The bad-tempered young man had walked away. Mu Mianhong and Xiao Man turned to look back and saw the young man here raise his hand and press it on Her Majesty the Empress’s head.
Mu Mianhong burst out laughing.
Xiao Man rolled her eyes.
Mu Mianhong smiled and reached out to take Xiao Man’s hand. “Come, let’s go get busy.”
“Busy with what? We just came to help fight. Now that the fighting’s done, we’re not doing chores.” Xiao Man was reluctant and complained, “She has time to fool around with Xie Yanlai but can’t come say a word to you.”
After receiving Ding Dachui’s message, Mu Mianhong had gathered her subordinates and joined forces with Chu Zhao. Chu Zhao had bowed and said “Thank you, Great Chief,” but after that hadn’t spoken privately with Mu Mianhong again.
Mu Mianhong also hadn’t approached Chu Zhao.
Hearing Xiao Man’s complaint, Mu Mianhong only said, “You don’t understand.”
Xiao Man said angrily, “She and I are the same age. What she understands, why wouldn’t I understand?”
Though she complained, she obediently followed Mu Mianhong away.
“Do you actually understand what I’m saying or not?”
Xie Yanlai pressed Chu Zhao’s forehead.
Chu Zhao said with a laugh, “I understand, I understand. I get it—Liang Qiang cannot be trusted. The enmity is already formed. Showing him kindness is useless and will only make him resent me more.”
Xie Yanlai released his hand, his face stern. “Don’t pretend to understand when you don’t.”
Chu Zhao rubbed her forehead. “I’ve always been pretending! Who do I trust? I don’t trust anyone to begin with.” Then she smiled again. “Except for our Commander Xie.”
Xie Yanlai was no longer afraid of such words from her. He chuckled twice and even raised his hand in salute. “Many thanks for Your Majesty’s great favor.” With that, he stood up. “Your Majesty should return to camp quickly. I must go attend to things.”
Chu Zhao personally leading troops here had been an unavoidable measure. As Empress, she couldn’t remain here long to avoid any mishaps.
Chu Zhao understood this principle. She nodded, then added, “Remember to bandage your wounds and apply medicine. You have old injuries.”
Mentioning old injuries all day long—as if they were such a big deal. Xie Yanlai said irritably, “I’ve had old injuries all over from childhood to now. I’ve lived until today and haven’t died yet.”
Chu Zhao laughed heartily and raised her hand to him. “My loyal minister spares no thought for his own body in service to the nation. Go quickly, go quickly!”
Xie Yanlai spat and turned to stride away, unable to help smiling. This woman really was—so annoying.
When dawn broke, Chu Zhao returned to where the central army was stationed. Only then did Zhong Changrong let down half his guard.
But there was still no time to rest.
“The victory bulletin has already been sent flying to the capital. It should comfort the people’s hearts and the sovereign’s heart.”
“Also, rewards for merit in this battle must be reported immediately to stabilize military morale.”
Chu Zhao said, “The left wing army deserves rewards but also punishment.”
Zhong Changrong nodded. “I know.” But there was one matter he needed to request instructions on. “Liang Qiang and his father are both in the army.”
Before Chu Zhao returned, she had already sent Ding Dachui with a message for Zhong Changrong to investigate Liang Qiang’s situation.
Only upon investigation did Zhong Changrong learn that the Second Master of the Liang family and his son had actually enlisted, repeatedly earned merit and received numerous rewards, and were now well-known officers with real authority in the army.
Zhong Changrong also knew about the disputes between Minister Liang and the young miss back then. Though the Liang family’s imprisonment was deserved, he also knew the Liang family would certainly harbor resentment toward the Chu family.
“It’s my fault for not carefully reviewing the roster, allowing their father and son to emerge,” he said with self-reproach, then added in a low voice, “However, making them disappear now wouldn’t be a problem.”
Chu Zhao shook her head. “Their father and son truly have earned battle merits. Deliberately suppressing them would actually invite trouble. Give them the merits they deserve. Uncle Zhong, just remember to remain wary of the Liang family.”
Zhong Changrong acknowledged this, hesitated, then said, “Then what about… that person’s merits? How shall we report them?”
Chu Zhao didn’t react immediately. “That person?”
Zhong Changrong turned his face away. “Mu Mianhong. She aided you with merit. So, our military orders are strict as mountains, rewards and punishments are clear, we don’t count private grudges.”
Of course he counted private grudges, but the other officers had pulled him aside to remind him: the general was already gone, and children and parents were connected by blood after all. Being harsh wouldn’t work—it would instead push the young miss toward that woman, playing right into that woman’s hands. So they needed to use clever tactics.
Zhong Changrong, a rough old soldier, had never used clever tactics in his life, but for the general’s sake, for the sake of his pride, he worked hard to learn clever tactics.
The clever tactic was: go along with it.
This woman had earned merit, so reward her for it. When she later tried to demand other things from the young miss, that would show she was grasping for more—then the young miss would see her despicable shamelessness.
Chu Zhao looked at Zhong Changrong’s expression and couldn’t help laughing.
“They don’t count as earning merit,” she said. “At most, it’s atonement, so there’s no need for rewards.”
Zhong Changrong was overjoyed. “The young miss is absolutely right!”
“Don’t make their identities public either,” Chu Zhao continued.
Zhong Changrong was even more pleased. “Good, good, good!” Since the young miss had brought it up herself, saying one more bad thing about that woman wouldn’t be excessive, right? “Their identities are truly disgraceful. If known to the world, it would reflect poorly on the general.”
Mentioning the general made Zhong Changrong’s heart ache.
“Since she is so heartless, we need not show loyalty either.”
Chu Zhao opened her mouth, then swallowed her words.
Actually, that wasn’t what she meant. The reason for not publicizing Mu Mianhong’s identity wasn’t out of concern for reputation or fame, but for private gain.
In that previous life, Xiao Xun had concealed Mu Mianhong’s forces from her and appropriated them for his own use. So in this life, she would conceal them from everyone in the world, keeping them in reserve for unforeseen needs.
Actually, she was the heartless one.