After Shedding My Ar Chapter 68

Madam Li, the second madam of the Gu family, was still in a daze.

She never would have imagined that her niece, after a routine visit to the palace, would co out appointed by the emperor as the commander of the Northern Frontier Army, and now she had to leave the capital imdiately for the Northern Frontier.

Was she still dreaming?

This dream was too absurd—even storytellers wouldn’t dare write sothing like this.

Second Madam Li’s mind was blank, and purely on instinct, she rushed to Gu Fu’s Feique Pavilion to ask if there was anything she could help prepare.

Gu Fu wasn’t in the courtyard, and Lu Zhu thanked Second Madam Li on Gu Fu’s behalf, saying there wasn’t anything they needed, and then saw her out. After all, this was a trip to war, not a leisurely outing, so there was no need for clothes, jewelry, snacks, or tea. Gu Fu had given instructions earlier to just pack up her n’s clothing, and she would take care of the rest herself.

anwhile, Gu Fu went to the old madam’s courtyard to bid farewell.

Unlike last ti, when she left without saying goodbye, this ti Gu Fu properly told the old madam where she was going and what she was going to do. The old madam embraced Gu Fu with trembling hands, choking on her words, unable to speak.

Gu Fu patiently comforted her, promising that she would be fine and reassuring her not to worry too much. She asked the old madam to stay ho and wait for her peacefully, not to kneel too often in front of the Buddha altar, as it wasn’t good for her knees, and not to let Nanny Zhao sneak her snacks—the doctor had said she needed to watch her diet...

The grandmother and granddaughter talked for a long ti before Gu Fu finally left the old madam’s courtyard.

Nanny Zhao escorted Gu Fu to the courtyard gate, and from afar, Gu Fu noticed Gu Qizheng’s figure.

Nanny Zhao whispered to Gu Fu, “As soon as you arrived, the master ca as well. We invited him inside to sit, but he said he would stand outside for a while and then leave. He’s been standing there all this ti—he must be waiting for you.”

Gu Fu was slightly stunned, then said, "Thank you, Nanny, for the reminder. There's no need to see

off. Go back and take care of Grandmother."

Nanny Zhao acknowledged and left, while Gu Fu turned and walked toward Gu Qizheng, who was pretending to pass by.

Gu Fu smiled and said, "Lord Gu, waiting for ?"

Gu Qi Zheng looked at her, frowning slightly, "Happy now?"

Gu Fu bead, "Very happy."

Gu Qizheng started walking, "Don't be happy too soon. The news hasn't spread yet. Once it does, there will surely be people cursing you."

Gu Fu quickly caught up with him, "By that ti, I won’t be in the capital anymore. What's there to be afraid of? But Father, you better not get too worked up."

Gu Qizheng snorted coldly and said nothing.

Gu Fu wanted to remind Gu Qizheng like she did with the old madam, but she couldn’t think of anything to say. Instead, she spoke of sothing else: "Qingyao is still at the Dali Temple. I’ve asked Wang Xi to take care of her so she won’t be mistreated. As for the Prince An’s Residence, the Empress is keeping an eye on things for , and the heir of the Prince An promised

that the engagent won’t be canceled. If she gets married, I won’t make it back in ti, so please, Father, look out for her and don’t let the An Prince’s family mistreat Qingyao."

Gu Qizheng replied, "She’s the younger sister you grew up with and the niece I’ve watched grow up. Do you think her marriage is sothing you, her peer, need to worry about? I’ll handle it. If the Mu family does anything, let that girl be married from the Gu family—she can treat our family as her own."

Gu Fu smiled, "Then I’m relieved."

Gu Qizheng let out another cold snort.

As the father and daughter reached the entrance of Feique Pavilion, Gu Fu suddenly said, "Big Brother isn’t ho, and I’m heading to the Northern Frontier. If you feel the house is too quiet, Father, why don’t you go out with your colleagues for so tea, have a drink, watch a performance, or perhaps follow Grandmother’s advice and find

a stepmother?”

