"Sir?" The housekeeper stepped forward and leaned over to remind: "Master, the time is up, the embroidery has been handed in, and you can start the selection." ”

Jiang Qiming came back to his senses suddenly, then he coughed lightly twice and got up, he walked slowly and leisurely in front of the embroidery as usual, leaving all the things that could be seen, but he didn't say anything superfluous, and just left.

This time, about seven or eight people were screened down, and now there are only less than ten embroidery girls left, and Xiaoman and Qin Chun naturally passed smoothly.

"The third race is still five days away, so everyone can come as usual, without needle and thread."

The people who had been sifted down went up and took their embroidery and went home. Su Xiaoman wanted to talk to Qin Chun, but the other party was in a hurry, and there was no trace in the blink of an eye, so she had to sigh and go out with her embroidery.

The door of the small courtyard opened, and the first to come out were the embroidery girls who were screened out, most of them left with the embroidery in frustration, and then the embroidery girls who passed the selection of the shop.

Seeing Xiaoman walking out, Pearl hurriedly greeted him, "Madam, have you passed?" ”

Xiao Man couldn't help but glance at this girl when he heard this, pursed his lips and said, "How do you know?" ”

"Although the lady bowed her head, but the steps were brisk, and she was at the end, the most important thing is that I saw that this embroidery was delicate and generous, and I would definitely be able to pass this competition." The pearl mouth was sweet, and Su Xiaoman praised it inside and out.

Su Xiaoman couldn't help but smile, and took Pearl's hand into the carriage and went back to the store.

As soon as she got out of the carriage, Xia Wanrou, who had been waiting at the door, hurriedly stepped forward, "How is it, is it over?" ”

"Nope." Su Xiaoman pouted.

"Huh?!" Xia Wanrou was startled, and she didn't know what to say.

The first few times it was not all good, why did it ...... this time?

Looking at Xia Wanrou's panicked look, Pearl on the side couldn't help but sneer, "Mrs. Wei, don't listen to Madame's nonsense, she teases you." ”

"So, you've passed?" Xia Wanrou took Xiao Man's hand and was overjoyed.

Su Xiaoman smiled mischievously, but he couldn't be as excited as before, "That's natural." ”

However, she hid something in her heart, and always felt that Qin Chun was a little weird, but the other party always avoided her, which made Xiaoman's heart even more awkward, so even if there was a big happy event at the moment, it couldn't arouse her interest, let alone something like just passing the game.

Seeing the other party's thoughts, Xia Wanrou pulled Su Xiaoman into the store, took her to the small attic, and handed the letter on the table to her arms, "Oh, Lu Li's letter." ”

"Letter again?" Xiao Man didn't care about thinking about Qin Chun, she hurriedly took the letter, opened it carefully, looked at the familiar font and title, the tip of her nose was sore, and she almost burst into tears.

Seeing this, Xia Wanrou quietly left with interest, and closed the door by the way.

Lu Li has been away for nearly two months, and with this one, Xiaoman has received a total of three letters, but most of the letters are concerned and do not tell much about the border war.

Holding this letter that I don't know how many people have passed, Xiao Man can still feel Lu Li's breath, her hands trembling and flattening the letter paper, reading the contents of the letter over and over again.

Although there was no mention of the war in the letter, Su Xiaoman looked at the slightly wrinkled letter and the ink spots on the letterhead, she seemed to be able to feel under what circumstances Lu Li wrote these words.

Such a cold day, such a tense war, such harsh conditions, but he still persevered in writing to himself, Su Xiaoman put the letter in his heart, and cried in a low voice uncontrollably.

When will this battle end?

At the same time, in the imperial study room in the palace, the emperor threw the folds on the table to the ground, and was furious: "What do you mean by not being able to hold on? What do you mean by having to give up, how did you lose a city so quickly?! ”

The ministers who were lying on the ground trembled, and no one dared to answer for a long time.

"Wei Xiuyuan!"

With the emperor's angry shout, Wei Xiuyuan hurriedly raised his head and responded: "Your Majesty." ”

"Didn't you say that as long as you can invite Lu Li back, you will definitely be able to hold the border? Now that the border cities have been abandoned by him, what is Lu Li doing? What about your guarantee?! ”

No one can bear the wrath of the Son of Heaven.

In this situation, only silence can cope with the past, but Wei Xiuyuan is not a normal person, he kowtowed, and said without hurrying or slowing: "If you go back to the emperor, the minister believes that Lu Li has his own way, and this city will definitely be recaptured in five days!" ”

"What do you mean, Lu Li deliberately ceded the border city to the barbarians?" The emperor raised his eyebrows and asked coldly.

Wei Xiuyuan's face did not change, "I will know in five days." ”

"What if Lu Li doesn't move after five days?" The emperor is pressing forward step by step.

The courtiers next to him were all in a cold sweat, all trembling and afraid to speak, and several courtiers who were good friends with Wei Xiuyuan on weekdays were pulling the hem of his clothes. Motioned for him to say no more.

