Bingtang was close to Qin Yining and heard her words clearly.

Upon hearing it was war, cold sweat flowed down.

Although she was now a maid and had even been a little Taoist priestess for a while, she was actually from a truly noble family background. Having never suffered any hardships since childhood, she was naturally different from Qin Yining, who had only been a great family’s young lady for less than a year.

Originally she had only heard about the terror of war but had never seen it with her own eyes, so her impression wasn’t direct. Even when she accompanied Qin Yining to Xihua City for peace negotiations last time, she had only seen those vast sea-like formations of soldiers and generals.

Now before them, so many men, women, elderly and young were fleeing in a swarm, so disheveled and panicked that even before anyone came to kill them, they were already trampling each other. Screams and loud crying were constant, and this was just the brief moment they passed before them.

Where had they come from? On such a long journey, such despairing scenes had probably been continuously occurring!

This was Bingtang’s first close experience of the fear when disaster strikes.

“Miss, what should we do? If the Little Prince brings people to attack, will it hurt you? The soldiers under his command might not recognize you!” Bingtang’s voice was hoarse, her mind barely functioning. It took her a long time to organize a coherent sentence.

Qin Yining’s face was pale. One hand gripped Bingtang’s hand while the other clutched her own collar, crumpling the fabric until it looked like dried vegetables before slowly releasing it.

After taking several deep breaths, Qin Yining patted Bingtang’s shoulder consolingly: “Don’t be afraid. They won’t attack so quickly. When Pang Zhixi and the others left this time, they had already withdrawn from Liang City. Although the Emperor ceded territory and paid reparations, several major border cities have already been compensated to Great Zhou, counting as Great Zhou’s territory. But with so many troops in the Huben Army, it’s not so easy to silently attack our capital in the blink of an eye.”

“But so many refugees were obviously scared into fleeing to the capital for their lives.” Bingtang wiped the cold sweat from her forehead with her sleeve.

Qin Yining said: “Let’s go back first and ask Shopkeeper Zhong to investigate thoroughly. I also want to hear the news from father’s side. After all, the information they get will be much more accurate than our wild guessing here.”

Bingtang nodded, then her round big eyes became covered with a layer of mist, her voice slightly choked: “But Miss, my heart still feels cold and frightened.”

“Don’t be afraid. Don’t be afraid.” Although Bingtang was the same age as Qin Yining, she looked small, like an eleven or twelve-year-old child. Qin Yining couldn’t help but pull her close, patting her back repeatedly: “If there really is some disaster confirmed, I’ll let you all go. You can leave the capital then and head toward the South Sea coast direction.”

Bingtang sniffled: “What about Miss?”

Qin Yining only smiled bitterly without answering.

If something really happened, every single master of the Qin family would be unable to escape. With her father’s status and reputation, how could the Great Zhou Emperor let him go?

“Get up, let’s go back first. We’ll talk after investigating clearly. Maybe I’m overthinking.” Qin Yining smiled as she stood up, pulling Bingtang to her feet.

Only then did Bingtang embarrassedly wipe her tears. Compared to Qin Yining’s composure, she felt quite ashamed.

Meanwhile, Ji Yun had been watching Qin Yining and Bingtang with gentle eyes. Seeing these two young ladies calm down so quickly, she couldn’t help but feel admiration. She came forward to carefully help Qin Yining remove grass debris and small branches caught on her clothes.

The three mounted their horses, took small paths to avoid that group of refugees, then rode swiftly along the official road back to the capital. Entering the outer city gate, they immediately galloped straight to Shopkeeper Zhong’s house.

Shopkeeper Zhong was calculating with an abacus and checking accounts when servants reported that Qin Yining had arrived. He came out to greet her in surprise.

At the door, he discovered that all three master and servants had extremely unpleasant expressions.

“Boss, what happened? Come in quickly and have some tea.” Shopkeeper Zhong hurriedly personally poured Qin Yining a cup of tea, placing it in her hands with both hands.

Qin Yining gulped down a large bowl of warm tea before recovering slightly. She carefully told Shopkeeper Zhong about what had just happened, finally saying: “I think that group of people will soon reach the city gates. Great Shopkeeper, please help investigate their origins and situation, and also pay attention to any other disturbances. I must return to the manor quickly now. My father should have finished court by now—I need to discuss this with him.”

Upon hearing this, Shopkeeper Zhong also broke into profuse cold sweats, wiping his face randomly with trembling hands before nodding: “Yes, I understand. I’ll investigate immediately and send any news to the manor right away.”

“Good. If you can’t find me temporarily, you can tell the people in my room—Bingtang, Ji Yun, Song Lan, and Qiu Lu are all trustworthy.”

“Yes.” Shopkeeper Zhong nodded repeatedly.

Qin Yining immediately stood up again, pulling Bingtang and Ji Yun out the door.

Ji Yun looked at Qin Yining’s slender back with a complex expression, couldn’t help asking: “Miss, you still trust me?”

Qin Yining paused, turned to look back, and asked strangely: “What foolish words are you saying?”

“I was sent to Miss by the Little Prince, and I often report Miss’s recent situation back to the Little Prince. I thought that if war really was about to start, Miss wouldn’t trust me.”

