A capable husband

Another half a year passed, and a great drought gripped the land. Disaster victims rose up throughout Pear Blossom Province, and one leader named Swarm of Bees actually gathered them into an army and marched toward Spring Radiance Prefecture.

The officers and officials defending Spring Radiance Prefecture fled overnight. As a prominent local household, the Chen clan joined forces with the other great clans to hold the city gates.

Meng Yuan was not a local and had no standing among the people, but he had his previous life's experience and knowledge, so he helped the Chen clansmen defend the city.

After a month of defending it, Meng Yuan had already distinguished himself, and Chen Yuyin placed the Chen clansmen and estate retainers under his command.

Nearly another half a year passed. Rebel armies rose everywhere; no sooner had they beaten back one wave than another came.

Meng Yuan defended the city skillfully. Although he had accepted the post of commander of its defenses, he had long since stopped obeying the court's orders.

But the rebel armies came wave after wave. Knowing that Spring Radiance Prefecture could not be held indefinitely, Meng Yuan intended to lead the city's soldiers and the Chen clansmen away.

Home was hard to leave, and naturally many were unwilling. But Chen Yuyin advocated the move with all her strength and even gave away the entire family fortune. They actually managed to take many of Spring Radiance Prefecture's Chen clansmen and most of its soldiers with them.

This force consisted mainly of Chen clansmen and their estate retainers. Many of them did not, in fact, accept Meng Yuan, an outsider who had married into the family.

Ultimately, Meng Yuan lacked prestige, so naturally they were unwilling to listen to him.

But that was all right. Building prestige was neither easy nor hard.

He only had to go from one victory to the next, and prestige would come naturally.

Meng Yuan led the charge in every battle, ate and lived alongside his soldiers, handled every matter personally, and meted out rewards and punishments fairly. He won more battles than he lost, and his prestige rose at once.

In just half a year, no one dared call Meng Yuan the Chen clan's live-in son-in-law anymore, and no one questioned his decisions.

Leading these several thousand men, Meng Yuan took in Chen clansmen from across Pear Blossom Province and recruited many men of ambition.

He then campaigned from place to place, gathering powerful local figures and strategists. Following the route Lü Yinglong had taken in his previous life, he returned to his hometown in Huai'an Prefecture.

"My dear, this is old Mr. Cheng. I once worked as a harvest hand for his family, and he looked after me very well. I've always been deeply grateful!" Meng Yuan knew that Chen Yuyin looked down on his origins in her heart, so he flaunted his mud-legged peasant background before her all the more.

Chen Yuyin showed not the slightest change in expression and even complimented the man's eldest daughter-in-law on her pretty looks.

That night, Meng Yuan took out a straw hat.

"You've wandered far and wide with me, my dear, with no fixed home, and endured much hardship. I wove you this little hat as a token of my feelings," Meng Yuan said.

"Husband, have you no lofty ambitions? You actually weave little hats to amuse yourself?" Chen Yuyin grieved over her husband's lack of drive.

"..." Meng Yuan lowered his head in silence.

"I only wish for my husband to become a dragon." Chen Yuyin hastily apologized.

"I'm merely a crude harvest hand, the sort who weaves mats and sells sandals. Not one great figure has appeared in eighteen generations of my ancestors. To think I could receive such affection from you-what good fortune earned over three lifetimes." Meng Yuan was ashamed and ill at ease. Staying the night in the Cheng Household's compound, he began making Chen Yuyin sick.

Sure enough, Chen Yuyin became even more like a dead pig, giving him no response whatsoever.

Meng Yuan stayed in his hometown for over a month, took along his father and elder brother as well as Yang Dayong and his grandfather, and recruited many fellow townsmen. Then, following his previous life's strategy once more, he turned his army southwest.

He fought his way through Jing City, entered Jianmen Pass, and occupied Shu.

In just over half a year, Meng Yuan pacified Shu and reassured its border inhabitants.

That year, Meng Yuan was twenty-six and Chen Yuyin twenty-nine, two and a half years ahead of Lü Yinglong in the previous life.

By then, Meng Yuan had become a force to be reckoned with. Anyone with some insight could see that he was qualified to contend for the throne.

Two years passed like this. Shu was peaceful, its grain plentiful and its ranks of generals extensive.

That spring, word came from outside: King Zhang had proclaimed himself emperor, and the Yu Kingdom's court had raised an army to suppress him. The generals and strategists all urged Meng Yuan to rest and build his strength, then strike once those outside had exhausted themselves.

