Knowing that he had been discovered by the girl, Ye Huaisu patted his niece on the back, holding back his tears. Fearing that his son and daughter would be sad too, he quickly said, "Okay, don't delay. He will be back in a few months anyway."
Ye Wanshu naturally knew that her aunt was trying to comfort her cousins, so she responded softly, said goodbye to Caiju and Qiuli, and left the yard with Qin Chulin and Mu Qingqing.
Ye Huaisu had someone prepare the carriage early. The coachman, Tian Fu, was the old guard of the Ye family and was quite skilled. He felt at ease knowing that he was guarding his niece on her journey.
Ye Wanshu was anxious to take Mu Qingqing to reunite with Xiao Zhang. There was no time to delay any longer. After waving goodbye to the mother and son, she boarded the carriage directly.
As the carriage set off, Ye Huaisu's tears, which he had been holding back, finally burst out.
"Wanwan, be sure to take care of yourself and remember to write to your aunt."
Ye Huaisu choked up and shouted in the direction of the carriage. He covered his face with a handkerchief and tried his best to calm himself.
Seeing their mother like this, Gu Qingmian and Gu Tingji felt a little uncomfortable.
Although they felt a little disappointed when their cousin left Lin'an, they would rather see their cousin pursue the life she wanted than have her cousin be treated poorly by her two brothers.
"Mother, my cousin will come back, why do you have to do this?"
After the two siblings persuaded him, Ye Huaisu forced himself to remain calm and instructed the mother, "Take the third young lady and Aji back to the courtyard and let them rest early. Don't let their eldest brother notice anything."
Just as he finished speaking, Xiaodie suddenly rushed out anxiously and handed a page of letter to Ye Huaisu.
"Madam, the eldest son is missing," Xiaodie reported anxiously.
Ye Huaisu took the letter and glanced at it. There was only a simple line of words written on it.
"Father, Mother, my son is gone. Please don't worry."
Ye Huaisu's face turned stern, but after a closer look at the words, it didn't seem like there was any resentment or dissatisfaction, but rather it seemed like a farewell. He wouldn't be going to embarrass his niece.
Anyway, she couldn't take care of the affairs of her two step-sons now. She closed her eyes, silently waved her hand to send Xiaodie away, and led the group back to the mansion.
......
The carriage of the Duke's Mansion sped towards the east of the city. Inside the swaying carriage, Mu Qingqing felt a little sad as she watched Ye Wanshu, who was not in high spirits, and remained silent all the way.
When they reached the city gate and heard some noise outside, Mu Qingqing broke the silence and said, "It sounds like my mother's voice."
Tian Fu stopped the carriage, Chunhong lifted the curtain, and saw a heroic figure standing on horseback at the city gate.
Ye Wanshu looked closely and found that it was indeed Xiao Zhang.
But her attire today was completely different from that day at home. She was wearing armor and looked so majestic that there was no trace of a woman in the inner chambers at all.
"Mother."
Mu Qingqing was the first to rush off the carriage and hugged little Zhang tightly as she jumped off the horse.
Seeing this, Ye Wanshu asked Chunhong, Xingtao and Qin Chulin to wait in the car, and she followed.
Looking at the mother and daughter silently, Ye Wanshu just bowed respectfully.
"Thank you, Princess, for bringing Qingqing out of Lin'an City." Little Zhang said sincerely.
Ye Wanshu looked at her, then glanced at the group of guards around her: "Auntie, what's going on?"
"I'll have to trouble you, Princess, to take Qingqing with you to Yuezhou." Little Zhang said in a deep voice, "I can't leave for the time being."
The Marquis' Mansion is full of spies today, and she knows that if she goes there, there will definitely be trouble.
Mu Qingqing didn't understand what was going on and anxiously poked her head out: "Mother, why is this happening?"
Little Zhang led the two to the edge of the city wall and said truthfully, "I'm afraid the Mu family army will inevitably be sent to the north this time. Since Qingqing's father's death, the Mu family army has long been demoralized. Even if they were to be summoned together, they would be nothing more than a pile of loose sand."
Ye Wanshu immediately understood what she meant: "So, Auntie is going to personally lead the Mu family army north?"
Little Zhang nodded: "Only in this way can we rally the troops' morale."
Mu Qingqing knew that there had been many disagreements among her father's former subordinates in recent years, but she couldn't feel at ease when her mother had to go to the front line.
"Mother, Duke Rong and Marquis Wuping are guarding the northern defense, why do you need to follow them into the charge?" she urged urgently.
There were many things that Xiao Zhang was reluctant to say in front of Ye Wanshu, but she knew that if she and her daughter left Lin'an, they would not be tolerated by the Gu family. They would find ways to frame the Mu family army, and even the Zhang family and the Yongning Palace.
"My dear, I come from a family of generals. The dozens of cities defending the north are territories that your father and thousands of soldiers have guarded with their lives. I cannot bear to see the north lost, and I cannot bear to see the Mu family army and your uncles suffer any loss."
Ye Wanshu knew that the former members of the Mu family army revered the spirit of the old marquis. Little Zhang might be able to win over the former members of the Mu family army, but the risks involved were too great.
From a mother's perspective, this doesn't seem like a decision she could make suddenly.
Ye Wanshu suddenly thought of something and asked hurriedly, "Aunt, is it because of the Gu family that you want to go to the Northern Territory in person?"
Little Zhang remained silent and did not answer. Suddenly, the earth-shaking sound of iron hooves was heard around them. Soon, a black mass of iron armor surrounded them.
"Madam Dingyuan, the Queen Mother didn't issue an order allowing you to leave the city. Why did you flee with your family at night?"
Hearing the shouting, Ye Wanshu looked over and recognized at a glance that the leading general was Liu Zhang, the deputy general beside her uncle and the commander of the Lin'an City Patrol Battalion.
"Commander Liu, what nonsense are you talking about? Madam Hou and Qingqing haven't committed any crime, so why can't they leave Lin'an?"
Ye Wanshu said unhappily, "You only obey the Empress Dowager's decree, but ignore His Majesty's?"
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
