He traveled alongside the Crown Prince and the expedition army on this journey. Who would dare to inspect them with such audacity? Moreover, this expedition was a forced march… the army moved extremely fast, with city gates wide open at every prefecture. Furthermore, traveling with the Crown Prince, they could openly take the official roads, and all the time saved along the way meant lives that Great Yan could rescue.

Great Yan was indeed in dire straits today, but who could have imagined that this very tottering nation of Great Yan would, ten years later… destroy four kingdoms and become a great power whose military might struck terror into all nations?

“Master Xiao, Yan is from Jin. You’ve spoken to Yan in such detail—aren’t you afraid Yan might ruin your affairs?”

If there were any nation in this world most unwilling to see Great Yan grow strong, it would certainly be Jin.

“Even Fourth Miss Bai can see through this matter. With Miss Bai’s intelligence, she wouldn’t fail to see it…” Xiao Rongyan looked at her with a smile. “Being frank with Miss Bai is simply to tell Miss Bai that, at least for now, Xiao has no intention of opposing Jin, but only wishes to save the people of Great Yan.”

During that tea at the Folded Willow Pavilion, Xiao Rongyan had already known that Bai Qingyan was not among those blindly loyal to the Great Jin, and that she possessed benevolence and compassion. That’s why he came to tell her frankly, to give Bai Qingyan peace of mind and let her not be overly guarded or take any actions.

It wasn’t that Xiao Rongyan feared confronting this Miss Bai, whose methods and intelligence were unmatched, but rather that this matter concerned the survival of Great Yan’s people. Xiao Rongyan couldn’t gamble with the lives of Great Yan’s people—Great Yan couldn’t afford to lose.

“The Crown Prince has an advisor named Qin Shangzhi. What does Master Xiao think… could someone of Qin Shangzhi’s talent fail to see through the irregularities?”

Xiao Rongyan’s voice became even gentler: “Master Qin is highly talented, but Master Qin doesn’t know Xiao’s relationship with Great Yan. As a merchant, Xiao speaks of business matters… What’s wrong with borrowing the Crown Prince’s influence to seek profit in Pingyang City?”

Xiao Rongyan had indeed calculated everything. She lowered her eyes to untie her cloak’s fastenings, returning the cloak with extremely thick wind-resistant fur to Xiao Rongyan: “Yan is covered in sweat and fears soiling Master’s cloak! Since Master is saving people, Yan will certainly not interfere.”

“Having sweated, you’ll easily catch a cold if the wind hits you. Put it on!” Xiao Rongyan gently pushed the cloak back to her.

Bai Jinzhi, who shared a room with Bai Qingyan, had suddenly awakened earlier and, seeing that her elder sister’s bed was already empty, had followed outside.

Who would have thought she’d actually see her elder sister together with Master Xiao, and even witness her elder sister untying the cloak to return it to Master Xiao? The little girl narrowed her eyes, thinking of how today, when she said Xiao Rongyan’s cargo escort seemed problematic, her elder sister had even defended Xiao Rongyan with a few words…

The little girl’s eyes lit up.

Heavens! What had she discovered?! Her family’s elder sister, her romantic star, was stirring!

My goodness! Elder sister had fallen for this Master Xiao?! That made sense… this Master Xiao was truly elegant and refined like jade, and even princes didn’t possess this Master Xiao’s harmonious and composed bearing! None of them were as handsome as this Master Xiao either!

Mm… in appearance and bearing, he was worthy of an elder sister!

Moreover, the elder sister would certainly need to recruit a husband to marry into the family. This Master Xiao… his merchant status was somewhat lowly, but he had shown kindness to the Bai family and was from a first-tier household. He could barely be considered worthy of their elder sister!

She had thought her elder sister would never fall for anyone in this lifetime, but unexpectedly elder sister had taken a liking to this Master Xiao!

Thinking of how Xiao Rongyan would marry into the Bai family in the future, and others would address him as Bai-Xiao Shi, the little girl suddenly hunched her shoulders and covered her mouth, secretly giggling.

“Who’s there?!” Xiao Rongyan’s hawk-like gaze shot toward the darkness.

Bai Jinzhi held her breath and shrank further behind the tree. He wasn’t talking about her, was he?!

