Qiu Tai pulled his fox fur coat tighter around himself and exhaled a puff of white breath. "The weather's too cold, and I haven't been out in a long time, so I thought I'd drop by. Got any new goods?"
Chen Xi welcomed him into Feng Ge Xuan. "The roads are hard to travel lately—no new stock in."
Qiu Tai didn't seem bothered. "Sigh, tell me—what's happened to Lady Hua?"
Chen Xi was puzzled. "What about Lady Hua?"
Qiu Tai let out another sigh. "Well, before, I'd catch a glimpse of her now and then. But lately, I feel like I haven't seen her in ages. I'm quite worried."
Lowering his voice, he asked, "You don't think General Hua found out about my feelings for Lady Hua and secretly hid her away, do you?"
Chen Xi: "..."
It wasn't that General Hua knew—it was that every single person in the entire city of Jiuan knew. Only you don't realize that everyone already knows.
"Perhaps it's just because the weather is too cold, so she hasn't been going out," Chen Xi said with a convincingly earnest expression.
But Qiu Tai seemed not to hear him, lost in his own world.
"What if my relentless efforts have moved her, and she's begun to harbor feelings for me too—but General Hua disapproves, breaks us apart like a stick beating the lovebirds, and locks Lady Hua away?"
Chen Xi: "... You've got quite the imagination. But no, impossible."
Yet Qiu Tai only grew more convinced of his own theory. "How could it be impossible? I think it's very likely. Think about it—why would Lady Hua beat everyone else but only beat me?"
"Clearly, she treats me differently." As if to convince himself, he nodded.
Chen Xi: "..."
He couldn't understand Qiu Tai's mentality—how could getting beaten give someone a sense of superiority?
If he followed that logic, then he himself must have a special bond with the barbarian tribes—after all, he'd not only beaten them, but killed them. Was this what they meant by "loving someone to death"?!
He couldn't help but shudder. "I hate to burst your bubble, but as your closest friend, I must remind you—what exactly about you makes someone treat you differently?"
Qiu Tai touched his face. "I'm a dashing young gentleman, graceful and handsome."
Chen Xi stared at him, expressionless.
Qiu Tai touched his nose. "Alright, maybe I'm not much to look at. But I have a pure heart—and that's what truly matters."
—
After returning to the manor, Hua Yuanyi hurried into his study and ordered the steward to guard the door. Only then did he unwrap the cloth around the glass bottle, and sure enough, he spotted a small rolled-up note inside.
He carefully tipped the note out—there turned out to be two pieces. He picked up one and slowly unrolled it; within was indeed his daughter's familiar handwriting.
The letter only mentioned the time she'd arrived at Gefeng, the novel sights she'd seen there, and—quietly slipped in—a mention that she was now a squad leader, in charge of over a dozen people.
Hua Yuanyi didn't understand what a "squad leader" was, but "in charge of over a dozen people" he understood—it was about the rank of a corporal.
While this position counted as one of the lowest-ranking "officers" in the military, it was Hua Ruo's starting point—the beginning of building her career openly and honestly as a woman.
He believed that with his daughter's abilities, it wouldn't be long before she shone brilliantly in the army.
His face broke into a proud smile, yet his words were, "The little ingrate—she didn't even give me the specifics about Gefeng. Am I your father or not? Would I sell you out?"
In her letter, Hua Ruo didn't even mention the name of the military division she belonged to, let alone how many counties Gefeng controlled or how military merits were earned. She'd left all of that out.
He read the contents several more times before reluctantly turning his attention to the second note.
This one was a letter from Hua Ruo to her close friends back home.
He opened it and read: roughly, it said that in Gefeng, women could serve as officials, merchants, and teachers—that there was great opportunity—and asked whether they'd like to come to Gefeng.
If so, she would find a way to bring them over once the weather warmed next year.
Hua Yuanyi thought it over and decided to delay sending the letter out.
This was a sensitive period. He trusted his daughter's judgment and trusted in the character of these women.
But the winter was long, and if anything unexpected leaked—if the First Prince caught wind of unrest in Gefeng—
That would bode extremely ill for Gefeng.
And what was bad for Gefeng was bad for his daughter. He had to be cautious.
