Chapter 129

As autumn deepens, the weather in the north gets colder. In the morning, the leafless elm and poplar trees in the yard are covered with a layer of white frost.

During the month that Fan Changyu was recuperating from his injury, he changed from thin summer clothes to thick autumn clothes.

In order to protect Yu Qianqian and her son, she injured her back and could not wield a sword or a gun for a while. Lying there was boring, so she started reading the obscure Four Books and Five Classics.

In fact, she was more interested in military books, but the deployment of troops mentioned in the art of war, some of which required proficiency in astrology and geography, gave Fan Changyu a headache. She could only proceed step by step and read the introductory books first.

Changning used to learn to read with his teacher, but he would spend three days fishing and two days drying the nets. But now, seeing that Fan Changyu was reading every day and had Yu Baoer as his playmate, he immediately became interested in reading again and competed with Yu Baoer to see who could recognize more words.

Yu Baoer could recite some simple poems, so Chang Ning was no match for him. Her competitive spirit came up and she kept asking for a teacher to teach her how to read.

The teacher who was hired for her when she was temporarily staying in Chongzhou did not come with her after she returned to Shazhou.

As they didn't have a stable place to stay at the moment, Fan Changyu put the matter of hiring a new teacher for her on hold.

Yu Baoer volunteered to teach Changning, but the child's strange self-esteem made her refuse to do so. Fan Changyu had not read many books, but her mother forced her to learn all the characters, so she taught Changning herself.

Yu Baoer was very studious and went to Fan Changyu's room every day to study with him.

The two children often competed in reciting poems to see who could recite faster. Usually, Yu Baoer was better. Changning was so anxious that she almost shed tears, but she wanted to save face and was embarrassed to cry. So she sneaked into Fan Changyu's room at night with her pillow, saying that she wanted to sleep with Fan Changyu. In fact, she recited the poem in advance so that she could light the stove, which made Fan Changyu laugh and cry.

With this method, Changning finally beat Yu Baoer a few times. However, Yu Baoer memorized very quickly. Originally, he only learned one poem a day, but later the other two children could memorize it, so Yu Baoer suggested learning two.

Chang Ning had only won a few times by cheating, and he already felt guilty. He wanted to refuse but couldn't come up with a reason, so he just pinched the corner of his clothes and hummed without saying a word.

Fan Changyu was a bit of a fool. Seeing that Changning had caught up, he thought that both children were fast learners and there was nothing wrong with learning two poems a day, so he agreed.

So on the day of reciting two poems, Changning lost again as expected.

When Aunt Zhao brought some snacks to them, Changning moved a small stool and sat in the corner with his back to them, with his hair drooping down.

Aunt Zhao asked with a smile: "What's wrong with Ning Niang? Your little mouth is so pouty that you could hang an oil bottle on it."

Fan Changyu was sitting on a recliner in the sun, holding a book in his hand. Hearing this, he smiled and replied, "She competed with Baoer in reciting a book, and she lost."

Aunt Zhao invited Chang Ning to come over for some snacks, and said with a smile: "Come and eat the water chestnut cake made by Aunt. Aunt Ning is Bao'er's aunt, so it's only right that you give in to Bao'er."

Chang Ning exclaimed "Huh!", turned around in surprise, stared at Yu Baoer excitedly and said, "I'm your aunt!"

It was also the first time that Yu Baoer heard his aunt say this. His childish eyebrows wrinkled: "Ning Niang is younger than me, shouldn't she be Chang Ning's younger sister?"

Aunt Zhao smiled widely: "Generation is not calculated by age. You call Changyu aunt, and Ningniang and Changyu are sisters, so she is your little aunt, right?"

Chang Ning was a smart kid. He knew that he had taken advantage of Yu Baoer in terms of seniority, so he immediately became happy. He smiled so hard that his teeth were showing, and said to Yu Baoer, "Call me aunt!"

Fan Changyu couldn't help shaking his head and laughing as he looked at this funny couple.

Yu Baoer pursed her lips and suddenly looked at Fan Changyu: "Then I won't call you Aunt Changyu anymore. I'll call you Sister Changyu."

