The three talked for a long time. Seeing that Su Yi's attitude had softened, Su Cheng started to jokingly say that he wanted to take the two of them out to play. "Let me tell you, the scenery on the border is amazing, and the horses can run very far."

Are you sure it's safe to go horse racing in this weather?

Liu Huan mercilessly punctured his excitement, and he finally calmed down. "Yeah, it would be great if it were summer. The border is actually quite nice in the summer."

"By the way, let me take you to a mutton hot pot restaurant. The sheep here roam the grasslands all day long, and their meat is very firm. I especially love eating it."

He had barely finished speaking when Changbai came in with a pot. "Second Brother, why are you still paying when you're here? You said I would pay."

Su Yi looked at his younger brother with concern, "Why don't you check what time it is? Are you sure it's not too late to get it done now?"

Su Cheng felt a little guilty, "I'm not... Huanhuan~"

"Alright, we'll be staying for a long time, so you can invite us again tomorrow."

"Okay, I'll take you to eat somewhere else tomorrow. Let me tell you, although this place isn't as good as other places, I'm still very satisfied with the food."

"Eat quickly, this meat is very fresh."

While talking, she served food to Liu Huan. She wanted to serve some to Su Yi but was afraid he would find it offensive, so she smiled awkwardly and said, "Second Brother, you eat very well."

Liu Huan couldn't help but laugh when she saw him. Xiao Shi was basically raised by Shi, and seeing him was like a mouse seeing a cat or a child seeing its father.

"Eat your food, how old are you and still making such a fuss?"

Liu Huan quite enjoyed eating the meat. Since vegetables couldn't be grown in this border region, there was plenty of meat, and she ate a lot without realizing it.

The two of them slumped in their chairs, completely stuffed, and sighed contentedly, their movements mirroring each other.

"Young man, are you going home today?"

"I'm not going back. The general gave me two days off, and I don't need to go back tomorrow either."

Liu Huan became interested: "Can you tell me some interesting stories about your military camp? I don't want to hear anything confidential."

When he spoke of Zhuangzi, his smile faded. “He died protecting me. His family was also from Suzhou Prefecture, in the county next to Qingyang County. I took him back with me when I went back.”

When the topic turned to sadness, Liu Huan couldn't find anything to say. "Let's not talk about these sad things anymore. I'll toast you, buddy."

The two drank rice wine until late into the night, and both fell asleep on the table.

"Help this drunkard to the next room."

He called out to Changbai, who then helped Su Cheng away.

Su Yi carried Liu Huan to the bed, still muttering that she could still drink.

Su Yi put her down and went out. "Take good care of her. If she feels unwell when she wakes up, ask someone to buy her some hangover tea and some warm porridge. Don't let her eat anything too rich or heavy first thing in the morning."

"Yes, sir."

Su Yi left the inn and saw scattered snowflakes through the faint torchlight. The master and servant moved forward by a single torch and entered the backyard of the yamen.

The prefect, still awake, summoned the doorman and asked, "Has Lord Su just returned?"

"Yes, sir."

"Alright, go and keep an eye on things. Make sure you don't neglect the guests."

...

Liu Huan woke up in a daze, while Su Cheng was already waiting outside. "You can sleep too much! Get up and eat something, I'll take you to the city wall, it's snowing, it's beautiful."

Liu Huan drank the porridge directly, wiped her mouth, and put on her thick cloak. "Let's go, I'm ready."

When I went outside, I saw a blanket of white. Overnight, the whole city was covered in silver, and there were hardly any people on the streets.

Where are the vendors?

"With such heavy snow, no one is going out right now. They'll wait until after noon to come out because it's too cold."

"Then what do those cattle and sheep eat?"

"It's the hay stored up in the summer. Many wolves come out to steal sheep during this time of year, and the sheep of villagers outside the city are often stolen."

"We've arrived." As they spoke, the two climbed onto the city wall. The gatekeepers, having given them a bribe, turned a blind eye and let them go up.

Looking out from the city wall, all that could be seen was a blanket of white. "I never thought I could see so far. I really want to go out and take a look."

"Forget it, it's not safe to go out. Let's just take a look around."

The snowstorm was too heavy. Just as the two were about to leave, Liu Huan spotted a group of people approaching from afar, standing out conspicuously in the snow.

"Hey buddy, what's that?"

Su Cheng looked over and saw that it was indeed the enemy army.

"Huanhuan, go back to find your brother quickly. Remember, if you sense anything is wrong, you and your brother should run through the back gate. I have something to do, I have to go back first."

When Liu Huan saw Su Cheng's expression change, she knew that another war was about to begin.

She rushed downstairs and saw that the city gates were closed and flags were planted everywhere inside the city.

The local people along the way were not worried at all.

They even started systematically setting up a large pot to collect snow for boiling water.

Liu Huan stopped awkwardly. "Auntie, what are you doing?"

"We're about to go to war, so let's boil some water and prepare it. If the soldiers need it, we'll send it over."

"What are you going to do with it?" Liu Huan didn't know what the war had to do with boiling water.

"After the battle, everyone will be hungry and we'll need to slaughter cattle and sheep, which will require a lot of water." Liu Huan was unaware of this side of the story.

Aren't you afraid of war?

This is a silly question, but I can't help asking it.

"What's there to be afraid of? Our general can drive them back. They always launch sneak attacks at this time of year. We're used to it."

"But in winter, with thick clothing and snow everywhere, it's even harder to fight a war, isn't it?"

The old woman explained, "Young man, you don't understand. Those people are wearing animal skin coats, which are lightweight and warm, and everyone has one. Unlike our soldiers, especially the new ones, many of them haven't suffered much damage yet. This is the perfect time for them to launch a sneak attack."

Liu Huan then understood, and she explained why the Emperor had requested that the items be delivered before winter arrived.

Su Yi received the message and found her. "Why are you running around like that?"

"The young man took me to the city wall to see the snow. When enemies came from there, he went back first. I didn't wander off."

"Okay, let's go back and wait for him."

Su Cheng didn't return until evening, looking exhausted with bloodstains on his battle robe, a stark contrast to his appearance yesterday.

"Are you alright, bro?" Liu Huan asked.

Su Cheng shook his head: "It's nothing, they've already been chased away. I just came to say hello, I need to go back now."

"Go ahead," Liu Huan said, not knowing what else to say, and could only watch him leave.

He turned to Stone and asked, "How many people are in this military camp?"

"More than 100,000 people, what happened?"

“I noticed that the battle suit the young man is wearing isn’t very warm. I’d like to see if there’s any way to improve it. Otherwise, it would be too much of a disadvantage to go to war wearing so much.”

The temperature at the border is at least minus twenty or thirty degrees Celsius, and cotton-padded coats are not warm enough. No wonder the enemy chose this time to invade.

Su Yi gave her a deep look. "What do you plan to do?"

"Let me think about it some more," she said. Her first thought was down jackets, but that was too unrealistic. Where would she get so much down?