On the city wall, Commandant Qin's face was grave, and he was filled with unease. "General Gu, the enemy is about to attack the city, why are you still so calm?"
"If being anxious were useful, we wouldn't need to fight this war."
After Gu Qian finished speaking, he looked at Ling Yun and Ling Zhi behind him and said, "You two will each lead 20,000 elite troops and immediately follow me to attack the enemy city."
The two men bowed in agreement and then went to join the soldiers.
Captain Qin was somewhat puzzled, "Why are we going into battle?"
He believed that as long as they stayed put and did not come out, no matter how much the enemy challenged them, they would not be able to break through the city. At that time, Ganzhou City would be considered to have been defended.
"Retreating will only boost the enemy's morale. Since the enemy is going to fight, and our elite troops have arrived first, why not strike first?"
"General, let me handle the siege."
Gu Qian shook his head. "You just need to guard Ganzhou City strictly. Oh, and remember to lead five thousand elite troops to lie in ambush outside the city walls and observe the situation."
On the Mid-Autumn Festival, Gu Qian and his two deputies were fully prepared to depart.
On the same day, in Lingnan Village, Qiu Yan and others were each preoccupied with their own thoughts.
With the house completed, a house-raising banquet is inevitable. Qiu Yan suggested that they simply hold it all at once, to save time and effort.
Qiu Dafu realized that Qiu Xu and Qiu Ling'er also had three days off, so he decided to do it tomorrow.
In this era, raising the roof beam is a major event and cannot be taken lightly.
The village chief said that once the beam is properly erected, it will bring good luck, wealth, and prosperity to future generations. Therefore, it is only natural to hold a grand banquet and invite relatives and friends to come and celebrate.
Previously, Qiu Yan had already ordered some furniture from Zhang the carpenter based on the dimensions, and now she was just waiting for it to arrive one by one.
In the late afternoon, Jiang Liu, realizing she had been bothering Qiu Yan for so long, asked her when she would be going to Baiyang.
She arrived in the same carriage as Qiu Yan, so she would definitely return together.
Qiu Yan thought of the housewarming feast tomorrow, "Sister Jiang, since you're here, why don't you stay the night?"
The new house has been built. Even without furniture, there's enough room to make do with a makeshift bed on the floor for my second uncle and younger brother to spend the night.
Ye was standing nearby. Upon hearing this, she said warmly, "Jiang Liu, come stay at my house tonight."
"Alright."
Jiang Liu hadn't originally planned to stay overnight, but after hearing Qiu Yan's suggestion, staying another day wouldn't be a bad idea.
Looking at the new house next door, she thought to herself that once the house had been aired out for a while, she wouldn't need to stay at the Ye family's house when she came to the village again.
Because of what happened in the morning, Jiang Liu didn't go to the mountains and forests again. She just sat in front of the courtyard, watching Qiu Dafu chop dry firewood with an axe.
With doubts in her heart, she asked, "Qiu Dafu, why are you so reluctant to get married and have children?"
Qiu Dafu froze in mid-air as he chopped wood. "Nobody wants to marry me."
What he said was true. Before he went to prison, Yang was a stepmother who tormented Qiu Yan and the other two girls every day, and her bad reputation spread far and wide.
If any girl were to marry him, how could she possibly get along well under Madam Yang's rule?
Jiang Liu didn't believe it. "Back then, wasn't there a girl who was so desperate to marry you that she was willing to die for you?"
Qiu Dafu didn't know how to answer, so he simply didn't.
That night, in the clothing shop, Tang Yi looked at Cui Zhu kneeling on the ground and flew into a rage.
He searched high and low all day, from Xingyue Tower to wonton shops, but couldn't find a trace of Jiang Liu.
"Cuizhu, tell me honestly, where did Madam go?"
Cuizhu timidly raised her head and glanced at Tang Yi. "Replying to my lord, this servant truly does not know."
Jiang Liu wouldn't let her reveal her whereabouts, but Cui Zhu was loyal to her mistress and didn't want Tang Yi to cause trouble in Qiu Yan's hometown, so she refused to tell the truth.
"Hmph, you wouldn't know your own master?"
At this moment, an official came to report.
"My lord, there are none in the west of the city!"
"None are in the east of the city either."
"We've searched every corner of the north of the city, but we still can't find any trace of the lady."
Tang Yi was so angry that he glared and smashed the teacup in his hand.
"Go look again. If I don't see the Madam tonight, you will all be punished!"
He had barely finished speaking when another official reported back.
"My lord, in the south of the city..."
Tang Yi said angrily, "You haven't found it either, have you?"
"Yes, and there is a large group of refugees piled up at the south gate of the city."
"Didn't I say we'd drive them all away?" He himself only had a small salary; where would he get the spare money to settle refugees?
“The people were driven away, but they blocked the south side of the city and refused to leave.”
"Do you really need to trouble me with such a matter!"
The official said no more, bowed his head and withdrew.
Tang Yi paced anxiously in the clothing shop, making Cui Zhu, who was kneeling on the ground, drowsy and dozing off.
Finally, Tang Yi gave an order that startled her awake.
"Guards, lock up Cuizhu! Do not release her without my order!"
On the night of the full moon, none of the officials went home to reunite with their families.
Unable to find the person, Tang Yi turned and went to the small courtyard that Qiu Yan had rented.
Knock, knock, knock—a series of knocks sounded outside the courtyard gate.
Upon hearing the sound, Song Jiao and Zhu Juan exchanged a glance, and Zhu Juan said, "I'll go open the door."
Song Jiao said, "First, peek through the crack in the door to see who it is. If you don't recognize them, just ignore them."
Hearing the knock on the door, Qiu Dayu quickly came out of the house and stopped Zhu Juan. "I'll go."
After he finished speaking, he jogged to the courtyard gate.
Through the crack in the door, he saw Tang Yi and two constables appear outside, and he secretly began to plot.
Have they done anything wrong recently?
"Who's knocking on the door in the middle of the night?"
The official behind Tang Yi replied, "Is Madam Tang here?"
Song Jiao frowned upon hearing the voice.
"He's not here." Qiu Dayu finished speaking and turned to leave, but Tang Yi called out to him, "Open the door!"
"Sir, I told you, he's not here."
"If you don't open the door, I'll send men to kick it down!"
Qiu Dayu ultimately couldn't withstand the pressure from Tang Yi. After all, Tang Yi was a county magistrate, and Qiu Dayu was just a commoner; how could he possibly afford to offend him?
The courtyard gate creaked open from the inside, and Qiu Dayu quickly retreated.
Tang Yi glanced at Qiu Dayu with disdain, then gave the order: "Whoosh!"
Two officers were ordered to search, and Tang Yi then discovered Song Jiao standing in a corner of the courtyard, which excited him.
Song Jiao bowed slightly. "My lord, the madam is indeed not here."
Tang Yi walked towards Song Jiao, met her eyes gently, and his anger from before was completely gone. "Jiao Jiao, so you live here."
Song Jiao took a step back. "My lord, it's late. Please make yourself at home."
Tang Yi's expression changed. "Since Madam doesn't want to spend Mid-Autumn Festival with me, why don't you stay with me?"
Faced with Tang Yi's intimidating presence, Zhu Juan dared not speak. Qiu Dayu stepped forward to stop her, saying, "Lord Tang, don't you think this is very inappropriate?"
Song Jiao: "Lord Tang, it is inconvenient for a lone man and woman to be alone together."
At this moment, an official came to report: "Sir, we have not found any trace of the lady."
Tang Yi was a proud man, but he was repeatedly rejected by Song Jiao, which made him feel really frustrated.
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