Chapter 146 Awaiting

Ye Tao and Tan Weixin left Tianling Fort after two days. Dai Qiong would accompany them, beginning his duties as the Dai family's liaison in the Pacification Office. The Dai family's intelligence department, originally managed by Dai Qiong, had been fully handed over to Chi Lei. Now, Dai Qiong, the rising star of the younger generation, would begin to challenge his potential in other areas.

Ye Tao and Tan Weixin would first go to Suiyuan City to understand the surrounding situation before heading to Ningyuan City. Ningyuan City would be the location of the Pacification Office for the next few years. Although Ningyuan City was quite far from Thunder Cliff, which was gradually becoming the trading center of Yun Province, from Suiyuan City, which served as the coordination center for various Dai family businesses in Yun Province, and from Mount Dalun and Tianling Fort, it seemed that only Ningyuan City, as a quasi-military city, could meet the needs of the Pacification Office to strengthen its ties with the tribes, strengthen its rule over the grassland tribes, move the ruling center of Yun Province northward with the entire Dongping as its backing, and make economic and military deployments against the Northern Liao from various perspectives. Of course, this was only before the new city was built. Regardless of the site selection, funding, design方案, or guarantee of manpower and materials, no one knew when the new city could be built.

"Lord, would you like to go back to the carriage?" Wu Ping'an cautiously approached Ye Tao and said.

Ye Tao rarely rode a horse, riding "Night Star," whose temper was getting better and better, at the front of the team, side by side with Dai Qiong, chatting about lighthearted topics. Ye Tao did feel relaxed and happy, but for the guards, Ye Tao riding in the open air seemed less reassuring than Ye Tao in the carriage. Especially the section of road from Tianling Fort to Thunder Cliff, which was not an endless grassland. A large part of this road was carved out of dense forest. The feeling of sunlight shining through the treetops and dense branches was indeed very comfortable, but if there was even the slightest hint of danger in this comfort, it would not be fun.

"It's okay, this area is controlled by the Dai family, right? Young Master Qiong said that there is a Dai clan soldier training camp nearby." Ye Tao glanced at Dai Qiong, waved his hand, and said nonchalantly.

"Lord, there is a military flag erected on the mountain ahead." A soldier ran back from the front and reported, "It seems to be... it seems to be the Blood Kirin Army's Supervising Army Commander flag..."

Could it be Dai Yun? Apart from Dai Yun, no one else had ever used this flag. Whether it was Tan Weiming, Qiu Haohui, or the current Zou Shuangwen, these people who had successively served as Supervising Army Commander of the Blood Kirin Army had never used the Blood Kirin Army's Supervising Army Commander flag. It seemed that they preferred to establish their own general's flag, while only Dai Yun, during her long term as Supervising Army Commander, had never used a general's flag, but had used this white flag with silk-embroidered blue horse hoof emblem and blue decorative lines as her symbol... It seemed that this was still the case.

"Let's go, go take a look!" Ye Tao saw the road leading to the top of the mountain, tightened his reins, and galloped ahead. The guards quickly followed, but Dai Qiong, on the contrary, told the entire convoy to slow down.

At the top of the mountain was a small but fully equipped camp. On one side of the camp, a pavilion had been erected. In the pavilion, Dai Yun had removed her armor and placed it neatly on the side.

She was wearing a custom-made military uniform in the Qing-grey style of the Blood Kirin Army. After all, although female officers and soldiers in the Blood Kirin Army had gradually increased due to precedents like Dai Yun, it had become a tradition for the uniforms of female officers and soldiers to be custom-made. This kind of uniform, worn under the armor, was made of double-layered thick woven cotton. The collar was not fastened with buttons, but with delicate, small latch-like components made of brass. The specially designed uniform could fit the curves of the body extremely well. From a practical point of view, this allowed the armor to fit the body better, and this kind of uniform also made the magnificent or graceful figure appear more prominent and heroic.

And now, Dai Yun, who had just taken off her armor, had her uniform perfectly fitted to her body. The collar, back, and cuffs were soaked with sweat, and in the slightly loosened area of her coiled hair at the back of her head, fine strands of hair clung to her damp neck... But these imperfect details did not diminish the slightest charm of Dai Yun, such a unique woman, but made Dai Yun appear more real, heroic, and attractive. After all, this kind of beauty full of strength, health, and vitality rarely appeared on the bodies of young women in this era.

"Supervising Army Commander Dai, long time no see, how have you been?" Ye Tao said with a smile, cupping his fist in greeting.

"Pacification Envoy Ye, this subordinate failed to greet your arrival in time, please forgive me." Dai Yun also said with a smile, cupping her fist in greeting.

"I'm curious... why didn't you want to see me at Tianling Fort, but came here to wait for me?" Ye Tao asked.

"...Perhaps, I just wasn't ready to let people see another side of me." Dai Yun said with some helplessness.

Ye Tao signaled the guards not to approach and let them stand at a distance with the soldiers Dai Yun had brought. His conversation with Dai Yun was not some important secret, but just personal privacy. Of course, this was not an era that appreciated personal privacy. Although snooping on other people's privacy was condemned, it was not a big deal.

