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Snowflakes fell, covering the originally muddy ground. Ning Yi returned to his room and rubbed his hands. Juan'er brought the bowl of medicine over.

The medicine was as bitter as ever. Ning Yi drank it, his brow furrowed, and his teeth bared. Juan'er took out a small cloth bag from her bosom.

"Master, I have osmanthus sugar."

"No need." Ning Yi waved his hand. "Where did you get it?"

"The shopkeeper who went out brought it back. Shopkeeper Kang from the original Seventh Branch, now in the Fifth Squad." Juan'er said seriously, "Master, do you really not want some?"

"Oh." Ning Yi raised his eyebrows. "Which shopkeeper is it?"

"Kang Zhu Ming, he's good, huh? Does he have a thing for you?"

"Master." Juan'er narrowed her eyes slightly, like a sulky cat. "If you say that, I'll return it to him."

"No, no, give it to me." Ning Yi laughed, taking the small cloth bag from Juan'er's hand. "The medicine is too bitter. I'll give it to those injured brothers to eat. They don't usually get to eat sugar."

Ning Yi had been here for five or six years, and Juan'er, in the Su family, had grown from a young girl into a young woman. In her early twenties and not yet married, she was already considered old in other people's eyes, but in Ning Yi's eyes, she was still undoubtedly young and beautiful. Many of these chambermaids, who had always been by the mistress's side, became old maids. Marriage usually had to be arranged by the master of the house.

Two years ago, Tan'er showed her magnanimity and even wanted to give Juan'er to Ning Yi, but Ning Yi ultimately didn't touch her. She stopped mentioning it over the past two years, only occasionally thinking of arranging a marriage for her. But perhaps because she was responsible for too many things, or perhaps influenced by Ning Yi, she had higher standards and became a more independent woman. There weren't many who could catch her eye.

Among Chan'er's two sisters, Xing'er, who had an outgoing and cheerful personality, said she wanted to be an old maid. Juan'er's personality was relatively quiet and independent. She was also the beautiful, cool type. Ning Yi was naturally good at inferring what people were thinking in his work, but he didn't want to guess about these kinds of friends and family, and he knew there was no way to say much.

In a sense, if he arranged a forced marriage for Juan'er and Xing'er, of course, they could only accept it. But marriage, when forced, was bound to be unreliable. If something went wrong, they wouldn't be able to do anything in the future and would be unhappy for the rest of their lives. For Su Tan'er, she certainly hoped they could find a good family, but if they couldn't, becoming old maids by her side – that wasn't a big deal either.

Having been under Su Tan'er for so many years, Chan'er, Juan'er, and Xing'er were actually unambiguous in their handling of many things. Chan'er, who had become Ning Yi's concubine, was very good at various life arrangements and detailed account management. Xing'er had a generous personality, and often became Tan'er's spokesperson on the outside. Juan'er was meticulous and didn't show her emotions easily. She did a very good job in the operation and arrangement of many practical projects.

This time, Juan'er came over when Ning Yi was alone. In later generations, she would have been a high-level white-collar worker who had been a manager for many years. Now, she was taking on the work of a maid, taking care of patients, washing clothes, cleaning, and cooking. A shed was divided into two halves, Ning Yi lived in the larger inner room, and Juan'er lived in the smaller outer room, ready to be called upon at any time. More often, she was helping Ning Yi deal with various things inside and outside the camp, so that sometimes Ning Yi really felt that he was underutilizing her, wasting talent, and using such a competent secretary as a maid.

Even in the peak of his later life, Ning Yi was very clear about the distinction between public and private life. He would never mess with the talents around him, and he would never let his personal affairs interfere with their work. It sounded good to have the secretary do the work when there was something to do, and mess around with the secretary when there was nothing to do, but it was actually extremely stupid. It was fine to spend money on desires. The other party was helping to deal with your core matters, often involving tens of millions or hundreds of millions. Only a fool would confuse public and private affairs.

However, in this era, for Juan'er, the work of a maid seemed to be the focus of her work, and everything else was secondary. Ning Yi was also a little helpless about this.

After confiscating the osmanthus sugar from Juan'er, he took it to the injured soldiers' camp to distribute it that afternoon. Although the Wu Dynasty was rich at this time, eating sugar was naturally a luxury for many people. But Ning Yi naturally didn't expect a few pieces of sugar to win over people's hearts. At this time, among the injured in this camp, some had already lost their combat effectiveness and were being contacted to be transferred hundreds of miles away, but if they were injured and could still fight after recovery, they were likely to become the backbone.

For example, the group of people who burned the grain with him on September 25th. Chen Tuozi, who was seriously injured at the beginning, was lucky enough to survive. After recovering, his martial arts were said to have improved, giving the feeling of a Super Saiyan leveling up after death. In fact, everyone could vaguely guess the reason. This Chen Tuozi was originally an evil person who had done many bad things. Later, he joined Bamboo Lodge and truly did some good things, and felt the wrongness of the past in his heart. On the morning of the 25th, he said those words.

