Huzi looked at the two bottles in surprise, grinning foolishly: “Hehe, this is so embarrassing. Look at me returning for a trip without bringing you anything, yet you’re giving me food instead.”

Bingtang rolled her eyes. “This is medicine.”

“Medicine you made must taste especially good.”

Bingtang’s mouth twitched as she pulled Huzi aside by his sleeve and said in a low voice: “This is some medicine the prince asked me to help prepare. It’s not for you. When you return later, help me give it to the prince. I’ve written the instructions on paper slips and stuffed them inside the bottles.”

Huzi awkwardly touched his nose, but hearing it was for Pang Xiao, he didn’t think much about it and stuffed the medicine bottles into his chest.

Bingtang whispered again: “Don’t let the Princess Consort know about this medicine. The Princess Consort worries about the prince. If she knew the prince had requested medicine, she would definitely overthink it, causing unnecessary worry that would be bad for her health.”

“Alright. If you don’t want me to say anything, I won’t say anything. I’ll listen to whatever you say.” Huzi shamelessly reached to hold Bingtang’s hand. “Look at you, your hands are frozen cold. Let me warm them up for you.”

Bingtang rolled her eyes and pulled hard, but couldn’t free her hand. With a red face, she continued talking with Huzi.

Inside the room, Qin Yining focused on writing her reply letter.

Unlike Pang Xiao, she couldn’t shamelessly say so many sweet words, nor did she want the trivial matters around her to affect Pang Xiao’s mood. So she only chose happy things to mention, focusing on the two children’s situations. The entire letter exuded a gentle warmth and unspoken longing.

When Huzi delivered Qin Yining’s reply letter, Pang Xiao was standing with his hands behind his back at the edge of the training ground, his expression dark as water, watching Deng Minchang lead a unit of Pingnan Army brothers in drills.

Compared to the Huben Army, the Pingnan Army was far inferior in individual combat ability, overall formation coordination, morale, and the soldiers’ faith and perseverance.

Having led troops for years, Pang Xiao naturally had a measuring stick in his heart. If this force encountered the Huben Army, he was confident that just twenty thousand of the Huben Army’s hundred thousand could defeat this so-called army of over a hundred thousand with no chance of victory.

Pang Xiao already had methods for training troops, but rectifying military morale couldn’t be accomplished in a day or two. The first person who needed to be straightened out was Pingnan General Deng Minchang.

When he arrived at the military camp, Deng Minchang was in the main tent, embracing two beauties disguised as common soldiers while drinking himself senseless. Even his own father probably wouldn’t have recognized him.

His tent didn’t resemble that of an army commander but rather that of a pampered wastrel. The furnishings inside were nothing but gold, silver, and jade artifacts, with endless fine wine and delicacies, and even two beautiful maidservants dressed as soldiers providing personal service!

He hadn’t even brought his family members, yet Deng Minchang had hidden two women in the military camp!

Pang Xiao didn’t explode when Deng Minchang was drunk, and the next day when Deng Minchang sobered up, he didn’t scold him at all. He simply called the troops out for training exercises.

This training session was a complete disaster—some soldiers couldn’t even handle basic sparring, including Deng Minchang!

So Pang Xiao had been suppressing his anger, seriously leading and training the troops.

The generals and captains with some status in the army seemed to regard him as a soft persimmon—some openly defied orders, while others complied on the surface but gossiped behind his back!

Pang Xiao kept enduring, letting their boldness grow bigger and bigger, until yesterday when that group finally brazenly violated military regulations, beginning to drink and sing in broad daylight. When advised against it, they even resorted to violence.

Pang Xiao immediately issued military orders, having those completely drunk men tied up to await punishment when they sobered up. As for those who weren’t particularly drunk but knew they had committed offenses, Pang Xiao simply had them all beaten with military sticks. When the drunk ones sobered up, they too received the same stick beating.

The law doesn’t punish the masses?

That didn’t exist!

After being dealt with, these troublemakers were brought to the training ground by Pang Xiao early this morning. Some still refused to submit, so Pang Xiao simply used his fists to educate them, beating them until they were completely convinced before successfully beginning the training.

The cold wind was fierce, and the hot sweat on Deng Minchang’s and the soldiers’ heads turned to white mist when it met the cold air.

Pang Xiao pursed his lips as he watched everything before him. Though still unsatisfied in his heart, at least this group now looked somewhat like soldiers. Even those units not included in today’s training were now carefully lined up beside the training ground, led by their respective squad leaders and officers to observe General Deng’s training.

Pang Xiao took the letter Huzi handed him. Seeing Qin Yining’s familiar graceful handwriting on the envelope, he couldn’t help but smile. However, he didn’t read the letter on the spot but waited until training time ended and he returned to his tent before eagerly tearing open the envelope.

Although Qin Yining hadn’t written any tender words of love, the trivial household matters she wrote about made Pang Xiao’s heart feel as though it had been soaked in warm water. Warm affection wrapped around his heart, making him particularly miss Qin Yining at this moment, particularly want to go home, to hold Qin Yining and hold the children.

