She Came to Heal, Stayed to Conquer

The Minister of War, Cao Ge, also stepped forward and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, the court may have delayed in gathering supplies, but as for this matter, Zhao Zun has deceived the court, dared to hold military power arrogantly, and deserves punishment! If Your Majesty does not strictly punish such traitors, I fear that even if Cao Xiong arrives at Beiguan, he will not be able to smoothly take over military command."

As soon as Cao Ge spoke, the officials below unanimously agreed.

Cao Xiong is Cao Ge’s younger brother. Cao Ge has always strongly recommended Cao Xiong in front of Emperor Jing; he controls the Ministry of War, and with both East Gate and South Pass already in the hands of others, he naturally hopes his brother can also seize control of Beiguan.

If they can produce two high-ranking officials in their family, both trusted confidants of Emperor Jing, the Cao Family will surely become a prestigious and influential name in the Capital City.

Cao Ge’s words greatly pleased Emperor Jing, who nodded slightly, casting a look of appreciation towards him.

"Indeed! These words are quite reasonable; let’s handle it according to Mr. Cao’s suggestion!"

Emperor Jing was also eager for Zhao Zun’s matter to be settled soon. The Zhao Family Army recognized only Zhao Zun, not the court, and as long as the military power was not reclaimed, he would not find peace.

"Your Majesty, you must not!"

Just as all the officials thought the matter was settled, the aged Mr. Wei spoke up.

"Oh? What other insights does the Prime Minister have?" Emperor Jing was displeased.

"Your Majesty!" Mr. Wei stood up from the chair specially set up for him, slightly cupped his hands, and bowed. "I think we should wait a little longer."

"Wait still?" Cao Ge was also quite unhappy.

"Yes!" Mr. Wei replied calmly and unhurriedly, "Cao Xiong, Mr. Cao’s brother, has gone with the imperial edict to Beiguan for many days now; no matter what, we should wait for Cao Xiong to return with news before Your Majesty makes a decision."

"This..."

If Mr. Wei hadn’t held another identity as the imperial tutor, Emperor Jing would have wanted to rush up and slap him.

The officials all silently looked at Mr. Wei, sighing inwardly; only Mr. Wei would dare to speak such words against the Emperor!

Emperor Jing took a deep breath, barely containing his anger.

"Very well! We will follow the Prime Minister’s advice. Wait for news from Cao Xiong, then make a decision."

...... I’m the lazy dividing line......

Beiguan Camp.

Dusk fell, and after dinner, the soldiers returned to their tents one after another.

Snowflakes danced in the air, the cold wind howled, and the world was draped in silver attire.

Han Lei rushed into the tent, fastened the flap, then brushed the snow off her shoulders, and tiredly collapsed onto her bed.

Ever since Zhao Zun confessed directly like charging into battle, Han Lei had been deliberately avoiding him these days. She dared not face his fiery gaze and hadn’t yet figured out how to interact with him as a lover.

Han Lei’s heart was too troubled to calm down, so she had to leave early and return late, finding things to do to divert her chaotic emotions.

She found Tao Qing and asked him to lead the recovered soldiers to build some huts on the vacant ground by the mountain at the camp; inside the huts, some stoves were set up, and using large water tanks, oiled paper, bamboo poles, and clay, she made some simple distillers.

She intended to use the low-proof white wine Zhao Zun bought from the market last time to obtain alcohol through repeated distillation. With this alcohol, the soldiers wouldn’t have to fear bacterial infections when injured.

Although the craftsmanship was crude and backward, and the daily yield of alcohol was not much, it was better than nothing.

She worked with the recovered soldiers energetically. Now that there was no money in her system, she could only roll up her sleeves and work hard. With things to do, her days were fulfilling, allowing her to temporarily escape from facing Zhao Zun’s aggressive emotions.

Zhao Zun had sought her out several times, and each time she would sneak away. Mainly due to embarrassment and awkwardness, and also hoping subconsciously that she might someday return.

"Ding!" A sound rang in her mind.

Han Lei sat up excitedly; she had not heard the system’s sound for days. She had tried contacting it actively several times, but the system had completely ignored her.

"Ding, congratulations to the host for successfully imparting skills. Reward: Gold 500 troy ounces."

"Imparting skills? Can I get rewards this way?"

Han Lei recalled that under her leadership and guidance over the past few days, Tao Qing had mastered the skills of distillation and assessing alcohol purity, and he could now produce alcohol independently.

"As long as the host does good deeds, there’s always a chance to get rewards!"

"Oh, I understand! No wonder I received rewards for saving people and delivering supplies before. It turns out it was because I did good deeds!"

Han Lei was very happy.

It was a stroke of luck! She hadn’t thought about imparting skills or being a do-gooder; she just wanted to produce more alcohol for the soldiers to reduce their future suffering. It was purely due to Tao Qing’s quick intelligence, learning the skills as he helped.

"What should I buy this time?"

She earned 500 troy ounces of Gold, but looking at the dazzling array of goods on the system panel, Han Lei’s happy mood quickly sank.

"System! Honestly tell me, can I really not return?" Han Lei asked sullenly.

"Host, stop thinking about irrelevant things. To repeat, Buddha said: Everyone you meet in this life has tangled destinies with you from past lives."

"Buddha said again?" Han Lei felt like hitting someone. "I’m asking if I really can’t go back; you keep telling me Buddha said?"

"Host! You’re so dumb! Isn’t what I’ve said clear enough?"

Did the system just call her dumb?

Han Lei paused, wondering if the answer lay within that Buddha saying?

"Coming here, I saved Zhao Zun, and Zhao Zun developed feelings for me. Is this my destiny? Was Zhao Zun destined to be entangled with me?"

Han Lei looked at the unopened cloth bundle at her bedside, and a light bulb flashed in her head, as though everything suddenly made sense.

"Not too dumb."

Though the system’s tone was disdainful, Han Lei chuckled.

"If you’re so convoluted, just tell me directly I should follow fate, accept Zhao Zun’s feelings, and live here forever!"

"You don’t even have Tao Qing’s high comprehension. Fool!"

"Tsk!"

Han Lei threw the system a disdainful look, finally resigning to her fate.

Since she was going to stay here for life and be entangled with Zhao Zun, she decided to start seriously planning her life, no longer avoiding Zhao Zun’s feelings.

"Then I’ll start by giving him a small gift!" Han Lei murmured.

She glanced at the items on the system panel, then turned to look at the outdoor karaoke speaker on the desk.

That day, she initially wanted to use the karaoke speaker to bribe Zhao Zun in exchange for a position in the Think Tank, but Zhao Zun unexpectedly disregarded the Marshal’s image with a bold move, scaring her into fleeing with a flushed face.

As a result, the karaoke speaker wasn’t given away.

Now the relationship between them was different; sending a boy a gift for the first time, especially one who led troops in ancient times, didn’t seem quite appropriate if she chose the karaoke speaker again.

So... what would be a good gift?

Experiencing crush feelings for the first time, Han Lei was quite troubled!