You put me in charge of the prison and turned all the female prisoners into female military goddesse

"what?"

Lu Jing seemed to suddenly not understand what was being said, his face showing astonishment.

"Sir, please don't misunderstand!"

Wen Lanxiang quickly explained, "It's a fake marriage."

"What exactly happened?" Lu Jing frowned.

"According to the custom in my hometown, people my age must get married. If they don't, the gods will curse them."

Wen Lanxiang sighed: "So it is..."

"Could you have a fake marriage with me, and then divorce me after a year?"

"this……"

Lu Jing scratched his head and said, "Let me think about it, I'll give you an answer later."

"good!"

Wen Lanxiang stood up, bowed with her hands clasped, and said, "I won't rush you, sir. I'll wait for your news."

After saying that, she walked out.

Lu Jing watched her leave and sighed helplessly.

"Good heavens, what kind of mess is this? They actually want a fake marriage..."

With his mind in a complete mess, Lu Jing simply went to wash up and go to sleep.

Silent all night.

The next morning, Lu Jing got up early.

Walk through the courtyard towards the front yard of the Flying Cavalry Camp.

He walked slowly today, and on the way he met two soldiers changing shifts who nodded to him.

He nodded in response, but his mind was still racing with the routes drawn on those maps.

Clearing the road requires manpower, repairing the kiln requires timber, and moving things requires carts; Fang Shengtian is indispensable for all three.

Fang Shengtian was squatting on the porch in the front yard, sharpening a knife. When he saw Lu Jing walking over, he didn't stop what he was doing, only raising his eyelids slightly.

"Brother Lu, you're here to see me so early in the morning, it can't be anything good."

Lu Jing didn't stand on ceremony, squatted down next to him, and casually picked up a whetstone from the ground, weighing it in her hand:

"Lend me two old cars and five soldiers to help me clear the road for two days."

Fang Shengtian stopped holding the knife and glanced at Lu Jing. "Are you moving?"

"What moving house? We're just setting up a training ground outside the city. The location is a bit remote, and the roads are difficult to travel, so we need to tidy it up." Lu Jing put the millstone back on the ground, dusted off his hands, and asked, "Will you lend it to me?"

Fang Shengtian flipped the knife over and continued sharpening it, sharpening it a couple more times before speaking:

"The cart is in the warehouse. It's a bit old, but the wheels still turn. Just tell Sun Rendi. As for the people..."

He paused, the blade gliding across the whetstone in a thin, bright arc.

"I'll lend you the man, but on one condition: once your training ground is set up, I have to go and take a look."

Lu Jing smiled and said, "Okay, I'll invite you to the ribbon-cutting ceremony then."

Fang Shengtian didn't understand what "ribbon-cutting" meant.

But seeing Lu Jing's nonchalant smile, he didn't press the matter. He just smiled awkwardly and waved for him to go quickly.

Borrowing the car went even more smoothly than Lu Jing had imagined.

Upon hearing that Fang Shengtian had given his approval, Sun Rendi dragged out two old, covered carts from the corner of the warehouse without saying a word.

At the same time, he also slipped a roll of hemp rope over, saying:

"The wheels are a bit stiff, let's put some oil on them when we get back."

Lu Jing thanked them and drove the car back to the gate of the side courtyard. The courtyard was already bustling with activity.

Ji Tangtang was squatting by the well, applying pine resin to a strip of cloth, when he saw two carts stop at the door. He immediately threw down the cloth and ran over.

He walked around the truck twice, then reached out and pressed on the floor: "This truck can haul grain?"

"It can be pulled, but the wheels make a noise." Lu Jing patted the shaft. "I'll just tie some strips of cloth to the axle holes later and it'll be fine."

Mu Jiangli peeked halfway out from under the eaves, glanced at the carriage, then at Lu Jing: "Lord Lu, you've borrowed the carriage, so where are the road clearers? Are we the only ones going to pull weeds?"

"Fang Shengtian has borrowed five soldiers; they will arrive this afternoon."

Mu Jiangli said "Oh" and shrank back down into the corridor.

Ji Tangtang was still studying the wheels, poking the axle seam with his finger, then sniffing it, saying, "This oil smell is strong enough, I'll have to wash it later."

It was just past 1 p.m. in the afternoon.

Five Flying Cavalry soldiers appeared at the gate of the side courtyard, carrying iron shovels and sickles. The leader was a round-faced man who looked honest, but his words were anything but:

"Captain Lu, Boss Fang asked us to come and help. Just tell us what to do."

Without wasting words, Lu Jing led his men out of the southwest corner gate and onto the newly discovered dirt road.

He pointed to the waist-high weeds on the road and said, "Starting from here, clear them all the way to those willow trees ahead, widen the road by two feet, fill in the potholes, and dig up all the grass roots."