Fan Changyu had just turned a page in the book when he heard Yu Baoer's question. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry for a moment: "That won't do."

Yu Baoer's face was not as round as before. When he frowned, he looked a little like a young boy. He asked in confusion, "Why?"

Fan Changyu said, "You call me sister, so doesn't that mean your mother and I are a generation apart?"

Yu Baoer was silent in depression.

Only Changning was so proud that the corners of his mouth were raised.

As the sun rose higher, the morning frost on the eaves and dead branches melted away, and the morning light leaked into the house. Changning and Yu Baoer held their books and began to read with their heads nodding. Fan Changyu smiled for a while, then stretched comfortably on the recliner.

Xie Wu came in from outside the courtyard and reported: "Commander-in-chief, a distinguished guest is here to visit."

Fan Changyu raised his eyebrows slightly, thinking to himself, who else in Jizhou would come to his place?

After a moment, Gongsun Yin, dressed in a white robe and with a scurvy coat draped over his shoulders, walked in from outside the courtyard. He smiled in the cold autumn moonlight and said, "It has been a long time since we parted on the battlefield of Yixian Gorge. Miss Fan has been promoted to the rank of military commander. Today, I can finally congratulate her in person."

Seeing that the visitor was Gongsun Yin, Fan Changyu was quite surprised. She stood up to greet him: "Mr. Gongsun is a rare guest."

Yu Baoer had never met Gongsun Yin before, and looked at the unfamiliar handsome man with some caution.

Chang Ning, on the other hand, ran towards Gongsun Yinzha with his short legs like a little firecracker, and shouted happily, "Uncle Gongsun!"

Gongsun Yin rubbed the tuft of hair on Changning's head and commented sincerely: "Your hair is finally neatly tied."

Changning shook the bell-shaped velvet flower on her bun and said, "It was tied by Aunt Zhao."

Gongsun Yin said: "I guessed it."

Fan Changyu coughed awkwardly and interrupted the conversation between the two, saying, "My humble abode is simple, please feel free to sit, Mr. Gongsun."

Aunt Zhao realized that Fan Changyu had official business to discuss, so she coaxed the two children to follow her out.

Xie Wu helped Gong Sun Yin make a cup of tea. Fan Changyu asked, "Sir, aren't you in Cannes? Why did you suddenly come to Jizhou?"

Gongsun Yinqian took a sip of hot tea and raised an eyebrow, saying, "Miss Fan, hasn't received the news yet? His Majesty has issued an order to have all the generals who have contributed to the suppression of the rebellion go to the capital to be honored."

Fan Changyu said: "I have been recuperating from my injuries for some time and have not been on duty in the army, so I really didn't know about this news."

She asked curiously, "Mr. Gongsun is coming to join the army. Are we going to the capital together?"

Gongsun Yin opened the folding fan in his hand and said in a profound and mysterious way: "The Gongsun family does not have any involvement in the court. I came here because I was entrusted by Xie Jiuheng."

Noticing that Fan Changyu looked confused for a moment, he choked up a little and asked, "Did Xie Zheng tell you his name?"

Fan Changyu shook her head. She didn't know Xie Zheng's true identity before. Later she found out, but they parted ways soon after. There was no chance for them to talk about it in detail.

She said with some curiosity: "So his name is Jiuheng."

Gongsun Yin said sourly: "The name that Grand Tutor Tao personally chose for him must be good."

Fan Changyu said: "My adoptive father also gave me a name."

Gongsun Yin's handsome face was instantly twisted with jealousy. He held the teacup, looked at Fan Changyu with great resentment and said, "Alright, let's stop talking about this."

Fan Changyu looked confused and didn't understand what was wrong with Gongsun Yin.

But she hadn't received a letter from Xie Zheng for a long time. Before he went to Beijing, he said that if anything happened to him, he should not respond to the summons and should stay in the northwest first.

Now that the summons has come down and there has been some news from Xie Zheng, Fan Changyu doesn't know whether he should keep his troops in place or respond to the order and bring Baoer to the capital.

