When the grain was delivered to the Capital Garrison, Song Fu happened to be there with colleagues. Upon seeing him, Lan Yunhe nimbly dismounted from the carriage.

“To be able to purchase so much grain at this time is truly not easy.”

Lan Yunhe said, “I merely did what I could. It’s nothing worth mentioning.”

Song Fu smiled faintly and nodded, saying nothing more.

Within three days, rice prices in the capital had quadrupled. These sixty thousand shi of grain required nearly one hundred thousand taels of silver—even an enormously wealthy clan like the Lan family would likely find it difficult to bear. Not to mention that all this grain was donated in Lan Yunhe’s personal name.

But Song Fu said nothing else. The Song Manor had also sent considerable money and grain this time. Apart from the dowries and personal possessions of the women and children in the household, both the public funds and the clan had contributed substantial amounts. He could understand what Lan Yunhe was thinking.

These scions of great families bore other responsibilities. That they were unable to personally go to the border to protect home and country was already improper—naturally they should exert more effort in other ways.

“If you have no other business, shall we find a tavern for a drink?”

Song Fu extended his hand forward, smiling as he said, “Please.”

The two men found a tavern for a few light drinks before each returning to their respective manors.

Since marrying into the Lan family, Bai Ruizhu had lived with Lan Yunhe in the five-courtyard residence at Guangqu Gate. Because Lan Yunhe’s seniority was high, no one dared say anything about him establishing a separate household. Now with no parents-in-law above and no sisters-in-law below, Bai Ruizhu lived quite comfortably. Although there were several concubines and chamber maids taken in previously, they rarely acted arrogantly before her, so the husband and wife’s relationship was reasonably affectionate.

Today, seeing Lan Yunhe return late, Bai Ruizhu was quite worried.

“Husband didn’t return to the manor for dinner today. I had the servants keep food warm for you. Would you like some now?”

She was seven or eight years younger than Lan Yunhe, and he had always treated her with abundant patience. Hearing these words, he said gently, “Thank you for the trouble, Madam.”

Bai Ruizhu’s face flushed red, her round cheeks showing three parts joy.

The young woman had become increasingly plump and pleasing since marrying into the Lan family. Every time Lan Yunhe saw her, he felt cheerful, his mood broadening by three parts, so he doted on her greatly.

After she brought him the meal, Lan Yunhe drew out a jade chopstick and handed it to Bai Ruizhu. “Keep me company.”

The husband and wife dined together. Before retiring for the night, Bai Ruizhu suddenly took out a packet of silver from a chest.

“This concubine knows that Husband has been complained about by the clan these past days regarding the grain purchase, but this concubine feels Husband did nothing wrong.”

“Ruizhu is young and has been confined to the inner quarters since childhood, so naturally I don’t have the insight of men. But Husband’s recent efforts rushing about for funds—Ruizhu has seen it all. Please take this packet of silver, Husband. Though it’s not much, it represents my heartfelt intention.”

“Though these don’t amount to much, they should at least let others know that we husband and wife are of one heart, that the husband sings and the wife follows.”

Lan Yunhe opened the package and saw it contained two or three thousand taels in banknotes and over ten gold ingots. He couldn’t help but laugh aloud.

“I’m afraid this won’t be enough.”

Lan Yunhe chuckled. “If we want to help the court win this war against Nanqing, I fear even throwing in our entire manor wouldn’t be enough.”

Bai Ruizhu said, “I don’t understand these matters. I only know that whatever decision Husband makes, I will support.”

“Even if I wanted to throw our entire manor into this, you would support it?”

Bai Ruizhu nodded as if it were perfectly natural, then took from the embroidery frame a mostly-completed image of Guanyin.

“This was commissioned by Madam Liang some days ago. She even paid three thousand taels for the labor. Originally I was afraid of losing face for Husband and didn’t want to accept it, but now I feel there’s nothing shameful about this.”

“Accepting this Guanyin image both generates merit and can aid the generals at the Shu River. I thought it most appropriate and agreed.”

