Peaceful Farm Life

Chapter 1196: Chapter 1197: The Four Great Maidservants

Meng Zhuqing gave a bitter smile: ”Yes, I wouldn’t agree. Being a soldier is tough, and going to war means heading to the battlefield. It’s so dangerous, how could I agree?”

Tobanya remained silent, but she tightly hugged his waist and buried her face in his chest.

With one arm around her and the other gently stroking her long hair, Meng Zhuqing didn’t speak again for a long while. Then he finally said, ”Don’t do this again in the future.”

”Mhm.”

...

That night, An Jing specially arranged for Meng Zhuqing and Tobanya to have dinner with them.

At the dining table, seeing Meng Zhuqing frequently picking food for Tobanya and whispering to her, Tobanya responded and even occasionally picked some food for Meng Zhuqing in return. Their interaction was obviously no different from before, and then An Jing knew that nothing was wrong between Meng Zhuqing and Tobanya anymore, so she was relieved.

In the blink of an eye, three days passed.

During these three days, An Jing and Ye Zhi did not recruit any more female soldiers.

On this day, An Jing didn’t recruit any female soldiers, and returned to Prince Yi’s Mansion with Xiao Changyi as night was about to fall. They hadn’t reached the main courtyard when they saw the four lead maidservants of the mansion—Baoqin, Lie Qi, Shi Hua, and Ting Shu—standing at the entrance of the main courtyard.

Upon seeing them, the four maidservants quickly greeted them and then knelt before them: ”Prince, Princess, your maidservants have a request to make, and beg for your Highnesses’ gracious approval.”

Xiao Changyi’s face was expressionless.

An Jing, on the other hand, was intrigued: ”Oh? Tell me, what is it?”

The maidservants of the mansion were from respectable families and had well-known backgrounds. Having lived in the mansion for so long, the maidservants had never asked her for anything before, yet today, there was something, and there were even four of them asking at the same time. She was genuinely curious.

Among the four lead maidservants, Baoqin was the first to speak, ”Having heard that the Princess is in charge of the enlistment of women into the army, we also wish to join the army, and we hope for the Prince and Princess to fulfill this wish.”

”We hope for the Prince and Princess to fulfill this wish,” echoed Lie Qi, Shi Hua, and Ting Shu immediately.

Baoqin continued, ”We know our status is humble, but we sincerely wish to serve Xiyun by joining the army.”

An Jing thought about how the maidservants of the mansion all knew some martial arts, and these maidservants came from respectable families which had fallen on hard times, which led them to be sold into servitude.

Although she didn’t often interact with these maidservants, those in the mansion were carefully selected, and if someone had a bad character, they simply couldn’t stay for so long.

Thinking of this, An Jing felt delighted and quickly looked towards Xiao Changyi.

Xiao Changyi understood and slightly nodded his head.

Then An Jing asked the four maidservants, ”What made you suddenly think of joining the army to serve the country?”

Lie Qi spoke loudly, ”This mansion is filled with righteous and spirited people; influenced by what we have heard and seen, we too are filled with ardor. Now that women are permitted to join the army, we specifically come to seek the Prince and Princess’s approval.”

After a pause, Lie Qi continued, ”We know this request is presumptuous. We are the mansion’s maidservants and should dutifully perform our own tasks, not recklessly long for more, but we still wish to ask the Prince and Princess.”

Pausing again, Lie Qi then said with even more conviction, ”The Princess once said, if you do not attempt something, you will never manage to do it; but if you do attempt, even if you don’t succeed, you have tried your hardest and have no regrets. We are now making that attempt. Even if the Prince and Princess do not fulfill our wish, we will have no complaints or regrets.”