She asked, "Why did he ask you to come to Jizhou?"

Gongsun Yin glanced at Fan Changyu and said thoughtfully, "Well, let's keep it secret for now. But he suddenly started looking into the Sixteenth Prince's affairs in the capital, which may be related to the truth of Jinzhou that year."

When mentioning the Jinzhou massacre, Fan Changyu felt a sinking feeling in his heart and was absent-minded for a moment.

Gongsun Yin said: "I came here today, firstly to visit Miss Fan, and secondly, to meet the descendants of Prince Chengde."

He tapped his palm with his folded fan and asked, "The child in the room just now is the descendant of Prince Chengde, right?"

Fan Changyu nodded.

Gongsun Yin added, "I heard that Miss Fan was seriously injured while saving the child. You made a lot of noise when you left the city that day, and you brought the child with you when you went to the capital. This will definitely make Tang Peiyi suspicious. Before you leave for the capital, Miss Fan should first think about how to explain the child's life story to Tang Peiyi."

Fan Changyu asked: "What is Mr. Gongsun's opinion?"

Gongsun Yin looked at Fan Changyu with some surprise, as if he felt that she had grown a lot after such a long time in the army. He said, "General Tang is a loyal and honest man, and he has the background of Lord He, so he can be pulled in."

This actually coincides with Fan Changyu's idea.

Gongsun Yin sat there for less than a cup of tea before leaving. Changning and Yu Baoer were playing in the yard. When they saw Gongsun Yin leaving, Changning followed him to the gate like a little tail.

Looking at the child's big, wet black grape eyes, Gongsun Yin, who was always a stingy person, gritted his teeth and gave all the few taels of silver he had to Chang Ning, asking her to use it to buy some candied haws.

Changning called "Uncle Gongsun" even sweeter.

She was generous. She bought some candied haws and didn't forget to share them with Yu Baoer. Yu Baoer, who had never rejected anything she gave, rejected her for the first time. She said with a stern face, "If you eat too much candy, you will get cavities. It's ugly."

Changning was not afraid of having tooth decay, but was afraid of being ugly. He held up the candied haws and hesitated before eating them.

Yu Baoer continued to teach her seriously: "My mother said that people who buy candy for children for no reason are most likely bad people. I think the person just now is a bad person."

Chang Ning opened his mouth wide with an "ah" and pinched the corner of his clothes and said in a tangled voice: "Uncle Gongsun is not."

Yu Baoer asked suddenly, "Are you familiar with him?"

Changning nodded. Her cheeks were red and puffy because she was wearing thick clothes and had been playing in the yard for a while. She was sweating and her face was red and puffy. When the sunlight shone on her cheeks, the fine hairs on them were clearly visible. They were pink and white, and very cute.

She said, "Uncle Gongsun's hair is so beautiful!"

Yu Baoer looked at her soft hair tied into small buns, pursed her lips a little, and said, "I can also give you a nice-looking hair in the future."

Chang Ning herself didn't know how to tie her hair, and she thought it was troublesome. When she heard Yu Baoer's suggestion, she was quite tempted. She looked at Yu Baoer with her big eyes like black grapes: "Can you tie your hair?"

Yu Baoer said, "I can learn."

The next day, when Aunt Zhao got up early to tie Changning's hair into a bun, a little kid stood beside her to watch. Aunt Zhao smiled and told Yu Baoer not to be anxious, saying that she could only go out to play after Changning's hair was tied up.

Yu Baoer looked at it very seriously and said, "I'm not in a hurry, Auntie, please take your time."

Aunt Zhao kept praising the child for being very sensible.

Fan Changyu knew nothing about all this. Her injuries had fully healed. On her first day back in the army, Tang Peiyi told her that he would be leaving for Beijing soon. He then left her alone and, as expected, asked about Yu Baoer.

Fan Changyu clasped his fists and said, "I feel guilty for keeping the general a secret until now. That child...his life story is indeed not simple."

Tang Peiyi sighed, "If you want to put the child in the army and take him to the capital, and you don't tell me the truth, if something unexpected happens on the way, I don't know how to deal with it."

