Several days later, Chang'an.
As dawn broke in the east, the brightest crimson star in the sky had already vanished. The bitter winter cold seemed about to pass as well. In the reviving city of Chang'an, countless civilians formed lines and headed out through the city gates one by one.
The soldiers at the gate swept their gazes across the crowd. Then, from the corner of his eye, one of them spotted two carriages racing toward them across the distant ground, and his eyes immediately narrowed.
He walked to the center of the gate, about to stop the two carriages, but when he saw the insignia on their compartments up close, delight instantly appeared on his face. He turned and shouted:
"The Marquis has returned!!"
At those words, the soldiers on both sides immediately cleared a broad path into the city. The civilians waiting to leave the city also scattered to either side of the road, watching the two carriages charge into the city with excitement!
"Welcome back, victorious Marquis!"
"Victorious? Didn't the Marquis go out to fight a war?"
"Can't he return victorious if he didn't fight a war?"
"That's true..."
"Marquis! This is an old hen raised by our own family. Please take it back and let the soldiers nourish themselves!"
"Marquis, I have an unmarried daughter at home. She is sixteen this year, you..."
"..."
The civilians enthusiastically tried to crowd around the two speeding carriages, but neither carriage slowed in the slightest. Pulled by galloping horses, they howled into Chang'an.
Lin Qiye lowered a corner of the curtain and, after a long while, let out a deep sigh...
"Shouldn't we announce the Marquis's situation to the world?" Hu Jia asked in confusion.
"No." Lin Qiye and Yan Zhong shook their heads at the same time. "When