Chapter 130 Changes
Three days later, Qi Rong prepared a letter and entrusted Qi An'an to Lin Changning: "Sixth Brother, you two go to the fiefdom of the King of Chu together."
Lin Changning was silent for a moment: "Aren't we waiting for the army to return?"
Qi Rong frowned: "We won't wait any longer. You can take a detour and go directly from Datong to Taiyuan. I will send Wen Zhi and the others with you. Liu Lang, I have already sent a message to my uncle, the Prince of Chu, by carrier pigeon. When you arrive, just go to the Prince of Chu's mansion and say that I recommended you. Someone will take you there. The transfer order has also been arranged for you. You can rest assured. I entrust An'an to you."
Lin Changning nodded and clasped his hands in thanks: "Thank you, Second Brother."
At the gate of the garrison, Qi Rong carried Qi An'an onto the carriage and instructed her, "An'an, listen to your sixth brother on the way. Go to the Chu Prince's Mansion to find your aunt, and then the people from the Prince's Mansion will arrange for you to return to the capital."
Qi An'an tugged at Qi Rong's clothes and looked at him pitifully: "Big brother, aren't we going together?"
Qi Rong shook his head and pried Qi An'an's hand away: "Big brother is a general, so naturally he has to stay here to protect the country. An'an, be good."
"When will you come to see me, brother?"
Qi Rong looked at his younger brother in the carriage: "Once the war is over, I will go to find An'an."
After saying that, Qi Rong stepped back, and Lin Changning mounted his horse and bid farewell to Qi Rong: "Second Brother, then we'll be going."
Qi Rong nodded and waved his hand: "Go ahead, be careful on the road."
Lin Changning sat on his horse, a blue cloak given to him by Qi Rong completely covering him, making his youthful face appear somewhat mature.
On the other side, Old Ma and Liu were chatting away with Third Sister, their words of concern seemingly endless. Liu wiped away her tears, handed the bundle to her daughter, hugged her tightly, and then let go: "Third Sister, when you get to the Prince's mansion, be quick and efficient, and don't quarrel with anyone. Everything is fine at home, so don't worry about it."
Ma San Niang picked up her bundle, knelt down, and kowtowed three times, choking back tears as she said, "Your unfilial daughter has caused you so much worry. I don't know when I will be able to be by your side again. I hope you will take good care of yourselves."
The eyes of the two sons of the Ma family were also a little red. They hurriedly took out some of their savings from their pockets and stuffed them into Ma San Niang's hand: "Your brother is at home. Don't mistreat yourself when you go out, San Niang."
Lin Changning rode his horse to the Ma family's side and reminded them, "It's time to go, Third Sister."
The group watched as the person climbed onto the carriage. Then, the old horse looked up at Lin Changning with earnest eyes, clasped his hands and bowed: "Sixth Brother, I won't say anything more. I still hope that you can take good care of Third Sister for my sake."
Lin Changning nodded and chuckled, "Old Ma, don't be so polite. Third Aunt is my niece, so of course I'll take care of her."
Old Ma felt a bit of a sore throat; why did the word "niece" sound so awkward? His face contorted for a moment before Liu pulled him aside and he cupped his hands in thanks: "Then thank you, Brother Changping."
Lin Changning nodded to the two men and then signaled the caravan to leave. Ma Sanniang and Qi An'an sat in the carriage, flanked by eight guards, and slowly made their way toward the city gate under Lin Changning's lead.
Qi Rong and the Ma family saw the convoy off for a while, then stood there watching it drive away.
Old Ma sighed, "Let's go, let's go back."
The horses' hooves kicked up dust, and yellow dust rose from the rear of the caravan. Lin Changning rode at the front, while Shilang sat in front of the carriage and drove. Qi An'an was getting restless. After traveling for a while, she lifted the curtain of the carriage and looked at the endless grassland outside. The precocious girl sighed, "I don't know when I'll be able to come back next time."
Ma San Niang couldn't help but laugh: "Are you so reluctant to leave the border?"