Fan Changyu nodded: "I was not thoughtful enough. That child... is the descendant of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince Chengde."

After hearing this, Tang Peiyi was shocked and said, "Isn't the emperor's eldest grandson dead..."

Tang Peiyi stopped talking halfway through his speech.

This child appears at this time, and is secretly protected by the Blood-Cloaked Rider. Then who wanted to kill the child before?

Tang Peiyi didn't know Qi Min's existence and thought it was the emperor who wanted to kill Yu Baoer, and he broke out in a cold sweat.

After pacing back and forth in the tent with his hands behind his back for a few times, he said to Fan Changyu, "I understand. You can go down. I will secretly send more people to protect the young prince on the march."

Fan Changyu bowed and said, "I thank you, General."

Tang Peiyi just pointed at Fan Changyu and said helplessly: "You..."

He sighed, "It is my duty as a subject to preserve this bloodline for the Crown Prince Chengde."

-

After two months of marching, the army finally arrived in the capital.

With Tang Peiyi's secret support, the carriage that Yu Baoer was in was surrounded like an iron barrel along the way, and no accidents occurred.

The soldiers were stationed in the Xishan camp outside the city. Tang Peiyi only selected hundreds of meritorious soldiers who were worthy of their names to enter the city together.

The officials from the imperial court who came to receive them specially prepared newly made Ming Guang armor so that the army would look more splendid and majestic when entering the city.

After changing clothes and resting, the army headed towards the north gate.

Fan Changyu played a great role in the battle to quell the rebellion. Even though the reward from the court had not yet been given, the people of the entire capital knew that a female general had emerged in the northwest.

Guards holding banners led the way, and on both sides of the long street were people cheering for their triumphant return.

Fan Changyu rode behind Tang Peiyi, and walking side by side with her was He Jingyuan's eldest son.

People along the street were throwing flowers at them. Because Fan Changyu was the only female general in the army with outstanding appearance and temperament, many people called her enthusiastically, and each word of "General Fan" was full of respect and joy.

There were even girls who threw their handkerchiefs directly at Fan Changyu.

It was the first time that Fan Changyu faced such a situation. He was a little overwhelmed, but also afraid of losing his dignity, so he tried not to smile or talk while on horseback.

Little did she know that, in the eyes of the common people, her stern face was more in line with their imagination of an awe-inspiring female general.

The loudest voice in the crowd was calling out for Fan Changyu.

Young girls even wiped their tears and said, "It's a pity that General Fan is a girl, otherwise I would definitely marry General Fan!"

"I don't know if General Fan has any brothers. If I can't marry General Fan, I can be her sister-in-law!"

…

The crowd was noisy, and the soldiers who were maintaining order could hardly hold back the excited people on the street who rushed forward to welcome the triumphant army. But even in this sea of ​​​​thousands of people, Fan Changyu still keenly noticed a pair of gazes cast towards her from the restaurant next to the street.

She looked up and saw that most of the windows of the private rooms on the second floor of the restaurant were wide open.

She found a familiar figure in front of a half-open window, and the other person was staring at her quietly.

The several pots of blooming red chrysanthemums on the windowsill could not overshadow the clear and beautiful appearance of his face.

For fear of being noticed, Fan Changyu only slightly raised the corner of his lip towards Xie Zheng as he was about to pass by.

In the private room, Xie Zheng was distracted for a moment as he looked at the female general walking away on the long street amid cheers.

A year ago, he was in a restaurant in Lin'an Town, watching her walking downstairs with a group of thugs, holding a pig-killing knife, like a female tyrant.

A year later, she rode a white horse with a silver saddle, dressed in military uniform, and marched triumphantly with the army amid cheers from all sides of the aisle. She had become a female general as brilliant as the sun.

Xie Zheng looked at the bamboo-like tall figure on horseback and raised the corners of his lips slightly.

The author has something to say:

BoAi Diary:

Starting today, I need to save money and buy candies for Changning, so that she won’t be cheated by a few pieces of candy (sullen face). I also need to learn how to comb her hair, so that I can give her lots of beautiful buns! (I’m learning this seriously)