Xiao Yi's marriage has been decided. Mrs. Su can no longer control Xiao Yunyan. As for Xiao Yunya, Mrs. Su is almost worried about her hair turning white.

After the Chen family left, Su took Xiao Yunrou to the yard to talk alone.

"Even Yi'er is engaged today, and will be married next year at the latest, but Ya'er still has no whereabouts. Although there are people who are interested in Ya'er, they are not the kind of people she can marry. If it weren't for that kid from the Zheng family causing such a commotion, Ya'er wouldn't have ended up in this situation."

Nowadays, women who have broken off an engagement rarely have a good marriage. Although the fault is no longer with Xiao Yunya, those rumors still make good families give up.

"After all, Ya'er can still stay for a few more years. Father is now a minister, and my eldest brother is a third-rank minister. I am married into a marquisate. Our Su family is not a nouveau riche without a foundation. Ya'er has us. Mother, don't be too anxious. If you make a mistake, Ya'er's second half of life will be ruined."

Su also knew this, so she did not rush to arrange a marriage for Xiao Yunya.

"But it's still hard to say whether it's a good marriage. I can't marry Ya'er to another place. I don't know whether she will live well then."

Xiao Yunrou looked at Su, and some wrinkles appeared on her well-maintained face. She sighed slightly.

"If Ya'er marries a lower-class man, some people will gossip that Ya'er can't find a good family and has to marry a lower-class man after breaking off the engagement. But the wealthy families are afraid to accept such a daughter-in-law because of the rumors. I'm afraid it will take another two years. But in two years, Ya'er will be older, and people of similar age have already married..."

Xiao Yunrou did not interrupt Su's chattering. She knew that Su would eventually vent her anger. After she finished, Xiao Yunrou said:

"You have chosen civil officials. Who knows, maybe she wants to marry a military officer? Civil officials have many rules, but military officers don't have so many twists and turns. Has mother asked Ya'er? Although Ya'er doesn't care about anything, she has her own ideas. Why don't you ask her what kind of person she wants to marry, and then we can choose the right person. There will always be a suitable one."

Su's eyes brightened up after hearing what Xiao Yunrou said, but when she thought about those military generals, she became hesitant.

"I'm not worried about your sister taking care of the chores, but she likes those romantic things. How can a martial artist get along with her? Even if they get together, they talk at cross purposes on weekdays. How can they live in harmony?"

Xiao Yunrou chuckled, "Could it be that Lingfeng is not a martial artist? I often drink tea and play the piano with him, so is it possible that Ya'er is not good at it?"

Su tapped Xiao Yunrou's head and said helplessly, "He is the son of a marquisate after all. Although he has a cold temper, he has learned both civil and martial arts since he was young. Even if his literary talent is not as good as that of the top two candidates, he is still not bad in the capital. You can't think that everyone who practices martial arts can be good at both civil and martial arts, right?"

Although Su teased Xiao Yunrou, she also took his words to heart. As soon as Xiao Yunrou left, Su hurriedly ordered someone to compile a list of unmarried men from the most famous military families in the capital, and studied them one by one with Xiao Hongyu.

Xiao Yunrou didn't know that her mother was more active than before. She came out of the Xiao Mansion, went around to her own tea shop and got a cup of the best Dahongpao. When she was about to go back home, she saw the woman she met at the palace banquet. The person standing in front of the woman made her raise an eyebrow.

The woman was wearing a lake green dress and a very elegant jade hairpin on her head. She looked fresh and refined, just like when they first met. Xiao Yunrou couldn't hear what they said because she was in the carriage, but she could tell that the two of them were having a good conversation.

After watching for a while, Xiao Yunrou lowered the curtain and ignored it. However, before her carriage moved, the curtain was opened.

"Why did you leave when you saw Big Brother?"

Xiao Yunyan smiled as if he was in the spring breeze and sat directly in the carriage.

"My carriage is broken. Now that I've met you, I won't wait for them to repair it. Rou'er, please take me to Prince An's mansion."

Xiao Yunrou glanced at the place where they had just stood, and the woman was no longer there. Then, she listened to Xiao Yunyan's matter-of-fact words and twitched her lips.

"Sister, I'm not afraid of disturbing you from meeting your beloved. Father and mother are anxious to arrange your marriage. If you have a beloved, why not tell mother about it? Maybe next year I'll even have a little nephew."

Xiao Yunyan just wondered if his mother was the one who kept talking about his marriage, and even his married sister was reminding him.

"What are you talking about? I just bumped into her carriage, and we exchanged a few words because we met once before."

Xiao Yunyan felt helpless when he saw Xiao Yunrou's look of disbelief.

"Although Miss Xie is a beauty, she is not your elder brother's beauty. Please don't tell mother about it. Don't ruin her reputation and your elder brother's."

