After all the chicken coop in the orchard was tidied up, it was almost harvest time.
Busy as another harvest season arrives, the Taoist priest receives letters from Yunhua one after another, with the intervals between them getting shorter and shorter, and the situation getting worse and worse.
In June, the letter said that the border war was intensifying, medical supplies were running low, and many soldiers had died.
In July, our army lost three cities in succession, suffering heavy casualties. The Emperor was furious and his health deteriorated.
In mid-July, General Qin was seriously injured, his fate unknown, and morale among the troops was low.
The series of bad news affected everyone's mood to some extent, and there was much less laughter than usual.
For some time now, it's been as if there's a dark cloud hanging over the courtyard, making it hard to breathe.
Finally, in late July, some good news arrived that wasn't exactly good news.
Yunhua said that all the princes should cease their infighting. The First Prince and the Eighth Prince requested permission to go to the border to defend against the enemy, while the Fifth Prince and the Third Prince volunteered to gather provisions. The Sixth Prince would remain in the court. The other princes followed suit and united against the common enemy.
Upon receiving the letter, the Taoist priest repeatedly expressed his delight. A smile slowly appeared on his face, which had been expressionless for days. "Good, good, good! They've finally come to their senses. I was truly afraid that if things continued like this, the country would be gone, and then we'd see what they'd have left to fight over."
Grandpa Zhao was very dissatisfied and poured cold water on their sentiments, saying, "It's too late to realize this now. Countless of our soldiers have died, and they only just realized they should unite against a common enemy. How can they face those fallen soldiers? They really don't value human life."
Lu Chuan echoed, "The current situation is very unfavorable to our country. If we continue fighting, we don't know when this war will end. In order to win this war, how many more disasters will the people have to suffer?"
Xu Han chimed in, "We can't afford not to fight either. If we give up now, not only will we be unable to reclaim the cities we've lost, but our other cities will also be invaded. Even if we don't fight, those three countries won't suspend the war. They've already tasted the benefits, so how could they possibly let go?"
We need to understand that we're in a very passive position right now. We don't have the right to say no.
Grandpa Zhao sighed, "Alas, it's difficult, it's difficult no matter what. On one side are the people, and on the other side is the land. It's impossible to choose one over the other."
The Taoist priest continued, "After more than a year, our army has now retreated to Yue Ning City, which is not far from us."
Upon hearing this, Xu Han immediately sat up straight and asked with a worried expression, "How much further? They won't really reach us, will they?"
Grandpa Zhao explained, "It's not far; there are only four cities in between."
Xu Han became even more nervous after hearing this, secretly complaining to herself, "Why is my transmigration so tragic? The famine was bad enough, and now there's war too."
Moreover, before this, Xu Han had no concept of war; she only knew that the war had started and that she had suffered a series of defeats.
But I never asked where the fighting had reached. I always thought the fighting was far away. I never imagined it was almost at our doorstep.
It's not surprising that Xu Han had this idea. After all, Xu Han had never looked at the map of this world. Although she heard them talking about where the war had reached every day, she never paid much attention to it and always thought it was far away from her.
In addition, Xu Han had always lived deep in the mountains and did not have the tense atmosphere that existed down below, which is why she relaxed her vigilance for a time.
Seeing that Xu Han might really be frightened, Lu Chuan gently held her hand and whispered to comfort her, "Don't worry, we live deep in the mountains, everything will be alright."
Grandpa Zhao reassured them, "Yes, Xiao Chuan is right. We live deep in the mountains. As long as the enemy doesn't come into the mountains, we'll be fine. If they do attack this area, we'll be careful. We've already prepared food in advance, so we won't fire during that time. The mountains are so big, they'll have a hard time finding us."
The Taoist priest said in a rare gentle tone, "Don't worry, we're here."
After being comforted by the others, Xu Han gradually calmed down. Although she was still a little scared, after all, she had lived under the five-star flag in her previous life, so there was nothing to worry about. However, after calming down, she was able to adjust herself.
Taking a deep breath, she slowly said, "I'm fine, I was just a little scared after hearing about it."
Seeing that Xu Han looked much better, the others didn't say anything more.
Lu Chuan waved his hand and said, "Forget it, forget it. Like I said, we can't worry about that. Let's just stay here in the mountains."
Anyway, we have plenty to eat and drink, so there's nothing wrong with it. The autumn harvest is just around the corner, so let's hurry up and think about it.
The moment the autumn harvest was mentioned, everyone shook off their earlier dejection, and the atmosphere instantly eased. Xu Han even burst out laughing.
"Haha, the second half of this year is also a bumper harvest season. I see that the corn in the field is growing very plump, and each one is as thick as an adult's arm. It looks very pleasing."
Grandpa Zhao's eyes were filled with the joy of an impending harvest. "Is the corn ready to eat? If it is, we'll go pick a few later and cook some tender corn for us."
Lu Chuan replied with a smile, "It's ready to eat. When I went to feed the chickens today, I casually opened one to take a look, and it was just right. Although it's still a bit tender, tender corn at this time of year is the sweetest when boiled."
Grandpa Zhao nodded in affirmation and said, "The corn was planted a bit late this year. In previous years, it would have been almost ripe by this time."
The Taoist priest chimed in, "That's the situation. If it weren't for the heavy rain, it wouldn't have been so long late. But the result is still good; at least this year's corn cobs are bigger than last year's."
Lu Chuan said, "Although the corn was planted a bit late, the rice and soybeans are almost ripe. When I went to the rice paddies this morning, the rice ears were already ripe and heavy, bending under their weight. I estimate that they can be harvested in the next couple of days."
Xu Han then remembered to ask Lu Chuan if the rice would be ready for harvest soon and whether the others had released water.
"It's been released; the water was just released this morning."
Relieved to receive a positive reply, Xu Han said, "That's good. I was so busy these past two days that I forgot. Luckily you remembered, otherwise it would have been another day of delay."
Lu Chuan affectionately patted Xu Han's head, "Haha, you can rest assured to leave this little thing to me. I've been farming for so long, I'm very skilled now, and I don't need to rely on you for everything like before."
Upon hearing this, Xu Han leaned back in her chair and waved her hand dismissively, saying, "From now on, I'll leave the matters in the fields to you. I won't be involved anymore."
Lu Chuan patted his chest and assured him, "Don't worry about leaving it to me, I promise I'll do a good job."
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