The long song was not finished when the person was gone.

Most of the yellow paper in the basin had been burned. Tang Qi waited silently. After Cheng Junshi left, footsteps finally sounded again at the Jianbei Marquis's residence.

The people around him knelt down, but their heads remained raised for a long time.

"You're a bit late."

Lin Jiacuo raised his head, concealing the look in his eyes: "Something happened on the way and I was delayed for a while."

Lin Jiacuo picked up the yellow paper and held it towards the brazier. Their hands touched, and the prepared slip of paper was passed discreetly under the watchful eyes of those people. Tang Qi suddenly felt like laughing—the skill he had honed by defying the teacher in front of Lin Jiacuo at school was actually coming in handy here.

Tang Qi silently clenched the note. He had previously asked Cheng Junshi to deliver a letter to Lin Jiacuo, and just now he had also used Cheng Junshi to relay the news about the new recruits in the Southern Camp to Lin Jiacuo. So this note contained the answer he was looking for.

Tang Qi recalled something Cheng Junshi had said before, shook his head helplessly, chuckled, and muttered, "It really is impossible to calculate."

"What?"

Lin Gyatso struck up a conversation.

Tang Qi shook her head and changed the subject: "Where's Zheng Ye?"

"He's a coward; he cried his eyes out and waited outside, too scared to come in."

Lin Jiacuo burned a few more sheets of yellow paper and continued, "General Ye has returned to Jingzhou. Should I go there?"

Tang Qi shook his head. Lin Jiacuo looked at him for a few moments before finally speaking again: "General Wu is currently on the front lines of the southern expedition. The Emperor will probably let the Wolf Army rest for a while. You should also not push yourself too hard. With me in the army, you don't need to worry too much."

"besides……"

Lin Jiacuo hesitated, as if he wanted to say something, while Tang Qi turned his gaze to him.

“…Take good care of your aunt and sister. If anything happens, come to me first, don’t act impulsively.”

Lin Jiacuo's words, though seemingly rambling, were ultimately incomprehensible. Tang Qi, though doubtful, nodded slowly.

"Oh right, Shen Zhiqing came to see me. Her wedding is coming up soon, and Uncle Shen is afraid she'll cause trouble, so he's confined her to her quarters. She asked me to give this to you."

Lin Jiacuo took out a cloth bag from his bosom and handed it to Tang Qi, who took it, opened it, and picked up the contents and held them in his hand.

It was a bundle of golden, thriving rice.

She said this was the first batch grown on the land of Los Angeles.

Tang Qi's eyes lit up. She held the rice in her hand and examined it carefully for a while before finally smiling and saying, "She won."

Lin Jiacuo didn't understand, but when he turned his head, Tang Qi continued, "Four years ago, Uncle Shen opened Baibulou in Luocheng. Shen Zhiqing wanted to continue planting here, but the land in Luocheng was barren, and she had no harvest for the first few years. As a result, the land was gradually taken back, and she had nowhere to continue experimenting. So Shen Zhiqing asked me to lend her a piece of land. She bet me that within two years, she would definitely make the land in Luocheng produce grain."

"You made a bet with her like that? What was the bet?"

“If I win, all the produce from that land will still belong to me. She has only one condition—that I help her persuade the other people to lease the land and share the harvest equally.”

Lin Gyatso frowned and continued, "What if we lose?"

Tang Qi looked at him, a mischievous smirk playing on her lips: "Any ten granaries under her name will take my surname."

Lin Jiacuo pursed his lips and clicked his tongue, saying, "You really don't want to suffer even the slightest loss. If she really loses, are you really going to take her granary?"

"Of course, a bet is a bet. Shen Zhiqing is a businesswoman; if we treat our deal with her as a joke, wouldn't that be belittling her?"

“Moreover…” Tang Qi smiled again, speaking with certainty, “She never intended to lose when she made a deal with me. Luo City is merely a small step in her vast granary.”

Lin Jiacuo was somewhat stunned, as if he felt that his previous understanding of Shen Zhiqing was too superficial, and only now did he truly understand the stubbornness in her bones.

Four years, a high-stakes gamble. She left herself no way out.

The moonlight still shone on them that night.

Tang Qi chuckled lightly, but her eyes held an unwavering determination.

"Gyatso".

Therefore, he will not back down.

“My father died in battle, but the Wolf Army is still here. The southern expedition is not over, and we cannot stop here. During the mourning period, you will act as the commander of the southern camp, holding the order of deployment and commanding the army.”

Lin Jiacuo took the token handed to him by Tang Qi. The token hung at his waist, pulling him down and making him feel calmer.

Are you under this much pressure all the time?

Lin Jiacuo couldn't help but speak up, and Tang Qi chuckled slightly, patting his shoulder and saying, "You'll get used to it."

Although it was his first time shouldering such a heavy responsibility, Lin Jiacuo appeared quite experienced. He had spent so much time with Tang Qi, and aside from anything else, he had learned to be extremely resilient and thick-skinned. Most of the military affairs were handled by him and Tang Qi together, so now that he was just missing one person to help him, it was really not a difficult task for him.

When Lin Jiacuo left, it was already getting dark. Candles were lit in front of the coffin. Qin Jianzhi came over after coaxing Tang Yan to sleep. She took a cloak and covered Tang Qi's thin clothes with it.

After kneeling all day, Tang Qi's knees had long since lost all feeling. With Qin Jianzhi by his side, Tang Qi finally looked up and smiled, "Mother."

"Are you tired? If you are, take a break."

Tang Qi shook her head and continued smiling, "I'm not tired."

