Yun Mu loved eating canned food most. Seeing the white sealed jar being brought up, she immediately put down the pastry in her hands and primly let Huan Niang wipe her mouth, sitting beside Hou Junji to wait for Yun Jiu to open the jar.

“Open it, open it quickly! Don’t you see the girl can’t wait any longer? It looks like it really is something good. The Yun family’s people all have discerning palates—if it weren’t delicious food, the girl definitely wouldn’t be so well-behaved.”

Hou Junji waved his large hand repeatedly, urging them on. The food on the steppe was just those few items—eating them over and over, he’d long lost his appetite. He also wanted to see what exactly was packed in the jar.

Yun Jiu’s face was wreathed in smiles as he lifted the mud seal, removed two layers of lotus leaves, and finally tore off the wax paper. He smelled the contents of the jar—very good, no spoilage—then poured the contents into a very large glass bowl. The bright yellow color was quite pleasing to the eye.

“Peaches? There are peaches at this time?” Hou Junji looked at the glass bowl strangely, but soon started laughing. Over these years, the people of Chang’an had grown quite accustomed to one or two new things appearing from time to time. Hou Junji was used to it too.

Yun Mu struggled down from the soft couch and pattered over to the large bowl of peaches. Very skillfully, she took a fork, speared the peaches into a small glass bowl, filled it completely for Old Hou, and carried it to him with drool dripping.

Old Hou wasn’t polite. Taking the fork, he speared a large piece and stuffed it in his mouth. Indeed not bad—fragrant, sweet, and delicious, just a bit too sweet. He didn’t particularly like it. Seeing the little girl continuously swallowing her saliva and looking at him eagerly, how could he not understand what the little one was thinking? He pushed his bowl in front of the little girl and said, “Come, girl, eat. Your father really—such a pink and tender little one, yet he’s willing to leave her on the steppe. Just a minor concubine, truly spoiled beyond bounds.”

Yun Mu pushed the bowl back to Old Hou and said, “Grandpa Hou, the peaches are so delicious, the apricots are also delicious, the pears are also delicious. This girl doesn’t like eating the grape ones. Grandpa Hou, eat more.”

The girl’s rule-abiding, naive appearance made Old Hou laugh heartily again. He stood up, walked to the large bowl, picked it all up, placed it in front of the girl, patted her head and said, “Good, good. Grandpa Hou will finish this one bowl, and you finish this large bowl. Don’t leave any behind.” Having said this, he picked up his small bowl and ate the peaches, watching the little girl’s reaction.

The little girl filled three small bowls with some peaches, first carrying them to the two family retainers, then to Huan Niang. Pointing at Yun Jiu, she said, “You tricked me out of half a bowl yesterday. I’m not giving you any today.” Yun Jiu’s face immediately darkened, wanting to find a hole to crawl into.

Only after the girl had arranged everyone’s portions did she hug the large bowl and begin eating heartily.

Hou Junji put down his bowl and turned to Huan Niang behind him, saying, “Not bad. The girl has been taught by you to be very proper. Yun Ye should be grateful to you—your merit is considerable. She is, after all, our Han family’s daughter—the proper rules cannot be lacking.”

Huan Niang’s face was full of shame. Bowing down in obeisance, she said, “Duke Hou praises me too highly. The little miss divided the food among everyone not because she understands the rules, but rather to give each person a small bowl to stop everyone’s mouths so she herself could keep the largest portion. It has nothing to do with rules.”

Hou Junji was startled. Looking at everyone’s bowls, indeed—each person had just two peach slices. His own bowl had the most, and the little girl’s large bowl still had a full half remaining. She was currently sprawled at the bowl’s edge, eating with gusto.

This discovery made Hou Junji laugh so hard he swayed back and forth, pointing at the girl and saying intermittently, “Small person, big mind! Small person, big mind! She’s truly the Yun family’s seed. Only a fellow like Yun Ye could produce such a clever and mischievous daughter. I wonder which family’s fine young man in the future will be worthy of such a treasure.”

Hearing Grandpa Hou laughing, the little girl didn’t even lift her head. Right now, eating more peaches was what mattered. She sped up her movements, her little mouth stuffed full.

After Hou Junji finished laughing, Yun Jiu brought Old Hou a large bowl of oil-splashed noodles with several small dishes of jade-green vegetables arranged around it. Just looking at it made one have an appetite. Old Hou came to the Yun family’s pasture to rest and relax. Each time, the Yun family treated him like one of their own. This approach made Old Hou like them from the bottom of his heart. One bowl of noodles was far better than delicacies from land and sea.

Guanzhong people just loved eating noodles. Although rice was planted quite extensively in Guanzhong where there was water, Old Hou was like Cheng Yaojin and Niu Jinda—he just loved eating noodles. Not eating them for one day made him feel wrong all over. Not eating them for a month made him feel life had lost all interest.

“Mm, the pickled vegetables are good—sour, spicy, and delicious. Goes well with food. When I leave, prepare some for me to take. Have the soldiers outside eaten yet? Finish eating early—in a while, we still need to go look at the river mouth.”

“Duke Hou, rest assured. The soldiers have already started eating. The household slaughtered five cattle and ten sheep and sent them over. The women also made some flatbreads, prepared to give to the soldiers to take on the road as dry rations.”

Only after hearing Yun Jiu finish did Hou Junji pick up his bowl to eat. He devoured the meal like a whirlwind, then took the little girl’s hand to stroll around the camp. One old and one young talked most happily. At this moment, there was no way at all to connect this amiable middle-aged man with the demon king who killed people.

