Chapter 686: Chapter 683: Self-Sufficiency_1

Quan Yu heard Bai Qingyan say this and hurriedly said he dared not.

Bai Qingyan smiled faintly at Quan Yu. “Eunuch Quan, let’s part ways here…”

Quan Yu quickly bowed. “Princess of Zhen, take utmost care!”

Bai Qingyan nodded, let go of the curtains, and leaned back inside the carriage.

Quan Yu heard Bai Qingyan coughing inside the carriage, his heart ached. He stepped aside, watching Bai Qingyan’s convoy leave. A smile also appeared on his lips. The Princess of Zhen thanking him so earnestly made Quan Yu extremely happy.

Coming back to his senses, he found that the Princess of Zhen indeed did not let the Crown Prince’s personal guards accompany her. Quan Yu planned to tell the Crown Prince of the Princess’s loyalty upon his return. The Princess of Zhen always considered the Crown Prince. But Old Fang always looked down on the Princess and constantly tried to drive a wedge between the Princess and the Crown Prince.

Quan Yu tightened his fist, stood where he was, and watched Bai Qingyan until he could no longer see the convoy before he got on his own carriage.

As soon as Quan Yu returned to the Crown Prince’s residence, he reported Bai Qingyan’s loyalty to the Crown Prince, stating that Bai Qingyan said the Crown Prince’s safety was more important and did not take a single guard with her, leaving them all to protect the Crown Prince.

The Crown Prince nodded continuously after hearing this. “The Princess of Zhen indeed considers everything for me! This time, the Princess of Zhen sustained severe injuries to save me. Quan Yu… open the storeroom, select some rare treasures and tribute supplements; regardless of whether it’s bear paws, Yan cormorant beaks, or ape lips, pick valuable ones and send them to Shuoyang, so the Shuoyang Clan knows that I am backing the Princess of Zhen, and they must respect her.”

“Yes!” Quan Yu knew the Crown Prince was giving Bai Qingyan face and responded with a smile. “Rest assured, Your Highness, I will manage it properly!”

On October 27, the Princess of Zhen’s carriage arrived at Kongtong Mountain. When she was resting and eating at the posthouse, Shen Qingzhu arrived.

Besides herself, Shen Qingzhu also brought back news from Ji Tingyu.

Covered in dust from travel, Shen Qingzhu saw the raised flag of the Bai family of the Princess of Zhen’s residence from afar and quickly rode to the posthouse. Without waiting for her horse to stop completely, she dismounted in a leap. Seeing Lu Ping, who was settling the Bai family guards at the door, she called out: “Uncle Ping!”

“Miss Shen!” Lu Ping smiled. “This time, the Eldest Young Lady brought back Yingshuang too. You haven’t seen Yingshuang for a long time, have you?”

Shen Qingzhu threw the reins to the Bai family guards. Thinking of Yingshuang, a smile appeared in her eyes, and she nodded. “I will go see her later. Where is the Eldest Young Lady?”

“Upstairs, having her meal…”

“I will go see the Eldest Young Lady first!” Shen Qingzhu cupped her hands to Lu Ping and ran upstairs.

Just as Shen Qingzhu reached upstairs, she saw Chun Tao coming out with a bowl of medicine. She called out, and Chun Tao greeted her joyfully. “Miss Shen!”

Shen Qingzhu frowned, looking at the medicine bowl on the black lacquered tray in Chun Tao’s hands. “This is…”

Chun Tao’s eyes reddened, and she lowered her voice. “The Eldest Young Lady is injured.”

Before Chun Tao finished speaking, Bai Jinzhi opened the door. “Sister Qingzhu!”

“Fourth Miss!” Shen Qingzhu cupped her hands and saluted, without waiting to ask how the Eldest Young Lady got injured, Bai Qingyan’s voice came from inside.

“Let Qingzhu come in! Chun Tao, add another set of utensils!”

