The sun shines brightly today.
But it's exceptionally cold.
The snow is lting.
The roads are wet and slushy, making it easy for socks to get soaked while walking.
The socks these days aren't elastic, but open-topped, needing to be tied with strings.
When taken off, they sowhat resemble Christmas stockings.
Today is Little New Year.
Even though it's cold,
The streets are crowded.
For the New Year festival, people are out shopping, preparing for the celebrations.
In every corner of the streets, people gather and gossip about the latest news.
Recently, the biggest gossip cos from the royal family.
Princess Huiyun alone has contributed several juicy stories.
First is the baby-swapping drama, second is her divorce.
The imperial son-in-law, Han Yong, firmly acknowledges only Heir Apparent Han and is willing to divorce.
anwhile, Princess Huiyun has reclaid her biological son, Vice Minister Jiang.
Old Lady Jiang, who swapped the babies, has been sentenced to death.
The Emperor has always disliked the Seventh Prince.
Now, because the Seventh Prince Consort is Old Lady Jiang's daughter, he despises them even more.
They aren't even allowed to attend family banquets in the palace.
The common people gossip that even royal children can be mixed up.
This Old Lady Jiang must be quite capable.
So say Old Lady Jiang was foolish; if she were truly capable, she would have either kept the secret forever or treated the child well, or simply gotten rid of him.
This half-asure ultimately led to her downfall.
Amidst all this commotion, surprisingly, there's no ntion of Immortal Liu, at least not among the common people.
However, soon enough, there's no ti left for gossip.
Because there's an ergency at the border.
A great enemy has invaded, and Old General ng is said to be wounded.
Urgent reinforcents are needed.
ng Shaoxia, who was supposed to hold a hundred-day celebration for his child, has no choice but to request to join the battle.
His grandfather is the pillar of the ng family; if he's injured, they can't be well either.
The ng family has served in the military for generations, considering it their duty to protect the country.
At this ti, both ng Qingshe and ng Shaoxia have requested to join the battle.
After so consideration, the Emperor decided to send ng Shaoxia to war, while keeping ng Qingshe in the capital.
While others in the court climb from the ninth rank to the seventh, fifth, third... gradually moving up,
ng Qingshe is soone, a particular individual, an extrely rare case... who has always been under close watch.
This ti, Jiang Feng applied to join the battle as well.
Before departure,
Jiang Feng visited the Dong family.
Recently, Madam Dong's status in the capital's noble ladies' circle has risen sharply.
The ladies of the capital have a very clear hierarchy of disdain.
During this period, she received more invitations than in the past few years combined.
However, the Dong family has always been low-key and not at all flamboyant.
They just interact more with the Jiang family now, everything else remains the sa.
Upon learning that Jiang Feng was also heading to the border, Madam Dong beca very anxious.
A son-in-law is like half a son, and Jiang Feng is well-spoken and seems sincere. Even before the marriage, Madam Dong already treats him like her own child.
Minister Dong is also a bit nervous.
If the two families weren't related, he would praise the young man for his ambition, saying it's a citizen's duty when the country is in need.
But when it cos to his own family, it's different.
It's so cold, going out would be such a hardship.
And it's dangerous too.
If sothing were to happen, what would beco of his daughter?
One broken engagent was explainable, but two would ruin his daughter's reputation. Who would dare to marry her then?
But they can't just enjoy the benefits and back out when there's trouble, that wouldn't be right either.
So despite their anxiety, they can only face it positively.
When Jiang Feng ca to visit, the Dong family was considerate enough to leave ti for Jiang Feng and Dong E to be together.
Though the young unmarried couple was together, they weren't alone; maids were present.
The weather was very cold.
Dong E was dressed in thick, furry clothes, looking round and plump.
Jiang Feng couldn't help but want to laugh when he saw her.
Dong E's hair was very black and thick.
Mianmian would surely envy her; Mianmian likes people with lots of hair.
"Brother Feng, how long will you be gone? Will you be back in ti for the wedding?" Dong E lowered her head, looking at the wet ground. There were stone slabs in the courtyard, but they still felt damp underfoot.
Despite the cold, the young couple walking in the courtyard didn't feel it at all.