Gu Qizheng's forehead veins bulged, "Get lost!"

"I'm getting lost, I'm getting lost," Gu Fu quickly retreated, running back into her courtyard.

Gu Qizheng stood outside the courtyard gate for a while. His anger ca quickly and subsided just as fast. He knew that Gu Fu had said that deliberately to lighten the mood of their parting, but as he thought about how, after Gu Fu left, none of his children would be by his side, a sense of loneliness settled in his heart.

A cold wind blew by, and even though it was just the beginning of winter, Gu Qizheng felt a bone-chilling cold.

Just then, Gu Fu popped her head back out from the gate and said, "Father, I recomnd the Lingyan Pavilion on Mingshan Street. The ladies there sing beautifully—you should check it out."

Gu Fu's words instantly dispersed the little bit of lancholy that had been weighing on Gu Qi Zheng's heart. Furious, he pointed at Gu Fu, "You—you dare go to Mingshan Street, you..."

In his rage, Gu Qi Zheng looked around for sothing to throw, but finding nothing handy, he took off his shoe and threw it at her.

Gu Fu quickly ducked behind the door, truly fleeing this ti.

...

The news that Marquis Zhongshun was still alive spread throughout the capital on the sa day the emperor issued his decree, causing a sensation in the city.

At that ti, people didn’t yet know that Marquis Zhongshun was actually the second young lady of the Gu family. Everyone was busy trying to find out when the Marquis would leave the capital, eager to catch a glimpse of the forr commander of the Northern Frontier Army.

Because of the urgent situation at the border, preparations were completed the day after the emperor's decree. All the soldiers and accompanying officials were ready. Gu Fu, now dressed in her long-unused light armor, rode a tall horse at the front of the procession, leading the troops through the streets of the capital, heading toward the city gates.

A large number of people gathered along the roadside in the capital to watch, including many young won dressed in n's clothing, squeezed at the windowsills on the second floor of the taverns, looking down.

Tang Wu tugged at the sleeve of the girl beside her, Miss Wei, and whispered, "Doesn't this Marquis Zhongshun look a bit familiar to you?"

Miss Wei, who had never failed to recognize a woman due to her fondness for them, responded, "...I need a mont. Don't say anything yet."

Tang Wu: "...?"

As the procession heading to the Northern Frontier passed through the city gates, Gu Fu felt sothing and turned back to look. She caught sight of a familiar figure, dressed in white, standing atop the tall city gates.

"Wait for

to co back," Gu Fu said softly, in a voice only she could hear.

Above the gates, Fu Yan seed to hear her, and softly replied, "I'll wait for your return."

...

Since this was a matter of national affairs and not a secret, news of what had happened in the palace finally spread beyond it after Gu Fu left the capital.

For a ti, people were unsure which was more shocking: the sudden unrest at the borders, the fact that Marquis Zhongshun was still alive, or the revelation that the second daughter of the Gu family *was* Marquis Zhongshun.

In any case, the capital was in an uproar again. So claid that the second daughter of the Gu family was actually a man, while others said she was just cross-dressing as one. Even the fact that Gu Fu had left the capital for five years was dug up as evidence that she was indeed Marquis Zhongshun.

In a teahouse in the capital, a group of scholars were discussing the various recent national events. They talked about the rebellion of the two kings and moved on to the invasions of the Lei and Yǐn kingdoms on Dayong’s borders.

Soone brought up the Northern Frontier, and imdiately, one scholar, striking a pose of defiance against authority, criticized Gu Fu’s actions as absurd and condemned the court for its incompetence in sending a woman to war. He questioned whether all the generals in the court were dead.

The crowd was filled with righteous indignation when soone suddenly burst into laughter.

The laughter ca at a very opportune mont, exactly in the pause between speeches, making it exceptionally clear and impossible to ignore.

The source of the laughter was quickly identified: a young man dressed in blue.

Despite being in a teahouse, the man was holding a small jar of wine. The crowd asked him if he too found it ridiculous that the court had sent a woman to lead the army.

