Chapter 816

He He Lingchuan crossed his arms and shook his head: "Nothing is perfect; this is already very good."

He knew better than anyone what level the Yuan army was at. Aside from the core members He He Chunhua brought back from Xiazhou, the rest of the main force he took south had uneven skill levels, and it was their first time working together. By all rights, it would have been good enough if they hadn't collapsed, yet they were able to perform a forced march and still win a battle...

One wonders how much effort He He Chunhua spent to exchange for this decisive blow.

If someone else had led the team, it would have been a miracle for such a force to march urgently from the north to the south and arrive at their destination within seven days, let alone immediately engage in battle.

His old man is indeed talented.

Adapting to the terrain, adapting to the time, adapting to the people... the difficulty of these three increases layer by layer. And He He Chunhua successfully managed to adapt to the people.

Leading that unit to win a battle was much harder than leading the Great Wind Army.

With the main force having won a great victory, one cannot be too critical about a few rebel remnants leaking through.

"Their numbers are not worth worrying about." He Yue smiled and explained to his mother, "This kind of rebel force is just a rabble. They can stand together in times of common hatred if they win a few more battles, but once they suffer a major defeat, they scatter like birds and beasts, making it hard for them to rise again. Tan Tan Xian only has eight hundred men left; even if they aren't wiped out immediately, as long as Father governs Yai Prefecture well, it will be hard for him to cause trouble again."

Regardless of He He Chunhua himself, his level of governance is there for all to see.

He asked the messenger again: "Have you reported the good news to the palace?"

"The General sent others to report it."

"Excellent. Then what are Father's plans next?"

"The General will split the forces to head to Longchuan to continue suppressing the rebels; the foreign guard units within the main force will return north on their own, and the remaining troops will temporarily stay in Yai Prefecture to rest," the messenger replied. "The General intends to govern Yai Prefecture for ten days, then head west, and he asked me to tell the eldest young master that you can set off."

Lady Ying and He Yue looked at He He Lingchuan together: "Head west? Go where?"

"To inspect the Hongya trade route." He He Lingchuan told the truth, "The Hongya trade route is also collateral. I signed for the loan in advance, but I still have to take the Other Rongshan people for a trip."

Of course, he only told a portion of the truth.

The He family welcomed the great good news, and Lady Ying became generous, rewarding the messenger handsomely before letting Steward Wu take him away to rest.

After the meal, the He brothers went for a walk in the garden, uncharacteristically silent for a long time.

He He Lingchuan casually plucked a sprig of wood-scented flowers and tucked it into He Yue's lapel: "Why aren't you speaking?"

In the Yuan capital, both men and women have the habit of wearing flowers in their hair.

"Big Brother, what on earth happened between you and Father?"

Seeing the boy looking worried, He He Lingchuan asked curiously: "Why do you say that?"

"I'm not a child, how could I not see it?" He Yue said with a straight face, "Since you came back this time, the relationship between you and Father is clearly a bit strange."

Of the two sons, only He Yue was loved wholeheartedly by his parents. The original body had always had complaints about this, but He He Lingchuan's heart was as still as water, and he patted his shoulder: "The affairs of the state and family are paramount; nothing else matters. You don't need to let your imagination run wild; everything is fine."

He Yue was displeased: "Father also answered me that 'everything is fine'; don't you think that's strange?"

He He Lingchuan laughed: "Then that means everything is fine, what are you worrying about?" With a few quips, he steered the topic away.

At the fork in the road, he waved to He Yue and returned to his own courtyard.

He Yue watched his back, his face filled with worry.

His father had just won a great victory, which was clearly a huge happy event for both the country and the family, so why did he feel that this family was becoming increasingly ominous? He couldn't see the clues as to what was specifically going on, and worrying in vain was useless.

He He Lingchuan returned to his residence, greeted Qiu Hu, and went into the courtyard to practice his spear technique for a while.

He hadn't practiced for even an hour when the sound of flapping wings came from above.

He looked up and saw a demoiselle crane perched on the peach tree, tilting its head to ask him: "He He Lingchuan?"

This large bird had a black head, red eyes, and long white eyebrows; he found it quite unfamiliar and shouldn't have known it before.

"Who are you?"

"I came from the west to deliver a letter to the one surnamed Liu." The demoiselle crane didn't waste words with him, "Are you He He Lingchuan?"

"Yes." He He Lingchuan reached out to it, "Where is the letter?"

"How can you prove that you are He He Lingchuan?" The demoiselle crane was very professional.

"How do I prove that I am me?" Is there a century-old riddle here too? "Give me a hint?"

"The one surnamed Liu asks you, what did he put in his exclusive storage compartment at Hongyan Tower?"

"..." Sure enough, it was an extremely private question that only He He Lingchuan could answer. Thanks to his good memory, after thinking for a long time, he finally had an impression, "Two bodices. He once had a lover he couldn't forget..."

"Correct!" The demoiselle crane was too lazy to listen to boring human stories; since the secret code matched, it gave the item away, "Your letter, keep it safe!"

It indeed handed He He Lingchuan a letter.

Although it was wrinkled and stuck with two downy feathers, the seal was intact.

"It was very hard to keep!" the large crane said, "It rained the whole way."

"Thank you for your hard work; how about helping me deliver a letter on the return trip?" He He Lingchuan knew that this kind of crane was good at long-distance flight; a few thousand miles was a piece of cake for it.

However, it was exhausted now, keeping its beak open the whole time.

"Fine, fifty taels of silver, eighty jin of high-quality small silver fish, alive! But I have to rest now."

Not expensive; monsters are honest: "Alright, how about I treat you to a big frog feast first?"

"Eh?" There's actually a free big feast to eat? The demoiselle crane nodded, "Yes, yes!"

He He Lingchuan called Qiu Hu over: "Help entertain this friend who has come from afar; please take it to the pond in our courtyard first."

The squirrel on Qiu Hu's shoulder saw the demoiselle crane and zipped into his arms.

He He Lingchuan sighed.

It was truly strange that the squirrel Xiao Cen Qiao actually liked Qiu Hu more than him.

Next, Qiu Hu took this crane monster to drink water and eat.

The He residence now had three beautiful large gardens with lakes and ponds; in the May weather, one could already hear a chorus of frogs.

He He Lingchuan suspected they were actually calling out to curse each other, because it was truly too noisy at night. Especially when a group of frogs started croaking under the window, it was really no different from thunder, making it hard for people to sleep at night.

Lady Ying had complained about it several times and had organized the servants to catch frogs to reduce the noise, but unfortunately, the results were not ideal.

The crane monster wandered by the lakeside as if it had stepped into a buffet restaurant, eating mouthful after mouthful, whether it was insects, frogs, loaches, or snails, it ate with great relish.

It wasn't picky; these were all its favorites.

The natural predator had arrived; the noise in the pond suddenly decreased significantly, and the frogs were in danger, jumping east and west.

While the demoiselle crane was gorging itself, He He Lingchuan also opened the envelope.

Liu Liu Baobao of the Liu Merchant Society in Black Water City said in the letter that strange occurrences were happening frequently in the Panlong Desert.

A desert that had been dry for hundreds of years could not possibly turn into green fields after a few spring rains, but on the shaded sides of the giant sand dunes, grass had begun to grow or small oases had emerged.

(End of chapter)