Xiao Yunrou raised her eyebrows. In her previous life, this young lady from the Xie family was her sister-in-law. She was gentle, virtuous, generous and decent. Most importantly, she said that she fell in love with Xiao Yunyan at first sight.

Xiao Yunrou knew that Xiao Yunyan would never marry a woman he didn't like, but looking at Xiao Yunyan's expression, there was really no sign of love at first sight. Could it be that the occasion when they first met was better?

Xiao Yunrou couldn't figure it out, so she stopped thinking about it. After all, too much had changed. Xie Qi's appearance had also been brought forward. She didn't know if she would be her sister-in-law in the future. Even if she was, it didn't matter. It proved that the two of them were destined to be together and could not be separated.

Half a month later, the southern army launched a surprise attack, and Yanzhou was in danger. Zhenyuan Hou and Pei Lingfeng were awakened by the eunuchs in the palace at the second watch, and hurried into the palace.

This time the southern army is pressing in. The enemy has 300,000 soldiers and horses, while Yanzhou has only 50,000. At this time, they can only close their doors and wait for reinforcements.

As the enemy's force grew, the emperor urgently summoned his ministers to discuss the matter. In the end, he decided that Prince An would lead an army of 200,000 to support Yanzhou.

Prince An brought Xiao Yunyan with him again this time. Xiao Yunrou didn't know until Pei Lingfeng came back from the palace the next day. She was stunned for a while and said helplessly:

"Although my elder brother was a strategist under Prince An, he is now the Minister of Justice. Prince An is really good at selecting people..."

Pei Lingfeng wiped his face with a handkerchief, took the hot tea from Xiao Yunrou, and sat down on the chair.

"The Minister of Justice was unwilling at first. Your elder brother is very capable, and the Ministry of Justice has a lot of cases waiting to be dealt with. But the prince said that he was used to your elder brother, and if your elder brother was not around, he would not be able to fight well, so he asked the Minister of Justice to find someone to replace your elder brother temporarily. He promised to return your elder brother to Zhao intact after defeating the southern border. Although the Ministry of Justice has many cases, the emperor favors Prince An more, and he would not object to asking for a personal replacement, so your elder brother was taken away by Prince An."

Pei Lingfeng couldn't help shaking his head when he thought of how the Minister of Justice's beard flew up in anger when he heard this. Xiao Yunrou's mouth twitched when she heard this. In Daliang, Prince An was the only one who dared to do this.

"When my eldest brother returned to Beijing, the emperor arranged for him to work in the Ministry of Justice. My father and mother were overjoyed. Today, he is going to the battlefield again. Although he does not need to charge into the battle line, he is still worried."

Xiao Yunrou knew without thinking that Su must be wiping her tears while packing Xiao Yunyan's luggage. She thought for a moment and asked:

"Why did the Southern Border send out so many troops this time? Although there were conflicts in previous years, the number never exceeded 100,000, and the Yanzhou Army could have fought them off on its own. I always felt a little uneasy when my eldest brother went there this time, fearing that something might happen to him."

Pei Lingfeng saw Xiao Yunrou frowning, so he walked over and gently smoothed her brows, saying soothingly:

"The King of the South has passed away, and the Crown Prince has taken over. Naturally, he must rely on a victory to pave the way for his next rule. Although it is dangerous, Big Brother doesn't have to charge into battle, so staying in the tent will not be dangerous."

Xiao Yunrou nodded and murmured absentmindedly: "It seems that there is another Zhong Shijie in Yanzhou? I wonder if he will attack my elder brother and the others."

Xiao Yunrou's voice was barely audible, but Pei Ling could not help but learn that Empress Wu had excellent hearing. His eyes narrowed suddenly, and he remembered that Zhong Shijie was also in Yanzhou.

Xiao Yunrou didn't know what Zhong Shijie had done, but he did. Earlier, Zhong Shijie secretly supported the rebellion in Southern Xinjiang, which was already collusion with the enemy. Southern Xinjiang and Southern Border were originally in the same place, not to mention that Southern Border was stronger. Zhong Shijie had been in Yanzhou for so long that it was hard to guarantee that he hadn't developed any thoughts. Maybe he had colluded with the enemy again? Then this time, Prince An and Xiao Yunyan were in danger.

Pei Lingfeng would not tell Xiao Yunrou these things, so as not to add to her worries. While the army was still there, Pei Lingfeng quickly rushed to Prince An's mansion and told him his speculations one by one, and Prince An's face became much uglier.

"If your speculation is true, I'm afraid this expedition will not go smoothly. The Zhong family's foundation in the capital has been almost eradicated. As the commander of the Imperial Guard, you must protect the palace well. Try to kick out all of Zhong Shijie's former subordinates."

After Pei Lingfeng took over the Imperial Guard, he had already eliminated many of the Zhong family's diehards, so it wouldn't be too difficult to eliminate more now.

