The flames of war suddenly ignited six

Regardless of whether they were in the court or among the common people, when everyone thought the army could quickly suppress the Northern Barbarians, reality gave everyone a resounding slap in the face.

Three days later, the army rested, and Tao Shuo and other doctors who went to the military camp to provide support returned to the camp, bringing this terrible news.

The quantity of smuggled ironware was underestimated, and the Northern Di army's strength greatly increased. General Li faced off against the Northern Di outside Jinzhou Prefecture, suffering repeated defeats. Currently, military preparations are insufficient, and the soldiers may have to fight a protracted war. The imperial supplies take half a month to arrive and depart, and the soldiers can only tighten their belts to defend against the enemy.

Tao Shuo went to the front lines and witnessed the cruelty of war. All her words were filled with worry, and Wang Pan'er listened with a furrowed brow.

His Majesty is cautious in his actions, and Mu Chuan is not a reckless person. For him to make such a decision with such a major deviation, it is very likely that someone in the court is lying about military intelligence and deceiving His Majesty.

For a moment, the entire camp fell into a deep silence.

Spreading the news that someone in the court was colluding with the enemy and betraying the country in the camp would undoubtedly exacerbate the anxiety of the people in the camp. Wang Pan'er kept quiet and remained silent.

She glanced at Wang Xiaoyao, who stared blankly for a moment with a serious expression. He picked up a tree branch and scribbled on the ground for a while before looking up at everyone present and saying, "The army is going to fight a protracted war, and the development of the camp also needs to be replanned. We will have to trouble Mr. Nine Fingers again."

The Nine-Fingered Immortal quickly bowed and agreed, "It is my duty."

With Wang Xiaoyao making the decision again, the atmosphere in the camp eased a bit, and everyone cheered up and went back to work.

Tao Shuo did not leave with the others. Instead, she pushed Wang Chengxi in front of Wang Pan'er and Wang Xiaoyao and said, "There is a little good news, Chengxi. You can tell your sisters yourself."

Wang Chengxi followed Tao Shuo up the mountain and down the river at the camp. Wearing coarse linen clothes, she lost most of her delicate, fragile appearance from what she had worn on the manor. She walked up to her two older sisters with a bright smile and said sweetly, "Sister Pan'er, Sister Xiaoyao."

"!"

"!"

Wang Pan'er and Wang Xiaoyao both stared wide-eyed at their much more robust third sister in disbelief.

Seeing that the two were too shocked to speak, Wang Chengxi called out sweetly again.

Her injured voice was somewhat hoarse and not very pleasant to hear. But God had opened the door to absolute beauty for her, yet it is said that beautiful women are often short-lived. Now that the window to her voice has been closed, God has taken some back, so that she may live a peaceful and smooth life.

Wang Pan'er was overjoyed and hugged her third sister, who sweetly called her "sister": "Oh my god, your voice is better!"

Wang Xiaoyao couldn't help but smile: "This is fantastic news!"

The two sisters carried Wang Chengxi around several times to make sure she was unharmed.

After the excitement subsided, Wang Pan'er asked Tao Shuo, "Doctor Tao said before that Chengxi's silence was due to psychological reasons. Did you encounter anything in the military camp?"

“It wasn’t anything else,” Tao Shuo recounted the situation at the time. “The army camp was full of wounded soldiers with external injuries. Chengxi was covered in blood during the day and had a nightmare at night. Unexpectedly, she regained her senses after the nightmare.”

Tao Shuo was also frightened by Wang Chengxi's nightmare state. Unexpectedly, when she woke up, Wang Chengxi was able to speak. Looking at Tao Shuo, who was full of worry and guarding by the bedside, she wiped away the tears that had flowed from the nightmare and said her first words to Doctor Tao: "I don't want to hold everyone back."

After hearing Tao Shuo recount the events, Wang Xiaoyao excitedly picked up Wang Chengxi and spun her around several times: "Our Chengxi is amazing! Today, your sister will give you doctors who are helping out at the military camp some special lessons!"

Wang Pan'er rubbed her hands together and said, "I'll take charge of the cooking!"

After a hearty meal, Tao Shuo stayed behind to catch up with her sisters.

Wang Xiaoyao specially took out some dried meat that Wang Pan'er had brought from the capital, and also produced a small plate of chili oil, and said, "Come, come, there are many people in the camp, and these are usually rationed. Today, let's be extravagant and have some snacks."

