My Fantastic Chef Wife

373. Taking the Capital City

Translator: Kickassjo

Further past Beihui City was Capital City where Yan Ziyan had transferred the majority of his soldiers to station here in case Xiao Baoshan and the others attacked.

However, after Xiao Baoshan launched the first round of attack, he had spent a long time trying to take the city but failed.

Beihui City has been a very important portal of the Great Qi and it was easy to hold but difficult to break into. Even for a war god like Xiao Baoshan couldn’t take the city in a short time.

Due to the war, the economy of Beihui City was severely damaged. The prosperous area from the past has declined and so did all walks of life. The people from outside of the city couldn’t get in and the people inside the city couldn’t leave. The people lived by the food they saved in the past.

……

In the Tianshan tribe.

Since the outbreak of war, Tarico and the others no longer made deals in Beihui City.

Although Tianshan tribe was still very peaceful, the business of the camel team bacame impossible which deeply affected every household. Many people hated the war so much that they wished it would end sooner.

Ye Xiaoxian raised two children in the tribe like an ordinary housewife. She cooked for the children every day and then took them out to play.

Dongdong already learned to speak many words while Little Xia was also learning.

Dongdong often asked Ye Xiaoxian, “Mom, where’s our father?”

Ye Xiaoxian would point to the distance, “Daddy is fighting the bad people and when he defeats them, he will come back.”

“What are bad people? How bad?”

“Bad people are those people who only care about themselves and don’t care about others.”

She thought that her children were still young so Ye Xiaoxian told them the story of Ultraman fighting the beasts. After she finished telling the story every time, she would tell her two children, “their Daddy is like Ultraman. He fights against beasts every day and will come back when he defeats all the beasts.”

Dongdong would sigh every time, “Beast is really hard to beat.”

“That’s right, the beast is very cunning. It’s not easy to fight them, but we have to believe in daddy. When he beats all the beast, he will surely come and pick us up.”

……

When the economy was bad, the lives of the tribesmen weren’t as good as before. Everyone had to economize on food and clothing.

Fortunately, the people in the tribe weren’t in extreme poverty at present. They have cows and sheep of their own and there was a naturally grown pasture. Even if the camel team didn’t go to Beihui City, they could still trade in Baoning City.

Tarico knew that he couldn’t just rely on Beihui City, so he went to Da’an county, Dinghe county and Qinghe county to look for new business.

These places had been reclaimed and there were no war. The economy was slowly recovering, and as time went by, Tarico found some business opportunities.

Ye Xiaoxian made all kinds of delicious food including the dried beef in usual days for the children.

Before she transmigrated, she thought to herself that if she had a child in the future, she would raise the children so well that they would have fair skin and strong body and she would make them all kinds of food she could for them.

Thus, she made cheesy, buttercream biscuits, all sorts of milk drinks, all sorts of cooked wheaten food and pancakes which tthe children liked very much.

Apart from her own children, the children of Jin Xiaoyu also had the pleasure to enjoy the food.

These kids grew up in the tribe which had a challenging environment and a lot of delicious food so they all became very strong. The fat boy of Jin Xiaoyu wanted to ride a horse already when he was 3 years old.

Ye Xiaoxian felt that the child was still young and it was best not to ride so early. However, Tarico and Jin Xiaoyu were particularly wild so they suprisingly found a pony for the child to ride.

The child was bold too. He learned it in a few days which shocked Ye Xiaoxian.

However, Ye Xiaoxian still didn’t let Dongdong ride at such a young age. In terms of raising her children, she was very careful.

……

When Dongdong was 4 years old, Ye Xiaoxian received news that they still failed to take Beihui City while Xiao Baoshan and the others were seriously damaged and suffered heavy casualties.

She was so worried that she even wanted go find Xiao Baoshan, taking her kids with them.

But when she thought about her arrival might only cause trouble, she gave up and wait anxiously every day instead.

Ever since that time, she had no news of Xiao Baoshan.

Before Xiao Baoshan set out, she had already known that after Xiao Baoshan went to war, there would only be two outcomes that he would only win or lose.

If they lost, as Xiao Baoshan’s family, the only way left for them would be death.

That day, Ye Xiaoxian and the Xiao family had a discussion till midnight.

Ye Xiaoxian hoped that someone would go and see Xiao Baoshan’s situation. If Xiao Baoshan was defeated, then their family must be prepared to escape. Otherwise, Yan Ziyan’s people would definitely kill them to secure their rule.

After a long time, they decided to send Xiao Tieshu out to scout for information.

Xiao Tieshu didn’t have any objections, so he headed out after setting things right in his house.

It had been two months since Xiao Tieshu left and there was no news at all, which made the Xiao family very anxious.

The brother-in-law mother even regretted sending Xiao Tieshu away because they lost a supporting hand in the family thereafter.

However, two months later, Xiao Tieshu returned but he didn’t come home alone.

Behind him was the Sixth King’s first general, A’biao, and a few other people who claimed to have fought with Xiao Baoshan.

