“Husband, let’s go to Iron Jar Mountain to see the sisters who died in battle!”
Guan Xiaorou had come from far away to welcome Jin Feng. Apart from missing him, her other purpose was to take him to Iron Jar Mountain.
Thinking of the Battle of Yangquan Ridge described in the intelligence reports, Jin Feng felt uncomfortable inside.
He nodded and said, “Alright, let’s go to Iron Jar Mountain and take a look!”
“Husband, all the sisters who died in battle had received marriage certificates from you. They count as members of the Jin family.”
Guan Xiaorou continued, “While you were away, I took the liberty of deciding to build a shrine for them and enter their names into the Jin family genealogy. I hope you will approve, husband.”
After speaking, she looked at Jin Feng nervously, afraid he would reject her proposal.
“You arranged it very well. I have no objections.”
Jin Feng looked at Guan Xiaorou, whose face was full of expectation. He felt both gratified and heartbroken.
He was gratified that Guan Xiaorou had grown, and heartbroken that she had been forced to grow.
If possible, Jin Feng hoped Guan Xiaorou could remain carefree for the rest of her life, just like before, without ever experiencing these painful matters.
But fate did not allow it. When the village faced difficulties, Guan Xiaorou still stepped forward.
Jin Feng had never been good at expressing himself. Though he had a thousand words in his heart, in the end he only gently patted Guan Xiaorou on the back. “Let’s go. We’ll head to Iron Jar Mountain together!”
At the foot of Iron Jar Mountain, Zuo Feifei had received the news long ago and had been waiting at the bottom of the mountain for half an hour.
Many female workers had also come down the mountain, standing on tiptoe in anticipation.
They had seen Jin Feng before, but their mindset now was completely different from the past.
Previously they were slaves bought by Jin Feng, but now they held marriage certificates with him.
Moreover, after the Battle of Yangquan Ridge, the female workers had developed a sense of pride in defending their home as mistresses.
Watching Jin Feng approach from afar, they unconsciously straightened their backs.
“Everyone looks a bit different from before…”
Even from far away, Jin Feng noticed that the female workers’ state had changed compared to the past.
But he could not quite put his finger on exactly what was different.
“After the Battle of Yangquan Ridge, the sisters on Iron Jar Mountain began daily training. Although they may not yet match real female escorts, they have become much stronger.”
Guan Xiaorou said quietly.
When she explained it this way, Jin Feng showed a look of sudden understanding.
The female workers were still the same people, but their postures were straighter, their formations more orderly and disciplined.
Although he had not yet come close, Jin Feng could already sense that the spirit and energy of the female workers were completely different from before.
This was perhaps the transformation brought by war.
“Sir, you have finally returned!”
“Sister Xiaorou!”
As soon as Jin Feng and Guan Xiaorou approached the mountain entrance, the female workers began greeting them one after another.
After climbing the mountain, Jin Feng first went to the shrine to pay respects to the fallen female workers, then stamped his seal on the family genealogy that Zuo Feifei had carefully compiled.
When they learned that Jin Feng had agreed to build the shrine and to enter the names of the fallen female workers into the Jin family genealogy, the women were all extremely excited.
When Jin Feng came out of the shrine, many female workers no longer called him “Sir”. Instead, they directly changed to calling him “Husband”, the same way Guan Xiaorou did.
Unlike their previous teasing, this time the female workers genuinely felt trust and reliance towards Jin Feng from the bottom of their hearts.
This left Jin Feng quite helpless.
On this return to Jinchuan, besides resolving the issues with the powerful families and food supplies, his second biggest concern was dealing with the concubine problem.
Yet before he could even take action, the female workers had already changed how they addressed him.
Jin Feng somewhat regretted coming to Iron Jar Mountain.
Using the excuse that he had matters to attend to the next day, he hurriedly took Guan Xiaorou down the mountain.
At the foot of the mountain, he ran into Tang Xiaobei, who was strolling over lazily.
Seeing Jin Feng, she smiled and teased, “Several thousand concubines, and husband finished looking at them so quickly?”
