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Zhang Min chimed in, “Our junior sister wanted to help us defend Jingzhou, so she decided to come along.”

Xiao Mo took a glance at Zhang Min without saying anything else. He turned to Zhou Wuchang, “Master Zhou, Jingzhou is now safe. It’s about time we move to Tokyo for reinforcement, isn’t it?”

Master Zhou replied, “Tokyo is already deserted. The Emperor has taken off for the Shu region. Going to Tokyo now would take a lot of resources and money but wouldn’t mean anything.”

“The one who went to Shu was the Prince, not the Emperor.”

Xiao Mo said, “The Imperial Teacher, Pei Shixian, has gained much influence in Beijing. In a time like this, he even suggested the Emperor to send troops against the King, alleging that the King was planning a revolt.”

Zhou Wuchang let out a cold laugh, “Pei Shixian does not limit himself to such accusations. He even claimed that I’m an accomplice of the King.”

Xiao Mo touched his nose, “The Emperor is not a fool. Why would he believe him outright?”

Zhou Wuchang chuckled, “You never know. Xiao Mo, if you wish to go back to Beijing, you can go by yourself. I hold no position, I’m only a Daoist, and I’d rather stay out of these matters.”

Xiao Mo’s ambition seemed great, probably intending to capitalize on this opportunity for major action.

Personally, he had no interest in political matters. He didn’t care whether the Xiao Family or Murong Family were to become Emperor. He just enjoyed his free and easy life, going wherever he pleased. But if they turned against him, he had ways to protect himself.

Xiao Mo pondered, “Master Zhou, could you lend me the soldiers from the surrounding camps? The Jurchen have already surrounded Tokyo and the Imperial Teacher has ordered us to be at the Imperial Court’s disposal.”

“The soldiers from the camps are not under my command. In this case, Marshal Xiao should negotiate with Governor Zhang.”

Before Zhou Wuchang came to Jingzhou, he did not bring any troops with him. He only contacted several surrounding camps as soon as he arrived at Jingzhou.

The leaders of these camps were his former subordinates, this is why he was able to recruit a couple of thousand men to aid them in such a short period.

On the way, he happened to meet up with Xiao Mo and Chuyan’s team then they rushed to help together.

Thanks to their aid, Jingzhou was saved.

Now that Xiao Mo wants to borrow some men to enhance his own team, Zhou Wuchang was initially unwilling but he understood that those camps are officially the responsibility of the Imperial Court, so he could not interfere.

Governor Zhang actually has no control over those camps. Given that the Imperial Court prioritizes ‘coin’ over ‘military force’, all camps are under the direct supervision of the Imperial Court. Neither Prefect nor Governor has the authority to mobilize the forces of the camps, which resulted in a shortage of soldiers for defense.

Now that Xiao Mo wants to mobilize these camps, he either needs a direct order from the Imperial Court or needs to have personal relationships with the leaders, paying high wages to hire them.

He had neither and could only rely on the influence of Zhou Wuchang.

However, despite their long conversation, Zhou Wuchang was not willing to compromise.

His reason was that these soldiers needed to stay in Jingzhou to defend the city until the Jurchen retreated back to their homeland.

Yingbao had no idea what Master and Xiao Mo were discussing. After returning to her room, she began to pack things and prepared to return home with her Master.

After this incident, Zhang Min decided to stay in Jingzhou and live with his parents.

However, Mrs. Zhang didn’t agree and insisted that he should leave with Zhou Wuchang.

With no choice, Zhang Min tearfully bade his family goodbye after three days.

On the way home, Yingbao and her younger brother rode in one carriage, while their master and Huzi rode in another. Their second senior brother and eldest senior brother respectively served as the coachmen for the two carriages.

It was already July; the weather was extremely sultry. Yingbao and her little brother were drenched in sweat from sitting in the tented carriage.

Yingbao then took out a cold peach from her magical abode and gave it to his little brother.

The peach was cooked in rock sugar and tasted sweet and sour.

Seeing them, her second senior brother who was driving the carriage turned his head and asked, “What are you eating? I want some too.”