Shen Qingzhu entered with Bai Jinzhi. She saw Bai Qingyan just put down her teacup and dabbed her lips with a cloth. Her already pale complexion looked even more haggard. She had lost weight, making her features look even more prominent.

Seeing Shen Qingzhu, who was not good with words, frowning, Bai Qingyan gestured for her to sit. “You haven’t eaten, right? Join us for a bit, rest briefly, and we will be setting off.”

Shen Qingzhu nodded and sat with Bai Jinzhi at the round table, her eyes inevitably falling on Bai Qingyan.

“This time, it’s nothing. I planned to get injured to lessen the Emperor and the Crown Prince’s suspicions and return to Shuoyang safely!” Bai Qingyan looked at Shen Qingzhu, who had tanned a bit, and smiled. “It’s rare to see you tanned.”

Seeing Bai Qingyan’s good spirits, Shen Qingzhu did not pursue the matter further and said, “Now, the new soldiers trained at Niujiao Mountain are gradually becoming regular. According to the way the Eldest Young Lady trained the guard team, they are grouped into small units, taking advantage of their strengths and supplementing their weaknesses! Ji Tingyu took people to recruit new soldiers before he left, also with some success. To avoid drawing too much attention, he only brought back a batch. Currently, the number of hidden soldiers at Niujiao Mountain is still expanding, but… My opinion is that the later recruits should be trained in the standard way. There’s no need for all to undergo the same rigorous training, which is too time-consuming and labor-intensive!”

Bai Qingyan asked, “What does Ji Tingyu say?”

The soldiers were under Ji Tingyu’s command, so Bai Qingyan naturally prioritized Ji Tingyu’s opinion.

“Ji Tingyu thinks the same. But ultimately, the Eldest Young Lady’s approval is needed.” Shen Qingzhu said.

Chun Tao set utensils for Shen Qingzhu and went out to guard the door, not letting anyone approach.

Bai Qingyan only nodded, saying, “The soldiers are under his command. He should make the decisions!”

“Do you know where Ji Tingyu is now?” Bai Qingyan picked a piece of honey-steamed Yunnan ham and placed it on Shen Qingzhu’s plate.

“When Ji Tingyu left, he took a cage of pigeons raised at Niujiao Mountain and sent back a message. I sent someone to find Steward Liu… Steward Liu quickly arranged for people to deliver food to these three directions.” Shen Qingzhu took out a bamboo tube from her chest, which Ji Tingyu had sent back with the pigeons, and handed it to Bai Qingyan. “Here it is!”

Bai Qingyan looked at these roughly made but very small bamboo tubes. She opened them and poured out the tiny letters inside. Only two characters: Maoshan.

Another, the bamboo tube’s color completely different from the former, had a message: Longping Mountain.

The last bamboo tube contained: Huwei Ridge.

These were the places where Ji Tingyu had hidden soldiers. They were not too close but not too far away either, and Ji Tingyu could manage them.

“Ji Tingyu even specially sent a verbal message, saying that only in the first year would the food be tight, and he needed the Eldest Young Lady to find a way to deliver it. But… as soon as next year, he would be self-sufficient!”

Bai Jinzhi added more food, her brows furrowed. “Aren’t there carrier pigeons! Why bother sending someone to deliver a verbal message? How troublesome!”

Bai Qingyan, looking at Bai Jinzhi’s clear eyes blinking, smiled.

Shen Qingzhu smiled at Bai Jinzhi. “Fourth Miss, you might not know. Although carrier pigeons can be used to send simple messages by their nesting habit, pigeons are still animals. Animals have instincts to avoid danger and may not be faster than a person delivering a message. Apart from that, pigeons can be caught by hawks, resulting in lost or intercepted messages or being tampered with! When the Eldest Young Lady was young, she also tried to train pigeons for military reports, but after repeated tests, it proved unreliable, so she abandoned it.”

Bai Jinzhi thought about it and found Shen Qingzhu’s words reasonable. She looked at her Eldest Sister. “No wonder I remember you kept pigeons for a while when I was young, and then you stopped.”