The letter was written by the Eldest Princess, whose title is “Ming Yang”.
A rebellion broke out in Tubo. Ming Yang Princess's husband, Tubo's Zanpu, was killed by his younger brother.
Including Ming Yang Princess's children, all of Zanpu's offspring were massacred. Ming Yang Princess was put under house arrest and forced to remarry.
By doing so, they did not put Da Xia in their eyes at all.
The Emperor was furious and ordered the ministers to discuss countermeasures. After deliberation, the ministers unanimously decided to issue a letter to Tubo, demanding them to immediately send back Ming Yang Princess and her dowry.
More than a month later, the rebel king of Tubo sent a reply saying that they could send the Princess back, but Da Xia must give them 100,000 dan of grain. They were out of food and needed the grain to get through the winter.
This was simply shameless to the utmost.
This completely angered Da Xia's monarch and ministers. Everyone unanimously decided to send troops to rescue Ming Yang Princess.
She was not just a person, but also related to the dignity of Da Xia's imperial court.
At that time, Da Xia was so poor, yet they had brought the arrogant Xiongnu and Tibetans from the northwest to their knees. In the past two years, they had also stirred up quite a mess out of Wa, which had been bouncing around in the east.
Today's Da Xia has a strong military. There is no reason to still be afraid of your little Tubo. Let's end this!
Therefore, another letter was sent: Send back the Princess and her dowry unconditionally. If the Princess loses a single hair, Da Xia's army will raze Tubo's palace to the ground.
At the same time, an urgent order was issued to mobilize 200,000 troops and garrison the border to put pressure on Tubo. If they dared not obey, Da Xia’s troops would attack Tubo directly.
Crown Prince Jingyan petitioned in court to go to Tubo in person to bring his eldest sister back, saying that fifteen years ago, he was unable to personally send off his eldest sister when she got married, so now it’s appropriate that he should be the one to welcome her back to be taken care of by the nation.
The Emperor approved the petition. Considering Ming Yang Princess's physical and mental health, the Emperor also ordered Princess Jiang Yuqing the Protector of the Nation to accompany the Crown Prince.
There was no time to delay. On the third day after the decree was issued, Princess Jiang bid farewell to her family and mentor. Together with Jingyan, and a guard troop, she rushed to the Xia-Tubo border post haste.
Among the entourage were Duke Yuan Yun of the Zhenguo Commandery and two translators from the Honglu Temple.
The group travelled overnight with minimal rest, spending almost all their time on horseback.
To everyone's surprise, they found that Jiang Yuqing’s deer was actually stronger than their thoroughbreds.
After running such a long way, it did not even pant for breath. It was very smart too.
It barely needed her shouts or whip. It knew where to run by itself and never went in the wrong direction. No wonder it was the only deer to have been on the battlefield. It was truly awesome.
After days of rushing, the two translators from the Honglu Temple were somewhat worn out. It was said that the sides of both thighs were chafed.
Fortunately, with Jiang Yuqing around to check their pulses on the pretext of healing them, she used Rejuvenation Technique on them.
Together with the top-grade medicine for injuries personally configured by Doctor Qiu, no major problem arose.
After galloping for more than ten days, they finally arrived at Dingyang Pass on the Xia–Tubo border. The commander here had received the urgent order from the capital and made preparations early.
Jingyan decided to rest here for a day and set off for Tubo tomorrow morning with the troops.
The Dingyang Pass commander offered them a small field stove in the big camp. But Jingyan declined, saying that eating from the same big pot was good enough.
Tonight's meal was made of red potatoes and rice cooked together. The dish was fried potato chunks with a pair of salted vegetables on the side.
The taste was mediocre but still much better than eating dry rations. At least it was hot.
Jiang Yuqing had not been to a military camp for a long time. Instead of eating in a tent, she carried her rice bowl outside, just like she used to when she was in the northwest military camp, and sat on the stone slabs under the awning to eat.
Watching the coming and going soldiers with rice bowls in hand, she felt a special sense of intimacy.
Soon, someone came to sit next to her. Jiang Yuqing glanced up and saw who it was. She laughed and said, "Why did you come out too? Eating rations here, aren't you afraid of ruining the image of Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince?"
Jingyan scooped a spoonful of rice into his mouth, chewed it and swallowed it. He looked at her, eyes deep, and said slowly, "Since my princess consort does not care about her image, why should I care about mine? It is good for couples to follow each other's lead."