After Pang Xiao finished his rough dinner, he kept looking at this letter until bedtime, reading it over and over again. When no one was around, he would bring the letter paper to his nose and sniff it. Whether it was his imagination or not, he seemed to smell the faint jasmine fragrance from Qin Yining’s body and her unique scent, as well as the milky fragrance from the two children.

He read until the middle of the night, when the lamplight dimmed and he was becoming drowsy, when suddenly footsteps came from outside the tent.

Pang Xiao alertly leaped up, already holding a dagger in his hand.

“Your Highness.”

Hearing Huzi’s voice, Pang Xiao relaxed his tense muscles. “Come in.”

Huzi quickly entered and said in a low voice: “Your Highness, our people at home have sent word.” He handed over a note.

The guards Pang Xiao left at home were simply there to protect Qin Yining. He trusted Qin Yining and certainly wouldn’t have his people monitor his own wife. Since these people were actually sending messages, Pang Xiao knew something must have happened.

He anxiously opened the note, and upon reading it, he was both angry and amused.

“This little girl! What audacity! She’s actually learned to visit brothels!”

“What?” Huzi was dumbfounded. “This… the Princess Consort’s courage is too great, isn’t it? A woman visiting a brothel?”

Pang Xiao glanced sideways at Huzi: “Don’t just talk about my wife—your Bingtang went too.”

Huzi: …

“Uh, Your Highness, I think they must have some proper business to attend to. When I returned today, there was nothing unusual at home, but the Princess Consort has an independent nature. Perhaps she’s doing something while keeping it from you.”

“Not just Yining—all the master and servants are like this.” Pang Xiao smiled with unclear meaning, thinking to himself: Don’t just talk about my wife—your wife is secretly helping me prepare medicine!

“Go investigate what’s really going on.”

“Yes.”

Pang Xiao couldn’t conveniently leave the military camp, but Huzi could. He immediately received orders and quickly left the camp.

The largest flower house in the old capital, Yicui Pavilion, welcomed a newly famous distinguished guest today.

The madam of Yicui Pavilion watched this gentleman led in by Manager Da Chahe and couldn’t help but smile suggestively.

Even someone who ran soup kitchens and did good deeds was still a man! Where was there a man who could do without women?

“This gentleman, please come inside.”

“Mm.”

Zhao Wanjin kept a cold face, avoiding the madam who was wafting with fragrant air.

As the madam stepped aside, she saw the person behind Zhao Wanjin.

Oh my! What a handsome young master! The madam had never seen such a handsome young master in her entire life! Though he looked somewhat feminine and delicate, judging by his luxurious clothing, he must be either wealthy or noble!

The madam’s eyes rolled and she immediately understood.

No wonder! Running soup kitchens for so many days—how much money would that take? Besides, even if someone had the heart to do good deeds, they wouldn’t be stupid enough to bankrupt themselves. The silver spent on good deeds must be just a drop in the bucket for them.

This “Money Noble” great philanthropist seemed very respectful toward this handsome young man, so they must be in a master-servant relationship.

Perhaps this soup kitchen could continue operating precisely because this pretty young master’s family was providing the silver.

The madam was looking her fill, examining the young master who appeared to be only fourteen or fifteen years old from top to bottom, when several guards cast knife-like glares at her, frightening her into quickly lowering her head.

“Do you gentlemen have favorite girls?”

Zhao Wanjin said: “Choose your most luxurious private room, bring your finest wine and dishes, and select your most beautiful girls.” After thinking, he pulled the madam aside and slipped her a silver ingot: “Find some clean girls. Understand?”

The madam looked up at Zhao Wanjin’s expression and immediately understood.

Could it be that pretty young master was here to lose his virginity?

Yicui Pavilion currently had only one girl who was still untouched, but she was someone Young Master Gao had taken a fancy to, so the madam hesitated.

Zhao Wanjin threw her another silver ingot: “What, is there some difficulty?”

Two heavy silver ingots made the madam’s eyes light up.

Zhao Wanjin reached out as if to take the ingots back.

How could the madam bear to part with them? She quickly stuffed them into her bulging chest and smiled: “No difficulty, no difficulty! We’re in business here—we must make distinguished guests feel at home! Please, gentlemen, come inside.”

She turned back and called out: “Girls, come serve our guests quickly.”

In a moment, the largest private room on the second floor became lively.

That young master was naturally Qin Yining in male disguise.

She wasn’t unfamiliar with such pleasure quarters—after all, her former businesses had included such establishments. Because the women here were accustomed to dealing with men, she feared being exposed, so she had specifically asked Bingtang to carefully help her disguise herself, hoping to prevent people from recognizing her as a woman or identifying who she was.

She now kept a stern face, her sword-like eyebrows furrowed, sitting straight-backed in an inner room separated by a pearl curtain.

Being in her nursing period, she had bound her chest tightly for the male disguise. If she didn’t sit perfectly straight, she felt almost suffocated by the binding.

The Zhao Wanjin and Zhao Yinuo brothers sat on her left and right, while the other guards stood behind Qin Yining.

At this moment, the madam led a group of elaborately dressed girls through the pearl curtain, bringing a wave of fragrant air that nearly made Qin Yining sneeze.

The madam took one look at the seating arrangement of these people and knew her guess was correct. She quickly pushed forward a beautiful woman beside her wearing bright red gauze.