Second Marriage

Chapter 49.1

The night breeze gently blew through the mountain. Xiao Youning held her arms. She felt cold when it was only the middle of summer.

Yuan Guo went over and looked at the soldiers gathering in the barracks in the distance with her. She was so shocked that all her drowsiness was gone.

“Young Miss, what is this?”

Xiao Youning closed her eyes. Her heart was beating violently and she did not understand what was going on.

“Fifth Master and Father insisted on leaving today because there is going to be war.” Her voice was extremely weak.

The people closest to her knew that the border was at a critical point right now. However, they all kept it a secret from her and made arrangements for her, so that they would lead the front line instead.

When they left the room, it attracted the attention of the soldiers stationed there. A group of them came with torches. The leader knew that he could no longer hide it and was worried that she would impulsively go down the mountain. He urged, “Young Miss, the Young General said that they can only be safe if you are safe.”

“Those words are meaningless.” Xiao Youning opened her eyes and a light gathered in her eyes. “Tell me what is going on with Datong right now.”

The leading soldier hesitated for a moment, and then heard her say, “If you don’t tell me, then I will be even more uneasy. Since my father and brother left you to me, it tells me that you can be trusted and know what is going on. If anything happens, you’ll have to escort me away. If you don’t say anything, then I won’t leave, and you will be unable to fulfill your duties.”

A little girl was threatening him in one way or another.

The soldier was a little afraid that she would really slip away. He considered how he had heard that she had come to Datong with several servants before.

Without a recourse, he went up to her and whispered, “This subordinate has disobeyed.” Then, he told her everything. “The residents of the nearby town have been evacuated a long time ago under the pretext of there being mountain bandits. They have been arranged to be dozens of kilometers away from here. There is a plan to have the front line lieutenants fight the Wala in order to have them relax their vigilance. After, they will be lured to our side of the border to be surrounded and then annihilated.”

Hearing this, Xiao Youning gasped. “That’s why my father went missing?! He’s trying to catch a turtle in a jar1!”

“Yes.”

The soldier answered, but Xiao Youning’s intuition was wrong.

“Isn’t this plan too dangerous? Did His Majesty agree to it?!”

“This subordinate doesn’t know and this is all this subordinate knows. Without the consent of His Majesty, the general would not dare to take risks. Once the defense crumbles, Datong will reach a breaking point and the capital will be in danger.”

The sound of war drums was like thunder in the wind, and Xiao Youning’s eyelids were also twitching.

It really is too dangerous. Why did the emperor end up making such a decision?

For the rest of the night, Xiao Youning hardly fell asleep because the soldier told her that Wala was attacking the front. When the Wala were fooled and believed that a breaking point was possible, there would be an emergency meeting in the military barracks.

Meanwhile, she was worried about Ye Shen, who did not leave behind any traces of himself.

The front line was in a state of emergency and she didn’t know what Ye Shen had gone to do.

The Emperor must have given him more orders. Also, she didn’t know until yesterday that Ye Shen was accompanied by the Embroidered Uniform Guards.

With so many Embroidered Uniform Guards dispatched to follow him, she could not think of what he had gone to do aside from a secret related to the imperial family.

Perhaps there was a secret hidden in this battle?

While war was resuming in Datong, there was a fight between the Eldest Princess Residence and the Li Family in the capital.

The Eldest Princess did not agree to let Old Madam Ye be a guest to help the Li Family with the marriage, and it didn’t matter if they gave up on the marriage.

Madam Li lost her reputation again because of this fight. She was angry and regretful. She had done everything she could to arrange this marriage, so how could she not be angry? If the marriage was canceled, then the Li Family would not be able to raise their heads this time.

There was only one day left before the marriage. Madam Li went to her mother early in the morning. It was difficult for her to be there and she could not say a word in front of her mother for a while.

Once Old Madam Ye was finished being dressed by a young servant girl, she slowly wiped her forehead, and then looked at her eldest daughter standing behind her. “What do you want to say?”

Madam Li forced a smile to prevent any tears. She opened her mouth but failed to tell her mother to go back earlier.

Old Madam Ye could see her intentions and that she at least knew a bit of shame. She didn’t try to drive her away. Thus, she thought her daughter could understand and gave her another chance by saying, “The Eldest Princess Residence has declared that if I do not leave, then they will withdraw from the marriage. As you can see, she has a problem with me. I won’t go into the details as to what it is, but it will not be too much for me to mention that it is in regards to a great hatred.”