The dry rations were frozen as hard as rocks, and if you gnawed on them, you'd get a mouthful of blood. Many people were even too hungry to eat them.

Now that there are new-style fried noodles, we no longer have to eat "stones" (a pun on "stones" in Chinese). The key is that they are also filling. When thirsty, we can drink snow water. I can't say how good they taste, but at least we don't have to go hungry.

"Young Master, what did the young mistress say in her letter?"

Inside the commander's tent, Xiao Wu poured tea for Pei Yanzhi while craning his neck to ask a question curiously.

"It's nothing, just a matter of domestic affairs."

Pei Yanzhi said calmly, "Jiang Shuwan doesn't understand internal affairs. The key is that there are all sorts of intricacies involved. If you don't understand, you can easily be deceived."

Jiang Shuwan wrote the letter to ask him for advice.

Pei Yanzhi picked up his pen, took out a new sheet of paper, and wrote down the answer Jiang Shuwan wanted.

Once I started writing, I couldn't stop.

There are too many things to do and too many questions to ask.

Xiao Wu was already sleepy, but Yin Quan was more alert. Seeing that it was getting late, and considering that Pei Yanzhi hadn't slept a few days ago while leading troops on an attack, he wanted to persuade him to write again tomorrow and rest for today. However, before he could even speak, he saw his young master asleep on the desk, still holding a pen in his hand.

He didn't have any nightmares that night.

In his dreams, he kept simulating how Jiang Shuwan managed affairs, balanced, directed, and coordinated all parties.

Like playing a game of chess, he stood behind Jiang Shuwan, the two of them sharing a piece.

In the days that followed, letters from the capital never stopped, and his replies never stopped either.

Day and night, he was so busy that his feet barely touched the ground. Occasionally, when he took a short nap, nightmares would strike again, but a cry of "Young Madam's letter" from outside the tent would dispel all the nightmares.

What new workshops have been built in the capital? How much has the autumn grain production increased? What good grain seeds have been imported from abroad? What disasters have occurred in which streets? What areas have been flooded and how are rescue efforts being carried out?

He had never felt so directly that the country and homeland he had ruined because of his mistakes were slowly being rebuilt here.

And it's getting better and better every day.

The figure of the person playing chess with him became increasingly clear.

She was no longer a fleeting glimpse at the poetry gathering, nor the unfamiliar mistress of the Earl's mansion, nor the woman in the inner quarters whom he exploited in the heavy rain.

She was like a blooming flower, blossoming in the world where he was.