After seeing Yu Liang off, Wan Jinlan went to the back mountain again. Seeing that everyone was not slacking off, he felt relieved. However, he was really surprised to see the results of their archery.
She actually found a good candidate who could hit the target almost every time when shooting arrows. However, his posture was not so standard and had his own unique characteristics. The posture of his shoulders and arms was not on the same level as his eyes, but he could still hit the target every time. It was quite strange.
"May I have your name?"
This man looked a little thin among the tall horse bandits. She vaguely remembered that he was one of the refugees.
"Madam, my name is Zhang Baoquan."
Wan Jinlan smiled and nodded, then corrected his posture. Zhang Baoquan was very obedient, but after shooting the arrow, he almost hit Li Mazi who was several feet away from the target.
Li Mazi jumped up and down: "Did you do that on purpose? You always hit the target!"
Wan Jinlan was silent for a while.
Zhang Baoquan's face was originally dark, and now that it was red it was hardly noticeable.
Zhang Baoquan scratched his head and said, "Madam, please don't ask me to correct my posture. My eyes are not normal, and my archery posture has been formed a long time ago."
Wan Jinlan took out a crossbow and handed it to him.
Then Wan Jinlan saw that the crossbow nail barrel was not at the same level as his line of sight, and after the long nail was shot out, it hit the bull's eye directly.
Wan Jinlan: “…”
This person's eyes are truly magical.
Wan Jinlan was convinced and gave him a thumbs up.
During the break in training, Wan Jinlan took people to the town to buy materials for building sheds, and also purchased some large pots and cold-resistant items.
As the sun set, Xia Feng brought back more than a hundred refugees.
These people were settled behind the mountain. The simple huts were still being thatched, and the medicine that had been set up long ago was ready.
Doctor Li Fugui also came, and he divided the refugees into three groups.
As usual, everyone had a big bowl of porridge, and after drinking it, they had a bowl of soup medicine, which warmed up their bodies that were trembling with cold.
After Wan Jinlan distributed the warm bedding, he lit a few fires and then arranged for people to watch over the refugees in the back mountain. If anyone had ulterior motives and was causing trouble, they would have their hands and feet broken and thrown out.
The large mountainous area in the back mountain is surrounded by other mountains, which is both sheltered from the wind and safe.
Li Fugui also took this opportunity to check her pulse again. She had a cold body problem, and it would take time to recover. She had to take medicine for months and years.
Wang Shu came back at noon and said that he had spread the news.
It's now evening, and Xiao Feng hasn't come back yet.
After Wan Jinlan finished his meal, he sat by the stove, glancing at the door from time to time, worried that something might have happened to Xiao Feng.
By the end of the hour of Hai, she could no longer sit still, so she simply put on her cloak and went to find Li Mazi.
Let Li Mazi lead the way to Mangshan.
Like her, Li Mazi wrapped his head and face with a cloth, leaving only his eyes exposed. The biting cold wind in Liangzhou at night was completely different from the cold wind in the places east of Liangzhou.
These horse bandits are very familiar with the surrounding terrain and have already run the road familiarly.
Tonight's moonlight falls on the yellow earth, enough for the two to see the road conditions ahead clearly.
About half an hour later, the sound of horse hooves was heard from the front.
Wan Jinlan stopped his horse and finally confirmed that it was Xiao Feng and his group.
Xiao Feng saw her from a distance, and only when he got closer was he completely sure. He knew without asking that she was looking for him.
His Jin Lan is a person who is tough on the outside but soft on the inside. A warm feeling welled up in Xiao Feng's heart.
If there was one person in this world who he firmly believed would not betray him, it was only her.
When we returned to the village, it was already late at night.
After the meal, everyone gathered together to gather news.
Xiao Feng said: "The situation in Mangshan is different from what we thought."
Wan Jinlan listened attentively.
Xiao Feng went to the garrison in Gu'a Town during the day. Li Dazhuang came forward to deliver a few bottles of wine to the guards at the gate of the camp, and then mentioned that he wanted to send some things to his relatives.
After some inquiries, I learned that the soldiers in the camp had all set off for the northern front this morning. The camp is now an empty shell with only a small number of troops left behind.
The barbarians from the northern part of the border with Liangzhou, the Basha and Helan tribes, were abnormally harassing the border town at this time of year. Xiao Feng felt that there must be something fishy going on.
Most of the nomadic peoples in the north would choose to go south to plunder in July and August, because the crops were in good harvest at this time. Now it is the New Year, and it is still the coldest time of the year. The snow in the north has not melted yet, the roads are difficult to travel, the grass and water are not abundant, and the war horses and livestock have become much thinner after a winter of consumption, which is not conducive to going south to plunder. But they still do it.
Even if they knew that the Wei Dynasty was currently in internal strife, why did they think they could defeat the hundreds of thousands of troops from Liang Province?
After hearing this, Wan Jinlan said, "So there are only a few hundred county soldiers left in the county now?"
"Lieutenant Gao won't be back for a while, so we can put him aside for now."
Xiao Feng nodded and said, "Since we only have a few hundred county soldiers, we should take this opportunity to recruit refugees and prevent the spread of the disease."
Wan Jinlan waited for a long time but didn't hear anything special about Mangshan. It was not until the crowd dispersed and the two returned to the house that he startled her with a word.
"There is an iron mine in Mangshan. Those bandits are just using it as a cover to hide their illegal mining."
Mangshan, named after its long, snake-like mountain ridges, is located at the junction of Qingyuan County and An County. Due to the notorious horse bandits, ordinary people rarely travel on that road.
The mountains in Liangzhou are all bare, and it is extremely difficult to sneak in during the day. You can only explore at night, so he came back so late today.
Xiao Feng was certain that the iron mine was not under the jurisdiction of the imperial court. Mangshan was located in Qingyuan County, which in turn belonged to Chiwu Commandery. It was hard to say that the governor was unaware of the existence of the mine.
The existence of this iron mine made the two of them feel quite troubled.
If they wanted to occupy territory, the first choice would naturally be to take Qingyuan County first. However, the county magistrate or the governor would never give up this iron mine. If they were not careful, it would lead to a situation where the big preyed on the small, and their current foundation was pitifully small.
Xiao Feng smoothed her brow with his fingers, "Don't worry, we are new here and don't know much about everything. We should take it slow and steady. Don't be impatient."
Wan Jinlan nodded, then applied the scar-removing ointment on his arm.
Xiao Feng stood up and pulled the clothes down at the back of her neck quite naturally. He applied ointment on the scar on her shoulder. Seeing that the chilblains on her hands had subsided a little, his brows relaxed.
It was late at night, and Xiao Feng added more coal to the stove and washed his hands before getting on the bed.
He patted her back gently and said, "Go to sleep."
Wan Jinlan didn't respond and closed his eyes.
Since leaving Beijing, the two have been together almost every day, snuggling up to each other on cold winter nights. She can't fall asleep unless he comes back.
She felt complicated. She thought she was strong enough, but after leaving her grandparents, father and mother, she still wanted to find someone to rely on.
Wan Jinlan turned over, with his back to him, and opened his eyes in the dark.
Then his chest pressed against hers, one hand on her waist, and his head on her neck, his breathing making her scalp tingle.
"My neck is itchy, move your head away from me." She said in a muffled voice, and a layer of fine bumps had appeared on her body.
Xiao Feng's lips curled up into a faint smile. After moving his head away, he did not remove his hand from her waist.
Jin Lan was really stubborn. She would unconsciously cling to him while sleeping at night, wrapping herself around him tightly. But now she keeps a distance.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
