It was his narrow-mindedness and limited perspective that led him to ask such foolish questions as whether there would be no wars after unification.

“Only by destroying the Wei Kingdom can Yan ensure no worries from the west and south, and after destroying the Wei Kingdom, Yan’s next target to destroy will be Xiliang!” Bai Qingyan’s voice was steady, “So Jin Kingdom… must destroy Liang this time, occupy the north, and have no worries from the north before we can discuss the great undertaking of unification.”

Having said this much, Bai Qingyan didn’t press Zhao Sheng too hard, only pushing Zhao Sheng’s map in front of him: “General Zhao, look at this map and think carefully about my words. Rest well here tonight, and if you’re willing… go persuade those Liang soldiers who refuse to take their medicine. After all, medicine for treating the plague is very precious to the Jin Kingdom as well. If the Liang soldiers repeatedly knock over the medicinal soup and refuse to take it, General Liu might… order that no more medicinal soup be provided to the Liang soldiers.”

After speaking, Bai Qingyan stood up and walked outside.

Bai Jinzhi, who had been standing outside the door after getting enough sleep, saw her elder sister come out and stepped forward. Glancing at Zhao Sheng inside the room, she took Bai Qingyan’s arm and deliberately raised her voice: “If the Liang soldiers don’t want to take the medicinal soup, forget it! It would be better to give each of our Jin Kingdom soldiers a bowl to strengthen their bodies and prevent the plague!”

The footsteps of Bai Qingyan and Bai Jinzhi gradually faded into the distance. Zhao Sheng pressed both hands on the map, gritting his teeth tightly, his eyes reddening…

The more he tried not to think about what Bai Qingyan had just said, the more those words echoed repeatedly in his mind.

Bai Qingyan returned to the main tent with Bai Jinzhi, where Ji Langhua brought them two bowls of steaming hot noodles.

Simple clear broth with white noodles, topped with an egg, sprinkled with a few bits of green and white scallions, and drizzled with a little hot oil, the aroma of scallions filling the air.

Ji Langhua placed the two bowls of noodles in front of Bai Qingyan and Bai Jinzhi: “Miss and Fourth Miss, please make do with this for now!”

Liu Hong had issued orders in the army that everyone from the commanding general down to the common soldiers would eat the same food at the same times. After mealtime, even the Jade Emperor himself wouldn’t be allowed to have the cooks prepare special meals.

Ji Langhua had only gotten the cooks to secretly let her use the cooking utensils after telling them that Bai Jinzhi and Bai Qingyan hadn’t had time to eat anything yet.

Gulping down the hot noodle soup, Bai Jinzhi’s tongue went numb from the heat. She contentedly let out a breath and wiped her mouth with her handkerchief: “Langhua’s noodle-making skills are truly exceptional!”

Bai Qingyan held her noodle bowl, sipping the hot broth in small mouthfuls. Before she could put down her bowl, Zhao Ran arrived, carrying a letter sent from the capital by Bai Jinxiu.

Bai Qingyan set down her noodle bowl and wiped her mouth with her handkerchief: “Zhao Ran, come in!”

Zhao Ran quickly walked to Bai Qingyan, bowed, and handed her the letter: “Miss, it’s a letter from Second Miss!”

Ji Langhua thoughtfully brought over a lamp and placed it on the desk in front of Bai Qingyan.

Bai Qingyan opened the letter…

In the letter, Bai Jinxiu first wrote about household matters, saying that Dong Tingfang’s engagement to the Fu family’s eldest branch had finally been canceled.

Previously, when Bai Qingyan was still in the capital, Bai Jinxiu’s mother, Liu Shi, had personally conveyed Bai Qingyan’s intentions to Bai Qingyan’s aunt Song Shi. Aunt Song Shi intended that the matter of canceling the engagement should wait until after the Fu family’s eldest branch child finished the spring examinations.

