At the An residence, Qingyin also noticed that his wife had become quite busy lately. For example, his wife, who usually wanted to be by his side all the time, would disappear from the An residence early in the morning and only return late at night.
Qingyin circled the courtyard several times but couldn't find her. However, seeing the excited and happy look on her face at night, Qingyin felt relieved and didn't ask about it.
An Jinghe and his servant A Yue, who had been away for several days, couldn't help but huddle together. An Jinghe said to A Yue with self-doubt, "A Yue, why didn't A Miao ask about anything while I was gone for so many days? People say that if a person doesn't care about their partner, they don't care about her. What do you think of my husband?"
Although A-Yue had the same thought in her heart, looking at her mistress who seemed a little sad, she explained without hesitation, "Miss, maybe the young master loves you too much, which is why he didn't ask you. If the young master didn't like you, how could he possibly marry you?"
"But Miss, are you keeping your training of soldiers late at night a secret from your husband and not telling him?"
Upon hearing this, An Jinghe hesitated for a long time before looking at A Yue, who was concerned about her, and finally spoke her true feelings: "Before, when those people said I was practicing martial arts, they looked down on me. I'm worried that A Miao will also hate me because of this."
"But doesn't your husband know you've practiced martial arts?" A-Yue asked, puzzled.
"But Ah Miao doesn't know that I've started practicing martial arts again, and even training soldiers? These..."
An Jinghe's tone was not finished, but A Yue understood her master's meaning. After all, some men couldn't accept practicing martial arts, let alone adding military training on top of that.
But Ah Yue would never support her mistress giving up this path just for her son-in-law. Thinking this, both mistress and servant fell into self-worry and depression.
At the entrance of the courtyard, Qingyin, who was blocked by a stone pillar, quietly gestured to Adou next to her not to make a sound. He said that he had been unable to find his wife recently. It turned out that she was just developing her own career.
Qingyin walked out with a smile, "Jinghe."
"Ah Miao!" An Jinghe turned his head in surprise and looked over.
As expected, Qin Miao, dressed in white robes, had been listening for quite some time.
Thinking about the conversation just now, and how her hidden secrets had been exposed to her husband, An Jinghe couldn't help but lower her head in disappointment.
"Jinghe," Qingyin gently cupped her head and said softly.
"If my wife becomes a general who fights her way through the battlefield, as her husband, I will only be proud of her, not ashamed. Ashamed and inferior are the thoughts of a cowardly, incompetent, and arrogant person."
"Also, Jinghe, I like you. I like a woman who knows martial arts and is heroic and valiant, a smart and confident woman, a thoughtful woman who cares about my feelings. Jinghe, I really like you, or rather, I love you."
The gentle whispers of love, bursting forth in a society that is often shrouded in secrecy and taboo, reveal Qin Miao's words to be undeniably bold and sincere.
Ah Yue and Ah Dou, having listened for who knows how long, blushed and quietly slipped out, leaving the courtyard to the sweet young couple.
An Jinghe's eyes shone brighter than ever before, his cheeks flushed as he glanced at Qingyin, his gaze slightly unfocused: "A Miao, there are other people here, why did you just say it out loud?"
The young man chuckled, "Look back, is anyone else there?"
An Jinghe's eyes widened as he turned to look, and sure enough, A Yue and A Dou had disappeared without a trace.
An Jinghe blushed, but dared not look directly into the young man's sincere eyes.
What to do? Every day she feels that her love for A Miao has reached a certain limit, but the next day, she feels that her love has increased by another layer.
After a while, A-Yue and A-Dou, who were guarding the door, caught up with their respective masters.
A-Yue glanced at the young lady teasingly, successfully earning An Jinghe an angry and embarrassed look.
The kidnapping case and the impact of the princes' struggle for the throne gradually faded away. As the New Year approached, the atmosphere in the capital gradually became festive. The officials and nobles who had been trembling with fear in the capital began to have the courage to go out and socialize. The court and its officials began to prepare for the New Year.
Just as the New Year was approaching, war broke out on the frontier. As if they knew what was happening in the capital, the barbarians in the southern borderlands ambitiously invaded the Qing Dynasty's frontier and had already captured several small towns.
It was only because the local officials were afraid of trouble, and because the border region was far from the capital, that the matter has now reached the ears of the emperor in the capital.
Therefore, the old emperor sitting in the court changed his cheerful mood of the past few days and stared at his ministers below with a stern face.
An eerie silence fell over the imperial court.
"Alright, who can tell me what you think about this matter? How should we handle it, my esteemed subjects?"
A military officer stepped forward and said, "I believe we should fight. As a great nation, the Qing Dynasty must suppress these barbarians."
Upon hearing this, another civil official in red robes frowned slightly and said, "Your Majesty, the national treasury just recently provided relief grain to the people in the southern wilderness. Why is there still money to be used for war?"
"Are we just going to let those barbarians beat us?" the military officer said, looking at him with displeasure.
As the two talked, quite a few people gradually joined in.
The emperor tapped his little finger rhythmically, looking down at the arguing ministers below with a dark gaze, and cleared his throat.
The area below immediately fell silent.
The ministers were all waiting for their sovereign to speak.
"Chen'er, who do you think should be sent?"
The emperor's words revealed a lot; he was clearly on the side of war, and the officials who had just been opposing him all quieted down.
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