Chapter 214: First Contact

He then told her what he saw after jumping into the spider cave, specifically omitting the part about committing suicide.

Sun Fuling didn't say a word the whole time, listening carefully, and only spoke after he stopped. "The legend of Zhu Xiuer has existed for a long time, and it's actually true? Looking at it this way, it was also a demon immortal in the distant era."

"Demon immortal?" He Lingchuan thought it was also true. "Right, humans becoming immortals are called immortals, and demons becoming immortals are called demon immortals."

"But it is now constrained by the mountains and marshes, well, at least it had an agreement with the mountains and marshes beforehand not to harm passing humans." Sun Fuling was actually a bit emotional. "Formerly a demon immortal, now just so-so."

"You are very interested in the ancient gods?" This woman was almost unable to eat.

"Just some sighs." Sun Fuling took the fire chopsticks and stirred the stove wood. "Ancient times had many immortals and immortal arts; if we were born in that time, we could ride the clouds and mist and fly out of this prison."

"Prison?" He Lingchuan heard the hidden meaning in her words. "For so many years, Panlongcheng has been as solid as a rock, and has produced a fierce person like General Hong. Are you not optimistic? Actually, the Panlong Wasteland is very large, and some small countries don't even have an area comparable to it."

"Other small countries are not like Panlongcheng, trapped in a desperate situation and having to struggle to survive." Sun Fuling supported her chin with her hand. "The two countries of Baling and Xianyou insist on occupying the Panlong Wasteland, and haven't given up for more than ten years. If only they could coexist peacefully with Panlongcheng."

"This wasteland is a corridor to the Xiluo Nation in the east and the Luhu in the northeast. If they can't take this place, Baling and Xianyou have no way to expand eastward." He Lingchuan dipped some water from the rainwater vat and drew a map on the table. "Luhu is on the upper reaches of the Hongchuan River; taking a boat from here all the way east, you can enter the sea."

"Then why must they expand?"

This stumped He Lingchuan.

Although the world was never peaceful, the reasons for a country's expansion were usually specific and realistic. "Does Miss Sun know?"

"They themselves are constantly being eroded by the northern demon kingdom. Although there have been several counterattacks in between, they still lose more than they win." Sun Fuling also dipped some water and continued to draw upward on He Lingchuan's map. "Like the Baling Nation, four years ago they lost the Honghetai Highlands, and thus lost their most important source of copper and iron mines. Some troops couldn't even replace their rusted weapons. If this goes on, how can that be?"

He Lingchuan wondered, "Their territory was occupied by the demon kingdom, so they came to occupy our territory?" He had never heard of this history in the operas he listened to or the storybooks he read, and even the local history museum didn't record it.

Thinking of this, his heart stirred. Among Sun Fuping's relics was a notebook, which He Chunhua had taken away himself and hadn't shown to his brothers, saying there were too many evil ways in it, and it mainly just recorded various methods Sun Fuping used to find the Great Fang Hu. But was there a possibility that it also collected the specific history of Panlongcheng's past?

"Who made the Xiluo Nation weaker?" Sun Fuling sighed. "The weak will not be sympathized with, only invaded."

"Four years ago, the Baling Nation was defeated in the Battle of Honghetai, and the old national teacher Qian Hang stepped down in disgrace. Shao Yan succeeded him as the new national teacher." She continued, "Baling has three national teachers, and Shao Yan, as a latecomer, had to spend time to stand firm. For the past few years, the battle between Baling and Panlongcheng has been dull and uninteresting; after all, they have been pulling and dragging for more than ten years, and even iron men are tired. Shao Yan probably thought Panlongcheng was already lax in defense, so he suddenly sent Shao Yingyang to lead a large army to attack from the south."

He Lingchuan stared at her. "How do you know so much?" Still that sentence, Miss, you can't even eat enough.

"Every time the Wenxian Hall opens a class, I go to listen. In addition to situation analysis, there are also famous comments, which are thought-provoking." Sun Fuling smiled. "Besides, I also often go to the history museum to borrow books."

He Lingchuan was stunned, and then overjoyed. "There is a history museum here!"

"Yes, it's right next to the Tizhen Office you often go to. I even stood on the history museum building and fed Mr. Zhang."

"Zhang..." That octopus demon who tests talent for people? This thing doesn't seem to be a vegetarian. "You have extra food to feed it?"

"I'm not always this poor." Sun Fuling restrained her smile. "There are five more days until the salary is given, and now I don't have to pay off debts for my brother, so I'll be fine after these few days."

"Then what business does Miss Sun do?"

Sun Fuling raised her head slightly. "I teach at the Shumin Academy."

"So it's a female teacher at the official school, disrespectful, disrespectful." The Shumin Academy had a great reputation, and He Lingchuan had heard the eastern neighbor scolding his brat, saying that other people's children could go to the Shumin Academy, and there was glory on the ancestors' faces. It was named after the big mountain where it originated, and it was originally a township school, formerly known as Shumin Xiang. It was said that Zhong Shengguang personally titled it Shumin Academy last year, and it was renamed from then on.

From this one thing, one could see the huge change in Zhong Shengguang's mentality.

Far away.

In fact, Panlongcheng was mostly the same as other places, with private schools and clan schools everywhere, while the Shumin Academy was an out-and-out official school. It wasn't that any family's children could go to school, and even having money wouldn't get you in.

