Duke Min was shocked by the woman's words and abated his madness of anger.

Seeing this, Lang Mucha took a step forward and looked respectful,

"Your Highness, please allow me to untie you."

While speaking, she walked behind the pillar and quickly untied the hemp rope on Min Rui's arms.

Min Rui looked down and stopped speaking. He slowly twisted his two stiff arms and flushed.

Ah, it was said that women's wit did not match their hair.

The woman in front of him was only in her early thirties, but she was neither humble nor overbearing when leading the army. She was really admirable to have such courage.

She showed respect, so he had to be judicious.

Anyway, he was a man. If he still took off the gloves to a woman, wouldn't he be too stingy?

In the eyes of others, he, as a Duke, would be really narrow-minded.

Anyway, the imperial court wanted to recruit Lang Mucha. Let Leng Qingtang do his own things.

Min Rui didn't say a word but thought about many things.

Glancing at Lang Mucha silently, he strode into the camp.

Leng Qingtang came forward. His expression of gentleness was very different from the fierceness when he was about to behead Min Rui.

"Hehe, Your Highness, you're startled. Come and have a drink to get over the shock."

Leng Qingtang proposed a toast with a smile. Seeing it, Min Rui turned serious and refused to take it. He said crossly,

"Huh, Master, are you not going to kill me?"

Leng Qingtang knew that he was angry, so he didn't care about him. He only smiled slightly,

"Your Highness, please calm your anger. Although I'm ordered by His Majesty, I'm ill-considered sometimes. Thanks to Mrs. Lang’s advice just now, I was awakened. In the face of the enemies, I shouldn't fight with my own partners at present. Please forgive me if I offend you, Your Highness."

"Let's talk about fighting against the enemies first. When we win the battle, I will be at your disposal and willing to take whatever punishment I get."

No wonder people all said that the Commander-in-chief of the Eastern Depot was a worldly-wise person. What he did now was really worthy of the name. He actually put up a phoney show with the rank-top officer of the imperial court.

It was true that this beautiful eunuch really made no mistakes.

"Humph!"

Min Rui coldly sneered. He was angry but helpless. He looked at the eloquent man fiercely,

"Master Leng, Master Leng, you... You're really temperamental!"

After grabbing the wine glass, Min Rui drank it on his back. The two looked at each other for a moment, and both laughed loudly.

After having meals in the tent together, Leng Qingtang ordered the fourth and seventh tribes of the Eastern Depot to reorganize the armies and gather Imperial Guards to go to Yunnan.

Mrs. Lang wanted to go with the Eastern Depot but was declined by Leng Qingtang.

Given that the remaining 40,000 Lang Armies had been trapped in the Tiandang Mountain for more than ten days, there was an urgent need for them to replenish their energy and it was not suitable for them to travel long distances immediately.

He gave Lang Mucha four days to rest.

Four days later, Lang Army would set off to fight in Yunnan. Duke Min would also take 50,000 navies to leave Southern Jiang, return to the station, and leave only 30,000 armies to guard the coastline of Guangxi.

Before bidding farewell to Dongqing Fleet, Leng Qingtang handed two personally written safety letters to Duke Min. He told Duke Min to ask someone to send the two letters to the Eastern Depot of the capital as soon as possible after he returned to Guiping.

After that, Leng Qingtang led his team to travel westward for two days. Along the way, there were many undulating plateaus with luxuriant grasses.

On this day, the gorgeous and hot golden sun slowly fell, and the moon rose eastward.

The guards of the Eastern Depot, who had been marching all day, could temporarily rest and camp under the bright sky with the moon and stars.

The whole army seized the time to make a fire, cook, sleep in shifts. They had to continue to go west as soon as the time arrived.

Having patrolled the whole army, Leng Qingtang stood in front of the camp and squinted. He watched the grass rush from the vast distance like the dark waves with the help of the wild wind, which was so spectacular.

He returned to the camp and ate a simple dinner. However, at this moment he thought of Yunxi and the exquisite dishes that the girl had cooked for him.

At night, flames burst forth outside the tent.

Awakened by noises, Leng Qingtang saw the fourth captain Bai Qiying entering the curtain with the drapery, who shouted,

"Master, the soldiers of Bo Ku are coming to attack us!"

Quickly putting on his armor, Leng Qingtang picked up the weapon blade and ran out of the tent with Captain Bai.

The deafening sound came from the camp and hand-to-hand combat began.

The shouting and howling were mixed together on the battlefield, flashing with knives and swords. Birds and beasts wailed, and the world was covered with blood.

The Imperial Guards of the Eastern Depot marched westward into Yunnan. Along the way, the spies of Bo Ku had returned to the main camp to tip off information.

In order to prevent this supervising army from entering the Yunnan border, a sophisticated group of light cavalries of the Bo Ku army was dispatched and planned to make a raid tonight to completely wipe out the troop of the Eastern Depot.

