Bai Jinzhao was the first to emerge from the carriage, then turned around and extended her hand toward Bai Qingyan: “Eldest sister, let me help you down!”

Chun Zhi hurriedly draped a fox fur cloak over Bai Qingyan and handed her a hand warmer with fresh charcoal, then lifted the carriage curtain for her…

As Bai Qingyan bent down to emerge from the carriage, she saw Bai Qingqi, Bai Qingjue, Bai Qingmo, Bai Jinhua, and Bai Jinse all gathering around, calling her eldest sister one after another.

Wei Zhaonian, wearing a black eye patch, also stepped forward to pay his respects: “Young Marshal Bai!”

“General Wei!” Bai Qingyan smiled brightly.

Supporting herself with Bai Jinzhao’s hand, she descended from the carriage and touched Bai Jinse’s head: “Our little seventh has indeed grown taller! I see little fifth has gotten tanned, but little sixth hasn’t been tanned much…”

“Little sixth and little fifth are twins originally. When they first arrived, the soldiers in the camp had some trouble telling who was who. Now it’s much better… the dark one is little fifth, and the fair one is certainly little sixth!” Bai Qingyun, sitting sideways in his wheelchair, joked with a smile.

“Ninth brother!” Bai Jinzhao pointed at Bai Qingyun and stamped her foot in mock anger.

“Don’t stand around in this freezing weather. Eldest sister… let’s go back to the main tent first!” Bai Qingqi’s eyebrows carried an extremely faint smile.

“Was the eldest sister’s journey smooth?” Bai Qingjue asked with a smile as he pushed Bai Qingyun, walking beside his eldest sister.

“The journey went fairly smoothly, though I stopped briefly in several cities along the way to inquire about how the Xiliang people currently view Tianfeng and the Xiliang court, which is why we traveled a bit slowly.” Bai Qingyan’s gaze fell on Bai Qingyun again. “I heard that Ah Yun improved the crossbow bolts, turning them into repeating crossbows…”

Bai Qingyun nodded with a smile: “Since I can’t go to battle with my brothers and sisters now, I can only contribute more in these matters. It’s just a pity that Ah Yun’s abilities are limited, and I’m not as clever as the third brother, the seventh brother, and the fifth brother. I didn’t learn much at Four Seas Pavilion. If the seventh brother had gone to Four Seas Pavilion with Gu Yijian back then, he would surely be able to do much more for the Bai family army now than I can!”

“From what Ah Yun is saying, it sounds like you want me to go find Master at Four Seas Pavilion and leave this battlefield to you?” Bai Qingjue smiled and reached out to pat Bai Qingyun’s head, but Bai Qingyun nimbly dodged.

“Although sitting in this wheelchair makes moving around inconvenient, my time at Four Seas Pavilion wasn’t wasted. Though I didn’t formally apprentice under Master Gu, he taught me his treasured skills that he didn’t even teach his seventh brother. If the seventh brother wants to beat me up, I’m afraid it won’t work!” Bai Qingyun said with a laugh.

Listening to her younger brothers laughing and joking, Bai Qingyan was reminded of the scenes when grandfather and father were still alive, when she and her uncles would laugh and joke together. Those times were truly lively, and now… that liveliness had returned.

Wei Zhaonian walked with his hands clasped behind his back, looking at these young Bai family generals with great comfort in his heart. He also recalled the scenes of campaigning with the various Bai family generals in the past. Back then… the Bai family generals would gather around the commander and deputy commander, laughing and talking just like this.

This was probably what inheritance meant.

The commander and deputy commander, along with Second Master, Third Master, Fourth Master, and Fifth Master, had all passed away, but their children had all grown up and could shoulder the great banner of the Bai family army.

As long as this kind of Bai family inheritance continued, the Bai family… and the Bai family army would never perish.

Lu Ninggui was with a young girl dressed in black fitted clothing, working together with Lu Ninggui to add charcoal to several braziers inside the tent.