But Wei Xiuyuan seemed to be unaware, and said resolutely: "If the border city has not been recaptured in five days, the minister will volunteer to go to the front line to help Lu Li!" ”

Without waiting for the other ministers to intercede, the emperor nodded slowly, "Okay." ”

The gentleman said that it was difficult to chase the horse, the Son of Heaven opened his mouth, and the rest of the people naturally didn't dare to say anything, but once they left the imperial study, everyone went to the business circle to persuade them.

"Lord Wei, you are too rash."

"Who in the government and the opposition doesn't know that you are good friends with General Lu, but he is a military general, you are a civil servant, and the matter of fighting has nothing to do with you, how can you take the initiative to invite Ying to the battlefield?"

"Lord Wei, Lord Wei, you are so confused."

Everyone, you say a word, even the little guy who followed Wei Xiuyuan heard the stakes of the matter, he knew that he couldn't persuade Wei Xiuyuan, so after returning home, he casually found an excuse to leave the house, and ran to the Manrou Ready-to-wear Shop with a smoke.

Xiao Wu directly informed Xia Wanrou of this matter, hoping that she could help persuade her.

"What do you say? Wei Xiuyuan is going to the battlefield?! Xia Wanrou got up, and the teacup in her hand fell to the ground.

Xiao Man on the side also sweated anxiously after hearing this, she didn't pay attention to Wei Xiuyuan's statement that he was going to go to the battlefield, she just heard that Lu Li had abandoned the border city, her heart pounded suddenly, her ears were buzzing, and she couldn't hear anything else.

Whether the emperor blames or not, only said that Lu Li abandoned a city so quickly, according to Xiaoman's understanding of men, the other party is not a cowardly person at all, if it is not a last resort, how can he abandon the city?

If he wasn't seriously injured, or if he was threatened, or if there was something unspeakable......

The conditions in the north are so difficult, Lu Li has not led troops for so many years, can he still bear it? Can the two padded jackets I made for him still keep out the cold?

Xiao Man couldn't help but cry when she thought about it, she quietly wiped away the tears with a handkerchief, but the circles under her eyes were still red, and she couldn't hide the traces of crying at all.

"Knock knock—"

The attic door rang, and Ruby went over to open it, "My lord?" ”

Xia Wan got up softly, looking much harsher than before, she walked up to Wei Xiuyuan in a few steps, and accused angrily: "What the hell do you think, how do you ......?"

Speaking of general, Xia Wanrou couldn't help crying at first, "Even if you want to go to the north, you should tell me, why did you suddenly make a package ticket in front of the emperor, if you ...... then?"

She didn't say the next words, after all, Xiao Man was still present, and Xiao Man heard what she said clearly, she didn't dare to make Xiao Man sad because of her gaffes.

"Okay, don't listen to this kid, when did I say I'm going to the North?" Wei Xiuyuan held Xia Wanrou's hand, took her to sit down, and then took her handkerchief to wipe away Xia Wanrou's tears, "Don't cry, your eyes are red." ”

Xiao Man blushed when she saw this, and she got up, "Since Brother Wei and Sister Wanrou still have something to say, I'll go down first." ”

"Wait a minute." Wei Xiuyuan stopped her, "Are you also worried about Lu Li?" You sit down for a moment, and it's not too late for me to explain this clearly before going downstairs. ”

As he spoke, Wei Xiuyuan closed the window in the attic, took another sip of tea, and then began to tell the story of the matter.

He and Lu Li grew up together since childhood, and they know each other's temperament very well, although later due to physical reasons, one practiced martial arts and the other practiced literature, but the two often discussed the art of war together, therefore, Wei Xiuyuan was very familiar with several military techniques that Lu Li was good at using.

The newly ascended barbarian is radical and attaches great importance to face, and Lu Li naturally knows this, so the loss of the border city this time must have been deliberately done by the other party.

As for his follow-up approach, Wei Xiuyuan could also guess it, so he was so ashamed to promise in front of the emperor that Lu Li would definitely recapture the border city within five days, and take advantage of the situation to deal a heavy blow to the barbarians.

"I see, but wouldn't Lu Li be in danger? In case that barbarian finds out that he has been tricked, won't he ...... "Xiao Man is worried.

Wei Xiuyuan tightened his eyebrows, "This kind of thing is very common on the battlefield, but since Lu Li dares to make dangerous moves, presumably he has also taken complete measures, and it should be fine." ”

Xia Wanrou was already relieved after listening to Wei Xiuyuan's words, but looking at Xiao Man's worried appearance, she couldn't help but want to persuade, "Xiao Man, don't worry, since Xiu Yuan said so, Lu Li should be fine." ”

However, after this just now, Xia Wanrou also knew in her heart that no matter how much others persuaded her, it was useless, unless she explained it herself.

But this Lu Li has only been on the expedition for more than a month, where can he come back so quickly, and now that he has just abandoned the border city, even if he can successfully defeat the barbarians in five days, it will take several days for the letter to be sent back quickly, so it will take at least half a month to know the specific situation of the border.

Thinking of this, Xia Wanrou couldn't help but sigh again, and her eyes fell on Wei Xiuyuan, she leaned closer and complained in a low voice: "It's all your fault, you made such a big move for no reason, which made Xiaoman sad!" “

Wei Xiuyuan was innocent and helpless: "How did I know that the news would reach you so quickly." ”