Although Zhou Sui had captured Shangjing Commandery, he did not send troops out to attack. Instead, he strengthened the border defenses without feeling disappointed. Attacking Shangjing Commandery had never been the main objective this time.
Hua Ruo was somewhat worried. “I wonder how things are going on the Lord’s side.”
She deeply regretted not being able to take part in the battle for Wenxia City.
But she also knew that Fengzhou needed someone to guard it, just in case.
Zhou Sui, however, was not too concerned. “Have faith in the Lord.”
With him here, if the pressure on Wenxia City became too great, he could launch an attack and draw more Jinyang Army troops over to reinforce Shangjing Commandery, thereby easing the burden on Wenxia City.
In Wenxia City, Sun Xi and the others had been assigned the task of clearing the city.
Although they had not slept all night, none of them felt tired at all.
“It really is a Han army. I saw them—they’re all Han,” Sun Yuan said, still unable to believe that they had truly lived to see this day.
“Mm. I also saw the Young General and the others.” The speaker was the woman who had opened the gate for them the night before. Her name was Zhu Yan.
Sun Yuan’s eyes lit up. “Really?”
She had also noticed that only thick iron chains remained around the pillars; the people who had been chained there were gone.
Zhu Yan nodded. “Really. They probably made contact with the Jinyang Army long ago. That must be how they managed to break free of the chains so quickly.”
Sun Yuan looked toward Sun Xi. “Elder Sister, does this mean we can go look for Mother and Brother now?”
Sun Xi kept her head lowered as she scrubbed the bloodstains from the city wall with all her strength. Her thin, withered hands were full of vigor. It had been a long time since she had done such physically demanding work.
She wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand. “Yes, but first we have to earn enough money and provisions for the journey.”
After hesitating for a moment, Zhu Yan still decided to advise them. “There’s warfare everywhere now, and barbarians all over the land. If you leave, you might be captured again. It would be better to stay in Wenxia City and wait until things improve before searching for them.”
What she did not say was that, in such chaotic times, there was no telling whether Sun Xi and Sun Yuan’s mother and brother were even still alive.
Rather than recklessly searching for them and losing their lives in the process, it would be better to stay alive in a Han city.
Although the Jinyang Army had only just taken Wenxia City, judging by the soldiers’ attitude toward ordinary civilians when they registered the households that morning, the Jinyang Army seemed to be an exceptionally good army.
More importantly, they provided food and wages for those who worked. Neither had actually been distributed yet, but at least their attitude was sincere.
Sun Yuan bit her lip. “But I still want to find Mother and Brother.”
A home without a mother could not truly be called a home. She always felt that something was missing.
Sun Xi paused and looked up at her. “Don’t rush. We’ll work here for now, and carefully find out what the situation outside is like before deciding.”
A smile appeared on Sun Yuan’s face. “Mm. I’ll listen to you, Elder Sister.”
Zhu Yan opened her mouth, but when she saw Sun Yuan looking happy again, she ultimately said nothing.
She was actually envious of the Sun sisters. At least they still had each other to keep one another company and offer comfort. Unlike her, she did not even know whether any of her relatives were still alive.
As though sensing Zhu Yan’s low spirits, Sun Xi asked, “I remember your family is from Punan Commandery, right?”
Zhu Yan nodded. “Mm.”
Sun Yuan said enviously, “Then you’re close to home. You could find a chance to go back and take a look.”
Zhu Yan shook her head. “I’m afraid there’s no one left. The Ji Army massacred the village back then. Still, there might be some of my maternal relatives left.”
When the Ji Army massacred her village, she had been married for only half a year and was two months pregnant.
She had witnessed her husband and family being killed with her own eyes.
After she was captured and brought to Wenxia City, she lost the child a few days later. At the time, she thought she was going to die as well, but somehow she endured.
Those days had passed in a daze, yet even now, recalling them still made her feel as though she could barely breathe.
Sun Xi fell silent for a while before comforting her. “Whether we still have family or not, we’re lucky to have survived long enough to see the Han army arrive. As long as we stay alive, there will always be hope.”
Zhu Yan nodded firmly. “That’s right. Once we’ve learned more about the situation outside, perhaps I’ll be able to go back and take a look.”
Meanwhile, Zhu Liao and the others who had helped dig the tunnels were busy in the kitchen of a private residence. Under the direction of several Jinyang Army soldiers, they were helping prepare food.
They never would have imagined that the Jinyang Army would capture Wenxia City in just one night!
The Jinyang Army had also promised that, once the city’s household registration was organized, they would help search for the family members who had been brought into the city.
After all, there were so many people in the city. It would be difficult for the families to search for their loved ones one household at a time.
Besides, the fighting was not yet over. The Ji Army was still outside the city, so this was not the best time to look for people.
Perhaps because they had spent so much time with the Jinyang Army, they had gradually come to understand what it meant to put the greater good first.
It was not that personal matters were unimportant. They could simply be put off for a while.
If their relatives were in the city, then as long as the Jinyang Army remained there, their family members would be safe.
If their relatives were dead or were not in the city, then no amount of rushing would help.
For now, what they needed to do was assist the Jinyang Army as much as possible and take on more work, allowing more soldiers to rest so that they would be in the best possible condition when fighting and could protect the city they had just reclaimed.
That was why they had taken the initiative to help, doing whatever they could.
The Jinyang Army trusted them to a certain extent. After all, they had worked together to dig a tunnel for more than a month.
So the army found a large kitchen in a private residence and entrusted them with preparing meals for the civilians who were working.
It was a heavy responsibility. Everyone in the city who was still able to work had been assigned a task, and there were quite a lot of them. Preparing food in such large quantities was no easy matter.
Fortunately, the food for the civilians was simple. They only needed to cook porridge.
They knew that this assignment was a sign of the Jinyang Army’s trust in them, so they worked with great enthusiasm, not feeling tired in the slightest. Every one of them was filled with energy.
They also had their improved diet over the past month to thank for that. The Jinyang Army provided excellent food—refined grains, meat, and vegetables—so their bodies naturally had strength.
Even Zhu Liao had not expected that the civilians would also be given refined grain. It was extravagantly generous.
For poor people like them, ingredients like these tasted delicious no matter how they were prepared. There was no need to worry about culinary skill.
That day, they were making thick vegetable porridge with plenty of bones added to it. The fresh fragrance of food soon drifted through the air.
They had been eating their fill for some time now, yet they still could not help swallowing hungrily.
The food was ready around noon. Bucket after bucket of steaming porridge was poured into wooden tubs, loaded onto carts, and pushed out to be distributed at various locations.
Sun Xi and the others stood in line. As the fragrance of porridge drifted toward them from afar, their stomachs clenched painfully, making them feel even hungrier.
Sun Yuan bent slightly at the waist to ease the discomfort in her stomach. Unable to stop herself, she swallowed. “Why do I smell meat? Is there meat in it?”
Zhu Yan was likewise unable to control her salivating, and she endured the waves of pain in her empty stomach. “I don’t know. I’ve never eaten meat in my life. I don’t even know what it tastes like.”
Sun Yuan gave her a sympathetic look.
Her own family had not been well-off either, but her older brother was tall and strong, with plenty of muscle. In the past, he had occasionally gone deep into the mountains to hunt, so she had eaten meat before.
At the thought of him, her spirits sank again. She wondered where her mother and brother were and whether they were safe.
Just then, a commotion broke out at the front of the line, drawing her attention.
An old man at the very front suddenly fell to his knees, tears streaming down his face as he bowed repeatedly in gratitude.
The soldier serving the porridge was startled and hurried to help him up. “Sir, what are you doing? Please, get up.”
