Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

Zhao Bei was genuinely grateful to Xia Yu; everyone understood what these things represented. Xia Yu's cousin, Chang Yuan, was here, and she could easily have attributed the credit to him, but she didn't; instead, she gave it to him. And when he reported to the court, he could choose whose name to include. The princess was paving the way for him!

If Xia Yu knew what he was thinking, she would definitely laugh. She couldn't possibly consider so many things. She didn't give it to Changyuan solely because she didn't want him to stay in the army forever. Now that she had persuaded him to go back and study hard, why would she give him such a great military achievement at this crucial moment? Early fame isn't necessarily a good thing. What he needs now is to calm down, study hard, practice martial arts, and ideally, find a wife.

On the other hand, he had already achieved the feat of being the first to scale the city walls during the attack on Dingcheng, which was enough for him now.

Using the account books and documents Xia Yu had given her, Zhao Bei quickly uncovered all the people in the city who had connections with Prince Ding'an and Mr. Hua. In the end, it turned out that over a hundred officials and wealthy merchants, both high and low-ranking, were related to him or Mr. Hua. Seeing that so many people were involved, Zhao Bei didn't arrest their families directly, but instead had their residences surrounded, forbidding them from entering or leaving. After handling all this, the two newly arrived garrison commanders and the chief steward from the capital arrived.

"General Shen? What brings you here?" Xia Yu asked, somewhat surprised to see Shen Jingxun. He had refused to be stationed in Japan before, so why was he willing to come to this small place, Dingcheng, now?

Shen Jingxun blushed involuntarily upon seeing Xia Yu, and his speech became less fluent than usual.

"Greetings...Greetings, Your Highness the Eldest Princess!"

"General, it's only been a few months, why are you being so polite?"

"No...no, the princess's contributions to the court in Jialing have been widely known in the capital, and I also...I admire the princess very much."

Hearing her say that, Xia Yu thought for a moment but still didn't understand what the other person was talking about. Unable to figure it out, she simply stopped thinking about it and continued...

"Now that General Shen has come to garrison Jialing Pass, General Zhao and I can return to the capital with peace of mind."

"Back to the capital? The princess is going back to the capital?" Shen Jingxun's voice suddenly rose upon hearing Xia Yu's words.

Seeing his strong reaction, Xia Yu was a little stunned and nodded.

"Of course I'm going back to the capital. What would I be doing here if I didn't go back?"

"But...but...my third brother said you have to stay here for another year before returning to the capital!" Thinking of the information Shen Jingheng inadvertently revealed, otherwise why would he have submitted several memorials requesting to guard Jialing Pass?

"Your third brother? Lord Shen?" Xia Yu asked, frowning slightly.

"Yes," Shen Jingxun nodded heavily.

"I haven't received any orders," Xia Yu said, shaking his head.

"Besides, what am I, a woman, supposed to do here? I'm not going to fight on the battlefield!"

"What am I going to do if you leave? I came here because of you!" Shen Jingxun blurted out his thoughts in his anxiety when he saw that she was indeed leaving.

Xia Yu blinked, looking at his anxious face, and thought to herself...

'What is he talking about? Why would he come for me? I didn't ask him to come.'

Seeing Xia Yu staring wide-eyed at Shen Jingxun, Da Niu and Shi Jiu were both anxious to pull her away. How could she have that expression in the face of a man's confession? Shouldn't she be shy and bashful?

It's not surprising that Xia Yu reacted this way; she genuinely hadn't grasped what the other person meant. It seemed she didn't even consider him a man.

Stared at by Xia Yu, Shen Jingxun's face turned even redder, but he was also secretly pleased. "The princess's reaction means she must be interested in me too, right?" So he went ahead and said the words he had been silently practicing in his mind for a long time.

“Princess, I have loved you for a long time, we can…we can…” He couldn’t finish his sentence, mainly because he didn’t know how to say it.

Xia Yu finally understood what he meant by saying it was because of her. Her face flushed instantly, even her ears felt hot.

"I'm still young, I haven't... I haven't thought about this yet. I have something to do, I'll go back first." Xia Yu endured the burning sensation on her face, barely managed to finish speaking, and then quickly walked out of the flower hall.

Da Niu and Shi Jiu glanced at Shen Jingxun, whose gaze was constantly following Xia Yu, with some sympathy. Their young lady was like an iron tree that would never bloom, and then quickly followed him out.

So it turns out that Miss wasn't shameless; she just didn't understand General Shen's meaning at all.

Xia Yu walked to her courtyard, feeling a little dizzy. Someone had just confessed their feelings to her! This was the first time in her nearly thirty years of life that a boy had ever confessed to her.

She covered her feverish face with her hands, thinking about how Shen Jingxun had confessed his feelings to her earlier. He looked like a lovesick fool.

Standing at the door, Nineteen and Da Niu exchanged a worried glance. What did their young lady's expression mean? Did she also like General Shen? Then why did she reject him just now?

After standing at the door for a while, Da Niu finally couldn't hold back any longer and asked...

"Miss, do you like General Shen?"

"Huh?" Xia Yu exclaimed in surprise at first, then shook her head and said...

"I don't like it! Why do you ask that?"

Da Niu frowned, looking at Xia Yu's happy expression, and asked in confusion, "If you don't like General Shen, why do you look so happy?"

"Big Girl, Nineteen, I just never expected that someone would like me, and even confess to me in person."

Hearing Xia Yu's words, Nineteen and Da Niu were even more puzzled. How could their young lady think that no one liked her? Many people liked her, but her status was noble, and she was beautiful. Just her current position alone made many people only dare to like her silently in their hearts, not daring to say it out loud. Did their young lady lack confidence?

Nineteen silently went to the dressing table, moved the vanity mirror, and placed it in front of Xia Yu.

"Nineteen, what are you doing moving the mirror?"

"Miss, I just want you to see how beautiful the woman in the mirror is?"

Xia Yu glanced at herself in the mirror and saw a face with rosy cheeks, a face that looked just like her own.

"I look in the mirror every day, of course I know I'm good-looking."

"Miss, since you know you're beautiful, how can you still think no one likes you?" Nineteen didn't say it aloud, but in her heart she felt that Lord Shen must also like the young lady.

"Does anyone like me? But it seems like no one has ever told me!" Xia Yu thought about all the men she had met, but it seemed like there were none of them around her age.

Hearing her answer, the two girls were speechless. Was this something she could just casually say?