Chapter 112 Yan Fengxiao is gone

With the warm wind blowing, the city of Yanjing in May is particularly bright.

The Emperor of Southern Yan gazed at the tens of thousands of soldiers marching forward and spoke slowly, "Generals, listen to my orders! As we journey to the northern border, we must defend the mountains and rivers with our blood and flesh. We must fight for every inch of land and not yield an inch of territory. I await your triumphant return here!"

"We will win!"

"We will win, we will win..."

Tens of thousands of soldiers shouted in unison, holding up their spears in unison, with the red tassels flying in the wind, their momentum was terrifying!

As morale rose, Yan Fengxiao turned his horse around, took a last deep look at the long street of the capital inside the city gate, and then... slowly turned around.

Qin Mingzhu had already seen him off last night. Today, all officials had closed the streets and the emperor was traveling, so Qin Mingzhu could not get close to the city gate at all.

Just as Yan Fengxiao was about to leave, Qin Mingzhu found a better position on the top floor of a teahouse far away from the city gate street and silently watched his back.

She pursed her lips, her eyes flickering with light, as if she wanted to remember that figure firmly in her mind.

The border is dangerous, and once you go there, you don’t know when you can come back.

Qin Mingzhu clutched her heavy heart. This feeling seemed to take her back to her childhood. Every time her father, a general, left home, it was like this...

Yan Fengxiao is leaving.

Although she had known that this was inevitable, she still couldn't help but feel a little worried and reluctant.

Chunhua stood behind Qin Mingzhu and whispered, "Madam, when will Governor Yan come back?"

The corners of Qin Mingzhu's lips moved, as if she was also thinking about this question.

"I don't know."

Maybe one year, two years... three years.

She only knew that as long as there was no result in this war and the side that did not fight surrendered, Yan Fengxiao would definitely not return.

In fact, she didn't have much time left. She had to bring the high priest from the Northern Frontier Kingdom home to treat her parents within two years.

"Chunhua, let's go, we also have a battle to fight..."

…

The 100,000 troops gathered in the capital set out for the northern border to provide support. In a short period of time, a total of 400,000 troops were mobilized, which was obviously to launch a decisive battle with the Northern Frontier Kingdom.

Nearly half of the Southern Yan Kingdom's million-strong army were deployed in this battle.

After Yan Fengxiao led the troops to set off, the Emperor of Southern Yan immediately ordered that the heads of several envoys from the northern border who were barely alive and who had been secretly fed water and food by the eldest prince be chopped off and hung on the city gates.

This declaration of war was quite decisive, and the Emperor of Southern Yan did not give either side any room for maneuver.

This also boosted the morale of the Southern Yan army.

After Yan Fengxiao left, the entire capital seemed to have fallen into a strange calm.

At the morning court session, the ministers of the two factions stopped arguing. Now that they were at war, all the civil and military officials knew very well that if anyone dared to speak well of Northern Frontier at this time, he would definitely lose his head.

Anyone who dared to be the first to show his hand in lowering morale would be killed as a warning to others. Therefore, even the eldest prince Yan Xuanjing had become extremely diligent and honest during this period, and had not uttered a word in the court.

However, this calm seems to be the prelude to the coming storm.

The first month after Yan Fengxiao led his troops out of Yanjing City.

The youngest son of Minister Li of the Ministry of War died suddenly of a leg injury, and his relationship with the Zhang family broke down. Minister Li even carried his son's coffin to the door of the Zhang family, hoping to seek justice.

Someone had exposed Censor Hu's bribery, and he has been thrown into prison, awaiting trial.

The court, which had just calmed down, began to surge with undercurrents again. The eldest prince recruited many ministers around him, and they actually started stabbing each other in the back.

Every day when the Emperor of Southern Yan went to court, he would see a farce that would leave him stunned.

During this period, the eldest prince was dealing with internal troubles, moving between ministers every day to mediate conflicts. He had no time to take care of Yan Liuchen and the Qin family.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the second prince Yan Liuchen recommended the Qin family to become the imperial merchant, and Mrs. Qin Xu Jiaoyue was listed in the Mingyue Chamber of Commerce and became the head of the chamber of commerce.

The person who is truly in charge of all matters of the Chamber of Commerce is Qin Mingzhu.

The Qin family joined forces with the Ministry of Revenue to assist in financial management, began to participate in the dispute over the share of salt, tea and silk, prepared food and soldiers, and even undertook the grain transport... For a time, the Qin family, which had been hidden in the capital for many years, began to stand in the spotlight again.

Qin Mingzhu also took the opportunity to recruit people and horses, gathering the capable people left by her mother and assigning them to take on various responsibilities again. She herself was even busier, going out every day either to socialize or to arrange various matters...

It was the second month since Yan Fengxiao left the capital.

The hundreds of thousands of troops that had arrived at the border were officially dispatched only after some reorganization. Yan Fengxiao led an army of 200,000 and successfully raided the Suzumuling garrison in the northern border.

The traitorous deputy general Li Liangzhong, who was originally known from Qin Mingzhu, was captured and brought back to the capital by Yan Fengxiao. After interrogation, Yan Fengxiao gained the upper hand in intelligence.

When the news of the great victory came back, the emperor was very happy. He ordered rewards for the three armies and asked the Ministry of Revenue to prepare more reward silver and wine to be sent to the border.

A banquet was held in the palace to celebrate, and Qin Mingzhu also successfully received an invitation.

The invitation was sent by the Second Prince and was written by the Emperor himself, specifically inviting the head of the Mingyue Chamber of Commerce, who has now firmly established his foothold in the capital.

Mrs. Qin took a look at the invitation and handed it to Qin Mingzhu. She had just taken some medicine and coughed lightly with a smile.

"Mom hasn't been feeling well these past two days, and she can't handle the banquets in the palace. You should go. I really don't know what you're thinking. You could be the head of the Chamber of Commerce, but you insist on having me be a figurehead."

Qin Mingzhu smiled and asked her mother to sit on the chair. While rubbing her mother's shoulders, she said, "After all, the people under me were all trained by you. If you are the head of this chamber of commerce, they will work harder... I will work harder, and then it will be natural for me to inherit your business. Right now, Mingzhu is still unfamiliar with some things, and she needs to consult you on many issues, so you have to protect her."

Mrs. Qin was amused by her daughter's words.

"Okay, then I'll protect you now. Just tell me if you have anything to say."

Qin Mingzhu changed her clothes.

After all, we are attending a palace banquet, so we need to be more formal.

Before Yan Fengxiao left, the news that he had requested an imperial decree from the emperor to grant him a marriage had already spread like wildfire in the past two months. Qin Mingzhu had received many tea party invitations from wealthy ladies in the capital, but she had rejected them all.

She had no time to show off in front of those rich ladies. She had wanted Yan Fengxiao to come to her house to propose marriage before he left because Qin Mingzhu had already made all the mental preparations.

She, Qin Mingzhu, will not marry anyone else in this life. If anything happens to him during this battle, she will remain a widow for the rest of her life.

If we cannot sleep together in life, then we can share the same bed in death...