The peasant girl has a private space, and her husband is handsome.

In ancient times, transportation was underdeveloped and news traveled very slowly.

The capital had not received any news from Qinghe County and assumed that Qinghe County and Sicheng had been occupied by the rebels.

Now that Qinghe County has fallen, the capital will soon follow, since only a few thousand troops remain in the capital.

Many ministers advised Emperor Jing of Qi to withdraw the soldiers from the northern border to defend the capital, but Emperor Jing refused.

He is prepared to abdicate, preferring to step down rather than abandon his post, in order to protect the people on the border.

Upon learning that Prime Minister Feng had sent his youngest son, Feng Yuanxi, out of the capital, Vice Minister Luo immediately summoned Fan Dajiang upon returning to his residence.

"Dajiang, take men to escort Minggeng, Mingyuan, Mingxin and the other brothers to Xixia, and bring Mingfang along as well."

Of all the grandchildren, Vice Minister Luo doted on Luo Mingfang the most, so he asked that Luo Mingfang be brought along as well.

If Mingfang stays in the capital, the rebels will definitely kidnap her once they enter the city. Since ancient times, no matter who occupies a city, the first thing they do is to plunder its wealth and beautiful women.

Of the four kingdoms, only Western Xia is safe, and only Western Xia is free from war.

Vice Minister Luo urged, "Go, Dajiang, hurry up."

Fan Dajiang, however, resolutely refused to leave. "Master, please trust the young lady. She will definitely win the battle."

Minister Luo was very surprised. The young lady Fan Dajiang was referring to was undoubtedly the one in Qinghe County. He never expected that Fan Dajiang would go to Qinghe County, get beaten up by that girl, and then acknowledge her status in the Luo family.

Even his own grandfather hasn't approved of that girl yet.

Fan Dajiang was no ordinary servant; he often accompanied the vice minister to social events and had seen his share of grand occasions. Unexpectedly, he was won over by that girl.

"Dajiang, regarding the matter of sending Minggeng and the others to Western Xia, I still trust you the most and want you to personally escort them..."

"If you insist on sending someone, then send someone else. I will not go to Western Xia. Western Xia slaughtered tens of thousands of people in my Great Qi and is an enemy of Great Qi."

Unfortunately, no matter how much Vice Minister Luo tried to persuade him, Fan Dajiang resolutely refused to leave the capital.

Left with no other option, Vice Minister Luo had Fan Dajiang flogged ten times.

It's not good to sell him off, since Fan Dajiang has been with him for many years, and selling him off would make him seem too heartless.

Vice Minister Luo could only arrange for other people to escort Luo Minggeng, Luo Mingyuan and others out of the capital. Selecting new people would take time, so the departure could only be postponed until tomorrow.

As a result, Minister Luo was summoned to the palace by Emperor Qi Jing that very evening before the next day. Many ministers were also summoned to the palace, and Xuanwu Hall was as lively as it was during the morning court session.

Looking at Emperor Qi Jing's radiant face, Vice Minister Luo guessed that something good must have happened.

Emperor Qi Jing was an efficient emperor, and he got straight to the point: "My dear ministers, news has finally come from Qinghe County that the 150,000 troops surrounding Sicheng have withdrawn."

Although Vice Minister Luo breathed a sigh of relief, he felt that this was not great news. The withdrawal was only temporary, and the rebels could come back at any time, perhaps with an even more ferocious attack.

Emperor Qi Jing continued, "Miss Su led her men to capture eight cities in succession."

Minister Luo was shocked; his beloved granddaughter actually possessed such abilities!

Therefore, the 150,000 rebel troops did not retreat at all, but rather fled in defeat.

Then there's no need to send his grandson and Mingfang out of the city tomorrow. It just so happens that he's reluctant to part with Mingfang anyway. Mingfang is the most filial and considerate girl, and it's best to keep her by his side.

Vice Minister Luo was filled with mixed emotions. In truth, he trusted his own granddaughter less than he trusted Fan Dajiang.

If he could trust his own granddaughter like Fan Dajiang did, there wouldn't have been this estrangement.

Now that the girl has achieved such a glorious record, he, her grandfather, can naturally benefit from it as well.

He wanted to be polite to His Majesty, saying that his granddaughter's victory was due to His Majesty's boundless blessings.

Just as he was about to speak out loud, Marquis Guiping beat him to it.

Marquis Guiping looked very smug and spoke with an unusually loud voice, "I told you long ago that my future daughter-in-law is a lucky star, and a lucky star will never lose a battle."

The future daughter-in-law has brought such great honor to the Marquis's mansion. I'll discuss it with the madam later, and we must send her even more fine gifts.

Seeing that everyone else was congratulating Marquis Guiping, Vice Minister Luo went over as well, thinking that if he were a little thick-skinned, he could eventually build a good relationship with the Marquis Guiping's family. "Congratulations, in-laws."

