Warm medicine emits fragrance

Fan Liuer's low mood lasted only one night. When she woke up the next day, she was as normal as ever.

Because of wedding preparations, her morning classes were canceled. She should have been resting in the courtyard at this time, conserving her energy for the wedding day.

But now the wedding date has to be changed, and she has to talk to the old lady about it.

When she arrived at the west courtyard, the old lady was having breakfast. She seemed surprised to see her, "You're up so early today?"

Now everyone in the Li family knows that the future mistress of the house loves to sleep in late and can sleep in her room until the afternoon when she has nothing to do.

The old lady used to disapprove of such behavior, thinking it was unruly.

But having experienced so much this year, witnessing so much life and death, I no longer valued the rules that bound the living. I let Fan Liuer sleep as she pleased and never said anything to her.

I'm still not used to her waking up early.

Over this period of time, Fan Liuer's relationship with the old lady has become more and more harmonious. She is also a very easygoing person. As long as the other party doesn't make things difficult for her, she is willing to coax the other party to be happy. Now she can be as casual as Li Yuhe in front of the old lady.

She sat down next to the old lady and served herself a bowl of sweet soup. She hadn't eaten breakfast and came over because she was indeed hungry.

The old lady put down her bowl. "You came all this way so early in the morning just to have breakfast here?"

Fan Liuer drank half a bowl of sweet soup in one go. After her stomach was a little full, she spoke up: "No, I came here today because I have something important to discuss with you."

"What is it?" The old lady asked, intrigued.

Fan Liuer calmly finished the remaining half bowl of sweet soup before speaking: "My wedding date with Li Chenbi has to be postponed. General Yan has a very urgent matter to attend to. He left Xingzhou yesterday and I estimate it will be a month or two before he returns."

Fan Liuer didn't know exactly how long it would take for Li Chenbi to return, so she gave an estimate of a long time.

The old lady was slightly surprised upon hearing this. "What matter requires him to handle at this critical juncture?"

Fan Liuer shook her head. "He said he was dealing with some of General Yan's family matters, but he didn't tell me the specifics. He said he couldn't tell anyone, so I didn't ask any further questions."

Let General Yan take the blame; otherwise, Fan Liuer won't be able to find a reason that will convince the old lady.

The old lady frowned after hearing this. "General Yan's family affairs?"

As if struck by a thought, her face darkened. "Does he really treat Shen Bi like his servant? He even makes Shen Bi handle such private matters for him!"

Fan Liuer buried her head in her food and didn't say anything more.

After finishing her meal, she asked the old lady, "The wedding date has been postponed, but the invitations have already been sent out. Should we send someone to inform each household?"

The old lady waved her hand, "I'll have someone take care of this. You don't know the guest list, and you've been tired these past few days, so go back and rest."

Fan Liuer didn't argue with the old lady. After taking her leave, she left the west courtyard and exited the Li residence.

A carriage was parked outside the mansion gate. Siqing and Li Yuhe were already waiting inside. Upon seeing her get in, Li Yuhe hurriedly asked, "Does Grandmother have any suspicions?"

Fan Liuer shook her head, "No, and remember not to let anything slip in front of her in the future."

Li Yuhe nodded quickly.

The group went to Hong'an Temple outside Xingzhou City to pray for Li Chenbi's success on his trip.

The usually stingy Fan Liuer generously donated a considerable sum of money for incense this time, making two wishes for peace and safety.

One of them is Li Chenbi.

One of them was named Qi Weiming.

Although she never felt that she owed Qi Weiming anything, it was fate that made the two of them miss each other, regardless of who was right or wrong.

But Qi Weiming had also given her some warmth and confidence. Having known each other for a while, she hoped that he could come back safely.

Eight days after Li Chenbi left, Fan Liuer received a letter from him, a very thick stack of letters.

She felt relieved when she received the letter, but she was still a little nervous when she opened it.

She knew that Li Chenbi would only tell her good news and not bad news, and he certainly wouldn't write about those dangerous experiences in his letters.

But she was still worried, worried about seeing bad news, worried about learning that Li Chenbi was injured or had an accident.

After reading it word by word, I found several pages filled with Li Chenbi's experiences over the past few days, what he ate and drank, and how he missed her.

Only at the very very end, in a tiny line of text, did they tell her that Qi Weiming was lucky to have survived.

This sentence, however, is as full of resentment as ever.

Finally, she managed to make the worried Fan Liuer smile.

Every seven days thereafter, Fan Liuer would receive a letter from Li Chenbi. The contents were mostly similar, but even so, he would still write several full pages, detailing everything that happened to her each day.

After reading the letters and learning about Li Chenbi's daily life, she not only failed to alleviate her worries and longing, but also felt her yearning intensify.

Fan Liuer had never known before that longing could be so tormenting.

She would also write letters to Li Chenbi, imitating him by filling several pages with her daily life.

As the weather grew colder, she spent most of her time locked in her room during this season last year, rarely venturing out, beginning her long winter of seclusion.

But her health has improved a lot this year. She is not as afraid of the cold as she was last year. Moreover, she can't stay indoors. Once she is indoors, she can't help but think of Li Chenbi.

To avoid letting herself overthink all the time, she went to An Yi Hall every day, going there as soon as she woke up and not returning home until it was almost dark.

An Yitang has been offering classes for two months now, and has gradually taken in about thirty apprentices. Among them, a few quick learners have already been hired to work.

Fan Liuer was very pleased with this, and was convinced that her idea was feasible.

More than a month has passed since Li Chenbi left. From the letters Li Chenbi sent, Fan Liuer has learned about the situation on the battlefield.

Originally, when Yan Qi led reinforcements to support Qi Weiming, he had already driven back the imperial army. If he had withdrawn his troops then, he could have been at peace for a while and waited until he was ready to launch the next attack.

However, Yan Qi believed this was a good opportunity to completely defeat the court. He wanted to strike while the iron was hot, break the morale of the court's army, and march north to conquer the capital.

As a result, the imperial army retreated to a position that was easy to defend and difficult to attack. With the help of foreigners with superb archery skills, the rebel army could not get close at all. As soon as they got close, they were met with a rain of arrows, with nowhere to hide.

They are currently in a truce and are trying to find a breakthrough.

Judging from Li Chenbi's letter, the rebel army has a high chance of winning this battle and will not suffer too many casualties; it is a sure win.

Fan Liuer initially thought so too, but three days later, the day she was supposed to receive Li Chenbi's letter, she did not receive it.