Jiang Feng wanted to say "I'll co back to marry you," but then rembered Mianmian's specific instructions before he left not to say things like that, saying it was called "setting up a flag" and was unlucky.
"It shouldn't be too long. There are so local specialties there, I'll buy you nice ones if I see any. I'll write to you and send you letters. Don't worry about , just eat and drink well."
Dong E nodded with puffed cheeks.
"Don't worry, Brother Feng, I'll definitely eat and drink well. If I get fat by then, we can just let out the wedding dress by two sizes. But if you return in sumr, I might need to make a thinner sumr wedding dress."
"It won't be that late." Jiang Feng found it a bit funny and touching at the sa ti.
In the end, he didn't say any grand vows or promises.
He was wary of that too.
He would try his best to co back alive.
Dong E had been receiving all sorts of gifts lately.
There were various gifts from the Jiang family - tea, fabrics, horses, small toys.
Food, pastries, and jewelry from the ng family.
Jewelry, jewelry, and more jewelry from Princess Huiyun...
Even before getting married, Dong E was almost becoming a super-rich young lady.
The envy of won in the capital.
This ti, Jiang Feng brought Dong E a potted plant.
"When the flowers bloom, I'll be back. It won't be long."
Dong E thought to herself that she would definitely keep this plant alive, and even if she couldn't, she could always replace it with one in bloom.
When it was ti to say goodbye, Jiang Feng ruffled Dong E's hair.
Dong E's face turned red, but she didn't shy away.
She had also prepared a gift for Brother Feng.
She gave him a cord she had woven herself, made with colorful strings, containing her birth date and ti.
She had originally wanted to get an amulet from the temple.
But then she thought, the Buddha is so busy, having to protect so many people, how could it be as effective as herself?
She was surely the person who wanted to protect him the most.
The protection of a loved one is boundless in its power.
So she wrote down her own birth date and ti.
On his way back, Jiang Feng opened the little pouch in the cord and saw the delicate handwriting. He found it quite amusing, but as he laughed, he felt his eyes grow moist. How silly.
One's birth date and ti are very private, not easily shared, because in this era people believe in spirits and ghosts, thinking that if ill-intentioned people know your birth date and ti, they can curse you.
The birth date and ti are like a part of oneself.
Dong E had essentially given another part of herself to her fiancé.
ng Shaoxia's child was barely a hundred days old, who would have thought he'd have to go to war now.
He wore a cloth pouch containing his wife and child's hair.
Jiang Yu felt inexplicably nervous.
She felt very worried.
She had visited her parents' ho several tis.
Mianmian hadn't expected that the border war would end up being most closely related to her family.
Her brother-in-law was going to the battlefield, and her elder brother was accompanying him.
Even traveling for pleasure was difficult in ancient tis, let alone going to war, which was even more challenging.
There was no ti for eating, drinking, or having fun; she busily prepared various dicines, wishing she could go with them.
But of course, that wasn't possible.
There wasn't much ti to prepare.
They set off imdiately after saying goodbye.
It seed they had reached a predetermined point again.
In her previous life, when the border was in danger, ng Shaoxia went to war and died.
But at that ti, Minister Lu was in charge of the court, secretly colluding with the Seventh Prince. While they were fighting at the border, no one sent supplies, and there were a bunch of spies sending information to the enemy.
Attacked from both front and rear, caught between two fires, it was a battle dood to fail.
But now, the external situation has fundantally changed. Although there are still concerns, things are in human hands.
Jiang Changtian steeled his heart and let both his son-in-law and son go.
If they couldn't repel foreign enemies, they would all beco prisoners eventually.
Moreover, any major battle is the best ti to seize military power.
If not now, then when? It's perfectly justifiable.
No matter if you're a princess's son, nothing is as effective as military power.
The wind howls, the waters of Yi River are cold, the soldiers set out.
Countless parents see them off.
But no one dares to cry, it's considered unlucky.
When they return victorious one day, I'll change into new clothes and welco my son, my grandson, at the city gate.
He might ride a great horse carrying a large flag, or lie in a coffin enjoying honors, with no regrets in life or death.
We'll cry then.
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