Hearing the sounds of laughter from outside the tent, the young girl turned her head and excitedly called out to Lu Ninggui: “Master! His Majesty must have arrived!”

Lu Ninggui nodded with a smile. She covered the copper plum-carved brazier with its lid, wiped her hands with a handkerchief, and instructed Lu Liaochen: “Your personality is too lively, and you talk too much. You must restrain yourself a bit in front of His Majesty! Do you remember?”

“Master, rest assured. You’ve said this a hundred times already! You’ve been repeatedly instructing me since we learned His Majesty was coming. My ears have grown calluses from hearing it! I’ve memorized it by heart! Don’t worry!”

Seeing Lu Liaochen’s repeated assurances, Lu Ninggui finally took Lu Liaochen with her as they walked toward the tent entrance.

Seeing Bai Qingyan from afar, Lu Ninggui brought Lu Liaochen forward to greet her, bowing: “Eldest miss!”

“Aunt Lu!” Bai Qingyan nodded to Lu Ninggui. “This time, Miss Ji also returned from Hancheng with Jinxiu, but because Jinxiu and Ah Yu still have tough battles ahead, I had Miss Ji stay with Jinxiu… I couldn’t bring her here to reunite with you, though the day of reunion won’t be far off.”

“Thank you for your consideration, eldest miss! As long as she’s alive and safe, that’s enough for me! Whether we meet or not doesn’t matter!” Lu Ninggui’s eyebrows showed a gentle, shallow smile.

Lu Liaochen stared at Bai Qingyan in a daze. Only when she heard Bai Jinzhao’s stifled laughter did she hurriedly bow to Bai Qingyan: “Greetings to Your Majesty! Long live Your Majesty… long live! Ten thousand years!”

Lu Liaochen knelt properly and performed the kowtow ceremony.

Bai Qingyan observed that this girl’s movements were smooth and standard, no worse than any noble ladies she had seen in the capital. Her verbal greetings and every gesture were executed with perfect propriety—this was not something an ordinary family’s daughter could achieve.

She glanced at Bai Qingqi, whose expression remained cool and unmoved, and said with a smile: “Stand up! You must be Aunt Lu’s newly accepted little disciple…”

Lu Liaochen raised her head, her eyes sparkling brightly as she looked at Bai Qingyan. Without any trace of affected delicacy, she said cheerfully: “Yes, Your Majesty! I’ve finally met Your Majesty! All along this journey, I’ve heard Master tell me many things about Your Majesty, and I’ve also heard many soldiers and frontier people speak of Your Majesty. I’ve been filled with admiration, especially after hearing that song Na Kang wrote, ‘General Bai’s March to War’—I wanted to draw my sword and go to battle alongside Your Majesty! Meeting Your Majesty today is Liaochen’s fortune of three lifetimes. Liaochen… Liaochen is very happy!”

Lu Liaochen spoke extremely quickly, with clear enunciation and a crisp, clean voice like an oriole. She had delicate, cute features, especially those very large eyes that were pure and bright, plus a pair of small canine teeth that were quite adorable. Just as Bai Jinzhao had said, this girl’s… temperament was like fire, very passionate. This didn’t seem like a typical noble young lady from an ordinary family.

However, if third brother truly liked her, then it was really as little fifth had said… it could bring more joy and liveliness to Ah Qi’s days.

“Liaochen!” Lu Ninggui scolded Lu Liaochen. Lu Liaochen’s personality was too spirited, which gave Lu Ninggui a headache.

Bai Qingyan smiled and nodded: “Don’t keep kneeling, get up!”

“Yes!” Lu Liaochen responded and stood up, patting the dirt off herself before saying: “Your Majesty, Master said Your Majesty feels the cold, so Master just brought me to light all the braziers in the main tent—it’s quite warm now! The master also specially made some pastries for Your Majesty. I secretly tasted them, and they’re delicious!”

Bai Qingyan looked at Lu Liaochen’s appearance and nodded with a smile: “Good, I’ll definitely try them!”