At this critical juncture, chili oil is an extremely rare and precious commodity.

The four of them sat together and started chatting.

When Tao Shuo arrived at the military camp with her letter of recommendation, Li Decheng received them formally.

After settling into the military camp, she learned that women were not allowed inside, not out of discrimination, but to protect them. Not only women, but children were also prohibited from accompanying the troops.

Many soldiers enlisted with their families. At first, the women and children helped with laundry and cooking, and the family life was quite harmonious. However, once they went to the front lines and supplies became scarce, the first thing they saved was the food rations of the women and children. If military supplies continued to run out, children and women would become food for the soldiers, and those heartless people would even call them "human sacrifices."

The former General of the State's army was known for its strict discipline, but as the saying goes, "a large forest has all kinds of birds," and it was hard to guarantee that no one would harbor ulterior motives. Therefore, he ordered a complete ban on women accompanying the army, nipping these possibilities in the bud. Li Decheng had been a general for many years and had witnessed many people lose all reason when driven to the brink of madness, becoming neither human nor ghost. He dared not be careless in the slightest and immediately placed Tao Shuo and Wang Chengxi in the tent next to his own so that he could keep an eye on them at all times.

Upon hearing this, Wang Pan'er felt a wave of fear wash over her. She regretted writing the letter of recommendation and supporting Tao Shuo and Wang Chengxi's decision to go to the military camp without first ascertaining the reason.

Tao Shuo comforted her, saying, "We haven't reached the end of our rope yet. When we go to the military camp, the soldiers will welcome us warmly. If it really comes to the point where the soldiers eat human flesh and drink human blood, the lives of ordinary people won't be much better than cannibalism."

Wang Xiaoyao said, "Didn't they say that military supplies were insufficient and food was in short supply?"

Tao Shuo said, "General Li has already sent a letter back to the capital, so he is not in dire straits."

People won't completely lose their minds unless they're in dire straits, but waiting for food and reinforcements will take at least half a month. There are many unpredictable things that might happen during that time.

Wang Pan'er looked at Wang Xiaoyao.

Wang Xiaoyao was frowning in thought when she felt her sister's gaze and looked up.

They both saw the consideration in each other's eyes.

Wang Pan'er said, "I was thinking if we could help supply the army with some supplies. Now everyone is homeless, and if this continues, we'll eventually run out of resources."

Wang Xiaoyao agreed: "Yes, the sooner we defeat the Northern Barbarians, the sooner we can go home and resume work and production. However, although the prefecture is wealthy, the supplies left in the city that we didn't have time to take away have definitely been looted by the Northern Barbarians, and everyone will have to start all over again."

The foundation built by generations was destroyed in an instant. Even if the outcome was good, no one would be happy.

Wang Pan'er offered words of comfort: "As long as people are alive, there is hope. How long can our stored grain last?"

Wang Xiaoyao did some quick calculations: "There are very few refugees joining now. Based on the current size of the camp, it will definitely not be able to support the army for more than two months."

“The stored grain cannot be touched. We’ll need to hold out for a while longer once we get back to the prefecture. I’m thinking, could we consider halting the construction of the camp and letting everyone forage for food in the mountains?”

Wang Xiaoyao said, "I've thought about it too. No matter how well the camp is built, it will have to be abandoned after the Northern Di are driven away. It would be better to put all our efforts into supporting the army and drive the Northern Di away in one fell swoop. However, if we're going to send a large number of people into the mountains, we need to plan it carefully."

As long as it can fill their stomachs, wild vegetables and coarse grains are all good things. Wang Xiaoyao had already issued a task to the camp specifically for digging up wild vegetables. When Wang Pan'er arrived, the refugees had already dug up the mountains around the camp to pieces.

She reminded Wang Xiaoyao that those who go into the mountains should not have the idea of ​​barrenizing them, because if the mountains are truly abandoned, it may not be able to recover them even in eight or ten years.

Subsequent tasks emphasized that roots and stems should be preserved for flowers, grasses, and trees. For root vegetables, however, they couldn't be completely dug up; seeds needed to be saved. The premise that mountains can sustain people is whether they can be completely destroyed. Mountains cannot be moved, but people can. Once one mountain is cleared, people can move on to even more distant mountains.

