Empress Su Mingyue did not keep Zhou Ming waiting for long.

She placed her teacup on the table, stood up, smoothed the wrinkles on her cuffs, and calmly uttered a few words:

"Let's go. You are coming too."

Zhou Ming was stunned for a moment.

Where were they going?

Before he could even ask, Empress Su Mingyue had already walked past him out of the main hall, with Chunlan and Dongmei close behind.

Zhou Ming had no choice but to swallow his questions and follow quickly.

Upon exiting the main gate of the Marquis's estate, the sight before him made Zhou Ming pause once more.

Xiahe and the others were already waiting on horseback.

These personal maids were all mounted on tall horses, with short swords hanging at their waists and light crossbows and quivers strapped to their saddles.

Behind them followed a squad of about twenty guards, all clad in armor and armed; even the horses were covered in thin armor, their horseshoes clattering crisply against the bluestone pavement.

Looking at this formation, it was clear that the trip had been planned long ago and was not a spur-of-the-moment decision.

Before Zhou Ming could figure out what was happening, a guard led a chestnut gelding to him and shoved the reins into his hands.

Zhou Ming looked down at the reins in his hands, then looked up at the horse.

The horse was a full head taller than him, looking down at him with a pair of large, wet eyes, exhaling two puffs of hot Qi from its nostrils, carrying the scent of fodder.

The previous owner's riding skills were actually quite good; after all, he had accompanied Empress Su Mingyue to practice riding and archery since he was a child, and had been thrown off countless times to master it.

But in both his lives, Zhou Ming had only ridden a horse a handful of times.

Empress Su Mingyue boarded the carriage, the curtain dropped, Chunlan gave a signal, and the convoy began to move slowly toward the East City Gate.

Zhou Ming, following the riding techniques in the previous owner's memory, clamped his legs around the horse's belly and held the reins loosely, managing to ride steadily.

After leaving the city, the convoy traveled west along the official road for about thirty miles before turning onto a side road.

After traveling for another half an hour, a manor appeared ahead.

The manor was quite large, surrounded by vast farmlands where tenant farmers were working with their backs bent.

Hearing the sound of hooves, they all looked up. Upon seeing it was the Young Miss's convoy, they immediately set down their tools and knelt on both sides of the road, their foreheads almost touching the ground.

Zhou Ming noticed that the way these people knelt to pay their respects was extremely natural, not like a temporary response, but as if they had practiced it countless times.

The convoy did not stop in the fields but went straight through the manor to the outside of a huge residence.

This residence was completely different from the exquisite, carved-beam-and-painted-rafter style of the Marquis's estate; the courtyard walls were high and thick.

Simple arrow towers were built at the four corners, and the main gate consisted of two thick wooden doors clad in iron, looking like a small military fortress from the outside.

The gate was already wide open, with two rows of fully armed soldiers standing at the entrance, holding spears, with curved swords at their waists, their iron armor glinting coldly in the sunlight.

Empress Su Mingyue got off the carriage and led everyone into the residence.

Zhou Ming followed, and the moment he crossed the threshold, he froze in his tracks.

Inside the residence was an extremely spacious training ground, much larger than the Martial Arts Training Ground at the Begonia Court of the Marquis's estate.

In the center of the training ground stood a neatly arranged troop of armored and spear-wielding soldiers. Zhou Ming scanned them roughly; there were at least four or five hundred people, each with a thick Causal Chain above their heads.

Their iron armor was of a uniform style, with identical patterns carved on the breastplates, and the spear tips formed a line of bright silver in the sunlight.

Hundreds of people stood together in complete silence, with only the sound of the wind blowing through the spear tassels.

Seeing Empress Su Mingyue walk in, the entire phalanx knelt on one knee in unison, the clanking of iron armor sounding uniform, followed by a deafening shout.

"Greetings, General!"

Zhou Ming was so startled by this formation that he stumbled and almost lost his footing.

General?

What kind of general?

When did the Young Miss become a general?

