Sheng Jiangli forced a smile for a while. Noticing that the woman's eyes were always filled with tears, he couldn't help feeling anxious.
"Is it because I left Jeju without saying goodbye to you? I didn't want to either. I was dragged by that bastard Li Muge to watch an execution that day... uh, watch an execution."
Sheng Jiangli forced a laugh, afraid that Caiyu would cause trouble for him.
Although he had shown mercy to Song Yinghuai, he had still seriously injured the latter.
That dog man probably still couldn't fully use his skills at this moment, right?
Caiyu's mood became even more complicated.
She had also guessed the reason why Sheng Jiangli had taken action personally that day.
It was nothing more than that he was afraid that if Li Muge ordered others to do it, they might really cripple Song Yinghuai.
She opened her mouth, her voice hoarse. "Do you always prefer to be the bad guy?"
Sheng Jiangli was taken aback. A look of unease flashed across his handsome face, and then he smiled. "Your Brother A Li was never a good person..."
"My father was a traitorous general. Tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians in Yanmen Pass died because of him. A son should pay for his father's debts. As the only bloodline of the Sheng family, I can never make up for so many lives in this lifetime, the next lifetime, or the lifetime after that..."
"If I'm not a bad person, then what am I?"
"You're a good person." Caiyu choked with sobs. "Brother A Li is the kindest person in the world and the best brother to me."
He was so kind that he was willing to give up his own life to protect her again and again.
This time, it was her turn to protect him!
The kindest brother...
Caiyu's words made the fingertips that Sheng Jiangli had used to wipe the tears from her cheeks freeze. He looked at her with a complicated expression.
A flash of pain quickly crossed his devilishly handsome face, but it quickly disappeared.
Since he had used Caiyu's wedding in Jeju to lure Song Yinghuai into a trap, he had known that Caiyu wouldn't be able to marry him.
That was why he had left without saying goodbye and hadn't turned back to look for her.
Maybe he had wanted to be decisive.
Maybe he had wanted to avoid this fact.
In any case, he didn't have the courage to look for her on his own initiative.
Now that she was here, telling him that he was her best brother.
That was good.
He had come alone before, and he would still leave alone.
That was good.
Sheng Jiangli's fingertips rubbed away the tears on Caiyu's face forcefully. He took a deep breath and smiled.
"Yes, I'll always be your best brother."
Even if he went to the underworld in a few days, he would still miss her.
Caiyu bit her lips and showed a charming smile.
Yes, it was good to be a brother.
After she died, he could still marry a woman and no longer waste his energy on her.
She turned around, picked up a pastry from the table, and handed it to Sheng Jiangli. "I made these specially on my way here. You've been on a military campaign for so long. You haven't tasted my cooking for a long time, have you?"
Sheng Jiangli laughed and immediately took it and stuffed it into his mouth. While chewing, he replied,
"You're right! The cooks in the Huqi tribe only know how to roast meat. I'm so sick of it. I've always been thinking about the pastries you made for Fan'er and me every day in Qilian Mountain and the fishing village in Yuexi!"
"Then have a few more pieces." Caiyu stared at him intently and urged.
Sheng Jiangli was really hungry and missed Caiyu's cooking. He gobbled up all the pastries and the stewed soup that Caiyu had made.
Caiyu let out a long sigh of relief.
It worked.
"Are you really going to attack the city tomorrow?" Caiyu had heard from Subude about the war on her way here.
Zhu Xiao was also her friend. She really didn't want to see the two armies fight.
Sheng Jiangli nodded and then pinched her cheek. He smiled and said, "Don't worry. I know what I'm doing."
"The military strength in Licheng is weak. Song Yinghuai always cherishes his soldiers, and so do his generals. They won't be so stubborn as to defend Licheng to the death."
"What about after taking Licheng?" Caiyu asked persistently. "Brother A Li, are you going to continue to march north, recover the Qin and Jin regions, seize Jiaodong, and then attack Yanjing?"
Sheng Jiangli was silent for a while and then suddenly changed the subject. "Shu'er, there's some good news I haven't had a chance to tell you... Most of our adoptive father, elder brother, and the people from the Lan family escaped from that fire."
Actually, Qingqing had already told Caiyu this on the way here.
