The sun shines brightly today.
But it's exceptionally cold.
The snow is melting.
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 somewhat 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 comes 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.
Meanwhile, Princess Huiyun has reclaimed 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.
Some 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-measure ultimately led to her downfall.
Amidst all this commotion, surprisingly, there's no mention of Immortal Liu, at least not among the common people.
However, soon enough, there's no time left for gossip.
Because there's an emergency at the border.
A great enemy has invaded, and Old General Meng is said to be wounded.
Urgent reinforcements are needed.
Meng 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 Meng family; if he's injured, they can't be well either.
The Meng family has served in the military for generations, considering it their duty to protect the country.
At this time, both Meng Qingshe and Meng Shaoxia have requested to join the battle.
After some consideration, the Emperor decided to send Meng Shaoxia to war, while keeping Meng Qingshe in the capital.
While others in the court climb from the ninth rank to the seventh, fifth, third... gradually moving up,
Meng Qingshe is someone, a particular individual, an extremely rare case... who has always been under close watch.
This time, 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 same.
Upon learning that Jiang Feng was also heading to the border, Madam Dong became 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 comes to his own family, it's different.
It's so cold, going out would be such a hardship.
And it's dangerous too.
If something were to happen, what would become of his daughter?
One broken engagement 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 came to visit, the Dong family was considerate enough to leave time 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 time 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 come back to marry you," but then remembered 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 some 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 me, 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 summer, I might need to make a thinner summer wedding dress."
"It won't be that late." Jiang Feng found it a bit funny and touching at the same time.
In the end, he didn't say any grand vows or promises.
He was wary of that too.
He would try his best to come 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 Meng 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 women in the capital.
This time, 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 time 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 time.
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 time.
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 time 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 time, they can curse you.
The birth date and time are like a part of oneself.
Dong E had essentially given another part of herself to her fiancé.
Meng 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' home several times.
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 times, let alone going to war, which was even more challenging.
There was no time for eating, drinking, or having fun; she busily prepared various medicines, wishing she could go with them.
But of course, that wasn't possible.
There wasn't much time to prepare.
They set off immediately after saying goodbye.
It seemed they had reached a predetermined point again.
In her previous life, when the border was in danger, Meng Shaoxia went to war and died.
But at that time, 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 doomed to fail.
But now, the external situation has fundamentally 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 become prisoners eventually.
Moreover, any major battle is the best time 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 welcome 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.