Afterwards, he was seriously injured in the killing, narrowly escaping death, which was equivalent to completely saying goodbye and severing ties with the past. To put it simply, this was a clear mind, entering a new realm, and in this cycle, he was able to see the road to go up again.

As for Qi Xinyi, the eldest of the Qi brothers, he was not so lucky. His left arm was broken off at the elbow, and his injury had not fully healed by this moment. Ning Yi had visited him many times and encouraged him with the story of Tyrant Saber Du Sha - Du Sha was also cut off an arm in the rescue of Fang Qi Fo. However, this man had a brave and decisive character. After that, he did not have the slightest confusion. He practiced saber with one arm. According to the news from Southern Border recently, Du Sha's one-armed saber skill had even surpassed his previous level. In the battle with "Mad Tiger" Wang Nanda, although he was slightly at a disadvantage, he still retreated completely.

The Qi family had a feud with Tyrant Saber. However, although Ning Yi mentioned this matter, he failed to truly cheer up Qi Xinyi. The saber technique could be done with one hand, but the spear technique must be done with both hands. Although the Qi family's "Soul-Claiming Spear" had a throwing method, after losing one hand, it was equivalent to losing most of the spear technique. Starting from scratch, giving up the spear and using other weapons, how easy was it? On the other hand, Qi Xinhuan, the youngest, had been practicing hard these days and had faint traces of going to the next level.

Among the Bamboo Lodge members, Yuwen Feidu, the most popular disciple in the past, was seriously injured in that battle. His thigh was kicked by a war horse, and his bones were almost broken. After recovering from the injury, one of his legs was a little lame. In the past, this young man had a cheerful and outgoing personality. He was handsome and talented, and the masters who taught him martial arts were worried that he would be depressed from now on. However, after only a few days of depression at the beginning, before his injury had healed, he began to exercise his hand skills, hidden weapons, archery, and so on. When others asked him, he said: "Who wasn't injured in the battle with the Jin dogs that night? My fifth and seventh masters are dead, and they didn't complain. I'm just a little lame, what's there to complain about."

He had many masters in the past, and what he learned was mixed. He also had a foundation in bows and arrows and hidden weapons. These days, he has been concentrating on archery, and can accurately hit the target beyond a hundred steps. Although he has not yet reached the "piercing willow" effect, he is already very proud of it. He decided to grab a good bow on the battlefield in the future and be called "Bow God" Yuwen Feidu - he originally wanted to call "Arrow God" Yuwen Feidu, but later felt that it didn't sound good, so he changed it. Recently, when chatting with people occasionally, he emphasized that he would be called "Bow God" in the future, not "Arrow God". Don't call it wrong, if you call it wrong, he will turn his face, don't think he didn't warn you.

When the snowflakes fell, this valley where more than 10,000 people gathered had become a little crowded. At this time, most of the people here had participated in that tragic battle. Some of them had run away, and some had participated in the fighting, and eventually witnessed the death of their companions and brothers, and the tragic and suffocating defeat. But on a small scale, the bravery of many people was still worth boasting about.

Ning Yi and others still rushed to Qixian to burn the grain under such serious injuries. People who participated in and witnessed what happened that night felt proud when they talked about it. Many people also fought bravely that night, such as Qin Shaoqian, who led the soldiers to fight all the way, and finally brought some people out of the battlefield after heavy casualties. He himself is still carrying his injuries and has not recovered. After the war, this team began to organize the policy of strengthening the walls and clearing the fields, doing everything with gritted teeth. Even after that, there were also cases of Bamboo Lodge members encountering Jurchen scouts and dying to protect the relocated people. The propaganda that may not have been valued in the army in the past was spreading quite fast in this group.

And after this battle, a review of the battle was also carried out in the grassroots public opinion. For example, everyone was not unwilling to risk their lives, but it was really the mistakes of the decision-makers. Yao Pingzhong, a treacherous villain of the Western Army, was eager for success and reckless in his attack. The upper-level generals were not firm enough, greedy for life and afraid of death, and did not trust each other, so that the soldiers at the bottom could not resist. If everyone was equally firm, this battle could be fought - in fact, this is of course nonsense. Ning Yi was just guiding and hinting that their side, General Qin, was different from others.

And it was enough to put the responsibility on Yao Pingzhong and others with this remark. If he guided it further, he might attack the root cause of the Wu Dynasty's soldiers not knowing the generals and the generals not knowing the soldiers. Unless Ning Yi wanted to raise the flag and rebel, bad words against the system could not be said thoroughly.

