Chapter 572 Li Qiutian
(Thanks to reader 20250623180546680 for casting 4 monthly tickets.)
The candlelight inside the room burned until dawn.
Li Shiyue wrote with lightning speed, putting her long-conceived strategy for forming a female soldiers' battalion, selection criteria, and training syllabus onto paper.
As the first rays of dawn shone through the window, she finally put down her pen, reached out and rubbed her slightly sore brow. Her face showed no signs of fatigue, but rather a great deal of energy.
It was at this moment that Sun Xiaoliu knocked on the door and came in to report that Li Wangchun had called her back to the backyard.
Li Shiyue raised an eyebrow slightly; she wasn't surprised by this.
Thinking that Li Wangchun must have been worried because she hadn't returned home all night, he sent someone to tell Sun Xiaoliu to call her back.
So, Li Shiyue stood up, nodded to Sun Xiaoliu, and went out the door to the backyard.
As a result, the first person she saw when she entered the house was not Li Wangchun, but Li Qiutian.
"Sister?"
Li Qiutian was wearing an indigo dress. Although she had just finished her postpartum confinement, she was still in good health.
And the Rejuvenation Pill that Li Shiyue fed her during childbirth;
And during her postpartum period, she was carefully cared for by Zheng Meiniang, Li Wangchun, and Qin Fen;
Now, Li Qiutian has largely recovered her figure, her face is rosy and her eyes are bright;
Just by looking at her, you can tell she's a healthy person full of energy and vitality.
However, compared to before, Li Qiutian's face now shows a gentler side, more like that of a mother.
"October, come and sit down."
Li Shiyue verbally agreed, but still washed her hands and face outside, changed her clothes, and then went inside.
After all, Li Qiutian is still breastfeeding.
She always had to go back to hold the child, so Li Shiyue was still very careful when she came into contact with Li Qiutian.
With everything in place, Li Shiyue and Li Qiutian sat down face to face on the low couch.
The maidservant quickly served the two of them breakfast.
"Sister, you're up so early, you must not have had breakfast yet?"
The two sisters had breakfast together, and now each of them was holding a cup of jujube tea to aid digestion.
So Li Shiyue smiled at Li Qiutian and said, "Haha, sister, you've been holding it in all morning. Tell me quickly, what brings you here?"
Li Qiutian put down her teacup, looked up and gave Li Shiyue a reproachful look.
However, Li Qiutian knew in her heart that Li Shiyue was afraid that since she had only recently finished her postpartum confinement and had gotten up so early today without having eaten breakfast, it would be bad for her health.
After hearing what Li Shiyue said, Li Qiutian went straight to the point.
She looked intently at Li Shiyue, her eyes flashing with fervent light. "I heard that yesterday a woman named Ding Haisheng brandished a knife in public and wanted to enlist in the army?"
"The news travels really fast."
Li Shiyue nodded to Li Qiutian and, while responding to Li Qiutian's words, reached out and picked up the teapot to add some jujube tea to Li Qiutian's teacup.
"This is indeed true."
"What, is Sister interested in this?"
"It's more than just being interested!"
Li Qiutian never hid herself from Li Shiyue. She placed her hands on the small table on the low couch, leaned forward, and said with a hint of excitement, "Shiyue, although we are cousins, we are no different from biological sisters."
You know me, if it weren't for the famine, I would have inherited my mother's pig-slaughtering knife, caught and slaughtered pigs, and opened a butcher shop.
I've always been impatient with just staying by the stove since I was a child!
Now I've even had a child, and my little one is already a month old. I've been out of postpartum confinement for quite a while now.
I'm in great shape; in fact, in October, I felt even more energetic than before I was pregnant!
As Li Shiyue listened to Li Qiutian's words, she began to have some guesses about why Li Qiutian had come to see her so early in the morning.
Li Shiyue didn't speak; she just looked at Li Qiutian.
At this moment, Li Qiutian took a deep breath and said to Li Shiyue, "Shiyue, let me help you!"
Let me join the army, I want to be a soldier under your command!
I may not be able to learn all of your skills perfectly, but I'm sure I can manage people in the military camp and lead them in training!
It's better than...it's better than staying home all day, only taking care of the baby and staring at Qin Fen's silly grinning face!
Li Qiutian's last sentence was somewhat teasing, but more than that, it was her way of expressing to Li Shiyue that she really wanted to help Li Shiyue, to stand by Li Shiyue's side, and to face the raging waves together with Li Shiyue!
Li Shiyue did not answer Li Qiutian immediately; she simply looked at Li Qiutian quietly.
Li Qiutian is someone she can absolutely trust.
Indeed, the number of people she has is too large for her to handle right now; she simply doesn't have enough.
The newly established female soldiers' battalion was intended to be led by Li Shiyue herself in her spare time. When she was unavailable, Chen Yong would select a few junior officers from the Xuanjia Army with experience in leading new recruits to assist in the training.
Yes, men and women are different.
But since they've all joined the military, they'll have to live with the distinction between men and women.
If you can't get past this hurdle, then leaving the military camp sooner is the right thing to do.
Moreover, since the "recruitment order" was issued, only less than a hundred female soldiers have been recruited in this vast Jian'an area.
If they start training, I'm afraid none of these hundred men will survive.
One-third to one-half of the women will inevitably be unable to withstand the rigorous training and will be forced or will leave the women's military camp.
Those who leave can go to work in the supply depot.
Therefore, Li Shiyue thought that since there weren't many people in the female soldiers' camp, she should be able to spare the time and effort to manage and lead them.
However, September is fast approaching, the monsoon season is coming, and the Japanese pirates from the east will arrive as well.
Li Shiyue herself has a lot on her plate, so if Li Qiutian could really help her manage the female soldiers' camp, it would certainly save her a lot of trouble.
Because Li Qiutian is Li Shiyue's older sister, the women in the female soldiers' camp, like Ding Haisheng, who dared to stand up and face worldly pressures to join the female soldiers' camp, were filled with expectation and hope.
After all, Li Shiyue had sent her older sister to the women's barracks, which naturally showed how much she valued it!
but......
"Sister, you, you're like this..."
"I can forgive my brother-in-law, but what about Xiaoyuer (Li Xianyu, daughter of Li Qiutian and Qin Fen)?"
Li Shiyue reached out and pulled Li Qiutian's hand onto the low couch, asking softly, "Once you enter the military camp, you become a soldier, and everything must be done in accordance with military law."
Even if you are my elder sister, I will not bend the law for you.
Furthermore, the training in the camp was arduous, and it was impossible to go home often.
Little Fish is still an infant; can you leave her?
And what about my brother-in-law...? Is he willing?
"Has my sister discussed this with my aunt?"
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