Chapter 242

When Wei Shen arrived, it was late morning; the usually leisurely dining hall was rushed, and he had to hurry all the way.

The Great King was pleased; besides the dishes Wei Shen ordered, he added a few more. The food came out quickly, and they had lunch before noon.

Wei Shen glanced at the spread and laughed—nothing but hearty dishes, served in basins.

Braised lamb pot—a huge bowl‑like dish—big chunks of lamb chops and legs, bold and unrestrained.

The grilled fish he ordered was also large, topped with a layer of red chilies; when it arrived, its fierce spicy aroma filled the whole room.

Then the Great King served him a large plate of braised sea cucumber, knowing Wei Shen didn't like it, he thoughtfully had it chopped up for him.

Wei Shen instantly recognized the black plate—his grandfather's table often had it.

The great‑grandson said it was nutritious, so was it a big insect? It was a token of filial piety from the Great King! The obedient Marquis Wei Ting often ate it at home, so when diced Wei Shen could also recognize it.

"Why serve this? I don't like it."

The Great King personally served him a bowl of white rice, then ladled on some scallion‑braised sea cucumber— a deluxe rice bowl, all set.

"This is nutritious—if there's food, eat it. Make the most of time to build up your strength, you're about to follow me to the grasslands to drink the wind! I advise you to cherish it."

Indeed, the rations in Secluded Prefecture won't last many days.

Wei Shen wolfed down his food so fast that, while the Great King watched, he forgot he was even eating.

The Great King rarely lingers over a meal.

"……Are you really that hungry? How long have you gone without food?"

Wei Shen shook his head, swallowed two bites, then replied: "Not exactly starving—just nothing tasty to eat. Besides, I still have a stash of candy. It's because outside is chaotic; our convoy has been watched countless times on the road. If it weren't for the seasoned troops we brought, the goods would be gone."

After eating half‑full, Wei Shen slowed down and began complaining to the Great King about the chaotic situation outside.

He came from the southwest, saying that grain shops open in the latter half of the route were few, and even those still open had shockingly high prices.

With grain prices like that, even the Great Jin struggles to stay stable.

"Your father's campaign doesn't seem to have achieved what he wanted!"

The Great King sighed along, "It's over, you've seen it—looks like we're not doing well. My father wanted to boost morale, but now things feel even more chaotic. Zhu Ti returned from Yan Prefecture and said the city's grain had been requisitioned, leaving the populace panic‑stricken."

Wei Shen sneered, "If we lose, even your Baili family's… rivers and mountains will have to shake."

The Great King, furious, tossed his cleaned‑bone onto Wei Shen's bowl: "How could we lose! Stop spouting nonsense… then why don't you ask why I suddenly want to fight the Xianbei?"

Wei Shen held up two fingers: "Only two reasons. One, they've come south again to provoke you, and you can't tolerate it. Two, they've sent troops northwest to attack your father."

As soon as he said that, even Bai Ze lifted his head to glance at him.

The Great King zoned out, and the lamb chop he'd just snatched was taken by Wei Shen.

The Great King couldn't be bothered to take it back; he deliberately gave Wei Shen a once‑over, saying, "…let's not talk, our Wei family still has deep roots—no wonder we've commanded armies for generations."

Wei Shen happily finished the last lamb chop, then, between bites, objected, "I wouldn't dare compare to your family—your reputation out there is terrible now."

Great King: ……

Humph!

When Wei Shen arrived, the Great King's afternoon military council added him.

Zhang Tu, Zhao Chuan, Ling Yin, Zhu Ti, plus the Vice Commander of the Owl Cavalry, Zhou Ke, held a small meeting, first discussing how many troops to take.

The Great King's idea was to bring only ten thousand; more than ten thousand horses would be impossible.

He worried that ordinary horses would slow their march, while conservatives like Zhang Tu feared that ten thousand would be too few to penetrate Xianbei territory without getting stuck in a tough fight.