Similarly, the teacher establishment of a famous school was not easy to enter. Sun Jiayuan's sister had two brushes.

Sun Fuling, as a formal teacher at the Shumin Academy, had a salary that was not to say higher than ordinary residents, but at least there was no problem supporting herself.

"Polite, polite." Sun Fuling turned her head to return the salute.

The water boiled, and He Lingchuan poured a cup for her. "No wonder you are so knowledgeable. In the future, if I have difficult problems, I will ask you for more advice."

"Okay." Sun Fuling took it but didn't drink, as if warming her hands. "Liutiao said you just moved to Panlongcheng not long ago, and you are unfamiliar with the place. If you don't understand anything in the future, you can ask me directly." After saying that, she stood up to say goodbye. "It's late, so I won't bother you anymore. Rest early."

She left He Lingchuan's small courtyard and closed the door behind her.

This Miss Sun walks so fast, does she have to catch the class bell every day to go to the academy? He Lingchuan picked up the hot water that was refused and drank it in one gulp.

￥￥￥￥￥

Once the two teams of the Ceying Army and the Songyang Mansion merged, they became even larger, and with the addition of Yuan power, no demons or bandits dared to block the way. The subsequent journey was very peaceful.

The next day, the Ceying Army arrived at Ruxian, which was only a step away from the Xiazhou territory.

He Chunhua couldn't hold back, and during the march, he cleared two demon nests and bandit dens that were causing trouble.

The Ceying Army had walked all the way here from the Heishuicheng, experiencing major and minor battles, and their mental outlook was completely different from when they set out. Because of the existence of natural moats like the Panlong Desert, the border line had actually been quite peaceful in recent years. The main task of the Heishuicheng army on weekdays was to fight sand bandits and patrol the Red Cliff Road, and there were not many opportunities for regular actual combat.

However, an army is like a weapon; the more it is polished, the sharper it will be.

Although He Lingchuan didn't think this team could be mentioned in the same breath as the Great Wind Army, let alone compared to the Panlongcheng Patrol Army, Mo Zhejingxuan and Wu Shaoyi now rated it very highly, the original words being "can resist the royal army without being inferior, it's just a pity that the number of people is small."

He Lingchuan didn't think they were purely flattering. Walking thousands of miles by water and land, he also witnessed the current situation of the Great Yuan Nation's military equipment being abandoned and military discipline being loose.

Especially as his experience grew, he found that even the official army, whether local or central, had combat power that was really not worth complimenting.

No wonder Hong Xiangqian led a group of peasant rebel armies and was able to beat the government troops back step by step, and even the Woling Pass was occupied, tiring Shi Huan and the capital to report danger frequently.

Frozen three feet, not a day's cold.

Winning consecutive victories in suppressing bandits and demons certainly boosted morale, but He Chunhua's mood did not improve at all, because judging from the situation along the way that was getting worse the further north he went, the people's livelihood in Xiazhou was withered, demons were causing trouble, and bandits were rampant, which was probably much more serious than in the south! From now on, that place was his territory.

His own territory was full of trouble, which leader could be happy? That day, the team walked to Ruxian and stopped there for supplies. From here, walking north for less than fifteen hours, one could reach the capital, Dunyu.

The arduous long march was finally about to reach its destination. Lady Ying was in a great mood, washed away the dust of the journey at the post station, changed into a brocade dress, and tidied up her makeup. She felt radiant in the mirror before walking out.

But there were only two sons, a monkey, and two wolves roasting fire in the lounge, and her husband was nowhere to be seen.

In just this short time, she had only groomed for less than an hour! Lady Ying's expression suddenly turned from sunny to cloudy. "Where is your father? Don't tell me he went to find the Marquis of Songyang again!"

He Chunhua rarely discussed government affairs with his wife, but he had been chatting happily with the Marquis of Songyang all the way north, as if they had met too late. Lady Ying was furious, but her husband was talking about serious matters with others, either about the northern situation or the cooperation between the He family and the Songyang Mansion, and she couldn't say anything.

Every time they talked about something interesting, He Chunhua laughed heartily, and Lady Ying was so angry that her teeth itched. The day before yesterday, her husband even sent someone to send silver silk charcoal to that woman, how thoughtful! This man and woman were chatting more and more harmoniously, and in the end, would they just naturally clap together?

Her voice suddenly rose, He Yue was startled, and He Lingchuan said lazily, "Mother, calm down, Father went to the county government office to do serious business."

Lady Ying was suspicious. "Really?"

"It's true." He Yue chimed in, "Father went with a straight face."

Lady Ying was embarrassed. "Is that so?"

It was good that her husband wasn't looking for a woman.

He Lingchuan put his long legs on the low table. "Father is now full of thoughts about rectifying government and military affairs."

Of course, he only said half of it; a wandering heart didn't conflict with serious business at all; men always had two heads.

In the previous few times of fighting demons and bandits, He Chunhua treated it as training troops, sending several generals under his command to take turns leading troops, and even He Yue had a good time, while only He Lingchuan was comfortable from beginning to end.

When did he become his father's ox knife? "Actually, Mother, the one you least need to worry about is the Marquis of Songyang."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 215 =====

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