Chapter 65: “Who Are You?”

Chapter 65 "Who Are You?"

Ruo Lan had only been in Tumochuan for ten days, yet the wheat seedlings that had previously shown signs of withering now brimmed with vitality.

The leaves had regained their emerald green hue, new shoots emerged from the center of the leaves, and they were ready to produce grain. It was clear that if this growth trend continued, these surviving wheat seedlings could still yield a significant amount of grain in one or two months.

Du Gubo and Yu Wentuo personally came to express their gratitude to her, and Ruo Lan stepped out of her tent to greet them.

Yu Wentuo said, "We are deeply grateful to Lord Zhou for bringing agricultural experts to help revive these wheat seedlings. With your assistance, we have avoided punishment from the king. These sheep and dairy products are our prepared gifts of thanks. Please, Lord Zhou, accept them."

Ruo Lan glanced behind them and saw twenty to thirty sheep and seven or eight baskets of dairy products.

The gifts were quite substantial.

She smiled, "You two are too kind. I was sent by the king to save the wheat seedlings, and all this is my duty. I merely did what I should do, and I don't deserve your thanks. I cannot accept these gifts."

Du Gubo and Yu Wentuo exchanged glances and then tried to persuade her a few more times, but Ruo Lan remained unmoved. Her words were gentle, but her attitude was very firm.

What a difficult woman to deal with! They thought.

Since Ruo Lan's arrival, she rose before dawn every day, organized her team, and immediately took people out to inspect the wheat fields as soon as the sky lightened. She also summoned the responsible Bidazhen for questioning.

Many of these Bidazhen were their own confidants, holding only nominal positions without actually managing anything. They stammered and couldn't say a word when questioned by her.

But she didn't get angry; she simply set the matter aside and called someone who knew the situation over for questioning.

With such an attitude, they should feel relieved, but they always had a bad premonition, feeling that this woman must be planning something.

A woman like her, riding horses around every day, they could see that her complexion had become darker and thinner than when she first arrived, but she didn't complain at all. She was busy until dark every day before returning to camp, and didn't rest immediately, lighting a lamp instead and having her subordinates report to her in detail.

They secretly observed that she stayed up until midnight every day.

Such a woman who was not afraid of hardship, not tired, and not greedy for money was very troublesome for them. After all, no one wanted someone who meddled in their affairs at home, but she was sent by the king.

Du Gubo and Yu Wentuo couldn't persuade her and had to give up.

Du Gubo added, "We want to send someone to the royal court to report the situation of the wheat seedlings to the king. Lord Zhou has worked hard for so long, and now that the wheat seedlings have revived, would you like to set off together? They can take care of you on the way."

Ruo Lan's dark eyes calmly looked over, staring at him for a few moments, inexplicably creating pressure. Just as the atmosphere was getting tense, she suddenly smiled, "Is Du Gubo implying that I've stayed in Tumochuan too long and you want to send me away?"

She said it in a joking tone, but Du Gubo and Yu Wentuo didn't dare to take it as a joke.

"This..." he stammered.

"You two can rest assured. I have already sent a letter back to the royal court. I have written about your efforts and hard work these days in the letter, and the king will surely reward you when he knows," Ruo Lan said with a smile.

Had the letter already been sent?

Du Gubo and Yu Wentuo subconsciously glanced at Zhang Zheng not far behind her. He was wearing black light armor, a sword hanging from his waist, his left thumb always pressing on the scabbard, with a sharp glint in his eyes.

This man was very silent and did not directly participate in the wheat seedling matter, usually easy to overlook, but it was his presence that made them very wary.

He brought twenty subordinates, each tall and brave, full of battlefield spirit, each with two horses, all fine steeds, serving as both guards and messengers.

Tumochuan was right under the nose of the royal court...

Unable to persuade her, Du Gubo and Yu Wentuo had to return.

Yu Wentuo came to Du Gubo's tent and dismissed the people around him.

The two men sat on the carpet, and he leaned closer to Du Gubo. "What if this Han woman never leaves us alone? Are you just going to let her dominate us?"

"I don't know either!" Du Gubo's tone was also frustrated.

Clearly, they were the rightful masters of Tumochuan. Previously, the king would issue orders and leave the specifics to them, only caring about the results. But since the woman surnamed Zhou arrived, she has been questioning everything daily, acting more like the master than they do, naturally causing resentment.

