[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army":3,"chapter-a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-197":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","A Little Soldier of the Late Ming Border Army",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1205486,1561,"Chapter 197: Young Lady Ji Runs Away from Marriage","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-197",197,"\u003Cp>After Lu Xiangsheng submitted his memorial, the Chongzhen Emperor repeatedly rejected his requests, ignored the objections of the censors, and compelled him to remain in office despite his mourning, refusing to grant him leave to return home for the funeral and observe the customary three years of filial mourning for his deceased father.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Around the eleventh year of Chongzhen, the Chongzhen Emperor had already handled many cases like Lu Xiangsheng's — Yang Sichang was one, and Chen Xinjia was another. Moreover, on Yang Sichang's recommendation, the Chongzhen Emperor decided to transfer Lu Xiangsheng to serve as Minister of War, and appointed the former Provincial Governor of Xuanfu, Chen Xinjia, to take over Lu Xiangsheng's Viceroy duties.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because Chen Xinjia had returned to his hometown in Sichuan for mourning early that year and the journey was too long for him to assume the Viceroy post in time, Lu Xiangsheng continued to serve as Viceroy of Xuanda. Unable to return home for the funeral, Lu Xiangsheng was deeply grieved, but with the state beset by troubles, he could only suppress his sorrow and continue serving the nation, wearing coarse hemp mourning clothes daily as an expression of filial piety for his father.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After Chen Xinjia returned home for mourning, the administrative affairs of Xuanfu Garrison were temporarily handled by Liu Yongzuo. Now that Chen Xinjia had been promoted to Viceroy, the question of who would fill his vacated Provincial Governor post became an issue. After fierce contention during the court recommendation process, the Circuit Intendant of Huailong in Xuanfu Garrison, Ji Shiwei, emerged victorious and was honored with the post of Provincial Governor of Xuanfu.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ji Shiwei had Lu Xiangsheng's backing, and he also had commendable achievements to show — in the seventh and ninth years of Chongzhen, the troops under his Eastern Route command had taken heads, and all were genuine Manchu heads won in hard fighting. Compared to other candidates, he naturally had a clear advantage; His Majesty also paid him considerable attention, so his victory was no surprise.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After returning from the capital, Provincial Governor Ji moved his entire household into the garrison city of Xuanfu, settling into the more spacious Provincial Governor's government office. Days of receiving and sending off visitors, along with welcome banquets from his subordinates, left Provincial Governor Ji brimming with pride and riding high on success.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That day, after concluding official business, Ji Shiwei returned to the rear courtyard of the Provincial Governor's government office, where his family resided.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon reaching the rear courtyard, Ji Shiwei removed his official robes and hat, changing into a set of casual home attire: a square scholar's cap on his head, a sapphire-blue straight-hemmed robe on his body, and red shoes on his feet. Ji Shiwei was naturally refined, his three long strands of beard flowing gracefully; after assuming the Provincial Governor post, he paid even more attention to official bearing and decorum, and was gentle and gracious even to servants, making people feel as if bathed in a spring breeze.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After changing clothes, Ji Shiwei went straight to the rear garden. The weather was already scorching hot, but this Provincial Governor's residence, through the efforts of successive Provincial Governors, featured pavilions, terraces, rockeries, and small ponds, possessing much of the flavor of a Jiangnan garden. Even in high summer, the rear garden was cool with gentle breezes, truly a delightful domestic retreat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beneath an old locust tree, Ji Shiwei saw his wife sitting and listening to music, with several maidservants fanning her at her side, her expression one of contented ease.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Ji Shiwei approach, his wife rose and said, \"Master.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ji Shiwei smiled and said, \"Madam, where is our daughter?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His wife, Lady Chu, laughed and said, \"In the embroidery tower. Ever since returning to the residence last year, our daughter has not set foot outside that tower. I always said, this daughter of mine is the most well-behaved and sensible. That old scoundrel Wu Zhi was outrageous — a pity about that boy Wu Lue; I found him quite agreeable.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ji Shiwei said with exasperation, \"Past matters — why bring them up again?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Department Magistrate of Yanqing, Wu Zhi, had openly broken off the engagement, greatly humiliating Ji Shiwei. Even though Wu Zhi later sent his son Wu Lue to apologize, the marriage alliance was finished.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lady Chu laughed, \"True enough.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She added, \"Fortunately, this new family is not bad either. The second son of the Department Magistrate of Weizhou — fine in both character and looks, and he passed the Provincial Graduate examination in last year's provincial exams. He is a match for our Jiao'er.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She sighed, \"Thank heaven and earth, Jiao'er is finally getting married. This settles one worry in my heart as her mother.