"The frontier was far away and barren and the tough war made it difficult to return."

With heavy snow for consecutive days, the inside and outside of the city of Western Liang were covered with snow. Along the highway out of the west door, a line of carriages moved slowly. Among them, a carriage, with carved lines, red paint, and bead curtain, was protected heavily by others. It seemed to travel a long distance with its body covered by dust, but its gorgeous gloss could not be shaded.

Several passers-by out of the city, who moved hard against the snow, stared at the carriages surprisedly.

But away from the procession, a clear voice, like the orioles, came from two horses, which were surrounded by guards inconspicuously. Gu Rouzhang, wearing the male outfit with a dark black veil covering her face, held the rein with one hand, put the horsewhip on the mane, and said, "I started to learn the poem a few days ago and just remembered two sentences about the frontier. I was wondering how remote the frontier was at that time. When I went to my grandfather in Youzhou, I thought Youzhou was remote enough. But along the way we came from we could not see anyone for several days or even half a month. I understand how remote the frontier is."

Wei Changying, with the same outfit and veil as Gu Rouzhang, sighed and said, "I couldn't stand to leave Shuguang alone when leaving the capital. At the beginning, I thought it was not difficult to take him with me with carriages, but I realized how smart my mother-in-law was when we left the capital. I couldn't even stand the journey. If I took Shuguang with me, I didn't know whether I should send him back to the capital or take a risk to move on with him at that time."

Gu Rouzhang didn't get married yet so she was relaxed without concerns like Wei Changying. Wei Changying missed her husband when she stayed in the capital. Now she was about to see her husband, but then she started to miss her son... The followers had gotten used to Wei Changying's concerns about Shen Cangfeng and her son all the way.

They had been familiar with each other along the way. Gu Rouzhang played a joke on Wei Changying, "You had been saying this all the way. Can it shift your attention as your husband is in the city of Western Liang? Madam Su will definitely treat her grandson very well. You love Shuguang so much. Why not give birth to another child with your husband in Western Liang?"

Although Wei Changying had been a mother, she couldn't stand to be joked by Gu Rouzhang in front of guards who turned around their faces to swallow laughs. She said with a red face under the veil, "What are you talking about? You had been talking about the frontier along the way. Is it true that you come here to pick a husband with good literature and martial arts rather than visit two young masters?"

Gu Rouzhang nodded and said seriously, "If someone is right for me, how about marrying him? I can go with him to go into battle and kill enemies at that time. We are willing to be killed in the battle. Maybe we will be a legend lasting for thousand years."

"Nonsense! Maybe you are just happy to see your brothers soon." Wei Changying had to stop her. Gu Rouzhang was not brought here by Wei Changying and she had a brother and a family brother in Western Liang, but Wei Changying had to be responsible for her until she met Gu Yiran or Gu Xinian in case that Gu Rouzhang was caught by the Gu family after entering Western Liang and spread ridiculous rumors... It would be difficult to explain to the Gu Family.

When Gu Rouzhang was about to talk, a leader of guards came forward on a horse and reported, "Fourth young master said that the city of Western Liang was in front of us and snow got heavier and heavier. Young madam and Miss Gu had better go back to the carriage and prepare to enter the city."

They waded mountains and rivers from the capital to Western Liang for a thousand kilometers. Even with the best carriages, they were likely to feel sick. Particularly it was not the right season for them to visit Western Liang in September, because it started to snow in August here. Wei Changying was grateful that she didn't take Shen Shuguang with her when thinking of the difficulties along the way.

Both Wei Changying and Gu Rouzhang were daughters of noble families, but they couldn't stand the journey either. They asked maidservants to change clothes into male outfits for them and rode horses from time to time after practicing riding for several days.

They were in good mood today since they got up to know that they would arrive in the city of Western Liang. They wanted to see the city of Western City first so they kept riding in the morning in case the procession obscured their vision.

Now they were in a good mood and Shen Canghui's words reminded them that they were not far away from the city gate of Western Liang. Maybe there would be someone in front of the gate to welcome them... They turned around horses instantly and went to their carriage. They were agile enough to jump onto the carriage directly without stopping it.

Gu Rouzhang was about to pull the curtain, but she was stopped by Wei Changying. Wei Changying knocked the curtain and said in a loud voice, "Deng Wanwan, we are about to come in. You'd better shelter the wind behind the screen."

A young lady's voice came from the carriage, "Thank you for your kindness. I had asked someone to fetch my fox-fur robe. Now I am warm in it. You can come in."

Pulling the curtain, Wei Changying and Gu Rouzhang entered the carriage one after another. Despite their fast movement, Deng Wanwan still felt piercing cold with wind and snow entering the carriage.

Deng Wanwan squinted her eyes. It looked so warm for her to wear the white fox-fur robe, but she couldn't help coughing when the wind and snow poured into the carriage. Wei Changying hurried to ask Zhu Lan by the door, "Close the curtain as soon as possible."

Zhu Lan said, "Closed already."