She had no choice but to take out a bowl of chilled peaches for him.

Zhang Min held the bowl of chilled fruit and began to enjoy it enthusiastically, guiding the carriage from time to time before returning to his relaxed demeanor.

Huzi, who was sitting in the front carriage, was peeking out the small window at the back of the canopy just in time to witness this scene. He couldn’t help but shout, “You dare to eat alone?”

He turned his head towards Zhou Wuchang, who was resting with his eyes closed, and said, “Master, stop the carriage quickly, these three are eating alone behind us.”

With that, both carriages stopped on a spacious piece of land.

Huzi quickly jumped off the carriage, ran excitedly towards Yingbao, and asked, “Yingbao, what did you give them to eat? Master and I didn’t get any.”

Yingbao turned around, took three bowls of chilled peaches from a basket behind her, and handed them over, saying, “Here, these are for you and your master.”

Only then did Huzi smile broadly, holding the icy cold bowl and happily trotting to the front carriage.

Zhang Min and Zhou Hao got off the carriage to feed and water the horses, taking a brief rest before resuming their journey.

Whenever they saw a county town or a fair, they would drive in for a break.

However, there were many refugees on the road, all of whom had brought their entire families along.

Sometimes, Zhou Wuchang would stop the carriage to have a few words with them.

When he learned that they had been forced to flee due to drought in their hometown, he would ask Yingbao how they could help them get out of their dire straits.

Yingbao didn’t know.

People in the northern region were basically living off the sky’s bounty.

Even in their village, a flood would wipe out the crops for half a year.

Yet, the imperial court’s taxes wouldn’t lessen by a dime, and they still had to be paid in full no matter what.

Seeing that his young disciple had no solutions, Zhou Wuchang didn’t ask further and climbed back on the carriage to leave.

They traveled along the official road, passed countless villages and several cities, and finally returned to Qinchuan County in July.

The county town was bustling with activity now, and it was common to see a line of luxurious carriages on its streets.

Yingbao was very curious and asked her elder cousin about it when she returned to the store.

Jiang Cheng breathed a sigh of relief when he saw his younger cousins return, and explained, “Those are all refugees from Beijing. We better not offend them.”

He then asked, “Where have you been? You worried your uncles sick.”

Yingbao dared not mention what had happened in Jingzhou, she skipped the tense details and said, “The second senior brother wanted to go home and take a look, so we accompanied him on the trip. Now as you can see, we are all back safe and sound. Can you tell us what’s been happening at home while we were gone?”

Jiang Cheng replied, “Everything is fine at home. Wei Zhan moved in too with his mother, they are living in our village. Madame Wen and her two children are also residing in our village.”

In reality,, not just these families, there were also other influential families who had fled to the South Slope, bought land at a high price, and said they wanted to build separate courtyards there.

However, these were things done by the people from Xichen Village, they sold their inferior farmland on the South Slope at a high price to outsiders, allowing them to build houses there.

“Madame Wen also came?” Yingbao was delighted to hear that Madame Wen and her daughter had also come.

She said to Jiang Wu and Huzi, “We’ll go home tomorrow.”

The master and their senior brothers also planned to return the next day. The master said he wanted to stay in Dongchen Village for a while and learn how to grow pepper and cotton from father.

Jiang Cheng said, “You guys wait a few more days, by the time Xiaojie has finished his holiday, you guys can leave together. ”

Yingbao replied, “Alright.”

After a pause, Jiang Cheng quietly told his cousin another piece of news, “Uncle’s wife has passed away, and his concubine came to Aunt asking her to pay for the funeral expenses.”

Yingbao tugged at the corner of her eye, “And Auntie? Did she give the money?”

“I don’t know. Auntie and Yuying and Hong Xiao went to the funeral vigil today, I don’t think they will be back tonight.”

Jiang Cheng peeled an apple with a small knife and handed it to his younger cousin. As he began to peel another one, he continued, “Zhang Yukun is quite shameless, he also thinks that since his father died, his mother should provide money for the funeral.”