Ask the mountains and rivers

Chapter 178 Congratulations (Part Two)

General Yang was indeed astute and perceptive as he seemed.

Pei Qinghe accepted the letter with a smile and immediately began to read it. Halfway through, she suddenly glanced at Yang Huai with surprise.

Yang Huai was tall, and even when he lowered his head, Pei Qinghe could see the reluctance on his face.

Pei Yan, unaware of what was going on, leaned over to watch the commotion.

Pei Qinghe nimbly put the letter away: "Pei Yan, take General Yang to settle down and rest first." After a pause, she added: "General Yang will stay in Pei Family Village for a few days. Please take care of our distinguished guest for me."

Pei Yan readily agreed and led Yang Huai and his group to settle in.

Peijia Village kept taking in refugees, and houses were constantly being built, but there were never enough people to live in them. During this battle, the wall was breached in several places, and craftsmen were busy rebuilding it.

Pei Yan was quite mischievous. She led Yang Huai and his group to the place where they had been held after being captured, and grinned maliciously, saying, "Young General Yang has lived here for almost half a month, so you should be quite familiar with it."

Yang Huai, seemingly out of nowhere, became angry and glared at her. He snorted and said, "We can settle in ourselves. We won't trouble Miss Pei Yan for the next few days."

“That won’t do,” Pei Yan chimed in. “My cousin Qinghe instructed me to take good care of our distinguished guest. If I leave like this, my cousin Qinghe will definitely blame me.”

Yang Huai was about to speak when Pei Yan rolled her eyes impatiently: "Stop dawdling, are you even a man? Hurry up and go inside and put your luggage down, I'll take you to eat."

She rolled her eyes so hard they were practically pointing to the sky; she didn't take him seriously at all.

Yang Huai should have breathed a sigh of relief, but for some reason, he felt even more frustrated.

Yang Huai entered the room, seething with anger, and threw his bundle onto the couch. The soldiers who accompanied him, not knowing what had gotten into their young general, exchanged bewildered glances.

Yang Huai said coldly, "What are you all standing there for? Hurry up. Also, for the next few days, you all better behave yourselves. If you cause any trouble, Pei Yan won't even need to lift a finger; I'll teach you a lesson first."

The soldiers were sprayed with ash, dared not say a word, threw down their luggage, and quickly left the house.

Pei Yan led everyone to the kitchen and said to Bian Shulan, "Sister-in-law Shulan, they are distinguished guests from the Guangning Army. My cousin Qinghe said to treat them well. Please have someone prepare a special meal for them."

In Peijia Village, meals are cooked in a communal pot. Special meals are reserved for truly distinguished guests.

Bian Shulan glanced at the tall and handsome General Yang, pondering for a moment. Could it be that Pei Qinghe had changed her mind in order to win over the Guangning Army…?

Bian Shulan muttered to herself for a moment, but showed no sign of it on her face. She warmly invited General Yang and his group of more than twenty people to sit down and wait.

There are now more than sixty people in the kitchen. Everyone washes vegetables, cooks rice, boils porridge and braises meat. In less than half an hour, they serve up hot meals.

The aroma wafted through the air, making her mouth water. She leaned closer and asked, "What delicious dishes are we having today?"

Bian Shulan chuckled softly, "We've been eating horse meat for the past few days, and everyone's almost throwing up. Today we slaughtered a few pigs, made braised pork, and fried some meatballs. Would you like some?"

Of course I have to try it.

The braised pork belly, needless to say, was bursting with flavor with every bite. Pei Yan devoured the fist-sized meatballs, one after another, with obvious relish.

Yang Huai glanced at it, then couldn't help but look again: "How come you eat more than me? Don't you have any manners as a girl?"

Pei Yan scoffed, "I eat my own food, how much I eat is none of your business! Besides, whether I look like a young lady or not is none of your concern!" Yang Huai choked on his words, angrily picking up a meatball and stuffing it into his mouth. The more he chewed the meatball, the more fragrant it became, and his pent-up anger gradually dissipated.

The rest of the soldiers buried themselves in their food.

One of them ate while sighing, "Compared to Pei's army, what we eat in the barracks is practically pig swill."

Immediately, someone chimed in with a sense of sympathy: "The cooks in our barracks don't know how to cook at all. It's a miracle if they even manage to get the food cooked. How can they compare to the Pei family's army?"

In Peijia Village, the kitchens are almost entirely staffed by women. These women are clean, meticulous, and skilled cooks; even the large pot meals they prepare are delicious. And when they cook for themselves, the food is even more exquisite.

There's something even more important. Normally, they don't come into contact with respectable women in the military camp. Now, all they see are smiling women. Some are beautiful, some are fair-skinned and dignified, and some are charming and alluring… The soldiers ate while swallowing their saliva.

After a few years in the army, even a sow would be more beautiful than Diao Chan. Not to mention, several of the cooks before us are quite beautiful. I've heard that some of them are actually women from the Pei family.

No wonder the soldiers of the Beiping army were willing to marry into their families. If a woman took a liking to them, they would actually be quite happy to do so…

Yang Huai coughed heavily.

The soldiers reluctantly turned their gaze away and buried themselves in their food.

After the meal, Pei Yan led everyone on a walk around the village.

Yang Huai became increasingly alarmed as he looked around, and couldn't help but ask, "There are many more people in Peijia Village than before, and there are also more warehouses than before."

Pei Yan grinned smugly: "When was the last time you came? It was a year ago. In the past year, the number of refugees who have come to Pei Family Village is countless. We've built several more warehouses to store grain. Our military rations are enough to feed the whole village for a year."

Yang Huai was startled and looked at Pei Yan: "Is this all grain sent by the Shi family?"

Pei Qinghe instructed that they be treated as honored guests, which meant that there was no need to hide anything and the true strength of the Pei family army could be revealed.

Pei Yan said smugly, "The Shi family has been buying military rations for our Pei family army. Also, this spring, our Pei family village had a bumper harvest and collected a lot of grain."

"By the way, how is the Guangning army? Are they short of rations?"

Yang Huai was somewhat annoyed: "We're not short of food for now, but we only have enough for one month's worth."

How can this compare to Pei's army?
The Guangning army doesn't have the full support of a large grain merchant like the Shi family, nor does it cultivate its own fertile land. Their current military rations are all donated by wealthy households. Once those are gone, they'll inevitably have to scramble for more food.

The lack of a stable source of military provisions was General Yang's biggest headache. Gold and silver were easy to plunder, but the gold and silver that were plundered could not be converted into food.

No wonder the Fanyang army wanted to seize Pei's territory. Who wouldn't be envious of the Pei family army living such a good life!

The warehouse door was open, and the shrewd and capable steward, Shi, was counting the gold and silver while working on his abacus. Under Shi's direction, the Dong brothers and Zhou Shi and others were moving the wooden crates in an orderly manner.

Yang Huai's gaze fell on Shi Yan's face. Shi Yan, taking a moment from his busy schedule, looked up and nodded to General Yang.

The bitterness and resentment in Yang Huai's heart quietly faded away.

If he were Miss Pei, he would value Steward Shi just as much.

(End of this chapter)