"No need, Master Jiang has been busy for so many days, he must be very tired, let's not bother anymore."

After retiring from the little house, Xiao Man returned to the bedroom, his face was much more serious than Fang Cai, and the pearl on the side did not force her to drink medicine when he saw it, but asked curiously: "Madam, what happened just now?" ”

Su Xiaoman lowered his eyes, "Master Jiang has just come, but he left after reporting safety." ”

"Lord Jiang has been here? Why didn't he come in? Pearl didn't understand the doorway, so he was very puzzled, "Thanks to Lord Jiang's help these days, he rode his horse to the yamen to save you early this morning, and now that you are back, isn't he worried?" I didn't even come in to take a look. ”

"Pearl, I'm tired, you go out first." Xiao Man said in a low voice.

Pearl opened her mouth, she wanted to say something, but looking at Xiao Man's lowered eyes, coupled with the other party's sudden attitude, she didn't dare to ask again, so she had to put the medicine in front of Xiao Man, "That lady, you remember to drink the medicine." ”

"Got it."

After Pearl left, the room was completely quiet, and Xiao Man leaned on the soft collapse and sighed softly.

She didn't know why Jiang Qiming would leave just to report his safety at the door, but there were many people in Shangjing, and it was inevitable that it would develop into what it is now, even if the two were frank and had no ambiguous relationship, but in this big dye vat, they had to keep their distance, not only for each other, but also for their own reputation.

Thinking of these, Xiaoman missed Lu Li more and more, and missed the days of Bishui Village.

Although there are some rumors there from time to time, if she behaves properly, no one dares to spread rumors out of thin air like this, and going to Beijing is really not the place where she should stay.

Lu Li, when will you come back?

At the same time, in the north, which is thousands of miles away from Shangjing, Lu Li wrapped his robe tightly, stood on the high city wall, looked at the stars in the dark night sky, and was also thinking about Xiaoman.

The new barbarian methods are vicious and insidious, and in the previous battles, the soldiers on Lu Li's side have succeeded several times by relying on one blow, but these times they have become more and more difficult, and they have a sense of powerlessness, if it drags on for some more time, I am afraid that the tide of the battle will be completely reversed.

What then?

Lu Li couldn't help sighing, lowered his eyes, and his eyes fell on the padded jacket that Xiaoman made for him, he couldn't help but stretch out his fingers, gently rubbing the padded jacket, and a strong warmth welled up in his heart.

I don't know how Xiaoman is now, can she adapt to life in Beijing with her temperament?

"General!"

The sudden male voice interrupted Lu Li's thoughts, he clenched his padded jacket tightly, and turned around with a secret sigh, "What's wrong?" ”

"There is a report from the front, the barbarians are reorganizing their troops, and it seems that they are preparing to attack."

"They trim up at night?" Lu Li frowned, thought for a moment, and then asked, "Is there an abnormality near the border city?" ”

The adjutant general thought for a moment, then shook his head in embarrassment, "I didn't find anything abnormal, but we just received a tip from the front, saying that the barbarians suddenly lit a bonfire not long ago, and gathered the soldiers in a whole formation, as if they were adjusting their strength." ”

The two sides are so far apart, it stands to reason that Lu Li's every move is easy to see, but in this big night, the bonfire is suddenly lit, and the repair soldiers make such a loud noise, which is difficult to guarantee that it will not arouse the suspicion of Lu Li's side.

No wonder the adjutant general came to report the matter so late, this matter is indeed too strange.

Lu Li thought for a while, and then ordered: "Send a small team of soldiers to monitor the movements of the barbarians, and report any abnormalities at any time, you and the others go to rest first, and only leave the two teams of people to exchange surveillance back and forth." ”

"General, this must not be done! If the barbarians take this opportunity to attack in a big way, then we will not become fish on the board, general, and my subordinates are willing to accompany you to keep vigil! "The adjutant general did not dare to take orders.

"If it's okay, just do what I tell you to do." Lu Li commanded in a deep voice.

The deputy general hesitated again and again, and wanted to refute, but he was frightened away by Lu Li's eyes, and he had no choice but to obey Lu Li's orders and retreat to make arrangements.

Lu Li, on the other hand, stood on the city wall and thought for a long time, until the surroundings became quieter and quieter, and he wrapped his robe tightly and went down.

In the past few days, the war has been tight, and I haven't found time to write a letter to Xiaoman, and her letter was also lost due to the war.

As Lu Li expected, the whole night passed, and there was no movement on the barbarian's side, and he took advantage of the fact that there was nothing to do, and wanted to take a nap and rest for a while, but as soon as he closed his eyes, there was a shrill horse bark outside the camp.

Immediately afterwards, there was a commotion outside the camp tent, and Lu Li was still resting, so he immediately took his robe and ran out, but saw the soldiers outside the camp tent in a mess.

