The girl looked at Bai Qi again, her beautiful phoenix eyes sparkling. She felt that the young man, who had always seemed so reliable, was capable of anything, and asked, “Is there anything you can’t do, Bai Qi?”

Facing her bright and admiring gaze, the handsome young man couldn’t help but tilt his head a little uncomfortably, avoiding her straightforward praise for some reason.

However, no one noticed the rare “embarrassment” of the Great Qin God of War. Because—

Seeing the girl looking at Bai Qi with bright eyes, Zhao Kuo immediately looked aggrieved and said pitifully: “Sister, why don’t you praise me? I chopped wood and made a fire all morning. Oh, I also fetched water.”

“Then…” The girl, holding the spoon, tilted her head and asked Zhao Kuo, “Praise you?”

After chatting a bit, the boy quickly felt happy and told Ying Yue, “Sister, you eat first. I’ll wake Wen He up. How can he sleep so late? He’s even later than the lord; it’s outrageous!”

“Hey, wait—” Ying Yue wanted to stop Zhao Kuo from waking Jia Xu. It was still early, so it wouldn’t hurt to let him sleep a bit longer.

But she spoke slower than Zhao Kuo acted. Before she could stop him, he rushed out to wake Jia Xu, who was probably still asleep.

Once Zhao Kuo left, Ying Yue looked at Bai Qi and asked, “Is this… okay?”

“It’s fine,” Bai Qi reassured her. In his mind, he added that no one would die. Who might be in danger depended on opinions.

After hearing Bai Qi’s words, Ying Yue decided not to worry. She quietly enjoyed the tasty fish porridge cooked by Bai Qi. While eating, she glanced at him but found it hard to believe what she knew.

Fortunately, Bai Qi didn’t notice her glances.

It took Zhao Kuo about half an hour to wake Jia Xu. When he returned, he was still carrying Jia Xu, who looked very sleepy in his green shirt.

Zhao Kuo grumbled, “Wenhe, you can’t do this. If you go to battle and the enemy attacks, you’ll be the first one killed.”

Jia Xu had stayed up late organizing his thoughts and was woken up unreasonably by Zhao Kuo at 5:00 a.m. He thought, “I’m a strategist, not a soldier. I don’t have to fight on the front lines.”

Besides, isn’t he someone who can’t do much right now? What does this have to do with him?

This was the first time Jia Xu experienced what it was like for a scholar to meet a soldier, which was hard to describe.

In his previous life, he had been surrounded by reckless generals who listened to him. Later, when he was seen as incompetent, no one cared, and he lived a peaceful life. But now he met someone who didn’t follow the rules.

What he least wanted was to deal with a foolish general who didn’t think.

Seeing Jia Xu’s sleepy face, Ying Yue asked, “What if… Wenhe goes back to sleep for a while?”

Jia Xu shook his head and replied, “No, Xu is just old. He doesn’t have much energy in the morning.”

Hearing this, Jia Xu noticed how strange it was for a young man to talk about age in such a way.

Zhao Kuo curiously asked, “How old were you when you joined the system?”

Jia Xu replied, “After death.”

Hearing this, Zhao Kuo looked even more confused. “Aren’t you just like me? Why do you act like you’re about to die?”

But can dying young be the same as dying old? Jia Xu thought silently, then asked Ying Yue, “Where is Miss Shen?”

Why wake him up so early when the person responsible was still asleep?

“…Not yet,” Ying Yue replied cautiously.

After hearing this, Jia Xu silently noted Zhao Kuo in his mind. Suddenly, Zhao Kuo felt a chill, as if something was watching him, making his heart race.

Looking around and seeing nothing dangerous, he dismissed the feeling.

Though Miss Shen hadn’t woken up yet, the boys rescued from the secret room yesterday had woken up early because Zhao Kuo had put them to bed early.

On his way to wake Jia Xu, he saw the kids who had been rescued. They looked much more energetic after a good sleep, meaning he should send them home to reunite with their parents.

However, if he did that, he might miss what Miss Shen was going to say about Beidi County, which she hadn’t finished discussing yesterday. This made him hesitate.

Intellectually, he knew he should take the children home, but personally, he didn’t want to miss out on the information about Beidi County.

Oh, wait.

He turned and saw Jia Xu, his newly accepted “little brother.” Suddenly, Zhao Kuo had a bright idea.

He raised his hand, put it around Jia Xu’s neck, smiled, and said, “Wenhe, I need to send those kids home. Can you take notes when Miss Shen talks later?”

