The coming-of-age ceremony was hosted by An Dayong. In addition to the people in the mansion, those who attended included the An family, Gu Ming's mother and son, and Lin Yingnan and his servant.
The coming-of-age ceremony was also very simple. An Dayong said a few words to thank everyone for his daughter growing up. Then, Nanny Wu brought a square tray covered with a big red cloth. Inside the tray was a hairpin selected by Wan Xueying. Then, Su took out the hairpin from the tray and inserted it into the bun that Aunt Chen had helped Wan Xueying to arrange. The ceremony was concluded.
But when Su opened the red cloth, she couldn't help but exclaimed: "Oh my God! Didn't you say you only prepared one hairpin? How come there are so many?"
"My daughter only prepared one?" Wan Xueying was confused. When she turned around and saw nine hairpins of different styles neatly placed on the square plate, she was a little stunned.
"This is……"
"Miss," Shunzi explained hurriedly, "my master prepared these hairpins for you when we went to Xijiang Kingdom. I didn't know which one you would like, so I bought them all."
"What about the others?"
Wan Xueying hurriedly turned around and looked around, even using her mental strength. But the result made her somewhat disappointed, because Shen Yu was not even nearby.
"Miss, my master originally wanted to give you a surprise and come back early, but he encountered some difficult things, so he asked his subordinates to give you these hairpins first." These hairpins were given to Shunzi for safekeeping before Shen Yu left Yushu Village last time, because he was afraid that he would not be able to come back in time.
"Has he returned to Dayan?" Wan Xueying was not concerned about the hairpin, but Shen Yu's safety.
"They have already returned, and Xijiang will withdraw their troops soon."
"Really?" Wan Xueying was overjoyed.
"It's true, you have made great contributions." It was because someone took the credit that he was unable to come back.
"That's good." Even though Wan Xueying didn't see Shen Yu in person, she was a little disappointed. However, knowing that he was fine and had made a contribution, she happily picked out a ruby and golden hairpin and asked Su to put it on her.
Ha, she was just being tacky for once and picked the most festive one, which was also probably the most expensive one here.
Put on the hairpin and the coming-of-age ceremony is completed.
Because it was the winter solstice, Wan Xueying gave everyone three days off and asked Nanny Wu to prepare several sumptuous banquets to entertain everyone.
When they heard that Xijiang was going to withdraw its troops and that they would be given three days off, everyone was very happy and drank from noon until night.
It was almost midnight when the four girls finished cleaning up.
Although Wan Xueying did not participate in the second half for fear of making the servants uncomfortable, she felt very tired and went to bed early.
When she was sleeping soundly, she suddenly heard the sound of someone climbing over the wall and jumping in. Although the sound was very soft, she still caught it.
She sat up, put on her shoes, and took out the dagger from the space and held it in her hand. Just as she was about to use her mental power to check what the man was up to, there was a knock on her door.
"Xueying, it's me. Please open the door first." It was Shen Yu's voice.
Wan Xueying quickly put away her dagger and walked to the door and opened it. A cold wind mixed with snow blew in, making her shiver involuntarily.
Shen Yu wanted to put his cloak on her, but he found that his cloak was also cold, so he had to give up. He hurriedly urged her: "Come in quickly, don't catch a cold."
"Come in and warm up." Wan Xueying welcomed the person into the house and closed the door casually.
Shen Yu first lit the oil lamp on the table, and then sat down at the table.
Because a heated kang was installed in the house during the renovation, the frost on his eyebrows quickly melted into water droplets, and his almost frozen body gradually warmed up.
"Why are you back at this time?" Seeing that his lips were chapped, Wan Xueying took out the teapot from the tightly wrapped tea basket, poured a cup of warm water and handed it to him.
"Since I couldn't make it to your coming-of-age ceremony, I thought I'd try to get back before midnight to give you birthday wishes." To this end, he rode his horse in the wind and snow without stopping for a moment.
"Are all your problems resolved?" Although Wan Xueying was touched, she did not show it deliberately.
"That should be about right. Anyway, I can't go wrong by handing it over to Pei Xuanqing."
"Then how long can you stay at home this time?"
Shen Yu smiled bitterly, "I would like to stay longer, but there is no way. Everyone is still waiting for me to distribute food and fodder."
"Why are you so anxious?" Wan Xueying was a little surprised.
"There's no other way. If the food and fodder aren't distributed early, who knows how much trouble there will be later."
Wan Xueying nodded and asked, "I heard from Shunzi that the Xijiang Kingdom is about to withdraw its troops. Did you make a contribution? Are you injured?"
"I'm not injured. The Xijiang Kingdom is indeed retreating. They have no choice but to retreat. We have seized their army's granary."
"How come you even took the army's granary?"
"Hehe," Shen Yu smirked, "It's easy to carry."
"So, not only did you and Pei Xuanqing accomplish great things, but you also managed to gather the food and fodder needed for the Dingbei Camp and Ningjiang County Garrison next year?"
“There’s still some way to go, but we have some new goals.”
Wan Xueying did not ask what their new goal was. She was satisfied just to see him in person and know that he was fine.
Shen Yu asked about the horse thieves again, and Wan Xueying briefly recounted what had happened.
However, Shen Yu remained concerned and said he would later send someone to investigate for any bandits, horse thieves, or other local thieves. He also planned to take some time to train the reserve soldiers. He absolutely could not allow soldiers to fight for their country on the battlefield while their families lived in fear and fear, only to have their entire families wiped out.
Shen Yu didn't stay in Wan Xueying's room for long. He went back to rest and set off again before dawn in less than two hours.
In addition to distributing food and grass, Pei Xuanqing led them to seize the two private warehouses of Chen Xin, the former commander of the Northern Frontier Reserve Camp, who was now promoted to the fourth-rank lieutenant general of the Dingbei Army. This time, they not only gathered enough food and grass, but also had more than enough.
Unsurprisingly, this caused Chen Xin's strong dissatisfaction. However, before he could retaliate, he was dismissed from his official position due to corruption and became a commoner. Lian Zong did not rush to replace him, but said that he would slowly select someone from the Dingbei camp to divide Ji Yun's power.
After Chen Xin's downfall, Li Yongqing decisively chose to keep a low profile.
When the Dingbei army was selecting people, the remaining generals all entered the Dingbei camp smoothly, but he went to the Ningjiang County Guard, where he was still just a general.
Since the Ningjiang County Guard lost some soldiers in the war with the Xijiang State, and a large number were injured, the reserve battalion had over fifty soldiers to fill their vacancies. Furthermore, some outstanding candidates from the year-end competition joined the Dingbei Army. Finally, Shen Yu led the entire reserve battalion into the regular formation.
Wan Hesu was one of them. Because of his outstanding performance during this training, he was promoted to the rank of ninth-rank flag officer. This meant not only monthly rest periods but also military pay. Upon hearing the news, Lin Yingnan, finally relieved of his hard work, wept tears of joy.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com