The days passed one by one, Gu Junwen was still doing nothing, Chu Yun was still undeterred by wind and rain, and Lin Lin was still kneeling on his head as punishment.

The warm wind sent away the winter in Kyoto, and the footsteps of spring were already moving in. However, no one expected that a cold wave would quietly arrive near the end of the year, disrupting the normal rhythm of the dynasty.

Well, in fact, even if there hadn’t been a sudden cold wave, the end of the year in Qisheng Dynasty would not have been peaceful.

First, Emperor Mingde fell seriously ill and did not attend court for seven days. The three princes made a mess in the palace, and people's hearts were shaken.

Then, the former Minister of War died suddenly without any reason, which caused chaos in the other six ministries. A series of officials were brought down and the court was reshuffled.

I don't know what mechanism was touched, but the dominoes fell one after another and the signs of a quarrel between the brothers were already apparent.

The vague rumors could not affect Gu Junwen's mood. However, there was one thing she could not ignore - food and wages.

In the past, she could feed her entire family with one person’s food; today, even if she donated all her rations, she still could not feed hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the northern border.

Food is the most important thing for the people. This should not be delayed again and again, but the court means to wait a little longer.

"How long do we have to wait? We can't live like this anymore." Gu Junwen supported his face and frowned.

She sat quietly in front of the window, watching Chen Ze lead Zhang Xing and others in martial arts practice, and she kept sighing.

Fortunately, Chu Yun was busy today and didn't come to watch her practice calligraphy. Gu Junwen felt a little relieved when he thought of this. Finally, there was something happy.

Shen Anan warmed her hands by the stove in the house and muttered softly, "Don't bully me like this. I see that all the warehouses in Kyoto are full, and you still ask us to wait. It's so disheartening."

The day before yesterday, Shen Ze went to the Ministry of War to ask for food and money, but the Ministry of War refused to pay on the grounds that Minister Lu had died.

The problem of food and clothing for the soldiers at the border could not be solved, and he was also worried about the secret guards. In the past two days, Shen Ze had been absent-minded and his temper had become much worse.

The red lanterns hanging under the eaves were blown up and down and left and right by the wind, which made people feel upset.

Gu Junwen sat by the window and saw it clearly. He sighed again, "It's really annoying. The food and grass in the northern part of the border can still hold out for a while, but we can't delay any longer."

When they were asked to fight, they were grandfathers and had everything they wanted. But now that everything is peaceful and the world is at peace, they have become grandchildren.

Let alone giving money, even food and clothing have become a problem. It would be strange if the saline-alkali land near Hulao Pass could grow food. To have enough food and clothing by yourself, there must be conditions, right?

The people and soldiers on the border have suffered a lot.

Thinking of this, Gu Junwen stood up and said, "An An, go and urge them to deliver this batch of grain we ordered to Saibei as soon as possible."

"Okay." Shen Anan came to life, jumped up suddenly, his eyes sparkling.

"Major General, there is a letter. I found it at the door, but I didn't see the person who delivered it." The guard You Shi knocked on the door and shouted loudly, breaking the almost stagnant atmosphere in the room.

"Maybe it's another letter from Saibei." Gu Junwen sighed and opened the door. "It's quite cold outside. You Shi, come in and tell me in detail."

"Thank you, General." You Shi responded, rubbed his hands, and quickly closed the door. Shaking off the coldness from his body, he moved closer to the stove cautiously.

"Major General, I went out to clean today and found this letter lying on the ground. I picked it up and realized it was for you, so I quickly delivered it to you." You Shi took a cup of hot tea and thanked him again and again.

"Feiyun paper, Hanlin ink. They are both valuable items that ordinary people cannot afford." Gu Junwen took the letter and flipped it left and right.

Apart from the texture of the letter paper and the ink marks, there are no other clues to indicate the identity of the writer.

"Regarding matters concerning food and wages, see you at Plum Garden in Kyoto." Upon opening the letter, there were only eight large and elegant characters.

"Sir, what happened? Did something happen at Hulao Pass?" Seeing Gu Junwen's frown, Shen Anan couldn't wait any longer and leaned over to take a look.

"It's okay, it's not about Saibei. An An, go and urge for that batch of grain first, I have to go out for a while." Gu Junwen put on his cloak, grabbed the letter, folded it and put it in his arms.

"Master! You are hiding something from me again! How annoying." Shen Anan shouted anxiously, but Gu Junwen didn't turn around, so she ran to the grain store in a huff.

In the cold wind, Gu Junwen walked very fast, as if if he walked faster, his worries would be blown away by the wind and he would get the food and wages immediately.

Her destination: Kyoto's plum garden.

It was early spring, and we were hit by a cold snap that was rare in a decade. There were few beautiful plum blossoms on the branches in the plum garden.

The spring scenery in the yard turned into a lament of being scattered into mud and crushed into dust, and no one appreciated it.

Gu Junwen stared at the dusty door plaque, slowly pushed open the gate of the plum garden, and walked in slowly.

The garden was quiet. From time to time, there was wind blowing. A few branches of spring plum blossoms trembled, as if they were considering when to dance with the wind again.

"Is anyone there?" Gu Junwen pulled his cloak tightly around him, avoided the branches that were leaning sideways, and stuck his head out to look.

The occasional chirping of birds makes the courtyard seem even more empty.

"How strange! He clearly asked me to meet him here." Gu Junwen muttered a few words, stopped, took out the letter, and studied it quietly twice in the cold wind.

That's right, it's here.

"Once the hero draws his sword, the common people will suffer another ten years of disaster. General Gu, you like this poem, right?" A young man in a fox fur and brocade robe jumped down from the top of the wall and landed in front of Gu Junwen with a graceful posture.

"Who are you? How do you know so much?" Gu Junwen clenched his fists, tactically took two steps back, and confronted the newcomer from a distance.

"General Gu, don't be nervous. My name is Lu Yu, the eldest son of the Lu family. My father is the former Minister of War, Lu Zhongzheng."

The young man broke off a thin branch, waved it in his hand, and chuckled at Gu Junwen with his head tilted.

"Do you have a way to collect the food and wages?" Gu Junwen thought carefully for a moment, but could not come up with any other reason.

"Of course. My Lu family is the imperial merchant of Kyoto, and it is not difficult for us to pay the food and wages." Lu Yu stared at Gu Junwen with his smiling peach blossom eyes, and there was a lot of charm in his eyes.

"What are your terms? It shouldn't be as simple as paying the money and receiving the goods."

"General Gu is wise. But isn't General Gu very clear about what our Lu family wants?"