CH 65.1

Chapter 65.1 – Getting Married

General Sun wasn’t an important figure in the royal court, but he wasn’t some unknown person either. He was Great General Ji’s right hand man in his early years. Later on, he was injured and lost an arm, so he returned to the capital and was given a position without much work needing to be done as his ‘pension’.

But now, Great General Ji died in battle but General Sun was sent to the northwest. Something unusual was happening.

The Spring Wind Pavilion quickly tried to verify this information that was obtained by chance. Unfortunately, as previously mentioned, General Sun left the capital secretly, and it wasn’t easy to verify.

Finally, they happened across some bits and pieces of information. General Sun was said to be sick at home, and had not been seen for many days. On top of that, they learnt another piece of news unexpectedly – the military supplies for the northwest were doubled this year.

The army had not moved yet, but the food and horse feed already went in advance. This seemed like another sign that war was going to start…

This piece of news that seemed correct but actually not, was finally passed on. How it would develop next was no longer under Lu Qipei and Qi Yang’s control. But Lu Qipei was curious, “So where is General Sun now?”

Qi Yang wrote a letter back to her, “He went northwest.”

To deceive someone, you should combine nine parts of truth and one part of falsehood to mix the truth with lies. It was true that General Sun went northwest.

The Liang State still had troops stationed in the northwest, and the Rong State did not conquer all the tribes when it was established. Some of the tribes of the grassland didn’t want to surrender, so they moved northwest. The situation in the northwest nowadays was good for Liang, but it was a hidden danger for Rong.

General Sun leaving the capital was not the important part – it was his departure to the northwest. Whether he would join the war by redeploying the troops that were originally stationed in the northwest, or contact the tribes that were expelled to bite back, both would be fatal for the current Rong. After all, they had sent away a large percentage of their men to the border, leaving their home empty.

Of course, this was also one possible strategy to defeat the enemy. However, it’s not like Liang had a particularly good relationship with those tribes that were expelled to the northwest either – it wouldn’t be easy for them to join forces within a short time. What’s more, there was no basis for the two sides to trust each other, and Liang wouldn’t be able to fight in two fronts at the same time.

Therefore, after discussing with some important officials, the Emperor decided that it was not a good course of option, and sought to keep the northwest stable first and foremost.

Of course, Qi Yang did not persuade the Emperor to change the situation in the northwest. She only suggested him to send someone to lead a surprise unit to bypass those tribes and go directly to Rong State, creating the illusion that there would be a change in the northwest.

Now, the news had reached Xie Yuan through the Spring Wind Pavilion. When there was a change happening in the northwest, his worries would definitely increase.

Unfortunately, Qi Yang had not been allowed to leave the palace recently, and they could only communicate with each other through letters. But now, they stuck to each other even more – sometimes, one letter a day was not enough for them. It was normal for the letters to go back and forth several times a day, making the spies who helped send the letters almost doubt their duties.

In mid-October, the weather turned colder. There was even a snowstorm in the north, but the war was still in full swing.

Maybe because the Crown Prince went to the northern border, the tense atmosphere in the capital caused by the war gradually eased, and life returned to the way it was before. Even Lu Qipei’s days in the Court of Judicial review became much more calm and relaxed.

Of course, Lu Qipei’s calm and relaxation in the Court of Judicial Review might not be due to the stability in the capital. Her colleagues knew that she was about to get married and had to prepare for the wedding, so they didn’t ask her to do many things. Not to mention anyone else, even the Vice Minister didn’t let her go to see the dead bodies. One was because it was taboo, and the other was to save her from running around all day.

Yes, Qi Yang’s long awaited wedding date was finally approaching – it was set just before the winter solstice at the end of October. The cold was not a friendly weather for a couple to get married and invite relatives, but Qi Yang chose the day herself.

Shortly after the Emperor decreed the wedding, the Astronomical Directorate cam to ask Qi Yang and Lu Qipei’s birthdays. The two of them were very compatible, and a few auspicious dates were chosen, but they were very far away. The nearest one was at the end of October, and the next one was at the beginning of Spring next year. The Emperor had no particular opinion, but Qi Yang obviously didn’t want to delay, so she had to choose this day.

Fortunately, although before the wedding the Emperor procrastinated and was very reluctant to marry off his daughter, when the time came for the wedding, he wouldn’t make things difficult for them anymore. Now, everyone knew that Princess Qi Yang and her bridegroom were due to get married at the end of October, which could be regarded as a happy event in the current uneasy situation.

The wedding was approaching, and the two would not be distracted by anything else anymore. Everything else could wait until after they had gotten married.