Reincarnation and Rebirth

After seeing Su Wan'er off, the shopkeeper sat in the backyard. After thinking it over, he picked up a pen and wrote a letter, handing it to a servant. "Send this letter to the General's Mansion. Remember, give it to the steward personally."

"Yes."

Meanwhile, Xiao Yunting was also dispatched by Zi Xingchen to guard Qingzhou. Qingzhou and Ziyan Kingdom faced each other across the river. This time, Ziyan was defeated and retreated south of the Yunhe River. However, the Ziyan royal family was not giving up and was still plotting. Qingzhou, located on a plain, had fertile land, a completely different scene from Liuzhou across the mountains. Therefore, Ziyan Kingdom had always coveted Qingzhou, and the people of Qingzhou were also suffering from the harassment. Those who were able moved away from the border, causing the land there to be abandoned and uncultivated. The reason why Zi Xingchen sent troops to garrison there was twofold. First, the former general of the Thunder Army, who was Xiao Yunting's deceased elder brother, used to guard Bayi Town, which was only twenty or thirty miles away from Qingzhou. The Xiao family was very familiar with that area, and the people supported their Thunder Army. With him there, the people would return to Qingzhou. With a larger population, the land cultivation rate would increase, and the granaries could be filled. Second, Xiao Yunting was very uneasy about having so many troops stationed in the suburbs of the capital. As for the third point, Su Ping's Iron-Blooded Army was stationed north of Liuzhou to prevent the Mingyue Kingdom from invading. They were only seven or eight hundred miles away from Qingzhou, so if anything happened, he would be able to receive intelligence immediately.

After receiving the letter from the grain store manager, Steward Xiao pondered for a moment and then had his servant bring back a handwritten letter.

General Xiao is on his way. The granaries in Qingzhou are now empty. The Emperor sent General Xiao to guard the border, but he didn't mention the matter of food supplies at all. There are hundreds of thousands of soldiers. They can't eat vegetable pancakes every day.

The Emperor said they should return to Qingzhou to support their troops through agriculture, but crops don't grow overnight. And General Xiao, for some reason, has been increasingly quiet and preoccupied lately.

Since someone was delivering food to their door, the steward figured that as long as there was nothing wrong with the food, he should just accept it. As for how to handle the aftermath, he would figure out another way.

Having received confirmation from the steward, the innkeeper immediately sent a waiter to the inn to find Su Wan'er, arranging to pick up the goods at the location Su Wan'er had indicated the next morning. The innkeeper had even paid for the stay with a silver hairpin—alas, what could she do? She was poor. Su Wan'er specifically told the grain shop that she wanted silver, not banknotes.

That night, Su Wan'er went to the agreed-upon location at the foot of Bayi Mountain, found a dry spot, and smuggled the food from her spatial storage.

The war has only just ended, and the people here still stay indoors at night, fearing the remnants of the Purple Flame Kingdom's army might still be lurking. This, in turn, makes things convenient for Su Wan'er.

The next morning, after exchanging money for goods, Su Wan'er, who had received 1300 taels of silver, beamed with joy, finally seeing the money.

What do you do with money? Buy, buy, buy, of course!

Under the astonished gaze of the shopkeeper, Su Wan'er bought fifty catties of white rice and fifty catties of white flour. The shopkeeper wasn't too surprised and gave her a friendly price.

After leaving the grain store, she bought a basket of steamed buns, packed a table of food from a restaurant, and bought several sets of coarse cloth clothes and a few fine cotton undergarments from a wedding shop. Then she turned around and hired a carriage. It was a thousand miles from the capital, and Su Wan'er felt a little relieved. Taking a carriage was easier and faster than walking, and she wouldn't have to travel at night. If she continued like this, she felt like she was turning into an owl. She had thought about it; since Qingzhou was sparsely populated, she would settle there. Maybe she could even buy a farm and live the life of a landlady. Just thinking about it was wonderful! To hell with being an empress or a concubine!

On the way, Su Wan'er was very generous and gave two meat buns to the driver, who was extremely grateful and said, "Thank you so much, brother."

"Hey, when you're traveling, it's just a matter of looking out for each other."

Having received Su Wan'er's favor, the coachman became quite talkative, and Su Wan'er didn't find the journey boring.

