The next day, in the dark hours of night, when the guards were being lax, Qin Er came to the corner of the military tent where Gong Xiaohua was imprisoned. He used a knife to gently cut a small hole and softly called out, "Madam?"
Lying in the tent, Gong Xiaohua instantly opened her eyes. With her sensitive hearing, she located the source of the sound and responded, "Qin Er?"
"It's me, Madam."
"Why have you come here?"
"To reply to you, Madam, I have prepared a letter for the Young Master. I wonder if Madam has any words she wants me to bring to the Young Master?"
Gong Xiaohua did not respond immediately, but asked, "What is the situation outside?"
"Gao Hu is currently busy dealing with General He's confidants with various excuses. There is also no news from Dawei's side."
Gong Xiaohua pondered. Gao Hu seemed to want to make General He a scapegoat. As for Dawei, he should also be plotting for greater benefits.
No matter what Gao Hu or the Dawei Court wanted to do, she had to take a gamble. She said to Qin Er, "Do you have brush, ink, paper and inkstone?"
"I do, Madam. Here they are."
Qin Er carefully took out the four treasures of the study that he had prepared earlier and passed them to Gong Xiaohua from under the tent.
Before long, Gong Xiaohua folded the letter she had written and handed it to Qin Er.
The memorial presented by Gao Hu and Qin Er's letter were delivered to the capital by fast horses at almost the same hour.
At this time, in the capital, the Qin Residence, Fuyun Courtyard.
The Qin Family Third House held morning and evening family meetings every fifteen days.
"Ah Yuan, how are things at the Xu Mountain border? There is only one month until the Ghost Festival. Will Xiaohua be able to come back on time?" Qin Chuyuan's eldest sister-in-law Zhao Rou asked with concern.
"News arrived in the last two days saying they had already reached the border. The war is unpredictable and it is hard to estimate when they will return. But eldest sister-in-law need not worry, she will definitely come back safely."
"Alright, I hope everything goes smoothly on the border."
"Grandmother, Grandmother, Auntie Xiaohua is so powerful, she will definitely drive away all the bad guys. When I grow up, I want to be like Auntie and drive away all the bad guys too."
"You little rascal, you don't even eat properly. How are you going to grow up and be like your aunt to fight bad guys?"
"If I eat properly, will I grow up?"
"Of course."
"Then I will eat more from now on and grow up faster." After speaking, he started obediently eating his food.
"Our Zi Yu is so well-behaved."
Sitting at the top, Third Madam Qin was full of dissatisfaction when it came to Gong Xiaohua.
"She is very capable, no need for anyone to worry."
"After she came back from South Long Commandery last time, she hasn't stepped foot into the Qin Residence. All for that Li Zichen's sake, an unmarried lady running to the border to be her uncle's military advisor. Does she even remember she is already married?"
"Mother, Xiaohua had no other choice." Qin Chuyuan had a headache. His mother had said this to the point his ears were nearly calloused.
"Humph. You even dare say that. To this day, this old mother has not had a single sip of daughter-in-law tea from her. Ask around Daye, is there anyone else like this? It's a joke."
Qin Chuyuan remained silent.
"I can let all these things slide. But Ah Yuan, when she comes back from the border this time, you must make her move into the Qin Residence and have her stay by my side to properly learn rules and etiquette. She's married off, why is she still loafing around her maternal home?
"You should also make her resign from her position in the Ministry of Justice. You are already old enough, give me a grandson - that is the most important thing to do now."
Hearing this, even the usually stoic Qin Chuyuan was caught off guard by the tea going down the wrong pipe.
"Cough...Mother, I still have some things to deal with, I'll take my leave first."
After speaking, he quickly walked out, thinking he appeared composed but his ears that had turned red sold him out.
Seeing Qin Chuyuan leaving, Third Madam Qin scoffed, "Rarely does he even know to feel embarrassed."
"Yes indeed. This is the first time I've seen little uncle looking so silly." Zhao Rou said with a smile.
"They take after someone but not a single one of them causes anything but trouble."
"It's because they all take after you. Just let the children handle their own matters, you should worry less." Third Master Qin, who was sitting beside Madam Qin, said.
Hearing her husband say this, Madam Qin heavily placed the teacup in her hand onto the table and angrily said, "While you are comfortably not worrying every day, don't you see those are also your children?"
"Wife, what do you mean I don't care for the children? Didn't I teach them everything from their childhood? Look now, aren't they all outstanding people?"
"Oh they are outstanding alright. Outstanding in none of them listening and all of them doing whatever they want."
"Let me ask you, are you going to do something about Qin's situation?"
"What happened to Qin?"
"Do you even know the Zhou son-in-law is taking in a concubine again next month? How many is this now? He's not worried about dying in a woman's belly someday."
"Wife, there are children present, watch what you say. And a man taking concubines is natural, how can I interfere?"
Seeing her in-laws about to argue, Zhao Rou promptly stood up to take her leave with her son.
But they were kept by Third Madam Qin, "Rou'er, no rush. Stay for a while."
"Yes, Mother." She sat back down with her son, automatically blocking her ears.
"Humph. You men always find all sorts of excuses. Just look what state the Zhou family has put Qin in. If you don't manage the situation, I will."
"Do as you wish. I'm leaving first." Third Master Qin said, then got up, shook his sleeves, and headed out.
Zhao Rou stood up with her son and bowed to her father-in-law, "Father, have a safe trip."
"Mm."
Seeing her husband had gone far, Madam Qin turned to Zhao Rou and said, "Rou'er, on the day the Zhou family takes in the concubine, invite Qin out. Leave their Zhou family matters for them to mess around with themselves. Don't let them cause Qin trouble."
"Yes, Mother."
Green Tide Courtyard.
Qin Chuyuan had just come from seeing his mother and returned to his own study.
"Has there been any news from the border these last couple days?"
Just as he finished speaking, Qin Yi suddenly appeared from some unknown corner and stood before Qin Chuyuan.
"In reply to Young Master, no, there has not."
Hearing there was none, Qin Chuyuan frowned. Several days ago they received the first letter from the border informing them their army was about to march overnight. He wondered how things were going?
