After resting overnight at Xiping Pass, the Jin army, led by Wei Jingzhuo, set off at noon the next day to attack the Southern Chu army to the south.
To Wei Jingzhuo's surprise, the Southern Chu army did not engage in battle, but continued to retreat southward.
The Jin army pursued, and the Southern Chu army retreated, but they did not engage in battle for three consecutive days.
Eager to see Bai Zhiyi, the Duke and Duchess of Bai approached Su Wan and said, "Madam, we old folks are willing to follow the army for as long as we can. But could you please let us see our daughter sooner?"
Su Wan could understand the two elderly people's eagerness to see their daughter, and comforted them, "I will talk to A Jin."
She found Wei Jingzhuo and brought up the matter.
Wei Jingzhuo said, "Bai Zhiyi is operating in the Southern Chu army under the identity of Qiu Jie. Since she wants to maintain her identity as a goddess, she may not agree to meet her parents. If you send her over, she may not see them."
Su Wan was also having a headache. She couldn't just send two people to escort the Duke and Duchess Bai directly there, could she? They were enemy troops, and she would feel guilty if something happened to them.
After thinking for a moment, she decided to write a letter and send it to the Southern Chu army, asking the goddess Qiu Jie to come out of the battle and meet her.
Her plan was to first hide the Duke and Duchess Bai in front of the battle lines, and then suddenly summon them out when Bai Zhiyi emerged. In this way, even if Bai Zhiyi wanted to avoid them, she wouldn't have time to hide.
The messenger delivered the letter and returned to report: "I was unable to meet Chu Yi and the goddess; only a general of the Southern Chu army received the letter."
Two more days passed, and there was still no reply.
Wei Jingzhuo was puzzled and said to Su Wan, "Given Chu Yi's personality, he would never keep retreating like this. He would at least stop and fight me once. The Southern Chu army's continuous retreat seems a bit strange."
Su Wan was also puzzled as to why the other party didn't even reply to her letters.
Lin Qingfeng volunteered, "Your Highness, Mother, there's no need to worry. I'll go to the Southern Chu army camp under cover of night to investigate."
Su Wan said, "If Guard Lin is going there, he should be careful. The area is full of enemy troops."
That night, Lin Qingfeng dressed in black and set off for the Southern Chu army camp.
Su Wan couldn't sleep, so she sat in the tent talking to Wei Jingzhuo.
"After my sworn sister and I went to the capital, what were your arrangements for my younger brother and the others?"
Wei Jingzhuo said, "After receiving my second brother's order, I arranged for the army to set off. It is not suitable for Yuze and the others to stay in Xirong indefinitely, so I sent an army to escort them to their residence in Suiyang County. That army has five hundred men, and I left them there to guard the residence."
Su Wan was very satisfied: "Very good. Uncle Zhao and Granny Cui are there, as well as Lu Lin and Xiao Zhao. The county magistrate is also one of our people, so it should be very safe."
She had originally planned to send Su Yuze back as well. The old house in Youzhou had been sold when her father passed away, and they hadn't been able to buy any new property in such a hurry. Although the house in Suiyang County had once belonged to Su Heng and his wife, she and Su Yuze had lived there for three years, so it was still their familiar home.
With Wei Jingzhuo handling this matter for her, she no longer needed to worry about it.
Since she had nothing else to do, she picked up a pen and quickly wrote a letter to Su Yuze, instructing him to stay home. She planned to go to Suiyang County to find him after she helped Wei Jingzhuo defeat the Southern Chu.
She hadn't practiced calligraphy much since she transmigrated, and it took her a lot of effort to finish writing it.
After sending the messenger with the letter, she asked Wei Jingzhuo, "If we fight against the Southern Chu army, what are A-Jin's chances of winning?"
Wei Jingzhuo said, "Battles between two armies can change in an instant. I cannot know the outcome beforehand."
“If…if,” Su Wan twisted her fingers together, “if we catch Chu Yi, Ah Jin, please don’t hurt him. This is my request.”
She did have feelings for Chu Yi, but these feelings weren't romantic; rather, they stemmed from gratitude for the many times Chu Yi had helped her. Especially since Chu Yi had gone against Bai Zhiyi's wishes to release her and Su Yuze, and hadn't harmed Meng Ruliu.
Wei Jingzhuo smiled and reached out to touch her cheek: "Awan, I know, Yuze told me all about those things."
He stood up, took a few steps, and said, "I have no ill intentions towards him personally; we are simply serving different masters. He is the next emperor of Southern Chu, and it is understandable that he wants to expand Southern Chu's territory. I am a prince of Great Jin, and it is impossible for me to hand over my territory."
“Just like now,” Su Wan continued, “you are marching into Southern Chu, simply to drive them out of the territory of Great Jin.”
Wei Jingzhuo smiled and said, "A-Wan understands my heart. There are things that people should do and must do, and things that they should not do and need not do. If Southern Chu can live in peace with Great Jin, he and I may well become friends."
Su Wan exclaimed in surprise, "Really? That would be the best!"
She took Wei Jingzhuo's arm and said, "When we were at Xiping Pass, I treated many wounded soldiers. At that time, I thought, how wonderful it would be if there were no war in this world. Diseases and natural disasters would have caused many people to lose their lives, but war would only cause more people to die."
Wei Jingzhuo reached out and gently lifted her chin, looking into her clear, bright eyes.
“Ah Wan, when I was fighting against the Western Rong, I also thought that our Great Jin and these foreign states were irreconcilable. But after you cured the Western Rong king, I found that we can really have normal relations with the Western Rong.”
Su Wan revealed a hint of smugness and laughed, "Isn't there a saying that goes, 'An eye for an eye only makes the whole world go round'?"
Wei Jingzhuo laughed and gently flicked her nose with his finger: "If only it were that simple. The Western Rong people used to lack pasture in winter, so they often came to plunder the territory of the Great Jin. Now that they have learned to grow potatoes, they don't have to worry about food in winter. Naturally, they don't need to bother us anymore."
"Ah, so it's all thanks to me," Su Wan said proudly, hands on her hips. "I told you before, I'm your capable helper."
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