Qin Jianzhi stared at him for a long time before finally laughing out loud: "What a big liar who has raised a little liar."

She turned her head to look at the coffin, as if the person inside was just asleep, and spoke softly and naturally to it: "Mian-ge, look, our Zhongle is starving."

Qin Jianzhi had a servant bring a tray, took the food from it, and handed it to Tang Qi: "Don't kneel anymore. Your father doesn't want to see you kneeling here. I'll talk to him. Hurry up and go in and eat while it's still warm."

Urged on by Qin Jianzhi, Tang Qi left the mourning hall in a daze, still clutching the note in his hand. His eyes darkened, and with a solemn expression, Tang Qi turned into his room. He locked the door, put down the bowl, and calmed himself before finally mustering the courage to open the note in the candlelight.

There are only two words inside.

Sheng Ye.

Tang Qi's heart stopped for a second. A surge of anger belatedly rose in his chest, and the forty-seven new recruits who died in the Southern Camp were like claws, tearing apart his decaying rationality.

Yes, he should have realized it sooner. To be able to take away a battalion of soldiers without military tags or orders shows that above military power, only imperial power remains.

Prince Qi, the fourth prince of the Shuo Dynasty, Sheng Ye.

The current royal family has four princes. The eldest prince is stationed on the border, the third prince died young, and of the remaining two, apart from the ninth prince with a special background, only the fourth prince, Sheng Ye, is extremely mediocre.

If that were all, it would be fine, but this person is ambitious and arrogant. He has accompanied Tang Mian on several campaigns, and his silver armor has never been stained with blood. To put it bluntly, he is just someone whose name is on the military register, lying in the army tent waiting for military merit to be awarded.

He wanted merit and went on expeditions with the army. Tang Qi never stopped him, thinking that he was just another mouth to feed in the army. But just before he set off for Qing Teng Valley, Sheng Ye came to the Southern Camp and asked Tang Qi to give him a troop of soldiers.

Tang Qi merely glanced at him and decisively refused.

"You are not qualified to lead troops."

Tang Qi still remembered Sheng Ye's furious expression at the time: "I'm not qualified? I am the prince of Da Shuo! You are just a lowly general, believe me or not, I'll order your head to be chopped off right now!"

“This humble servant is worthless. If Your Highness wishes to cut off my head, I will certainly offer it up myself. However, although you have military merits, you are not a general and have no actual combat record. Our army is about to engage in battle, and the soldiers in the army will certainly not be handed over to Your Highness. If Your Highness wishes to train troops, you can wait until our army returns and ask His Majesty for a decree. Once the decree arrives, this humble servant will certainly select elite soldiers and good generals for you.”

Tang Qi crumpled the note, the name "Sheng Ye" etched between his teeth. He stared hatefully at the leaping flames. For a moment, he almost wanted to ride straight into the Qi Prince's mansion, but now he could only clench his fists, his fingertips turning white, unable to utter a single word.

He understood what Lin Jiacuo had hesitated to say. The candlelight grew brighter and brighter, and the note was consumed by the flames and turned into ashes. Tang Qi felt a chill. No one in this world can ever live as they please.

His past was so much like a beautiful dream that Tang Mian had created for him. Now that Tang Mian is dead and the dream is shattered, what he sees when he opens his eyes is a "world" that has not been beautified or embellished in any way.

The world that Tang Qi should have known long ago.

He simply couldn't understand why Sheng Ye could remain safely in the Qi Prince's residence, even though leading troops to attack a city was treason. What puzzled him even more was that the Emperor had connections everywhere; how could he not know that a prince was leading troops?

His soldiers died helplessly and desperately in their hopes of achieving victory.

Sheng Ye, on the other hand, was unharmed.

Your Majesty...

Tang Qi lowered his eyes and let out a long, soft laugh. Even though he knew that it was common for military generals to die on the battlefield, he couldn't help but feel that the Emperor was being too cold-hearted towards his father.

"Knock knock".

Tang Qi composed herself and pushed open the door. Suddenly, a heavy weight pressed against her waist, and a small figure silently disappeared into the darkness.

When they were little, Tang Yan liked to bury himself in Tang Qi's arms like this when they played hide-and-seek, as if there was no safer place in the world.

Tang Qi didn't say anything, but simply placed his hand on her head, and the two siblings remained silent.

He gazed at the endless night, his expression composed. After a long while, he finally withdrew from the absurdity of the world, rhythmically nodded her head, gave a very faint laugh, and began to sing:

"The little fish swims slowly~"

Tang Qi patted her head gently and softly.

"The little bird flies gently~"

He carried Tang Yan slowly toward her room, humming songs to her all the way.

"Little star, don't move~"

"The little ones here are going to sleep now~"

Tang Yan lay on the bed, her hand gripping Tang Qi's thumb tightly, choking back sobs as she closed her eyes.

Tang Qi tucked the sweaty stray hairs behind her ear; her face was burning hot, and the corners of her eyes were red.

"The little fish swims slowly~"

Looking at his younger sister's swollen eyes, Tang Qi felt a nameless pang of sorrow. He covered the tremor in his voice, just like his father used to, and continued to sing line by line.

"The little bird flies gently~"

"Little star, don't move~"

"The little ones here are going to sleep now~"

...

"The little one here is going to sleep now."

Tang Yan gradually drifted off to sleep, and Tang Qi tucked her in and quietly left.

Perhaps it was because I was too tired from crying, perhaps it was because my brother's voice was reassuring, or perhaps it was because my father was in my dream.

In short, she slept very soundly.