Wei Rao rode her horse around for another circuit. After running enough, she leisurely returned to the leisure estate before the summer heat intensified.

She had just dismounted when a man dressed in coarse cloth emerged from inside—it was the melon field guardian from her maternal grandmother’s estate.

The guardian stared at Wei Rao in her veiled hat with disbelief. This, this…

“This is the young lady cousin, why don’t you hurry and pay your respects?” the gatekeeper servant reminded from the side.

The guardian was still in a daze.

Wei Rao smiled and said, “I was playful for a moment and troubled my uncle to make this trip. Rest assured, I will explain to Old Madam, and she won’t blame you.”

After speaking, Wei Rao handed the horse to the servant and walked inside.

Shou’an Jun had already guessed from the guardian’s description of the two melon thieves that one of them was Wei Rao. What she was curious about was that military general.

Wei Rao washed her hands and wiped her face, then sat beside her grandmother and honestly reported her conversation with Qi Zhongkai.

Shou’an Jun said with regret, “Second Master Qi is upright and forthright, quite compatible with you, but unfortunately, the Marquis Pingxi’s wife values reputation greatly and would never agree.”

Wei Rao replied, “Yes, when I was watching the dragon boat race, I was still thinking about marrying Second Master Qi. But soon after, I experienced his mother’s severity. Such a mother-in-law, I could never endure. By the way, grandmother, there’s warfare at the border again. Have you heard?”

Compared to marriage matters, Wei Rao was more concerned about the border warfare at this moment. Her restaurant would open in mid-February. If the border was full of victory reports, that would be fine, but if the dynasty’s soldiers kept losing battles, Emperor Yuanjia would surely be displeased, and the entire Capital City’s atmosphere would become heavy. At that time, which shop would dare to beat gongs, drums, and set off firecrackers?

Shou’an Jun said in a low voice, “I heard there was an eight-hundred-li urgent message transmitted to the Capital City. The specific news will have to wait another two days to know.”

She was familiar with the interpersonal relationships of various families and mansions, but never inquired about court politics. She would only receive news after it had spread among the common people.

“Wait patiently. If the situation is truly dire, have your restaurant open quietly without fanfare. It’s better to earn less money than to offend the court’s sensibilities,” Shou’an Jun instructed.

Wei Rao understood. She wasn’t urgently in need of money, so the restaurant’s business could develop slowly.

Not long after, discussions about this warfare indeed appeared on the streets and in the alleys of the Capital City.

In the past twenty years, the grassland barbarian tribes and the Central Plains had occasional small battles, but there were no major wars attempting to destroy nations, giving both sides opportunities to rest and recuperate. The Central Plains had only one emperor, Emperor Yuanjia, while the grasslands had twelve tribes. Today, you seize my territory, tomorrow, I capture yours—internal strife was constant. Just two years ago, the grasslands were unified by the Wuda tribe led by Khan Hulun, becoming one family.

Khan Hulun was ambitious, like an eagle with full-grown wings. After reorganizing the grasslands, he turned his gaze toward the fertile and prosperous Central Plains. Not long ago, he led three hundred thousand cavalry divided into three routes southward, intending to seize the Central Plains’ territory.

In response, Emperor Yuanjia dispatched the Shenwu Army and Xionghu Army from the Upper Four Armies to campaign, commanding several border garrison armies—a total of four hundred fifty thousand imperial troops to resist the enemy.

Marquis Pingxi was the commander of the Xionghu Army. Qi Zhongkai’s hands were itching, so he voluntarily went before the emperor to request orders to campaign alongside his father. On the Shenwu Army side, the nearly sixty-year-old veteran Duke Ying and his heir Lu Zhuo jointly commanded, with Lu Zhuo’s cousin also going as one.

The flames of war were all at the borders. The Capital City remained prosperous and peaceful, with only bold people in gambling houses secretly setting up betting games on the victory or defeat of the two nations.

Wei Rao naturally hoped their dynasty would win—ideally defeating Wuda to the point of national destruction, making the grasslands completely submit to the Central Plains and never dare to harass again.

She stayed at the leisure estate while her cousin Huo Jue found her a shrewd and capable Manager Song. Manager Song would regularly deliver progress reports on the restaurant preparations. The four head chefs together created twelve signature dishes, eight of which were rarely seen in the Capital City’s major restaurants. The apprentices working in the kitchen and the servers running the front had all been trained well, and supply contracts for vegetables and meat had all been signed.

