Chapter 886: Chapter 4: Beiyang Empress Dowager (2)

She asked about that matter several times.

But he always refused to say.

Later, she just got tired of asking.

Mu Yuanxiu laughed softly, "I remember." She wasn’t good at sewing and was worried that her sisters would laugh at her, so he did it for her, allowing her to appear strong.

"How can a man know women’s needlework? And even make women’s clothes so fast and well?"

Mu Yuanxiu was about to answer.

Li Yuzhu waved to stop him, "Forget it, you’d better come back and tell me."

Mu Yuanxiu looked at her eyebrows and eyes, smiling lightly, "Alright."

"You must remember to come back and tell me in person before the fifteenth of August!" Li Zhuzhu gazed at him without blinking, "Otherwise, I’ll take Zhanzhan and Tongtong to the Northern Land to find the answer."

Mu Yuanxiu held her in his arms, "I remember your words."

.

Li Boxuan was not letting Mu Yuanxiu go to the Northern Land alone; he also sent Li Xing’an and Lou Chengye to assist.

Additionally, Li Boxuan sent twenty elite guards to escort them.

Li Xing’an knew that Li Yuzhu would be worried and promised her repeatedly before departing, "Chengye and I will surely protect Yuanxiu."

Li Yuzhu smiled faintly, "Third Brother, you must also return safely."

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Mu Yuanxiu chose five thousand soldiers at the West Mountain City Guard Camp, escorting provisions, medical supplies, and weapons, and departed from the North City Gate.

Li Yuzhu, with her two children, stood on the city wall at the North City Gate to see them off.

Accompanying her were Li Yu En, Li Yuwen, and Ling Luo.

Li Xingsheng, Ling Yuezi, and Pei Shenyan followed the troops to see Mu Yuanxiu and his party off to the Ten-mile Pavilion before returning.

.

Li Yuzhu brought the children back to the Mu Mansion.

Even though only one person was absent from the house, it felt desolate.

The siblings Mu Zhan Yun and Mu Tongyun, being young, didn’t know what their father was going to do. Returning to the mansion, they still played happily.

It was only during mealtime that the two discovered someone missing to eat with them, asking Li Yuzhu crisply, "Mom, where’s Dad?"

Older brother Mu Zhan Yun pointed to the chair Mu Yuanxiu used to sit in every day.

Little sister Mu Tongyun also followed, "Where’s Dad?"

Li Yuzhu hugged them, smiling gently, "Dad has gone to work, and he’ll come home to play with you once he’s done."

The two children were still very young, only just over one year old, at an age when they had just learned to speak.

They only asked about Mu Yuanxiu during meals or bedtime and mostly never thought of him, happily playing with the girls and the nanny daily.

Li Yuzhu had nothing much to do; with her free time, she spent all day wondering where Mu Yuanxiu and his party had reached and whether their journey was smooth.

.

With many logistics vehicles, Mu Yuanxiu and his party traveled slowly.

Traveling day and night, two thousand miles would take two months at such a pace.

To prevent Baili Mansion from worrying, Mu Yuanxiu arranged for Lou Chengye and Li Xing’an to escort the convoy while he, with ten guards, rushed ahead to Liangzhou City to check the situation.

Traveling light on horseback, they reached Sky Wolf Village, about ten miles outside Liangzhou City, by dusk six days later.

Xiao Shan and others were surprised but delighted to see him, "Brother Mu, it’s been years, how have you been recently?"

He found that after seven years, Mu Yuanxiu had completely transformed from his previous demeanor.

He was no longer the youthful and inexperienced young man from back then.

Mu Yuanxiu now had a cold, unapproachable severity and dignity between his brows.

Moreover, Mu Yuanxiu was accompanied by people, and the ten guards’ attire was uniformly neat, with sophisticated weapons and accompanying equipment.

It was evident that Mu Yuanxiu’s team was no ordinary group.

Perhaps, Mu Yuanxiu’s identity had dramatically changed as well.

"Still the same. By the way, what about the brothers in the village? Are they all still here?" Mu Yuanxiu noticed that this village had become much wealthier than before.

