Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside Chapter 1681: Unlucky

Ms. Gao Lei didn’t mention the prescription but instead chastised Ji Zhenniang: "Being timid, useless, and prone to tears. You’re only lucky that someone protects you; otherwise, you’d have been swallowed alive by the world."

She spoke to Ji Zhenniang along the way, bringing her to tears, though Ji Zhenniang dared not cry audibly.

At parting, she commanded: "Tomorrow wake up at the time of Mao. At the end of Mao go to the pharmacy courtyard to help. If you dare slack off, I have ways to deal with you."

"Granny Lei..." Ji Zhenniang’s voice carried a sob, trying to beg for mercy, but Ms. Gao Lei didn’t listen at all, waving her hand: "Stop the nonsense, otherwise I’ll give you more tasks."

Ji Zhenniang immediately stayed silent.

After Ms. Gao Lei left, she grabbed Gu Jinli’s hand and cried, blaming Gu Jinli: "If I’d known, I wouldn’t have waited for you halfway. It’s all because I waited for you that I encountered Granny Lei, got scolded, and now have to work."

Gu Jinli chuckled: "So, it was all your own doing, who told you to wait for me?"

I don’t care for you; you’re the one who was scared and still sought me out.

She pulled her hand back: "Stop crying, hurry up and sleep. Tomorrow, you have plenty of tasks to do. If you don’t finish them, Granny Lei won’t let you eat."

After speaking, she left with her servant, leaving Ji Zhenniang stomping her feet in anger.

After returning to the room, Gu Jinli didn’t go to sleep immediately, instead waited for news of Qin San Lang.

It was not until after midnight that Daqing came to report: "Madam, Brother You An has returned and said Sir has left the city. Feng Jin followed him out, and by daylight, they’ll bring back the supplies Uncle Mu Tong delivered."

Uncle Mu Tong had transported quite a lot from the villa, and Feng Jin took people to meet him and will bring everything back at dawn.

Daqing then took out a letter and handed it to Gu Jinli: "It’s from Sir before he left the city."

"Brother Qin has written me a letter." Gu Jinli’s eyes lit up, she eagerly accepted it and, upon opening it, froze... it wasn’t a letter but rather a very hasty sketch.

In the picture, under a tree, two people embraced, surrounded by four children of varying heights.

"I’m not a pig, how could I give birth to so many?" Gu Jinli mumbled, feeling a bit sour, then quickly laughed.

Brother Qin drew such a picture to make her happy, she had to laugh.

She put away the letter and looked at Daqing: "You’ve been too tired lately; tonight, have a good sleep, and take the night shift tomorrow. Don’t worry about any mishaps; You An and You Xi are here."

Daqing was startled and nodded: "Slave obeys."

She performed a salute, turned, and left, her steps seeming slightly lighter.

After Daqing left, Gu Jinli took out the sketch, looked at it under the lamp, laughed, and said: "It looks really ugly. I’ll improve it for you."

She took out paper and pen, and transposed Qin San Lang’s small sketch into a larger picture, drawing facial features on the characters, giving them appearances, making everyone look more lively.

She was most delighted with the appearance of the four children; they resembled Qin San Lang and herself.

As for the big tree in the picture, she drew it as a begonia.

Qin San Lang once said that he had a hanging begonia that had been growing for over a decade, and she was like the begonia in his home, making him amazed and giving him peace.

...

At this moment, Qin San Lang and the rest had already followed the army out of the city, heading to Long’an Prefecture.

Mu Tong and the group waited outside; upon seeing the army out, they didn’t immediately seek out Qin San Lang. Instead, they took the convoy and followed the army from afar.

The army marched swiftly for several hours and only stopped at dawn to rest.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

"General Dai’s order, the whole army rests for three hours, we set out at Si time!" The scout rode back and forth, delivering the message to the whole army.

"Why use General Dai’s order? Isn’t Vice General Ma and General Zhou part of General Xu’s team?" Some soldiers asked in confusion.

Bang! That soldier was kicked by his Chief Commander: "Third Son Fang, you choke even when eating, huh? What’s wrong with using General Dai’s order? Is he lower ranked than you?"

After scolding the soldiers, the Chief Commander reminded his troops: "Keep your mouths shut, don’t talk rubbish. If trouble comes, I won’t be able to save you!"

Upon hearing this, the soldiers silenced themselves, not daring to speak any further.

However, everyone understood that issuing orders under General Dai’s name for this reinforcement army was for the best.

Duan Changling’s rank was higher than Vice General Ma’s, but Vice General Ma didn’t accept Duan Changling, so he simply handed the authority of commanding the army to General Dai, especially since General Dai had Minister Dai behind him.

General Dai was quite pleased; he no longer complained of hardships, and traveled with the soldiers in a carriage.

Duan Changling was furious over this matter. He wanted his troops to delay the journey, but General Dai acted like a madman. Whenever his troops fell behind, he sent Housekeeper Dai to expedite them.

If Duan Changling disobeyed, General Dai would bring up Minister Dai, leaving Duan Changling feeling extremely frustrated.

Qin San Lang didn’t concern himself with these affairs. He found time to visit Uncle Mu Tong, took various medicines from him, and distributed these to his soldiers, permitting them to carry it along with the march.

But the journey wasn’t peaceful; Tuogude was a heinous beast, retreating by releasing poisonous insects, wreaking havoc on counties and towns they passed. The army distributed a lot of Insect Attractant to the citizens.

Nevertheless, several hundred soldiers still contracted poisonous insect disease, and due to delayed attraction, the poisonous insects entered the brain, causing death.

In such conditions, the army sprinted for seven days and six nights, finally arriving outside Long’an Prefecture.

But the entire Long’an Prefecture was surrounded by Rong soldiers, making it impossible to approach.

"Brother Ma, Brother Zhou, Brother Cheng, there are so many Rong soldiers ahead, what should we do? Charging directly won’t work; maybe we should pick a spot to set camp first." General Dai, fearing for his life, advised against rash advancement, adding: "Attract insects, quickly distribute Insect Attractant to soldiers for purification, we cannot lose any more lives!"

"Alright, let’s do that first," Vice General Ma and General Zhou agreed, ordering the establishment of camp and attraction of insects.

The campsite wasn’t fully set when someone arrived at the camp entrance.

The person was filthy all over, looked haggard, seemingly on the verge of collapse, shouted towards the soldiers at the camp entrance: "Are you reinforcements from Xing’an Prefecture? Is Vice General Ma leading? Take me to see Vice General Ma quickly!"

He took out his military token and raised it: "I’m Chief Commander Xi under Vice General Ma!"

"Chief Commander Xi?" The soldiers at the entrance didn’t recognize him, but the scout tasked with reconnaissance did, on noticing him, became alarmed: "It’s really Chief Commander Xi, quickly take him to see Vice General Ma."

Chief Commander Xi was then brought to see Vice General Ma.

Vice General Ma, upon seeing him, was startled: "Old Xi, you’re still outside the city? Couldn’t you get in? Was the Insect Attractant sent into Long’an Prefecture?"

Chief Commander Xi was the one tasked with taking Insect Attractant to Long’an Prefecture ahead.

Chief Commander Xi nearly shed tears, choked, and said: "No, the entire city is surrounded by Rong bandits, the surrounding villages were also harmed, Rong soldiers send cavalry to patrol daily. We were unlucky, ran into them, fought desperately to protect three carts of Insect Attractant, but most of the brothers died."