Quick Transmigration: Survive to the End

Although Li Yinyin had already informed them, knowing and actually possessing something are different things; from now on, they would be the Golden Crow Guards. And from the moment this title appeared, it was deeply imprinted in the hearts of all the Ming Dynasty officials present and gained their recognition.

The Golden Crow Guard is a unit that can stand shoulder to shoulder with male soldiers, and may even surpass their elite members.

Amidst Jinwuwei's joyful expressions of gratitude, some noticed Li Chengming's way of addressing Li Yinyin.

General Li.

This means that Li Yinyin, the imperial younger sister, is not comparable to the pampered princesses of Zhao Kingdom who constantly await the emperor's favor or are sent away for marriage alliances to consolidate their power. She is deeply trusted and favored by Li Chengming and wields real power!

Some people looked at Li Yinyin with changing expressions, while others showed great enthusiasm.

Li Yinyin didn't take any of this to heart. She simply asked Li Chengming for permission to conquer a small country to celebrate the establishment of the Ming Dynasty.

After Li Chengming agreed, Li Yinyin did not linger any longer. She gathered the newly recruited Golden Crow Guards and rode at full speed for a day to reach a small country on the border. In less than a day, she launched a swift attack and conquered the country. She then handed over the subsequent governance to the nearest prefecture and county and rode back at full speed.

Although that small country was indeed very small, only about the size of a county town, the achievement of two hundred people destroying a country in a single day still spread throughout the Ming Dynasty and to neighboring small countries, and even to more distant places, thanks to the efforts of those with good intentions.

Some people outside the region believed it, while others didn't, but within the Ming Dynasty, everyone knew it was true. Ambitious women in the Ming Dynasty couldn't help but get excited, eagerly awaiting the day when the Golden Crow Guard would recruit soldiers again.

After receiving this congratulatory gift, the founding ceremony of the Ming Dynasty will take place.

Watching her elder brother and sister-in-law, dressed in their finest attire, walk step by step up to the top, Li Yinyin felt both excited and somewhat bewildered.

Who would have thought that just a year or two ago, this family was an ordinary wealthy household in a rural village, living a contented and happy life?

After the Ming Dynasty was established, it was time to reward those who had made contributions.

The official positions of people like Xun Minzhi were basically already set; now it's just a matter of putting them into practice.

To everyone's surprise, Li Chengming created a separate position for the Imperial Preceptor. However, apart from his confidants who had been with Li Chengming from the beginning, no one recognized this person called Banxian'er. Even Xun Minzhi only vaguely knew of such a person from the large jade stone that had been transported away.

Another unexpected event was that Li Yinyin, as the eldest princess, was also granted the title of Marquis of Zhenguo. This meant that she, as a woman, was granted the title of Marquis, with a fief and a place of residence.

“Your Majesty,” some ministers of the former Zhao Kingdom said, puzzled by the order, “the eldest princess already holds a title beyond the rank of nobility, why add a marquis title? Besides, it is a male title, how can it be used to bestow a title?”

"Who says a marquisate can only be a male title?" Xiao Liu was the first to stand up and speak up, even bringing up the Western Regions, "The Western Regions have countesses, marquises, and even dukes and queens, so why can't our Ming Dynasty have them?"

Xun Minzhi, trying to discern Li Chengming's thoughts, also said, "Yes, this is the Ming Dynasty, not the former Zhao Dynasty. This gentleman should not, as he lives, somehow end up living in the former dynasty. If he is so attached to the old dynasty, His Majesty will surely not hesitate to grant him some face."

These words don't sound like nice things.

The minister slunk away, but the other ministers all gained a new understanding of how much importance Li Yinyin was placed on them.

Xun Minzhi glanced at the ministers below, then exchanged a look with Xiao Liu, both understanding each other's thoughts.

This is nothing. What Xiao Liu just said was quite significant!

Unfortunately, few people can grasp its deeper meaning.

Everyone else is drunk but I am sober!