The young man in blue took a sip of wine, then, as if the alcohol had burned his throat, let out a “Ha” and shook his head, saying, “I think you all are more ridiculous.”

The crowd was furious, and imdiately began to bombard him with argunts, quoting classics and historical references. It seed as if they had mistaken the young man for Gu Fu herself, determined to silence him with their rhetoric.

However, after they had finished speaking, the young man remained unfazed. He even turned the question back on them, asking, "When the Zuojia Tribe sought to negotiate peace with our Dayong, demanding to marry Princess Ruiyang, the current Emperor firmly refused. At that ti, you all argued that the princess, as a royal daughter, should serve the nation. Not a single one of you ntioned the generals. You acted as if the security of the entire frontier depended on the princess alone, as if no one in our court could defeat the Zuojia Tribe. So why is it that now, when a woman is leading troops to drive the Zuojia Tribe out of our lands, you're suddenly concerned about our generals?”

Soone retorted, “How can you compare the two? When it cos to warfare, it’s only natural that n should fight, while won should stay at ho to support their husbands and raise their children. How can a woman blend in among all those n in the military camp?”

The young man in blue took another swig of his wine and replied, “Makes sense. Why don't you go then?”

That person stamred, “Wh-what?”

The young man, hiccuping from the alcohol, said, “Aren't you a man?”

“That—I am a scholar, naturally…”

Before he could finish, the young man suddenly smashed his wine jar onto the ground, the sound of its shattering cutting off the man’s words. “Scholar! Can scholars not also sacrifice themselves for their country?! During the reign of Emperor Wuhui, when the four kingdoms of He, Lian, Sui, and Jia invaded our eastern borders, Marquis of Cheng'en, Wei Qi, joined the army and wrote ‘Sixteen Songs of the Eastern Frontier’ based on what he saw, spreading it across the land.

“This dynasty's Duke of Support, a three-generation elder statesman, was also a scholar unfamiliar with warfare, yet in his youth, he accompanied Emperor Jing on a campaign, offering strategies and helping the Emperor drive back the enemy. Weren’t they all scholars? Aren’t they all role models for us, the literati?”

"You people are the ones tarnishing the reputation of scholars!" The young man in blue seed to be drunk, swaying unsteadily as he stood, but his words rang out loud and clear—

"The northwest has lost three cities to the barbarians! One of them was massacred by the Zuojia Tribe, with tens of thousands of civilians slaughtered! At such a ti of national outrage, you lack both the ability and the courage to fight for the country, yet here you sit in the safety of the capital, far from the flas of war, criticizing the affairs at the border! Insulting the commanders who are shedding blood for Dayong—truly, truly I must say—I admire you!"

"How admirable!!"

The drunken young man sarcastically repeated the phrase. After speaking, he didn’t even look at the flushed faces of the crowd. Stumbling as he walked toward the teahouse exit, he laughed as he went.

The laughter made everyone feel uneasy.

After the young man left, the teahouse fell into a dead silence. From then on, whenever soone ntioned the northern borders, the crowd pretended not to hear, and no one discussed it further.

No one noticed that after leaving the teahouse, the young man gradually shed his drunken facade. His steps beca steadier, revealing that his earlier behavior had all been an act.

At the sa ti, the events in the teahouse were reported to a large mansion on Xingle Street.

This mansion was the birthday gift that Fu Yan had given to Gu Fu, and just a few days ago, a plaque had been hung on it, inscribed with the four characters: "Marquis Zhongshun’s Residence."

Having moved into the residence with just a flower and a leaf after Qitian Tower was burned down, Fu Yan listened to the spy's report on the teahouse incident and then dismissed him.

—This was only the beginning. Given so ti, he was sure he could completely turn the tide of public opinion in the capital.

Thinking of this, Fu Yan couldn't help but sigh. If it weren't for the pile of matters still holding him back in the capital, he would have loved to follow in the footsteps of the Marquis of Cheng'en and the Duke of Support, and go to the northern frontier alongside Gu Fu.

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