The eldest girl blushed slightly at his sudden question and mumbled, "I, I can't do it well right now. I'll do it for my parents and sisters when I'm better."
Dabao said "hmm" in a condescending manner and did not expose her. Da Niu learned to make shoes last year. The first pair of shoes she made was for her grandmother. There were patterns embroidered on the uppers, and the workmanship was no worse than their mother's.
"The things have been delivered. You can go back now. Spend more time with your grandmother and great aunt in your free time. We are leaving now." After saying that, Dabao bumped into Dajun, who was grinning a little, and said, "Let's go."
Dajun seemed to have just come to his senses and nodded to the girl, "Thank you, sister Shu'er. We are leaving now. See you when we come back."
Dajun had grown taller in recent years, even slightly taller than Dabao. He had a good appearance, and his features used to resemble Sanniang's. Perhaps it was because he had been with Huo Jincheng, but now not only did his features resemble Huo Jincheng's, but even his gestures and movements had a touch of Huo Jincheng's charm.
Watching the two of them catch up with the team and go out of the city, Da Nv secretly curled her lips. She had something else to say. Her grandfather did not agree with her great aunt to go with the army, but her great aunt secretly persuaded her grandmother for a few days, and finally made her grandmother soften her heart and agreed to let her great aunt lead the palace soldiers to follow quietly.
The eldest girl looked weak but was very determined. She had already prepared men's clothes and planned to blend in with the palace soldiers to go to the border together. She immediately called out to the maid who had followed her, "Let's go, let's go back quickly."
After getting on the carriage, Da Nv urged the driver to go faster, fearing that they would miss the time. When they arrived at Prince Pingnan's Mansion, she got off the carriage and saw a palace soldier walking back and forth anxiously in the flower hall. She sent away the maid who followed her and walked towards the flower hall.
"Miss Sun, why don't you think about it again? I'm really worried about a huge matter and I'm scared." The palace soldier followed her into the garden and whispered.
"Don't be afraid. I won't punish you. If you insist on changing your mind, that's fine. Return the two taels of silver I gave you when your mother was sick. Return it now! If you can't give it to me, you have to pay it back to me."
Where would the palace soldier get two taels of silver at that time? His mother's illness required the best medicine to treat her. He was short of silver and secretly hid in the garden to wipe his tears. He was caught by Da Niu. After asking the reason, Da Niu went with him to his home to see his mother. Da Niu knew some medical skills, but they were only superficial. Afterwards, she took out two taels of silver from her own savings and gave it to the palace soldier.
I swear to God, Da Niu never thought of asking him for anything in return. It was just a coincidence. After she learned that her great aunt was going to lead the palace soldiers to go to war secretly, she did not ask Concubine Li for help, because she knew it was useless to ask. Concubine Li would never dare to take her with her privately. She had no choice but to come up with this trick to find the palace soldiers and replace the real one with the fake one.
"Don't worry. My parents, brother, and two sisters are all at the border. I'll be fine if I go. I've already written a letter explaining clearly that it was I who threatened you, so don't worry."
She had already made up her mind, so the palace soldier said with a bitter face, "Then Miss Sun, you must be very careful. On the battlefield, swords and arrows are blind. Stay away and make sure you return safely, otherwise I will die a thousand times and be blamed for it!"
Concubine Li was a daughter of a general, having trained tirelessly for years. Now, with an invasion, she had the prospect of donning her uniform and joining the battlefield again before her death. How could she let such an opportunity slip away? She pleaded with the princess for days, finally getting down on her knees to plead, and finally convincing Princess Pingnan to agree to her going.
Before leaving, Concubine Li went to bid farewell to the princess in full armor. Duan Qingping was also there, but she did not go with the army because she was pregnant.
"Lian Fu, you look so beautiful in this dress." The princess saw her approaching and hurriedly stood up to greet her, pulling her up and looking her up and down. "I remember you were wearing this dress when the prince first brought you into the palace. It's been almost thirty years."
"Sister, I can no longer wear the armor I had before. This one was made a few years ago. I originally thought I could only wear it at home, but I never thought I would wear it to battle one day. Lian Fu thanks you so much for this."
As she spoke, she knelt on one knee and saluted the princess.
"Hurry up and get up! You must come back safely!"
"Don't worry, sister. I'm a lucky person. I haven't been with you enough in this life. I will definitely return safely!"
"Auntie." Duan Qingping also came forward with her maid. She nodded her chin at the maid's hand and said, "This is the amulet I bought for you from the temple. Please carry it with you. Mother and I are waiting for you and father to return victoriously!"
"Ping'er, you are so thoughtful. It's hard for you to go to the temple to pray for it even though you are so pregnant. Auntie thanks you very much. I am relieved that you are accompanying your mother and taking care of her in the mansion."
After exchanging a few pleasantries, Concubine Li suddenly thought of Da Niu and asked, "Why is Shu'er not here?"
The princess smiled and said, "You left just before you came. She said she was going to see her aunt and would have dinner there before returning."
Concubine Li bid farewell to the princess again and went to the palace to inspect the soldiers. She only took 450 out of the 500 palace soldiers and left 50 to guard the house.
The palace soldiers were of different heights. Ding Shu was tall, so she lowered her head and blended in with the soldiers. Concubine Li didn't notice her.
After counting the number of people and finding no one more or less, she took the horse, waved her hand, and led the palace soldiers to set off.
After dark, Huo Jincheng returned from the Taifu Mansion, brought Zhaocai and Maoqiu, and rode on Qiu Ge, and took off into the air, heading towards Xing'an County.
It would take a month and a half for the 300,000-strong army to reach Xing'an County, even if they marched fast or slow. A month and a half later, the Yue Kingdom set up its battle formation. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers from the Three Kingdoms coalition were stationed outside Jishui County. At night, bonfires were lit in the camp, and the soldiers roasted mutton and drank wine, chatting and laughing while enjoying the dances of the military prostitutes.
The walls of Xing'an County were brightly lit at night. A total of 20,000 soldiers from the two counties had entered Xing'an County and set up camp 50 miles outside the city.
Before the war, the two sides would not fight each other. At night, some soldiers of the Dayan Army would occasionally run to the other side's camp to barter or use silver to buy roasted lamb from the other side. This reminded Jian Ning of the dragon gate formation that Quartermaster Yu had set up with them.
Quartermaster Yu, who participated in the counterattack against Vietnam in his youth, said that every time a ceasefire came, Vietnamese soldiers would come crawling over, waving hand signals and exchanging cans of food and cigarettes with them. Even if they were exchanging supplies one minute, they would start fighting the next minute. You could pick up your weapons and beat them up! You could kill the very person you had just exchanged cigarettes and cans with. Often, they would fall before they could even take a few puffs of the cigarette, open the can, or even take a bite of the can before they fell!
In the past, Jian Ning didn't quite believe it. Chief Steward Yu was always talking nonsense, but now that he saw it with his own eyes, he finally believed it.
Because she believed it, she felt more deeply the beauty of peace. How wonderful it would be if, no matter what time and space, countries could abide by the rules and not burn, kill, and loot?
But how could it be possible? Wherever there are people, there are classes, there are conflicts. Every time she visited the city wall, looked at the distant bonfire, and listened to the melodious music drifting in the night wind, she could almost smell the bloody storm that was about to come!
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