Jiang Yuqing grinned at his teasing. "I didn't realize you were so indifferent before."
"That's because you hadn't agreed to be my wife back then."
Seeing how down-to-earth the two of them were, bolder soldiers came up to them with bowls in hand to greet Jiang Yuqing.
Though Jiang Yuqing had not been to the border for many years, her nicknames as “Little Warrior Goddess” and “Little Divine Doctor” were well known throughout the northwest army.
Over the years, she and the He’an Hospital and Tianyi Valley behind her had trained countless medical workers and saved innumerable lives for Da Xia.
In addition, they donated large quantities of supplies to major camps in the northwest border every year free of charge. After returning to the capital, she had led the building of the “Da Xia Heroes Memorial”, started the Tai’an Farm and Tai’an Barbecue and other businesses to support disabled soldiers.
Especially Tai’an Barbecue, under Jiang Yuqing’s operation, had blossomed all over Da Xia. Within just three years, it had opened more than 100 stores and employed nearly 10,000 disabled veterans, and there was still room for further development.
With the oral spread amongst military commanders and military doctors, her story was known far and wide.
Soldiers were pure-hearted. Perhaps not eloquent, but they remembered kindness.
As such, unknowingly, Jiang Yuqing had become almost an absolutely top idol-like figure for the entire Da Xia army.
The legendary figure appearing here made everyone very excited. Addresses like “Little Warrior Goddess” and “Little Divine Doctor” were endless.
The little divine doctor of the Ox Village also chatted with them happily and greeted them to come over and sit.
In a few moments, the two were surrounded by people sitting or squatting around them.
Everyone held huge ceramic rice bowls. Regardless of etiquette, they gobbled down food while chatting casually with Jiang Yuqing.
Jiang Yuqing asked them, "How is the camp’s provisions now?"
A veteran soldier stopped his chopsticks and laughed aloud, "The provisions are pretty good. Every day we have enough of either rice with red potatoes or white rice with potatoes for both meals. We can even have a meal of white rice and barbecued meat every other day. Back six, seven years ago, this was unimaginable."
A new recruit who had just enlisted couldn’t help asking curiously, "What did you all eat back then?"
The veteran guffawed loudly, "What did we eat? Let me tell you, there is a catchy phrase for it - (Forage for wild vegetables to fill your stomach, when horses die, use their fat to make emergency rations). You belong to a lucky generation!"
As the only healthy son of the current emperor, Jingyan had been extremely well protected since childhood.
Although he had been to Su Prefecture before, he had never stayed in the big camp. He only knew that the living conditions of the frontier soldiers were harsh.
Now, sitting among them and hearing their unintentional true feelings with his own ears, the feeling was even more direct and profound.
These low-ranking soldiers were quite adorable and not as bad off as he had imagined.
After the meal, everyone dispersed gradually. Back in the tent, Jingyan sat at his desk, holding a military book, but couldn’t read half a word into it.
When Jiang Yuqing came in from outside, she saw him with a solemn expression and asked, "Still brooding over the matter of Ming Yang Princess?"
Jingyan took her hand and made her sit with him.
"I was thinking, in the future, will I be able to become a wise emperor to lead Da Xia's people to create a better life."
After a little thought, Jiang Yuqing knew that it was after hearing the soldiers' words that he was moved.
So she affirmed, "Believe in yourself, you can do it.
Your father is a wise and benevolent emperor. You are his personally nurtured son.
The Yangtze River waves behind drive on those before. You will definitely be more outstanding than him. At least you still have me, don't you?"
Jingyan drew her into his arms and solemnly planted a kiss on her forehead. “Therefore, Qingqing, you must never leave me.
I want to stand with you at the top of this world and see the most beautiful scenery of this world. Led by you and me, together with them, to create the beautiful scenery.”
“Okay.”
They talked no more that night.
The next day, Jingyan and Yuan Yun were busy meeting and preparing for their departure the next day.
Jiang Yuqing had nothing to do, so she asked a soldier to take her to the medical tent.
Many senior military doctors here were from the He’an Hospital in the northwest.
Some of them were even personally trained by her, so they naturally recognized Jiang Yuqing.
Seeing her appear here, the military doctors were simply overjoyed.
They came up one after another in the manner of disciples: “Greetings Master!”
