It usually takes more than half an hour to get to the military camp by carriage, but Shen Xingmian drove himself and arrived at the camp gate in just over ten minutes.

Their strange vehicle and extremely fast speed startled the guards at the gate.

Several men quickly drew their swords and called for others to gather around.

Shen Yunting quickly got out of the carriage and called out to them, "It's me. Is the general in the camp? Are the rest of the Shen family here?"

When the guard saw that Shen Yunting had actually emerged from this strange object, he was stunned for a moment before answering loudly, "Reporting to the young general, yes, he is here. He came this morning and is currently in the general's tent."

Shen Yunting was finally relieved after hearing the whole story.

Although she said many comforting words to her husband and daughter, she herself was a little flustered.

There's no way around it; anyone who goes on a long trip and comes home to find no living creatures in their house will inevitably start to think bad things.

After all, their enemy was the most powerful person in all of Lin Yue.

Even if we thought that far ahead, with the roads blocked by heavy snow, the other side wouldn't send assassins at this time. And if they did, our family wouldn't be completely defenseless.

But in that instant, I couldn't think of all that; all I could feel was that something had happened.

She only regained her composure after hearing the definite news.

The three of them walked inside together, their steps hurried, ignoring the probing gazes of the soldiers around them.

Shen Xingmian remembered where her grandfather's tent was, so she walked the fastest and rushed into the tent first.

Everyone inside was startled, because military camps are the most disciplined places, and no one had ever dared to barge in so recklessly.

When they saw it was her, everyone stood up in surprise and asked incredulously, "How come you're back so quickly? Weren't you supposed to be back for at least a month?"

Shen Xingyan was the happiest, and she expressed it directly by emerging from behind the crowd to rush over and hug her younger sister.

As a result, Shen Xingmian threw herself into her grandfather's arms without a care in the world.

She had never experienced such panic before. Even the assassination attempt on that rainy night didn't seem like a big deal to her.

This time, however, she returned home only to find not a single family member in sight, a sight that terrified her more than the worst nightmare.

The elderly person in front of her, whom she had finally found and who treated her like a treasure, was extremely important to her.

"Grandpa, you have no idea how panicked and scared I was when I got home with Dad and Mom and found no one there. I was afraid that you had encountered some danger. If Dad hadn't said that you might be in the military camp, I would have cried."

When Shen Xingmian spoke of these things, her voice even trembled with a hint of tears, as if she had suffered a great injustice.

She was indeed very aggrieved, never expecting to encounter such a thing.

Her large, happy family was gone just like that; her once-thriving home was now empty.

Who wouldn't be afraid?

She believed that even her father and mother must have been terrified at the time, but they managed to suppress it because she was there.

Seeing that everyone is safe and sound, I can finally let go of the panic I felt earlier.

Shen Zhiheng and the others never expected that the three of them would return so early, and they never expected that a family's spur-of-the-moment decision would cause them such panic.

Everyone felt a little embarrassed, as it was a last-minute decision. Although only three people were missing from the family, everyone felt a sense of emptiness.

So after discussing it, everyone decided to come to the military camp and celebrate the New Year with the soldiers.

Such a large general's mansion, without any servants, already seemed very empty. Now that three of the most important people are missing, it feels even less like the New Year.

When I arrived at the military camp, I saw even more people and finally felt a bit of a lively atmosphere.

They brought over all the New Year's goods they had bought beforehand, such as paper-cut window decorations, lanterns, Spring Festival couplets, and fruits, ready to make a lively scene here.

Unexpectedly, this sudden action gave the family's three children quite a fright.

Shen Xingmian nestled in her grandfather's arms and was comforted for a while before peeking out to look inside. Seeing that everyone was there, she regained her usual smiling expression.

She belatedly felt a little embarrassed, realizing she had overreacted.

But then I thought, if her family really were lost, that reaction would be normal. No one can stay calm forever; she just hasn't encountered the most frightening thing yet.

Upon closer inspection, they not only saw a camp full of people, but also what they were preparing—it was quite festive.

Shen Xingmian didn't have a calendar for this era, so she had no idea how many days were left until the New Year; she only had a vague idea.

Judging from their preparations, it should be almost done.

So she asked a question that no one quite understood, "How many more days until Chinese New Year? Did we come back just in time, hehe."

"It's timely, but Mianmian doesn't even know when the New Year is. No wonder she left in such a hurry. I was wondering what could be so urgent that she wouldn't even celebrate the New Year. Turns out the little girl just doesn't have any concept of it."

Mu Zhizhi teased him gently with a smile.

Shen Xingmian blushed slightly. She had already made a big fool of herself, and now everyone knew that she didn't even know which day of the New Year was.

Oh no, I'm going to be mistaken for an idiot.

But no one cared about this small problem. It's normal for children not to remember the date. Someone as intelligent as Shen Xingmian, if he were a few years younger, could be considered a "child prodigy".

No one in their family is too harsh on their children, otherwise Shen Xingyan wouldn't have developed such a lively and carefree personality.

And he was even more tolerant and forgiving towards Shen Xingmian.

The whole family was very happy. They really didn't expect them to be able to come back before the Lunar New Year. They brought a lot of things with them and planned to start making dumplings in the afternoon and freeze them outside after they were done.

That way, when it's time for the New Year's Eve dinner tomorrow night, all the soldiers will be able to eat hot dumplings.

Apart from the guards who are on duty, everyone else has to participate. No one can be idle, and they don't need to do anything else. They can just enjoy the atmosphere of the New Year.

Shen Xingmian got excited when she heard that they were going to make dumplings; she loved things that required everyone's participation!

Moreover, since it was dumplings for New Year's Eve, she immediately began to check for omissions and make up for any missing items.