Yu Wentuo: "Are you really going to put up with this?"

Du Gubo spread his hands. "What else can I do? Would you dare to kill them off?"

Yu Wentuo glanced at him covertly, thinking Du Gubo was a fool who couldn't see what was coming.

...

After seeing them off, Ruo Lan returned to her tent to continue sorting through the information. She was well aware of their intentions, but she had no intention of leaving anytime soon.

In the future, more land will be reclaimed in Tumochuan, requiring over ten times the labor for farming compared to herding. With the manpower from the Du and Yu Wen tribes, it's impossible to cultivate so much land, so migrating people from outside will be necessary, even though these lands were originally theirs...

——

After many busy days, the wheat fields were finally on track, but Ruo Lan had barely caught her breath when her subordinates reported that the recently improved wheat was having problems again.

Ruo Lan was instantly on guard.

According to the farmer who monitored the fields daily, several plots of wheat seedlings had soft, yellow leaves, new leaves turning black, and rotting without opening.

Ruo Lan quickly summoned the farmer, who replied, "...This seems to be due to overwatering."

"Overwatering..." Ruo Lan mused thoughtfully.

Each plot had different conditions, so Ruo Lan divided them into sections, ordering them to adjust water, weed, loosen soil, and fertilize accordingly... all tailored to the local conditions.

Faced with this, her first thought was that someone was sabotaging from behind the scenes.

After grasping the situation, Ruo Lan dismissed the farmer and called Zhang Zheng over. The two had a confidential talk in the tent for a while, and Zhang Zheng left with his orders.

As midnight approached, with the night quiet and everyone deep in sleep, dozens of dark figures appeared on the open plain.

The earth was pitch black, with only occasional faint moonlight from behind the clouds, making the path underfoot still unclear.

These people moved freely, very familiar with the land, able to walk with their eyes closed.

Zhang Zheng watched as they carried buckets or shouldered poles, continuously drawing water from the river and pouring it generously onto the wheat fields.

He frowned; the situation was clear—it was these Xianbei people causing trouble behind the scenes.

The Liangzhou Imperial Guard beside him touched his sword. "Commander, should we move in and catch them?"

But Zhang Zheng shook his head. "No, let's not alert them yet. Ruo Lan... Lord Zhou instructed us to just observe tonight."

They held back, hiding in the distant grass, watching them work until almost dawn before stopping.

Zhang Zheng and his men, under the cover of night, followed them like silent shadows, trailing them to a cluster of tents.

He roughly identified that this should be where Yu Wentuo's tribe was located.

It was Yu Wentuo causing trouble.

As dawn approached, Zhang Zheng confirmed their identities and then returned to his own camp, reporting everything he saw that night to Ruo Lan.

Upon hearing this, Ruo Lan sneered; she had anticipated that this mission would not go smoothly.

Not daring to openly sabotage her, they resorted to these underhanded tactics behind her back.

Should they directly set a trap and expose them tomorrow night?

This is indeed the most straightforward method, but apart from punishing Yu Wentuo's men, it wouldn't yield significant advantages for her.

Since the other party has made an underhanded maneuver and been caught by her, she must find a way to maximize the benefits from this incident.

Ruo Lan pondered for a moment and came up with an idea.

She said to Zhang Zheng, "At first light, help me invite Tuo Bahuai over, tell him I have matters to discuss. Also, I will write a letter, have your men deliver it quickly to the royal court to the Han Princess, it must be fast."

"Yes."

——

While Ruo Lan was navigating hidden tensions, Jiang Congyan was also busy in the royal court.

Building the workshop entailed countless minor tasks, just the various building materials required a lot. Some of which were in short supply, and she had to discuss with General Modolou how to compensate for the shortages or find replacements, not to mention other miscellaneous tasks.

A couple of days ago, someone's cattle ran onto the construction site of the workshop and trampled the freshly constructed earthen walls. The Xianbei people initially didn't take this seriously, and when Gan Luo sought compensation from them, they acted arrogantly, thinking they could bully the Han people at will, until Jiang Congyan personally intervened.

She only said a single sentence, "Have you seen the scar on Chigan Balie's face?"

The other party was speechless.

Everyone in the royal court knew that the king had punished Chigan Balie on behalf of the Han Princess, just because he had spoken harshly to her.

In the end, the person had to grudgingly offer compensation with some cattle and sheep.

