Upon hearing this, Shen Youying's face lit up with joy: "That's wonderful! Father will surely be happy to see my elder brother."
Shen Xiuyi's lips twitched as she recalled how Shen Mingjiang had kidnapped her without any explanation.
The group continued on their way, originally expecting to reach the border of Qin Prefecture by nightfall. However, before they even arrived, they saw billowing dust ahead, and a group of people marching menacingly through the dust.
The distance was too great to distinguish friend from foe, so Xue Shen raised his hand and ordered the troops to stop and prepare for battle.
Only when the couple came close did Xue Shen lower his guard upon seeing their armor, and he said, "They look like my father-in-law's men."
No sooner had he finished speaking than Shen Mingjiang rode up ahead, his horse kicking up clouds of yellow sand as he arrived.
He suddenly pulled on the reins, and the warhorse reared up, neighing loudly.
Xue Shen bowed to him and asked, "Father-in-law, what brings you here?"
Shen Mingjiang leaped down from his warhorse and said in a strong voice, "I was getting impatient and worried about Zhaozhao, so I decided to come and greet her in person."
After saying that, his gaze turned to Shen Xiuyi, who was silent to the side. He snorted with a disdainful look, "Your own father came to find you and you fought with me. When Zhaozhao came to find you, you immediately followed her back. Your sister had to go to the den of tigers and wolves to save you while she was heavily pregnant."
Upon hearing this, Shen Youying disapprovedly called out "Father," saying, "Big Brother hasn't regained his memories yet."
Shen Xiuyi, on the other hand, seemed to have gotten used to Shen Mingjiang's rude attitude. She nodded to Shen Mingjiang and called him "Father".
Shen Mingjiang snorted and tossed him a long spear from his waist: "Here, I've kept it safe for you long enough. If you lose it again, don't expect your father to pass this ancestral spear to you."
Shen Xiuyi took the spear, his fingers tracing the patterns on the shaft. A surge of heroic spirit welled up in his heart, and a deep-seated passion was activated. He suddenly spurred his horse and galloped into the distance, following his body's instincts, and performed a set of spear techniques amidst the endless yellow sand.
Shen Youying leaned against the carriage window watching him practice with his spear, her eyes slightly stinging: "This is the Shen family spear technique. Big brother's spear skills are as good as ever."
Upon hearing this, Xue Shen said, "My elder brother has completely inherited his father-in-law's mantle, surpassing his master."
Only Shen Mingjiang snorted in dissatisfaction: "Having not held a gun for so long, he seems quite rusty, not as good as before."
Shen Xiuyi happened to ride back and heard his words. He made a gesture of requesting battle and said, "Then please instruct me, Father."
Shen Mingjiang, with his fiery temper, naturally wouldn't refuse a fight when he saw his son being so arrogant. He laughed heartily, took out his spear, spurred his horse, and galloped away into the distance: "You haven't come looking for a beating in years, have you?"
Shen Xiuyi rode behind him, but Shen Mingjiang suddenly reined in his horse and turned around, launching a surprise attack.
Shen Xiuyi was startled and instinctively leaned back to avoid the attack before she could react. She then immediately got up and spurred her horse to create some distance.
Seeing that he wanted to run away, Shen Mingjiang immediately pressed his advantage and said with disdain, "I think you not only have amnesia, but your brain seems to have become dull as well."
When Shen Xiuyi saw that he had indeed caught up, she smiled and returned the same trick she had used to him.
Shen Mingjiang had been on guard against him, and after dodging him, the two engaged in a back-and-forth battle.
Shen Youying and Xue Shen watched the battle from a distance. Seeing that the two were evenly matched, Shen Youying instructed Xue Shen in advance: "If Father loses later, don't say anything, so as not to embarrass him."
Xue Shen raised an eyebrow and asked in confusion, "How do you know it was your father-in-law who lost?"
Shen Youying smiled and said, "When my brother was nineteen, he had already beaten Father in a competition."
"But later, every time Father lost a battle, he would go to the military camp and train his soldiers to death. Some people told my brother that Father was getting old and asked my brother to give Father some face."
"After that, whenever Father took the initiative to spar with my brother, my brother would deliberately lose to him. Later, probably because he won so many times, Father got bored and rarely asked my brother to spar anymore."
"But now that my brother has lost his memory, he certainly won't remember to give way to Father."
As the two were talking, they saw that the battle between the father and son had indeed turned around: "Shen Xiuyi is young and strong, and he wields his spear with great power. When Shen Mingjiang took his spear, he was obviously starting to struggle. Shen Xiuyi's reaction was also extremely fast. He could not only predict Shen Mingjiang's attack in advance, but also immediately turn around and counterattack while defending."
After about a hundred moves, Shen Mingjiang suddenly stopped and said irritably, "I'm not fighting anymore."
Shen Xiuyi looked at him, puzzled.
Shen Mingjiang snorted, rubbing his lower back, and said with a sigh, "You can't deny getting old. My back started hurting after only a hundred or so moves."
Upon hearing this, Shen Xiuyi smiled and said, "Then we can spar again when Father's back is no longer hurting."
Upon hearing this, Shen Mingjiang's face darkened. He pulled on the reins, turned his horse around, and muttered as he walked back, "My son is indeed not as considerate as my daughter. He doesn't even know how to give way to his old man and save me some face."
Shen Xiuyi heard everything clearly from behind, and the smile on his lips immediately widened.
The father and son returned one after the other, and neither Shen Youying nor Xue Shen mentioned the outcome of the competition they had just had.
Shen Youying said in a coquettish tone, "Father, it's getting late, shouldn't we set off?"
Upon hearing this, Shen Mingjiang immediately nodded: "Yes, yes, we should hurry up and leave. I've arranged a welcome banquet for you. If we're late, the food will get cold."
The group then set off again towards the border of Qin Prefecture.
*
Qinzhou is Shen Xiuyi's territory, and part of Shen's army is stationed there.
Since Shen Xiuyi's incident, Emperor Cheng'an sent another general to guard the area, but no matter what, he could not win over the people. Although he was nominally a regional governor, he had long been sidelined.
After arriving in Qinzhou, Shen Mingjiang first contacted his former subordinates. Now that Qinzhou was almost entirely under Shen Mingjiang's control, they no longer needed to hide on the border and could go directly to Qinzhou city to rest and recuperate.
The Shen family's former subordinates had already prepared a welcoming banquet, waiting for Shen Mingjiang and Shen Xiuyi's return.
They only knew that Shen Xiuyi had returned alive, but they didn't know that the King of Qin had also come to Qin Prefecture.
As a group of former members of the Shen family shoved and jostled each other while waiting at the entrance of the government office to welcome Shen Mingjiang and his son, they were caught off guard when they saw the Prince of Qin, who should have been in Xizhou, in the procession.
The King of Qin dismounted and carefully helped the pregnant Shen Youying down from the carriage.
The former subordinates of the Shen family looked at each other, dumbfounded.
Only then did they belatedly realize that their general's sister had married the King of Qin.
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