Qin Yining’s expression was somewhat complex. She stared at Ji Yun for a while before saying: “Different matters are different matters—I can distinguish clearly. Moreover, from the first day Pang Zhixi and I met, he was already Great Zhou’s Prince Zhongshun, already leading the Huben Army to flatten many of Great Yan’s mountains and rivers. I didn’t just learn of his identity today, and he didn’t suddenly become what he is now.”

At this point, Qin Yining sighed deeply: “After all, we’re from different countries with different positions. Emperor Zhou’s ambitions won’t be satisfied with remaining in a corner. His conquering steps targeting Great Yan are also expected—not just Great Yan, but even the northern Tatars. Even if Great Zhou’s national strength might not be sufficient now, this doesn’t affect his expanding heart for conquest.”

Ji Yun looked at Qin Yining with sincere admiration in her heart.

No wonder the Prince valued her so highly, treasuring and protecting her like the apple of his eye. She was quick-thinking, calm when encountering situations, and unlike ordinary boudoir ladies who couldn’t sort out several matters in their minds. She viewed things rationally and could handle situations with composure.

At this moment, Ji Yun already regarded Qin Yining as her second master in her heart, with no resistance remaining.

The three mounted their horses and headed toward Marquis Anping’s manor.

The city still displayed its prosperous scene. Passersby didn’t yet know that war was about to arrive. The markets still had people setting up stalls and carrying loads, buying and selling with calls. Along the roadside there were still children in tattered clothes chasing and playing, and women pushing open worn wooden doors and leaning out half their bodies to call their children home for meals…

Looking at everything before her, Qin Yining’s heart tightened.

She didn’t know what the future would become. Great Yan probably only had the capital as its pure land remaining. Were they about to lose even Great Yan’s last piece of pure land?

The three returned to the marquis manor, walking through the south gate of the outer courtyard as usual, first sending the horses to the stables, then walking through the side gate and alleyway to enter the outer courtyard.

Qin Yining casually asked a servant boy on duty in the outer courtyard: “Has the Marquis returned?”

“Replying to Fourth Miss, the Marquis is in the outer courtyard study.”

Qin Yining nodded and walked quickly toward the study.

But just as she reached the study courtyard gate, she saw Qin Huaiyuan coming out.

“Father, are you going out?” Qin Yining curtsied.

Qin Huaiyuan smiled: “Not going out. I was about to visit the Old Dowager. Your grandmother punished several servants today and is probably still angry. I saw the west group quarters were in chaos for a while earlier, with talk of people wanting to hang themselves or throw themselves in the river. I’m afraid your grandmother didn’t handle it well, so I want to check.”

The west group quarters housed Qin family servants. Some of the servants with families were allocated houses in that area. They only entered the manor when on duty.

Thinking that chaos was about to erupt outside while the family was still entangled in these trivial matters, Qin Yining’s expression became somewhat unpleasant.

“Father, the Old Dowager’s matters aren’t urgent. Daughter has important words to speak with you.”

Qin Yining’s expression was extremely grave, making Qin Huaiyuan’s face also become serious.

“What’s wrong? Is there something happening outside?”

Qin Huaiyuan’s first thought was that the Empress was plotting some new scheme to harm his daughter!

Ever since the Empress failed to obtain Qin Yining’s flesh and blood for beauty preservation and instead harmed Noble Consort Shu and Imperial Concubine Xiang, the Emperor not only didn’t punish the Empress but doted on her even more. Qin Huaiyuan had developed several more degrees of wariness toward the Emperor and Empress.

Moreover, recently his prominence had grown increasingly striking, forming a strong contrast with National Uncle Cao, whose disciples had been demoted and who held no official position. National Uncle Cao had once wholeheartedly wanted to win over this son-in-law, but now probably saw that it was impossible. The feud between the two families probably couldn’t be resolved in a lifetime. With the Empress and National Uncle Cao joining forces, who knew what schemes they might concoct.

Qin Yining shook her head and said seriously: “Father, I’m afraid war has already begun.”

Upon hearing this, Qin Huaiyuan’s usually calm face showed a moment of gravity.

Qin Yining again described in detail what she had just witnessed.

Qin Huaiyuan paced with his hands behind his back, his expression becoming increasingly serious. After a long while he said: “The situation is probably exactly as you guessed—war is really about to begin. It’s just that Little Prince Pang’s people haven’t necessarily really attacked the capital. I’m afraid we can find some reasons from those refugees.”

Seeing that Qin Huaiyuan didn’t seem surprised, Qin Yining couldn’t help but hesitantly ask: “Father, about today’s events—aren’t you surprised?”

Qin Huaiyuan smiled bitterly: “Not surprised. Actually, from the beginning of the peace talks, I was already worried this day would come. Great Zhou used the peace talks to trick our Emperor into paying reparations in gold and silver, using the silver we provided to feed their army and then attack us again.

“This sounds like Great Zhou people are too scheming and treacherous, not keeping their word. But war is about deception, and all is fair in war. If I were a Great Zhou minister and had grasped the Yan Emperor’s cowardice and weakness, I would do the same. It’s just that we’re in Great Yan and must follow imperial orders. Now that Great Zhou envoys have left our Great Yan territory with the last batch of reparation gold and silver, the resumption of war isn’t unexpected.”