Tie Ci was wondering what that long, slender object was—it seemed Di Yiwei had been holding it the entire time—when suddenly a general who had been constantly attending Di Yiwei walked over and said: “The Commander has arranged horses and carriages for you. You’ll accompany her to Bieshan shortly.”

Tie Ci wondered why this person wouldn’t stay to personally conduct interrogations after such a major incident had occurred here.

That general noticed her confusion and explained: “The borders have been restless lately. The Western Rong are in turmoil, and there seems to be troop movements on the Liaodong side as well. The Commander doesn’t wish to stay away from Bieshan too long.”

For the first time, Tie Ci felt profound respect.

Now was the perfect opportunity to consolidate power, absorb the navy forces, and counterattack in the power struggle. Any of those ministers at court would refuse to leave even if beaten.

Only she would set aside power struggles that affected her own future, prioritizing border security and the nation’s people first.

No matter what other flaws this person had, this alone made Tie Ci willing to invest more effort for her sake.

Then she caught a whiff of an unusual scent, a smell that seemed vaguely familiar. She looked up at the general, but he had already walked away.

Tie Ci lowered her head and thought for a moment, remembering what that smell was.

Once when she was young, playing in her father’s study, she watched him handle an exquisite jar that emanated a strange fragrance. When she leaned in to look, Father covered the jar and laughed, saying she must never touch this thing—better not even smell it.

When she asked why, Father held her on his knee and told her a story about a certain country from the previous dynasty.

A great family that controlled a region faced having their power stripped by the court, so they obtained this “longevity paste” from overseas and gave it to ministers to smoke. This substance was addictive, and once addicted, one became completely controlled. When addiction struck, the user couldn’t live or die in peace—they only begged for another taste.

One could imagine that once all the ministers were controlled by this substance, the entire court would be in someone else’s hands.

Later it was discovered, and the substance was destroyed in time, the ministers’ addictions were cut off, saving the dynasty.

The one who initially discovered it and helped cut off the addiction was that dynasty’s only female chancellor, later the regent princess consort—the emperor’s mother.

When she discovered the substance, she wasn’t yet chancellor, just a minor female official. Through this achievement, she repeatedly performed great merits, rising through the ranks step by step. Though she married a prince, she didn’t rely on her husband for power. On the contrary, she was the culinary genius and renowned minister of that era, together with her husband shining like the dynasty’s twin stars for all eternity.

Tie Ci had a deep impression of this story. That woman too came from an ordinary family background and eventually reached the pinnacle, looking down upon the world.

Even more wonderful was that in that era, there were several such women. They were brilliantly talented, each ruling a nation, each stirring up storms across their territories, turning clouds with one hand and rain with the other.

Such a golden age of brilliant stars.

This gave her tremendous confidence and courage.

If those ancestors from humble beginnings could do it, why couldn’t she?

She also remembered that fragrance, until today when she smelled it again.

She distinctly remembered Father saying that substance had appeared consecutively in several countries during that era and was banned by joint order of several female leaders, who even ultimately destroyed the country that grew opium poppies. She hadn’t expected to encounter it again now.

The scent on this general was very faint. An ordinary general wouldn’t seem to have the means to smoke such a thing.

With Di Yiwei’s temperament, wouldn’t she immediately have someone beheaded upon discovery?

Unless…

She looked around.

Up ahead, except for the Commander, everyone rode horses.

Why didn’t Di Yiwei ride a horse?

In Tie Ci’s imagination, as the dynasty’s only female general, especially one disguising as a man, she should be dark-faced, eight feet tall, with a voice like thunder—at the very least heroically spirited.

Instead, even through the mist, she could sense that Di Yiwei was not tall and appeared pale and frail.

When traveling, she had to use a carriage, sitting whenever possible rather than standing.

She might even be smoking longevity paste.

That long, slender object in her hands, those clicking sounds, the flickering red light—that was an opium pipe.

That general only carried some of the scent because he was her deputy.

Besides being addictive, longevity paste could also treat illness. Originally it existed as medicine.

Tie Ci frowned.

Just moments ago she’d felt Di Yiwei was truly worthy as a national military talent, but now she felt troubled.

A great general who smoked longevity paste?

Tie Ci sighed.

She felt her true recruitment objective had encountered complications.

Since she was here, she’d make the best of it. She continued following Di Yiwei’s carriage, traveling non-stop for two days, eating and sleeping in the vehicle.

If even the Commander traveled this way, naturally everyone else remained fully dressed and alert.

Since Tie Ci was in men’s clothing, Di Yiwei naturally assigned her and Feiyu to share one carriage. This suited Feiyu perfectly—he loved taking advantage of the carriage’s swaying or tilting to lean into Tie Ci. When he leaned over, Tie Ci didn’t avoid him, just casually petted him like a dog. After being petted repeatedly, Feiyu noticed something seemed off about this operation and became much more well-behaved afterward.