The round-faced man glanced at the road, then at the sickle in his hand, and grinned:

"It's not a big job; we can finish it before dark."

"Uh-huh!"

The five soldiers spread out and each occupied a section, swinging their sickles, causing the grass stalks to fall down with a rustling sound.

The sound of shoveling soil with a shovel was mixed with occasional laughter.

Ji Tangtang squatted by the roadside for a while and couldn't stay still, so he broke off a branch and went over to help pok at the cracks in the soil.

A soldier nearby laughed and shooed her away, saying, "Young lady, you're not strong enough. Don't hurt your back."

Ji Tangtang, unconvinced, put his hands on his hips and said, "You haven't seen me carrying logs yet."

The man smiled but didn't say anything more, yet the iron shovel in his hand moved even faster.

Lu Jing did not participate in clearing the road. He walked along the dirt road deeper into the area until he reached the abandoned charcoal kilns. He squatted down and carefully examined the adobe bricks at the kiln entrances.

The cracks on the kiln wall seemed a little bigger than when I last saw it, but the overall structure was still stable.

The dome overhead was free of crumbling, and the dust on the ground had been thinned by the wind.

The hardened soil underneath, blackened from being baked by fire, was exposed.

He stood up and walked around the largest charcoal kiln.

A faint rut was found on the earthen slope behind the kiln.

It extends down the slope and disappears into the weeds.

Lu Jing squatted down and parted the grass with his hands. The tire tracks were old, and the edges had been smoothed by the rain.

But the track is clear, and the width is just enough for a flatbed cart to pass through.

He walked about twenty paces along the ruts and stopped behind a clump of low brambles.

Behind the thorns, a section of iron, badly rusted, was exposed, buried in the soil.

However, the outline is still recognizable; it is a metal fragment of some kind of agricultural tool, resembling a broken pickaxe.

Lu Jing reached out, pinched the fragment, and pulled it. The soil loosened, and the metal piece came out easily.

He flipped it over, and the clods of dirt on it fell off, revealing a line of small characters engraved on the iron surface. The strokes were faint, but still legible: "Made by the government in the seventh year of Yuanxi."

The seventh year of Yuanxi, that was the reign title sixty years ago.

This pickaxe has been here for at least sixty years.

This indicates that this road and these kilns were used by government officials back then.

Lu Jing turned the piece of iron over and over twice, then put it in his pocket and stood up.

He patted the rust off his hands, glanced back at the kilns, and had a vague idea in mind, but it hadn't taken shape yet, so he put it aside for now.

When he returned to the road clearing site, the road had already been cleared more than halfway.

The five soldiers worked in perfect coordination, taking turns wielding sickles and shovels, and stacking hay neatly by the roadside.

Ji Tangtang somehow got hold of a bunch of wild scallions and squatted by the roadside picking them. Ye Qingqing sat next to her drinking water, and the two chatted casually.

Lu Jing walked over, took a wild scallion from Ji Tangtang's hand, popped it into his mouth, and chewed it. It was a bit spicy, but fresh and crisp. "Where did you pick this scallion?"

"There's a whole lot over there, Lord Lu. Would you like some? I'll pick a lot to fry with eggs later."

"Okay, pull out more."

He took the piece of metal out of his pocket, looked at it again, and then put it back in his pocket.

This was made in the seventh year of the Yuanxi era by the government. It was something that hadn't been touched for sixty years, but he dug it up today.

He wasn't sure if this counted as a lucky charm, but it at least showed that someone had used this place before, and quite seriously at that.

As the sun began to set, the road was cleared, and the five soldiers packed up their tools and headed back.

Before leaving, the round-faced man gave Lu Jing a thumbs-up: "Captain Lu, if there's any work tomorrow, just let me know."

Lu Jing thanked them and only turned back to the side courtyard after they had walked away.

Ji Tangtang had already washed the wild scallions and placed them on the kitchen counter. He was arguing with Mu Jiangli about whether to fry the eggs first or the cured meat first.

Lu Jing walked past the kitchen door, not participating in their argument, intending to go to the pear tree in the backyard to pick a few pears to quench her thirst.

But before he reached the backyard, he heard someone calling him from behind.

"Lord Lu."

"Um?"

Lu Jing turned around and saw that it was Qin Liniang.

"What's wrong?"

He slowed his pace and waited for Qin Liniang to catch up.

"grown ups……"

Qin Liniang acted awkwardly, and Lu Jing frowned.

"Just say what you have to say. I hate it when people beat around the bush."

"I'll talk, I'll talk..."

Qin Liniang suddenly raised her head, looked at Lu Jing, swallowed hard, and asked, "Will you marry Wen Lanxiang?"