Jiang Yuqing laughed and helped them up, "There's no need to be overly courteous, rise and let's talk!"
Since the imperial edict announcing her title as Princess Consort had already been promulgated throughout the land, everyone was aware of it and came to congratulate her.
Jiang Yuqing smiled as she accepted everyone's blessings. She took out a large package of fruit candies wrapped in rice paper from her bag and distributed some to each of the medical tent's doctors and nurses.
Two soldiers who were here getting bandaged up for minor injuries sustained during training also managed to get in on the action and got a few pieces.
Not willing to eat too many, they just popped one in their mouths and carefully tucked the rest into their clothes, saying they would take them back as family heirlooms.
The army doctors laughed and said, "You better stop hiding them. Don't blame me if they get snatched from you the moment you step out of the medical tent."
Upon hearing that, the two soldiers cursed under their breaths. Damn those beasts really might do something like that. Forget hiding them, best to eat them now to be safe.
Jiang Yuqing spent the entire morning in the medical tent, exchanging academic ideas with the army doctors. If they encountered things they did not understand, she was happy to teach them.
Around noon, Jing Yan finished up his tasks and came to find his fiancée, only to discover she was not there. After asking the guard, he found out she had gone to the medical tent again.
Jing Yan shook his head and headed over to retrieve his girl from the medical tent. His little darling seemed incapable of sitting still for even a moment.
When Jing Yan arrived, Jiang Yuqing was in the middle of teaching two medical apprentices how to suture tendons.
Seeing how attentive she was, he decided not to disturb her and stood quietly nearby to wait.
Some of the other doctors noticed him and were about to come over to pay their respects, but he gestured for them not to.
It is said that a woman is most beautiful when dedicated wholeheartedly to something. Jing Yan had always felt his precious fiancée was at her most beautiful when teaching. Any dissenting views would not be tolerated.
Jiang Yuqing had noticed his arrival early on, but continued with her lecture until she was certain the two apprentices understood. Only then did she set aside what was in her hands.
She asked, "What brings you here?"
Jing Yan stroked her head, "It's noon, time to eat."
"Alright!"
As they were leaving, she told the army doctors that if they encountered any difficulties in medicine or their lives, they could write to her. If she was able help, she would.
The doctors happily agreed.
After the couple left hand in hand, the medical tent immediately erupted into excited chatter. Someone said, "So that was His Highness the Crown Prince. As expected, he is extraordinarily handsome and brilliant, a perfect match for our teacher!"
B said, "His Highness the Crown Prince treats Teacher so well. He truly cherishes Teacher in his heart."
C asked, "How do you know His Highness genuinely cares for Teacher? What if he has ulterior motives?"
B looked scornfully at him, "That's obvious if you just look with your eyes. The warmth in His Highness' gaze towards Teacher could overflow. As a clueless bachelor, you wouldn't understand even if I explained."
C: "......" Can we stop going back to this all the time?
Early the next morning, Dingyang Pass opened its gates wide. Crown Prince Jingyan, Princess Jiang Yuqing the Protector of the Nation, led by Grand Commander Yuan Yun and several Da Xia generals, set out from Dingyang Pass with two hundred thousand troops. An awe-inspiring array stretching as far as the eye could see, charging westward straight for the Tibetan border.
Continuing onward from here, past the fifty li buffer zone between the two nations, lied the Tibetan border ahead.
Although this was already the edge of the highlands, since the altitude was not high, vegetation alongside the roads remained lush. It was early autumn presently, and some of the deciduous trees had begun to yellow. Surely they would be completely bare before much longer.
The army moved swiftly, traversing fifty li in less than half a day to arrive at the city walls on the Tibetan border.
Calling this a city wall was a far cry from the majestic, formidable walls of Da Xia. They were at best slightly more sturdy mounds of earth, only rising about ten yards high.
This was understandable, however. Situated in the highlands, Tibet had barren lands and sparse resources, so its national power was far from prospering.
Aside from animal husbandry, many items like ironware and grain had to be obtained from trade with Da Xia and neighboring countries.
Therefore, when Tibet's border troops saw Da Xia's intimidating twenty myriad army actually appear beneath their city walls, their commander was so frightened that he plopped down on his bottom.
Weren't they not supposed to attack and just bluff? Motherf*cker, come see for yourself Mu Ru if this looks like a bluff!
