The soldier replied, "Our scouts report that the Crown Prince of Northern Qi is currently leading an army of 30,000 to attack our Ganzhou City."
Are they getting impatient and want to start a war? "How long have they been gone?"
The two countries were roughly equal in strength, and the Northern Qi was not much better off than the Eastern Jin.
If Northern Qi were to start a war now, both sides would suffer heavy losses.
"The carrier pigeon reports that we just set off a day ago."
"Pass down the order: all troops must strengthen their defenses and not let their guard down."
"Yes." The soldier accepted the order, bowed, and withdrew.
Gu Qian lowered his eyes in thought. He had set off a day ago, which meant it would take some time to get here.
He summoned his two lieutenants, "Ling Qi, Ling Ba, you two come with me to Baiyang."
The two men cupped their hands in greeting and said, "Yes."
They found it strange; the general disliked being accompanied by others and always went alone. Why did he want the two of them to come along this time?
Meanwhile, after Qiu Yan returned home, everyone began to eat.
The two Wu brothers usually ate with their second uncle, but today, with Qiu Yan back, they were a little reserved and sat alone with their bowls and chopsticks.
After the meal, Zhao Yuanyuan came looking for Qiu Yan. After hesitating for a long time, she finally spoke.
"Qiu Yan, when is Brother Dayu coming back?" It's been quite a while, and he still hasn't come home.
Qiu Dayu knew that he would run into Wang Shi as soon as he returned home, so he usually stayed at his sister's house during his holidays.
Qiu Yan smiled faintly and shook her head, "I don't know either."
Not getting the answer she wanted, Zhao Yuanyuan asked again, "Does Xingyue Tower still need people? I want to go out and work after the building is finished."
"Xingyue Tower is not short of people right now." Qiu Yan thought to herself, this girl must have taken a fancy to Qiu Dayu.
After hearing this, Wang came over and said, "Yuanyuan, don't think about those things. You're good at embroidery. You can come with me to Baiyang to sell some embroidery and earn money that way. Don't forget, you're not getting any younger. When your brother gets married, I'll find you a good match."
When Zhao Yuanyuan heard that her mother was going to find her a husband, her face turned a little pale.
She shook her head. Her own brother's marriage was still undecided; how could it be her turn to get married?
"Mother, I'm not in a hurry."
Qiu Yan thought that since the village chief had helped her so much back then, she could help Zhao Yuanyuan.
She said to Wang:
"Auntie, I can ask Yuanyuan for a job as an embroiderer. However, whether it will work out depends on both parties' opinions. Of course, this matter also requires your approval."
"Really?" Zhao Yuanyuan was a little excited after hearing this.
Upon hearing this, Wang was also somewhat pleased, "Is this really true?"
In her view, restaurant owners need to show their faces to greet customers all day long, but embroiderers are different.
She personally taught her daughter embroidery, and her embroidery skills are unparalleled in the surrounding area.
"Yes, it's true." Qiu Yan knew that Jiang Liu's clothing shop was hiring embroiderers, but she didn't speak too definitively.
Wang was somewhat influenced by Qiu Yan; she felt that it would be good for her daughter to go out and broaden her horizons.
"Then I'll have to trouble you to ask around for us."
Qiu Yan nodded, "I will do my best."
Privately, Wang whispered to Qiu Yan, "Xiao Yan, Zhao Langzhong's granddaughter-in-law, Xiao Liu, her daughter came back a few days ago. What do you think, is she a good match for your second uncle?"
Qiu Yan thought hard, but she still couldn't remember what Xiao Liu's daughter looked like.
She asked, "How old is she? What does she look like? What is her character like?"
After asking, she realized that they seemed to be from different generations.
"As for her age, she's a bit younger than your second uncle, and she's quite good-looking. As for her character, we're all from the same village, so how bad could her character be? Your aunt thinks it's good for them to get to know each other."
"You should discuss this matter with my second uncle."
These days, Qiu Yan has been thinking about her second uncle's marriage; it's a matter that's been weighing on her mind.
But she also knew that finding a suitable partner wouldn't be easy, and this wasn't up to her; it depended on her second uncle's wishes.
"Okay, Auntie will talk to him about it tomorrow."
The next morning, Qiu Yan took her younger brother to Baiyang.
No sooner had she left than Wang took Qiu Dafu to Zhao Yougui's house.
Qiu Dafu looked completely bewildered. "Sister-in-law, what's wrong?"
Qiu Dafu thought to himself, "Please don't try to arrange another marriage for me. I have no intention of getting married in this lifetime."
Wang shook her head, "You'll know when you get there."
Little did Qiu Dafu know that as soon as he arrived at Zhao Yougui's courtyard, he saw a girl sitting with her back to him.
Upon hearing the sound, the girl quickly turned around.
"Brother Dafu".
Qiu Dafu nodded stiffly. He stared at the girl in front of him, trying to remember who she was.
Liu greeted him with a smile and quickly brought Qiu Dafu a stool, saying, "Dafu's here, please sit down."
"Aunt Liu, I'm fine with anything." Qiu Dafu took the stool and sat down a short distance away.
"Brother Dafu, this is Zhao Juan."
"Zhao Juan?"
"Yes, I am Zhao Juan."
Zhao Juan looked at Qiu Dafu in front of her, her eyes misty with tears. Her shy and timid gaze made Qiu Dafu's scalp tingle.
He looked bitter; he should have known better than to come.
Qiu Dafu looked at Zhao Juan for a long time and finally remembered her.
She was the granddaughter of Zhao Youguitang and the daughter of Xiao Liushi.
After giving birth to Zhao Juan, Xiao Liu's health deteriorated.
When Zhao Juan was eight years old, a fortune teller said that her birth brought her mother good fortune.
In other words, she is a jinx to her mother.
After hearing this, Ms. Liu felt a distance from her daughter.
She herself is a sexist.
Therefore, Zhao Juan was sold by Xiao Liu to a wealthy family as a maid.
Now that she's back, Xiao Liu refuses to acknowledge her, which is why she's appearing at her uncle's house.
Now, Zhao Juan's memories of Qiu Dafu are limited to before she was eight years old, when she was that tall uncle.
Wang looked at Zhao Juan with a smile, her heart filled with pity.
“Dafu, Miss Juan’er has just left the master’s house and is not yet married. If you two are interested in each other, you can set a good date and get married.”
Mr. and Mrs. Zhao both smiled and nodded, indicating their approval of the marriage.
Zhao Juan's face flushed red as she waited for Qiu Dafu to continue.
Qiu Dafu jumped up. "No... we're not the right age." He didn't know what these people were thinking.
He was thirteen years older than her.
Wang shook her head and smiled, "This man is a bit older, he knows how to take care of people."
"Uncle, Aunt, Sister-in-law, Zhao Juan, my house is almost finished and needs someone to stay here. If there's nothing else, I'll be going now."
After Qiu Dafu finished speaking, he prepared to make a quick getaway.
"Dafu, sit a while longer. You can't just leave after arriving. Juan'er, come and talk to your brother Dafu." Wang thought that Qiu Dafu might be a little reserved, so she tried to smooth things over.
Zhao Juan lowered her eyes and slowly sat down next to Qiu Dafu.
When Qiu Dafu turned around, he saw that everyone else had gone inside to talk.
"Brother Dafu, don't always have such a long face. I don't mind your age."
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