After Chu Yu and Wei Yun woke up, they had breakfast together before Wei Yun led Chu Yu to the training grounds. He assigned some troops to her command.
Previously in Bai Ling, Chu Yu had interacted with the Wei family’s army and was familiar with most of them. This time, Wei Yun assigned Sun Yi, the left vanguard, to lead under her command.
When Wei Xia brought Sun Yi before Chu Yu, Sun Yi became quite excited upon seeing her and began, “Great…”
However, before he could finish, Wei Yun gave him a cool glance, causing Sun Yi to stop mid-sentence. He struggled to correct himself, “Young Miss.”
Chu Yu smiled, her lips pressed together, and tapped him lightly with her whip, saying, “That’s enough. Since I’m in command of the troops this time, you should address me as General.”
“Yes,” Sun Yi cupped his hands and said happily, “General!”
Chu Yu nodded and turned to Wei Yun, saying, “You can go attend to your affairs now. I’ll familiarize myself with them.”
Wei Yun agreed without much talk. After giving her a few instructions, he turned and left the training grounds.
Wei Xia, feeling somewhat uneasy, whispered, “Your Highness, if you’re not here to watch over these rascals, what if they rebel this time?”
“If they want to rebel, let them do it here,” Wei Yun said calmly. “Being suppressed here is better than rebelling on the battlefield. That would be the real problem.”
Wei Xia was stunned for a moment before understanding. He nodded and said, “Your Highness is right.”
Wei Yun wasn’t worried about Chu Yu’s ability to train the troops. He returned to the government office, where Gu Chusheng came to see him, looking somewhat tired. “Where’s A Yu?” he asked.
“She’s training the troops,” Wei Yun said, putting away all the battle reports. This time, he had dispatched three army divisions to simultaneously attack Qing Province, and Shen You had already sent back news of victory. Wei Yun looked up at Gu Chusheng and asked, “Has Lord Gu come to deliver the grain and fodder figures?”
Gu Chusheng nodded and had someone bring in the documents from his sedan chair. He handed a stack of papers to Wei Yun and calmly said, “For the first grain requisition, I chose a few tough nuts to crack. The quantity isn’t large, but they’re all recently prominent figures with strong troops and horses. There will be some who won’t comply. A Yu should seize all the grain, which should last for a while. They’re also close by, so after conquering them, they can be directly incorporated under your name. If you send more wealth to Song Shilan and Chu Lingyang, I’m sure they won’t mind.”
Wei Yun glanced at the list and nodded. He then handed it to Wei Xia, saying, “Issue the ‘Grain Requisition Order’ to the world. Have them carry out the grain collection as well. Within five days, we should see them delivering the grain.”
Wei Xia acknowledged the order and left to carry it out. Only Gu Chusheng and Wei Yun remained in the room. Wei Yun personally brewed tea for Gu Chusheng, who took a light sip and said, “You’re quite open with me.”
“If Lord Gu can be calm and open,” Wei Yun said, blowing away the floating tea leaves on the cup, his expression unchanged, “Why can’t I be?”
Gu Chusheng didn’t speak for a long time. Finally, he asked, “When will you go to the Chu family to present the betrothal gifts?”
He used to think he would never say such words in his life.
Or perhaps, when saying these words, he would feel like death would be preferable, filled with despair and shame.
However, when he said it, he suddenly realized it wasn’t that difficult. He felt like a frog being slowly boiled in warm water, gradually discovering that all the sorrows in the world would eventually become familiar.
Gu Chusheng didn’t know if it was because he had truly grown accustomed to this pain or if he was simply too tired at the moment.
He hadn’t slept well for a long time, constantly dealing with matters. Everywhere around him was filled with crying, and casualty reports kept coming in.
Yuan City was still relatively fine, but in other places, he hadn’t personally visited, officials were negligent, and the number of casualties was heart-wrenching. Although it was much better than in his previous life, back then when he came for disaster relief, the officials had already buried all the dark, dirty, and bloody aspects. How could it be as bare and raw as it was now?
“After my wounds heal, I’ll soon have to go to the next place. Now, there are many small towns that Yao Yong completely ignores. I need to go there.”
“Mm.”
Wei Yun also had casualty reports on his side. After a moment of silence, he finally raised his cup and said solemnly, “Lord Gu, you are a pillar of the state. Please take care of yourself.”
Gu Chusheng looked up at him with a complex expression. After a long while, he raised his cup and gently clinked it against Wei Yun’s, using tea instead of wine. He calmly said, “Prince Wei, you are as well.”