He stared at Empress Su Mingyue with wide eyes, only to see her expression unchanged as she cupped her hands to return the salute to the soldiers, her voice clear and crisp:

"Soldiers, rise."

Hundreds of people rose in unison, and the iron armor rattled again.

Empress Su Mingyue turned to the armored soldier in the lead and ordered:

"Ready the troops, prepare to depart."

The man, who looked like a commander, cupped his hands in acknowledgment and turned to pass the order.

Empress Su Mingyue led the group across the training ground and into the main hall of the residence.

The furnishings in the hall were equally simple and practical. In the center sat a huge sand table, with mountains and rivers piled up from soil and sand, dotted with dense small flags.

The walls were not hung with calligraphy or paintings, but with large maps marking the passes, cities, troop garrisons, and supply routes of Youzhou.

On the weapon racks on both sides, swords, spears, and halberds were arranged neatly, each one polished until it gleamed, clearly maintained daily.

Empress Su Mingyue stopped and said to Chunlan, Dongmei, and the others: "Go change your clothes."

Then her gaze fell on Zhou Ming, pausing slightly as she looked him up and down.

The look was like she was evaluating a piece of furniture that wasn't quite the right size, and finally she said:

"You don't need to change, just wait here."

Zhou Ming thought to himself, change into what? I was dragged out of the Kitchen by you at the last minute, I didn't even bring a change of clothes, where would I go to change?

He didn't dare to ask, so he had to stand honestly in the corner of the hall and wait.

After a while, everyone filed out from the back hall.

Zhou Ming looked up, his mouth hanging open involuntarily.

Chunlan, Dongmei, and the other maids had all changed into pitch-black armor.

The breastplates were engraved with the same patterns as the soldiers outside, they had long swords hanging at their waists, and they held silver spears in their hands.

The silver spears were entirely silver-white, the tips glinting with a cold light in the sunlight slanting in from the window, the shafts engraved with fine patterns, and held in their hands, they appeared both dashing and fierce.

The last to walk out was Empress Su Mingyue.

She was also wearing black armor, the plates fitting her slender and tall figure, her shoulder plates slightly upturned, making her look like a freshly unsheathed narrow sword.

Her black hair was all tied up and secured with a silver hairpin on top of her head, revealing a fair and slender neck.

Hanging at her waist was a long sword a few inches longer than the ones Chunlan and the others had; the scabbard was deep black, without any decoration, only a tiny emblem engraved on the hilt.

The silver spear in her hand was a few inches longer than the others, the cold light of the tip pausing slightly in her hand before coming to a steady rest at her side.

Zhou Ming's eyes went straight; he opened his mouth twice, but couldn't say a single word.

Empress Su Mingyue did not give him time to be dazed.

She gripped the silver spear, put on her helmet, and strode out of the hall, with everyone following closely, and Zhou Ming hurriedly followed.

Outside the residence, tall horses were neatly lined up on both sides of the road, and the hundreds of soldiers from the training ground had all mounted and lined up, the entire team silent, with only the horses occasionally snorting.

Everyone seemed to be used to such a formation, and as soon as they left the residence, they swung onto their horses, their movements as natural as eating and drinking.

Zhou Ming looked left and right; it seemed there was no horse for him.

Just as he was hesitating whether to find an excuse to stay and watch the house,

A burly man looking like a soldier walked over quickly leading a horse, handed the reins into his hands, and then turned and ran back to mount his own horse.

Empress Su Mingyue rode to the front of the team, raised her silver spear into the air, the cold light tracing a silver arc in the sunlight, and shouted loudly: "Depart!"

Hundreds of people and horses urged their reins at the same time, the sound of hooves merging into a dull roll of thunder, galloping eastward along the official road outside the manor.

Zhou Ming was wrapped in the middle of the team, his legs clamped tight on the horse's belly, gripping the reins for dear life, tossed about on the horse's back until he was dizzy, the bowl of noodle soup in his stomach almost shaken out.

While struggling to stabilize his posture, he shouted wildly in his heart.

Where exactly are we going? What are we doing? Young Miss, could you please tell me in advance?