Chapter 85: then translation of chapter title

Meng Chengping clasped his fists and shouted loudly, "Please, Boss Gu, get on the carriage!"

Gu Xixi never liked drawing attention; now a group of villagers stared at her like she was a monkey.

She felt embarrassed and wished she could turn back immediately, "General Meng, could you keep your voice down?"

Gu Xixi's voice was too soft; Meng Chengping didn't hear clearly, so he asked louder, "What did Boss Gu say?"

Gu Xixi took a deep breath to calm herself, "I said, please speak more softly."

She didn't want to stay and keep being stared at, so she quickly got onto the carriage and ducked inside.

Now she felt much more at ease; she no longer bothered to wonder what rumors were spreading about her in the village, and later at home she'd have to face how much curiosity and how many baseless explanations (fabrications).

Let's take it one step at a time.

But just as Gu Xixi settled in, another person followed closely inside.

She looked up, somewhat surprised, "How did you come here?"

Mu Nan Zhao sat opposite her, eyes lowered, nose to heart (a meditative pose), "Oh."

"Oh?" Gu Xixi hadn't yet figured out what he meant when the carriage started moving.

Leaving the village, the official road was wide, and Meng Chengping rode his horse alongside the carriage.

He knocked on the window frame, "Under the seats inside the carriage, pull open the drawer—there's drinking water and dry rations."

Gu Xixi lifted the curtain and blurted out what she'd been holding in, "Isn't secrecy needed for this trip, General Meng? Acting so ostentatiously, aren't you afraid the news will leak before we even start reclaiming the land?"

Meng Chengping laughed loudly; Gu Xixi listened, bewildered—what's so funny?

Then Meng Chengping said, "This whole Northwest region is the General's territory; here, any information the General doesn't want to let out can't even have a fly slip past the brothers at the passes."

He laughed, turning to Gu Xixi, "If we lacked this ability, dragging Boss Gu into this affair—even if Boss Gu nobly agreed—some people would still not consent."

Meng Chengping glanced at Mu Nan Zhao from afar, flashing a meaningful, wicked smile.

Gu Xixi followed his gaze and looked back, her heart skipping a beat, and she unconsciously changed the subject.

"How much wasteland is there inside the passes? Why haven't civilians opened and farmed it?"

Meng Chengping said, "The wasteland we're going to inspect was occupied by the North Separation ten years ago, but three years ago our Great Undertaking produced a capable minister who persuaded the former emperor to support the General's campaign against the North Separation."

"With this capable minister holding court, the Northwest Army's supplies are ample, and the soldiers' pay is issued on time without delay."

"He also gathered many North Separation military secrets and secretly passed them to the General."

"Thanks to his civil counsel and the General's martial prowess, court and field working together, that winter, around this time, the North Separation army suffered a crushing defeat and retreated, while our forces reclaimed those lands."

"Unfortunately, I only joined the army two years ago, so I missed it; all I know is what the General told me."

"However," Meng Chengping chuckled, "the Great Undertaking and the North Separation have had constant skirmishes over the past decade; the Northwest populace has long been terrified. Even if we retake these lands, being still on the frontier, no civilian dares to reclaim them."

Gu Xixi was initially engrossed in listening, but as she listened, she realized something and looked opposite.

"The capable minister General Meng spoke of—could he be sitting right here in the carriage?"

Meng Chengping let out a light laugh, "It's unspoken understanding, unspoken understanding."

Mu Nan Zhao turned his head to look out the window, as if he hadn't heard their conversation.

Gu Xixi gazed at him, unable to articulate her feelings.

This was still the first time she learned about Mu Nan Zhao's past from someone else.

No wonder he put effort into tying himself to the Meng family; with his current status, going straight to see the General might not get him an audience, and could even bring deadly trouble if word leaked.

At that moment, a soldier came to report, having found traces of a cavalry unit ahead.

Meng Chengping told Gu Xixi to lower the curtain, then he spurred his horse forward to investigate.

The carriage interior grew quiet; Gu Xixi whispered, "Sorry, I shouldn't have said that about you after befriending Meng Dangni zi."

After a while, Mu Nan Zhao spoke, "It's not your fault; our positions just differ."

"Actually, back then I wasn't sure either—whether the General, knowing I was alive, would acknowledge me as an old acquaintance, or simply have me bound and handed over."

"If that were the case, you'd have been implicated by me back then, so you owe me nothing."

Gu Xixi fell silent for a moment, "But from what you and General Meng said, that General ought to be an upright, good person."

"People's hearts change easily," Mu Nan Zhao said, "When your circumstances and status shift suddenly, you'll find everything around you has changed."

He lifted his eyes to her, "But I've finally won my gamble."

The sound of horse hooves outside grew from distant to near.

Meng Chengping shouted through the window, "There's a merchant convoy ahead—it's not North Separation people."

"The border line is too long, with mountains and forests; even if the patrol troops are diligent, occasionally a small North Separation cavalry squad sneaks in to scout military intel, loot merchant convoys, and harass the populace."

Gu Xixi said, "I see; then we might run into such people on this trip?"

Meng Chengping replied, "That's why I had Boss Gu ride in the carriage—first to save some stamina, second so we can protect him more easily if danger arises."

Mu Nan Zhao leaned back, arms crossed, eyes closed, resting, "Now you're being quite detailed."

"But before you invited Gu Xixi, you didn't mention a word about this."

Meng Chengping gave an embarrassed laugh, blatantly feigning ignorance, "I forgot."

Anyway, the General only sent him to invite Gu Xixi, telling him to be polite and not forceful.

But they didn't tell him he couldn't conceal even a little bit.

As noon approached, Gu Xixi drank some water and ate two bites of guokui bread.

The carriage had been traveling who knows how long when the braking noise jolted Gu Xixi awake.

"Have we arrived?"

Mu Nan Zhao glanced outside, "I suppose so."

The carriage door curtain was lifted, revealing Meng Chengping's smiling face, "Boss Gu, we've reached our first stop."

Her feet touched the ground again, and Gu Xixi was stunned by the sight before her.

Vast wastelands stretched toward distant mountains; the afternoon sunlight shone on the snow-covered peaks, making them especially magnificent.

After admiring the scenery, Gu Xixi's heart was quickly filled with ecstasy.

"So much land, not sloped, not hilly, but truly flat plains!"

Before coming, she never imagined there would be so much uncultivated land!

Mu Nan Zhao looked at Gu Xixi, a smile hidden in his eyes.

Being this happy, she must truly, truly love farming.

Meng Chengping is outgoing, infected by Gu Xixi's mood, he appeared very cheerful.

"Right, right, when the grand general came up with this idea, I thought it was great!"

"If we plant grain like this, will our Northwest Army still fear going hungry?"

However, the moment he turned his gaze, he discovered Gu Xixi hadn't listened to him at all.

She crouched on the ground, brushed away the snow, grabbed a handful of soil and held it in her palm, staring intently.

Meng Chengping approached puzzledly, "Isn't this just soil? What's there to see?"