Wang Xiaoyao immediately sought out Mr. Nine Fingers.

The Nine-Fingered Immortal opened the compass and, together with his sisters, carefully planned the path into the mountain.

Once the route was planned, the camp's main task became foraging for wild vegetables in the mountains.

Stirring things up at the stove wasn't very rewarding, but Wang Pan'er, coming from a family of traditional Chinese medicine practitioners, knew a lot about plants and flowers, and she could really put her skills to good use in the mountains. She decided to skip the stove job and, together with Hongxiao, accepted the mission to go into the mountains, joining the main group as they headed in.

Wang Pan'er's current body was used to farm work, and she moved around the mountains quite nimbly. Hongxiao had a martial arts background, and she used her skill to cut vegetables and dig the ground. She also used her hands to pinch and pinch. In no time, the two of them filled the bamboo basket, even faster than the strong men around them.

The bamboo baskets were woven overnight by migrants who knew how to make bamboo strips. There weren't many finished products. Wang Pan'er and Hongxiao's bamboo baskets were specially sent by the migrants. Many people who went into the mountains were still using the hem of their clothes to carry wild vegetables.

The bottom of the basket can't hold much, and you have to hold it tightly the whole way, afraid that the contents will fall out. As a result, efficiency naturally suffers.

Wang Pan'er casually stopped a few people around her who didn't have bamboo baskets and said, "Let's form a team. You can carry the bamboo baskets and transport them back and forth, while we continue searching in the mountains. As for the workload, the team members can divide it equally."

Those without bamboo baskets couldn't collect much in a day, so they were naturally willing. Those with bamboo baskets didn't need to run back and forth; they could just search and dig. The little bit they dug up along the way could be tucked into their hems without getting in the way, and both sides happily reached an agreement.

Others followed Wang Pan'er's example and spontaneously formed their own teams. Eventually, the division of labor became more and more detailed, and each team even marked out its own storage location for supplies, with designated people taking turns guarding it.

On the day it was Wang Pan'er's turn to be on guard duty, she unexpectedly ran into Skinny Monkey, the cunning strategist who followed Mang Ge in Da'an Town.

When the skinny little dog crept closer, Wang Pan'er's alarm bells went off, thinking it was some kind of lewd man; this goatee was just too cunning.

Seeing that it was an old acquaintance, Wang Pan'er felt relieved and asked, "Are you all doing well?"

The moment the question left his mouth, the skinny man visibly sank into despair. His eyes reddened, and he choked back several sobs before slowly speaking: "It's terrible. Da'an Town borders the Northern Di and was the first to be attacked. The people weren't as lucky as those in Jinzhou Prefecture, who had the help of a capable person like the Pavilion Master to escape. Before the Northern Di invaded, Brother Mang saw the situation was dire and ordered us to call for help while we fled, but it was too late. We had barely run out of the town when the Northern Di rushed in. There were very few survivors, and Da'an Town fell in an instant. After we escaped, we wanted to seek refuge with the Gang Leader, but Jinzhou Prefecture had also fallen, so we could only wander in the suburbs. Fortunately, we eventually encountered the Pavilion Master's men and were taken into the camp. A few days after we arrived at the camp, the Gang Leader also came with the entire Xinglong Gang."

If only those who act swiftly manage to escape, given the Northern Barbarians' habit of burning, killing, and looting, the fate of the remaining people is beyond imagination.

Countless fragments of memories flooded into Wang Pan'er's mind like a burst dam.

Those positive, kind-hearted neighbors; the students who always patronized Li Qingyan's herbal remedy stall after school, and who gathered around the center of the school...

Her business partner was the always cheerful Manager Yao, who provided Aunt Tian with an income and supported Li Qingyan's education at the Imperial Academy.

There was also the lively, witty Zhao Niangzi, the woman who longed to own a shop and live a peaceful life. She finally managed to save enough money through hard work, but before her shop could open for long, she perished in the war. She died lightly and meaninglessly.

While the Northern Barbarians are certainly hateful, those powerful and wealthy individuals who treat their fellow countrymen like dirt and arbitrarily exploit and plunder the people are even more heinous.

Wang Pan'er, clutching her throbbing heart, slowly squatted down. She couldn't catch her breath, her vision went black, and she collapsed to the ground.