Si Fengwu shot him an annoyed glance. "Ten or eight sons? You'd be lucky to even get a wife! This king and his consort don't engage in forced marriages. If you can't win the girl's heart yourself, this king will absolutely not grant you a marriage decree."
Lian Yu appeared unfazed. "That's what you said. Give me a year, and I'll definitely bring her back. Then you'll just have to plan my wedding..."
He spoke with such confidence that Lu Qingwan was stunned. "Wait, you actually have someone in mind?"
She instinctively looked at Elder Chi. After all, Chi Yaoyao had almost lost her life for Lian Yu back then. Although she hadn't mentioned Lian Yu since being held hostage last time, Lu Qingwan knew that Chi Yaoyao hadn't stopped liking him, she just didn't dare to bring him up anymore. Now that Lian Yu suddenly had someone he liked, what would Chi Yaoyao do? How heartbroken would Elder Chi be?
As Lu Qingwan expected, Elder Chi's expression indeed flickered with a hint of disappointment when he heard Lian Yu's words. Although it was fleeting, Lu Qingwan had been observing Elder Chi's emotions all along and couldn't miss it. It wasn't Lu Qingwan's fault that Lian Yu didn't like Chi Yaoyao, or that anyone was at fault, yet at that moment, Lu Qingwan felt a sense of being unable to account for herself to Elder Chi.
Lian Yu also noticed the shift in everyone's emotions, but he continued regardless. "Of course, I have someone in mind. Do I look like the kind of person who speaks without a target?" This was clearly a declaration to Lu Qingwan and Elder Chi.
While Lu Qingwan wished Chi Yaoyao could have her wish granted, she couldn't force something that wasn't meant to be. Despite inwardly scolding Lian Yu for saying such things in front of Elder Chi when he already had someone in mind, she had to maintain a gentle demeanor.
"Alright, at your age, you should be settling down. Bring her back soon so everyone can see her."
After a few perfunctory pleasantries, she quickly changed the subject. "Speaking of which, the sworn brotherhood today is not quite what I imagined? Why is a solemn sworn brotherhood ceremony turning into such a mess? Shouldn't we be holding three branches and saying things like 'we don't ask to be born in the same year, month, or day, but we ask to die in the same year, month, or day'?"
Her question caused everyone in the room to burst into laughter. Even Elder Wen, who was usually dignified and cultured, was so shocked that he nearly twisted his neck. The old man, rendered speechless by Lu Qingwan's sudden and startling question, ended up using the class distinction he normally looked down upon to reason with Lu Qingwan.
"Consort, you are the Empress of the court, and the military advisor is a loyal subject of the court. Even when sworn brothers, we should follow the ancient sworn brotherhood rituals passed down by our Hu ethnic group for thousands of years. We shouldn't be imitating the ways of the outlaws in the greenwood!"
Lu Qingwan pouted regretfully. "Is that so? I thought the sworn brotherhood scenes of the outlaws were very fun and imposing."
Everyone shook their heads repeatedly. Lian Yu wore a "please don't get me into trouble" expression. "Sworn brotherhood is fine. Anyway, it will be recorded under Marquis Lu's name, so I'm just getting the benefits without the risk. But as for dying in the same year, month, and day, forget it. I'm already a few years older than you. If you die with me, I fear the Prince will dig me up and whip my corpse."
As brothers who had risked their lives for each other, their banter had become increasingly unrestrained. Si Fengwu listened and shot Lian Yu a cool glance. "What, you've actually considered dying in the same year, month, and day as this king's consort?"
Lian Yu's mouth contorted, and just as he was about to retort, Li Su arrived. However, this time, instead of whispering into Lu Qingwan's ear as she had done during the day, she stood directly before everyone and announced loudly, "Consort, Yun Ying has sent word that Lu Qianhuang never wrote that letter to you."
Si Fengwu had left the palace before Lu Qingwan to make the inauguration ceremony more grand. Lu Qingwan hadn't had a chance to mention it to Si Fengwu or the others earlier due to the crowd at the banquet. Hearing Li Su's words, everyone looked at Lu Qingwan in confusion. Si Fengwu asked directly, "What letter?"
Lu Qingwan then explained to them, "This morning before leaving the palace, Lu Qianhuang asked an old general of the Xuanjia Army to deliver a letter to Li Su. It was nominally for Li Su, but actually for me. The letter explicitly stated that she also wanted to enter Marquis Lu's household like my brother, to gain a legitimate status to protect me. However, before this, I had agreed with Lu Qianhuang that unless she could stand before me through her own abilities, she would never contact me in private."
Everyone present was sharp-witted. Moreover, Li Su had already stated that Lu Qianhuang had not written that letter to Lu Qingwan at all. Elder Chi then smiled, "Under the guise of protecting the Consort, she acts for her own benefit. And not too early or too late, the letter was delivered to Li Su just before the Consort left the palace. She predicted that the Consort would not agree and, not wanting to delay matters, wanted to use the Consort's hand to deal with Lu Qianhuang, is that right?"
Everyone knew who Lu Qianhuang was. Hearing these subtle clues, they could roughly deduce what had happened. However, Li Su added softly, "I just received news that a batch of grain and fodder under the responsibility of Miss Chi has encountered problems. The main officer in the army has already reported it to the Ministry of War."
This made the situation even more perplexing. Si Fengwu pondered for a moment. "The Xuanjia Army has strong independence, and military affairs are generally handled internally. Chi Yaoyao, as a camp quartermaster, is only responsible for the grain and fodder of less than thirty thousand men. Moreover, in this non-wartime state, the batch of grain and fodder she is responsible for is only enough for ten days. If there's a delay or a shortage, the camp commander would scold her and ask her to resolve the grain issue. What kind of oversight is this that it has to be reported to the Ministry of War?"
Li Su's expression was inscrutable. "According to the brother who delivered the message, Miss Chi took the army's grain to rescue war orphans on the border."
Upon hearing this, Elder Chi's face changed first. If Chi Yaoyao had embezzled funds or withheld military grain, he would never believe it. But his granddaughter was naturally kind and couldn't bear to see children and the elderly suffer. It was the time between harvests, and if she took military grain to save orphans left behind by the war, it was truly hard to be certain it was false.
Lu Qingwan, however, chuckled. "Do you know who reported it to the Ministry of War?"
Li Su nodded. "Lin Qingshan, the prefect of Guchow. It is said that he reported it after advising Miss Chi not to misuse military grain and being refused. However, according to our brothers, that impeachment memorial was already on its way to the new capital before he advised Miss Chi."
Lu Qingwan laughed. "In the same period, two female generals under my command have acted foolishly. Everyone, perhaps I should re-evaluate my judgment of people?"
Everyone burst into laughter. Elder Wen glanced at his old colleague and then tentatively asked Lu Qingwan, "Consort, you are so calm. Do you know that the two female generals, Lu Qianhuang and Chi Yaoyao, are actually innocent and without fault?"