“Ahhhhh…!!!” Yang Haiyan exclaimed in shock.

With her scream, Grandma Lian and Aunt Yu were startled awake.

They rushed out in their undergarments without even putting on their outer clothes.

Qin Fang was wiping his face when he heard his wife’s cry.

He hurried over and embraced her, saying, “Yanyan, what’s wrong? Did you have a nightmare? Don’t be afraid; I’m here.”

Yang Haiyan gasped for breath in Qin Fang’s arms, her heart racing.

She had just opened her eyes to see someone sitting with their back to her in front of the bronze mirror, and she was terrified.

She hadn’t been able to sleep well.

After counting sheep, she had finally dozed off, but then turning over had scared her to the point of losing her senses.

As for Qin Fang, he had entered the room quietly to avoid waking Yang Haiyan, so she hadn’t even realized he was there.

Knock, knock, knock…

Grandma Lian knocked on the door from outside, saying, “My lady, are you alright? My lady?”

Qin Fang called out, “I’m fine; just a nightmare. I’m here.”

Upon hearing this, Grandma Lian felt relieved.

She turned to Aunt Yu and said, “You can go back now.” Just as she turned around, she heard guards approaching outside.

Grandma Lian then reassured the guards, “It’s nothing; it’s nothing…”

Hearing Grandma Lian’s voice, the guards continued their patrol.

Inside the room, Qin Fang gently patted Yang Haiyan’s back, saying, “Yanyan, are you feeling better? It was just a nightmare; don’t be afraid.”

After some time, Yang Haiyan finally calmed down and pushed Qin Fang away, saying, “Are you crazy? What were you doing sitting in front of the mirror in the middle of the night? Don’t you know that scaring people can kill them?”

Qin Fang replied, “I… I didn’t know I scared you. Yanyan, I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean to. I thought you were asleep.” His wife wasn’t having a nightmare; she was scared by him?

Qin Fang felt as if he had been struck by lightning.

Yang Haiyan was genuinely furious.

The shock had made her so angry that her previous fear was gone. “You’re seriously crazy! A total weirdo.”

Qin Fang tried to appease her, saying, “Yes, yes, it’s my fault.”

He cautiously approached her again, “Yanyan, don’t be angry; it’s not worth it to get upset over this.”

Yang Haiyan angrily said, “Getting upset is one thing…” Wait, she moved her nose, “Come here, get closer.”

Qin Fang leaned in, asking, “H-how?”

Yang Haiyan grabbed his shirt and pulled him closer, then leaned in to smell his face.

Suddenly, the thought of what she had for dinner returned to her mind.

She reached out and touched his face; it felt smooth. “Qin Fang…”

Realizing he had been exposed when Yang Haiyan pulled him in to smell him, Qin Fang quickly said, “Wife, I can explain! I have my reasons; I didn’t mean to use your things.”

“Shut up,” Yang Haiyan interrupted, catching her breath. “I noticed that I’ve run out of what I put on my face lately; did you use it?”

Qin Fang gritted his teeth, “Yes, but I have my reasons.” After all, what kind of man would put that stuff on his face?

He felt uncomfortable smelling nice every day.

Yang Haiyan asked, “So you were sitting in front of the mirror at night, putting it on?”

Qin Fang felt aggrieved, “Yes.” Was it easy for him to sneak around?

Recalling what he said during dinner, Yang Haiyan felt she had uncovered a big secret. “Do you think you’re getting darker, so you want to make yourself look whiter?”

Qin Fang nodded, then shook his head. “Yes… and no. I didn’t do it for myself; I did it… for our daughter.”

Yang Haiyan, who had been so angry a moment ago, was now frozen in surprise. “For our daughter? What do you mean?”

Thus, Qin Fang recounted what Shen Lixian had said about sons resembling their mothers and daughters resembling their fathers. “I… I was just worried that our daughter might take after me and look too rough, so I…”

Qin Fang’s face, which had been tanned several shades darker, turned slightly red, but it was nighttime, so Yang Haiyan couldn’t see it.

Upon hearing this reason, Yang Haiyan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

She wanted to say that even if Qin Fang made his face soft and smooth, it wouldn’t change their daughter’s appearance.

In the end, she could only let out a heavy sigh. “You don’t need to worry about this; it’s my responsibility. Lord Shen is just teasing you. Look at how smart you usually are; how could you be fooled by him?”

Besides, she had already selected vitamins and calcium supplements suitable for pregnant women; she had enough to worry about.

If Qin Fang started to fret, she felt that their perfectly fine daughter might end up looking like a rough man.

Qin Fang was taken aback. “Really? Then… what if our daughter does take after me?”

Looking at his tall and sturdy frame, Yang Haiyan replied, “What’s wrong if she takes after you? If she does, she’ll grow taller. Besides, look at Siya and Qiuyuan; none of the daughters of the Qin family are ugly.”

Qin Fang thought about it and realized she was right. “If she really takes after me…”

Yang Haiyan said, “How about this: from now on, you stop secretly applying that cream on your own. Tomorrow, I’ll prepare some whitening cream for you. If you can’t change your looks, at least we can make your face a bit whiter, right?”

It was just to comfort this silly father.

People say women become foolish for three years during pregnancy; why did Qin Fang seem the foolish one here?