On the one hand, it was to publicize the tragic situation of the Han people during the Five Barbarian Invasions among the soldiers and the origin of "eating children" and "two-legged sheep." At this time, in the hearts of ordinary people and even ordinary soldiers, the concept of the country, and even the concept of "national subjugation," was not strong. Even if hundreds of thousands of people had been defeated under the city of Bianliang, when everyone thought about it, in addition to the powerlessness in their hearts, at most they would find another place to live after being defeated by the Jurchens, relocating, moving south, and so on. What individuals could do, what they would encounter, everyone couldn't think of it, and didn't want to think about it.

But Ning Yi wanted to incite them to think about it.

After the Han Dynasty, the Five Barbarian Invasions was almost the darkest period in the history of the Han people. Years of war and famine made it almost impossible to find food in the Central Plains, and eating people became the way people survived. The Han people were the most humble race of all races, and the women and children among them were cooked and eaten by the barbarians, called "two-legged sheep." At this time, the Wu Dynasty was rich, and this may not be obvious, but if Bianliang was really captured and the Jurchens went south all the way, no one could resist. After a few years, it might not be unimaginable that everyone's wives and children would be insulted, killed, or even eaten...

Most of the soldiers at this time had not received much education, but they could naturally think of basic things, not to mention that they had just experienced the battlefield. In such a group, listening to these simple stories and narrations, and some people setting an example with their actions, it was not difficult to form a kind of group fanaticism in a short period of time. So that during this period, in this crowded valley, the army's training was unusually smooth.

Of course, brainwashing and instigation were not panaceas. Even if it was operated in the manner of pyramid schemes, the real test would still be the moment when they went to the battlefield. Fortunately, recently, after beating down a few high-level generals, Qin Shaoqian's control over the grassroots of this army had been greatly strengthened, and the military law team could also truly operate. At that time, if he took out the cold-bloodedness of killing soldiers if they retreat and killing generals if they retreat, he should still be able to stimulate a few percent of combat power. In the past, there were also various factions in the Wu Ruiying, and it was impossible for him to execute military law and kill people.

Because of these things, when he walked out of the injured soldiers' camp, he could see a large number of soldiers practicing monotonous drawing of sabers and spears in the valley. The neat roars shook the entire valley. The patrolling team, the Bamboo Lodge's horse team coming and going, the team going up the mountain to collect firewood, and the team building houses and fortifications nearby were all working all over the mountains and plains. Yuwen Feidu was shooting arrows not far away, and in the snowflakes, the arrows swooshed across the sky.

After a quartermaster from the army came to report that the heating materials might not be enough, Juan'er also trotted over from not far away, holding a letter in her hand: "Our people encountered a horse team from Mount Lüliang."

"Horse team?" Ning Yi was slightly stunned, took the letter, took it out and looked at it a few times, and then smiled, "Immediately send someone to lead them here."

"Okay." Juan'er nodded and ran to do it.

The news made Ning Yi's mood quite high. He felt a little restless even when eating in the evening. Sometimes when he thought of the content of the letter, he smiled. Juan'er always knew that this master had a stable personality, calm in the face of big events, and had never shown such a performance on weekdays. While eating, she asked a little cautiously: "Master, the one from Mount Lüliang, is that Miss Lu?"

"Yes." Ning Yi didn't hide it, nodded with a smile, "And brought a lot of good things."

After night fell, the snow became heavier and heavier. In the valley, the wind blew the flying snowflakes, and the mountains were full of campfires. Ning Yi, Qin Shaoqian, and several important people in charge of management in the camp at this time went to the entrance to wait. Qin Shaoqian had heard of Lu Hongti's name, and smiled and secretly asked Ning Yi: "That Miss Lu from Lüliang, is she your lover?"

Ning Yi nodded: "Yes, she is my woman."

"You, have my demeanor." Qin Shaoqian was also a romantic figure, and he had many women around him, but he believed in the gentleman's way of "brothers are like limbs, women are like clothes", and at this time he quite appreciated Ning Yi. Not long after, the outline of the forward horse team appeared in the darkness and gradually became clear.

Qin Shaoqian was still injured, and he was leaning on the pillar next to him while waiting for someone. When he saw this horse team clearly, he became solemn and stood up straight. In front of the horse team, the figure wearing a black cloak indeed had an aura of iron and blood. He - actually, it was naturally her - was sitting steadily on the horse, and the soldiers behind him were almost carried by this aura, showing a firm aura.

Ning Yi greeted him with a smile, walked to Hongti's war horse, and reached out his hand. Hongti looked at him on the horse, put her hand on Ning Yi's palm, and somersaulted off the horse. Behind her, two thousand people dismounted together.

At this time, the Wu Dynasty's army training also had requirements for formation and neatness, but I am afraid that no army was as demanding as Ning Yi. Influenced by Ning Yi, the Lüliang Mountain army was required to achieve the kind of uniformity of the People's Liberation Army in later generations. At this time, in the night, with the two thousand people coming down together, there was a boom in front of the valley.

Snow all over the sky.

Qin Shaoqian opened his mouth slightly, blinked his eyes in surprise, and greeted him...

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