According to their estimates, the Eastern Xianbei army sent fifty thousand to the northwest, and there are still a hundred thousand on the grasslands.

Ten thousand versus a hundred thousand is grossly uneven.

This is even with Zhang Tu's group knowing the Great King's cavalry strength.

Even a hundred thousand Great Jin regulars versus a hundred thousand on the grasslands would surely lose, let alone ten thousand.

Zhao Chuan cut straight to the point: "Your Highness, are you planning a feint to ease the Emperor's pressure, or do you truly intend to assault the Eastern Xianbei royal city?"

The Great King countered, "We've also seen with our own eyes how the grasslands oppress us. According to the Secluded Prefecture Gazetteer, half the population died at the hands of the nearest East and West Xianbei. Do we really think marching into the grasslands once will be just a sightseeing trip? I just laughed at my father about this. I want to give the Eastern Xianbei a heavy lesson so they dare not reach out to Secluded Prefecture again."

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New chapter:

After a thorough count of the warhorses, the Black Wind Horse Ranch Base had bred and purchased many; 11,000 mature horses were in training, and there were truly no more.

"Just ten thousand—light cavalry will strike the Eastern Xianbei royal city. The supply corps, Your Majesty, I don't intend to bring too many; they'd slow us down, we need to discuss that. The remaining thousand Black Wind Horses, together with ordinary mounts, will guard the city. And the hundred Owl Cavalry accompanying Zhu Ti on his southern mission will also stay to defend the city." The Great King was uneasy about taking all the Owl Cavalry away; a hundred is scant, but better than nothing.

But this battle is very important; the Great King also doesn't dare to leave a large number of elite troops behind; fortunately, the walls of Youzhou can hold.

After a brief meeting, everyone went their separate ways to prepare; they sent Wei Shen to rest, and the Great King took Lingyin for a stroll to the horse stables at the ranch's base.

Though the ranch is only a hundred mu, it now raises a considerable number of livestock.

The ranch's base is miraculous—scatter alfalfa seeds once, and as long as they aren't cut at the root, they will keep spreading, yielding batch after batch of endless fresh fodder.

Though spring has not yet come to the north, the warhorses in his ranch can still graze on fresh grass.

The Great King muttered to the Black Wind horses, "You're going to suffer—the tender shoots on the northern grassland haven't even sprouted yet, so you'll soon have to follow me and eat dry rations."

Seeing the cattle leisurely grazing in the grass, the Great King told his nearby guards, "Tell Zhuti to pack some dried milk skin in the rations to supplement... what's it called... protein!"

Seeing the fat pigs running all over the ground, the Great King said, "Also bring some dried meat, the salty kind—people can't do without salt!"

Seeing the snow-white flock like clouds, the Great King said, "No need to bring that; it's available on the grassland—I'll just grab it myself!"

Lingyin:...

Upon saying that, the Great King's slight unease vanished instantly, and he began to feel excited.

"Finally it's my turn to go north and raid the Xianbei! For years they've had nothing to eat or drink, so they raid southward! No slaves to work the fields, so they raid southward! Youzhou is basically a slab of fat they keep at their doorstep!"... Until that year it fell completely, half the populace died, and all of Youzhou's wealth went to the Xianbei. The whole commandery had no profit to be made, no hope of turning things around, so they only slowed their southward advance, occasionally coming over to capture some slaves to take back and work.

The Great King had just taken over when things were starting to look up—didn't Qiu Mulling just lead troops to come raid?

One could say that the fief the Great King received ended up so miserable thanks to the Eastern and Western Xianbei. Originally the border commandery wasn't wealthy, but that incident seven or eight years ago completely pushed Youzhou onto the guillotine.

They are picky when capturing slaves; others merely want able-bodied ones, and they kill the useless for fun.

The Great King will never forget how they, outside the city, used livestock ropes to bind his people; that scene remains deeply etched in his heart.