Quick Transmigration: Survive to the End

"Sister, I've been waiting for you for so long."

Upon hearing that familiar voice, Li Yinyin turned around, her face showing a mixture of surprise and delight: "Why are you here?"

"When my elder brother saw that I had nothing to do, he sent me to accompany my sister to worship our ancestors."

Not in the Ming Kingdom at the moment, Chu Ziran was dressed properly in a white brocade robe with silver embroidery, her hair tied up with a jade crown, her eyes full of affection, and her temperament refined. Just sitting upright in the carriage, one would subconsciously feel that she was of extraordinary origin.

Chu Ziran focused her attention solely on Li Yinyin: "Where are you planning to go right now, sister?"

"I was just about to head back," Li Yinyin said as she walked to the carriage and stepped onto the horse's saddle. A hand reached out to her. She gently placed it on the saddle and quickly got into the carriage.

"Ouch," Li Zhenzhen clutched her cheek, complaining of toothache, "You two are just taking advantage of me because I'm alone in Yunzhou, aren't you?"

“Who said the princess was alone in Yunzhou?” Chu Ziran laughed. “Commander Han and the little princess came to Yunzhou with me.”

Upon hearing that her husband and daughter had arrived, Li Zhenzhen disregarded the inappropriateness of the situation and immediately boarded the carriage, ordering her servants to return home quickly.

"Princess?" Young Master Zhao, who remained where he was, gripped his fan tightly, a disbelief forming in his mind.

Only then did Young Master Tong notice the woman who had emerged from the crowd and was attending to the carriage. He murmured, his voice filled with a mixture of regret and complexity, "So, I have met her before."

The two stood there until they could no longer see any trace of the carriage before turning back.

The carriage smoothly drove towards the former residence of the Li family in Yunzhou City. The place was not large, but it was tidy and had old memories, so Li Yinyin did not mind at all.

Once inside the house, Li Zhenzhen went to see her husband and daughter, while Li Yinyin and Chu Ziran went straight back to their own courtyards.

"Is there something you want me to tell you, brother?"

Chu Ziran was taken aback at first, but quickly laughed again: "As expected, you can't hide it from your sister."

"His Majesty said that my sister need not rush back. After the autumn harvest, he will launch a military campaign against Shu. I am here to help my sister with the ancestral worship ceremony and to tell her about the situation in Shu. In a few days, my elder brother will also set off with the army."

Now that the Jiang Kingdom has been conquered, and the surrounding smaller kingdoms have been mostly dealt with in recent days, it is only natural for the eldest brother to press on and launch a military campaign against the Shu Kingdom.

"After the autumn harvest, the weather will get cold. Is it suitable to march then?"

“Sister, don’t worry, our trip isn’t entirely about fighting,” Chu Ziran lowered her eyelids. “My father was a famous general in the Shu Kingdom, and my mother has won over many people over the years. The King of Shu is tyrannical, and none of his sons are capable. Many of these people have already agreed to open the city gates for us directly. After all, the Ming Kingdom is powerful and cannot be defied. They naturally want to live a better life, rather than living in fear and dependent on the King of Shu.”

Li Yinyin raised an eyebrow: "So, it seems that many of the ministers of Shu Kingdom have some rebellious tendencies."

Chu Ziran quickly explained, "Even so, they are easy to understand. They are loyal and not blindly obedient. When I was in Shu, I received a lot of protection from my father's old friends."

“Don’t worry,” Li Yinyin said. “As long as they stay safe and do nothing to harm the Ming Dynasty, we will naturally reward those who have made contributions.”

However, it seems that more effort will be needed in governance in the future.

Chu Ziran was relieved to know that Li Yinyin would keep her word, but soon he became nervous again.

“Sister,” Chu Ziran licked her lips, “after we conquer the Shu Kingdom, would you be willing to come with me to pay respects to my father?”

Li Yinyin tilted her head and looked at him for a while before saying, "I thought that after conquering Shu, you would want to leave with the Princess."

The eldest princess was controlled by the Prince of Shu, which led to over a decade of humiliation. Although Chu Ziran consistently flattered Li Yinyin, it didn't mean he truly enjoyed this life of dependence and whims. Li Yinyin saw this and prepared herself for his departure.

“How could that be?” Chu Ziran retorted at first, but then quickly lowered her head. “I did think about it, but what can I do when you’re so charming, sister?”

"Now that my home is right here beside you, where else can I go?"

At this point, a hint of emotion appeared in Li Yinyin's eyes: "I'm giving you this chance until we conquer Shu and return to Ming. But if you miss it, you'll never have another chance."

“I won’t leave,” Chu Ziran said stubbornly, holding onto her wrist, showing a rare display of strength. “Sister, you’ll never be able to make me leave in this lifetime.”

Li Yinyin was both amused and exasperated: "I didn't tell you to leave, I just gave you a choice."

“I don’t care,” Chu Ziran stepped forward and hugged her. “I don’t need this choice.”

"Sister, can you care about me a little more?"

“If you never change,” Li Yinyin smiled brightly, “then I might reluctantly make you the third person I care about after my eldest brother and sister-in-law.”

Chu Ziran wasn't disappointed; instead, she urged, "Sister, when are we going to Shangshui Village? I can't wait to see the place where you grew up."

Li Yinyin didn't immediately set a date with him, but instead discussed it with Li Zhenzhen first.

Before the Li family left, they were in such a hurry that they didn't move all the ancestral graves, only taking the memorial tablets from the ancestral hall. Servants from the Li family would regularly perform the ancestral rites during Qingming Festival and Chinese New Year. Now that the younger generation is going to do it themselves, they should go.

After receiving Li Zhenzhen's words that it was fine anytime, Li Yinyin used her fortune to calculate an auspicious day and led her people to Shangshui Village again.

This time, their entourage was much grander, and the remaining villagers of Shangshui Village finally realized that the Li family had indeed become high-ranking officials and prospered.

The Mu family, who had seized real power after the Li family, were somewhat nervous, fearing that the Li family would move back to the village and seize power from them. So they asked Mu Xianyun for advice.

Now that the last emperor of Jiang has been enfeoffed by a prince of Ming and is being raised in the Ming capital, Mu Xianyun, as a loyal subject of Jiang and capable, has naturally also taken up an official position. He is currently only serving as a strategist under Li Yinyin, and will return together after the conquest of Shu. Therefore, it would be very easy for the Mu family to find him.

Hearing his family's worries, Mu Xianyun couldn't express his feelings: "If they come back, all of us will have to move away. They won't take over any power. They don't care about such small interests."

The Mu family members, having been tutored at home by Mu Xianyun over the years, were not fools. They understood his implication and naturally paid more attention to Li Yinyin and the others afterward.

During the memorial service, Chu Ziran knelt beside Li Yinyin, which kept him from smiling for several days. Until the Ming army arrived, some were added to Li Yinyin's forces, while others took over the original Jiang Kingdom's defenses and were temporarily stationed as reserve forces for the attack on Shu.

With Chu Ziran's help, Li Yinyin put on her black armor, stepped out of the camp's tent, and looked at the soldiers who were fully equipped and ready to go.

"Leave!"