But Qingqing didn't know what had actually happened that day.
However, the fact that her father and the others had escaped from the fire was a great blessing. So Caiyu had been very excited that day.
As soon as Sheng Jiangli finished speaking, Caiyu pretended to be extremely excited and almost knocked over the soup bowl on the table.
"Really...?"
"Really." When Sheng Jiangli talked about Lan Yuanyi and the others, his eyes lit up. "It turns out that after our adoptive father and the others were exiled to Hainan, they had always been on guard against the former emperor killing them one day. So they secretly dug a tunnel in their residence."
"The tunnel led directly to the South China Sea. When the assassins came that day, our adoptive father set fire to cover their tracks and took the opportunity to withdraw from the salt mine execution ground and sailed out to sea."
"This also meant that when the young emperor rehabilitated the Lan family, they didn't know about it and didn't come back in time. It was Subude who discovered the secret passage and followed the clues to find them at sea."
What an amazing adventure!
Although Caiyu knew that her father and brother were safe, she still felt scared when she heard about such a life-and-death event.
Sheng Jiangli hesitated for a moment but still told her the truth. "Those who withdrew from the secret passage with the Lan family also included the prince's men... Shu'er, the prince did send people to Hainan that day, but they were there to save our father and brother, not to kill them."
"So I've already handed that great-uncle who spread false news to our adoptive father for punishment."
Qingqing had also told her this.
The heavy burden that had been weighing on her heart for causing the death of her father and brother, as well as the uncertain speculations about Song Yinghuai that day, were all cleared up.
"I owe the prince even more." Caiyu lowered her head silently.
If her father and brother hadn't had a backup plan that day, then...
She would have become the culprit who had caused everyone's death.
This was also the reason why she had been depressed and had been willing to die when she faked her death.
Sheng Jiangli rubbed her hair bun and said softly, "It's not your fault... What you did in front of the imperial carriage that day was also approved by me. Song Yinghuai's schemes were too deep. Even I couldn't guess his plan. I almost caused the death of our father and brother, let alone you, who were inexperienced. How could you have guessed his calculations?"
"Okay." Caiyu replied in a muffled voice.
What else could she do?
She would never be able to guess that man's mind. She didn't even want to try in this lifetime.
Just like when they met again, he had gambled his life on her soft heart. He had gone crazy and wanted her to turn back. In the end, he had also managed to design a grand plan to smoothly take over Jeju and Jiaodong.
Song Yinghuai would never let go of either the fish or the bear's paw.
"Shu'er, more than half of the Southern Army has been lost, and all their focus is now on the south of the Yangtze River. The young emperor doesn't have the military strength to retake the lost territory. I won't help them attack Jiaodong or even Yanjing either."
Caiyu seemed to understand. "Is the young emperor... planning to divide the country at the Yangtze River?"
Sheng Jiangli nodded. "Yes."
"Our father and brother are now guarding the south of the Yangtze River. Song Yinghuai won't attack the city in a hurry for fear of endangering them. And I'll hold him back in the northwest to buy time for the young emperor to deploy his defenses."
"The natural barrier of the Yangtze River will be almost impregnable once the defenses are successfully set up."
"Song Yinghuai's Yan Army, like the Huqi tribe, is good at land battles and doesn't have an advantage in water battles. And elder brother has been in Hainan for four years and is very familiar with water battles."
"With our father and brother there, as long as the defenses are successfully set up, dividing the country at the Yangtze River will be a natural result."
As for what would happen after that, it would be a long-term tug-of-war. It would just depend on which side could strengthen its military power and break through the other side.
It was a pity that he probably wouldn't be able to see it.
Caiyu bit her lips and asked, "Why would our father and brother serve the young emperor? Our father and brother aren't such pedantic people."
Everyone knew who had really managed Daye well during the young emperor's short two-year reign.
Did her father and brother really believe that that yellow-haired kid could rule the world well?
Sheng Jiangli was also very puzzled. "Could it be because the young emperor rehabilitated the Lan family?"
After thinking about it, he could only come up with this reason.
Caiyu pondered for a while and then suddenly asked, "Then besides the people from the Eastern Depot, who else were the corpses in the Hainan fire?
"Who threw so many corpses into the fire to pretend to be the people from the Lan family and the prince?"