Chapter 42: The Mongols Invade

  Thank you to Rainy Tingyuan for the reward of fragrant sachets and evaluation votes. Also, to Huahua Sakura who gave Shallow two update votes the day before yesterday, Shallow wants to say sorry to her. These two days, Shallow's state has not been good, plus some stuck articles, so the two votes you invested to urge more than 6000 words, Shallow couldn't do it, saying sorry here!

  If it were the past life, Qing Jin would have thought that Jun Shi only cared about her son and would have turned around and left without hesitation when she heard Jun Shi speaking to her in such a tone. However, now that she has been reborn, she has let go of her selfish and biased thoughts from her past life. She knows that after what happened to her son, it's normal for people to blame the older daughter more, especially since Ning Xuan is her younger brother, and Jun Shi's questioning was also reasonable, as she hadn't taken good care of him.

  Then, facing Jun's family, Qing Jin took the initiative to apologize: "It was my fault for not taking good care of my brother. I know I was wrong. However, I was lucky and met Master Shuijingchen on the road, who has already recited the soul-calming mantra for my brother and given him a Buddha bead to calm his spirit. Mother, please don't worry, my brother is fine now. Just let the doctors in the mansion prescribe two doses of calming medicine for my brother, and he will recover soon."

  When Qingjin said that she had taken her son to meet Master Shuijingchen, the master had already chanted a soul-calming mantra for her son and given him a Buddhist rosary, Junshi's heart finally calmed down a bit. Later, when Sanmei's daughter, Qingyao, returned and mentioned that her son had been frightened, and her daughter had taken her son away without leaving any news, although she was confident that her daughter would not harm her own brother, she still felt some worry after hearing her niece's words. Looking at the old lady on the main seat, her expression seemed somewhat displeased, clearly dissatisfied with her daughter's behavior after hearing her niece's words, and although she had not spoken out yet, who knows what she was thinking in her heart, possibly blaming her daughter for being reckless.

  Her eyes shifted to the gentle and humble third sister-in-law and the lovely and cute Qingyao niece beside the old lady, listening to her kind and harmless Qingyao niece say with extreme guilt to the old lady that she should have stopped the second sister at that time, shouldn't let the second sister take the frightened seventh brother away without knowing where they went. Also, since the second sister was not there, she should have taken good care of the seventh brother. Unexpectedly, she didn't take good care of the seventh brother and also failed to persuade the second sister in time. Every sentence was filled with guilt, yet it seemed to convey another deeper meaning when heard.

  She stood by and couldn't scold her niece for taking care of her son but letting him get into trouble, let alone being a senior who wouldn't stoop to argue with a junior. Feeling stifled and worried about her children, she could only wait outside the gate for their return. Waiting left and right, after a long time, there was still no sign of the returning daughter and son. Her heart couldn't help but feel some anger, so when she saw her daughter finally return with her son, her tone to her daughter was inevitably harsh.

  After speaking, she also regretted it a bit. Her daughter had finally eased her relationship with herself over the past two years. Now that this was said, her daughter's relationship with her might return to what it was before. At the same time, she had prepared for her daughter to leave in anger. Unexpectedly, not only did her daughter not leave, but also took the initiative to admit her mistake to her.

  Jun immediately took the opportunity given by his daughter to calm down, and with a gentle expression, he said to Qingjin: "You must be very tired from bringing Xuan'er to find Master Shuijingchen. Why don't you go back to your room to rest first? I'll send Xuan'er back to her room and have the imperial physician prescribe two calming medicinal soups for her."

  Qing Jin nodded at Jun Shi's words and left with Yuanyang.

  Mr. Jun hastily took his son back to his room, called the doctor from the mansion to diagnose his son, and after hearing the doctor say that his son was fine and would recover after taking two doses of medicine, he felt relieved, sent the doctor away, put his son to sleep, and brought his personal maid to Qingjin's room.

  Qing Jin was just taking a bath and having lunch when she saw Jun Shi come in and bow: "Mother."

  "Jun's wife nodded slightly, made a gesture with her eyes, and the servants in the house retreated, leaving only Jun's wife's personal maid and Qingjin's personal maid, Yuanyang, beside them. She spoke to Qingjin: 'Just now, your mother was worried about you and your brother, and her tone was a bit heavy. You don't blame your mother, do you?'"

  "Xuan is Jin's younger brother." Qingjin replied, meeting Junshi's gaze.

  Upon hearing Qingjin's words, Junshi couldn't help but pause for a moment, and said with emotion: "Jin'er has really grown up. I thought you always disliked your younger brother because I neglected you after Xuaner was born..."

  "That wasn't because I was young and didn't understand things, Ning Xuan is my younger brother and I've always known that. It's just that...I'm used to being like that with my brother in the past, actually, my daughter also wants to give in to her brother sometimes, but every time they meet, she can't help but go against Xuan Er...". Qing Jin said this with some embarrassment, clearly thinking about giving in to him each time, but when the two faced each other, she couldn't help but try to suppress Gu Ning Xuan.

  "Xuan Er has been spoiled by me and has become a bit arrogant, you should discipline him more often..."

  "...You're doing great today, at home you can be as noisy as you want, I don't mind, but once you step out the door, if anything happens, I hope you can act like a real older sister, stand up and protect your younger brother, of course, you also need to take care of yourself..." Junshi looked at Qingjin with an unusually serious expression.

  "I know..."

  "Alright, you've been out all day and must be tired. Get some rest early. Tomorrow when you go to pay your respects to the old lady, tell her about it..." The implication of Mr. Jun's words was profound.

  Qing Jin heard the tone of Jun's words and curiously opened her mouth: "Is it Fourth Sister who said something to Grandmother?"

  "This fourth sister of yours is a clever and cunning one. I, as her mother, don't even know what she meant by those words she said to your grandmother, but I think you'd better not get too close to her in the future."

  "I understand, Mother."

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  Taichang Emperor of Ming 37 years

  The Mong State, which had always been at peace with the Great Jing and did not invade each other, suddenly launched a war against the Great Jing and quickly occupied three cities adjacent to the Great Jing and the Mong State.

  The news reached the capital, and the entire court was in an uproar. In the imperial court, officials who advocated for war and those who advocated for peace were at odds with each other, arguing back and forth, and the emperor on the Golden Throne sat with his eyes closed, ignoring them.

  Just before dawn, the emperor who had been sleeping with his eyes closed finally opened them and gazed directly at the crown prince, asking in a languid tone without any expression: "What do you think, Crown Prince? Should it be 'stand' or 'and'?"

  Upon hearing the Emperor's question, the Crown Prince hastily stepped forward, glanced at the Crown Prince's Junior Mentor beside him, and respectfully opened his mouth: "In response to Your Majesty's words, Meng Guo has attacked our Great Jing without cause, occupying our cities. I believe that for the sake of our Great Jing's prestige, we should go to war!"

  "Hmm..." Upon hearing the prince's words, Emperor Ming's expression remained inscrutable, but his eyes swept to the side, where the Grand Eunuch stood. The Grand Eunuch, who had served Emperor Ming for many years, understood the emperor's gaze and stepped forward, "Retire from court..."

  After the emperor left, the crown prince led several princes out of the great hall first.

  After leaving the grand hall, the crown prince smiled and asked the third prince who was following behind him, "Third brother, do you think Father is satisfied or dissatisfied with my answer just now?"