The eunuch said: "Return to the Third Highness, Concubine Wei said that the journey to the north is difficult and dangerous. Concubine Wei is familiar at first sight with the Third Imperial Concubine, and this token can save his life."

The north was dominated by General Wei, and the generals who were guarding that side were all pulled up by him with one hand. Now Li Mingjin was going to take his place. In their eyes, Li Mingjin’s hair hadn’t even grown yet (not considered mature), so the generals over there would naturally disobey his orders and arrangements.

    Concubine Wei sent this token, it was really like sending charcoal in the snow.

[雪中送炭 xuě zhōng sòng tàn: lit. to send charcoal in snowy weather (idiom); fig. to provide help in sb's hour of need]

    Luo Shuyu and Li Mingjin looked at each other, and said to the eunuch: "Go back and tell Concubine Wei that Shuyu thanks him for the gift, and he understands what he means."

    The eunuch left with Luo Shuyu's reply.

    Luo Shuyu and Li Mingjin put away the tokens, but he was still a little worried: "Why is General Wei willing to give us the tokens?"

    Luo Shuyu didn't really know much about the court affairs, so he wanted to ask a little bit.

    Li Mingjin told him: "Do you know that a tall tree attracts the wind? Although General Wei has fought for the Li family for generations, if father promotes him again, he can only be the Zhenbei Wang. Now the people in the north only know General Zhenbei but not father.”

[树大招风 shù dà zhāo fēng: lit. a tall tree attracts the wind (idiom); fig. a famous or rich person attracts criticism]

[镇 zhèn: to press down; to calm; to subdue; to suppress; to guard; 北 běi: north]

[王 Wáng: to rule; to reign over]

“In the past, General Wei didn't stand in line, and the concubine Wei didn't have children. He is just looking for a way out for the Wei family. General Wei is now in his sixtieth. His sons are quite talented and learned well, they have made great achievements in the army. They are too prominent and they are feared by father. The Wei family belongs to the military officials and the civil servants of the crown prince's faction are in opposition, and the Wei family and Concubine Lin's family also had rifts in the early years."

Luo Shuyu sighed: " It turns out that there are so many things inside."

    He remembered that it was mentioned in the book that when the fourth prince first arrived in the north, the generals in the north under General Wei treated him very badly. Later, he and Shen Mingyun chose to take revenge on the Wei family. When General Wei resigned and returned home, his two sons in the army disagreed with the fourth prince many times. One lost his life, and the other lost an arm. As for concubine Wei, he also met Shen Mingyun in the later period, and there were some minor conflicts. His ending was not so good either, on the day Emperor Tiansheng died, he went with Emperor Tiansheng.

 
    None of the Wei family in the previous life ended well, which made people sigh.

    Luo Shuyu now received the token given to him by the concubine Wei, which was really beyond his expectation. In his previous life, Shen Mingyun and the fourth prince didn't seem to have this kind of treatment, but it might be because the concubine Wei didn't like them, which led to the whole family

sacrificed themself for the country and their end was dismal. From another perspective, the emperor's suspicion was indeed a chilling thing, but the emperor would change, and those who didn't stand in line and didn't fit in with the group would eventually be excluded.

    Finally they could set off.

    Emperor Tiansheng deliberately asked Qin Tian to monitor and calculate the departure date. The more Li Mingjin asked him for more things, like an addiction, the more he worried that they wouldn’t have enough food and clothing on the way to the north, so he added 50% more to the people and things Li Mingjin asked for, and gave as much as he could.

[钦 天 Qin Tian: official to observe the sky, calculate the solar terms, and formulate the calendar]

    The journey was long, and on the day they set off, Emperor Tiansheng personally took people to the gate of the city to see them off.

    Luo Renshou also came to see them off. He also wanted to play a scene of father’s kindness and son’s filial piety with Luo Shuyu, but Luo Shuyu didn't give him a chance and he stood by Li Mingjin's side the whole time.

    The auspicious time for departure had arrived, Luo Shuyu got into the carriage, Li Mingjin got on the horse. They left the capital in the presence of Emperor Tiansheng and other courtiers.

    Luo Shuyu opened the carriage curtain and looked out. It was the first time he left the capital in his two lives, and the first time he was truly away from the protagonist in the book Shen Mingyun. He felt an indescribable sense of relief.

    However, he would come back again to get the peace of mind that belonged to him and Li Mingjin.

    All the way to the north.

    After they left the capital, the further you went to the north, the lower the temperature on the road. Luo Shuyu could feel the temperature was getting lower and lower while he was sitting in the carriage covered with thick cushions.

    Although it hadn't snowed these days, the mountains were covered with snow as far as the eye could see.

    For the first three days, Luo Shuyu would poke his head out and look around, but then he felt bored.

    The scenery was indeed beautiful, even after seeing too much, they could no longer feel it unusual. After all, they  hastened on with one's journey, not having a snow feast.

    Luo Shuyu felt bored, and Li Mingjin naturally felt tired and bored, but neither of them showed it.

    Today was the seventh day of their departure.

    At this time, the soldiers who explored the road came back and reported that there was a flat place one mile ahead where they could set up camp.

    Li Mingjin brought people to the north this time, most of them were the generals with no experience going to the north, and there were not many experienced generals. Originally, he only brought five thousand soldiers. Later, after Li Mingjin asked Emperor Tiansheng for help, he sent him another two thousand soldiers.