—
Chen Xi finally managed to see off the endlessly chattering Qiu Tai. He let out a huge sigh of relief—when men get talkative, it can be truly terrifying.
He retreated to the inner chamber.
Li Tong was already waiting for him.
Li Tong was a member of the intelligence unit; after Mu Ning had returned home, Li Tong became the head of operations in Sizhou.
"How did it go?" Chen Xi asked.
Li Tong's expression was grave. "The Wei and Meng families aren't in Jiuan—they're in Yingjun."
Along with the letters from Hua Ruo and Wei Qingran had come one from Mu Ning, essentially asking them to help locate the families of Wei Qingran and Meng Chong in Sizhou—and, if found, to deliver the letters to their relatives.
Of course, this wasn't a mandatory mission; they were to act according to their means.
"Yingjun?" Chen Xi frowned. "Is that the Wei clan's main branch, or Wei Qingran's own family?"
Li Tong replied, "Both the Wei clan's main branch and Wei Qingran's family are in Fushan County, Yingjun. Should we send the letters?"
Chen Xi mused for a moment. "Send them."
Wei Qingran was very clever, and she didn't fully trust her family—after all, the ones who'd forced her to enter the palace had included not only the clan elders but her own father.
She couldn't exactly say she hated him, but her trust in him was limited. What she worried about most were her mother and younger brother.
So she'd split her notes across several pages, letting Chen Xi decide what to deliver based on the circumstances.
As it happened, Yingjun also had covert operatives from Jingyang Army embedded there. It was a simple enough favor, so helping out was no trouble at all.
—
At an arrow tower along Fengguan Road.
Sun Bu stood at the top level of the tower. The frigid wind blew through the massive arrow slit, yet he didn't feel cold.
Once everything in Gefeng had settled, his mother and a neighbor woman from back home had opened a shop together. Gefeng even had street offices and constables—if anyone had troubles, they could always seek help.
He could finally rest easy, so he'd chosen to enlist and was now a squad leader as well.
On the left side of the tower were the stairs; on the right was a round opening with a wooden pillar running down its center.
In an emergency, soldiers could slide down the pillar—it also facilitated communication between the tower's various floors.
A cast-iron stove burned in the middle, and the kettle on top was gurgling. The water had boiled.
Immediately, a soldier poured water into a bowl, blowing on it noisily as he drank.
Sun Bu watched the snowflakes drifting lazily outside without turning around. "Don't drink too much," he said. "You'll just have to pee in a bit."
The soldier chuckled. "Squad leader, it's cold out. A hot drink warms the stomach."
Sun Bu shot him a glare. "You're wearing such thick padded coats and still cold? If you're really cold, go run a couple laps down below."
The soldier quickly begged off. "Never mind, never mind—haha, I'm not cold!"
The other soldiers smirked quietly among themselves.
Truth be told, guarding arrow towers was pretty dull—especially in weather like this, when the roads were nearly empty of travelers.
Sun Bu shook his head in amusement. Being a few years older than these soldiers, he saw them as younger brothers.
"Alright then," he instructed, "once the snow stops, we'll go down and clear it."
Those on road-guard rotation naturally had their duties—clearing snow off the roads was one of them.
They had to ensure the section of road under their charge stayed unobstructed, and the soldiers at the other arrow towers did the same.
"You got it, squad leader! We won't let our squad down—when it comes to clearing snow, ours will be cleaner than any other squad's."
"That's right," another soldier added. "A couple of days ago I saw Second Squad didn't sweep clean—there was even a glob of bird shit in the middle of the road."
"Heh, but I didn't warn them. Just waiting for the battalion commander to inspect, so they'd get punished with a run."
"Too bad the commander didn't even notice that bird shit. Ah well."
Joyful laughter echoed from the watchtower.
Sun Bu shook his head with a smile and continued looking outside.
Amid the white snowflakes, he thought he saw a moving shadow.
He squinted slightly. This direction...
He frowned and barked an order: "Someone's coming. Get ready."
The soldiers who had been joking around a moment ago snapped to their feet, their expressions turning serious as they grabbed their Dragon-Feather Crossbows and moved to the arrow slits.
The soldiers on the second floor and the ground floor of the watchtower readied themselves almost simultaneously, their eyes fixed on the figure approaching in the distance.
