The emperor would rather have a

Chapter 8 A strange confession

"Your Majesty will personally lead the army this time. The battle may be difficult, but we are soldiers and eat the food. Naturally, we must die for Your Majesty."

Li Yi said as he considered.

"Although we are all striving to achieve great things, we must always be prepared for the worst."

"What if, I mean what if something unexpected happens on the battlefield and I can no longer take care of you, you should think about yourself."

At this point, Li Yi pointed to the cloth bag and said, "There are ten taels of silver in here. If I can't come back, the court will also provide a pension. Sister-in-law, just go and collect it."

Having said that, he simply stopped hiding his true feelings and continued, "If I can come back alive, it would be even better. But if I can't, my sister-in-law is a woman with no one to rely on in Tokyo. It would be best for her to return to Xiajin and seek refuge with my uncle's family."

"Although my aunt is a bit stingy, my uncle is kind-hearted, and my cousins ​​are also very down-to-earth. Besides, my sister-in-law is going back with some money, so I don't think my uncle and his family will mind having you as an extra mouth to feed."

For Li Yi, he is relatively calm when facing death, after all, he has died once.

This time he went on an expedition with the sole intention of gaining wealth and glory, but he was also mentally prepared to die on the battlefield.

Opportunities and risks always coexist. In this chaotic world, if you don't want to give up, the only way left is to fight hard.

But before that, he had to settle Guo first.

As a time traveler and a lieutenant in the Imperial Guards, he still has to tread on thin ice.

For a weak woman like Guo who has lost her husband, her situation will only get worse.

So Li Yi could only try his best to plan a reliable way out for Guo.

Hearing this, there was silence for a long time.

Guo said sadly, "My uncle and his family can tolerate me for a while, but can they tolerate me for the rest of my life?"

"In the end, it's just about finding someone for me to remarry..."

Guo's concerns are not unreasonable.

Nowadays, the social atmosphere is relatively open, and etiquette does not restrict women much.

In addition, it was a time of chaos and many things were not so particular, so it was not surprising that a woman remarried.

The most typical example is Guo Wei, the founding emperor of the Later Zhou Dynasty. All four of his wives were second marriages.

Zhou Shizong Chai Rong's queen, Dafu, had also been married before, and even her ex-husband's family was destroyed by her current father-in-law, Guo Wei.

Even the emperor was like this, let alone ordinary people.

Li Yi had never thought about this before.

His original intention was to let Guo temporarily seek refuge with his uncle's family, but he forgot that many things would change over time, and human hearts were even more so.

Li Yi sighed and said, "Sister-in-law has been a widow for two years. Her life is very miserable. If she meets the right person, she will remarry. From now on..."

"I won't remarry!"

Before Li Yi finished speaking, Guo suddenly interrupted him, and she was a little excited.

"If Erlang were gone, I would follow you. Otherwise, what's the point of living in this world?"

"Uh..." Li Yi touched his nose awkwardly.

He didn't expect that Guo, who was always gentle as water, had such a tough side.

But after thinking about it carefully, Li Yi always felt that her words seemed a little ambiguous.

Guo is his brother's wife, what does "I will follow you" mean?
Especially the sentence "What's the point of living in this world" made Guo feel like she wanted to commit suicide for love.

People who don’t know the truth think that he is Guo’s husband.

At this moment, Guo's voice lowered: "I have always wanted to ask Erlang something..."

Li Yi was stunned: "What?"

"Did you rush to join the army just to avoid me?"

"what?"

Li Yi found that he could not keep up with Guo's train of thought. Why did he suddenly bring the topic to this point?
Back then, the reason why Li Yi joined Guo Wei's army was because he knew that the other party was the future Taizu of Later Zhou.

And it was at that time that Zhao Kuangyin went to seek refuge with Guo Wei.

He went there purely with a speculative mindset, wanting to use Guo Wei as a springboard to start his own business, and then seamlessly connect to the future Emperor Taizu of Song.

That's it.

How could he join the army just to avoid Guo... How come he didn't know this?
Li Yi was somewhat baffled and could only half-seriously answer, "I joined the army back then just to find a way out. I had no other motives. So, what's the point of that, sister-in-law?"

"So that's how it is..." Guo smiled, but as she smiled, tears began to form in the corners of her eyes.

"Sister-in-law, what's wrong with you?"

Li Yi couldn't help but be surprised.

How come he started shedding pearls just when we were talking so nicely?
"It's okay. I'm very happy." Guo wiped her eyes. "It turns out Erlang didn't join the army to avoid me."

Where is this going?
Li Yi became more and more confused and didn't quite understand what Guo meant.

"Ji Lang, you know..."

As she spoke, Guo slowly walked to the table and sat down. Her eyes gradually became distracted, as if she was lost in memories.

"Not long after you joined the army, your mother fell seriously ill. Before she died, the person she was most worried about was Dalang."

