For those villagers unwilling to return to the city with her, she was also willing to leave them a way to survive. They could keep the grain they had harvested.
But whether it would be enough to last them through the winter, and how they would endure, was no longer her concern.
The villagers exchanged uncertain glances upon hearing her words.
An elderly man with white hair asked in a trembling voice, "If we go to the city, what will we do? Where will we live?"
He was the village head. From this woman’s tone, he sensed a rare trace of goodwill.
After all, which ruler would truly care about the lives of common folk like them?
This year’s drought had cut the harvest to about twenty percent of normal years. On top of that, the land was plagued by war. He believed no one had enough grain, yet these soldiers of Jinyang Army were willing to leave the wheat for them.
This remaining wheat was not much—perhaps it would let them scrape by until the New Year. But what about after that?
Shuangjiang smiled and said, "Once you enter the city, you’ll help repair the walls, build houses, and so on. As for where you’ll live, we’ll arrange it."
Shanguan County had once housed twenty or thirty thousand people, but now it barely had a few thousand. There were still plenty of empty houses.
If worst came to worst, people could even sleep on the ground for now. The weather wasn’t cold yet, and according to the plan, houses would be built soon.
The old man pondered for a moment before saying, "Could you let us discuss it among ourselves?"
Shuangjiang nodded. "Go ahead."
Within a quarter of an hour, the entire village decided to follow her into the city.
They were not fools. In this brutal world, encountering a ruler who showed kindness to commoners was a rare blessing.
An opportunity had been placed before them, and they were willing to take the gamble.
More importantly, on their own, they had no way to survive.
Pleased with their decision, Shuangjiang said, "Keep harvesting this wheat. Work quickly."
The villagers nodded eagerly and set to work. With newfound motivation, they moved much faster than before.
Seeing the villagers laboring with zeal, Shuangjiang turned to Mu Chichi. "I’m leaving this place to you. Keep one company of troops here. I’ll take the others to check on the nearby villages. If anything happens, remember to light a signal fire."
This area was her assigned responsibility. She had to bring back as many people as possible.
Mu Chichi gave a salute. "Understood."
Once Shuangjiang left, Mu Chichi immediately assigned tasks to the female soldiers.
Two squads were to patrol and stand guard nearby, while the rest guarded the horses and disposed of the bodies.
Many were also sent to help with the harvest. These grains now belonged to their lord and had to be gathered as quickly as possible.
At the South Gate of Shanguan County, seeing a large herd of warhorses thundering toward them, Nan Wen grinned from ear to ear. "Quick! Open the gate! The Dragon Shadow Guard is back."
He hadn’t been with the Jinyang Army long and was still getting used to their "high efficiency."
Most of the troops had been sent out to eliminate Qu Zhao’s soldiers during the autumn harvest and to gather people and grain. He had been assigned to guard the South Gate.
Half an hour later, in the county government’s meeting hall.
Jiang Jin looked at Xia Chanyi and praised her with a smile. "You did well."
Xia Chanyi straightened her back. "It’s all thanks to our lord’s guidance."
Jiang Jin chuckled. "The gains are impressive."
This time, Xia Chanyi and the Dragon Shadow Guard had wiped out over 1,300 enemy soldiers and captured 921 horses.
"A pity about the dead horses—they’re all meat," Xia Chanyi said with regret in her voice.
Jiang Jin smiled. "Nothing to be done. The dead horses will probably be carried back by Qu Zhao’s army."
After all, these days, everyone was short on food. They wouldn’t waste so much meat.
She now needed to eliminate the scattered Qu Zhao soldiers left behind after the autumn harvest, but her primary task was to get the people and the grain back safely.
With her already limited forces, she also had to defend the city; otherwise, she could have sent more troops to Xia Chanyi and wiped out the infantry in Zhou County.
Xia Chanyi sighed. "That's true. Two hundred horses have also run off. Who knows who'll be lucky enough to find them?"
Jiang Jin comforted her: "Old horses know the way. If they take the main road, they'll probably pass through Ge Feng."
Horses run fast. By Jiang Jin's calculations, while Zhou County's infantry was taking side roads to avoid the Ge Feng main road, the herd of horses should have been galloping right on that main road. After all, horses aren't people—they don't know the "danger" of Ge Feng and would likely keep sprinting along the main road instead of taking detours.
As it turned out, she guessed correctly. At that moment, Ge Feng City was buzzing with excitement.
Yun Yu grinned from ear to ear at the sight of over two hundred warhorses. He hadn't expected that merely guarding the city would yield such a bounty—this counted as military merit, too.
Lu Ping was envious: "You really picked up free credit for military service."
He was stationed at New City, which was beside the Gosi Mountains, so he wouldn't be so lucky.
Yun Yu was a little smug. "Hey, this isn't just free luck—fortune is part of skill."
He patted Lu Ping on the shoulder. "Maybe one day a herd of sheep will suddenly appear in the Gosi Mountains. Then you can snag them too."
Lu Ping: "..."
In the evening, a faint breeze finally stirred, and the soldiers guarding the city felt a slight coolness.
In the county office of Chunrong County, the county magistrate paced nervously back and forth.
Earlier that day, Shan Guan County had been besieged. As Chunrong was a remote location with few defenders, Shan Guan hadn't sent them a distress call.
They didn't get the news until the afternoon, and immediately dispatched scouts to investigate.
The county captain, on the other hand, remained calm, sitting with his eyes closed in repose.
"Report!" A soldier rushed in hurriedly.
The captain's eyes snapped open. "What's the situation?"
Panting heavily, the soldier said: "Shan Guan County has been taken by the Jin Yang Army. Eastern Lake Command sent reinforcements, but by the time they arrived, Shan Guan had already fallen, so they turned back."
The captain frowned. "The Jin Yang Army is that formidable?"
A thought struck the magistrate, and he blurted out: "Oh no—shouldn't we order the soldiers out harvesting to return to the city as soon as possible? Our city's defenders are too few."
Although Chunrong County wasn't large, several villages were growing grain. It was the height of the autumn harvest season. Most of the grain had been brought in, but a little remained unharvested, and several dozen soldiers were still out in the fields.
The captain turned to the soldier: "Did you visit the villages under our jurisdiction?"
The soldier shook his head. "I did not, sir."
Upon hearing the news that Shan Guan County had fallen, he was so terrified that he rushed back to report, without sparing a thought for the harvest outside.
The magistrate glanced at the darkening sky, worry flickering across his face. "It's getting late. We'll have to wait until tomorrow."
He turned to the captain: "We're the closest county to Shan Guan. Do you think the Jin Yang Army's next target might be us?"
The captain shook his head. "We're a small town, not a strategic pass. Taking Chunrong wouldn't do them much good."
"Besides, our reinforcements should arrive soon. The Jin Yang Army probably can't spare the attention for us."
Only then did the magistrate breathe a little easier. That was the good thing about small towns—most of the time, no one bothered with them at all.
Just like that day, when Shan Guan County begged for help from every nearby county and stirred up the entire region, they didn't even call on Chunrong, the closest one to them.
At this thought, the county magistrate’s heart tightened, leaving him unsure whether to feel joy or sorrow.
The county sheriff, unaware of his inner turmoil, spoke gravely: “Still, better to be cautious. Strengthen the guard tonight.”
As night fell, the sky grew dim.
The gates of Shanguan County opened, and a column of several hundred people filed out of the town, soon swallowed by the darkness.