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ji Junjiao was already nineteen this year, considered an old maid in the Great Ming. She had been picky and still hadn't made a decision. But at this stage, no matter what Ji Junjiao thought, Ji Shiwei and Lady Chu could no longer indulge her. The two had chosen a match for her — Yang Guanbi, the second son of Department Magistrate Yang of Weizhou — with the wedding set for the ninth day of the seventh month this year.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lady Chu sighed for a moment, then said to a maidservant beside her, \"Go, summon the young lady here.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The maidservant answered respectfully and headed toward Ji Junjiao's embroidery tower.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not long after, the maidservant came running back in a fluster, shouting loudly, \"Master, Madam, terrible news, terrible news...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She was gasping for breath, making Ji Shiwei and Lady Chu frown deeply. Lady Chu scolded, \"What is all this shouting and yelling? Where is the young lady?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The maidservant said, \"The young... the young lady is gone.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ji Shiwei and Lady Chu were greatly alarmed and both rose to their feet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Indeed, their daughter was gone again. Accompanying her departure were her two personal maidservants, Butterfly and Dragonfly, along with four household guards.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Looking at the empty embroidery tower and the letter his daughter had left behind, no matter how much Ji Shiwei valued official bearing and decorum, he now flew into a towering rage: \"Unfilial wretch!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lady Chu, meanwhile, burst into loud weeping: \"With soldiers and bandits everywhere, our daughter out on the road — could something happen to her...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Ji household was thrown into utter chaos, like chickens flying and dogs leaping.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the sixth month of the eleventh year of Chongzhen, the harvest of wheat began across Baoanzhou.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though the weather was scorching and the military households were drenched in sweat as they reaped, every face brimmed with joy. With the draft oxen and waterwheels, despite the drought, the crops had grown fairly well this year, yielding about one shi per mu.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In particular, these newly reclaimed fields were tax-exempt this year — all the harvest was their own. With fifty mu per person, several tens of shi of grain and rice brought home, seeing their household rice vats piled full for the first time, the people could not contain their delight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All across Baoanzhou, there was laughter and cheer, and everywhere voices of gratitude and praise. Wang Dou's prestige in Baoanzhou reached its zenith.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>During this period, Wang Dou was even busier, spinning like a top. With battle not far off, everything had to be fully prepared.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The various workshops in Shunxiang Fort worked overtime, producing firearms and iron armor. The craftsmen at the woodwork factory also toiled to build war carts. Zhao Xuan had already pulled the artillerymen from the prefectural city to Shunxiang Fort for training and was selecting soldiers from various units to supplement the artillery corps. Li Guangheng was also diligently training his cavalrymen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Matters progressed fairly smoothly; everything proceeded according to Wang Dou's plans.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of the three Company Commanders under Wang Dou, aside from one left on rotation to guard Baoanzhou city and Shunxiang Fort, the rest were all deployed to Baoding Prefecture and Zhending Prefecture to suppress bandits. The seized supplies, apart from a portion transported back to Baoanzhou via Mashuikou, were mostly stored in carefully chosen reliable locations around Yizhou, Laishui, and Xingtai, to serve as stockpiled provisions for the coming year's campaign needs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Both squads of Night Scouts from Baoanzhou were also essentially fully deployed. Under the leadership of Wen Daxing and others, they moved through Yizhou, Baoding Prefecture, and Zhending Prefecture, gathering intelligence and surveying maps. Though these Night Scouts did not understand why the Garrison Commander had sent them so far afield, when their commander gave an order, they obeyed and executed it without the slightest hesitation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That evening, Wang Dou studied a piece of intelligence with shock and uncertainty. According to Night Scout reconnaissance and news relayed back by Han Chao, the deserters from Shunxiang Fort in the tenth year of Chongzhen — Xu Yue'e and her group — had appeared in the area of Zanhuang County in Zhending Prefecture.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the Mount Taixing region where Zanhuang County in Zhending Prefecture meets Leping County in Shanxi, Xu Yue'e and her group had seized a stronghold. Word was that she commanded over a thousand mounted bandits, plundering everywhere, and was known as Lady Xu.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This news left Wang Dou stunned for a long while. Suddenly, a personal guard came to report that the young madam of the Department Magistrate's residence sought an audience.\u003C\u002Fp>",1562,"2026-06-03T14:05:19.908Z",1,"Novelzhen Translator","8de56ce269c20d842eb5cfbc834f7246903af478c83826a1d815355cb5e466d2","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-198","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-196",896,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fa-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-cover.jpg"]