This year, as the first month of the lunar year began, in the Central Plains, Liu Yu cautiously fulfilled his responsibilities to the Jin Dynasty. He dispatched his son, Liu Lin, to lead troops across the Huai River to attack Wu. Simultaneously, envoys from the Great Qi went north to the Jin Dynasty, urging Wugumai, Zonghan, Zongfu, and others to launch a southern expedition – this was not the first time. For the past two or three years, Liu Yu, knowing that he could not defeat the Wu Dynasty with his own strength and fearing that Black Flag spies in the court might take his life at any moment, had been hoping for the Jin Dynasty to move south, solving all problems once and for all.

However, in the third month, a major event occurred in the Jin Dynasty court. Wugumai suffered a stroke and collapsed, never to stand again. Although he continued to handle state affairs daily, discussions about the southern expedition were closed to the envoys from the Great Qi.

When the emperor fell ill, even in the Jin Dynasty, internal affairs had to be stabilized first. The southern expedition was naturally put on hold again.

Liu Lin crossed the river and suffered a major defeat, leading his remnants back in a sorry state. The people, on the other hand, breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing that the Jin Dynasty and the Southwest, two formidable forces, remained quiet, it was all for the best.

For a while, everyone could carefully muddle through…

It was also during this time of blossoming spring that, along the thousand-mile stretch from Daming Prefecture to Zhengzhou, famine refugees, dragging their families, passed through towns and passes with fearful eyes. Local officials organized manpower to block, drive away, or slaughter them, attempting to keep these starving people out of their territory.

In relatively affluent areas, people in the towns barely survived the exorbitant taxes imposed by Liu Yu's court. Leaving the towns and entering the mountains and wilderness gradually led to hell. Mountain bandits and horse gangs roamed everywhere, plundering. The refugees, having left their homes, had no protection. Gradually, they gathered towards the place where the "Ghost King" was rumored to be. The government also sent troops, dispersing the refugees led by Wang Shitong twice in the Huazhou area. The refugees were like a pool of muddy water, scattered by a few punches, and then slowly began to gather again.

This tide of refugees occurred every year. Compared to the Jin Dynasty in the north and the Black Flag in the south, it was ultimately not a major event. After two slaughters, the army was no longer enthusiastic. They couldn't kill them all. Sending troops required money and food. Ultimately, they had to manage their own territory first. Even for the sake of the world, they couldn't devote all their time to it.

Development was also important.

The Yellow River made a large turn and flowed northeastward. From the plains near Zhengzhou to the mountains near Daming Prefecture, many places were deserted. Compared to the prosperous times of the Wu Dynasty, the population of the Central Plains had decreased by three-quarters. Small villages had collapsed and were abandoned. Groups of migrants walked through the wilderness. Mountain bandits and horse gangs came and went, mostly ragged and malnourished.

The surviving villages and powerful landlords built watchtowers and high walls. Often, they were visited by officials and soldiers, who dragged away cartloads of goods. The horse bandits also came. They had no choice but to come. Then, either the horse bandits scattered, or the high walls were breached, and slaughter and fire spread. A woman holding an infant walked in the mud, and when she fell, she could no longer get up. Finally, the baby's cries gradually disappeared... In a world that had lost its order, few people could protect themselves.

The world of accessible trade routes and silks and satins was far away in memory.

North of Puzhou, Wang Shitong, wearing ragged black clothes and disheveled hair, squatted on a rock, staring blankly at the dark, chaotic sea of people, hungry and emaciated people, his eyes already bloodshot.

"Wait a little longer, wait a little longer..." he murmured to his one-armed deputy.

Spring was in full bloom. Many of the people who had gone south last year had frozen to death in the winter. More people were gathering here every day. In the forests, they could sometimes find edible leaves, fruits, and small animals. There were fish in the water. Some of the people who had abandoned their homes and gone south after the start of spring still had some food left.

They were not hungry enough yet.

They would be hungry eventually.

North of the Yellow River, in what was originally Tiger King's territory, Tian Shi, after succeeding him, carried out large-scale killings and a series of reforms. General Yu Yulin held a plow in the field, personally cultivating the land. He came up from the field, washed off the mud, and saw Lou Shuwan, dressed in black, sitting in a roadside shed reading the intelligence that had been sent.

Over the past few years, the woman who handled a large number of things every day, working under a dim oil lamp, had damaged her eyes. Her eyesight was poor, nearsighted, so she held the paper close to her face, looking like an old woman. After reading it, she straightened up. Yu Yulin walked over and learned that the third iron cannon transaction with the Black Flag in the south had been completed.

After last year's coup, Yu Yulin held heavy troops and a high position. His relationship with Lou Shuwan had become even closer. However, since then, he had spent most of his time stabilizing the situation in the north and keeping a close eye on Wang Juyun, who was also no friend despite being an "ally." The number of times they met had decreased.

"Last month, An Xifu, under Wang Juyun, came to me to discuss garrison affairs and talked about Li Xizhi. I think Wang Juyun is eager to start a war with Li Xizhi and came to test our intentions."