During the day, they each read books. Tie Ci’s book had ancient seal script on the cover reading “Record of Mountain and River Curiosities”—it looked quite scholarly.

Feiyu’s reading material appeared more serious, with a somber-colored cover, fine binding, and several crooked characters that weren’t Chinese. Tie Ci, having studied extensively and needing to know several foreign languages, recognized it as what seemed to be a foreign dictionary.

Feiyu read earnestly with a pleasant expression, occasionally taking notes with a brush.

Tie Ci was about to regard him with respect when she suddenly glimpsed that there seemed to be many illustrations inside. From the corner of her eye, she saw two people kissing through a wall.

Tie Ci: “…”

My mistake—it was an erotic novel disguised as a foreign dictionary.

Looking at Feiyu’s annotation: “This technique of kissing through walls is quite good, but the wall surface is cold and might crumble, spoiling the mood. Better to kiss through gauze, through curtains, through bathtubs…”

When Tie Ci wanted to look, Feiyu generously showed her, his eyes slightly upturned with a hint of “shall we try it too?”

After reading, Tie Ci remained expressionless, picked up the brush, and added a few characters:

“…kissing across rivers, kissing across shores, reproductive isolation kissing.”

Feiyu: “…”

Here we go again.

Always saying things where I understand every word individually but not when put together.

Tie Ci’s book lay to one side, and when wind blew through the curtain, it flipped the pages. Feiyu suddenly reached out to hold it down.

A page fell, revealing another cover inside, horizontally written: “On the Self-Cultivation of Actors.”

Feiyu: …Ha!

Big brother shouldn’t laugh at second brother.

“What profound learning is this?” He poked Tie Ci’s arm.

Tie Ci snatched back the book. “You guessed right—it’s quite profound. The ultimate textbook for life performance.”

“Is this the book that taught you to disguise as a man and deceive me? What else did it teach you?”

“It also taught me how to retaliate in kind and silently smash the dog head of marriage fraudsters.”

Feiyu leaned his elbow on the window edge, his gaze sweeping up from below, seemingly taking her in completely in an instant. “If you could truly be deceived into marriage, then go ahead and smash away.”

Tie Ci grabbed his “Western dictionary” and smacked him in the face with it.

Go ahead and annotate his erotic dictionary properly.

Who knows, maybe it could even be published later!

At night, the two slept on opposite sides, lying across the table. In the middle of the night, in her drowsy state, Tie Ci felt someone support her head, then she was drawn into an embrace with a faint woody fragrance, her head resting on something flat and elastic—presumably someone’s thigh.

Her body was also positioned comfortably, her long legs finally finding a place to rest.

Tie Ci pretended to sleep.

She didn’t want to wake up.

Vaguely she heard someone chuckle softly, a warm and pleasant voice that could soothe body and soul, making her heart inexplicably peaceful.

In her daze, she thought this person had such a vicious and mischievous nature, yet such a deceptively attractive voice…

Suddenly her ear grew warm as gentle breath enveloped it, and the tip of her ear seemed to grow slightly moist.

Then that warmth withdrew, but her ear continued to slowly redden.

Something soft and tingly spread through her heart, flowing through her entire body, making her whole being seem to soften.

She thought, it wasn’t as if she’d never been kissed before—she’d tried both men’s and women’s clothing—but somehow this secretive touch in the dark carriage could make her heart flutter so?

Perhaps everyone preferred stolen moments, and stolen kisses were no exception.

Her thoughts wandered as her body remained motionless.

In the carriage, Feiyu sat holding the person on his lap, moonlight streaming through a crack in the curtain, illuminating a faint smile at the corner of his lips.

…

Despite having Feiyu’s thigh as a pillow, when Tie Ci woke the next morning, she still felt as if her whole body had been dismantled.

She used her inner energy to regulate herself for a while before feeling better.

Turning, she saw Feiyu secretly rotating his waist and neck. Having sat all night, he must be feeling even worse now.

Tie Ci reached out and punched his waist. “Get up already.”

Though that punch seemed rough, Feiyu felt a warm current flow through his entire body, immediately feeling much more comfortable.

He tested the sensation and smiled: “Now your inner strength has surpassed mine by a level. I’ll have to work harder.”

Tie Ci saw his smile was open and honest, without any jealousy or dissatisfaction, and smiled as well.

Mm, the person she’d chosen, though he inevitably had some of that straight male disease her master mentioned, it wasn’t severe. He was very confident in himself and wouldn’t fear having a partner stronger than him.

Men should be like this.

The carriage stopped, and she got out to find a place to wash up, only to discover they were at a small village.