Jiang Congyan distributed the sheep to her subordinates to supplement their provisions, while the cattle were kept for now.

After this incident, everyone saw more clearly the authority of this Han Princess, and those Xianbei people would detour around her workshop when going out to herd.

Besides people, Lingxiao also often came to find her, and when she had a moment of leisure, she would train the eagle outside the tent.

Indeed, it was quite clever; the falconer helped her make a bone whistle, through which Jiang Congyan could issue different commands.

Tuo Baxiao has also been extremely busy recently, as he heard that the Xiongnu and surrounding tribes are restless again. Not long ago, the Murong tribe appointed a new leader, and he is sending people to investigate the situation.

Previously, the leaders of the various Xianbei tribes were decided within their own tribes, whoever was the strongest could take the leader's position. After Tuo Baxiao ascended the throne, the dynamics shifted; although the leaders were still chosen from their tribes, the candidates were decided by him, further increasing his control over the Xianbei tribes, making the previously loose social structure tighter.

The Murong tribe appointed a new leader without seeking his approval first, and Tuo Baxiao was already mildly irritated.

Additionally, Wudati Hou, who fled back to the Xiongnu royal court, upon learning that he had lost three thousand elite soldiers, the Chanyu was furious. Others took the opportunity to incite, urging the Chanyu to raise troops again to the east to diminish Tuo Baxiao's influence, otherwise the tribes on the grassland would only know the Xianbei and not the Xiongnu.

According to the intelligence sent back by scouts, the Xiongnu are indeed showing signs of mobilizing troops.

Whether they are bluffing or really intend to attack the Xianbei, Tuo Baxiao must make appropriate preparations, so he has been frequenting the military camp these days.

Coincidentally, Jiang Congyan's monthly cycle has not ended, and being close at night makes him uncomfortable. He himself is uncomfortable, but he insists on bothering her, making her sleep poorly, which makes her want to kick him out.

Tuo Baxiao is somewhat irritable from holding back; since getting married, he has at most abstained for one day, and the next day he would inevitably be intimate with her. Now, not being able to touch her for six or seven days in a row, he is about to burst.

One day, Tuo Baxiao had breakfast and said before leaving that he would not come over tonight.

Jiang Congyan was only too happy, urging him to leave quickly, which made Tuo Baxiao dissatisfied, and he pinched her face hard.

She covered her squeezed face and glared at him angrily.

"Stop squeezing me!"

The man, like a mischievous kid who’d pulled off a prank, smirked smugly and strode out of the tent.

In the evening, Jiang Congyan finished her dinner alone. She went to the study to handle some matters, rested for a while, then washed up and went to bed.

In the dead of night, the heavy darkness slowly engulfed the earth.

In a small tent beside the main one, a young woman in her late teens sat, dressed in pink. By the light of an oil lamp, she pulled a palm-sized bronze mirror from her sleeve, styled her hair into a neat bun, and tucked in a few freshly picked flowers. She then carefully took out an old box of makeup powder, treating it like a treasure, and gently dusted it on her face. She moistened her lips with water to make them soft and alluring.

After finishing her makeup, she smiled at the mirror, her pretty face glowing with charm.

Her gaze fell on the food box beside her. After a moment’s hesitation, she seemed to make up her mind and picked it up.

She pushed aside the tent flap and stepped out, bumping into a fellow maid returning. Seeing the food box, the maid looked puzzled. "Fei Niang, where are you off to?"

Fei Niang’s face briefly showed discomfort, but she quickly hid it. "A Fei asked me to do something."

The maid was about to ask what was so urgent, but Fei Niang had already left.

Fei Niang glanced at the royal tent in the distance, took a deep breath, and marched straight toward it.

A Long, guarding the door, stopped her as she approached. "What are you up to?"

Fei Niang’s heart skipped a beat, but she kept her composure, smiling. "The princess sent me to bring the king some food."

"The princess sending something to the king? That seemed hard to believe."

But he dared not stop her further and let her in.

Inside the royal tent, Tuo Baxiao was about to undress for a bath when he suddenly heard light footsteps from the outer room. The visitor was a woman.

At first, he was delighted, thinking Jiang Congyan had come, but upon closer listening, he realized the footsteps were different.

Tuo Baxiao paused and turned, only to find an unfamiliar maid standing in the royal tent.

He frowned deeply. "Who are you?"