Li Yinyin, the person against whom the minister raised objections in court, was not present at all. Since her coronation ceremony, she had obtained Li Chengming's permission to issue conscription notices for the Golden Crow Guard to all prefectures and counties of the Ming Kingdom, and dispatched all members of the Golden Crow Guard to oversee the selection of personnel.

This time, Li Yinyin plans to expand the Golden Crow Guard's original force of two hundred people to more than a thousand, with a maximum of three thousand.

It wasn't that Li Yinyin didn't want to recruit more people; it was simply that three thousand was already the limit that the Golden Crow Guard could currently accommodate. After all, what she wanted were elite soldiers and capable generals, so naturally she had to put effort into training them, rather than selecting these girls and then sending them to their deaths on the battlefield.

Besides the newly recruited female soldiers, she also needed to find some suitable doctors. The existing doctors were enough to manage the health of two hundred people, but if they had to manage several thousand, they would be exhausted, so she needed to find a few more.

Li Yinyin was extremely busy, but she didn't forget her good friend Li Zhenzhen's happy wedding day.

After hesitating for a while and asking her brother and sister-in-law for their opinions, she finally decided to go back to Shangshui Village.

There are three tasks for this trip back: first, to attend Li Zhenzhen's wedding; second, to inform the village chief about the affairs of the Ming Kingdom and suggest that they move to the Ming Kingdom; and third, to invite back the Grand Preceptor Banxian, who is still staying in Shangshui Village and does not want to move, so that the people of the Ming Kingdom will not be unfamiliar with this Grand Preceptor.

Because they set off quite late, Li Yinyin did not choose to take a carriage, but instead led Xiao Fu and several Golden Crow Guards who were with her on a fast horse back.

They changed horses at shops left by Li Chengming, who had previously been a merchant, and finally entered the territory of Jiang Kingdom in the twelfth lunar month.

"Young master, we're almost there. Why don't you have some hot tea and rest a bit before you go?"

To make things easier, the group changed into men's clothing before entering the Jiang Kingdom.

“Let’s not rest now,” Li Yinyin said, looking at the scenery around her that was slowly becoming familiar. She felt a little apprehensive about returning home. “It gets dark early in winter. If we don’t hurry up while the light is good, we might have to rest in the middle of nowhere. This forest isn’t a good place to set up camp right now.”

Xiao Fu opened the map and looked at it: "Young master, from our current position, we can skip Yunzhou and take a shortcut from Baihua Town to Shangshui Village. That way, we can reach the village tonight."

“Then let’s go this way,” Li Yinyin’s eyes flickered when she heard about Baihua Town. “It’s better to get home early to freshen up and rest than to stay out here any longer.”

Whether by coincidence or not, Li Yinyin and her group did indeed encounter Young Master Tong when passing through Baihua Town. However, after only a fleeting glimpse, Li Yinyin led her entourage away.

"Whose horse is this? Why is it passing through our town?" said the servant of the Tong family. He turned around and saw the puzzled look on his young master's face, and asked, "Young master, what's wrong?"

Young Master Tong came to his senses: "It's nothing, it's just that I seemed to see someone I knew, but it didn't quite look like them."

The servant was puzzled but didn't think much of it, urging Young Master Tong to go back quickly: "It's too cold to stay outside any longer."

When Li Yinyin passed through Baihua Town, it was already getting dark. By the time they reached the outskirts of Shangshui Village, it was completely dark.

Before they could even sneak into the village in the dark, they heard a loud shout from not far away: "Xi Jiangyue! In your heart, nothing is more important than me, is that right!"

Li Yinyin raised her hand to stop the Golden Crow Guards who were following her, her heart filled with complicated emotions.

Alright, you've been having a great time out there, almost forgot that there are still these people in Shangshui Village.

To run into someone like this so coincidentally when you don't even have a home yet—is that bad luck, or just plain bad luck?

Li Yinyin sighed. It was freezing cold. If they waited until they finished their performance before going home, they would surely catch a cold!

Forget it, let's take a detour.

The road home is so close, yet I can't go back immediately.

What a human suffering!