Upon hearing this, Qin Fang’s face brightened with joy. “Yes, yes, that makes sense.”

So, starting the next morning, under Yang Haiyan’s guidance, Qin Fang washed his face with rice washing water and used cucumber slices as a facial mask.

When Grandma Lian saw this, she was shocked.

If it weren’t for the calm demeanor of the Madam Haiyan, she would have almost thought that the general had been possessed by a ghost last night.

Grandma Lian quietly approached Yang Haiyan from behind and, seeing the general lying on the couch with cucumber slices on his face, tugged at Yang Haiyan’s sleeve. “My lady, the general is…”

Yang Haiyan patted Grandma Lian’s hand. “It’s fine; let him have his fun.”

Upon hearing Yang Haiyan say this, Grandma Lian didn’t ask any further. “My lady, I’ve made red date soup today; you should drink a bowl later. You were startled from a nightmare last night; as the old saying goes, you should drink some red date soup to calm your nerves.”

Speaking of nightmares, it was indeed a beautiful misunderstanding.

However, Yang Haiyan didn’t intend to explain.

Did she really want to admit that she was scared by Qin Fang?

“Thank you, Grandma Lian; you’ve worked hard.” Grandma Lian had truly taken good care of her.

If she weren’t sincerely serving her, how would she think to make red date soup to calm her down?

Grandma Lian smiled and said, “It’s not hard at all. As long as the master knows my intentions, anything I do is not hard.”

Fortunately, the commotion from last night didn’t disturb the Liuxin Courtyard; otherwise, Grandpa Qin and Grandma Qin, being of such advanced age, would have surely been frightened to death.

However, Qin Fang would probably face criticism for it.

Before they knew it, August arrived, and the watermelons ripened.

Not only were the watermelons ripe, but the first batch of potato flour and sweet potato flour from the imperial grain factory had also been produced.

The factory was piled high with potatoes and sweet potatoes from various counties in Hedoong Prefecture, with the most coming from Yunxiang County.

After all, the other counties wouldn’t send their produce over long distances unless they were close to Yunxiang County.

For the common people of Yunxiang County, this was a tremendous joy.

From now on, they could plant potatoes and sweet potatoes in their fields and sell them directly to the general’s residence after harvest, with payments settled on the spot.

With the success of the imperial grain factory in Yunxiang County and the ripening of the watermelons, the Ministry of Works finally manufactured gunpowder.

The production of gunpowder indicated that Wei Ting was preparing to return to the capital.

That day, Wei Ting came to bid farewell to Qin Fang. “General Qin, I’m grateful for your care during my time in Yunxiang County. When you come to the capital next time, I’ll treat you to a feast.”

Qin Fang replied, “I’ll definitely come on another occasion. Your Excellency has important matters to attend to, so I won’t keep you here any longer.”

Wei Ting said, “Then I look forward to our next meeting.” Wei Ting left on his own, while the Ministry of Works team remained at the Beast Mountain Taoist Temple, waiting for the emperor’s next instructions.

He was taking the finished gunpowder back to the capital and might return in a few days.

After seeing off Wei Ting, not long after, Du Ke and Shen Lixian were also set to leave.

The matter of the imperial grain franchise in Hedoong Prefecture had reached a conclusion, and they still needed to go to other prefectures.

When Wei Ting left, Yang Haiyan didn’t come to see him off, but when Du Ke was leaving, Yang Haiyan accompanied Qin Fang to see him off, which included sending away Du Ke and Shen Lixian… who took a basket of watermelons with them.

Turning back, Yang Haiyan said to Qin Fang, “Tao Shan should also be arriving in the capital soon, right? This time, he’s bringing cucumbers, watermelons, broccoli, cauliflower, and tomatoes. I wonder if everything went smoothly.”

Qin Fang replied, “He has about ten personal guards escorting him and is traveling on official roads, so there shouldn’t be any issues.”

As for Tao Shan, who was mentioned, he indeed arrived in the capital.

Tao Shan had brought a lot of things this time.

Upon entering the capital, he drew the attention of the guards.

“Who is this? What are these things?”

It was indeed because Tao Shan had brought so many items that not only were they for the emperor, but they were also for the Du family.

This was no longer just a basket or two, so it was only natural for the guards at the city gate to check them.

Tao Shan presented his travel permit. “Big brother, here is my travel permit.”

The guard examined Tao Shan’s travel permit and found no issues.

However, he asked, “What are these things? We need to inspect them.”

Tao Shan replied, “There’s no problem, no problem; these are items for the emperor.”

“Wait…” The guard called out, stopping Tao Shan from moving to unpack. “These are tributes for the emperor?”

Tributes for the emperor were not something they had the right to inspect; that would cost them their heads!

The guards were shocked.

Tao Shan explained, “These are not tributes; they are gifts from our general to the emperor.”

Even if they weren’t tributes, items for the emperor were not to be inspected by them.

However, the guards were also worried that something might be wrong, so they said, “Big brother, please wait a moment. I’ll go call our superior.”

In Qiguo, the security of the capital was handled by the Wucheng Bingma Division.

The city gate was guarded by the Capital Command Camp, whose commander held the rank of a fifth-grade official, the same rank as General Qin Fang.

However, the actual power they wielded was quite different.

Of course, the “superior” mentioned by the guards was not the commander of the capital camp.