Di Yiwei had come to seize control of navy power and brought many soldiers. When returning, she left a colonel to handle remaining affairs while bringing back a batch of soldiers. Her forces were also strictly organized and imposing.

Such an army appearing near a village could easily cause unrest.

Especially since this was a small village near the Liaodong border, with Liaodong troops stationed just thirty li away. Tie Ci was somewhat worried that once the army stopped, the small village would be thrown into chaos, possibly even triggering resistance due to misunderstandings.

But clearly she was overthinking. The village was initially tense, but once Di Yiwei’s Scorpion Battalion banner unfurled, the tense atmosphere turned joyful. Countless children rushed out from houses, shouting: “Di Family Army is here!”

Men and women, young and old gathered around, enthusiastically pulling soldiers to rest in their homes.

Watching that lively scene, Tie Ci remembered what her master had once said about the country she came from, where military-civilian relations were harmonious, soldiers protected their homeland, and people respected and loved them—there was a term called “fish-and-water relationship between military and civilians.”

She had sighed over this because Da Qian’s armies, especially the garrison inspection offices, were considered good if they merely didn’t prey upon the people. If you had to relate them to fish and water, it was like small fish meeting sharks and whales.

Those who controlled weapons always controlled discourse. She was very interested in that future nation’s governmental systems and institutions. Her master had described them in detail with much approval in her words. Tie Ci listened with great longing, though she felt it was still far from current Da Qian.

The people were the most honest mirror in the mortal world. From their attitudes, one could see a ruler’s ability and military personnel’s quality.

Tie Ci was very satisfied with Di Yiwei’s army’s performance.

She had previously observed Xiao Xueya’s forces. Though they too maintained strict discipline, they were overly rigid—people avoided them from afar when they saw them.

Di Yiwei’s army’s style could be both serious and sweet. When marching, their discipline was no less than Xiao Xueya’s subordinates, but now at Di Yiwei’s command, baby-faced young soldiers immediately carried village children on their backs, running wildly while half the village’s children followed, scattering joyful laughter everywhere.

Di Yiwei got out of her carriage and joined the crowd to chat. She still held that large opium pipe, wearing a wrinkled sapphire blue robe with dark patterns, squatting among the people, smoking while listening to the village elders speak. Her posture was identical to the old farmers beside her.

Tie Ci was curious why this person, clearly in a hurry, would suddenly stop at this small village, so she also squatted over.

From her angle, she could only see Di Yiwei’s carelessly pinned-up hair with several rebellious strands sticking up at odd angles.

She squatted at the crowd’s periphery. After a while, Feiyu also came to squat down.

Tie Ci listened to Di Yiwei chat with the people. Someone said: “Thank you for the grain the Commander sent some days ago. After drought then robberies, we nearly starved to death… Things are better recently, fewer small raiding parties.”

Someone said: “But fewer hunters are coming to sell pelts, so pelt prices have soared. I was hoping to get good fur for winter…”

Someone said: “Iron goods prices at the market have also risen…”

Someone said: “But there are more traveling peddlers, so buying needles and thread is convenient…”

Someone said: “Fewer people visiting relatives though. Haven’t seen my distant cousin in ages.”

Someone said: “Oh, I also heard a song, something about ‘When saints arise, auspicious kings are born’…”

Tie Ci initially listened casually but gradually her expression changed.

Suddenly her knee was bumped. Turning, she saw Feiyu drawing pictures in the dirt with a twig.

The first picture showed two people kissing through a wall.

The second showed two people kissing through curtains.

The third showed two people kissing through gauze.

…

Damn, learning and drawing immediately, even making it into a comic strip.

Should she add frames to make it multiple choice?

Tie Ci was both annoyed and amused, bumping his shoulder to knock this waste-of-space fellow to the ground.

But Feiyu was prepared, bracing his shoulder and bumping back.

Tie Ci bumped over.

Feiyu bumped back.

The two swayed back and forth squatting on the ground like a pair of mischievous tumbler dolls.

Di Yiwei in the crowd’s center suddenly turned back, glancing at them.

Through the crowd, Tie Ci saw half a pale face with light tea-colored eyes.

Those eyes were pale, and their gaze was also pale—a bland look before turning back.

The rural chat session suddenly changed topic as Di Yiwei pointed her pipe stem at a man: “Old Shen, where’s your wife?”

The man called Old Shen looked somewhat uncomfortable: “That lazy woman is still lying in bed like a corpse, says she’s not feeling well. She’s not even sick—what’s this about not feeling well? I’ll go call her.” He started to leave.

Di Yiwei lazily stood up, tapping out pipe ash: “Isn’t your wife quite diligent? Got lazy now that there’s grain? That won’t do. Let me take a look.”

Old Shen tried to stop her with an embarrassed smile, but Di Yiwei brushed him aside with her pipe and shuffled toward a rundown house with familiar steps. The man had no choice but to follow.