As the auspicious opening day drew closer, finally, the border sent a victory report that Wei Rao had long anticipated. In a just-concluded battle, the Shenwu Army had slain thirty thousand Wuda cavalry, dealing a severe blow to the northwest route’s morale!

Wei Rao couldn’t see the palace situation, but the Capital City’s people were all happy about this victory report. Manager Song even came up with a good idea—on the restaurant’s opening day, he would change the promotional opening discount to a celebration of the border victory report, taking advantage of this wave of good fortune.

Three days after the restaurant opened, Huo Jue returned to the leisure estate once, smiling as he told Wei Rao to rest assured.

The restaurant’s business was even better than the siblings had anticipated, especially the dish “Charcoal-Roasted Barbarian Lamb,” which had almost become a must-order dish for every table of guests. In reality, barbarian lamb was just a type of sheep introduced from the grasslands—the Central Plains had been raising them for a long time. It wasn’t transported fresh from the grasslands, but the diners couldn’t help being happy about the border victory report. Eating barbarian lamb in their mouths, they felt as if they too had contributed to dampening the barbarians’ morale.

Wei Rao stayed at the leisure estate until the end of June. Without waiting for Old Madam Wei to urge her, she obediently returned to the Cheng’an Earl Mansion.

The weather wasn’t as hot as summer anymore. Wei Rao had eaten well and slept well at the leisure estate, returning to the mansion with her little face rosy and fair. Old Madam Wei hadn’t seen her granddaughter for almost two months. Now reunited, Old Madam Wei felt that her little granddaughter, this peony flower bud, had quietly bloomed a bit more. Even with skillfully applied makeup, it would be difficult to conceal her brilliant beauty.

“Grandmother, I heard a new restaurant opened in the Capital City with quite delicious signature dishes. Will you take me to try it?” Wei Rao said coquettishly.

Old Madam Wei smiled, leaning down to whisper in her granddaughter’s ear, “You opened it?”

Wei Rao couldn’t hide the surprise in her eyes.

Old Madam Wei tapped her head, “Do you think I’m old and confused? Every time your cousin comes, you two always talk in the corridor for a while. You’re someone with plans, and you already bought land—the next step would naturally be opening a shop, wouldn’t it?”

Wei Rao was impressed. She had thought she could give her grandmother a surprise.

“Let’s wait a bit longer. Suddenly suggesting going to a restaurant might make your aunt and the others suspicious. Before Mid-Autumn, we’ll use the excuse of going out to see lanterns and have a meal at the restaurant,” Old Madam Wei arranged.

Wei Rao had no choice but to wait patiently.

Battle reports from the border continued to trickle back to the Capital City, with both worries and joys. As long as the court wasn’t continuously defeated, the common people in the neighborhoods still dared to laugh and talk.

On the morning before Mid-Autumn, Old Madam Wei called her son, Earl Cheng’an, over, saying she wanted to go out to see lanterns that evening and might as well have dinner outside, asking Earl Cheng’an to reserve a restaurant in advance.

Earl Cheng’an filially asked, “Mother, is there any restaurant you’d like to go to?”

Old Madam Wei said, “I heard people say the newly opened Guangxing Restaurant is quite good.”

Earl Cheng’an laughed. That Guangxing Restaurant’s head chefs were reportedly all invited from other places, skilled in signature dishes that were rarely seen in the Capital City. Having only been open in the Capital City for two months, it had already become a popular place for wealthy families to host banquets, as if not trying Guangxing Restaurant’s dishes meant not keeping up with the Capital City’s latest trends.

Earl Cheng’an had been treated by a colleague to eat at Guangxing Restaurant once, and the taste was indeed very good.

“I’ll go see if I can make a reservation. I hope there are still seats available.”

Manager Song had received Wei Rao’s message early and had specially reserved a private room. That evening at dusk, Wei Rao accompanied her grandmother and her uncle’s family to visit her restaurant for the first time.

Just as the Capital City’s dignitaries and nobles were celebrating Mid-Autumn, on the grasslands, Qi Zhongkai led troops in a night raid against the Wuda cavalry’s main camp.

Lu Zhuo, meanwhile, led five thousand elite troops on a secret detour to a location where the defeated Wuda forces would necessarily retreat, preparing to intercept them.

