After a brief farewell to the children, the leader of the Imperial Academy, who was also a young teacher at the Imperial Academy, gave an order, and everyone, carrying their own belongings, embarked on that extremely dangerous road.
Before leaving, Anzhi pulled his younger sister aside and said, "Don't come with me!"
He knew his sister too well; if he didn't warn her, she might have gone with him anyway.
“What will happen to our parents if we all leave? Especially our grandmother and mother, they can’t bear it, do you understand?”
After saying a lot, An Ran only told him to be careful and didn't mention whether he would go or not.
Seeing that the main group had left, Anzhi had no choice but to say, "Be good and wait for your brother to come back!" before leaving as well.
After composing herself, Liu Huan asked An Ran, "What did your brother say to you?"
An Ran shook her head. "It's nothing. He told me to be obedient."
Liu Huan didn't think much of it. She was already heartbroken about her son leaving, so she didn't think about anything else.
After returning home, he followed his own advice and began to eat vegetarian food and chant Buddhist scriptures.
Everyone in the family except for the young children who are still growing is a child.
For a time, no one paid attention to An Ran's movements, making her think that her plan was flawless.
Anran waited anxiously for news in her room. The moment she received the letter, she changed her clothes.
"Xiao Lan is gone."
They were caught red-handed by Liu Huan and Su Yi as soon as they stepped out the door.
Where to?
Liu Huan's two serious words startled An Ran, who lowered her head guiltily.
"Answer!" Those were the two serious words again.
An Ran looked up and said with a forced smile, "I want to help my brother, I want to go to the battlefield to fight the enemy and protect our country."
“Mother, I have studied martial arts in the Xuanzhen Sect for many years. Ordinary people are no match for me. Besides, the people you entrusted to me will protect me. I don’t want my brother to be alone over there.”
Looking at her daughter's determined expression, Liu Huan thought of how she herself had insisted on going to the front lines with Su Yi back then, and only she knew the hardships she had endured.
She didn't want her daughter to go through the same thing; there were too many uncertainties for women on the battlefield.
What if I said I wouldn't let you go?
Anran said, "Mom, I know you're very open-minded, you'll understand me, right?"
Liu Huan remained silent, while Su Yi was caught in the middle, feeling awkward. "Su Anran, do you know what you're saying? This isn't how you use 'open-mindedness' in your mother's eyes."
“I will protect myself. My mother taught me that every citizen has a responsibility for the fate of their country. Why can’t I go just because I am a woman?”
"Back then, the Grand Princess fought countless enemies single-handedly and returned safely. Now I'm leading so many people. I'm not acting recklessly. I have the ability, so why can't I protect my country like a man?"
"Or do you think that women should be confined to the backyard to be good wives and mothers, and that I am no exception? Is this what you want to see?"
An Ran's accusations left Liu Huan and An Ran breathless. Liu Huan suddenly felt a pang of regret for instilling such ideas in her daughter.
But honestly, does she really want to see her daughter trapped in the backyard, waiting for her husband to return, and being jealous of his concubine?
She couldn't do it; she used to be a highly educated person with independent thought and personality. She had her own dreams and pursuits, and even wanted to have her own place in the world.
She believed that women were not appendages of men, so how could she not understand her daughter's thoughts?
Su Yi knew what his wife was thinking; judging from her expression, she had agreed.
Despite his reluctance, he was prepared to compromise.
"Wait for me a moment."
An Ran didn't know what he was going to do, so at this critical moment she could only obediently listen to him.
Soon Su Yi came over with a box and handed it to An Ran, "Go change into these."
An Ran took the box, puzzled. "What's this?"
Liu Huan pulled her back, saying, "If your dad tells you to change, then change. Don't nag."
She closed the door and began to remove her daughter's clothes. She took out the contents of the box and said, "This is a set of gold-threaded soft armor that your father had made. It's impervious to swords and spears."
There was another item lying underneath, which she took out as well. "It took several years to make and was only recently delivered. I haven't had a chance to give your brother's yet."
The gold-threaded soft armor was so light that it felt like wearing nothing at all, which Anran found amazing.
Liu Huan looked at her and demanded that she swear, "You can never take this dress off, swear it!"
Only after receiving a promise did she say, "This is for your brother, and remember, never tell anyone."
The two of them held their daughter's hand and gave her a long speech. Finally, as dawn was about to break, Anran wanted to leave, but Su Yi said, "Don't rush. Let's say goodbye to your grandmother first."
"But……"
"Listen to your father."
When Su's mother heard that her granddaughter was going to stay at the princess's mansion for a while, she was actually unwilling, because she was afraid that her granddaughter would be wronged.
However, despite her son and daughter-in-law's persuasion, she still reluctantly sent the person onto the carriage.
"If anyone bullies you, come back. We won't let ourselves suffer that kind of injustice."
Anran took her hand and said goodbye: "Grandmother, eat and drink well, wait for me to come back."
Only after the carriage had gone far away did Su's mother reluctantly return home, saying, "When a tree branch grows big, it will fork; when a bird grows big, it will leave home."
Anran and Xiaolan changed clothes and rode horses at a gallop, changing horses at each post station.
After traveling day and night, they finally arrived at the front line ten days later.
Ahead were stationed troops. A dozen or so men stopped them and asked, "Who goes there? Don't you know this is forbidden territory?"
An Ran said she was there to join the army and showed the officers and soldiers a forged document. After looking her up and down, the officers and soldiers said, "Go over there to register and get your weapons."
They registered, but didn't take any weapons; people who roam the martial arts world always carry their own weapons.
After registering, about ten people were led to the military camp. The person leading them said, "The main force has gone to attack the city. You will go and train first. You can go together after you have finished training."
After saying this, he led them to a tent before leaving. The first thing they did was to get a good night's sleep, so that they could be more energetic and achieve twice the results with half the effort.
Just as I was sound asleep, cheers erupted outside: "We've taken it! We've taken it!"
It turned out that the soldiers returned and told the logistics team that they had captured a city, and that everyone should pack up and set up camp under the city walls.
After conquering a city, a period of rest is needed to allow the exhausted soldiers to recover.
Inside the main tent, several generals were planning how to proceed and how to utilize the best talents in the army.
Among them were Li Jingchen and Su Anzhi, whose identities were unknown to everyone except for a few generals.
Furthermore, Li Jingchen was using the alias Rijing.
"You performed exceptionally well today. Your military merits will be recorded for now, and I will report them to the Emperor truthfully upon our return."
The two naturally had no objections; military merit was only part of their goal.
After analyzing the pros and cons, the group released the person. Anzhi and the other person went out and walked in the same direction, feeling that they were not very familiar with each other.
Suddenly, Anzhi saw a suspicious figure from behind. He strode forward, grabbed the person, and dragged them into a tent.
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