Qi An'an sighed, holding her head in her hands: "Yeah, I'll miss my older brother, and I'll miss Ya Ya and the others too. And I'll miss Xiao Liu and Da Huang as well."
Speaking of Da Huang, the light in Qi An'an's eyes dimmed: "Da Huang is gone too, and Brother Xiao Liu was forced to go to other places. This is my fault. I didn't protect Da Huang and Aunt Hu."
Ma San Niang rubbed Qi An An's little head: "It's the bad guys' fault, it has nothing to do with you."
Qi An'an shook her head: "My brother said that the two of them came to the Lin family with me that day. Their boss doesn't get along with my brother, so they must have come with me to cause trouble, which is why Da Huang and Aunt Hu got involved."
Ma San Niang sighed and didn't say anything, silently turning her head to the side.
After walking for half a day, the group finally came to a small inn. The tea stall on the street corner had its doors and windows tightly closed, and the faded flag under the eaves fluttered crookedly in the wind. Lin Changning's heart tightened, and he waved his hand to stop the carriage.
It was almost noon, but the teahouse was still tightly shut. Normally, this would be the time for them to open for business. There was smoke rising from the eaves, and people were clearly inside, so the closed doors and windows were obviously not a good sign.
"Wan Jin, go in and ask."
Wan Jin, who was walking beside Lin Changning, clasped his hands and nimbly dismounted. He stepped forward and knocked on the door: "Is anyone home? We are from the Daxing Military Guard. We are asking to borrow this place for a hot tea and a hot meal. Is the shopkeeper here? Could you please open the door and do us a favor?"
There was no response from inside. Lin Changning frowned and said coldly, "Wan Jin, break down the door!"
The words had barely left his mouth when the door suddenly opened a crack. An old woman peered through the crack at the group of people outside. Seeing their attire, she breathed a sigh of relief, opened the door wide, and bowed in greeting: "It really is an official. Please forgive me, sir. Recently, Tartars have been coming down, so I had no choice but to keep the doors and windows tightly closed."
Lin Changning dismounted, somewhat skeptical: "Tartars?"
The old woman pushed open the door and placed the tea on the table: "Alas, yes, recently, for some reason, Tartars have been coming down every few days. In order to save their lives, some villages nearby have kept their doors tightly shut every day."
Lin Changning dismounted, somewhat puzzled: "Daxingwei is not far away, why not go and report to the border to wipe out the Tartars?"
Looking at Lin Changning's young and handsome face, the old woman thought he was some young master out for a stroll, and said, "Daxing? The men of Daxing probably can't come. Young master, you don't know, do you? The rebel king and traitors defeated Daxing Guard in Yongping. Several thousand men went, but less than half came back. Even if they go to Daxing now, it won't make a difference. The Tartars have been spotted in seven or eight towns in between recently. Daxing is attacked from both sides. How can they have time to care about the lives of us common folk?"
Ma San Niang carried Qi An'an out of the carriage, her face turning pale upon hearing the news: "How is this possible? Da Xing has fallen?"
Lin Changning's expression was also not good: "Mother-in-law, could you explain in more detail? Why didn't we receive this message?"
As she spoke, Lin Changning took out a piece of silver from her pocket and placed it on the table: "Grandma, consider this a tea fee. Could you please explain to us in detail? We are going to Taiyuan. If so many of us encounter rebels and Tartars, we might lose our lives."
The old woman sighed and looked around at the group of people. She noticed that Lin Changning's cloak was quite expensive and looked at Qi An'an's delicate face, but she did not suspect anything. "I heard two days ago that the troops from Daxing were ambushed as soon as they arrived in Yongning. They failed to attack the city and were instead besieged. Not long after the news spread, the Tartars came down."
The old woman looked around as if she were afraid of something: "You'd better avoid villages and towns. Yesterday, a traveling merchant who came back from a neighboring town said that the Tartars have gathered 10,000 men and are guarding outside the pass, preparing to attack Daxing."
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