The previously shabby mountain fort gate had disappeared, replaced by a stone archway.

Tall and spacious.

All the dilapidated houses in the village had been replaced by large brick houses.

The roads in the village were also smoothed, and from afar, plenty of cries from horses and cattle could be heard.

Xiao Shan, when asked about the current situation, became quite loquacious.

He laughed heartily, "Thanks to Brother Mu’s horses and gold back then, the brothers in the village relied on those resources, bought houses, rebuilt this shabby village gate, many married wives, and now the people in our village have increased ten-fold, with children added to each family and new members joining attracted by our reputation. We no longer gather wild vegetables; we’ve switched to raising cattle and horses and running escort services."

"How many people do you have running escorts?" Mu Yuanxiu asked.

"We have eighty brothers," Xiao Shan replied.

Mu Yuanxiu praised with a smile, "Great, Brother Xiao, you’re capable."

Xiao Shan laughed, "Ultimately, thanks to Brother Mu’s help back then."

It was mealtime then.

Xiao Shan ordered a banquet to be set up, inviting Mu Yuanxiu and his party for a meal.

During the mealtime lull, Xiao Shan asked Mu Yuanxiu why he came to the Northern Land and whether he had important business to attend to, also inquiring where Mu Yuanxiu currently held a high position.

The accompanying ten guards exchanged glances, smirking internally, at which high position? Saying it might scare you!

Our leader here is the Emperor’s most favored Prince Consort and the General of the Northern Expedition on this trip.

You folks from such a small village getting to meet the Prince Consort surely must have the fortune of your ancestor’s tomb smoking with blue smoke.

Mu Yuanxiu looked briefly in the direction of Liangzhou City and said, "I’m holding a minor position in the Capital now, passing through here to visit the Baili Mansion in Liangzhou City."

Xiao Shan recalled the incident from back then, that Mu Yuanxiu’s wife cured the strange illness of Baili Mansion’s Baili Huang and his wife.

"Ah, you neither recognized kinship earlier nor later, why recognize it now? Liangzhou City is in trouble; you shouldn’t go! Many people have fled, did you not notice the villages along your way with hardly any villagers?" Xiao Shan gestured, advising Mu Yuanxiu not to go.

"Why?" Mu Yuanxiu feigned ignorance and asked curiously.

"A month ago, the Beiyang army advanced south again, Sha State has been besieged for ten days, Su Zhou was captured, the garrison commander killed, soldiers in the city scattered and fled, some surrendered, but most flocked to Liangzhou here, and additionally, Xingqing Prefecture is also under siege. Four interrelated cities, three lost, only Liangzhou City remains, but from my perspective, Baili Mansion won’t last long either. The Beiyang forces this time are coming fiercely."

Mu Yuanxiu was already aware of this news.

His gaze grew solemn, "Brother Xiao, the villagers have fled, yet the brothers in Sky Wolf Village who’ve brought their families along still live here, has Brother Xiao thought of a response strategy?"

Xiao Shan received favors from Mu Yuanxiu and feared Mu Yuanxiu’s martial skills, so he dared not hide.

He promptly said, "Brother Mu, we of course have countermeasures, we run escorts, don’t we? We also have passage documents from Beiyang, allowing us to enter and exit these cities."

Mu Yuanxiu smiled, praising, "Brother Xiao, you are indeed capable."

"Heh heh, there’s no other way; we’ve spent quite a bit of silver to grease the palms," Xiao Shan humbly sighed.

Speaking of which, Xiao Shan revealed a shocking piece of news, "Brother Mu, do you know who the main commander of the Beiyang army is this time?"

Mu Yuanxiu was still unaware, "Who is it?"

Xiao Shan sneered, "The Beiyang Empress Dowager!"

Xiao Shan was also a Beiyang person; he could not make a living in Beiyang and was forced to leave for Zhao Country.

After living in Zhao Country for years, his current life was more comfortable than back in Beiyang. Although he still recognized the Beiyang people and felt close to them, he resented Beiyang’s current rulers.

It was precisely these rulers that kept him from returning to Beiyang.

He could only wander outside.