"Mother said that Erlang was a capable man, with his own ideas since childhood, and that he didn't need anyone to worry about him. But Dalang was stupid and honest, and she was afraid that if she was gone and Erlang was far away in the army, Dalang would have nowhere to go." "Back then, Erlang, you and Yuge'er went to join the army, and I thought you were tired of me because you followed you around every day, so you ran away without telling me."

"I am so silly……"

As she spoke, Guo's tears could no longer stop falling.

"At the time, I thought you were tired of me, and I felt really bad. And then Auntie said that, and I didn't know why my mind got confused, so I agreed to marry Dalang and take care of him."

Although Guo's words were mixed and confusing, they lacked logic.

But Li Yi still understood it. He was not stupid and vaguely knew what Guo was thinking.

He thought about it carefully and realized that he and Guo were childhood sweethearts, and he did have a good impression of her.

But at that time, he was only thinking about making great achievements and currying favor with Emperor Taizu of Song, and he temporarily put aside his personal affairs.

As for secretly running away to join the army without telling his family, it was only because he was afraid that his family would dissuade him and worry him, so he did not tell anyone about it.

I didn't expect this kind of misunderstanding to happen...

Guo calmed down and continued, "I often wonder why Dalang and Erlang are so different even though they are brothers from the same mother."

"Back in Xiajin, Erlang often brought Yuge'er and the others with him, parading through the streets and causing unrest. But the girls in the surrounding villages are all very happy about you, Yige'er."

"Erlang, every time you sneak into the stables, we girls would peek outside. We love the way you're serious about riding and shooting arrows."

"Aunt Wang at the village entrance even teased us privately, saying that although Erlang was a little naughty, he was the most handsome young man in the surrounding villages, and that it wouldn't be a loss for one of us to marry him."

Perhaps thinking of something funny, Guo covered her mouth and chuckled softly, "Those girls wanted to give you something, but they were too embarrassed to give it to you directly, so they always asked me to pass it on."

"But how could they know that I never gave anything to you? I always returned it to them the next day, saying, 'Erlang, you don't want it.'"

Guo smiled sweetly, and her thoughts seemed to go back to her youth.

If she had not been stimulated by Li Yi's words just now, she would definitely not dare to reveal these secrets that had been buried in her heart for many years.

At this moment, Guo was afraid that if she didn't say something, she would never have the chance to say it again.

It is said that young girls are in love, and Guo is no exception.

When she was still a young girl, her eyes and heart were full of that young man with high spirits and vigor.

Which girl would not be attracted by that handsome, talented and somewhat ruffian young man?
However, as fate would have it, the young man became her brother-in-law.

"Is this considered... a belated confession?"

Looking at Guo who was crying and laughing, Li Yi had complicated thoughts.

He couldn't help but think that his family's situation was a bit like that of Wu Song and his brothers in Water Margin.

Although the gap between his two brothers is not as obvious as that between Wu Da and Wu Er, there is still a considerable contrast.

Guo naturally felt very disappointed.

But Guo was not as vicious as Pan Jinlian. She could only swallow her grievances in her heart and must have been very unhappy in the past few years.

At the same time, Guo seemed to want to vent the grievances in his heart.

She said sadly, "God has been so cruel to me. Not only has my family been destroyed, and I have tasted all the misery of the world, but he has also made me marry someone I don't love, and even made me a eunuch."

"Why should all these things happen to me alone?"

"The eunuch...Brother?" Li Yi was stunned when he heard that and couldn't help but said in surprise.

Guo's expression froze, and she remained silent for a long time before she sighed, "Da Lang...he can't walk like a human being."

"This?" Li Yi looked surprised.

No wonder they didn’t have any children after several years of marriage. So this is the reason?
The two brothers have lived together for many years, but he didn't even know about this... But Li Yi really didn't pay attention to these things.

I just wonder if my mother is aware of this?
Unfortunately, my mother and brother have passed away, and the answers to these questions are gone with the wind.

Guo said miserably, "Da Lang knows that I don't like him. He agreed to marry me so that A Niang could leave with peace of mind."

"After we got married, he never touched me. I thought Dalang was complaining that I was still thinking about Erlang, so he kept his distance from me."

"He didn't reveal his hidden illness until Dalang passed away."

At this point, Guo couldn't help but cover her mouth and sob, "I'm sorry Dalang, I'm a disaster star, I killed my parents, Dalang and my mother, I'm so scared that I'll hurt Erlang again... wuwuwu..."

"Ugh--"

Thousands of words finally turned into a sigh.

Li Yi walked over to Guo, gently stroked her back, and said softly, "Life and death are determined by fate. It is the law of nature and cannot be changed by human power."

"Sister-in-law, you have done a good job. Why do you have to condemn yourself so much?"

"Erlang!"

Guo raised her head with tears in her eyes.

Li Yi hesitated for a moment, and finally took her into his arms.

The light flickered, illuminating the two figures and casting a mottled shadow on the wall.

"Don't worry, I will come back alive. Don't worry about it. Just wait for me in Tokyo."

(End of this chapter)