Qin Yining couldn’t help but stop in her tracks, asking with concern: “What strange thing happened?”
She couldn’t be blamed for being nervous. This was precisely when the war was at its most intense. Pang Xiao and Ji Zeyu had cooperated, advancing triumphantly all the way. In two months’ time, they had already driven the Tatar forces away from the capital and forced them into continuous retreat, recapturing several cities.
Pang Xiao had also rescued many common people, and even more people voluntarily joined the Pingnan Army. Because Pang Xiao was leading the people to reclaim their homeland, these people fought with increasing ferocity.
Now was the most intense time of the war. The two forces had joined together—the Pingnan Army had grain to eat, so how could Pang Xiao let the Huben Army he had personally trained go hungry? Even if the Huben Army’s commander wasn’t himself.
So for these two months, what Qin Yining had been supporting with her treasures was equivalent to all the troops on the front lines fighting against the Tatars. Yet Li Qitian had shown no support at all, only sleeping peacefully celebrating the recapture of cities, with no intention whatsoever of sending additional grain.
Li Qitian’s behavior would naturally cause dissatisfaction among many officers and soldiers. But when he originally issued the edict requiring troops from various regions to come to the capital as loyalists, he had made it clear that he required everyone to “supply their own grain and fodder.” Since everyone had already come, they had accepted his edict.
At this time, even if they were dissatisfied in their hearts, they could only swallow their broken teeth with blood. Especially seeing the Pingnan Army and Huben Army eating and dressing well, the other loyalist forces were truly quite envious.
But supporting so many people had exhausted the treasures. Not only had Qin Yining brought out all her family’s accumulated wealth over the years, but most importantly, after the great disaster, even wanting grain and fodder wasn’t so easily found.
These days, although Qin Yining appeared to live comfortably, looking like she was focused on prenatal care awaiting childbirth, in reality she was extremely anxious.
She couldn’t do anything for Pang Xiao. With the two of them separated by vast distances, the only thing she could do was ensure he had enough food at the front lines, warm clothes to wear, and medicine for timely treatment when injured.
If she couldn’t solve even these things, Pang Xiao’s situation would become even more dire.
Qin Yining’s thoughts churned countless times, but in reality it was only the space of a breath. Steward Zhong had already walked to Qin Yining’s side, saying in a low voice: “Princess, today someone called Dali Grain Shop actively sought me out, saying they had a large batch of stored grain to sell. I went to look, and not only was the grain good, but the price was even three parts cheaper than the grain we’ve purchased before.
“With so much grain, instead of hoarding it to sell at high prices, they’re doing this—I find it truly suspicious. But when I asked carefully, they said it was to contribute to Great Zhou and support the front-line soldiers in reclaiming Great Zhou’s territory.
“People so devoted to the country aren’t unheard of—you and the Prince are such people. But I’ve never heard of Dali Grain Shop before, yet they suddenly sought me out, as if they knew I was your trusted subordinate, specifically running grain matters for you.”
Listening, Qin Yining frowned slightly. As Steward Zhong said, such a situation was indeed suspicious. From her perspective, just when grain and fodder were most difficult, the other party actively extended an olive branch, truly solving a major problem.
But this help came too suddenly and too timely, as if someone had been watching her movements all along, acting opportunistically when she was most pressed for resources.
Thinking this way, Qin Yining vaguely guessed something.
“I understand. I have a plan for this matter. The most important thing is that the grain shortage problem can be solved. Later you can go see Master Xie and discuss proceeding as originally planned.”
Seeing Qin Yining so confident, Steward Zhong’s worried heart also settled.
“If so, I’ll handle it according to what the Princess says.”
Qin Yining nodded in agreement.
After returning to her room, Qin Yining told Ji Yun: “Prepare writing materials for me.”
“Is the Princess writing to the Prince again?” Ji Yun smiled, scooping two small spoonfuls of clear water into the inkstone, then slowly grinding the ink stick.
Supporting her belly, Qin Yining sat down with Bingtang’s assistance.
“The battlefield changes in an instant—I truly don’t dare disturb them, but family letters should be sent from time to time.”
Qin Yining’s family letters always reported good news but not bad. With Pang Xiao fighting at the front lines, if she still made him worry about her and distracted his energy, that would be most inappropriate. So the content of her letters was mostly casual talk, and she would also write about her current physical condition.
At the end of this family letter, she mentioned how the grain and fodder issue had been resolved, directly stating that Qiu Feishan had helped, and that she hadn’t even sought credit, not coming to discuss it face-to-face but directly having the grain delivered.
Qin Yining didn’t know what the situation was between Qiu Feishan and Mu Jinghu, but she always hoped they could get along well—if not for each other’s sake, then at least for pity of Yan Ge’er.
Perhaps this was also her woman’s kindness?
The grain, fodder, and family letter were all transported to the front lines together. Even at the fastest speed, it would take twenty days. In the Pingnan Army camp, flags fluttered loudly, and the endless rows of tents stretched as far as the eye could see. The grain, fodder, and supplies transported from outside the camp once again attracted everyone’s attention.
