She Came to Heal, Stayed to Conquer

"The reinforcements from Yong’an City are indeed powerful and mysterious. Not only did they rescue Zhao Zun single-handedly, but they also used peanuts as weapons, this..."

Ashina’s eyes expressed a hint of caution. He knew that such enemies were by no means ordinary, and once engaged in battle, the consequences would be unpredictable.

"I wonder who exactly are these mysterious reinforcements from Yong’an City?" Princess Yujia muttered to herself, her eyes wandering over the map beside her. She recalled Albu’s panicked state when he retreated and returned, filled with doubt and unease.

Seeing this, Ashina comforted her softly, "Yujia, we need not worry too much. Although the reinforcements from Yong’an City are formidable, we also have our advantages. As long as we unite, devise a thorough plan, and wait until we are strong, there is no reason we cannot fight them."

Upon hearing this, a glimmer of hope appeared in Yujia’s eyes. After pondering for a moment, she said, "Father Khan, although we cannot fight now, I do have a plan that might work."

"Oh? Let’s hear it." Ashina’s eyes lit up, filled with a renewed fighting spirit.

"Father Khan, the borders of Yong’an City are extensive, and Cao Xiong has just taken over Beiguan, not yet fully established. Why not take advantage of this by sending out cavalry to harass the borders of Yong’an City continually, depleting Cao Xiong’s forces and resources without engaging him directly? This way, we can keep Cao Xiong busy, expose his strength, and buy more time for us to recuperate. Most importantly, we must drag it out until Ala and Meng Country also send troops; only then can we easily capture Yong’an City."

"Hmm! This strategy is excellent."

Listening to this, Ashina nodded slightly, a glint of approval in his eyes. His daughter not only inherited the bravery and wisdom of the sons and daughters of the steppe but also possessed a mind adept at strategy.

Inside the tent, the father and daughter exchanged a knowing smile, reassuring each other.

...... I am a lazy dividing line ......

Tomorrow, they were to leave Qingshui County and return to the Capital City, and Han Lei had especially many tasks to complete today.

She quietly retrieved from her mysterious space ten finely crafted, cold-shimmering crossbow arrows and handed them to Zhao Zun, instructing him to take a few agile trusted aides into the mountains to hunt some game and improve their meals.

Although this era had crossbow arrows, none were as sharp and exquisite as those she provided, and their accuracy was unmatched.

Going hunting in the mountains was something Zhao Zun and his trusted aides were particularly good at and enjoyed. After examining the delicate crossbow arrows, they happily went into the mountains.

All the trusted aides had heard Xiao Zhengfei speak of Han Lei’s mysterious strength on the way to Qingshui County and were aware of their Prince’s thoughts towards Han Lei, so everyone was very discreet. They asked what should be asked and refrained from mentioning what should not.

Later, Han Lei led Luo Hai and the wounded on a routine check of the progress at various sites.

Han Lei had Mr Wang stop recruiting hands for the wasteland area. Within a few days, the team had grown to over three hundred people.

The five grass shelters for rest and dining were fully completed, and the newly built stoves were usable. Han Lei named it the Dining Group, selecting people from among the women and children specifically to provide three meals for everyone.

Over these days, they had been eating bread and drinking water from canteens. Once the Dining Group started functioning, they would have not only hot water to drink but also significantly better meals and a place to rest briefly in the grass shelters.

After all, to make the horse run fast, you have to let it eat grass. If the meals are not good, where will the energy for work come from? Han Lei couldn’t continuously buy enough food for so many people from the system. Therefore, the urgent task was to get the Dining Group up and running.

The waterwheel by the stream had been assembled, and once the channels were dug and installed, it could be used.

The pig farm was busy constructing pigsties and warehouses. Six cesspools had been dug, and once the craftsmen were available, they could cement the edges of the cesspools. Han Lei demanded that the entire pig farm be constructed with cement, and all the stones collected from the wasteland were used to build the surrounding walls.

Luo Hai, with help from the government office, was busy with registration and record-keeping. Han Lei purchased hundreds of stainless steel identity tags from the system, small and delicate. Once the walls around the wasteland were built, everyone entering or leaving had to show their identity tags to prevent ill-intentioned people from sneaking in.

Fortunately, the weather had been favorable with bright sunshine, so all projects were progressing in an orderly fashion. With Luo Hai overseeing things here, after munching on some bread at noon, Han Lei and Zhao Zun, accompanied by two trusted aides, returned to the restaurant first. She needed to check how well the chefs had learned the dishes over the past two days.

Han Lei planned for the restaurant to offer only four main dishes: twice-cooked pork, braised pork with potatoes, fish-flavored shredded pork, and marinated dishes. Lean meat was for hot dishes, while the marinated cold dishes included pig head meat and pig offal.

She purchased pre-measured seasoning packets from the system. Each time a dish was cooked, a packet was used, ensuring no flavor discrepancies between dishes and fast serving times, enough to conquer the taste buds of these ancient people.

The night fell, stars speckled the sky.

Carriages parked along the street in front of the restaurant, as workers returned from the wasteland in succession. Several large wooden barrels lined up in front of the restaurant, filled with game meat soup, meat dishes made with pork, and steaming white rice.

These delicious meals would be everyone’s dinner tonight.

As workers lined up and slowly approached, their eyes lit up with surprise as they caught sight of the prominent large wooden barrels.

The barrels were filled to the brim with fragrant fresh meat, each piece perfectly cut, marbled, mouth-watering.

"Ah, it’s meat."

"My God! There’s actually meat!"

"Is that all meat?"

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

"So much meat! Is all of this for us?"

"The last time I had meat was during last year’s New Year."

"I haven’t had meat in so long."

"Ah~ Ah~"

...

This unexpected delight caused workers to burst into exclamations of excitement. Regardless of age or gender, smiles of contentment and happiness adorned their faces.

The crowd behind began to stir; some made sounds of swallowing, pushing forward eagerly, while others sank to the ground, overwhelmed by emotion, some even collapsed to their knees, continuously bowing to Han Lei and Zhao Zun standing on the steps.

"Everyone, don’t push, don’t push. Line up, everyone will get some." Han Lei waved a ladle in her hand, her eyes instantly welling with tears.