After drinking the tea, Gu Chusheng took his leave. Wei Yun sat in the room for a while before calling Wei Xia in.
“Have Wei Qian return,” he hesitated for a moment before finally saying, “Tell Second Sister-in-law to start preparing for me…” Wei Yun paused again and then said, “Never mind.”
Wei Xia was a bit puzzled. “Your Highness, what were you planning to do?”
Wei Yun pressed his lips together, thought for a moment, and finally said, “I was thinking of presenting betrothal gifts.”
Wei Xia was stunned, not understanding why Wei Yun suddenly had this idea, and even more confused about why he didn’t follow through. So he asked directly, “Why not go through with it?”
Wei Yun glared at him, somewhat irritated. “No money.”
With all the grain being seized, where would they find money for a grand betrothal ceremony for Chu Yu?
He hadn’t planned on doing it so soon, but when Gu Chusheng asked about it today, Wei Yun felt a sense of urgency in his heart.
He felt a bit agitated, but he didn’t show it on his face. He had learned to conceal his emotions well. When Chu Yu returned at night, she couldn’t notice anything unusual.
Chu Yu had spent the day sparring at the training grounds and was in an especially good mood. She talked more than usual at night, and then she noticed that Wei Yun was particularly quiet. So she couldn’t help but ask, “What are you thinking about? Why are you so quiet?”
Wei Yun turned over and, after some thought, asked in a low voice, “In your previous life, when Gu Chusheng presented betrothal gifts to you, how much did he give?”
Chu Yu was taken aback by this question and then felt a bit embarrassed. “He and I… there were no betrothal gifts. I just took my sword and rushed to Kunyang…”
Wei Yun frowned, and Chu Yu felt a bit uneasy. “You’re not bringing up old grievances now, are you?”
“Then,” Wei Yun pressed his lips together, “when my brother presented betrothal gifts to you back then, how much did he give?”
At that time, the Wei family was at its peak, and they were very generous. The gifts were carried in a procession that stretched down an entire street as they were brought into the Chu residence. Ironically, it was Wei Yun who led the procession with these gifts, but he didn’t pay much attention to it at the time and didn’t keep track of how much there was. He only remembered that there were so many items that he grew a bit impatient waiting at the entrance.
Chu Yu didn’t remember the exact amount either, but she recalled, “Your family was extremely generous. There were 100,000 taels of silver, a twelve-strand pearl phoenix crown with gold inlay, earrings…”
Chu Yu counted on her fingers as she spoke, and Wei Yun’s expression grew increasingly grim. By the time Chu Yu finished speaking, Wei Yun had already composed himself. Chu Yu suddenly remembered to ask, “Why are you asking about this?”
“It’s nothing,” Wei Yun said, pulling her blanket. “Let’s sleep.”
With that, he turned to face the wall, lying with his eyes open, deep in thought.
In these times of war and chaos, where could he find so much money?
Chu Yu thought for a moment and finally realized what was going on. She turned and poked him, saying happily, “You’re not thinking about presenting betrothal gifts to me, are you?”
Wei Yun, with his back to her, gave a low “Mm” in response.
Chu Yu laughed with joy. “Oh my, isn’t it too early for that? Why are you thinking so much about it? Has your mother agreed?”
“Why do you care about her?” Wei Yun’s voice was muffled. “I’ll present the betrothal gifts first to settle this matter. I’ll find a way to persuade her before the wedding.”
“Don’t,” Chu Yu quickly said. “If you can’t persuade her by then, we’d have to break off the engagement. Let’s not waste everyone’s time.”
Wei Yun fell silent. After a moment, he said softly, “Then we won’t get married. I won’t break off the engagement anyway.”
Chu Yu was amused by him. She thought for a moment, then leaned close to his ear to tease him: “Did Gu Chusheng come to provoke you?”
“No.”
“Oh, Wei Yun, you hypocrite! You still won’t admit it!”
“…”
“All right,” Chu Yu, seeing she had hit the mark, lay down and hugged him. “I’m just teasing you. What do I need betrothal gifts for? In times like these,” she rested her head against his back, her voice gentle, “you being safe and sound is enough.”
Wei Yun didn’t say anything. He reached out and held her hand that was wrapped around his waist.
He thought, just for this one sentence, he had to give her the very best.
When Wei Jun presented betrothal gifts back then, he emptied half of the Wei residence. This time, when he presents betrothal gifts, he’ll give her the entire Wei residence.