I am the stepmother of my son, and the little villain has changed into a little cotton-padded jacket

There was not a single servant or guard in the huge general's mansion. No one had lived here since Xiao Yizhuo left, and it had been empty until now.

Wen Shutang simply cleaned up three rooms. She and Xiao Yizhuo lived in one room, Xiao Ze and Xiao Ye lived in one room, and little girl Xiao Wan lived in a room alone.

Wen Shutang thought that she would have to find some guards to protect the house after a few days when she had some time, otherwise she would not be able to manage such a large yard by herself.

Xiao Yizhuo also realized this: "When we return from the palace tomorrow, we will go to the human traffickers to buy some servants, so as to save Madam from the trouble."

Wen Shutang nodded: "Well, don't worry, stay here first, and it won't be too late to go back when you have time. And who knows, someone might send someone to us tomorrow, and we can save some money."

Wen Shutang pursed his lips and smiled slightly. He looked like he was not worried at all about going to the palace to meet the emperor tomorrow.

Hearing what she said, Xiao Yizhuo was stunned for a moment, then he reacted and a smile appeared on his face.

"Well, then I'll listen to you, Madam."

Xiao Ye excitedly took Xiao Wan to run around the general's mansion. The two children looked very excited as they explored new places everywhere.

Xiao Ze was also a little curious about this new home. He walked around with his hands behind his back like a little adult, as if he was patrolling his territory.

Looking at the children's appearance, Wen Shutang's smile became even more intense, and he became more determined to protect the three children no matter what happened.

After Muzhu moved all the things in, he hid in the dark, always paying attention to the safety of the three children so that he could appear at any time to protect them when they were in danger.

On the first night staying in the general's mansion, Wen Shutang suffered from insomnia, which was rare for him. He lay in bed with his eyes closed and tossed and turned several times but couldn't fall asleep.

Although she was not worried about meeting the emperor tomorrow, once people have something on their mind, they are prone to insomnia.

Xiao Yizhuo noticed that Wen Shutang had not fallen asleep yet, and noticed her irritability, so he asked calmly, "What's wrong?"

"I don't know what's going on. I can't sleep. Maybe I'm used to my bed?" Wen Shutang didn't open his eyes and frowned slightly.

Hearing this, Xiao Yizhuo turned his head to look at her. In the moonlight, Xiao Yizhuo could clearly see Wen Shutang's frown. He reached out and held her hand to comfort her.

"It's okay. Maybe it's because I'm not used to the new place all of a sudden."

"Ah."

Wen Shutang didn't say anything else and tried to make himself fall asleep. After a moment, the attempt failed.

She turned over, opened her eyes and looked at Xiao Yizhuo: "No, I can't sleep. Why don't you tell me a story?"

Xiao Yizhuo was stunned: "What story?"

"Anything is fine, such as your previous experience in the frontier army." Wen Shutang said, touching his chin.

Before Xiao Yizhuo could speak, Wen Shutang said, "Hey, wait, why don't you tell me about other countries besides Nansheng."

Wen Shutang suddenly thought that she knew nothing about the plates of this world. She seemed to only know about one Nansheng Kingdom and a very vague Beichen Kingdom.

Wen Shutang knew nothing about other countries.

Hearing this, Xiao Yizhuo didn't say anything else and began to tell the stories of other countries in a low voice.

"There are many countries, each ruling its own territory. Only four countries are relatively powerful: Nansheng, Beichen, Dongxuan, and Xiqi. The leading country is Nansheng. However, as time goes by, the other three countries are also constantly expanding their strength. Now the strength of the four countries is almost equal. However, the emperor still believes that Nansheng is still superior to the other three countries, and orders the three countries to pay tribute to Nansheng every year."

At this point, Xiao Yizhuo paused for a moment: "The three kingdoms could not bear the humiliation, and Xiqi was the first to refuse tribute. The emperor was furious and wanted to send troops westward to destroy Xiqi's capital and punish Xiqi. But Xiqi was no longer the weak country it once was. Under the emperor's contempt, Xiqi fought back, and my 200,000-man army was completely wiped out. In the end, I even had to compensate Xiqi with two important cities, and only then did I quell the turmoil. That year, I was sixteen years old."

Wen Shutang was surprised to hear what he said.

This emperor was really arrogant. For the sake of his so-called face, he lost his soldiers and land. It was such a loss.

"Because of this incident, the court was in turmoil, and there were rumors among the people that the emperor was not governing the country properly. Later, the emperor issued an edict of repentance, which calmed the public anger. In the days that followed, the emperor seemed to face the reality and began to pay attention to the status of businessmen. It was at that time that the Fang family rose." Xiao Yizhuo continued calmly.

"So, with its powerful military, can Xiqi be ranked in the top two among the four countries?" Wen Shutang was a little curious.

Xiao Yizhuo shook his head: "I don't know about this. The strength of the other three countries is unknown, but Nansheng has been declining day by day. There are almost no generals available in the court. It is precisely because of this that the emperor will not care about my guilt of leaving Beijing for a long time and not wanting to return."

Wen Shutang nodded in understanding. Indeed, if Xiao Yizhuo was not of any use to him, given the emperor's petty nature, how could he tolerate their family? It would be good enough if he didn't kill them all.

"However, the military strength of Western Qi is indeed strong. Since the usurpation of the throne and rebellion in the court, Dong Xuan has rarely participated in the struggle among the four countries, so its strength is unknown." Xiao Yizhuo explained.

When Wen Shutang heard about the usurpation of the throne and treason, he immediately became interested. This was a big gossip.

"Usurping the throne and treason? Tell me more."

"I don't know the details, I just heard some rumors. The Dongxuan royal family originally had the surname Gao. The emperor worked hard to be a wise ruler, but there were few wise ministers around him. Later, the foreign relatives seized power, rebelled, killed the emperor and empress, and bloodbathed the palace. Later, the Dongxuan royal family changed their surname to Su." Xiao Yizhuo pursed his lips, as if recalling the rumors he had heard at that time.

Hearing this, Wen Shutang couldn't help but smack his lips. A wise ruler without wise ministers is the first sign of a country's decline.

What a pity.

"What about Beichen? I heard that Beichen was not a small country before? Why does it dare to challenge Nansheng now?" Wen Shutang became even more curious and was no longer sleepy at all.

As the saying goes, a lean camel is bigger than a horse. Even if Nansheng is going to decline again, it can't be worse than the weakest small country in the past, right?

Xiao Yizhuo saw that she had no intention of sleeping at all, so he smiled helplessly.

"Beichen was indeed weaker before, but Emperor Beichen was fortunate to have a national teacher who was well versed in the principles of heaven and earth. Since then, Beichen has become stronger and stronger. It has recruited soldiers and expanded its strength, and even annexed the surrounding small countries. This national teacher is indeed a god-like person. I once had the honor of meeting him. The policy of governing the people by law that he proposed at the time was highly praised by many small countries." Xiao Yizhuo explained patiently.

Hearing this, Wen Shutang was stunned.