Chapter 497: March
Editor: Atlas Studios
Qi Haoran only replied to Mu Yangling, “I’m safe.”
Mu Yangling read this sentence three to four times before confirming she hadn’t read it wrongly. Lying on the pillow, she could not help but sob.
Her son was so frightened that he opened his round eyes. He turned to look at his mother for a moment before crying loudly.
Spring and Rain were anxious. “Fourth Madam, stop crying. You’re still in confinement. Besides, it’s a good thing that Fourth Master is safe and sound.”
“That’s right, that’s right. Look, Young Master’s face is red from crying with you.” Rain patted the child tenderly.
Mu Yangling went forward and picked up her son. She hugged him as she cried hard. “Son, your father is still alive. Why doesn’t he remember to give you a name? I told him to give you a name, but he still forgot. It’s fine if he forgot to give you a name, but how can he not say more about such a big matter as your birth? How can he only bring back this one sentence? When he comes back in the future, you’re definitely not allowed to call him ‘Father’. You have to get him to apologize to you…”
Spring and Rain looked at each other and thought that Mu Yangling must be overjoyed. They shook their heads and left the house.
Spring went to the kitchen to check on Mu Yangling’s lunch, while Rain went to fetch water to wash Mu Yangling’s face. Just then, Wen Cui hurriedly ran over. “How’s Fourth Madam?”
Stunned, Spring smiled and said, “Sister Wen Cui is here. Our Fourth Madam is fine. Why do you ask?”
Wen Cui sized up the two of them and said, “Who are you lying to? Just now, a maidservant went to report that Fourth Madam hugged Third Young Master and cried. Our Eldest Madam nearly fell to the ground in shock. However, since our Second Young Master’s health isn’t good, Eldest Madam can’t leave his side at this time, so she asked me to come and take a look.”
Spring and Rain shuddered and asked, “Is Second Young Master not feeling well?” Then, they hurriedly explained, “Our Fourth Madam received Fourth Master’s letter and was happy, so she hugged Third Young Master and cried tears of joy. Wasn’t Second Young Master fine before? He even wanted to play with our Third Young Master.”
“Isn’t that so?” Wen Cui forced a smile and said, “But it’s summer now, and the weather in Jiangnan is a little abnormal. Perhaps because he was exposed to the wind in the small garden yesterday, he has a runny nose and keeps crying. It’s only because Second Young Master cries softly that you didn’t hear him.”
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“Since Fourth Madam is fine, I’ll go over and reply with relief. Take good care of Fourth Madam for the next two days. Don’t go to our residence if there’s nothing else, lest you catch the illness from him. The adults are fine, but there’s still a little ancestor in your residence.”
Spring and Rain immediately agreed. When Rain returned with water, she told Mu Yangling about Little Treasure’s illness. “What did Physician Sun say?”
“Physician Sun said that the evil wind entered his body. Although it’s not a big deal, the child’s body is weak, especially since Second Young Master was born prematurely, so we have to be extra careful.”
“In that case, tell Eldest Madam that she doesn’t have to worry about me. Tell her to focus on taking care of Second Young Master.”
After Rain agreed, Mu Yangling asked Spring to get the guards to inform Fan Zijin that Qi Haoran’s letter informing them of his safety had arrived…
Fan Zijin only got someone to reply, “Got it.” He did not come over at all because he had also received Qi Haoran’s letter. In fact, his letter was even much longer than Mu Yangling’s letter. This surprised him, so he was naturally unwilling to travel so far just to read a sentence.
Yanmo really wanted to remind his master that although Young Master Haoran had written him a long letter, half of it was regarding serious matters. The other half was Young Master Haoran constantly flaunting that he was now a father and asking Fan Zijin to take care of his family. He really didn’t understand what was there to be proud of.
Fan Zijin was only proud for a moment before he focused on serious matters. Qi Haoran had already “escaped” the siege of Liu Dahei and Lin Man. As long as he hid his tracks and escaped Jinghu, he would be able to meet up with the Imperial Court’s army and be completely safe.
Therefore, Fan Zijin wanted to facilitate the expedition of the Imperial Court’s army. Whether it was to intimidate the bandits to make them surrender in exchange for amnesty or to really eliminate the bandits, the 200,000-strong army surrounding the Jinghu area had to advance as soon as possible. Only then could their line of sight be diverted and the rebel forces be restrained. Qi Haoran would also be safer.
Fan Zijin understood this logic, and so did the others. The secret report that entered the capital earlier than Qi Haoran’s letter was that Qi Haoran had successfully broken out of the encirclement with his men, but they did not know the details. However, they only had less than half of their men left…
No one would believe that Qi Haoran could escape the encirclement alive and even bring more than 1,400 men out with him.
Due to everyone’s doubts about this secret report, the Emperor had no choice but to call Fan Zijin, who had received Qi Haoran’s handwritten letter, to the Imperial Court.
He knew that Mu Yangling had also received a note, but the content was too boring. Moreover, the other party was a woman, so he could only send for Fan Zijin.
Fan Zijin was still a little confused when he entered the palace. The eunuch who announced the decree did not reveal a single word to him.
Although he was a jinshi now, he was actually not in the Imperial Court’s official system. As he did not participate in the Hanlin Bachelor Examination, when his peers had already taken root in the Hanlin Academy or the six departments or localities, he was still doing business. This was the second time he stood here since he last came for the Palace Examinations.
The Emperor gently asked about the letter Qi Haoran had written to him and told him about the courtiers’ suspicions, hoping that he could give everyone an answer on behalf of Qi Haoran.
Fan Zijin raised his head proudly and said, “Your Majesty, Assistant Commander Qi successfully escaped because of his ability and his luck. I, your student, have no idea why the officials are suspicious.”
Having passed the Palace Examinations, Fan Zijin was considered a Student of the Son of Heaven. Therefore, he referred to himself as the Emperor’s student.
“The people at the foot of the mountain are just a motley crew formed by farmers who have lost their land. Although there are more than 30,000 of them, they belong to two different factions. After surrounding Haoran for 18 days, every day, they didn’t even manage to touch the corner of Haoran’s clothes. From this, it can be seen how useless the rebels are.”
“As for Haoran, he was familiar with military books since he was young. Later on, he was personally taught by his eldest brother. It might be impossible for him to take down 30,000 enemies with 3,000 soldiers, but it’s not impossible for him to defend his position. Your Majesty, look, hasn’t he succeeded?”
The Emperor lowered his head to look at Fan Zijin and asked, “Did Minister Qi not mention the exact process in the letter?”
Fan Zijin said nonchalantly, “I don’t know the details, but he did mention a few things. He said that Liu Dahei had a conflict with Lin Man and the battle had slowed down recently. That’s why he grabbed the opportunity and ran away with his men. Your Majesty, I don’t know where Haoran is now, but he hasn’t eaten or drunk anything. Please send an army to rescue him as soon as possible and capture all the bandits in Jinghu.”
The Emperor’s lips twitched as he looked at the silent officials below. He thought for a moment and said, “Minister Fan is right. Order the army to set off immediately and march forward. We must capture all 130,000 rebels in Jinghu.”