Marrying a concubine and swallowing her dowry? The mistress turns around and marries a high-ranking

Chapter 164

Madam Wen didn't dare to ask, but forced a smile and said, "Lingjun, it's a main road here, and it's dark, so it's not good to do an inspection. Let's go back to the Shen residence first."

Shen Jingyang sighed almost imperceptibly to himself.

That's enough. He had already prepared himself mentally. It was already a great blessing that he and his father had survived. He dared not hope for anything more.

The group entered the capital before the city gates closed at night and returned to the Shen residence.

The Wen family had already prepared a courtyard for Shen Wei and Shen Jingyang. To make it easier to take care of them, they decided to let them live together in Qianzhang Hall, where Shen Wei had previously lived.

Looking at his familiar and warm home, Shen Jingyang was filled with emotion.

After settling in, Wen finally had the time to ask Shen Jingyang and the others about their experiences on the battlefield over the past year.

"Jingyang, how could you have been defeated last June? I've seen the battle report; weren't you in the lead at that time? How could all 30,000 Shen family troops have been wiped out?"

More than half a year ago, the Shen family army won a series of victories, and the Western Qi army was defeated and fled. Originally, the Shen family army was pursuing them all the way, but at this time they suffered a heavy blow.

On their pursuit, Shen's army was ambushed by the Western Qi army in a valley. The Western Qi army, which was already reduced to remnants, suddenly found itself with ample food and supplies, as well as a large number of crossbows, oil, logs, stones, catapults, and other weapons. They launched a sudden and fierce attack on Shen's army in the valley.

The Shen family army never expected that the dying Western Qi army would possess such overwhelming firepower. This battle raged until the sky darkened and the sun and moon lost their light, ending in a tragic defeat. Almost all of the 30,000 Shen family soldiers in the valley were wiped out, their corpses strewn across the fields and rivers of blood flowing like water.

Marshal Shen Wei of the Shen Family Army and General Shen Jingyang of the Cloud Banner Army went missing in this battle and were presumed dead.

Because almost no members of Shen's army survived the battle, and no one witnessed the battle firsthand, the details of the battle remain unknown.

Later, another general from Huaihua arrived, took over the remaining Shen family army, repelled the remnants of the Western Qi army, and sent a battle report back to the capital, indicating that Shen Wei had made a misjudgment and was unaware of the enemy's situation, which led to the annihilation of the 30,000-strong Shen family army.

The emperor was very displeased, as this was the first time Shen Wei had made such a major mistake on the battlefield.

However, both Shen Wei and Shen Jingyang died in battle. Considering their past achievements, the emperor did not punish the Shen family, which was now reduced to a widow named Wen, and let the matter rest.

Over the past year, besides grieving for the deaths of her husband and son in battle, Wen Shi couldn't believe that Shen Wei, a veteran of countless battles, would make such a basic mistake.

Shen Jingyang gritted his teeth and said, "I think Father's judgment is absolutely correct. The remaining Western Qi army has been fighting for a long time, and Western Qi itself has not sent any reinforcements. Logically speaking, they shouldn't have such sufficient military supplies. Unless... those military supplies came from illegitimate sources and did not come from Western Qi!"

He lowered his voice as he spoke.

“A few nights before that battle, someone came to see my father. I don’t know who it was. They didn’t talk for long and parted on bad terms. I felt there must be something wrong here. Our defeat might actually have been a result of a sneak attack!”

Shen Jingyang remembered that when the Shen family army was ambushed in the valley, Shen Wei saw that the enemy had ample firepower. He seemed to understand something and looked extremely incredulous, shocked and angry, and cursed a few times.

Unfortunately, a fight had already broken out, and Shen Jingyang didn't have a chance to ask him what happened.

The two then fought fiercely until the very last moment. Shen Jingyang protected Shen Wei and fell into the river at the bottom of the valley. He was swept away by the water, barely alive, and only then did he escape with his life.

Shen Lingjun pondered for a moment and said, "So, there is indeed something fishy about this battle. Since only Father knows the truth, I will treat him as soon as possible. Once he wakes up, he should be able to tell us."

Shen Jingyang grabbed Shen Lingjun's sleeve.

"Lingjun... I beg you, you must revive Father. The 30,000 souls of the Shen family army died with their eyes wide open, all waiting for this opportunity to clear their names."