Tie Ci also followed. Old Shen’s house was broken down but clean, without any foul odors. The woman lay on the rough wooden board that served as a bed, thin as a skeleton, covered with a tattered quilt leaking cotton stuffing. Seeing Old Shen enter, she said weakly: “…His father, give me a sip of that rice soup…”

The house was low with poor lighting. Her vision was also poor, so she didn’t see clearly who had entered. She struggled to reach for a bowl of rice soup so thin you could see your reflection in it.

Di Yiwei looked at that rice soup and asked Old Shen: “Didn’t I order each of your families to receive a bag of grain? Combined with vegetables from the fields, you should manage basic sustenance. How did she become this emaciated?”

Old Shen rubbed his head, avoiding her gaze: “She… she has diabetes, doesn’t gain weight no matter what she eats…”

Suddenly a young girl loudly said: “Father’s lying! Father made Mother and me eat less, saving it for little brother and himself. I was hungry, so Mother gave me hers, and she became… she became…”

She began crying.

Old Shen flew into a rage, raising his hand to strike: “What nonsense! Looking for a beating!”

Before the slap could land, golden light flashed as the pipe struck hard against his mouth. Old Shen screamed as several large teeth scattered from his mouth.

Di Yiwei’s pipe still pressed against his rapidly swelling mouth, pinning him against the wall: “What did I say when distributing grain? Hmm? You’re a man who can’t support his wife and children, yet you cut their food rations?”

She spoke very slowly and breathlessly, appearing completely without authority, but the pipe was authority enough.

Old Shen tried to speak through his mumbling, and Di Yiwei loosened her grip slightly. Old Shen struggled to say: “Men… laborers… eat more… it’s… tradition… custom…”

“Screw your customs.” Di Yiwei said flatly. “Whoever does more work eats more—that’s the custom. You think I don’t know your wife does all the household work? A male laborer who doesn’t work but wants to eat more isn’t as good as a pig—at least you can slaughter pigs for meat.”

Old Shen remained defiant, mumbling: “Women…”

“What about women?” Di Yiwei pressed him against the wall again with her pipe. “Weren’t you born from a woman? Can your son continue your precious family line without a woman? Or can you breed by yourself? Come on, breed yourself and let me see.”

The pipe slid downward toward Old Shen’s crotch. His legs immediately went weak and he collapsed with a thud.

“Bully your woman again and I’ll turn you into a woman.” Di Yiwei’s tone remained flat as her gaze swept over those present. Many lowered their heads.

Only now did Tie Ci realize that among those who’d been chatting earlier, most were men, and among the children running on the ground, most were boys.

This village had very few girls to begin with.

Was this just this village, prompting Di Yiwei’s specific warning, or was the entire Yongping area like this?

Tie Ci had previously heard that some prefectures in Da Qian had fierce, conservative customs very unfriendly to women. Women being forbidden from ancestral halls or ancestor worship was minor—more often, female infants were directly thrown into chamber pots to drown.

Long-term, this male-female imbalance affected the entire nation’s fortune.

Tie Ci knew this phenomenon had been even more pronounced previously. After she became Crown Princess, women’s status had improved somewhat.

But clearly it wasn’t enough.

She was the Crown Princess herself, yet hadn’t those narcissistic men previously disparaged her behind her back? Hadn’t she faced obstacles at every step, forced to request leaving the capital to seek opportunities?

Only when more outstanding women occupied higher positions and possessed greater voice could Da Qian women’s situation be fundamentally changed.

Di Yiwei withdrew her pipe. Not minding that it had touched Old Shen’s filthy face, she casually wiped it with her sleeve and took another puff.

She turned toward the door, waving for everyone to disperse. As Tie Ci followed behind her, Di Yiwei suddenly said without turning back: “You also listened to the chat. What are your thoughts?”

Before Tie Ci could answer, she said: “Write me a report on what you witnessed today and your future plans. Submit it when we reach Bieshan.”

Her accompanying generals were clearly mostly shocked by this.

This came out of nowhere—listening to a bunch of old farmers’ idle chatter, how did it lead to having thoughts and future plans?

Plans for what?

Where to borrow next year’s rice seeds, or how to stop men from beating their wives?

Tie Ci was also momentarily stunned.

Writing reflection essays now?

But she immediately agreed.

Though the Crown Princess disliked essay writing, it couldn’t stump her.

After all, she was someone who’d fought her way out from a pack of essay-loving Eastern Palace lecturers.

Having assigned homework, Di Yiwei ignored her. The army continued its journey, leaving Tie Ci facing hard-won bald brushes and stinking ink to write her and Di Yiwei’s mutually understood internship reflection.

Author’s Note: Just one update today.