"Cough... Thank you. I am unfortunate to catch a wind chill and stay in the carriage all day. But it is so great for you to ride the horses outside every day." Deng Wanwan coughed with a handkerchief covering her lip and she said with a smile.

Gu Rouzhang said frankly, "Staying in the carriage is bad for your health. You'd better take a walk outside, but you are too timid to ride a horse... Fortunately, we are about to enter the city of Western Liang soon, and you will get well after exercising yourself around."

Wei Changying said with a laugh, "Is it necessary to exercise herself around? Do you remember the one lying behind the screen who surprised us along the way? As long as we get off the carriage, Wanwan's cold will be cured with excellent medical skills."

Three of them laughed at Wei Changying's Words. The one lying behind the screen was Duanmu Xinmiao, who was the unique disciple of Ji Qubing, the famous doctor worldwide. The Eighth Miss of the Duanmu Family had been lying behind the screen since they left the capital... It was unbelievable that she was sick for the carriage.

At the beginning, Duanmu Xinmiao took the medicine to suppress her illness so nobody realized it. As they got far away from the capital, Duanmu Xinmiao couldn't stand the movement of the carriage and vomited finally. She looked like to die after vomiting. Wei Changying was so scared and asked someone to tell Shen Canghui to stop for a day.

Originally Wei Changying was afraid to take her, but Duanmu Xinmiao stuck to go with them for an unknown reason. As the disciple of Ji Qubing, Duanmu Xinmiao found a way to deal with the sickness. She drank a dose of the sedative drug and fell asleep. Now everyone knew she was sick for carriage and she wasn't afraid to lose her face anymore.

As the only disciple of Ji Qubing, nobody dared to offend her, including Empress Gu. Surprisingly Duanmu Xinmiao slept all the way from the capital to Western Liang.

But Deng Wanwan persisted, despite cold and cough all the way. She didn't follow Wei Changying and Gu Rouzhang to practice riding a horse, but she witnessed mountains and rivers pass by through the window of the carriage.

... The reason why Wei Changying brought the three of them to Western Liang was a long story.

The message that Chanyu Muxiuer was about to die was delivered to the capital, Emperor was pleased with the success in Western Liang, but... Emperor inquired the messenger, "Four royal guards were sent to Western Liang. Why did the message only refer to Shen Cangfeng and the guard of Western Liang, Shen Youjia?"

The messenger explained, "The victory was due to the cooperation between the Lieutenant Shen and the Lieutenant General Shen. Two Lieutenants Gu and the Lieutenant General Deng were stationed elsewhere and didn't involve."

Hearing his words, Emperor said slowly, "Okay... I was sad for those guards who were sent to Eastern Hu and got injured heavily. The news from Western Liang is really a good one." And then Emperor awarded everyone involved based on rules... But the conversation was spread in the capital. Anybody said that the Shen Family concealed the efforts of Gu Yiran, Gu Xinian, and Deng Zongqi in the battle to only highlight Shen Cangfeng's effort and hide other messages as well...

Each family held the respective attitude when hearing the news. The Gu family of the capital was very patient and the Deng Family of Rong City didn't care whether Dong Zongqi was alive or not, so both the two families disapproved of the rumor. But Deng Wanwan worried about her brother so she went to Honored Consort Deng for some information.

Honored Consort Deng was not sure whether the news was true or not and inquired Emperor privately. And then she sent Yao Tao to talk to the Shen Family. She hoped that Deng Wanwan could go with Wei Changying to Western Liang to visit her brother.

The Shen Family knew that Emperor wanted to place a spy with Wei Changying. But as a daughter who wasn't appreciated by her family, the Shen Family was easy to control her in Shen Family's hometown. So, the Shen Family kindly agreed. Honored Consort Deng suggested again. Since Shen Cangfeng got injured heavily and Ji Qubing went to Fengzhou, why not ask Duanmu Xinmiao to go to Western Liang?

Duanmu Xinmiao was not only the daughter of gentlefolks, but also the unique disciple of Ji Qubing in the world. The Shen Family could control Deng Wanwan easily in Western Liang, but they couldn't provoke Duanmu Xinmiao... Without mentioning the revenge of the people behind her, Duanmu Xinmiao got well with Wei Changying and couldn't be killed easily. But she would be obedient in that her dear sister Dowager Duchess Cai and nephew Duke Cai were in the capital.

The Shen Family asked Shen Canghui to protect his sister-in-law to visit her husband in Western Liang and bring Deng Wanwan and Duanmu Xinmiao as well. Gu Rouzhang, who was sick of learning rules in the house, tried to catch up with them by pretending to be a man. She just wanted to play for fun rather than worry her brothers.

Wei Changying asked somebody to send her back several times, but she rode a swift horse given by her grandfather and was difficult to catch up with. When people chased her, she ran away, but she would follow again when they stopped chasing. The procession of Wei Changying was mass enough and couldn't leave the main road, so she could find them easily.

After several failures, Wei Changying and others worried about their families' wounds and couldn't waste time for her, so they invited Gu Rouzhang to join them in case that something happened to her.

And then they became such a team.