When the shopkeeper heard Xia Yong ask what happened, he was a little surprised.

Since Miss Jun came here, these villagers have never asked about her.

Even when they went to war with the Jin people, these people didn't care at all, and the village chief never asked a single question.

It was as if the chaos outside had nothing to do with them, and Miss Jun’s worries and anger had nothing to do with them.

He had no complaints about this.

It's wartime now. Do you know how much money Miss Jun spent on their food, clothing and other necessities?

Do you know how dangerous the thing Miss Jun is going to do this time?

The fact that Miss Jun brought her own people with her was enough to prove how dangerous this trip was. She was reluctant to let these people take risks, so she prepared enough food and drinks for the place before leaving.

They really treat their children like they are their ancestors.

Fortunately, I finally knew to ask.

"You know that the court wants to negotiate peace, right?" said the shopkeeper.

This incident made Miss Jun angry in public last time, and the news spread all over the village. Miss Jun did not hide it from them, so they knew about it.

Xia Yong nodded.

"Officials who opposed the peace talks were demoted, dismissed, or punished. No one dared to oppose it now," said the shopkeeper. "Sir Huang and the Jin people have reached a preliminary agreement on the peace talks, but Duke Cheng sent a memorial from the north, firmly opposing the peace talks."

Xia Yong nodded again and said nothing.

The shopkeeper looked at him and suddenly thought of a question.

"What do you think of Duke Cheng?" he asked.

Xia Yong said "oh".

"Very good," he said.

Good?

"Don't you think he's amazing?" the shopkeeper asked. "Duke Cheng started coming to the north to drive out the Jin people more than ten years ago. He was the one who recaptured the north. Isn't that amazing?"

Xia Yong's lips moved.

"War is never a one-man show," he said.

This is, are you dissatisfied?

The shopkeeper raised his eyebrows. No wonder they were so indifferent to Duke Cheng, who was revered as a god-like general by everyone.

"Just tell me what happened to Duke Cheng." Xia Yong continued, obviously not wanting to continue this topic, "If you don't tell me, Miss Jun will leave."

So what? Are you still going to chase her? The shopkeeper muttered in his heart.

"Duke Cheng is firmly against peace talks, saying that the gold thieves are treacherous and cannot be trusted, and that the morale of the thieves is low and their spirits are frustrated, while the morale of the generals and people in the north is high." He said, "Now is the moment of success or failure, and I hope Your Majesty will not be misled by the traitors."

"And then?" Xia Yong asked, "Duke Cheng was so powerful, did the emperor listen to him?"

Oh, is this irony? The shopkeeper glared at me. How could such an honest man behave like this?

But he was in no mood to laugh now.

"The emperor didn't listen. The emperor asked Duke Cheng to withdraw his troops from the three counties." He said, looking at Xia Yong, "Duke Cheng refused."

Xia Yong looked at him.

"Then, the emperor was furious and ordered the northern troops to withdraw." said the shopkeeper.

The emperor ordered the troops to withdraw. The soldiers in the north were said to belong to Duke Cheng, but they were also the emperor's. Not all generals dared to refuse the emperor like Duke Cheng did.

As you can imagine, in the North now...

It is conceivable that the North is in chaos now.

If they retreat, their momentum will be like a flood. If they retreat a thousand miles, the Jin people will surely be unstoppable and like a hungry tiger descending from the mountain.

Zhu Zan held the letter in his hand, his hand shaking slightly.

"You dig your own grave, you dig your own grave." He suddenly smiled sadly, tore the letter in his hand into pieces and threw it away.

The letters fluttered like snowflakes in the bleak winter day.

"Northward," he said.

The men behind him looked at each other.

"Brother." One of them stepped forward to stop him, "But the lady is in Daming Prefecture."

Zhu Zan paused slightly.

"Brother." Another man also stepped forward, "Now that we have the emperor's order, many people will have ulterior motives. The Earl of Qinghe is not on good terms with the Duke, and he is the most flattering of his superiors. He will definitely capture the lady. The lady will be in danger if she goes to Daming Mansion. If we don't go..."

Zhu Zan looked towards the direction of Daming Prefecture, and then towards the farther north.

"My mother must have known the news." He clenched his fist and squeezed out these words from between his teeth. "My mother is the most powerful. She must have a way to protect herself."

The men around me had complicated expressions.

"Brother." They shouted in unison, their voices anxious.

"If the troops in the north withdraw, the Jin people will definitely break through the defense line and move south. If that happens, the people who don't have time to escape will be in trouble." Zhu Zan said in a deep voice, "We must hurry over to help father. This is not a matter of my father's situation, but a matter of life and death for thousands of people."