Yu Yulin sat down on the chair next to Lou Shuwan and spoke of these things. Lou Shuwan placed her hands on her knees, thought for a moment, and smiled, "Fighting is your business. What does a woman know? Please, General Yu, explain the good and bad of it."

Lou Shuwan's words seemed distant, but Yu Yulin was already accustomed to her aloof attitude and didn't care. "When the Tiger King was here, the area north of the Yellow River was also divided among our three families. Now that our two families have joined forces, we can push towards Li Xizhi. One of Wang Juyun's intentions is that Li Xizhi is a coward, and when the Jurchens come, he will definitely kneel down and beg for mercy. Wang Juyun is openly resisting the Jin, and Li Xizhi is likely to stab him in the back."

"So that benefits them, but not us?" Lou Shuwan smiled.

South of Yanmen Pass, the forces on the north bank of the Yellow River were divided into three, generally all considered territory of the Great Qi. In reality, the east was controlled by Li Xizhi, a confidant of Liu Yu. Wang Juyun occupied the most chaotic area near Yanmen Pass, and they did not nominally submit to the Jurchens. The Tian family's forces, which had developed the best in the middle, were able to play both sides because they occupied mountainous areas that were not suitable for horses.

Yu Yulin, Lou Shuwan, and others who presided over the assassination of the Tiger King were considered the rational faction in the force. Together with the radical Tian Shi and others, they had long been disgusted with the many decadent loafers who relied on the Tian family's relatives. The Tian family's management of more than ten years had not yet formed a complex network of vested interests. After a series of killings, the internal invigoration was somewhat effective. In particular, the transaction with the Black Flag allowed their private strength to grow a lot. However, due to their previous ambiguous position, as long as they did not immediately break with the Jurchens, they would still have some room for maneuver when facing the Jurchens.

"Last year, the hungry ghosts made a big commotion, and several states in the east were almost empty. Now they are no longer what they used to be. As long as there is food, they can be swallowed. Moreover, with these extra iron cannons, it is also necessary to pick a soft persimmon to train the troops. But the most important thing is not this..."

Yu Yulin spoke, and Lou Shuwan interjected with a smile, "Everything is waiting to be rebuilt, where is there any surplus grain? Picking a soft persimmon to train the troops, it's better to pick him. Anyway, we are good citizens under the Jin Dynasty. It is justified to take action against the rebels."

Yu Yulin also smiled, "The most important thing is not this. Wang Juyun, An Xifu, and others want to cause chaos in Li Xizhi's territory and provoke the Black Flag to take action."

Lou Shuwan was stunned, "Big words, what does it have to do with those people?"

"The Black Flag has some management in Shandong."

Lou Shuwan's gaze turned to Yu Yulin, her gaze deep, not out of doubt.

"It's not just the Black Flag... Back then, Ning Yi used a trick to break Liangshan, borrowing the strength of several villages in Dulonggang. Later, he also trained troops in Dulonggang and had a close relationship with two villages on the ridge. Zhu Biao and others from the Zhu Family Village also worked under him. Three years after Xiaocang River, the Black Flag fled south. Although Li Xizhi occupied Shandong, Hebei, and other places, the people were fierce, and he could not take many places by force. Dulonggang, Liangshan, and other places were among them..."

Lou Shuwan naturally understood the things that Yu Yulin was talking about. When Ning Yi broke Liangshan and befriended the fierce Dulonggang, people were not aware of much. When Ning Yi assassinated the emperor, many things were traced back, and people suddenly realized that Dulonggang was actually one of the origins of the armed forces under Ning Yi. How much he left there later was difficult to say clearly.

The three-year war in Xiaocang River scared the people of the Central Plains. Li Xizhi, who had attacked Xiaocang River, naturally used troops against Dulonggang after taking control of Shandong, but to be honest, it was extremely difficult. The Zhu and Hu families of Dulonggang were forced to destroy their villages under the frontal advance of the government troops. Afterwards, they wandered around the Liangshan Marsh, gathered as bandits, and made Li Xizhi extremely embarrassed. Later, he burned Dulonggang to the ground, but he did not occupy it. Instead, that area became an extremely chaotic no-man's land.

Externally, the backing force of the bandits in the Dulonggang and Shuibo areas was actually the archenemy of the Black Flag Army - Southern Wu. When Ning Yi assassinated the emperor, many people were implicated. The female relatives of the family of the great Confucian Wang Qisong were able to survive under the protection of Prince Zhou Junwu. Wang Shanyue, the only descendant of the Wang family, was originally an official in Jiangnan. After the assassination of the emperor, he was protected by his wife, Hu Sanniang, and went north, seeking refuge in the Hu Family Village. After the fall of the Central Plains, he did not forget his country despite being a criminal. He always led the people to fight against the Jurchens and the Great Qi officers and soldiers. Therefore, on the surface, this was a resistance force belonging to Southern Wu.

