As soon as the news of the imperial guards' advance spread, and the boss had said not to bother with these three people, the five in the room drew their swords and charged out.
The messenger did not follow the five of them out of the cold palace. He turned back, and in a moment, the sounds of fighting outside grew louder and heavier.
Fang Mingjiang removed the black cloth from his face and bent down to remove the cloth from Zhao Jiaqi's mouth. As he untied her, he said, "Empress, your humble servant arrived late to assist. Please punish me."
"You've arrived just in time. Quickly untie Pingting!"
Zhao Jiaqi was so grateful that he had come into the palace to rescue them that she had no intention of punishing him.
Watching Fang Mingjiang go to rescue Pingting, Zhao Jiaqi scrambled to free the Grand Empress Dowager Yao Jingyun. She and Pingting were younger and could endure being tied up, but Yao Jingyun was old, frail, and delicate, not to mention terrified. She had fainted.
"Mother, Mother, how are you!"
Yu Meng's small body shot in like a cannonball. Seeing that her mother had been untied, she finally couldn't hold back her tears, despite her forced composure.
It was too terrifying. Fortunately, her heart was strong and her mind remained calm, otherwise she would not have been able to call out for her mother today.
Zhao Jiaqi hugged her daughter. Her greatest worry was these little ones. Seeing her daughter hopping around in front of her, her heart calmed down considerably.
An hour later, peace was restored to the palace.
The newly appointed commander of the Imperial Guards, clad in silver-white armor stained with fresh blood, strode forward and bowed. "Your subordinate, Commander of the Imperial Guards, Chen Gang, pays his respects to Her Majesty the Empress. Huang Kangtai is dead, and the remaining spies have been annihilated. Three were captured and are now in the death row!"
Zhao Jiaqi said, "Good. Thank you, Commander Chen. You may go and make arrangements!"
After the statistics compiled by Gao Kun, the deputy commander of the Imperial Guards, more than thirty innocent palace maids and eunuchs had died or were injured. Most of these people had no idea what was happening when they met their end.
Gao Kun, along with Prime Minister Song Xin, began clearing the palace of spies. The eunuchs and palace maids spent their days in anxiety and impatience.
That evening, after everything had settled down, Zhao Jiaqi learned from Song Xin and Fang Jingchen that it was Yu Meng who had instructed her younger siblings to squeeze through a dog hole to deliver a message.
Zhao Jiaqi rubbed Yu Meng's head as she shyly lowered her gaze. She used to think her daughter was mischievous, but now she realized she wasn't as bad as she had thought.
She was a bit spirited, but judging by her performance last night and this morning, she was like a young lady of the Fan family coming into her own.
"Mengmeng, you are wonderful. Mother really underestimated you!"
Yu Meng was astonished. Receiving praise from her mother was incredibly rare. Her eyes sparkled with a brilliant light. "Really?"
She could hardly believe her ears. When she saw her mother nod, she immediately became carried away and declared, "Mother, I want to go to the military camp and lead troops into battle. I can do it!"
Well, that lasted less than three seconds.
Zhao Jiaqi quickly averted her twitching face from her daughter, fearing that she would transform from a virtuous wife and loving mother into a shrew at any moment.
"Mother, I'm serious. I really can't stand those classical quotes and poems. I fall asleep when the Grand Tutor teaches them. I'm just not cut out for studying!"
Yu Meng was not good at reading people's expressions. She grabbed Zhao Jiaqi, whose face had turned ashen, and pleaded, "Father has already taught me military strategy, I can do it. Mother, won't you give me a chance? If I can't do it, I'll come back and study with the Master, okay!"
For the sake of her childhood dream, Yu Meng had worked diligently.
Looking at her daughter's pitiful, pleading eyes, the mother's heart softened no matter how stern she tried to be.
Forget it. Children and grandchildren have their own fortunes. Why should she worry so much?
What's so bad about being a female general, a future Mulan!
At worst, she and her husband would pave the way for their children's future. If there were no more wars to fight, even if Mengmeng became a female general, she wouldn't be harmed in the slightest by any conflict!
Perhaps all mothers were this selfish!
Unable to bear her daughter's pleas, she agreed to her request. "Alright, Mother promises you!"
It took seven or eight days to clear the palace of spies. Several more spies were discovered during the process, deeply entrenched. If not for the investigation into the ancestral origins of the eunuchs and palace maids this time, these spies might not have been found.
When Junying learned that her mother had been kidnapped and rushed back, she felt a pang of relief seeing her mother standing there safe and sound.
"Mother, Junjun is back!"
Seeing the young Junjun return from the mountain, Zhao Jiaqi was quite surprised. "Did your master know you were leaving the mountain?"
Junjun nodded firmly. "He knew. I begged my master to let me come back. I heard that spies from the Jin Kingdom had appeared in the palace and that Mother had been kidnapped..."
Zhao Jiaqi stopped the young Junjun, who was about the same height as her, and gently patted her back. "Mother is fine, don't worry. It was your sister's quick thinking that found people to rescue Mother."
Looking at the young Junjun, who had transformed from a girl into a young woman, she was beautiful, intelligent, and proficient in poetry and music. It was no exaggeration to call her a talented woman of the capital.
In about a year, she would reach her coming-of-age ceremony. If Zonghan still had feelings for her, Zonghan would propose marriage by the end of this year at the latest.
To ensure that young Junjun would have the ability to protect herself in the future, she and Fan Zehao had sent her to the Medicine Valley to study medicine.
If she were to marry into the Zongsheng Kingdom, a treacherous place like the imperial harem, her medical skills would help prevent anyone from poisoning her.
If she didn't marry Zonghan, that would be a great joy. However, regarding their children's marriages, she and Fan Zehao had no intention of interfering.
The news of their eldest sister's return spread like a tornado to the princesses, princes, and young lords. Before Ren Junying could even have a proper reunion with Zhao Jiaqi, she was pulled away by her younger siblings.
Time flies. When she adopted little Junjun, she was only five or six years old. Now she had grown into a woman. In another year or two, she would belong to someone else.
She always had the illusion that the good cabbage she had planted had been snatched by a pig.
The next day, at the training grounds of the camp outside the capital.
Zhao Jiaqi, Pingting, and Ren Junying sat on a high platform. Below them sat Fang Jingchen and the general stationed at the camp, Shi Haoming.
On the field, Deputy General Xie Changming led a thousand men, facing Princess Yu Meng, who led another thousand men. The two sides stood on the field, a rather awkward scene.
Ren Junying knew that her sister had aspired to be a general since childhood and had the ambition to defend the country. However, she couldn't help but worry about her sister. Facing a deputy general who had been through battles, what were her chances of winning?
Not only Ren Junying, but even Zhao Jiaqi, her mother, was worried.
On one hand, she hoped Mengmeng would win, and on the other, she didn't. This conflicting emotion was something outsiders could not understand.
The one most worried was Deputy General Xie Changming. It wasn't that he thought too highly of the princess, but if he accidentally injured her, he would be held responsible.
"Princess, this is a battlefield, not a game of make-believe. This subordinate advises the princess to return!"
She hadn't even fought yet, and he already thought she would lose?
He really underestimated Fan Yumeng!