Later, after the spring examinations, the Fu family’s eldest branch child wasn’t on the list of successful candidates. The Fu family’s eldest branch madam went to the Dong mansion wanting to set a date for the two children’s wedding, and Song Shi casually mentioned canceling the engagement. Who knew the Fu family’s eldest branch madam refused to agree, saying they could delay the wedding date…

Song Shi was afraid others would think the Dong family looked down on the Fu family’s eldest branch child for not doing well on the exam, so she prepared to bring up dissolving the engagement again after some time passed. Dong Tingfang knelt and begged Song Shi to allow her to meet with the Fu family’s eldest branch legitimate son once to make things clear.

Both families had various matters that kept arising, dragging things out until early September. Dong Tingfang finally met with the Fu family’s eldest branch legitimate son once. After that meeting, the Fu family’s eldest branch’s legitimate son went back and knelt begging the Fu family’s eldest branch madam to cancel the engagement, saying he wanted to focus on his studies and achieve scholarly success. Although the Fu family’s eldest branch madam disagreed, Fu Ruoxi’s wife, Luo Shi, received the news and found an opportunity to tell Bai Jinxiu.

Thus, Bai Qingyan’s aunt Song Shi knew the time was right. She openly went to their door to cancel the engagement, saying that a forced melon isn’t sweet, and that the Dong family’s daughter would never lack for marriage prospects. Since the Fu family’s eldest branch offspring was unwilling to marry, the Dong family would rather have their daughter become a nun than marry him, so, for the sake of both families’ dignity, it would be better to cancel the engagement.

After the engagement was dissolved, the Dong family sent Dong Tingfang to Dengzhou in a single carriage to be placed under Old Madam Dong’s care and discipline.

This could be considered Dong Tingfang getting what she sought. Before leaving, she specifically went to the Qin mansion to ask Bai Jinxiu to be sure to help convey her thanks to Bai Qingyan.

The second matter in Bai Jinxiu’s letter was that Fu Ruoxi had discovered that Fan Yuhuai had been getting rather close to people from his old Patrol Battalion subordinates recently. It wasn’t that Fu Ruoxi, now the Patrol Battalion commander, was unhappy that Fan Yuhuai was always contacting his former subordinates, but rather that Fu Ruoxi had detected something unusual.

Although Fan Yuhuai had formerly been the Patrol Battalion commander, and saying he cherished old relationships and liked to associate with former subordinates… wasn’t wrong, Fu Ruoxi had investigated and found that even when Fan Yuhuai was still the Patrol Battalion commander, he hadn’t been like this, constantly treating his old subordinates to food and drink. It didn’t quite match Fan Yuhuai’s usual style.

Perhaps it was because Fan Yuhuai had lost an eye saving the emperor, and now Fan Yuhuai was a favored person beside the Crown Prince, so the Patrol Battalion members who were Fan Yuhuai’s former subordinates were very accommodating.

Fu Ruoxi was currently only suspicious and said he would continue to pay attention to Fan Yuhuai, telling Bai Qingyan not to worry too much about it, just to keep it in mind.

Bai Jinxiu also mentioned that Li Mingrui, who had been stripped of his position and sent home for framing Bai Qingyan, hadn’t gotten the chance to lead troops into battle even after making a military pledge this time. Left Chancellor Li Mao was trying to think of other methods…

When the Crown Prince wanted to send someone to escort grain supplies and medicine to Qingxi Mountain Pass, the Left Chancellor again pleaded for his son, but after much consideration, the Crown Prince still didn’t agree. Finally, the Crown Prince, not knowing whose advice he listened to, used Fan Yuhuai’s son Fan Yugan and General Zhang Duirui’s cousin Zhang Duanning.

Fan Yuhuai’s son Fan Yugan was a good-for-nothing dandy who had previously joined the army under Lu Yuanpeng’s influence, but later really couldn’t endure it. When the emperor transferred new troops to Nanjiang, Fan Yuhuai managed to get him back to the capital.

Reportedly, when it came to escorting grain supplies and medicine to Qingxi Mountain Pass this time, Fan Yugan was originally unwilling. According to Bai Jinxiu’s investigation, this Fan Yugan felt that studying for the imperial examinations was too arduous, and after returning from the military camp, he had let it be known… that he just wanted to be a wealthy and leisurely person for this lifetime.

As for General Zhang Duirui’s cousin Zhang Duanning, Bai Jinxiu had also investigated him. He was an honest and mediocre but steady person.