From doomsday survival to fast-forward daily life

The banks of the Lu River are close to the southwestern border, but the war has not yet spread here.

The scenery here is quite different from the elegance of Shangjing.

The patterns of the buildings seem to have softened the characteristics of the southwest and the south of the Yangtze River, and the plants are also becoming lush, unlike the low ones in Shangjing.

The Lushui River is called the Mother River by people in this area. This river runs through the entire southwest.

Qiu Niang's father was a censor when she got married, but at this time he should still be working on the banks of the Lu River, and his whole family was there.

Qiu Niang's family name is Wang, and the location of her mansion can be found out with a little inquiry. After all, there is only one family with the surname Wang serving as an official in the local area.

Tian Yu had quite smooth travels here these days. After all, she had experience of long journeys in other copies. Although she had no props, she was also very good at hiding herself.

She thought that after meeting Qiu Niang, many problems would be solved.

Three days after submitting the visiting card, she was finally able to enter the palace. Unexpectedly, there was no such person as Qiu Niang in the palace.

The royal family had only two sons.

Tian Yu was dumbfounded.

In Qiu Niang's memory, she should have been good at playing the piano, chess, calligraphy and painting since she was a child. She grew up in a mansion with the etiquette of a lady from a noble family, and she was not an illegitimate daughter.

But why did she not see Qiu Niang when she actually entered the palace?

Tian Yu still didn't give up, so he asked around in the local area, but the result he got was always that the royal family had only sons and no daughters at all.

Out of hesitation, she even kidnapped a servant from the palace, and after interrogating him, she confirmed that there were no women in the palace.

Will the characters in different timelines also change accordingly? Does Qiu Niang not exist in this timeline?

With a lot of questions in mind, Tian Yu set out on the journey back to the city.

This long journey not only failed to solve the doubts in my heart, but instead brought up more problems.

For a moment, she doubted whether she could find the next key person in the series of tasks.

The banks of the Lushui River are on the southwest edge, quite a distance from where General Chen suppressed the rebellion.

Tian Yu originally had no plan to meet him. After all, this trip was just a way to escape, so it would be better to return early.

The day before she was about to leave, she heard news from the streets that General Chen, the famous general who had suppressed the rebellion in the southwest, was preparing to return to the capital and would arrive at the banks of the Lu River in three days.

After some thought, Tian Yu thought that she might as well stay and wait. She had too many problems to solve, and perhaps General Chen could provide her with a breakthrough.

Three days later, a woman approached the soldiers' camp outside the city and threatened to see their commander.

Just as the guards were about to drive the man away, the deputy general passing by suddenly recognized the man.

"How dare you!" The deputy general beside General Chen hurried over.

----

"Why did the young lady suddenly appear here?"

In response to the deputy general's questions, Tian Yu did not say much, but just said that he wanted to see General Chen.

The only person who knew the truth about pretending to be sick and leaving Beijing was Madam Li. The reason Tian Yu gave her at the time was that he had received an order from the eldest princess and had to go to the southwest for urgent matters.

After not seeing him for nearly a year, General Chen's old face looked even more weathered, and the murderous aura on him was much stronger than when he was in the mansion.

When he saw Tian Yu, he did not ask his daughter why she came here, but asked first: "Is everything okay at home?"

"My eldest brother claimed to be ill before the southwest war and has been recuperating at home for several months; my second brother entered the Hanlin Academy and should have been under the command of the eldest princess." Tian Yu recounted in detail the changes that had happened to everyone during the time that General Chen was away from home.

"Mother is still the same, managing the family in an orderly manner, but sometimes she misses you very much; the two aunts are doing their usual work and helping the family a lot..."

Tian Yu spoke in detail, slowly telling General Chen everything that happened in the mansion from top to bottom.

This family is different from other wealthy families. Although there are frictions in the family, they are all in the same boat. Even if the head of the family is not around, it won't cause any big disturbances.

After listening to Tian Yu's description carefully, General Chen suddenly asked, "What about you?"

Tian Yu hesitated after hearing this. After thinking it over, he only said, "I am deeply worried."

General Chen did not ask any more questions, but smiled: "There is a big difference between the temperament of this princess and the emperor."

"Serving the emperor is like serving a tiger. It has always been like this."

Tian Yu lowered her head and said, "My daughter came here this time because she is very confused and wants to find out the truth. I hope my father can help her solve her doubts."

"Just say it."

"It is now clear what the princess intends to do, but I still don't know whether the ship in the general's mansion will leak. The princess's intentions often confuse me."

Tian Yu has always believed that there is probably much more in General Chen's mind than what he has discovered.

General Chen sighed and brought up an old story.

"When the late emperor was alive, the times were peaceful and prosperous. He had eight sons and three daughters, and this eldest princess was the youngest daughter."

"Even so, he is gifted and intelligent, and has already surpassed his elder brother since he was young. The late emperor even commented that if he were a man, he would probably be the crown prince..."

Tian Yu sat up straight and listened quietly to this secret.

"Later, foreign tribes invaded the border, and the emperor ordered the then crown prince to go into battle, but the army was defeated miserably, and the crown prince's body and head were separated. His head was hung on a flagpole for more than half a month to show everyone."

"This incident shocked the government and the public, and also started the turmoil in this dynasty."

Tian Yu was extremely shocked when he heard this, as this story had never appeared in his memory.

"Father, why have I never heard of this?" Tian Yu asked.

"Of course we should keep silent about such scandals, especially since you were not even born yet."

As soon as these words came out, Tian Yu realized something was wrong.

"Was the war finally settled by the princess herself?" she asked.

General Chen nodded upon hearing this: "Indeed."

Tian Yu managed to suppress the shock in his heart.

Jing is only sixteen years old this year. This incident happened before she was born. The eldest princess has been pacifying the border for at least sixteen years.

But she looks no more than thirty years old now.

"The eldest princess..." Tian Yu spoke hesitantly.

General Chen looked at Tian Yu with a complicated expression in his eyes: "If you calculate carefully, the eldest princess is nearly fifty years old..."

Tian Yu then realized where he was wrong. The story of the eldest princess pacifying the border had been circulating in the streets, and she had always been called a heroine.

Now the new emperor is only thirty-five years old.

"This is why your father asked you to stay with the eldest princess."

"This is a royal secret, and very few people know about it." General Chen seemed to have been keeping this secret for a long time.

"I was still young when the princess pacified the border, but my father was already famous and was her deputy general."

"I once saw her from afar when she was on the expedition. The princess was extremely beautiful then, just as she is now."