There were many forces in the Central Plains who were concerned about the Southern Dynasty, which was easier to tolerate. Li Xizhi launched several unsuccessful expeditions and gave up. People no longer mentioned it much. But this year, the South began to move, and such and such guesses surfaced again.

"Wang Juyun thinks that there are Black Flags in the north now, of course there are. Unlike the Black Flag spies in our court and army, this force in Shandong is likely to be the elite Black Flag forces that have been lurking. If there is a big mess inside Li Xizhi's territory, with Ning Yi's shrewdness, it is impossible not to take advantage of it. If he wants to take advantage of it, he must take risks. In the future, the first thing the Jurchens will value when they go south will definitely be Shandong. At that time, he will have to rely on you and me, or at least he will hope that we can hold on for a longer time."

"What if the Black Flag doesn't move?"

"Then the interests of Shandong and Hebei will be divided equally between us. When the Jurchens go south, we can naturally hide back in the mountains. Shandong... It's okay if we don't want it."

"...He is determined to fight the Jurchens."

"The Han people's country can be messed up by you and me, but not by barbarians. An Xifu brought the original words."

"...Wang Shangshu ah." Lou Shuwan thought for a moment and smiled. She had seen Wang Yin, the Shangshu of the Yongle Uprising, in Hangzhou, but she was young at the time. Thinking back to the memories of more than ten years ago, they were already blurred, but they had a special taste in her heart.

At that time, the innocent and young woman's heart was only filled with fear. Seeing those who entered Hangzhou, she only thought that they were some rude and unruly mud-legged people. At this time, having seen the fall of the Central Plains, the collapse of the world, holding the livelihoods of millions of people in her hands, and facing the fear of the Jurchen threat, she suddenly felt that among those who entered the city back then, there were also great heroes who stood tall. This hero was very different from the heroes of the past.

"He seems like a remarkable hero." Yu Yulin said, and then stood up and took two steps, "But now it seems that this hero, you and I, the people in the court, the millions of soldiers, and even the world, are all being played in the palm of that person's hand."

Lou Shuwan's expression was calm and she did not speak. Yu Yulin sighed, "It has been confirmed that Ning Yi is still alive. In this way, he was also manipulating the chaos last year behind the scenes. It's ridiculous that we fought to the death, and the lives of millions of people were at stake, but we were just puppets on someone else's strings."

Yu Yulin said this, but he did not look too frustrated. Lou Shuwan's thumb pressed lightly on her palm, "Brother Yu is also an outstanding person of this generation. Why belittle yourself? The world is bustling, all for profit. He took advantage of the situation and we benefited. That's all." After she finished speaking, Yu Yulin saw her raise her head and mutter softly, "In the palm of his hand..." She didn't know what she was thinking about this description, and a trace of bitterness and charm flashed in her eyes, fleeting. The spring breeze blew the hair of this independent woman, and in front of her were the ever-extending green fields.

"A few days ago, I met Headmaster Lin of the Great Brightness Sect and agreed to let them continue to build temples and preach here. Soon, I also want to join the Great Brightness Sect." Yu Yulin's gaze turned over, Lou Shuwan looked forward, and said calmly, "According to the Great Brightness Sect's teachings, under the Brightness Sovereign, there is the position of Descended Mysterious Woman, who can manage the high and low helmsmen of the Great Brightness Sect here. The Great Brightness Sect cannot excessively intervene in military and political affairs, but they can recruit monk soldiers from the poor people on their own. North of the Yellow River, we will support them and help them develop in Wang Juyun and Li Xizhi's territory. They can raise food from the south, and we can help them guard and transport it... Headmaster Lin has great ambitions and has already agreed."

She smiled, "Before long, people will know that the Great King is also a god descended from heaven, a Mysterious King in this world. Brother Yu, you are also a divine general patrolling on behalf of heaven. Brother Yu, you might as well choose yourself whether you are Tota Heavenly King or Dhṛtarāṣṭra."

Yu Yulin looked at her for a long time, "That monk is not a good person either. Be careful yourself."

"In this kind of world, you can't bear to part with the child if you want to catch the wolf. I understand, either he eats me or I eat him."

Yu Yulin stopped talking. The two of them stood and sat, looking forward for a long time. At some point, whispers drifted in the air.

"...In the palm of his hand..."

"...Sooner or later I will bite a piece of meat off him..."

The two big figures talked in the fields outside for a long time. By the time they returned to the city in a carriage, the bright sunset glow had already risen in the sky. This sunset glow fell on the city walls of Weisheng. The streets were crowded with people, and there were many beggars by the city gates, but compared to the Central Plains at this time, this town, after more than ten years of peace, showed an unspeakable stability and tranquility. Leaving despair, life and vitality could always gather in this corner.

"Defending the territory and bringing peace to the four borders, Miss Lou, all of this is thanks to you. You are doing great good." When opening the car curtain, Yu Yulin said this.

Lou Shuwan looked at the crowd outside, her expression calm, as it had been for so many years. From her face, you couldn't really see many vivid expressions anymore.

There was no one left who could share these things with her...