Chapter 671: The Year's End Draws Near

In Xijing's winter, each day grew colder than the last.

Thin icicles hung from the eaves, refracting cold light in the sunshine.

Yet the market was livelier than usual for this time of year.

Thanks to the great victory in Bei Jing and the promotion of energy machinery, this year Chen Dynasty's granaries were abundantly stocked.

The government steadily supplied the market with affordable grain, vegetables, and cloth.

People's faces showed more ease, and their steps in buying New Year goods were calm.

In teahouses and taverns, the most talked-about topics were the recent grand parade and the western movements reported during the parade.

"Have you heard? Over there by the sunlight curtain, the Yuan captives are also forming ranks!"

"Not only forming ranks, that drumming shakes people's hearts even through the barrier!"

"What are we afraid of? Our Mysterious Armor Army isn't vegetarian—haven't you seen the Sovereign and General Yue there?"

"Exactly! We've taken the enemy's lair in Bei Jing—what do we have to fear?"

Amid the discussion, there was worry, but more so a confidence forged by victory.

This is the popular sentiment nurtured over the Chen Dynasty's more than a century of rule.

Inside Huangcheng, however, the atmosphere was starkly different from the festive bustle outside.

A calm yet orderly tension flowed between the Privy Council, the Bureau of Peace and Security, and the Ministry of Works offices.

Qian Gui lifted his head from a pile of secret reports and rubbed his bloodshot eyes.

Intelligence gathering in Huai Xi ran into the expected difficulties.

Refugees were everywhere, forces intertwined—Yuan armies, local strongmen, and various rebel militias locked in a jagged mesh.

To pinpoint a newly emerged "Spark" that might not even have a name yet in this chaos was like finding a needle in a haystack.

Half of the five-day limit had passed, and the pressure weighed like a mountain.

He spread out the latest intelligence summary and drew a circle around the characters "Haozhou Zhongli".

This was currently the most suspicious area.

According to limited feedback, that encampment seemed to have developed some ineffable "order" in recent days.

It was not large-scale fighting or annexation, but a subtler change in ways of survival.

What exactly it was, the informants could not yet discern.

All that was known was that fewer people were starving to death in that camp.

In today's Huai Xi, that in itself was the greatest anomaly.

"Come here."

A black-clad clerk appeared silently at the door.

"Send two more teams to infiltrate Zhongli, focusing on checking the camps……to see if any new "methods" for obtaining food have appeared."

"Pay special attention to whether anyone is teaching refugees to use tools, or engaging in some novel livelihood."

"Yes."

The clerk withdrew.

Qian Gui stared at the small circle on the map.

Spark……

"Who exactly are you?"

In the Ministry of Works' underground laboratory, the lights burned day and night.

Before Zhao Lao Nian's workbench lay twenty newly finished Star Pattern Orders, neatly arranged.

The dark-gold talisman's surface bore silver lines finer and more orderly than any previous batch, like the veins of a living thing.

The final energy circuit calibration was completed.

He exhaled, straightening his stiff waist.

A thousand high-capacity Star Pattern Orders were finished half a day ahead of schedule.

But this was only the first step.

He walked to the other side of the lab, where three metal stands half a person tall were set up, their surfaces etched with more complex patterns.

This is the core of the "Temporary Resonance Station".

They must be secretly transported and installed at three selected points along the light curtain, mutually responding, so that when needed they can briefly stabilize the disturbances at the light curtain's rift, forming a "pinhole channel" for information to pass through.

He had repeatedly verified the technical principle.

What remained was the difficulty and risk of execution.

"Sir, the Privy Council's Premier Zhang sent someone to ask when the station can be dispatched."

The assistant whispered a report from the side.

"Tomorrow at the mao hour."

Zhao Lao Nian's voice was hoarse, yet firm and decisive.

"Have them prepare the escort personnel and route."

"These items are delicate; they cannot withstand violent jolts, nor contact with Yuneng Pollution."

"Understood."

The assistant noted the request and hurried away.

Zhao Lao Nian lightly touched the cold metal base.

The Sovereign would spare no great cost to establish a link with that "Spark".

"Just how important is that "Spark"?"

Martial Academy Northern Drill Ground.

Winter training entered a more brutal stage.

No longer satisfied with disguise and concealment, Yue Fei directly pulled three thousand officers to the snowfield thirty li outside Xijing City.

They conducted antagonistic drills.

In battalion units, they alternated offense and defense within the demarcated area.

