On the wedding day, my wife was abnormal

"General Yue, are you still worried?"

The carriage curtain was lifted by a hand, revealing Lin Zhen's face, which wore his signature, somewhat lazy smile.

"This humble general...this humble general just feels that this journey is too dangerous. Your Majesty and the Prince's precious lives should not be put to such risk." Yue Fei reined in his horse, hesitated for a moment, and then voiced his concerns.

"Dangerous?" Lin Zhen laughed. "In the entire Great Qian Dynasty, what place is more dangerous than being surrounded by 200,000 troops on the northern grasslands?"

Yue Fei was momentarily speechless, unsure how to respond.

Yes, compared to that almost certain death siege, this little spectacle is nothing.

"Don't worry." Lin Zhen lowered the carriage curtain, and his voice came from inside the carriage. "There are some people who won't show their faces unless we go out. Your prince and I are the bait."

Upon hearing this, Yue Fei was startled.

He understood instantly.

Your Majesty and Your Highness, this is not a casual gesture of condolence at all.

This is a ploy to lure the snake out of its hole!

Having figured this out, Yue Fei's unease was instantly replaced by a soldier's high morale and fighting spirit.

He said no more, but silently adjusted his posture, unconsciously tightening his grip on the reins, and his eyes began to warily scan every pedestrian on the surrounding official road.

Inside the carriage.

Murong Yan leaned on Lin Zhen's shoulder, covered with a soft phoenix feather brocade quilt.

Today, she did not wear an elaborate phoenix hairstyle. Her long, black, and lustrous hair was simply tied back with a black jade phoenix hairpin, making her appear less regal and more like a gentle, approachable woman.

That jet-black phoenix-adorned dress, without the matching embroidered robe, was worn so casually.

The five-zhang-long, dark gold train stretched out inside the spacious carriage, like a dense, tranquil night sky.

The giant phoenix woven with real gold thread on the skirt shimmered with light in the sunlight streaming through the car window, making it look incredibly lifelike.

"Husband, was General Yue frightened by us?" Murong Yan opened her clear, moon-like phoenix eyes and looked at Lin Zhen, a hint of girlish slyness on her face.

“He wasn’t scared, he just couldn’t understand.” Lin Zhen smiled and gently tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “He couldn’t understand why we would take such a big risk to do something so thankless.”

"Husband, do you think it's worth it for us to do this?" Murong Yan looked at him, a hint of uncertainty, which she herself did not realize, flickered in her beautiful phoenix eyes.

Although he appeared decisive and ruthless in the imperial court and before the army, he was also a ruler who could make absolute decisions.

But deep down, she still needs to be affirmed and recognized as a woman.

“Of course it’s worth it.” Lin Zhen lowered his head and gave her a loving kiss on her smooth forehead. “Yan’er, you must remember that water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it. The army is the foundation of a country, and soldiers are every brick that makes up that foundation.”

"Only when every brick and stone is willing to die for us can this country truly be as solid as a rock."

"I understand." Murong Yan nodded, resting her head in Lin Zhen's arms like a weary phoenix that had found a safe haven.

The convoy was not moving fast. Their first destination was a small county town called Qinghe County, about 300 li away from Yumen Pass.

That place is the hometown of a centurion named "Zhao Tieniu" who was among the fallen soldiers in this battle.

When the convoy arrived in Qinghe County at dusk on the second day.

This small county town was unusually quiet.

Perhaps it's because the shadow of war hasn't completely dissipated.

There weren't many pedestrians on the street, and everyone had a hint of tension on their face.

Lin Zhen and Murong Yan, accompanied by the local magistrate, arrived at Zhao Tieniu's house.

It looked like a fairly tidy brick house, with several jujube trees planted in the yard and some dried vegetables drying under the trees. A woman who looked to be in her early forties, with a robust build and a kind face, was chopping firewood in the yard.

Beside him was a little boy of about seven or eight years old. The boy had a chubby face and was holding a wooden knife, which he was gesturing with great seriousness.

"Ha! When I grow up, I want to be a great general like my father! And slaughter all those barbarians from the northern deserts!"

The innocent voices of children echoed in the quiet courtyard.

The woman chopping wood smiled with love and pride upon hearing her son's words.

But as she laughed, her eyes reddened. She wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes and said to her son in a hoarse voice, "Tiger, stop practicing and come inside to eat."

"Mom, I'm not hungry. I want to wait for Dad to come back so we can eat together." The little boy looked up at his mother, his clear eyes filled with anticipation.

"Your father..." Upon hearing her son's words, the woman could no longer hold back and squatted on the ground, hugging her knees and sobbing uncontrollably.

"Mom, what's wrong? Don't cry." The little boy was so frightened when he saw his mother crying that he dropped the wooden knife in his hand and ran to hug his mother.

"Mother is fine, Mother just... misses your father." The woman hugged her son tightly, her clothes already soaked with tears.

Murong Yan watched the scene before her quietly, a layer of glistening mist rising in her usually aloof phoenix eyes.

She didn't allow anyone to disturb the mother and son, who were immersed in grief.

She simply watched quietly.

After a long while, she slowly stepped down from the blue cloth carriage.

The magistrate of Qinghe County, who was accompanying her, was completely dumbfounded the moment he saw Murong Yan.

Although he had received notice from his superiors that a high-ranking official from the capital would be coming to his small county of Qinghe today to offer condolences to the families of the fallen soldiers.

But he never dreamed that it would be Her Majesty the current Empress who came!

"Your subject... Your subject Li Mao pays respects to Your Majesty! Long live Your Majesty! Long live Your Majesty!"

After realizing what had happened, the magistrate was so frightened that his legs went weak and he knelt down with a thud, kowtowing to Murong Yan.

Behind him, the constables also knelt down.

In the courtyard, the mother and son, who were still embracing and weeping, were stunned by the loud commotion at the door.

They looked up and gazed toward the doorway.

When they saw that woman, who was as beautiful as a goddess descended from the heavens, and so noble that they dared not look directly at her.

They were stunned.

"Your Majesty... Your Majesty?"

The woman looked at Murong Yan with disbelief on her honest and simple face.

She was just an ordinary countrywoman, but she had seen a portrait of Her Majesty the Empress on a notice in the county town. The portrait couldn't even capture one ten-thousandth of the real person's beauty and majesty, but she still recognized her at a glance.

"This humble subject...this humble subject Wang Xiu'e greets Your Majesty!"

She quickly pulled her son up from the ground and was about to kneel down to pay her respects to Murong Yan.

"No need to be polite."