He raised his hand to stop the men from talking.

"We will rush forward day and night, and anyone who dares to stop us will be punished, regardless of whether they are soldiers or bandits."

He took out the axe from his waist and swung it downward.

"Walk."

The other men responded in unison, took out their axes, mounted their horses, and galloped across the wilderness.

…

There was a creaking sound and there was a sound of branches breaking. Xia Yong, who was climbing the mountain with his head down, looked up and saw Zhao Hanqing sitting on the tree in front of him.

She was holding something in her arms, looking into the distance, her feet swinging unconsciously.

"Niuniu." Xia Yong shouted.

When Zhao Hanqing saw him, he suddenly jumped up and quickly rushed into the forest and disappeared.

Xia Yong was stunned, then sighed.

This kid has become like this again.

He walked quickly along the mountain path and soon came to Xiao Zhi's side. Xiao Zhi was sitting in the sunlight spinning yarn as she did every day.

Although Miss Jun sent enough clothes and fabrics, Xiao Zhi still kept working every day.

Maybe she just didn't want to be alone.

"She left?" Xiao Wei asked.

Xia Yong nodded, seeming to want to say something but stopping himself.

"Just say whatever you want to say." Xiao Wei said without looking up.

"Princess." Xia Yong suddenly shouted.

The title of princess made Xiao stop spinning and she smiled.

"What princess? The country has been lost for decades," she said.

Xia Yong bowed.

"Then the princess is also a princess," he said.

Xiao Wei looked at him.

"What do you want to do?" she asked.

Xia Yong hesitated for a moment, then mustered up the courage to raise his head.

"Please forgive me, Princess. Xia Yong wants to go to Hejian with Miss Jun." he said.

"Old Xia, what are you talking about!" Yang Jing's voice shouted from behind, and he rushed over and punched him hard, "Have you forgotten what your elder brother told you?"

Xia Yong staggered back a few steps, but his expression became more determined.

"I haven't forgotten. Big brother asked us to take good care of Big sister Niuniu and everyone else." He said in a hoarse voice, "But I have always regretted it in my heart. I regret not following Big brother to seek justice from the government. I regret letting Big brother do everything alone. Big brother must be very tired. He is also a human being. When he can't do it, he must be very sad. But I was not by his side. I couldn't help him at all."

As he spoke, he raised his hand and beat his chest.

"I regret it. I have regretted it every day for the past ten years. I thought that if my brother came back and wanted to go out again, I would definitely follow him, just like when we killed the enemy. I would follow him, I would be with him, whether he lived or died."

Yang Jing's eyes turned red, and he clenched his hands, wanting to say something but nothing came out.

"I didn't follow my elder brother when he left." Xia Yong pointed down the mountain. "Now the disciples my elder brother has taught have to do what my elder brother did, killing the enemy and serving the country. I don't want to wait here for her to come back. I want to go with her. If she can come back, we'll come back together. If she can't come back, we won't come back together. I don't want to wait any longer."

As he said this, he knelt down and kowtowed to Xiao Wei.

"Please forgive Xia Yong for not being able to keep his promise, Princess."

Xiao Wei looked at him.

"He said he would lead you to achieve great things, he said you would be rich and glorious if you followed him through thick and thin, he said you would be admired by the people." She said, "He said everything. Even if there was nothing in the end, you never forced him to do anything. You followed him through thick and thin, not because of what he said. But he abandoned you for these things. Xia Yong, you must remember that it's not you who are sorry for him, it's him who doesn't want you. He is sorry for you."

"Sister-in-law, please stop talking." Yang Jing said anxiously, and raised his hand to punch Xia Yong again, "What nonsense are you talking about?"

Xia Yong knelt on the ground and kowtowed without saying a word.

Xiao Wei stood up.

"You must remember, you are going to Hejian Prefecture now not for him, but for Miss Jun, and even more for the poor people in this chaotic world." She said.

Xia Yong and Yang Jing were stunned for a moment, looking at her in a daze.

What did she say?

Xiao Wei smiled again.

"Of course, we don't do this for the sake of achieving great things and gaining the respect of the people. It's just that in troubled times, we have to suffer the consequences."

Having said that, he took off the hairpin on his head.

This is more like a talisman than a hairpin.

"Xia Ganyong, please send the troops." She said, handing over the order.

Send troops.

Xia Yong and Yang Jinghun were trembling all over, and Xia Yong was trembling even more as he took the token.

"I obey your order." He shouted in a trembling voice.