There was no fixed script, only vague goals and brutal rules: those "killed" or "captured" immediately withdrew from the drill, and dinner was halved.

On the snowfield, shouts of killing shook the heavens.

Officers fully utilized the terrain, setting traps, flanking, cutting supply lines, and harassing camps.

They applied everything learned from actual combat in Bei Jing, holding nothing back.

Yue Fei, with his personal guard detachment, rode to a high point and calmly observed the battlefield.

Wu Yong and Lin Chong accompanied at the side.

"Chaotic battle reveals true essence." Lin Chong watched the fiercely entangled units on the snow, his eyes showing approval, "Better than drilling dead routines on the drill ground."

"General Yue's method forces them to learn to adapt on the fly." Wu Yong nodded, "On the battlefield, who has time to follow step-by-step procedures?"

Yue Fei did not speak.

His gaze swept over the entire drill area, but in his mind he was simulating another scene.

If…… the opponent is not the familiar Yuan cavalry, nor the steppe tribes.

but rather a force with unknown abilities and unknown organizational form, an "alien force", as the sovereign reminded.

How should they respond?

Initial contact under lack of intelligence.

Probing and counter-probing.

Possible cooperation, or inevitable conflict.

These topics are more complex and important than the present snowfield confrontation.

"Pass the order."

He suddenly spoke.

"Tomorrow's drill, add a segment for 'sudden encounter with unknown force'."

"Each battalion must, within half an hour, devise a three-step strategy of contact, assessment, and response."

"Those who violate orders or whose strategy is clearly unreasonable, the whole unit gets extra training."

The personal guard detachment received the order and left.

Wu Yong and Lin Chong exchanged a glance.

General Yue is putting the sovereign's reminder into practice.

Moreover, it's faster and harsher than they anticipated.

As dusk fell, the snowfield drill ended.

Exhausted officers dragged themselves back to camp, but their eyes were sharper than when they left.

The genuine combat aura has already seeped into their marrow.

Huangcheng, quiet chamber.

Chen Wen listened to Zhang Cheng's brief report.

The Star Pattern Order is complete; the station will depart tomorrow.

The Jingan Office's search is closing in, scope locked onto Haozhou Zhongli.

The winter training of the Lecture Martial Hall has added drills against unknown forces.

Everything is proceeding according to plan.

"The year-end ceremonies and sacrifices are being prepared as usual."

Chen Wen said slowly.

"The scene must be ample, making the people feel safe and festive."

"The attention of court and countryside needs something to attract."

Zhang Cheng understood implicitly.

"I understand. The New Year Grand Ceremony and the folk shehuo will be made lively."

"Furthermore, regarding the venue and outer perimeter security for the 'consolidate the foundation' matter, Wang Ru has preliminarily drafted a plan, to be reported to the sovereign later."

Chen Wen nodded.

"Let her be careful, don't attract attention."

"Okay."

After Zhang Cheng withdrew, Chen Wen walked alone to the window.

Outside the window, the sunset plated the tiles of Xijing with a dim gold-red hue.

In a few days, it will be New Year's Eve.

Families reunite, the time for ancestral worship and staying up for the new year.

And the "great undertaking" he has plotted will also be launched then.

At that time, the consumption of national fortune, causing subtle celestial phenomena, perhaps will be noticed by those with intent.

Therefore, we need a more grand celebration, more lively revelry, to conceal those subtle ripples.

His gaze turned westward.

How is the "Starfire" of Huai Xi now?

Whether it is stubbornly burning in the chaotic world's cold wind, or already extinguished.

How far has the Iron Crow Army accelerated the script's pace, advancing to which step?

Is the crack in the light curtain still expanding?

Countless worries entwine the heart.

But his expression remained calm.

Over the past hundred years, he had long been accustomed to seeking, amidst the tangled and complex situation, that narrowest path which also offered the greatest chance of leading to the future.

Now, the path can be faintly seen.

He need only move forward.

Nightfall silently enveloped Xijing.

Lights in the streets lit up one after another, and the aromas of food and the clamor of children drifted about.

The year's end draws near.

Ordinary families hope for reunion and adequate sustenance.

But deep within this imperial city, some people are making the most meticulous and also most secret preparations for a forthcoming 'ritual' that could affect the nation's fortunes for decades or even centuries to come.

Joy and tension.

Bustle and stillness.

In this ancient capital, they coexist subtly.

Like beneath an ice layer, dark currents have already begun to surge.