As Shen Qingzhu walked, she discussed her plans with Bai Qingyan: “When Miss returns to the capital, Qingzhu won’t accompany Miss back. Qingzhu will stay behind to guard the young masters and misses for Miss. Miss can rest assured… Qingzhu will use her own life to protect the young masters and misses. After Miss returns, please focus on your pregnancy and don’t worry excessively. You needn’t be concerned about the Xiliang battlefield.”

Shen Qingzhu understood Bai Qingyan too well. Even if she departed for the capital now, she would certainly be unable to rest easy about her younger brothers and sisters fighting on the battlefield. Therefore, she was willing to stay behind to give Bai Qingyan peace of mind.

Bai Qingyan gripped Shen Qingzhu’s hand tightly, her eyes reddening, then turned to look at Shen Qingzhu: “You must protect yourself! Qingzhu… you and I grew up together, you are also my family, and you absolutely cannot come to harm! They must eventually learn to protect themselves on the battlefield; they cannot always rely on your protection!”

“I understand, Miss!” Shen Qingzhu nodded, finally showing a slight smile on her face.

“There’s another matter. The misunderstanding between your sworn brother and you has been resolved. How about… after we capture Yunjing, I’ll invite your master back, and then have Mother send someone to discuss with Uncle Shen about arranging your marriage. Would that be acceptable?” Bai Qingyan asked Shen Qingzhu in a low voice.

“Qingzhu… wants to stay by Miss’s side for life!” Shen Qingzhu lowered her eyes, watching the swaying lamp shadows at her feet, carefully helping Bai Qingyan walk forward.

“If you marry your sworn brother, does that mean you can’t stay by my side? After Chun Tao married Chen Qingsheng, I still couldn’t do without Chun Tao. There’s no conflict there.” As Bai Qingyan walked down the corridor steps with Shen Qingzhu, she continued, “You and your sworn brother both have feelings for each other! After misunderstanding each other for so many years, Uncle Shen… it pains him to watch. Only when you two are married can Uncle Shen, your master, my mother, and I feel at ease.”

“Miss, let’s discuss this matter later!” Shen Qingzhu avoided the topic.

Bai Qingyan didn’t press Shen Qingzhu too hard, nodding as she accompanied Shen Qingzhu to the wounded soldiers’ camp.

As soon as Bai Qingyan reached the entrance, Bai Jinzhao came out joyfully to greet her, smiling as she spoke to Bai Qingyan: “Elder Sister, the sweet rice balls are all cooked! Among these hundreds of thousands of sweet rice balls, only one contains a copper coin. Whoever eats it… will be the most fortunate person in our Great Zhou! Now all the sweet rice balls are mixed, no one knows where that sweet rice ball with the copper coin is! Everyone is very curious, just waiting for Elder Sister to arrive so we can serve the sweet rice balls and see who can eat them…”

Bai Jinhua was also eager to try, smiling as she said: “Third Brother and Fifth Brother have even set up a wager. Whoever can eat the sweet rice ball with the copper coin this time will get one tael of silver from Third Brother and Fifth Brother!”

One tael of silver wasn’t much to Bai Jinzhao and Bai Jinhua, but they both wanted to win this prize.

“Good! For fairness, when the sweet rice balls are served, let everyone choose their bowl!” Bai Qingyan said with a smile.

Just as Bai Qingyan finished speaking, Xiao Rongyan’s voice came: “How lively! I wonder if this prince may join in the festivities!”

Bai Jinhua saw the masked Ninth Prince of Great Yan approaching and bowed first: “Ninth Prince…”

Xiao Rongyan nodded, then looked up at Bai Qingyu, who was standing in the tent and had been smiling just moments before but now looked cold as ice, before properly bowing to Bai Qingyan: “Greetings to the Emperor of Great Zhou.”

Bai Qingyan nodded: “Ninth Prince, no need for excessive courtesy. I heard that the Ninth Prince accompanied An Qingshan this time to escort the war spoils. Thank you for your hard work!”

“This time, I mainly came to coordinate with the Bai Family generals about how our two armies should cooperate in the upcoming battles. Who knew I’d encounter such festivities, so I couldn’t help but want to join in.” Xiao Rongyan smiled and cupped his hands toward the Bai Family members, “This prince will shamelessly intrude.”

“Ninth Prince, please take the seat of honor…” Bai Qingyan gestured for Xiao Rongyan to be seated.

“Your Majesty, please go first!” Xiao Rongyan’s manner was respectful, his deep eyes looking at Bai Qingyan with an even deeper smile.

Bai Qingyan nodded and walked toward the wounded soldiers’ camp first. Seeing this, Bai Qingyu stepped forward to support Bai Qingyan, using his body to block Xiao Rongyan, who was following closely behind his elder sister.

Behind his mask, Xiao Rongyan’s lips curved into a slight smile. He didn’t argue with this young brother-in-law, following unhurriedly behind the siblings.

As soon as Bai Qingyan saw Bai Qingyu, she was reminded of that dream from earlier. She unconsciously gripped A’yu’s hand tightly.

“Elder Sister?” Bai Qingyu noticed that Bai Qingyan was gripping his hand rather forcefully and asked quietly, “Are you feeling unwell, Elder Sister?”

“No…” Bai Qingyan smiled and shook her head, but her hand gripped Bai Qingyu even tighter. It was fine when she hadn’t seen Bai Qingyu, but now that she saw him, that dream became crystal clear in her mind again.

In the dream, A’yu’s features and voice were all incredibly vivid, as if it had happened…

Having experienced the life and death of her Bai Family blood relatives, her younger brothers were all lost and found again. She could not bear to lose a brother again.

Fortunately, it was just a dream!

Today is the fifteenth day that we have eaten sweet rice balls. It should be a day of reunion. Elder Sister just misses Mother. Mother must be thinking of us in the capital at this moment.” Bai Qingyan smiled as she spoke to Bai Qingyu.

Bai Qingyu nodded: “When Elder Sister returns, please tell Mother that A’yu is unfilial… After pacifying Xiliang, I will return to properly accompany Mother.”

“Good, Elder Sister will convey your words!” Bai Qingyan turned her head to look at her younger brother, who was now much taller than herself, and smiled. From the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Xiao Rongyan following behind her and watching her. She glanced at Xiao Rongyan, her smile deepening as she took her seat at the head position.

Xiao Rongyan was invited by Bai Qingqi to sit in the position below Bai Qingyan’s right, and Bai Qingqi sat beside Xiao Rongyan.

Bai Jinzhao glanced at the Ninth Prince of Great Yan, who was staring at their elder sister, then at their elder sister, who was leaning over and speaking quietly with their fifth brother. She tugged at Bai Jinzhao’s clothes, brought her head close to Bai Jinzhao’s, and whispered: “Why do I feel like this Ninth Prince of Great Yan keeps staring at our elder sister? Could this Ninth Prince have feelings for our elder sister?”

Bai Jinhua, who looked exactly like Bai Jinzhao, looked up at the Ninth Prince of Great Yan, then at their elder sister, and whispered: “That shouldn’t be possible. Elder Sister is the Emperor of our Great Zhou! Although this Ninth Prince is just a prince, he’s the uncrowned king of the Yan Kingdom – everyone knows this. Elder Sister can only take a husband who marries into our Bai Family. The Ninth Prince wouldn’t be willing to give up the Yan Kingdom to marry into our Great Zhou for Elder Sister’s sake, so stop thinking about such impossible things.”

Bai Jinzhao nodded: “I just noticed that the Ninth Prince of Great Yan kept looking at our elder sister!”