Before Bai Jinzhi could think further, she felt a cold gleam approaching. The swords of Xiao Rongyan’s guard and Xiao Ruohai struck toward her simultaneously!

“Ah ah ah! It’s me, it’s me!” Bai Jinzhi nimbly and agilely dodged Xiao Rongyan’s guard’s long sword, hurriedly calling to Xiao Ruohai.

Xiao Ruohai quickly withdrew his sword: “Four… Fourth Young Master?!”

Bai Jinzhi glared at Xiao Rongyan’s guard, then ran toward Bai Qingyan: “Elder sister!”

Bai Jinzhi ran to Bai Qingyan and smoothly took the cloak from Bai Qingyan’s hands to drape it over her: “Elder sister, Master Xiao is right! Wind after sweating can cause illness! Put it on! Many thanks to Master Xiao!”

After Xiao Rongyan smiled and bowed to both Bai Qingyan and Bai Jinzhi, he said, “Miss, please take care of your health.”

Watching Xiao Rongyan and his guard walk away, Bai Jinzhi grinned foolishly at Bai Qingyan: “Elder sister… did you arrange to meet Master Xiao?”

She turned to look at Bai Jinzhi, removed the cloak from her shoulders, and placed it in Bai Jinzhi’s arms, instructing: “When going out in the future, be more careful with your words. Walls have ears. Return this fox fur to Master Xiao.”

Bai Jinzhi opened her mouth, thinking of how, from such a distance… she had only giggled once softly, yet Xiao Rongyan had heard it. She immediately felt her spine turn cold.

Bai Jinzhi hurriedly hugged the fox fur and caught up with Bai Qingyan, who was walking toward the barracks: “Did Master Xiao hear all those things I said to elder sister today?”

“Speaking without caution when outside—if this Master Xiao were truly a Great Wei spy or had intentions to disrupt the Nan Jiang battlefield, your little life wouldn’t be safe. Not to mention Master Xiao’s capabilities, the guard beside Master Xiao… is a first-class expert. There are always people beyond people and heavens beyond heavens. Especially when away from home, one must be extremely cautious in both actions and words.”

Bai Jinzhi clutched the fox fur tightly and nodded. She had already seen this when asking Xiao Rongyan for help.

“Little Four remembers!” Bai Jinzhi said earnestly.

On the eighth day, the army reached Chongluan Ridge and set up camp within the mountain ridge.

Bai Qingyan had Xiao Ruohai prepare paper money and a pot of wine. After informing His Highness the Crown Prince, she took Bai Jinzhi out of the military camp to pay respects to General Fang Yan, the Tiger Camp commander who had died protecting the bamboo scrolls recording the Bai family’s war situation.

The deep valley was quiet, the night dark with high winds, and all was silent.

A tiny flame sprang up on the flat ground by the valley entrance, illuminating a pair of sisters kneeling facing south.

Bai Jinzhi lit the paper money in her hands, placing it piece by piece into the fire pile, her eyes reddening.

Bai Qingyan poured a cup of wine and raised it high above her head. The first cup… thanked General Fang Yan for his merit in fighting bravely for the people.

She scattered the wine around the fire pile. The alcohol temporarily extinguished the paper-burning flames, but the flames soon leaped up again, burning more intensely than before.

The second cup of wine thanked General Fang Yan for his life-sacrificing kindness to the Bai family.

The third cup of wine informed General Fang Yan that Liu Huanzhang was dead, and the general could now rest in peace…

The bright moon slowly emerged from layers of clouds, its cold moonlight falling to earth like frost, illuminating this quiet valley entrance.

She raised her head to look at the bright moon hanging high in the sky, her throat choked with emotion, her eyes growing sour.

Pushing through the clouds and mist, finally one could see the bright moon.

“Elder sister, when we return from Nan Jiang, let’s erect a monument for General Fang Yan!” Bai Jinzhi’s voice was hoarse and low.

“Good!” she replied.

After the two sisters kowtowed toward the nearly extinguished fire pile, they mounted their horses with Xiao Ruohai and left the valley entrance to return to camp.

After passing Chongluan Ridge, the road ahead was smooth, and the army’s marching speed was faster than previously estimated.