"I just learned of His Majesty's arrangements... you know what I'm referring to, the arrangements for you and me. I've always said that this is a misunderstanding of the brotherhood between us, but all in all, it's not a difficult arrangement to accept, is it?" Ye Tao adjusted his tone and said lightly.

"Yes, it is." Dai Yun smiled, "Indeed, although it was a bit unexpected, it's really hard for me to hate you."

Perhaps realizing to what extent this sentence could be understood or misunderstood, Dai Yun felt her face getting increasingly hot. Of course, in her current state, it didn't seem easy to see the blush on her face.

"Are you ready to go with me?" Ye Tao asked, "To Thunder Cliff, Suiyuan, and Ningyuan."

Dai Yun hesitated, and then she said cautiously, "Or... never mind. No matter what we do, there will be plenty of time in the future, but now, I think it's better for me to stay away. ...I'm afraid I'll become a laughing stock."

Dai Yun had known for a long time that she was not really the kind of resilient, invulnerable woman, never had been. She could be strong and rational when she needed to be, but that didn't mean she had to be that way, that she necessarily liked to be that way. When her father asked her if she was willing to marry Ye Tao, she was a little surprised.

Indeed, as Ye Tao and she herself had said, their previous interactions had been just friendly and brotherly. In that instant, many scenes and thoughts flashed through Dai Yun's mind. Considering her current age, status, and especially the various glorious achievements she had already achieved, she understood that it would be a bit troublesome to marry her off. And Ye Tao? He seemed to be a very interesting person. As Ye Tao's friend, Dai Yun knew his deeds over the past few years very well. A thought flashed through her mind at the time: being with Ye Tao might be very good. And so, she agreed.

Of course, the moment Dai Shikui walked out of the room, she began to regret it a little. Indeed, if the extraordinary her had to seek a husband and make part of her life the same as most ordinary women, then Ye Tao was definitely a good choice. He was talented, humorous, wealthy, and he could treat her as an equal. But, if there was already someone like Tan Weixin in the family? Dai Yun would never believe that Tan Weixin was someone who could completely not mind the existence of another woman in her family who had a great say. Naturally, this was a problem she wanted to chat with Tan Weixin about... sometime.

And another problem also emerged. When a woman's future has been decided in her own mind, when she can't help but imagine her future life, she begins to increasingly discover the side of herself that she had originally hidden, those things that she would never have thought of when she was wearing armor, when she was considering how to train her soldiers, how to fully tap everyone's potential with a unique competitive system, considering how to lead those elite soldiers to victory... such as how to try to negotiate with a smart woman like Tan Weixin in the future, such as what Dai Yun, who had been traveling on the grasslands since she was six years old, would definitely not be unfamiliar with—not the kind of things between horses and animals, but those moans and gasps that permeated out of the thin tents... For a woman, especially a woman of this era, such imaginings became increasingly embarrassing as the number and extent accumulated.

Especially, these imaginings, these changes in Dai Yun caused by imaginings, made Dai Yun feel troubled because these changes were too different from the she that she had always shown. And now, she preferred not to let others discover these things.

"Is Princess Consort in the carriages down there?" Dai Yun asked.

"Yes. ...Are you going to say hello?" Ye Tao asked with a smile.

Dai Yun nodded slightly and said with a smile, "Of course, I should."

She snapped her fingers naturally, and two maids and orderlies immediately ran over and quickly helped Dai Yun put on her full set of armor and led her horse over. Wu Ping'an also brought Ye Tao's horse over.

The charming figure fully revealed when putting on and taking off the armor was much more alluring than when wearing a military uniform or armor. Wu Ping'an naturally already knew about the marriage that had been arranged between Dai Yun and Ye Tao these days. Not daring to be disrespectful to one of the future "mistresses," he quickly turned his head away after bringing the horse over.

But in the blink of an eye, a voice came: "Nice horse, let me try it." The reins in his hand were actually snatched away by Dai Yun. Dai Yun actually straddled Ye Tao's "Night Star" and rushed down the hillside. And just as Ye Tao was about to take the reins from Dai Yun's orderly, what he didn't expect was that Dai Yun's equally beautiful little white horse didn't give him any face at all. It turned around and kicked him with a hoof. If Ye Tao hadn't dodged quickly and the two orderlies, who were pale with fright, and Wu Ping'an hadn't pounced together to hug the little white horse, Ye Tao would probably have been in for a rough time.

By the time Ye Tao arrived at the foot of the mountain after a flurry of activity, what he saw was that the convoy of carriages had formed a simple camp, and Dai Yun was talking with Tan Weixin in the carriage. At least it seemed that the two were getting along very happily.

"Pacification Envoy Ye, this general will take her leave. After this general has dealt with the matters on the Mount Dalun line, I will naturally go to Ningyuan City to report to you." Dai Yun said goodbye to Ye Tao with a smile, saluted, and then gave Ye Tao a very "brotherly" hug. She said in a very cunning tone next to Ye Tao's ear, "Your wife is very interesting."

Dai Yun left like this, and when Ye Tao went to ask Tan Weixin in confusion about what the two of them had talked about, Tan Weixin shook her head slightly and refused to say. She just twitched her eyebrows and said, "Your wife is very fun."

This statement almost made Ye Tao collapse. He wanted to know more and more what the two of them had talked about and how they had come to such a conclusion.

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...Actually, I like Dai Yun as much as everyone else