Love Lock

Chapter 39 Harassing the Border
"The reinforcements from Yong'an City are indeed very powerful and strange. Not only did they rescue Zhao Zun single-handedly, but they also used peanuts as weapons. This..."

Ashina's gaze softened with caution. He knew that this enemy was no ordinary foe, and the consequences of engaging him in battle were unpredictable.

"I wonder who exactly these reinforcements from Yong'an City are?" Princess Yujia murmured to herself, her gaze lingering on the map beside her. She recalled Albu's panicked and disoriented appearance when he returned with his troops, and her heart was filled with doubt and unease.

Seeing this, Ashina gently comforted her, "Yujia, we don't need to worry too much. Although the reinforcements from Yong'an City are strong, we also have our own advantages. As long as we can unite as one and formulate a thorough plan, we may be able to fight them when our troops are strong and well-equipped in the future."

Upon hearing this, a glimmer of hope suddenly flashed in Yu Jia's eyes. After a moment's thought, she said, "Father Khan, although we cannot fight now, I have a plan. I wonder if it will be of any use?"

"Oh? Tell me about it." Ashina's eyes lit up, and his whole body was filled with fighting spirit again.

"Father Khan. Yong'an City has a long border, and Cao Xiong has only just taken over Beiguan and hasn't fully established himself yet. Why don't we take advantage of this and send cavalry to harass Yong'an City's border, constantly depleting Cao Xiong's troops and supplies without engaging him in direct combat, and avoiding encountering his powerful reinforcements? In this way, we can keep Cao Xiong busy and expose his strength, while also buying us more time to recuperate. Most importantly, we need to drag this out until Ala and Meng Kingdom also send troops at the same time before we can easily take Yong'an City."

"Yes! This plan is brilliant."

Ashina nodded slightly upon hearing this, a hint of approval flashing in his eyes. His daughter not only inherited the bravery and wisdom of the people of the grasslands, but also possessed a shrewd and strategic mind.

Inside the tent, the father and daughter smiled at each other, both feeling reassured.

………This is a lazy dividing line………

Han Lei has a lot to do today, as she's leaving Qingshui County to return to the capital tomorrow.

She first silently took out ten finely crafted, gleaming crossbow bolts from her personal secret space and handed them to Zhao Zun, instructing him to take a few agile guards and go deep into the mountains to hunt some game to improve their meals.

Although crossbows existed in this era, they were far less sharp and sophisticated than the ones she provided, and their accuracy was leagues behind.

Hunting in the mountains was something Zhao Zun and his guards were particularly skilled at and enjoyed. After studying the exquisite crossbows for a while, they all happily went into the mountains.

On their way to Qingshui County, all the guards had heard Xiao Zhengfei talk about how mysterious and powerful Han Lei was, and they had also been told about their master's feelings for Han Lei. So, everyone was very tactful. They asked what they should ask, but didn't say a word about what they shouldn't.

Afterwards, Han Lei led Luo Hai and the wounded soldiers on a routine tour, checking the progress of the work in each area.

Han Lei has already instructed Uncle Wang to stop recruiting people for the wasteland. In just a few days, the team here has grown to more than 300 people.

All five thatched huts for rest and meals were completed, and the newly built stoves were ready for use. Han Lei named them the "Meal Crew" and selected people from among the women and children to provide three meals a day for everyone.

For the past few days, they've been eating nothing but steamed buns and drinking water from their water bags. Once the mess hall is up and running, they'll not only have hot water to drink, but their meals will also improve significantly, and they'll be able to rest briefly in the thatched huts.

After all, you have to feed a horse to make it run fast. Without proper food, how can it have the strength to work? And Han Lei can't always buy enough food for so many people from the system. Therefore, the most urgent task is to get the food service group up and running.

The waterwheel by the stream has been completed and will be ready for use once the ditches are dug and it is installed.

The pig farm is currently under construction, with pigsties and warehouses being built. Six septic tanks have been dug, and once the workers have free time, they can apply cement to the edges of the tanks. Han Lei has requested that the entire pig farm be constructed entirely of cement. The stones salvaged from the wasteland are being used to build the perimeter wall around the wasteland.

Luo Hai and his men from the yamen were busy registering and compiling records. Han Lei had purchased several hundred small, exquisite stainless steel ID tags from the system. Once the wall surrounding the wasteland was built, everyone entering and exiting would need to show their ID tags to prevent unscrupulous individuals from sneaking in. Fortunately, the weather had been cooperative these past few days, with warm sunshine, and all the projects were proceeding smoothly. With Luo Hai overseeing things, after having lunch of steamed buns, Han Lei and Zhao Zun, along with two bodyguards, returned to the restaurant first. She needed to check on how well the restaurant chefs had learned the dishes from the past two days.

Han Lei's planned restaurant will only sell four main dishes: twice-cooked pork, braised pork with potatoes, shredded pork with garlic sauce, and braised dishes. Lean meat will be used for hot dishes, while the braised cold dishes will consist of pig's head meat and offal.

The packaged seasonings Han Lei bought from the system were all pre-quantified and flavored. She used one packet of seasoning for each dish, ensuring that the taste of each dish would be consistent and that the cooking speed was fast enough to conquer the palates of those ancient people.

The night is falling and the sky is dotted with stars.

Horse-drawn carriages lined the street in front of the restaurant, and the workers who had been working on the wasteland were gradually returning. Several large wooden barrels were lined up in front of the restaurant, filled with wild game soup, pork stew, and white rice.

These delicious dishes will be everyone's dinner tonight.

As the long line of workers slowly approached, their eyes lit up with surprise when they saw the large wooden barrels placed in prominent positions.

The wooden bucket was filled to the brim with fragrant fresh meat, each piece cut perfectly, with alternating layers of fat and lean meat, making it incredibly tempting.

"Ah, it's meat."

"My God! There's meat in it!"

"Is all of that meat?"

"I want to eat, I want to eat meat."

"Wow, so much meat! Is all of that for us to eat?"

"I didn't eat meat until last year's Chinese New Year."

"I haven't eaten meat in a long time."

"Ah~ah~"

……

This unexpected joy caused the workers to burst into excited exclamations. Regardless of age or gender, their faces were filled with satisfied and happy smiles.

The crowd behind them began to stir. Some people made slurping noises and pushed forward desperately, some squatted on the ground and wept with joy, and some even knelt down with a thud and kowtowed repeatedly to Han Lei and Zhao Zun who were standing on the steps.

"Everyone, don't push, don't push. Line up, everyone line up, everyone gets some." Han Lei waved the spatula in her hand, her eyes instantly reddening.

Thank you all for your support! I'm releasing two chapters today, one at noon and two in the evening. If you have any monthly tickets, please give me a boost! Thank you!
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(End of this chapter)