New Song Dynasty: My Wife is an Imperial Princess

Under Tang Jing's guidance, Qiu shielded her eyes with her hand and looked into the distance. Sure enough, she saw a fleet of ships sailing downstream. When the first ship docked, Tang Xiaoqi was the first to jump off. Qiu immediately went to greet her and looked Tang Xiaoqi up and down several times. Her voice was tinged with sobs as she spoke: "No matter what, it's good that one of them has come back. Is Qian'er really in Youzhou City as you said in your letter?"

Tang Xiaoqi clasped his hands and bowed to the Madam and Miss: "Replying to Madam, the young master is doing well in Youzhou City. Not only did he marry Princess Shunde, but his relationship with the Jin Kingdom princess is also unclear. If Xiaoqi is not mistaken, the young master will return to Guangling City soon and will surely bring back two daughters-in-law for Madam."

"Don't be so outspoken. In this dynasty, is it possible for a prince consort to marry a concubine? Especially since the other party is a princess of the Jin Kingdom?" Tang Xiaoqi's answer made Qiu Shi laugh heartily, but she quickly realized that she had been led astray by the other party. "You mean, Tang Qian has a way to escape from Youzhou? Then why doesn't he escape back now so that I can be at ease sooner?"

"The young master is not alone now. He has a large family in Youzhou, and he plans to bring them all along. So the plan must be perfect and there can be no mistakes. Otherwise, no one will be able to escape."

Leaving aside whether the Seventh Princess would return to the Song Dynasty with her young master, just considering the entourage and guards of Princess Zhao Yingluo, the two groups together numbered more than forty people, which was certainly not as discreet as Tang Qian traveling alone in a lightly equipped manner.

"Young Master asked me to return first, firstly to let my family know I'm safe and sound so that Master and Madam wouldn't worry too much, and secondly, to streamline the staff and send people back in batches, which is also part of his plan."

Of course, Tang Qian had another purpose in sending Tang Xiaoqi back to the Song Dynasty first: to rob the Taoist temple and collect various raw materials for alchemy. By looking at the cargo ships at the dock, whose waterline reached the ship's side, he knew that Tang Xiaoqi had already exceeded his mission.

"Hey, Xiao Qi, tell me, is Princess Shunde pretty? Is she a good match for Tang Qian?"

It has to be said that Tang Qian is good at nothing but his looks. Back in Tokyo, if he didn't speak, his actions alone could win the hearts of the young ladies in various families. But as soon as he opened his mouth to recite poetry, he could immediately dissuade everyone.

"Princess Shunde lives up to her title, with a gentle temperament and virtuous character. She is indeed a good match for our young master. However, in terms of beauty, she is not as good as the Seventh Princess of Jin."

Seeing that the topic seemed to have gone off track again, Tang Xiaoqi immediately changed the subject and lowered his voice, "Young Master said that the current peaceful coexistence between the Song and Jin dynasties is just a facade. The Jin dynasty will definitely not let this go and may soon march south. This time, they will definitely conquer the capital city of Tokyo, and the north of the Song dynasty will be covered by war one after another. Perhaps Guangling City will suffer a great disaster as a result. In order to avoid this situation, Young Master sent Xiaoqi back to make preparations in advance. The six ships in front of us are carrying what Young Master wants, and they need to be properly preserved."

"It's alright, it's just six ships' worth of goods. The Qiu family's warehouse is very large. Just have the porters unload the goods and transport them over."

Tang Xiaoqi shook her head: "No, the young master said that these things need to be categorized, and one of them, saltpeter, needs to be hidden well. The best way is to store them separately."

Upon hearing this, Qiu frowned: "How should we disperse them?"

"Young Master's idea is to set up several warehouses around Guangling City, with no contact between them. The only people who know about this are us, so we must not let it slip."

"That's not complicated. We can just rent a few rooms in the surrounding villages and hire different porters to transport the goods. But what use are these sulfur and cinnabar? Can Qian'er really defeat the Jin people with these things?"

Back in Youzhou, Tang Qian hadn't explained the purpose of these things in detail, so Tang Xiaoqi naturally didn't know what Tang Qian wanted to do. He only needed to follow Tang Qian's instructions and wait for his young master to return to Guangling with his beautiful wife and concubines. Then, Tang Qian would naturally have his own plans.

"Tang Xiaoqi? You actually came to Guangling?"

A crisp, urgent voice suddenly came from behind him, startling Tang Xiaoqi, who was directing the boatmen to unload cargo at the dock. He almost jumped out of his skin. Turning his head, he saw two pretty girls not far away, looking at him with delighted smiles.

One of the women, dressed in pink, had delicate features but a mischievous glint in her eyes. She was Ling'er, the personal maid who served Miss Tang Jing. Tang Xiaoqi guessed that she was the one who had startled her earlier. The woman next to Ling'er looked completely unfamiliar, and Tang Xiaoqi was certain she didn't recognize her.

"This is Chuxia, the maid of the second young lady of the Ye family in Guangling. She came to inquire about our young master on behalf of her mistress. My mistress said you were working here, so she sent Chuxia to find you."

"Inquiring about my young master's situation?" Tang Xiaoqi glanced at the young lady, Chu Xia, whose face was already flushed. "What do you mean by that?"

"Oh dear, these are matters concerning our elders, so please don't pry. Just tell us about our young master's current situation, and whether he has truly married a princess?"

Although he didn't understand, Tang Xiaoqi scratched his head and smiled sheepishly: "You already know, so why are you asking me?"

He was very busy completing the task assigned by Tang Qian. He needed to keep a close eye on the dock at all times and could not afford to make any mistakes. How could he have time to chat with these two young girls?

As soon as he finished speaking, Tang Xiaoqi clearly felt that the girl from early summer pause slightly, her smile froze on her face, and her delicate eyebrows furrowed.

Seeing the girl's expression at the beginning of summer, Tang Xiaoqi knew that he must have said something wrong, which caused such a big emotional fluctuation in her. But what puzzled him was that he had only told the truth and he really didn't know where he had gone wrong.

After exchanging a few more casual words with the two, the young lady said she had to go back to serve her mistress. Without waiting for Tang Xiaoqi's reply, she turned around and hurriedly left. Her slender figure moved as swiftly as the wind and soon disappeared into Dongguanmen Street opposite the dock.

"Just who is this young lady from early summer? Tell me about her background, so I don't offend her without knowing why."

Ling'er looked in the direction Chu Xia had left and sighed, "What does this have to do with you? It's all our young master's romantic entanglements."