"Please rest assured about the affairs of the capital, but you and my brother should be careful about everything."

After a while of discussion, Pei Lingfeng left. The next day, the army went out to fight. Xiao Yunrou followed Pei Lingfeng to the teahouse at the city gate and watched Xiao Yunyan leave Beijing. On the way back home, Xiao Yunrou lifted the curtain of the car with some feeling, and when she looked back, she saw only the dark army.

"What's wrong?" Pei Lingfeng looked outside the car and didn't find anything.

Xiao Yunrou frowned and lowered the car curtain.

"I seemed to see my second sister, but when I looked carefully, there was nothing there. I remember she didn't come today, maybe I was mistaken."

The army went out to fight, and the capital was depressed for a long time. It was not until the news came that Prince An had won a victory that the capital became active again. As summer approached, flower-viewing banquets were held one after another, and the cloth shops and jewelry stores on East Street made a lot of money.

Since Xiao Yunrou asked Ye to pay more than two thousand taels of silver last time, she had no contact with him except for the time when she came to pay respects to Shen. Ye was upset, but Xiao Yunrou was happy to have some free time.

This time, the Ningguo Mansion held a flower viewing banquet, and Shen rarely went out, just to see her daughter and in-laws. Xiao Yunrou and Ye naturally accompanied Shen, and the two of them talked and joked along the way, making Shen very happy. It was not hard to see that these three women were not in harmony.

The Ningguo Mansion is the empress dowager's maiden home and the current emperor's direct maternal grandparents' home. It was highly valued during the previous emperor's time, and now it has been upgraded to a higher level. For this reason, the banquets at the Ningguo Mansion are very lively. Carriages keep stopping in front of the door. The maids at the door lead the guests to the garden, where a banquet has already been set up, and exquisite snacks and seasonal fruits are placed on the table. The garden is full of various exotic flowers and plants. Although Xiao Yunrou has been here many times, she still enjoys watching them.

Pei Wanyue came over after a while, and after greeting the three of them, she was pulled aside by Shen to talk about the past. Ye couldn't stand standing with Xiao Yunrou, not only did she have nothing to say to Xiao Yunrou, but she was also inevitably criticized by others, so she greeted them and went to find the sisters she knew from the past. Xiao Yunrou didn't mind, and she also went to her circle of friends.

"Rou'er, let me introduce you to Miss Xie Qi. Her brother is a Jinshi who passed the imperial examination this year. She and I are from the same hometown, so you must take care of her in the future."

Mrs. Sun smiled and pulled Xie Qi over to introduce her. Xiao Yunrou looked at her and found that she looked the same as she remembered, just a little younger.

"Miss Xie." Xiao Yunrou greeted politely. Seeing that Xie Qi was still a little reserved, she couldn't help but smile and said:

"Ms. Xie is Pingxin's friend and our friend, so there's no need to be so reserved."

All of them were straightforward people who really wanted to be friends. Since it was introduced by Madam Sun, no one would give face to Xie Qi. Instead, they talked about things in Beijing with Xie Qi, just as a casual chat.

"How long have you been in the capital, Miss Xie? Have you been betrothed to anyone?"

Because Xiao Yunrou was having a lot of fun, naturally some people came to join in the fun. Seeing Xie Qi, who looked unfamiliar, they asked curiously.

"It's been more than two months, and I haven't made any plans for marriage yet, but my mother said I'm still young and there's no need to rush."

Xie Qi is fourteen this year, and she is indeed not in a hurry. Everyone started talking to her about something else, and Xiao Yunrou turned her head inadvertently, and saw Madam Xue sitting in a pavilion nearby, talking absentmindedly with the noble ladies surrounding her.

"By the way, why don't you see Xue Lin?"

Xiao Yunrou looked around but didn't see Xue Lin. In the past, when Xiao Yunyan was not around, Xue Lin would just hang out with her and Xiao Yunya. But since she got married, only Xiao Yunya was left.

"I haven't seen you at any of the banquets these days. I heard from Madam Xue that you are ill and we don't know when you will get better."

"It can't be contagious, right?" someone whispered.

"No way? If it was contagious, why did Madam Xue and Madam Xue go out to attend the banquet? Maybe it's just a cold. Madam Xue loves Xue Lin so much, she wouldn't let her go out and catch a cold again."

When everyone thought this was the truth, they all agreed and let it go.

"It's a season change now, and many people are getting sick. Yesterday, Jin'er even coughed for a while."

"There is no need to use medicine for children's cough. In fact, it is better to use some food therapy."

Xiao Yunrou looked at Xie Qi in surprise. "You also know medical skills?"

Xie Qi shook his head and sighed, "I don't know how to do this. It's just that the elders in my family are not in good health, so I have some experience in food therapy."

The author has something to say: I am almost writing Prince An and Xiao Yunyan as a couple...