After finishing his words, the young man said expectantly, “I remember you said I could ask for help with chores, right?”

Jia Xu, who wanted to politely decline, was taken aback. After a pause, he replied, “… General, don’t worry, I’ll take good notes.”

It was rare to see Jia Xu at a loss. The system in Ying Yue’s mind almost laughed out loud at this situation.

You deserve it! I told you to hide your weaknesses! Now Zhao Kuo sees you as a younger brother and orders you to work because he genuinely cares, right?

What? You don’t want to do it? Didn’t you say you could be asked about any chores? You’re unreliable and going back on your words. This shows serious character flaws!

The system tried to hide its joy from Ying Yue but couldn’t help feeling happy at Jia Xu’s discomfort.

It seems that to deal with smart people, you need natural fools, it thought.

The system then sincerely hoped its host would draw more like this, wishing someone could fix Jia Xu’s problems.

As for “someone,” that would be Zhao Kuo, who was already fitting that description because he made Jia Xu unhappy.

After hearing Jia Xu’s response, Zhao Kuo greeted his young master and walked out the door.

Just as he was stepping outside, he paused. Seeing him freeze, Ying Yue, who was at the table, asked, “What’s wrong?”

“No.” Zhao Kuo shook his head.

He suddenly remembered his thoughts about Beidi County from yesterday. Even if he didn’t want to hear it, Bai Qi must listen to this matter.

So, now Bai Qi could hear it, but he couldn’t.

At this moment, Zhao Kuo sighed at his bad luck. He went to find some boys, took them on the carriage, and sent the little kids home.

_

Zhao Kuo’s luck really seemed a bit off.

Just as he helped a few boys onto the carriage, the girl named Shen approached Ying Yue and the others.

She didn’t even have time to eat. As soon as she saw them, she continued talking about what she hadn’t finished yesterday.

“In the border area of Yongzhou, there are three major Hu tribes: Jie, Qiang, and Xianbei. Except for Qiang, the other two tribes practiced cannibalism ^[1]which is the act of eating human flesh. during big bonfires on the grasslands. These tribes are located deep in the grasslands, far from the Central Plains.

The group that allied with the Black Wind Village thieves is a newly emerged tribe called the Turkic tribe. This tribe is close to the Central Plains. They are brutal and gained power by looting in the Central Plains, establishing themselves in the grasslands.”

She spoke slowly, showing her emotions at times but adjusting quickly.

Ying Yue, Bai Qi, and Jia Xu listened quietly. The girl’s long eyelashes fluttered occasionally. Bai Qi sharpened a knife with an expressionless face, and Jia Xu remained flat and unchanged.

After discussing the Hu tribes, the girl talked about the military strength and population of Beidi County.

“Beidi County is in the far west, and due to recent conditions, many people moved away when bandits invaded. Now, there are about 10,000 households in Beidi County, but less than 5,000 soldiers, and over half lack weapons or armor.”

At this point, Shen paused and secretly glanced at Ying Yue. She hoped to see a reaction, but was disappointed as Ying Yue’s beautiful face showed no emotion.

The real reason was that Ying Yue didn’t understand the data she mentioned.

Bai Qi had told her not to show fear, so Ying Yue wore a blank expression even though she was confused.

Seeing Ying Yue, who usually showed the most emotion, unresponsive, Miss Shen continued sharing everything she could think of.

After finishing, she poured herself a glass of water and asked Ying Yue cautiously, “Excuse me, how many troops did you bring to Yongzhou?”

Although Ying Yue had few followers, Miss Shen imagined she had a powerful group.

“Hmm?” Hearing the question, Ying Yue, who had no intention of hiding anything, thought for a moment and replied gently, “Probably… only two?” but they are general units.

Miss Shen: ???

Wait, this isn’t what she imagined about a powerful young lady!

_

Ever since hearing Ying Yue had only two subordinates, Miss Shen felt dazed.

At first, she thought she had been tricked—just two people wanted to seize a county? That seemed impossible.

However, after calming down, she realized… it might not be entirely impossible.

Miss Shen thought about the information she had and realized there were about five to six hundred bandits in Black Wind Village. If, as Ying Yue said, two people could take over a stronghold with that many bandits, then maybe they could also try to take over Beidi County. The bandits were real murderers, while the soldiers in Beidi County had been beaten down and had low morale. Many of those soldiers had never fought before.