It turned out that after he had a victory, Xiao Baoshan quickly adjusted his strategic plan that when Yan Ziyan was defeated Xiao Baoshan sent A’biao to pick up Ye Xiaoxian and the others. Coincidentally, Xiao Tieshu came over at this time, so Xiao Baoshan sent a few more people to escort Xiao Tieshu back.

When Xiao Tieshu returned to the tribe, he was particularly excited and kept talking to his family.

“Baoshan is really something now. Everyone there listens to him because he is a meritorious statesman. All of them said he fought very brave in war.”

“He doesn’t have time to come back now. I heard that he still has to deal with the traitor, Yan Ziyan.”

“The Sixth King and the Seventh King are also in Capital City, but… I only saw the Seventh King and didn’t see the Sixth King.”

“Baoshan told us to move to Capital City and he said that he could arrange a mansion for us in the Capital City but he would respect our decision. If we want to go, we can go and if we don’t want to go, he won’t force us.”

Xiao Tieshu was a little embarrassed, “I think that since Baoshan invited us to go, we should go and enjoy our lives in Capital City and benefit from the association with Baoshan.”

Everyone was so happy when they heard about it and started to pack up.

Ye Xiaoxian was also very excited.

She hadn’t seen Xiao Baoshan for more than five years, and she didn’t know how he was doing. To think about the past five years, she didn’t complain but she knew had a rough time.

When she saw Xiao Baoshan, she had to make him compensate for what he owed her for the past five years.

……

In Capital City.

Xiao Baoshan and Li Chengyi, Li Chengru finally set foot on this city again.

Yan Ziyan attained his power by illegal methods so he didn’t have the blessing from the people and when he was defeated, the people in the city welcomed the return of Xiao Baoshan and the others.

Xiao Baoshan rode on his large horse and followed Li Chengru.

Li Chengkun sat in the carriage.

Capital City had been occupied by Yan Ziyan for five years, and many things had changed. Some of the ministers who openly opposed Yan Ziyan had been beheaded and those who were here now were all people who bend with the wind.

Even more changes happened in imperial palace.

After the Yan Ziyan took over the palace, those imperial concubines, who originally lived inside, either died or turned to be servants. Since Yan Ziyan was from the countryside, the cluster of flowers in the palace had been replaced with vegetables.

Li Chengru led everyone into the imperial palace.

Yan Ziyan was still alive but all those who had followed him were dead and he was still in the palace now.

At this time, he was seated on the dragon throne on which he spent so much effort in the hall and stared at the people who rushed in.

Then he saw Xiao Baoshan.

After Xiao Baoshan entered, he looked quietly at Yan Ziyan.

All of this had come to an end. Yan Ziyan didn’t have the power to fight back now. He only regretted that he hadn’t claimed himself the Emperor after he took the Capital City and pretending to be aloof and be a ‘Master’.

Then he suddenly laughed out to the sky.

“Xiao Baoshan, you… You’re finally back. I thought you were a righteous man all along and didn’t desire power but it never occurred to me that you are person of power. Xiao Baoshan, let me tell you, once a person has power, his appetite will grow and so does his greed, which is unavoidable.”

Xiao Baoshan quietly looked at Yan Ziyan.

It was obvious that Yan Ziyan was no longer the same person whom he fought with in the North before. He used to have clean and simple eyes but now they were filled with greed.

Plus, Xiao Baoshan did not agree with Yan Ziyan. Power meant nothing to him and he would never be greedy in his life.

After a while, Xiao Baoshan ordered, “Take Yan Ziyan down!”

Two soldiers went over and grabbed Yan Ziyan who was laughing.

“I, Yan, used to be a warrier and I had led an army and sat on the dragon throne and I even had a taste of the late emperor’s wives who were all clean and blossom and used to stand high but now they were all under me. I have no regrets, none at all, hahaha…”

After Yan Ziyan was taken away, the hall was quiet again.

Xiao Baoshan leaned aside and saved the front seat for Li Chengyi and Li Chengru.

However, neither of them went ahead. Li Chengyi was now supported by two people who had catched a cold and have been coughing.

He just glanced at that dragon throne and said, “Let’s go back and see the Sixth King’s mansion!”

Li Chengru did not come forward and he merely looked at the dragon throne with the same clean and simple eyes as as before.

He had never thought about sitting on that chair.

After Li Chengyi turned around, Li Chengru also turned around and went out. And then, everyone left the palace and returned to their own mansions.

……

Xiao Baoshan returned to the mansion where he used to be a “Xiao assistant minister”.

After Yan Ziyan took over Capital City, the mansion was occupied by one of his brothers. Now that the Yan family was defeated, this place was empty again. Before they went in the Capital City, the Ministry of Revenue had sent someone over to clean the place and now it was habitable again.

After fighting for so many years, Xiao Baoshan was also tired.

He returned to the room he lived in with Ye Xiaoxian before and lay down on the bed.

He had been in war for many years and rarely slept on a bed. He usually slept in the tent or in the wilderness. Now that he was sleeping on the bed, he actually had a feeling of unease.