On the grassland night in mid-August, the north wind already carried a chill. Lu Zhuo and his men hid behind rocks and stones, with no one speaking, hearing only the howling mountain wind.

From the distant Wuda camp came sounds of battle—Qi Zhongkai had begun his surprise attack.

Lu Zhuo observed intently and discovered that the torches in the Wuda camp suddenly lit up simultaneously from the outer perimeter at a certain moment, like a giant fire python, head and tail connected, tightly surrounding a dense cluster of torches in the middle.

What did this indicate?

It indicated that the Wuda camp had been prepared for their night raid all along, deliberately exposing weaknesses to lure Qi Zhongkai and others deep inside, then surrounding and killing them!

“Move!”

Lu Zhuo spurred his horse into the darkness, leading the five thousand elite troops behind him to rescue Qi Zhongkai’s trapped army.

Lu Zhuo didn’t order anyone to light torches. Before approaching the Wuda camp, he commanded his soldiers to shout in unison to Qi Zhongkai: “General Qi, don’t worry! Twenty thousand Shenwu Army troops will arrive immediately!”

In the dead of night, no one could see clearly. The Wuda warriors in the camp heard that twenty thousand Shenwu Army troops had suddenly arrived—the Shenwu Army, whose combat power was comparable to several times that of ordinary imperial troops. Their morale wavered, and the siege immediately weakened. The Central Plains soldiers trapped inside, upon hearing this, had their morale soar and fought even more valiantly.

Only Qi Zhongkai knew that the reinforcements should be Lu Zhuo’s five thousand men. Combined, they had just over ten thousand total, hardly a match for the fifty thousand cavalry in the camp.

A surprise victory was no longer possible. Qi Zhongkai only hoped to fight his way through a bloody path and minimize losses as much as possible.

When Lu Zhuo’s reinforcements arrived, Qi Zhongkai tactfully led his troops to attack the Wuda siege forces on Lu Zhuo’s side.

The two coordinated from inside and outside, using feints and real attacks, actually managing to break through a gap. When the two sides met, they immediately charged together toward their retreat route.

The Wuda army reacted, no longer panicked or confused, howling as they gave chase.

“Release arrows!”

A deep, commanding voice suddenly rang out from among the Wuda cavalry. Qi Zhongkai spurred his horse wildly while looking back, but unfortunately, everything was pitch black, and he couldn’t see anything.

“Damn it, the plan was so good, how did they turn the tables on us?” Qi Zhongkai couldn’t understand.

Lu Zhuo said, “Someone leaked information.”

In this great battle, the court already had a good chance of victory. At this time, those dark villains wanted to steal credit for profit.

As the two spoke, the whooshing sound of arrows breaking through the air came from behind with a hair-raising intensity.

“Split up,” Lu Zhuo said coldly, leading his men diagonally toward another direction.

“Lu Zhuo, you absolutely must not die before me!”

In the fierce cold wind, arrow whistles surpassing bee swarms, Qi Zhongkai took one last look in Lu Zhuo’s direction and roared with laughter.

Qi Zhongkai’s voice was naturally loud, and he deliberately bellowed, his voice like rolling thunder, echoing across this stretch of grassland.

However, the person he was provoking did not respond.

Qi Zhongkai suddenly felt a pang of unease.

Lu Zhuo was more serious than him and often ignored him, but on this life-or-death battlefield, Qi Zhongkai feared Lu Zhuo’s silence.

“Lu Zhuo, I’m waiting to return to the capital to drink at your wedding!”

Qi Zhongkai shouted another sentence in the direction his friend had left, though he didn’t forget to continue his escape.

Finally, a cool and clear voice, not very distinct, came over: “Shut up!”

Facing an arrow formation and still shouting nonsense—was he afraid the Wuda archers couldn’t aim properly?

Hearing the familiar voice, Qi Zhongkai felt comfortable and stopped making noise, leaning forward on his body and desperately galloping.

With a “bang,” a person next to him, along with his horse, tumbled down.

Just from the sound, Qi Zhongkai knew that the Wuda side had started using wolf-fang arrows—deadly arrows comparable to spears!

Cold sweat rolled down Qi Zhongkai’s back, chilling him to the bone and blood.

It was over, it was over. He might truly be unable to return alive to see Fourth Lady!