A sickly fellow ridiculed by the entire army? I'll be the most beautiful woman in the barracks!

A squad of armored cavalry led the way, guiding a carriage to a stop outside the Black Mountain Pass. Two squads of Zhenbei City Guards surrounded the carriage.

The carriage curtain was suddenly lifted, and a girl with her hair piled on top of her head emerged from the carriage, staring at her surroundings with curious eyes.

"Wow, this is the Black Mountain Pass?"

"Wasn't it said to be dilapidated and with many buildings collapsed?"

The girl who spoke was Li Weiwei. She looked up curiously at the majestic pass in front of her, which was not mostly destroyed as she had heard.

Shen Qingchi and the others also lifted the carriage curtain behind Li Weiwei, got off the carriage, and looked up with curiosity.

At this time, the Black Mountain Pass, which was once ravaged by war, has been repaired in just over ten days. Although it is not yet complete, it has already taken on a new look.

Shen Qingci stared at it for a while, then said with a smile, "Sister Weiwei, didn't you see the traces of fresh soil on the wall? It must have been repaired by my husband recently."

As soon as Shen Qingci finished speaking, Ah Liang's smug laughter came from beside her.

"Haha, Madam guessed right! Ever since we occupied the Black Mountain Pass, we immediately organized emergency repairs."

"Especially after Elder Qin and his team arrived, Elder Qin took full charge of the repair work, which accelerated the progress even further."

"Look, this section of the wall was previously damaged by stones thrown by the Tartars, and it was only completed today after more than ten days of emergency repairs."

"Fortunately, many Tartar prisoners were left behind. The huge stones needed to repair these city walls were all carried by Tartar prisoners as forced laborers."

"In order to speed up the work, we have been constantly making the Tartar prisoners work faster. I heard today that about a hundred prisoners have died from exhaustion in the past ten days."

After listening, Lin Zhiqing and the others nodded with smiles, not feeling that there was anything wrong with a few Tartar prisoners dying from exhaustion. They were even glad that the dead were Tartar prisoners.

"It's fortunate that we have these Tartar prisoners; otherwise, it would have been terrible if our Great Xia people had died!"

Lin Zhiqing turned her head to look outside the pass. On the open ground, there was a long line of people, all of whom were refugees who had come to the Black Mountain Pass with Zhao Daxuan.

Although their clothes were tattered and they looked disheveled after half a day of work.

But everyone's face remained calm, showing no sign of panic or confusion.

Li Shishi and the others followed Lin Zhiqing's gaze and looked at the crowd. They were queuing in front of several bowls of porridge.

Steam rose from the porridge bowl, and the iron pot gurgled. The aroma of rice porridge, carried by the strong winds of the border region, wafted towards the refugees in line, making them swallow their saliva in a frenzy.

Although they were eager to get their rice porridge, they still lined up in an orderly fashion.

Li Shishi and the others walked forward slowly, quietly watching the fireworks display, secretly praising Zhao Daxuan for his effective methods in governing the army and ensuring the safety of the people.

Seeing that Li Shishi and the others were paying attention to the refugee group, Ah Liang smiled and began to explain.

"Following Lord Zhao's orders, we implemented a work-for-relief program. The able-bodied men did manual labor, repairing the city walls and moving sand, while the elderly, women, and children helped with logistical work within their capabilities."

"With over 10,000 Tartar prisoners doing the most arduous labor and over 30,000 refugees doing repairs, the progress is much faster than previously expected."

Ah Liang smiled as he looked at the pass, which had been largely repaired. "It is said that the basic repairs will be completed in another half month. The rest are just some minor details. Then we will no longer be afraid of the Tartar army attacking."

Shen Qingci's eyes lit up upon hearing this; she knew better than anyone the significance of the Black Mountain Pass.

The main reason why the border has been repeatedly invaded by the Tartar army in recent years is the loss of the Black Mountain Pass.

Now, taking advantage of this great opportunity, if we can seize the Black Mountain Pass, and as long as we can complete the repairs of the Black Mountain Pass before the Tartar army clears the official road blocked by falling rocks, we will no longer fear the Tartar army's southward advance.

"That's excellent, but the key is that the repairs must be completed before the Tartars dredge the official road. I wonder how far along their dredging efforts are?"

Shen Qingci had also seen Zhao Daxuan's victory report at Yue Zhenyuan's place and knew a bit about the situation at the front. Therefore, she knew where the key point was and asked the key question directly.

When this question was raised, A Liang's expression immediately turned serious. Shen Qingci, seeing the change in his expression, knew that this matter was probably not simple.

"During this period, the Tartars have been sending more and more people. Fortunately, the official road has limited space and cannot accommodate an unlimited number of people."

"But judging from their current progress, it probably won't be long before they clear the official road again."

Shen Qingci frowned. "Then do you have any ideas?"

Ah Liang shook his head and gave a wry smile, "There's no good solution for now; we can only try to finish the repairs on the pass as soon as possible."

Shen Qingci nodded. Although completing the repair of the pass was the fundamental solution, if the Tartars cleared the official road before the pass was repaired, there would probably be a lot of bloodshed.

Shen Qingci quietly looked at the group in front of her, pondering a solution in her mind, when suddenly a small, thin figure emerged from the crowd.

She was a refugee girl of about five or six years old, with dry, messy hair, and a patched-up short jacket that couldn't hide her thin body.

She came running over timidly with her bare feet, her big, dark eyes looking at the neatly dressed girls with curiosity and restraint, her eyes sparkling with envy.

"These ladies are so beautiful!"

Shen Qingci was slightly taken aback when the little girl interrupted her thoughts, but she was not annoyed.

Seeing the thin little girl, his heart softened, and he took two steps forward to pat her head.

The little girl sensed Shen Qingci's kindness and did not flinch away; instead, she squinted her eyes in enjoyment.

Shen Qingci smiled and took out a handful of fruit candies from her pocket, about five or six pieces.

This was given to them by Zhao Daxuan, who said it was a local specialty he had kept from before.

These fruit candies come in packaging made of a strange material and come in various fruit flavors, including a durian-flavored one.

Shen Qingci initially found the food very unpalatable, almost making her nauseous. If she hadn't been reluctant to waste it, she would have vomited on the spot. But as she ate, she found it quite addictive.

She shared some of these fruit candies with Lin Zhiqing and the other girls, and they were reluctant to eat too many each day, often only having one a day.

Shen Qingci handed over the candy in her hand. The little girl shrank back and looked up at Shen Qingci uncertainly.

When she saw Shen Qingci nod affirmatively, the little girl grinned and took the candies from Shen Qingci's hands.

"Thank you, sister!"

The little girl clumsily tore open the candy wrapper. After opening it, she picked up the fruit candy inside, looked at it curiously, and even smelled it.

Shen Qingci squatted down and asked with a smile, "Little sister, why are you all alone? Where are your parents?"

The little girl timidly put the candy into her mouth, and instantly felt a sweet taste she had never experienced before explode on her tongue. She stared wide-eyed, stunned.

Shen Qingci didn't get a reply from the little girl. She quietly watched the girl's stunned expression and knew very well the shock the little girl was feeling at that moment.

After all, even though she had been raised in luxury since childhood, she had never eaten such delicious candy.

It wasn't until quite a while later that Shen Qingci saw the little girl come back to her senses, and then she asked again.

The little girl finally slowly raised her withered and thin face. There was no crying or grievance in her eyes, only a numbness and calmness that came from having seen through life and death.

They're all dead.