Jiang Ming escorted Qi Nuan to the door and patted her head.
Then he drove away in his carriage.
She heard Qingqing's voice from a distance as soon as she entered the room, which cheered her up a bit.
"Once you join the army, you'll have to listen to everything I say, understand?"
Qingqing looked at Xiaoxing and said, "Of course I will protect you too."
Xiao Xing nodded repeatedly, agreeing with everything Qing Qing said, while A Hua watched them with a smile.
But Qingqing quickly lost interest. Amu was a blockhead; he didn't react to anything she said. Xiao looked at them as if they were idiots.
Ah Hua, well, of course she wouldn't mess around with me.
She hadn't even gotten over her craving to be a great general when they crushed it all.
However, hehe, she discovered Qi Nuan.
"Ah Nuan, Ah Nuan, from now on I'm the Great General, and from now on I'll protect you."
"My name is A Nuan. I thank you in advance, General."
Qi Nuan bowed to Qingqing and thanked her.
"Hahaha!" Qingqing laughed, looking outside, then asked, "Did Brother Jiang Ming bring you back? Where is he?"
Qi Nuan said, "He still has things to do."
Qingqing gave an "oh" and didn't say anything.
Qi Nuan said, "Who has upset the General? Tell me and I'll go and deal with him."
Qingqing laughed, "I'm a great general now, who dares to mess with me?"
After saying that, he glanced at Xiaoxing again.
"See? Learn from this in the future." The boy scratched his head, looked at Qi Nuan, smiled a little embarrassedly, and said to Qingqing, "Okay, I'll listen to Qingqing."
"Hmph, you're so stupid. I don't want to play with you anymore. I'm going to practice martial arts."
"Hey, Qingqing, wait for me."
The boy didn't know why Qingqing was angry again, so he could only chase after her.
Qi Nuan shook her head upon seeing this.
Qi Nuan hasn't left the house for the past few days. Jiang Yu and the others are still recruiting soldiers. However, the first three days were voluntary, and the later days are mandatory. Families with two or more male members need to send one person.
Of course, age and physical condition must be considered; not all families with two male members need to provide assistance.
Qingqing and the others went to register, and she felt quite bored at home alone.
With nothing else to do, she thought of picking up her poorly made embroidery again.
But she didn't have any needles and thread here, so she went to the sewing room to get some embroidery tools. The sewing room contained many dyed and undyed white silks.
They were suspended from wooden frames, forming a colorful curtain, like a rainbow.
These were all specially prepared by Ahua; they were a unique embroidery technique from an embroidery book sent by Zhang Liao.
Qi Nuan thought that she must be there to watch Ahua embroider.
The sewing room was located on the side of the west wing, in a somewhat secluded spot. It was usually quiet, except for Ahua, who was passionate about embroidery. The room was filled with Ahua's embroidery pieces.
Qi Nuan glanced at it casually, deciding to find a piece of embroidery as a template and embroider it herself.
As she was looking, the door opened.
With a creak, the door slammed shut again.
She heard Ahua's voice.
"Why send troops now? The prefecture has just recruited men; now is not a good time."
Ahua had a question; she did not agree with sending troops now.
"Although they have recruited soldiers, they haven't had time to train them yet. They're just a bunch of rabble. If we don't send troops now, are we going to wait until they've trained their army properly before we attack?"
Qi Nuan's expression changed drastically; she covered her mouth and bent over.
What does this mean? Who exactly is Ahua?
She thought of Xiangxiang, and her face grew even paler, but she dared not make a sound.
"Don't try to fool me. Are they planning to attack Shangjun when they send troops to support Luoyang?"
Ahua's voice was extremely cold, with an undeniable arrogance in her tone.
The man praised him, but there was not a trace of respect in his tone.
"The princess is indeed clever. Since the princess knew this, she should have obtained the border defense map of Shangjun as soon as possible."
"Aren't you an official of the prefecture? If you can't even get this, how can I, a weak woman, possibly get the border defense map of the prefecture!"
The man naturally heard the sarcasm in her words, and a sinister glint flashed in his eyes. She was just an abandoned foreign princess; what right did she have to speak to him like that?
"If you can't get it, then that girl named Qi Nuan can't get it either?"
Ahua's eyes were icy.
The man smiled, "Princess, you must not forget your place."
*Slap!* The man looked at Ah Hua with disbelief in his eyes. How dare she, how dare she hit him?
Ahua ignored his gaze, "Who do you think you are? You know who I am, yet you still dare to disrespect me."
"Princess, don't forget, I am not a Rouran."
The man spoke each word clearly, his gaze towards her extremely cold.
Their voices reached Qi Nuan's ears. "Princess, Rouran. No wonder Ahua's sheep-killing skills are so proficient, and her dishes from beyond the Great Wall taste so authentic."
Was that man from the Central Plains? Or was he an official from the prefecture?
Qi Nuan moved her body and peeked out to try to see the man's face clearly, but it was blocked by the embroidered cloth. She could only see the red patterns on the hem of the man's black clothes and a pair of black seventh-rank boots on his feet.
The two then said something else.
Although both of them spoke in low voices, their tone was not good.
But it seems the two have reached an agreement.
After a while, the man left.
Now only Ahua is left in the room.
Qi Nuan waited for a long time, but she didn't see her leave.
Qi Nuan felt uneasy; perhaps she had been discovered.
As the man left, Ahua took a few steps forward to retrieve the half-finished embroidery she had put down the day before, only to discover that her embroidery had been touched.
She glanced around the room without making a sound.
They soon discovered the hiding place.
She knew this room all too well. She took two steps toward the Tibetans' quarters, her feelings a complex mix.
Things finally went in the direction she least wanted to see.
She stood there, not knowing what to do.
After a long while, she closed her eyes and said, "Anuan, I can only apologize to you."
She took a step, and the person who was hiding stood up as well. The two looked at each other.
Their eyes were equally complicated. Qi Nuan had never imagined that they would be on opposite sides. Ahua had always been her trusted older sister, and she had always relied on her.
Ahua had known this day would come, but she wasn't prepared. She looked at Qi Nuan and saw Qi Nuan's slightly red eyes.
Her hand trembled slightly, and a blinding white light flashed across the embroidery on her hand.
Qi Nuan saw the embroidery needle in Ahua's hand, and she knew how powerful the needle was.
"Sister Ahua..."
Qi Nuan called out to her, but didn't know what to say.
"Ah Nuan, I'm sorry."
Ahua slowly approached Qi Nuan step by step.
Between your country and mine, I can only choose my country.
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