"General! The barbarians are suddenly attacking! The vanguard suffered heavy losses, and the barbarian army approached our camp! ”

Lu Li heard a "buzz" in his ears, but as the commander-in-chief, he couldn't panic with the soldiers, so he quickly calmed down and shouted to the adjutant general: "Immediately gather the soldiers in the camp, and then send someone to take care of the tent that guards the grain and grass!" Just go! “

As soon as the words fell, there was a sudden sound of horses' hooves in the distance, and the sound was getting closer and closer, obviously the barbarian troops were attacking.

Lu Li became more and more ruthless, his eyes were red, and he roared hoarsely: "Don't panic, everyone, listen to my orders, and take up arms to resist the barbarians!" ”

"Take up arms! Resist the barbarians! ”

Under the command of the adjutant general and Lu Li, the soldiers in the camp were quickly assembled, and everyone didn't care about what to say, under the leadership of Lu Li, they each took their weapons, got on their horses, and roared out of the camp and rushed to the battlefield.

Xu was unprepared for this battle, it came very suddenly, coupled with the ferocity of the barbarians, all the forward troops had been defeated, so this time the soldiers of the Donglan Kingdom were defeated and retreated, but they had already lost their camp in half a day.

After the battle, it was devastated.

Thousands of soldiers lay on the blood-stained ground, swords, swords and halberds scattered everywhere, battle flags were cut down, and war horses fell heavily to the ground.

The soldiers of Donglan Kingdom silently cleaned up the mess, pulled the dead soldiers away in small carts, and buried them on the spot, without even a tombstone.

Although Lu Li had the foresight to keep the grain and grass of Donglan unscathed, this sudden defeat still wore out most of the soldiers' confidence, and in addition, there were too many soldiers lost in this battle, so he had to draft a letter, preparing to tell the emperor about the matter, and asked the emperor to send some people over.

The letter was delivered to the soldiers, and he traveled day and night, killing several horses, and finally handed the letter into the hands of the saint half a month later.

The emperor was discussing matters in the imperial study, and when he heard that a letter from the front line had come, he immediately summoned someone to come in and opened the letter in front of the minister of civil and military affairs.

Xu has been winning the previous battles, but this time the defeated letter suddenly came, and the emperor immediately pulled down his face, slapped the letter on the table, and was furious: "How did Lu Li fight, he couldn't even see this little trick of the barbarians, and he actually had the face to let me transfer troops again?!" ”

The soldier who delivered the letter was so frightened that he knelt on the ground and didn't dare to make a sound, let alone explain it to Lu Li.

On the contrary, Wei Xiuyuan, who was on the side, took the initiative to stand up when everyone was silent, "Your Majesty, victory or defeat is a common thing in soldiers, you must not make a big fuss about this, be careful of hurting the dragon body." ”

"Wei Xiuyuan, why didn't you take the initiative to go to the front line this time?" The emperor sat down and asked casually.

Wei Xiuyuan was stunned, then knelt down, and said in a deep voice: "The minister is sent by the emperor." ”

Unexpectedly, the emperor just snorted coldly and said in a low voice: "You little body, if you go to the battlefield, Lu Li will have to take out to protect you, forget it, you better stay in Shangjing and do things for me." ”

After speaking, the emperor sighed and ordered: "You will do the matter of this conscription, you and Lu Li have been playmates since childhood, and they must have similar visions, and the people you choose, he must be able to use them easily." ”

"Yes! Obey the emperor's holy decree! ”

The battle on the front line is tight, now is not the time to ask for guilt, and Wei Xiuyuan is right, victory and defeat are a common thing in soldiers, if this barbarian leader is really so easy to deal with, he will not let Wei Xiuyuan go all the way to invite Lu Li.

The news of Lu Li's defeat soon spread throughout Shangjing, and the previously invincible general was suddenly defeated, and people were either down, or worried, and even began to pack up their belongings and prepare to return to their hometown for refuge.

However, at this time in the Lu Mansion, Su Xiaoman had no idea about this matter, firstly, the people in the mansion did not dare to mention this matter at this time, which made Xiaoman worried, and secondly, it was also because the Manrou Garment Workshop, which had been closed for a long time, was about to reopen.

The Manrou Garment Workshop on Chengdong Street and the Manrou Embroidery Workshop on Liuye Street will be opened at the same time, and the date is set for the tenth day of September, which is a good day for the sky to be high.

Because Xiaoman wears a wide dress all day long, she is originally thinner than ordinary people, so even if it has been more than four months now, she only has a rounder face, but she can't see it anywhere else, if people who don't know see it, they don't know that she has married a woman and is about to become the mother of her children.

"Madam, you have been busy in this study for a long time, be careful and tired." Pearl came in with a nourishing medicinal meal, an intimate reminder.

Xiao Man put the brush aside, looked up and smiled at the pearl, "I'm not tired, I see that it's about to reopen, I have to prepare early, and make the semicolon patterns as well, so that we can open together." ”

Pearl put down the medicinal food, put away the patterns on the table casually, and persuaded while tidying up: "It's still early, Madame should take care of your body." ”

As soon as the words fell, Xia Wanrou's laughter came from the door, "Pearl, you talk like this all day long, Xiaoman is not annoying, I am annoyed when I listen to it, you are so young, you are learning like an old mother." ”