Chu Lian shook her head. It was also very hard to transport large amounts of goods into Liangzhou in the bitter cold of the winter. This also exacerbated Liangzhou City’s dire situation.
If not for that, the court wouldn’t have been that anxious upon finding out that the Tuhuns were invading the northern border in winter.
It wasn’t easy to send supplies to the army in the winter in the first place. Now the reinforcements were trapped at the Yueqin Mountains. No wonder the Tuhuns had chosen to attack Liangzhou at this time.
Although Chu Lian was worried, she didn’t have any good ideas for now.
Since money was useless here at the northern border, the first order of business was most likely to solve the problem of transporting goods.
Tang Yan escorted Chu Lian to her designated courtyard before bringing his men over to their own residence.
The prefect of Liangzhou City had been removed from office in the first half of the year. Later on, the position of prefect had been passed down to Great General Qian. There were very few citizens in Liangzhou and most of them were the troops stationed here. Thus, General Qian had ordered the secretary of the infantry, Sir Wu, to take over the responsibilities of the prefect.
As of now, the troops were all stationed in the camp right outside the city. In these extraordinary circumstances, Sir Wu naturally had to return to the camp. Thus, the original estate of Liangzhou’s prefect, the He Estate, had been empty for quite a few months.
General Qian knew perfectly clear what the current state of Liangzhou City’s walls was, because the duty of repairing those broken walls would fall upon the northern border troops every year.
That wall couldn’t even hold up to any enemy attacks right now. Actually, the real border between the Great Wu and the Tuhuns was a single river called the Sula River. The Sula River was the lifeblood of the grass plains of the north. Right now, General Qian was leading the northern border troops in guarding this natural barrier.
Once the Tuhuns passed the Sula River, then it would be the same as opening the doors to Liangzhou for them. The rest of the plains behind were just a wide expanse of flat land.
By then, the Tuhuns would most likely charge right into the Great Wu’s territory. One of the first places in their path was the fishing haven, Tianjing Harbour.
It could be seen how important it was to guard the Sula River.
Chu Lian was helped to a seat on the hearth by Wenlan. The hearth had already been lit by the servants in the estate, so it was nice and warm on top of it. Manager Qin stood in front of her and reported all the news he had been able to dig up about the area.
Chu Lian thanked her lucky stars after listening to his report. She considered them lucky for having brought enough supplies here. She had even brought those household wares that she normally used in the Jing’an Estate. Thus, their party didn’t need to worry about their daily necessities for a while.
She was here under the Empress Dowager’s decree and the scroll was still with her. The supplies were still with her as well. Although there wasn’t much, it was better than nothing. It looked like she had to find a chance to visit the camp of the border troops.
However, it was better to discuss it with Tang Yan within the next two days before deciding on any action.
The northern border was bitterly cold. Although the He Estate was already considered one of the best residences around in Liangzhou City, once she left the warm hearth bed, Chu Lian still felt frozen. Even the two siblings trained in martial arts, Li Xing and Li Yue, were wrapped up like huge balls, let alone Chu Lian.
Chu Lian rested her leg for another two days before she could finally put some weight on it and walk slowly. In the morning, Chu Lian sent someone to bring Tang Yan here.
The people of the Great Wu Dynasty put emphasis on etiquette and appearances. Although Tang Yan was from Shandong, where the people weren’t as strict on upkeep, after staying in the capital for so long, he had long become accustomed to the styles of the capital.
This morning, upon waking up and finding that he had grown a layer of stubble, he had gotten his manservant to bring him a razer and conscientiously shaved it all away. The guards serving him had also taken this chance to shave their facial hair as well.
Once he stepped out of his house, he felt both refreshed and clean, so he was in a very good mood.
On this trip to the north, due to the urgency of the matter, Chu Lian had only brought her two martial arts trained maidservants, Wenqing and Wenlan, with her. Even if they counted the female guard Li Yue in their number, there were just four women in the whole party, including Chu Lian. The remaining servants, regardless of whether they did the sweeping, washing or cooking, were all men.
There were only two door guards in the He Estate, and they were older, wounded soldiers.
Right now, the entire estate was pretty much all male.
Chu Lian had gotten up from bed early in the morning. Tang Yan came early as well. When he saw Wenqing bringing breakfast in, he shamelessly asked Wenqing for his own portion. Chu Lian was a lady after all, so he still wasn’t thickskinned enough to come over and scrounge a meal from her every day. Thus, Tang Yan had specially come at this time to get some breakfast.
How could Chu Lian not see through this foodie’s line of thought?
She didn’t expose him and simply nodded towards Wenqing.
The moment she looked up and noticed the good mood that Tang Yan was in, she was a little surprised, but a moment later, a trace of admiration flashed through her eyes.
Tang Yan was just twenty six this year. He couldn’t quite be compared to the top-notch looks of He Sanlang or Prince Jin, but without them around, his appearance could be considered above average.
His nose bridge was especially high and his eyelashes were thick and dark. He must have specially shaved away his stubble today, so he gave off a clean and gentle feel, making him a little more of a feast for the eyes.
Who didn’t like beautiful things? Chu Lian looked at Tang Yan with pure, innocent admiration. Her eyes turned to Prince Jin’s guards standing not too far behind Tang Yan as well.
