family was revealed to be tyrannical in Jiangzhou and was charged for more than dozens of people's lives, among them was the living Bodhisattva in the heart of Jiang Ning County, which caused public discontent. In order to quell the people's grievances, he had to conduct a thorough investigation. The investigation was not done in a hurry, and they dug up dozens of lawsuits related to the Cui family. The Imperial Court started to get the investigation results, but the whole Jiangzhou knew about it. They couldn't conceal it, so the Cui family could only pay with their life.
The Cui family was over; it was the same as breaking one arm. Then, the other arm had an accident. The whole family's properties were confiscated and executed... Again and again, his secret forces had accidents, one after another. If he still did not notice that someone was targeting him, he must be a fool!
Unfortunately, even if he knew someone was dealing with him, he couldn't find that person. Until the end, the evidence that he had colluded with various forces and prepared to rebel was presented to the Emperor. Emperor Yuan Chang only had one breath left, but he was not ready to let this wolf with a wild ambition rob his throne. So he exiled the whole family, and everyone died on the way.
Only his eldest son was alive and well, inheriting the title of King Huainan. He supported that fool Zhao Jie as the Emperor and became an invisible emperor...
Because the one who reported him was this good son of his, and the one who poisoned the whole family on the road was also him!
King Huainan spat out blood and woke up from his dream with his eyes bloodshot.
"Murder his own father and mother! Poisoned the whole family! Zhao Yan, what cruel heart you have!"
Wang Huainan dreamed of what would happen in the future. His mind was in a rage, and he used a lot of effort to suppress his desire to tear Zhao Yan up. Because according to the situation in the dream, this unfilial son of his was truly capable. He had already developed a lot of power at a young age. He might not get a good end if he beat the grass to scare the snake*. So he had to make a good plan.
*T/N: 打草惊蛇 (da cao jing she); beat the grass to scare the snake; it means "to act rashly and alert the enemy."
Old ginger was hotter than the new*. There was a truth in this phrase. In the original book, King Huainan had never been on guard with this son, so he ended up like that. But when he knew about the future in advance, how could he let Zhao Yan succeed?
*T/N: 姜还是老的辣 (jiang hai shi lao de la); old ginger is hotter than the new; it means "the older ones are more wise or capable."
So the two fathers and sons started fighting each other. You broke my arm, I broke your knife. You die, I live*.
*T/N: 你死我活 (ni si wo huo); you die, I live; it means "two parties cannot coexist together."
At this time, Zhao Yan had not become that powerful yet. If not because of the male protagonist's halo protecting him and helping him exterminate dangers several times, he would have been long killed by King Huainan.
King Huainan also discovered that Zhao Yan was a tough one. After several failures, he wanted to kill Zhao Yan more and more. Otherwise, once this rebellious son was given a chance to grow up, he would have no chance.
In the beginning, the infighting in King Huainan's residence was just for people to watch. But as the fight heated up, more and more cards surfaced. People who watched it as a joke could not laugh anymore, and King Huainan's ambition was revealed.
King Huainan and Zhao Yan's private forces made people's eyes red with envy. Taking advantage of their infighting, many people secretly added fire and waited for them to be burned to death to reap the benefit.
But they thought too much. The Emperor today was not the jar of medicine with only a breath left, he was alive and brimming with energy. Both sides of King Huainan's family suffered losses. He even picked up a good bargain. Therefore, after King Huainan's family was imprisoned, the two forces fell into the hands of Emperor Yuan Chang.