Marquis Guiping was a man of few words and immediately started cursing, "You surnamed Luo, you've already severed ties with my future daughter-in-law, yet you still dare to claim in-laws with me? What a load of rubbish!"

Marquis Guiping looked down on Minister Luo. What a piece of trash! You broke off the family ties, and now you're trying to claim them back. You see that Miss Su has made great contributions, so you come here to take advantage of her. Shameless bastard.

Vice Minister Luo suffered a humiliating defeat in front of all the civil and military officials, which was quite embarrassing.

"Well, I've already explained it to you. The decision to sever ties was made by my wife on her own initiative; it wasn't my intention at all."

Although Marquis Guiping was a scoundrel, he hated evil and completely ignored Minister Luo.

The most important thing now is to earn some benefits for my daughter-in-law.

"Your Majesty, my daughter-in-law has made such a great contribution and must be richly rewarded."

The Duke of Anguo and the Minister of War, among others, also stepped forward.

"Your Majesty, Miss Su has made a great contribution and deserves a generous reward."

"Your Majesty, Miss Su has made outstanding contributions. If she is not rewarded handsomely, it may be difficult to win the hearts and minds of the people."

Then dozens more people stepped forward, demanding a large reward for Miss Su.

Especially the people in the Ministry of Personnel, under the frequent glares of Marquis Guiping, had no choice but to stand up and agree with him, otherwise that scoundrel might beat people up as soon as he left the palace.

"Your Majesty, Miss Su deserves a reward."

"Your Majesty, please reward Miss Su handsomely."

Prime Minister Feng sensed something was amiss. For the first time, nearly half the people had stood up to request a reward for Miss Su, indicating that Miss Su's influence was growing.

This is not good, although some of them were coerced and lured by Marquis Guiping.

Prime Minister Feng quickly stepped forward to object, "Your Majesty, since Miss Su has seized Ling County and Sicheng, the silver mine located in the mountains between the two cities has fallen into her hands. This is already the greatest reward."

That's a silver mine!

If Emperor Qi Jing hadn't publicly agreed to hand over the silver mine to Miss Su for her to mine, he would have definitely tried to seize it.

Marquis Guiping did not play by the rules at all; he jumped over and punched Prime Minister Feng several times.

After Prime Minister Feng fell to the ground, he straddled him and continued to beat him.

"You son of a bitch, all you do is go against my future daughter-in-law. I know it's blatant jealousy, jealous that my daughter-in-law is capable—"

Many people rushed forward to break up the fight, and only then were they able to separate Marquis Guiping.

Emperor Qi Jing stepped down from the high dragon throne and came to the side of Marquis Guiping, looking at him with concern.

If his own uncle gets injured, the Empress Dowager will definitely be angry.

"Uncle, I'm so glad you're alright."

The ministers quickly stepped back, distancing themselves from Marquis Guiping.

He's the emperor's maternal uncle; if you hurt the emperor's maternal uncle, you'll definitely suffer the consequences.

Prime Minister Feng was beaten quite badly, his face was bruised and swollen, and he lay on the ground unable to get up.

He was furious. He was so badly injured that he couldn't even get up, yet the emperor only cared about Marquis Guiping, treating him, the prime minister, like he was invisible.

Marquis Guiping, still shameless, asked his daughter-in-law for a reward: "Your Majesty, the silver mine deal was decided beforehand and cannot be considered part of this reward. Miss Su has captured eight cities in succession, achieving remarkable military exploits, and she certainly deserves a generous reward."

Prime Minister Feng lay prostrate on the ground, yet he didn't forget to shout, "Your Majesty, women cannot be granted official positions!"

Emperor Qi Jing sat back on the dragon throne: "I did not say that I would grant Miss Su an official title. I intend to grant Miss Su's father the title of Grand General of the Third Rank. In addition, Qin Changfeng, Dong Zhu and the others will all be promoted one rank."

Emperor Qi Jing was very grateful to Su Qianqian.

Without Su Qianqian, he most likely wouldn't have been able to remain emperor.

If we can't promote Miss Su to an official position, then let's promote Miss Su's father to an official position.

Minister Qin was overjoyed. His good-for-nothing grandson had been promoted again. Sure enough, following Miss Su was the best path to success.

I really don't understand if Vice Minister Luo is stupid. He has such good resources as Miss Su, but he is desperately pushing them away.

He walked up to Marquis Guiping and congratulated him, saying, "Congratulations, Your Excellency! Your relative by marriage, who lives far away in Qinghe County, is now a Grand General of the Third Rank."

Marquis Guiping grinned broadly, "My future daughter-in-law should be satisfied, right?"

This time, Vice Minister Luo dared not approach Marquis Guiping again.

He hid in a corner, overwhelmed with mixed feelings. His son, Su Bing, whom he hadn't acknowledged, was now a powerful general of the third rank, just like his father, and they were now on equal footing.

That granddaughter is incredibly talented. Who knows, she might make another great contribution one day, and if Su Bing gets promoted, wouldn't she surpass him, the current vice minister?