The weather in Qiu Yan's area is getting colder every day.
At first, whenever they passed through a city, Qiu Yan, Ling Qi, Ling Ba, and Qin Susu would stop and enter the city to buy some food and cotton clothes.
However, things did not go as planned.
Unable to purchase food, the soldiers' meals were gradually reduced, eventually dwindling to one meal a day.
Hunting alone is not enough.
Fortunately, Gu Qian had sent someone in advance to notify the prefect of Youzhou, asking him to come and deliver grain.
Sure enough, when they were halfway there, their provisions arrived, and the soldiers finally had the strength to continue their journey.
However, the biting cold wind forced them to jog forward in order to warm their bodies.
Qiu Dayu, Xia Minhan, and others were among them. The cold wind constantly blew against the soldiers' faces and stung their necks.
That day, Gu Qian lay flat in the carriage, and Qiu Yan, as usual, dripped the eye drops she had made into his eyes one by one.
Has it gotten any better?
Gu Qian nodded, "The sour feeling has disappeared."
Then, Qiu Yan reached out and waved her hand near Gu Qian's eyes.
"Is there a sense of light?"
Gu Qian tried hard to see Qiu Yan clearly, but he still couldn't see anything.
Finally, he only said:
"There's a faint hint of it."
Faintly, but only very faintly.
Actually, that was his feeling from the very beginning.
However, due to the injury caused by Qi Yan that day, he lost all sense of light in his eyes.
Because the soldiers ran all the way, they sped up the journey, reducing the original two-month trip to one month.
A month later, the army arrived at Youzhou City.
Looking at the city gate, Ling Ba asked Gu Qian,
"General, may we enter the city to rest?"
Gu Qian: "What time is it?"
"Just past 9 AM."
"Alright, let's set up camp outside the city." After saying this, Gu Qian instructed Ling Qi, Ling Ba, and Captain Qin to continue driving into Youzhou.
Ling Yun, Ling Zhi, and Commandant Yuan were left outside the city.
He happened to be passing by and wanted to know how Youzhou City was doing.
Also, how are the crops being cultivated by the Northern Qi soldiers he dispatched?
Before that, he had all the surrendered soldiers come and farm.
Two more carriages entered the city at the same time, much to the envy of the soldiers.
Ling Yun, Ling Zhi, and Captain Yuan also wanted to enter the city, but there were too many people, so they had to set up camp in this remote mountain forest and wait for the general.
Inside the carriage, Qiu Yan looked at the bustling streets and thought to herself, "Finally, there's some life here."
Inside the other carriage, Gu Xiaoran was extremely excited.
He thought to himself, "I'm almost home."
Yue Peng, the original garrison commander of Youzhou City, has been dispatched by Gu Qian to return to Tianjin and report the results of the battle to His Majesty.
Upon hearing the news, the prefects of Youzhou and Wang came to meet them.
The carriage arrived at the prefect's residence and slowly came to a stop.
Prefect Wang found it strange to hear the voices of women and children inside the carriage. He couldn't help but wonder, "Does the general bring his family with him when he goes to war?"
He paused for a moment when he saw Vera and Ap, and refrained from asking.
Gu Qian grabbed the edge of the car and climbed out.
Prefect Wang respectfully clasped his hands in greeting and said, "General."
Gu Qian's empty eyes did not waver at all; he only nodded slightly.
Prefect Wang was taken aback, his gaze lingering on Gu Qian's eyes for a moment before shifting to Captain Qin and the three men, Ling Qi and Ling Ba, behind him.
The three shook their heads and said nothing more.
Prefect Wang, thinking of the cruelty of war, could only sigh and asked no further questions.
Seeing Qiu Yan being helped down from the carriage by the general with one hand, he paused slightly and respectfully said, "Madam."
Just as Qiu Yan was about to retort, she heard Qin Susu chuckle:
"The general's wife is hungry. Please prepare lunch quickly, sir."
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