Feng Qizheng snickered wickedly. If Ning Chen got stuck with this Yuan Zhenzhen, she'd drive him up the wall.

Yuan Long glanced back at Yuan Zhenzhen and shook his head. "My lord prince has been run off his feet lately. I say we don't make more trouble for him.

This woman's out of her mind. If we bring her back to the residence, she'll drive my lord prince crazy."

Feng Qizheng thought it over, and Yuan Long had a point... Xiangzhou had barely been won back, plenty of Zhang Tianlun's and Kang Xiao's leftover men were hiding in the city, winter was almost here, and the people had to be looked after. Every decision landed on Ning Chen. He had enough on his plate already. Better not to add to his headaches.

"Then you deal with it however you see fit."

Yuan Long gave a bitter laugh. "How am I supposed to deal with it? My lord prince ordered me to bring this woman back to the residence and find her some work."

Feng Qizheng laughed. "Ask her if she has any relatives. If she does, send her off to them. If not, give her some silver and let her go wherever she likes... Either way, she can't come back to the residence."

Yuan Long hesitated. "But my lord prince's orders..."

"Don't worry. I'll go back and tell my lord prince. Once he knows the woman's out of her mind and the type to repay kindness with trouble, he'll stay as far away from her as he can."

Yuan Long gave a small nod.

The city lord's residence.

Ning Chen was listening to Xiao Yanxi's report on Nanyue.

"Kang Luo took three Gaoli cities in a row, but once he'd plundered their supplies, he pulled straight back to Nanyue's Qimu City instead of pressing the attack."

Ning Chen smiled. "Kang Luo was after the plunder. If he went in any deeper, the Gaoli army would very likely surround him. Besides, winter's almost here. It's no time to keep fighting.

Still, with Kang Luo taking three of its cities in one…