Although the incident was unexpected, the daily training of the guards of the Eastern Depot and Imperial Guards was extremely rigorous, thus their combat effectiveness was not inferior to that of Lang Army. Under Leng Qingtang’s command, they scattered the light cavalries of the enemy in only half an hour.

The weather on the plateau was changeable, and it rained during the fighting between the two armies.

Big raindrops hit the iron armor, making a clank. With a murky sky over a dark earth, the corpses on the ground were stacked and muddy with blood.

This provoking war from Bo Ku lasted for two hours. Until the last Bo Ku soldier fell, day broke.

…

In the Eastern Depot in the capital.

Today was the day when the medical sage disassembled the wound belt for Gu Yunxi.

Three days ago, everyone got the news and they rushed over without prior discussion on this day. Even Gu Yunyao ran out of the Palace in casual clothes with the Fourth Princess who dressed as a man and Prince Chen. They made a special trip to cheer for Gu Yunxi.

The small room was full of people.

They were Cheng Wanli, Xiaoshen and his wife, a few captains of the Eastern Depot, Gu Yunyao, and her two maids, Prince Chen and the Fourth Princess.

Lanxin ordered people to move the chairs but soon discovered that there were so many people that there was no room for chairs.

There were also many guards in the corridor, all anxiously looking forward to that exciting moment.

When Jiang Huai'an and the medical sage arrived hurriedly and saw so many people, they were dumbfounded.

All people crowded in a room and they couldn't see Madam Yun.

"No, no, too many people are here. It's too noisy and not convenient for my master to do things at all!"

Jiang Huai'an put down the medicine box and forced everyone out of the house.

"Hey, Imperial Doctor Jiang, don't chase me. Madam Yun must be taken care of by someone!"

"That's it. I will stay too..."

"Me, too."

These people had the best relationship with Gu Yunxi, so naturally, they couldn't bear to leave. They couldn't wait to witness the whole process of Yunxi uncovering her veil and showing her true appearance personally.

One person negotiated with Imperial Doctor Jiang, and the others rushed to follow suit.

Jiang Huai'an got a headache from the noise. He covered his ears with hands and shouted,

"Okay, okay! All quiet down—"

Everyone was obedient and shut up.

The sudden silence caused Jiang Huai'an to breathe a sigh of relief. He put down his hands and looked around the group of people. Then he became serious and said with a low voice,

"I know that all of you care about Miss Yun, so at most three people can stay in the room. Let Miss Yun choose by herself, and the others should leave and wait outside."

As soon as Jiang Huaian finished speaking, the group of people surrounding him immediately left him, scrambling to Gu Yunxi,

"Sister Yunxi, I have a very close friendship with you. You have to choose your brother to accompany you."

"Miss, we used to be together. Now I am married to Xiaoshen. If you choose him, you will naturally choose me to accompany you..."

"Hey, you are married and why are you still giving us more trouble? Now it is me, Lanxin, who is serving Yunxi. Who will accompany her if I will not accompany her later?"

"Just because our master made a special trip out of the Palace today, we will naturally accompany her later."

Gu Yunxi had already been worried about the success of the change. Now that they were so noisy, she was even more panicked.

She lowered her face in silence. Gu Yunyao behind her saw her small hands gripping her dress.

Gu Yunyao leaned toward the crowd, cleared her throat, and said,

"Don't quarrel, listen to me. Yunxi is my younger sister, so I have to be present when the bandage is removed. Later, it's not suitable for men to stay here as she, as a girl, has to undergo medical examinations. Now I make the decision for her. Let the Fourth Princess and Lanxin stay here, and the rest should leave."

"Your Grace, I come here with you and the fourth younger sister. How can you drive me away?"

Prince Chen was sad, so he waved his hands and stamped.

Gu Yunyao took his hand and smiled,

"Be obedient. When Yunxi recovers, ask her to make a snack for you."

Prince Chen became dejected and despondent and followed everyone out of the room.

At this moment, the quiet atmosphere made Gu Yunxi even more cramped. Sitting at the table, she suddenly grabbed Gu Yunyao's arm and said with servility,

"Sister, I'm so scared. In case...In case my eyebrows are different from before, in case..."

"There is no case."

The medical sage opened the medicine box and placed the bottles and cans on the table one by one. He was slightly displeased,

"Miss, do you have doubts about my medical skills?"

Gu Yunxi knew that she said something a little offensive, and stuck out her tongue ashamedly,

"I'm sorry, Master Tantai. I didn't mean that..."

The medical sage's face was relieved. He smiled and washed his hands in front of the basin, and then walked to Gu Yunxi's side. His tone of speech became much milder,

"Miss, you can rest assured. It's not the first time that I have performed the surgery. I have already been familiar with this technique."

Gu Yunxi smiled,

"Yes, Yunxi is counting on you."

"OK, let's start."

The medical sage rolled up his sleeves and took the silver scissors from Jiang Huaian to cut the bandage on the girl's head. He pulled the seam and rolled it around and around.

Gu Yunxi held her breath deeply and stared at the bronze mirror in front of her. She quietly felt the heaviness of the layers of coverage on her face reducing by an inch...