Her embroidery skills had been famously excellent when she was still unmarried. If not for this reputation, Madam Lan might not have agreed to the marriage alliance with the Bai family. She just hadn’t imagined she would one day use this skill to earn silver.

“How much income does an ordinary household have in a year? If I accept one embroidery commission and work on it for three to five months, it’s enough for our manor’s expenses for a year. With food, clothing, and necessities maintained, other matters won’t be so difficult.”

“When Dongning is victorious and can rest and recuperate, Husband will always be able to make a comeback.”

Lan Yunhe looked at the solemn image of Guanyin, slightly dazed.

He doted on this young wife abundantly, but if one spoke of romantic love between man and woman, there probably wasn’t much. Yet tonight under this candlelight, watching Bai Ruizhu calculate the manor’s food and clothing word by word, he suddenly felt warmth in his chest.

The man chuckled once, had Bai Ruizhu put away the Guanyin image, then lifted her up himself and placed her on the bed.

“From now on, the manor will be somewhat straitened. I’m afraid we won’t be able to support concubines. If any of them provoke you in the future, just send them away—it will also save a mouth to feed.”

Hearing this, Bai Ruizhu blinked in a daze. In her heart, she knew these words couldn’t be taken as truth, but he treated her differently than before. Though she couldn’t say exactly what had changed, she knew it must be a good thing.

The husband and wife embraced, their harmony surpassing the past a hundredfold.

In the capital, those who held family and country in their hearts like these two were countless. Thus within just a day or two, the court began sending batches of gathered grain and supplies to the Shu River, hoping to arrive before the Nanqing main army.

Although Emperor Wenhui had died, after the court dispatched troops to reinforce the Shu River, they immediately sent word to the border by eight-hundred-li express. But at fastest, this would still take six days. Yet no one knew that these six days far exceeded the limit that the Shu River could hold.

Shen Qianyu’s lips were cracked and dry, showing deep bloody fissures.

He had held firm at the Shu River for twenty-one days. In the first ten days, Shen Qianyu had led fewer than two thousand troops in a surprise attack on the seven thousand elite forces in Qin Rao’s hands. Although they narrowly won one battle due to the element of surprise, afterward they were pushed back step by step by Qin Rao to Qian Prefecture City. Those who came to the Shu River with Jiang Xingjian were all from the capital’s Shenshu Battalion. Although they possessed three hundred firearms, by the eighth day of struggling to hold on, they had exhausted all ammunition and supplies, unable to devise any further solutions.

In the final two days, they suffered countless casualties before finally managing to wait for Jiang Xingjian to return with the marquis manor’s private soldiers.

Though they were called the marquis manor’s private soldiers, they were actually just a group of refugees and bandits that Jiang Xingjian had barely managed to gather together during his time at the Shu River—and there were only slightly over five thousand of them. But for Shen Qianyu at that time, these five thousand men were the ray of hope that could save all of Dongning.

When Jiang Xingjian brought these men, both he and the generals in the city couldn’t conceal the excitement in their hearts. One by one they stood atop the city wall, holding their heads and weeping bitterly.

During those ten days, they lost thousands each day. Those with whom one conversed beneath the moon yesterday might tomorrow perish under Nanqing’s iron cavalry or the enemy nation’s cavalry’s soft bows.

The moment he saw Jiang Xingjian arrive with reinforcements, Shen Qianyu collapsed sitting on the city wall, choking silently, unable to make a sound for a long while.

Wan Xiao lay on his back beside him, wailing and crying together with the soldiers nearby.

One more day and they wouldn’t have been able to hold on.

Wan Xiao had long since stopped thinking about whether they could block Qin Rao outside the Shu River to protect Sun City and Chiyang. What he thought about was only one thing—hoping that the military officers he saw today could still survive until tomorrow.

But just when they finally managed to wait for Jiang Xingjian to bring troops back, and spent over ten days causing heavy casualties to Qin Rao’s forces, they ultimately failed to wait for court reinforcements. Instead, they received news that Nanqing’s new ruler was dispatching troops to the Shu River.