"It's not that we don't want to fight, but that we should fight slowly, without haste!"

Meng Yuan readily agreed, because he had specifically sent an envoy to discuss this with King Zhang. One in the east and one in the west, they would each proclaim themselves emperor.

Chen Yuyin did not know the details, but she knew that her young husband had correctly predicted King Zhang's proclamation too. Yet according to the couple's earlier discussions, they ought to send troops out now-but the man would not budge.

Another five months passed like this. Meng Yuan did not move an inch, doing nothing each day but walking dogs and riding horses.

Outside, King Zhang and the court were fighting furiously, and signs of unrest had appeared within Commander Li's ranks as well. There was clearly an opportunity to send out troops!

Chen Yuyin urged Meng Yuan to march beyond the pass and had many of his subordinates advise him too, but Meng Yuan would listen to none of them.

Those with insight had already recognized that this was the most critical moment of all. If they waited until the court and King Zhang had settled victory and defeat, further uncertainties might arise.

But if they struck now, they had every chance of going from a lord content to hold one corner of the land to a contender for all under heaven.

Sure enough, Chen Yuyin urged him several times while they were doing the great deed at night, but Meng Yuan simply refused to send out troops and was rather cold toward her besides.

Before long, his subordinates learned that their commander and his wife were at odds. They heard the two were even sleeping in separate rooms.

In this life, Meng Yuan had fought the battles, devised the strategies, recruited the generals, seized the grain, and pacified the people. Chen Yuyin was merely the mistress of the household, her prestige nowhere near what it had been in the previous life.

Moreover, everyone knew the two had no children, so everyone blamed Chen Yuyin.

Even the Chen clansmen pointed accusing fingers behind Chen Yuyin's back, calling her jealous and saying she gave no thought to her clan. She could not lay an egg herself, yet would not let the commander take concubines. A group of them offered Meng Yuan three women from the Chen Household, but he sighed and politely declined.

His eldest sister-in-law, Wang, came in person to advise Meng Yuan, speaking of husband and wife being of one heart.

"What matters most between husband and wife? Love and affection. My late husband and I didn't get along either, but after we had a child, he settled down. Yuyin can't bear children, so why not choose a few more women from the Chen clan? I've asked Yuyin. She has no objections," Wang counseled him.

"You and my elder brother-in-law didn't get along? Why?" Meng Yuan had actually known nothing of this, and rubbed his hands as he pressed her.

Wang was unwilling to say more and only began to weep.

Meng Yuan had thought Wang knew some secret. Seeing this, he guessed most of it and ventured quietly, "Could my elder brother-in-law have disliked women...?"

"Boo-hoo..." Wang cried even harder.

Damn it, that wasn't the kind of secret I wanted! Can't you descendants of immortals come up with something new?

"Sister-in-law..." Meng Yuan patted Wang's shoulder lightly, soothing her helplessly, only for Wang to take the opportunity to collapse into his arms.

Why do I have such luck with widows?

With his head aching, Meng Yuan went to find Yang Dayong, planning to chase dogs and rabbits.

"Dayong, why are you crying?" When he found Yang Dayong, the boy was sobbing without end.

The boy was only seven or eight, really just a little child.

"Your eldest niece hit me!" Yang Dayong said aggrievedly.

"She's only two or three years older than you. Grab her hair and pull her ears. You still can't beat her?" Meng Yuan suggested.

"I can't! She's really strong!" Yang Dayong said.

"Then I'll teach you a good trick. Go sweet-talk her and let her have her way, then marry her in a few years. She won't hit you anymore, and she'll even have to help you beat other people!" Meng Yuan suggested with a grin.

The two roamed about all day and only returned at dusk.

When he got home, Chen Yuyin had already prepared the meal. She wore a smile, the very picture of a virtuous wife.

Chen Yuyin found it increasingly hard to restrain herself. Her father and elder brother's dying wishes constantly surged into her mind. Even while they were doing the deed at night, hearing him drone on about his lowly origins made her feel all the more that time would not wait!

Meng Yuan also knew that she could no longer restrain herself. Just as she had pressured Lü Yinglong in the previous life, she was going to force him to conquer the realm.

Contending for the realm was not what Meng Yuan wanted, but it was what Chen Yuyin wanted.

At this moment, it was like someone who loved wealth having mountains of gold and silver placed before them, visible and tangible, yet still needing one last bout of effort before they could get their hands on them.

This was the ideal time to set conditions.