The carriage didn't arrive at the next town, Qingshan Town, until nightfall. It was very close to Qingzhou. They would hire another carriage the next day. These days, border crossings between prefectures were strictly controlled, and Su Wan'er didn't have any travel permits, identification, or household registration. So, if she wanted to get to Qingzhou, she would have to find another way. Su Wan'er paid the fare, said goodbye to the driver, and went straight to a high-class-looking restaurant.

"Sir, would you like to have dinner or stay at our hotel?"

Su Wan'er glanced at the sign on the wall and said, "Get a room and bring up some food and drinks."

The waiter beamed with delight. "Alright, sir! A large room is ten coins a night, a regular room is one hundred coins a night, a medium-sized single room is five hundred coins, and a superior room is one tael of silver a night. Which one would you like, sir?"

Su Wan'er clicked her tongue. It really wasn't cheap. The meat buns she bought this morning only cost three coins each. Oh well, she's a weakling right now, safety first.

"I'd like a medium-sized room." He handed over a tael of silver. "The rest of the meal includes one meat dish, one vegetable dish, and a bowl of rice. You can keep the rest."

The waiter nodded and bowed in agreement, saying, "Then I'll bring you a bucket of hot water in a moment."

Yes, not bad, they have a strong service mentality.

While Su Wan'er was enjoying a relaxing foot bath with the hot water brought by the waiter, she was completely unaware that two days earlier, the capital palace had been in turmoil. Zi Xingchen was furious and had everyone in Guanglan Palace flogged fifty times. Cai Lian hated Su Wan'er to the core.

Not satisfied with beating the servants, Zi Xingchen threatened that if he couldn't find Consort Wan, all the servants would be beheaded.

For a moment, the oppressive atmosphere that enveloped the palace was suffocating.

Su Qing'er comforted Zi Xingchen, saying, "Your Majesty, please calm down. My sister is powerless and must be hiding somewhere in the palace. She's really something. If she really wants the Empress's position, I'll just give it to her. Why make things difficult for Your Majesty like this?"

Zi Xingchen's face was as black as ink. Was Su Wan'er really just hiding? The palace maids and eunuchs had mentioned that she had been running to secluded places in the palace every day recently.

"Someone is coming."

One of the guards knelt down in response.

"Send more people to search. Even if we have to turn the palace upside down, we must find Consort Wan for me."

"Yes."

Su Qing'er, standing to the side, clenched her fists so tightly that her long nails dug into her flesh, but she seemed not to feel any pain.

Does the Emperor really have feelings for that vile woman?

Apart from Zi Xingchen, no one knew Su Wan'er's secret. Therefore, in Su Qing'er's eyes, Zi Xingchen's behavior meant that he had feelings for Su Wan'er.

"Qing'er, you should go back to the palace first. I still have state affairs to attend to."

No matter how unwilling Su Qing'er was, she had no choice but to leave. However, she did not return to her own Yonghe Palace, but instead went to the Empress Dowager's Shou'an Palace.

Zi Xingchen rubbed her temples and asked Eunuch Li beside her, "Have you sent anyone to the palace gate to inquire if anything unusual happened last night?"

"Your Majesty, I went to the gates of each palace early this morning to inquire, and no one went in or out last night."

Where is General Xiao?

"According to the scouts, General Xiao was in his study last night handling official business and did not go out."

Zi Xingchen narrowed his eyes slightly. "Handling official business? Did you witness it yourself?"

"Someone brought food to the general in the middle of the night, which proves that the general was in his study the whole time."

Zi Xingchen still had doubts. She glanced up and saw the memorial Xiao Yunting had handed her on the table. She opened it and read that Xiao Yunting had volunteered to go to Qingzhou. She remembered that during the morning court session, she had mentioned again that she wanted to bestow a marriage upon him. He had not specifically refused, only saying that Zi Yan had just withdrawn his troops and that he had volunteered to go to Qingzhou to take charge.

Lin Jiheng suddenly said that Lin Chenwei was unwell, and the matter of Zi Xingchen's arranged marriage was dropped.

"Eunuch Li, go to the General's Mansion to deliver the imperial decree. I have approved General Xiao's memorial. He is ordered to immediately reorganize the army and depart early tomorrow morning."

Eunuch Li was slightly surprised, but his expression remained unchanged. He withdrew and went out of the palace to the general's residence.

"Su Wan'er, Xiao Yunting, you had better not lied to me."