A man newly joined to the Pingnan Army said emotionally: “All this grain was prepared for us by the Prince. Court grain never arrives—if it weren’t for the Prince watching over us, we’d probably be fighting the Tatars on empty stomachs.”
“Exactly! Who knows where the Tatars got their silver—not only do they fight with great strength, they eat better than us too.”
“Isn’t it because the Lu family allied with the Tatars? We used to think the Lu family was some good household, but now it seems they’re scum who would disregard the court’s safety for selfish gain. What great family—their actions make even us rough fellows look down on them.”
…
When the grain was distributed throughout the military camp, Pang Xiao had also finished reading the family letter and handed the last page to Mu Jinghu beside him.
“Take a look.”
Mu Jinghu took the letter paper somewhat puzzled. After seeing the content clearly, his expression twisted for a moment before returning to calm.
Handing the letter back to Pang Xiao, Mu Jinghu lowered his head and started to leave the tent.
Pang Xiao quickly stopped him. “Mutou, I actually understand your thinking, but it’s been so long now. Boss Qiu has been writing letters to you all this time, but you’ve never been willing to read them. She did use you, but past things are past. I’m not planning to pursue it, so you should stop dwelling on it too. Even considering Yan Ge’er, you should let go of what needs to be let go.”
Mu Jinghu shook his head. “You don’t understand.”
Pang Xiao pulled Mu Jinghu over to sit down casually with him. “What don’t I understand? We’re both men—I know you have feelings for Boss Qiu.”
“She’s someone I took by force following my master’s words.” Mu Jinghu’s voice was muffled. “She comes from a prestigious family and is very intelligent, with shrewd methods that many men can’t match. I know how formidable she is, how exceptional her abilities are. So taking such a woman as a wife by force, I didn’t expect her to immediately accept me from the start.
“But even though we already have Yan Ge’er, she’s still the same. In front of her, I’m like a bad person who forced her. Her eyes always carry contempt. Many things she thinks I don’t understand, so she doesn’t even tell me before making decisions.
“She calls it being for my good. But how can she determine what I’m thinking or how I want to choose? To put it bluntly, she simply looks down on me as a rough man, thinking that since I’m not from a great family like her and I forced her into marriage, after thinking carefully for so long, she probably finds me annoying and only had Yan Ge’er with me because she had no choice. Just thinking about these things gives me a headache.”
Mu Jinghu pursed his lips and said quietly: “So after much deep consideration, once our affairs are settled, I’ll divorce her. From then on we’ll have nothing to do with each other. She can marry whoever she wants—just leave Yan Ge’er with me.”
Mu Jinghu wasn’t a talkative person and wasn’t good at telling others his secrets and thoughts.
But today he spoke very clearly.
Pang Xiao had never understood what was really going on between Mu Jinghu and Qiu Feishan before. Now hearing Mu Jinghu speak this way, although he felt Qiu Feishan might not really look down on him as Mu Jinghu thought, now that Mu Jinghu—such an open-minded and loyal person—had felt such humiliation, it showed there were real problems between the couple.
Pang Xiao sighed: “Even so, you can be a good father, but how can you also be a good mother?”
Mu Jinghu protested: “Maybe I’d teach Yan Ge’er better by myself! Isn’t having me as his father enough?”
“Naturally it’s not enough. When there’s clearly a solution, why must you make things so tense with Boss Qiu? Even if she did wrong before, she’s already realized your importance and has tried countless times to please you and apologize. Yet you’re still stubborn as an ox—won’t you even give someone a chance to reform?”
Mu Jinghu pursed his lips in silence. After a long while, he managed to say: “We’ll see.”
Hearing this, Pang Xiao finally felt relieved. As long as he was willing to relent, things would only get better from here.
He patted Mu Jinghu’s shoulder and went to find Ji Zeyu, Ma Cheng, and others to discuss the upcoming battle.
“This place is less than half a day’s journey from where the Longxiang Army is trapped. Si Qin and Lu Heng clearly have intentions to retreat. We can take advantage of this to completely rescue the remaining Longxiang Army, giving us another advantage.” Ma Cheng’s voice was low but spirited.
Ji Zeyu didn’t immediately nod but turned to look at Pang Xiao. “What do you think?”
Pang Xiao stood with arms crossed, thoughtfully lowering his eyes for a moment, then shook his head: “I always feel the Tatars have impure motives—perhaps they’re using the Longxiang Army to lure us into a trap. We must rescue the Longxiang Army, but we can’t drill into a trap either.”
Ji Zeyu nodded. “You’re right. Though we have superior numbers, our supplies are insufficient—we can’t afford to drag this out with them. If we want victory, we must achieve it in one decisive strike—not only rescue the Longxiang Army and minimize casualties as much as possible, but also find a way to deal Lu Heng a heavy blow.”
“Exactly right.” Pang Xiao said, “Though Si Qin is full of schemes, the Tatar population is small and their silver is limited. Without the Lu family’s backing, I believe the Tatars would be at their last gasp.”