Dabao came over and said calmly, "She thought that her son and eldest sister always missed their parents and their two younger sisters at home."

Ding Youtian narrowed his eyes and looked at Dabao. "After all, you are still my son. Don't study too late at night after returning to Beijing. Your mother once said that you need to get enough sleep so that you can devote more energy to studying the next day. Did you remember that?"

Dabao bowed respectfully and replied, "I'll remember that, son."

That's pretty good. Ding Youtian raised his eyebrows and looked at Jian Ning, meaning: See, my son still has me as his father in his heart.

A man is a young man until he dies. Jane Ning pretended not to see him and was too lazy to pay attention to this young boy.

"Mother." Dabao bowed respectfully to Jian Ning again, "Mother, please don't work too hard. Our family is not as good as before. If you need to hire someone, then you should hire someone. Don't be reluctant to spend money. When your son becomes successful, he will support you. Mother, please don't be reluctant to work hard on yourself."

"Bao'er has really grown up. Don't worry, mommy can't sit idle. Cooking and cleaning the house won't be tiring for mommy." Jane Ning was very pleased. She had not raised these children in vain. At this moment, she once again felt that whether she could give birth or not was really not important at all. She was content with having four brothers and sisters.

Ding Youtian was unhappy after hearing what Dabao said, as if he, as a husband, did not care about his wife. However, thinking that they would not see each other for at least a year or two, he resisted the urge to glare at him, but turned to look at Xu Dali and the others.

Xu Dali and the others said goodbye to Yuechan. Since the lion dance in Danyang, the three of them and Yuechan had formed a deep friendship. Although Qinglian and Tong Bajin did not become a couple and ended up following Yuechan, which made Xu Dali feel a little regretful, it did not affect his good impression of Yuechan.

"Brother." He patted Yuechan's arm. "I almost lost my life when I stood up for Sister Qinglian. She is like my own sister. I'll have to take good care of her from now on."

"No problem." Yuechan bowed and said, "She and I are from the same hometown, and my sister will be with us when we go to the capital, so please don't worry."

Qinglian came over and knelt before Xu Dali, Tong Bajin, and Erlangzi, bowing to each of them. "Brother Xu, Brother Tong, Brother Shi, thank you for your care all along. I'm leaving now. Take care of yourselves, and we'll see you later."

"Sister." Xu Dali pointed at Tong Bajin and Erlangzi, "The three of us are your brothers. You are no longer alone. If anything happens, remember to report it to us. The master and the mistress will not ignore you. Your problems are ours. Don't forget that you still have the three of us brothers, okay?"

Qinglian felt warm in her heart when she heard his words and nodded.

Dabao and Da Niu also came over to say goodbye to the three of them. After seeing Dabao off, Jane Ning felt a little empty in her heart, especially when she thought of what Dabao had said before and Da Niu's dependence on her. She felt that she had missed them madly when she saw them off even before they left the city gate.

With a "ding" sound, she had just returned to the room where Erniu and Sanniu lived. Recalling the happy time last night when the four of them, mother and daughter, squeezed into a small bed, she was feeling melancholy when the system prompt sounded.

Ma Fuquan: [Have you set off?]

Jian Ning: [Hmm, we should be almost at the city gate now.]

Ma Fuquan: [Okay, then we'll leave this afternoon and wait for them at the dock. We'll spend the night at the county escort agency. Oh, and there's one thing I forgot to ask you. If I go back there someday, will Baicaojian still be there? Even if he is, I probably won't be able to contact you, right?]

Jian Ning: [I really don't know about that. I already have Baicaojian over there, so maybe it won't disappear. Whether I can connect to this time and space, I'll have to wait until that day to find out.]

Ma Fuquan: [Okay, I understand. We’ll talk about it later.]

It would be great if they could get in touch, but since they weren't in the same time and space, Jane Ning felt that the possibility was unlikely, almost impossible, and unbelievable. However, she thought again, the items in the weapons and medicine depots didn't belong to this time and space, and drones actually had built-in offline navigation. Who could possibly understand the mysteries of the universe?

Maybe it will work.

A month later, as Ma Fuquan and his men were nearing the capital, Xu Dali's master, Lei Jiang, delivered a second secret letter in the same manner. He informed them that the Yue Kingdom had bombarded the Li Kingdom with cannons, had annexed it, had signed an alliance with the Di Rong, and was contacting the Jiuchi tribe, suggesting a massive invasion of the Central Plains imminent.

In addition, Lei Jiang also informed the range of the gun in the letter, which was exactly the same as what Ma Fuquan said, the effective range was fifty meters.

Jian Ning immediately informed Ma Fuquan of this matter. The next day, after Ma Fuquan and his group arrived in Beijing, he immediately informed Huo Jincheng of this matter.

Huo Jincheng went to the palace overnight to report to Emperor Yongkang.

However, a month later, spies from the imperial court came with a report that the Yue Kingdom had colluded with Di Rong and Jiu Chi to attack the Central Plains.

The next day at court, all the civil and military officials were shocked when they learned about this. But when they saw Emperor Yongkang sitting majestically on the dragon throne with a deep and steady look in his eyes, the civil officials standing on the right side of the hall felt a little relieved.

Historically, most civil officials advocated peace, but because of a series of drastic and iron-fisted measures taken by Emperor Yongkang since he ascended the throne, civil and military officials witnessed the courage of this young new monarch. This time, facing the invasion of the Three Kingdoms, there were very few civil officials who advocated peace.

The military officers had been ready to fight for a long time. The Minister of War Deng Rongxian was convicted and thrown into the Heavenly Prison during the reign of the previous emperor. After Emperor Yongkang ascended the throne, he pardoned him from the list of people in Liu Xiazi's circle and reinstated him to his original position as the Minister of War.

Minister Deng was convicted during the previous emperor's reign because he was reported for privately speaking up for Nan. Although he was dismissed from his post and imprisoned in Tianlao, his family was only exiled and has now returned to the capital.

He had two sons, both of whom were good at fighting and very brave.

"Your Majesty! I have a memorial to make." Minister Deng, with his temples graying, could no longer contain himself. He knelt on one knee and shouted, "I am willing to personally lead the troops to the border to resist the enemy. I hope Your Majesty will approve this memorial!"

"My dear old minister, please stand up quickly!" Emperor Yongkang stood up from the dragon throne, raised his hands in front of him, and signaled him to stand up.

Minister Deng was actually a gift from the previous emperor to the next new ruler. Emperor Yongkang already knew this. He was about to approve the request when a eunuch outside the hall shouted at the top of his voice, "Prince Pingnan, please come to the court!"

During the Grand Court, civil and military officials only attended court once every three days. Princes who were not in office did not need to attend court. For example, Prince Yong. His mother died of depression in the cold palace in November last year. After that, Emperor Yongkang lifted the ban on Prince Yong's mansion. His power had been completely eliminated. Now he was an idle prince and did not need to attend court unless specially summoned.

Upon hearing that Prince Pingnan was coming to see him, Emperor Yongkang's lips curled slightly, knowing that he must have heard rumors and come to ask for battle. He raised his hand and said, "Hurry and announce it."

The eunuch in front of the emperor immediately shouted in a dragging voice: "Praise the Prince of Pingnan to see you!"

In a moment, the Prince of Pingnan, dressed in battle armor, crown on his head, and holding a golden spear, walked into the palace with a majestic and powerful demeanor. Minister Deng turned his head and glared at him, saying, "You old man, why are you coming here instead of staying in the palace to enjoy your retirement?"