Not long after the Huo family members were murdered and imprisoned, this happened in Jingxiang.

Immediately afterwards, Bai Jiwu was promoted ahead of schedule. Deputy General Wu and others had been by Mr. Huo's side for many years. Even if they were oblivious, they knew that the Huo family army had completely changed and there was no room for maneuver.

They are soldiers, and whether it is due to external constraints or their own moral conscience, they could never be deserters.

But leaving their families in the northern desert would be tantamount to handing their vulnerability over to Bai Jiwu.

They could not possibly collude with Bai Jiwu, nor did they want their families to suffer any misfortune. Therefore, the families of the Huo family soldiers all returned to their hometowns as quickly as possible.

Only Bai Jiwu's men brought their families with them, and these families were not exactly innocent; many of them had been tyrannical and domineering in Quanzhou City in earlier years.

Over the years, if it weren't for Prefect Ke's efforts to suppress the rebellion and clean up the entire prefecture, the prefecture would probably have been in chaos long ago, and the people of the prefecture might have suffered even worse fates than the people of Qingzhou!

Mr. Huo didn't say these things explicitly, so Gu Yuzhi naturally couldn't have thought of them that deeply.

But he understood that, just as when he learned that the Northern Di might invade, his first thought was regret, feeling sorry for Chief Secretary Xie and the others, for dragging their families into it as well.

These soldiers must have felt the same way.

Gu Yuzhi sighed, mimicking Xie Changshi's manner: "If only the people of Jingxiang hadn't been harmed."

He really wanted to see what those heavy crossbows that had made such great contributions looked like.

Gu Yuzhi suddenly remembered the military strategy he had just learned, clenched his small fist, and spoke in a louder voice: "If Jingxiang is intact, we can lure those Northern Di people to Jingxiang, attack them from both sides, and with the heavy crossbows of the fortress in the middle, we can guarantee that they will not return!"

Ideally, we should achieve a victory like Mr. Huo's great battle, defeating the Northern Di so badly that they would retreat and recuperate for over ten years before daring to invade again.

Mr. Huo resisted the urge to pat his head and smiled, "Since Your Highness has this intention, it's never too late."

Although the people of Jingxiang are gone, the fortresses of Jingxiang remain, and the spirit of the Huo family army lives on.

Even if it's only for a few months, Mr. Huo believes that under the leadership of the young prince, the Huo family army can defend the entire prefecture and protect the northern desert!

With such beautiful dreams in mind, Gu Yuzhi dreamt of the Northern Di people invading him every night.

Qi's guards acted as the vanguard, annihilating the enemy's hasty march and leaving no survivors, before retreating back to Jingxiang.

I don't know if it was because I missed it so much, but in my dream, all the weeds in Jingxiang turned into wheat. When the breeze blew, the wheat waves were beautiful, one layer after another.

Before he could get his fill of looking at it, the wheat field was burned down by the Northern Di people, and not only that, the remaining wheat fields were stained with blood.

In his dream, Gu Yuzhi was so angry that he cried, and he fought the Northern Di people for three hundred rounds with his sword.

The next morning, I woke up feeling incredibly tired and listless. I sat on the bed and kept dozing off.

When Granny Xu came in, she saw that he was wearing an undergarment, holding the clothes with one hand and trying to squeeze the other hand into the sleeve, but he couldn't get it in after a long time.

His eyes were squinting, his head was nodding, and he was so dazed that he didn't even realize he was wearing his clothes inside out, while his hands kept reaching inside.

Granny Xu tiptoed forward and heard the young prince mutter, "How strange, why doesn't this dress have sleeves..."

He tried several times but failed each time, and he just wouldn't open his eyes to look.

Granny Xu couldn't help but chuckle softly, and slightly increased the intensity of her movements: "Your Highness, if you're sleepy, why don't you sleep a little longer?"

After arriving in the northern desert, the young prince seemed to have grown up overnight. He became extremely self-disciplined, getting up on time and rarely needing her to help him dress.

When Xu Mama happened to see the bewildered and confused little prince, she found him incredibly adorable and wished he could go back to his childhood so she could hold him in her arms and carry him around.

At that time, although the little prince was not favored, he was carefree all day long. His big eyes darted around in her arms, and he was curious about everything. Sometimes he would grin and giggle with his toothless mouth.

Recalling such heartwarming memories, Xu Mama's eyes softened considerably. She watched as the young prince, without even wearing socks, got off the bed in a daze, only opening his eyes sharply when his feet touched the floor.

Although it is summer now, the weather in Xinliang is still quite cool in the morning, especially the bluestone slabs close to the ground. The coolness stimulated Gu Yuzhi and instantly woke him up.

He looked down at his small, white, and tender feet, and suddenly felt playful. He started wiggling his toes and grinned foolishly. When he looked up, he saw that Granny Xu was also there.

Gu Yuzhi was a little embarrassed and scratched his head, saying, "Granny Xu, when did you come in? Why didn't you say anything?"

He has absolutely no recollection of it!

Xu Mama smiled and put on his socks, explaining softly, "Your Highness was still half asleep and didn't notice this old servant coming in. I helped you put on your clothes."

Gu Yuzhi was even more confused now; he never expected to be so absent-minded.

When Gu Yuzhi finally put on her boots and stepped back onto the ground, she couldn't help but jump up and down, pouting, "Granny Xu, I feel so tired."

He vaguely remembered having a dream, but he couldn't recall it now; he just felt tired.

It seems like I was constantly fighting with someone in my dream.

My muscles are sore all over, just like when I first started learning martial arts.

Not only do my muscles ache, but my throat also feels uncomfortable.

Upon hearing him complain of being tired, Granny Xu became alert and quickly went over to touch his forehead. Finding nothing amiss, she breathed a sigh of relief.

She secretly hoped that Judge Qin would return from gathering herbs today, otherwise she would really be a little worried.

Given the uncertainty surrounding the young prince's condition, Granny Xu instructed the kitchen to prepare a light meal. After Gu Yuzhi finished his meal, his listless state improved considerably.

He looked up at Granny Xu and said, "Granny Xu, we are setting off for Jingxiang today. Please prepare some dry food and a change of clothes for me."

As for how many days he'll be gone, he hasn't decided yet.

Once they arrive, let Mr. Huo first check how many fortresses are usable, and then go find General Lu.

Gu Yuzhi pursed his lips at the mention of General Lu.

He hadn't forgotten that General Lu had bypassed him and directly told Guard Qi about letting him join the army.

While Granny Xu went to prepare, Gu Yuzhi wrote a few large characters first. He only put down his brush after Chief Secretary Xie arrived, and said with a smile, "Chief Secretary Xie, have you packed your things? Are we leaving?"