Even if she had anticipated this day, witnessing the royal proposal and the impending marriage alliance for her stepson, Lady Zhao, the family head of the Zhao family, found it hard to remain calm.
"Proposal... Emperor's Prince Consort..." Zhao Pan was also stunned, not expecting everything to happen so quickly. A feeling of melancholy arose in her heart, but she quickly recalled His Majesty's unparalleled demeanor and forced a smile: "Congratulations, big brother."
Proposal... Zhao Douan had never imagined that he would ever receive a marriage proposal from a woman in his life; he simply found it strange and wore a helpless expression.
Last night, Xu Zhenguan mentioned the proposal to him, but he hadn't expected it to happen so soon.
With a slight thought, he understood that it was because he was about to lead a military expedition, so Zhenbao wanted to settle the title in advance to facilitate his command over the Capital Camp.
"Someone, shouldn't the congratulatory gifts be sent to the mansion?"
The Chief Eunuch hurriedly spoke, and immediately, a large ceremonial procession behind him began to make noise, taking gifts from the carriages and sending them into the Zhao Mansion.
"Please look, Prince Consort, here is the list of gifts for the proposal. Originally, when His Majesty marries, it should be more grand, but time is too hurried, this time the preparations are inadequate..." The eunuch ingratiatingly handed over a list of gifts.
Zhao Douan glanced at it, just on the list there were:
Two hundred taels of gold, ten thousand taels of silver, one set of gold tea sets, two sets of silver tea sets, two silver basins, a thousand pieces of various silks, and twenty full sets of gear on civilized horses...
And these gifts were merely the first round; for an imperial marriage, the "Six Rituals" are followed, with each being a grand gesture.
"You've worked hard, Eunuch. Someone, go wrap a bundle of silver for the Eunuch." Zhao Douan said with a smile.
The latter declined repeatedly but finally accepted with reluctance. The entire Zhao family was in an uproar, followed by neighboring guests coming to visit and congratulate.
It is conceivable that with the spread of this news, Zhao's mansion would be filled with guests all day.
The Zhao family's status would also rise further, entering the ranks of the top elite clan in the Capital.
After seeing off the Chief Eunuch, Zhao Douan entrusted the reception of guests entirely to his aunt and sister, while he quietly left home through the back gate, dressed in military robes, riding straight to the Divine Mechanism Camp outside the city.
The news of the Empress's return would soon spread; to prevent the Qingzhou Army from retreating, he dared not delay and would break camp today.
Outside the city, at the station of the Divine Mechanism Camp.
Before dawn, the soldiers in the barracks had already broken camp, formed into lines, ready to set out.
When Zhao Douan arrived, he saw flags fluttering, infantry densely packed, spears standing like a forest.
A group of familiar military officers, everyone armored, awaited in the morning light.
Upon seeing a rider approaching from afar, Commander Shi, head of the Firearms Bureau Chen Gui, as well as the spirited "Young Master" Tang Ping, all brightened their eyes. Updates are released by N0v3l.Fiɾe.net
They all stepped forward to greet him.
"Welcome back to camp, General Zhao!"
"We heard about the incident in the city yesterday, but regretfully, due to military duties, could not go into the city; today we finally meet."
"Haven't seen you for months, General, your martial demeanor surpasses even before!"
Everyone was very excited.
Zhao Douan reined his horse to a stop, smiling as he surveyed familiar faces; upon seeing the rugged-looking yet subtly detailed Shi Meng, he clasped his hands: "Commander Shi, long time no see."
Turning to meet the bright eyes of Young Master Tang Ping, full of battle intent, he said with a smile: "What? Young Master still wants to give me a hard time?"
Tang Ping's face turned red from the jest; this Duke's son earnestly said: "I heard that the General advanced to the Worldly Realm, escorting His Majesty all the way, breaking through layers of rebel army from Jianning Prefecture; Tang Ping is utterly convinced and willing today to follow the General, to quell the rebel army and restore peace to our Great Yu!"
The other military generals also spoke excitedly, eager to go into battle.
Shi Meng laughed heartily: "After yesterday, the Junior Guardian ordered Chen Gui to bring back news; the whole Divine Mechanism Camp broke camp overnight, now with just a command, we can set out to defeat the enemy!"
This group of military men was bursting with anticipation!
Within the Capital Camp, twelve imperial guards stationed in the city, the Three Thousand, Five Armies, and Divine Machine three camps stationed outside the city.
After the rebel ruler raised forces, Great Yu's "Military God" Xue Shence took the "Three Thousand Camp" south to Linfeng Road to intercept the rebel army.
The Five Army Camp then dispatched troops toward the east of the Capital, on the Qingzhou border, to block the Qingzhou rebel army.
Only the Divine Mechanism Camp remained unmoved, left to prevent disturbances in the Capital.
This left Shi Meng and others in discomfort; as military officers, they only longed for battle, to make merits and fight on the field.
Now, with Zhao Douan's return, the command to take them to annihilate the Qingzhou Army excited them beyond measure.
"Very well, where are the firearms?" Zhao Douan nodded with satisfaction, looking towards Chen Gui.
The skinny Chen Gui, stroking his beard proudly, pointed to the rear of the troop, a long line of supply wagons, each covered with waterproof cloth, bulging.
"Reporting to the General, the new weaponry is all loaded on them, this time bringing a thousand rifles, twenty Divine Might cannons, and numerous mines, Fire Crows, and others..."
Chen Gui spoke eloquently; this craftsman was more excited than the group of officers.
The details of the new weaponry were top secret to the court, even the military ministers of the Privy Council could not uncover it; for almost a year, the entire Divine Mechanism Camp worked behind closed doors to create firearms, even those in the same Capital Camp, the "Three Thousand" and "Five Armies" two camps, only knew that the Divine Mechanism Camp was tinkering with weaponry, with no idea of the specific progress.
Moreover, their impression of weaponry remained at the level of the military exercise initially conducted by Zhao Douan.
Little did they know, that after a year of hard work and transformation, today's weaponry was far from what it was during the initial military exercise.