Chapter 273 – I’m Cold
After spending a few days together, everyone had become familiar with each other.
Originally, she thought that Wu Bin and the other two would be reluctant to part with her.
Unexpectedly, the three’s subsequent reactions made her grit her teeth.
Wu Bin said, “So you’re moving to the War King’s tent. Xiaosi, hurry up then, don’t keep His Highness waiting.”
Zhao Xi said, “Yes, yes, His Highness the War King is still injured.”
Wang Cheng said, “Xiaosi, you’re a military doctor, moving over there is perfect for taking care of His Highness the War King.”
Looking at the three’s delighted expressions, they truly seemed eager to pack Yan Xiaosi into a gift box, tie it with a butterfly knot, and deliver her to the commander’s tent.
Yan Xiaosi forcefully slung her packed bundle over her shoulder and glared at the three, dissatisfied.
“Is this how you act as brothers? Serving a ruler is like serving a tiger. I’m moving to the War King’s tent, aren’t you worried about me at all?”
The three weren’t worried in the slightest.
They had all seen how the War King treated Xiaosi differently.
Wu Bin said, “Xiaosi, don’t be so nervous. His Highness the War King is just a bit cold on the surface.”
Zhao Xi said, “His Highness gave you the chestnut-red horse, what are you worried about?”
Wang Cheng said, “That’s right, go confidently to serve His Highness. We’re counting on you, waiting for you to make it big and give us brothers a helping hand.”
“Wait, the chestnut-red horse?”
Yan Xiaosi’s attention was drawn to the words “chestnut-red horse.”
“Brothers, is my chestnut-red horse very special?”
That chestnut-red horse looked ordinary in size. She had thought Long Yu had just randomly picked it from among the war horses.
“Of course it’s special.”
Wu Bin patiently explained to her.
“Xiaosi, do you know about His Highness the War King’s war horse, Lightning?”
“Yes, I’ve seen it a few times. It’s a magnificent jet-black horse.”
“Your chestnut-red horse is called Red Cherry, a name given by His Highness himself. Moreover, Red Cherry is Lightning’s mate and also a rare treasure that can travel a thousand li in a day. His Highness giving Red Cherry to you shows how much he values you.”
After hearing Wu Bin’s explanation, Yan Xiaosi’s cheeks grew warm.
Long Yu had actually given Lightning’s mate to her. What did that mean?
“Brothers, rest well. I’m leaving.”
Afraid that Wu Bin and the others would notice her blushing, she hurriedly fled with her shabby bundle on her back.
Dinner was already laid out in the commander’s tent.
Long Yu was still sitting properly at his desk, not even glancing at the food on the table.
Only when Yan Xiaosi entered with her tattered bundle did he raise his eyebrows slightly.
As soon as Yan Xiaosi came in, she smelled the aroma of meat and thought: This man just ate a bowl of cold noodles with mixed sauce, and now he’s calling for dinner again—is he a pig?
“Put your things down and have dinner.”
Although Yan Xiaosi wasn’t hungry, she worried that if she didn’t eat anything, she might be starving by midnight. So she walked in, tossed her shabby bundle onto the couch where she had slept last night, and returned to the table.
The meal was quite generous with one meat dish, one vegetable dish, and a soup.
She stood at the table for a moment, but saw no sign of Long Yu putting down his brush and getting up.
Long Yu kept writing rapidly with his head down while speaking, “Why are you still standing there? Aren’t you hungry?”
Yan Xiaosi thought: Does this man have eyes on top of his head?
“Your Highness, aren’t you eating?”
“I’m already full from the zha jiang noodles you brought back. These dishes are prepared for you.”
Yan Xiaosi felt a small touch of warmth in her heart.
After she finished eating, Long Yu called in a soldier to take away the bowls and chopsticks.
“Come over and grind ink for me.”
While grinding ink, Yan Xiaosi recalled the large empty space in the Tongluo Plain military camp and casually said, “Your Highness.”
“Yes, what is it?”
“These past two days, I’ve been wandering around the camp in my free time and noticed a lot of fertile empty land around the training grounds. Has Your Highness ever thought about utilizing that land?”
This was something Long Yu truly hadn’t considered.
Each day, reviewing military reports, studying war situations, and analyzing battle terrain took all his time—how could he think about such trivial matters?
However, now that Yan Xiaosi mentioned it, it had piqued his interest.
He rarely stopped writing, but now he put down his brush and looked up at Yan Xiaosi.
“How would you utilize it?”
Yan Xiaosi said, “To grow food. This place is on the banks of the Yunluo River, with thick soil deposits and extremely fertile soil quality. If used to grow food, there would definitely be a bountiful harvest. Additionally, the army has plenty of manpower. Doing this would both train the soldiers and make the camp self-sufficient—killing two birds with one stone.”
Long Yu was somewhat tempted, but he frowned.
“What you say sounds good, but the soldiers under my command train and fight year-round. I don’t know if they’re familiar with farming.”
Most soldiers came from poor backgrounds and had to do farm work at home before joining the army—how could they not understand farming?
Seeing the War King’s hesitation, Yan Xiaosi squinted her eyes with a smile and said, “Your Highness, what if you contract that empty land to me to manage? The crops would belong to the military camp, and Your Highness can just pay me silver.”
Although she didn’t understand farming, with the help of the spiritual spring in her portable space, growing crops shouldn’t be too difficult.
Long Yu’s expression turned surprised.
“You know how to farm?”
During the time he was recovering from injuries at the end of Shaoyao Village, he was with this young man almost every day, and this young man was the laziest one.
Yan Xiaosi looked embarrassed.
“I naturally don’t know how to farm, but I can hire people to help.”
Long Yu immediately refused: “For farming in the military camp, outsiders cannot enter.”
Yan Xiaosi understood his meaning.
If Rongdi spies disguised themselves and mixed in, it would be troublesome.
After thinking for a moment, she said, “How about this: I won’t find people from outside. Your Highness can give me twenty soldiers, and I’ll pay them.”
Taking twenty soldiers from an army of fifty thousand wasn’t a big deal.
Long Yu nodded in agreement.
“You’re quite calculating. You’ve entered my military camp but haven’t forgotten about making money.”
Yan Xiaosi was delighted.
“Birds die for food, people die for money. My family is so poor, I definitely need to think of ways to make money. Otherwise, how will I support my aging mother in the future? How will I take a wife?”
Long Yu’s lips curled up as he coldly snorted a laugh.
Still thinking about taking a wife—in your dreams.
“It’s getting late, go to sleep.”
Yan Xiaosi had been fighting off sleepiness for a while. Hearing these words, she immediately put down the ink, dashed to her small couch, kicked off her shoes in two or three motions, and lay down.
Before half a cup of tea’s time had passed, Long Yu could already hear steady breathing.
The person on the small couch was curled up in a soft blanket, with only half of a fluffy head exposed, already sleeping like a pig—utterly adorable.
At the end of the Zi hour (11PM-1AM), Long Yu finally finished handling his affairs and rose to rest.
Passing by the small couch, he saw the person sleeping sprawled out, with more than half the blanket fallen to the ground.
The night was cool. He sighed softly, wanting to manually arrange the sprawled-out sleeper into a more elegant and proper sleeping position, and then cover them with the blanket.