“Why did you only get here now?”
Jin Feng asked in surprise.
When he saw Guan Xiaorou coming to welcome him, he had assumed Tang Xiaobei had already returned to West River Bay long ago.
“Xiaobei sent a pigeon message to me.”
Guan Xiaorou quietly reminded him, “Otherwise, how could I have arrived so quickly?”
Jin Feng suddenly understood.
At the same time, he realised that Tang Xiaobei must have firmly believed the Ninth Princess could persuade him, which was why she had been so unhurried and still had the mood to tease now.
“Husband, are there tigers on Iron Jar Mountain? Why are you in such a hurry to go down?”
Tang Xiaobei smiled and winked at Jin Feng. “Or else, shall we stay here tonight?”
Jin Feng could not be bothered to reply to her. He turned his horse around and left.
“This group of female ruffians is getting more and more arrogant. Next time I come, I must properly straighten out the atmosphere on the mountain!”
Jin Feng glanced back and silently made up his mind.
Clearly it was the mountain he had conquered, yet every time he came, he felt like he was fleeing in defeat.
This made Jin Feng feel extremely unhappy inside.
Back in the village, Jin Feng experienced the highest level welcoming ceremony of his two lifetimes.
Apart from the necessary guards, all the villagers put down their work and came out of the village to welcome him.
The procession stretched from the village entrance all the way five li beyond.
By the time they finished walking those five li and returned to the village, the sky had already turned dark.
He had not even eaten a mouthful of food when Tang Dongdong and Little Jade each came over holding a huge stack of documents.
Jin Feng had been away for too long. Many matters that required his approval had been piling up until now.
By the time he finished dealing with these tasks, it was already midnight.
He had originally thought Guan Xiaorou was asleep, but when Jin Feng returned to the room, he found she was still waiting for him.
With no one else in the room at that moment, the suppressed emotions Guan Xiaorou had been holding back finally burst out completely.
She threw herself into Jin Feng’s arms, wrapped her arms around his waist, and refused to let go.
…
At the same time, far away in Xichuan, the great eunuch had also summoned Xu Pangzi and the others together.
“Eunuch, what important matter is there that you called us here in the middle of the night?”
Xu Pangzi asked while yawning.
Ever since Chen Shiye was captured, he had been extremely depressed and had suffered from insomnia for a long time.
He had just fallen asleep today when the great eunuch sent someone to drag him out of his concubine’s arms. He felt very annoyed.
His tone was rather sharp.
The great eunuch glanced at him but ignored the attitude. Only after everyone had arrived did he speak.
“Gentlemen, Jin Feng and Wuyang have both reached Jinchuan.”
“Eunuch, you called us here just for this?”
Xu Pangzi frowned and asked, “Didn’t we already know about this long ago?”
Ever since Jin Feng entered the territory of Chuan Shu, the powerful families had been keeping track of him the whole way.
The Ninth Princess was even more extreme. She had been under surveillance by spies from the moment she left the capital.
Qin’er had also noticed the spies, but the Ninth Princess was in a hurry to travel and had paid them no attention.
“Xu Pangzi, did you sleep yourself stupid?”
The man with the goatee said, “Of course the eunuch knows we are aware of Jin Feng and the Ninth Princess’s movements. Since he summoned us in the middle of the night, there must be some other discovery.”
“Lord Zhou is still the clever one.”
The eunuch glanced at Xu Pangzi and continued, “This servant received news that after Jin Feng crossed the Jialing River, he did not even climb the Twin Camel Peaks. Instead, he led his people straight to the Jinchuan county government office.”
“Jin Feng returned to Jinchuan but did not go back to West River Bay first. What did he go to the county government office for?”
“This servant has not yet found out the reason, but the information we received says Jin Feng arrived with great momentum.”
“Great momentum? Does he still intend to kill Cai Liuyang?”
Xu Pangzi said disdainfully.
Only after speaking did he notice that all the powerful figures had turned to look at him.
The room suddenly fell silent.