The Yun girl rummaged through Hou Junji’s pile of treasures for a long time. Finally, wearing a golden crown, she hopped and skipped back to the tent. Huan Niang was greatly alarmed and knelt before Hou Junji, begging him to take back this gift. This was a royal crown—the little girl wearing it would violate taboos and invite unnecessary trouble.

“In the Western Regions, a hundred men makes one a hero, a thousand men makes one a leader, ten thousand men and one dares call himself king. There are countless such things in the great army. What’s wrong with the girl taking one to play with? Miss Mu is also a noble lady of our Great Tang. Forget a small kingdom’s crown with less than ten thousand people—what of it even if she wore the crowns of those great tribes? Kingdoms like clay chickens and pottery dogs—who would give them a second glance? As long as it doesn’t contradict our Great Tang’s regulations, there are no taboos.”

Hou Junji didn’t care, and the little girl cared even less. One moment she wore that crown, the next she took it off. The bright gems on it sparkled brilliantly in the sunlight. Playing happily, she even made Hou Junji bend down and kissed him on the face, making Old Hou’s laughter even more resounding.

The great army rested for an hour. Seeing the sun tilting west, they broke camp and continued toward their destination. The Flying Tiger banner at the front was blown by the wind with rustling sounds, nearly torn away by the wind.

The mounted knights all held their chests high and heads up, helmets gleaming and armor bright. The cavalry formed row after row of ranks, rumbling like an iron torrent surging forward, rapidly grinding across the verdant earth. The Tang people in the Yun family’s pasture all nodded their heads in praise. The barbarians in the pasture showed even deeper awe, and their tone when speaking to the Tang people became even more humble.

Not long after the great army departed, a bright and melodious herders’ song came from afar: “Chilechuan, beneath the Yin Mountains, the sky is like a dome tent, covering the four wilds. Sky vast and boundless, fields endless and wide, wind blows grass low revealing cattle and sheep.”

With the singing, sheep herds like white clouds surged out from the distant mountains. The bleating sounds could be heard from far away. First came the sheep herds, followed immediately by the mooing cattle herds. Dozens of agile men galloped back and forth between the sheep and cattle herds, constantly driving back those that ran outside the formation. Several mastiffs with huge heads from time to time let out thunderous roars, intimidating the cattle and sheep.

The Yun family didn’t raise large horse herds. Apart from raising several hundred fine horses for their own riding, they absolutely raised no more. This was one of Yun Ye’s prohibitions to Na Rimu. Anything connected with military preparations never had good results. Once you raised horses, you became a key control target of the army. Yun Ye himself was a general—how could he not know what the military was really like?

To put it bluntly, the military was a combination of a group of bandits, just more efficient. Once they said there weren’t enough horses in the army and took horses from your household, would you dare say no? Your family head is a marquis—they’ll give face once, give face twice, but could you expect them to give face every time? Even as commander-in-chief, Hou Junji couldn’t prevent military supply officers from such open and covert seizures. After all, the military supply officers were thinking of the great army.

If they gave money, it wouldn’t be the military anymore. Even if they gave you money, who would dare accept it? Accept money in the afternoon, and that evening your household might be robbed by bandits. Not only would they take others’ property, even the money your family had saved might not be secure.

Only taking grain and supplies without killing people was already a disciplined civilized force. One must know this was the steppe, not Great Tang’s interior. Laws here were worthless. Even under Great Tang’s control, what worked here was still iron and fire.

A fire-red steed emerged from the sheep herd. The red-clad rider wearing a veil lightly tapped the stirrup, and the steed immediately galloped like a ball of fire rolling across the verdant grassland.

Na Rimu had returned. As soon as Yun Mu saw her mother, she ran away with her legs flying, but she couldn’t outrun her tall, long-legged mother. She was caught and held tightly in her mother’s embrace for affection. A strong smell of sheep musk nearly made Yun Mu faint.

Seeing her daughter looking like she was rolling her eyes back, Na Rimu sheepishly released her daughter and lowered her head, continuously sniffing herself. She didn’t smell anything—it was this little girl making a fuss again. She picked her up for another round of cuddling.

“The smell of little sheep, the smell of little sheep! Grandma Huan Niang, come quickly! Mother is going to stink me to death!” Huan Niang came out of the tent and took Yun Mu from Na Rimu’s arms without good humor, pointing at Na Rimu and saying, “A perfectly good Chang’an noble lady you refuse to be—you have to run here to herd sheep. Your whole body reeks of rank odor, yet you still dare say you don’t stink. The Marquis is pitiful—he married a stinky woman. The girl is also pitiful—she has a stinky mother. And these two just happen to both be people with cleanliness obsessions. Who knows what’s good about you that the Marquis spoils you like this.”

This matter couldn’t be discussed. Once discussed, Na Rimu became smug. Among children born to Great Tang’s concubines, she was the only one who could take her child with her. Which concubine’s daughter was called Eldest Miss? Hers was. Yun Mu already had the status of a noble lady. There were records at the Court of Judicial Review and records in the ancestral shrine. She’d heard that in the palace, in the册 for selecting consorts for princes, Eldest Miss Yun Mu’s name was also on the list. This was an honor only legitimate daughters of ducal and marquis families received.

Although separated from her husband by a thousand li, Na Rimu had never felt lonely. It was as if her husband was right beside her, never having left. Every month, a letter would come, and things would be sent over. Her monthly allowance would also be sent from Chang’an. The storeroom was full of coins. What Na Rimu treasured most, however, were these things sent over. She had to count every single silver coin clearly. Some she would even blow on, place by her ear, and listen to the sound of the silver to see if it was real.