Chapter 2714: The Young Couple

The emperor had been working at his desk for a long time, only raising his head when the palace attendants came to light the lamps. Adjusting his eyes, he couldn’t help but rub the corners of his eyes.

Gu Zhong noticed and immediately approached, gently advising, “Your Majesty, you’ve been toiling all day. Why not take a walk outside? It’s about to get dark, and reading at night isn’t good for your eyes.”

The emperor thought for a moment, feeling a bit heavy-headed, so he put down the pen and went outside.

He walked around the camp, twisting his neck as he wandered. With continuous battles, they’ve been straining both the soldiers’ minds and bodies. A short break was necessary, which is why the emperor chose this time to handle the accumulated affairs and let everyone rest for a few days.

Of course, it was also because several small cities below surrendered directly, and they were busy taking over control, preventing any immediate advancement of the front lines.

After circling half the camp, the emperor was about to head to the medical tent to check on the wounded when he saw a familiar figure standing at the entrance.

The sky was growing dark, and the emperor’s eyesight wasn’t very good, so he squinted, pointed over, and asked, “Is that Bai Shan?”

Gu Zhong glanced over and smiled, “Your Majesty has a sharp eye; that is indeed Bai Sherren.”

“It’s almost dark, what’s he doing there?”

The emperor clasped his hands behind his back and started walking over, but then he saw four riders approaching from afar. A more familiar person dismounted, and Bai Shan went to greet him directly.

The emperor stopped in his tracks.

Gu Zhong noticed his constipated expression and couldn’t help but laugh, “Looks like Bai Sherren is waiting for Lord Zhou.”

The emperor mumbled, “Who doesn’t have a wife?”

Seeing Zhou Man and her escorts carrying herbal baskets on their backs, he squinted and asked, “Were they gathering herbs?”

Gu Zhong lowered his voice a few degrees, nodded cautiously, and explained, “I heard that the camp is running low on even hemostatic herbs.”

The emperor’s good mood instantly soured, his face turning gloomy.

Gu Zhong immediately dared not speak, cautiously retreating to the side.

Manbao and Bai Shan held hands as they returned to the tent. She had Daji leave the backpack and then dismissed them.

It’s good to be an official of high rank. Even lieutenant generals in the army share a tent for two people, and there are only a few who can have one tent each.

Manbao happened to be one of those few.

Of course, when Bai Shan is around, he shares the tent with her.

Bai Shan urged Manbao to wash her hands and eat, while he unpacked the things from the basket.

Manbao, however, refused. She squatted down and carefully took out a package from the basket, moving the food to one side on the table.

Seeing her so ceremonious, Bai Shan couldn’t help but ask, “What’s in there?”

Manbao peeled it open layer by layer. There weren’t many layers, just a piece of cloth. She opened it, looked at Bai Shan with excitement and whispered, “Surprised? Unexpected?”

Bai Shan nodded in astonishment, “Surprised and unexpected.”

He touched the ginseng on the cloth, lowered his voice, and asked, “Is there more of this in the woods? I’ll go digging with you next time.”

Digging for such things is quite exhilarating.

Manbao was torn and whispered to him, “Is His Majesty planning to unite the army against Anshi City? Or continue to divide forces and move south?”

This was military intelligence; Manbao didn’t know at the time.

Bai Shan also lowered his voice, “It’s likely a united attack; we can’t advance if Anshi City stands in the way. The army can’t move south until it’s breached. Dividing might sever our rear line.”

“How long will Anshi City take to capture?”

Bai Shan shook his head, “Uncertain; many garrison troops in other cities fled at first sight. But Anshi City is easy to defend and hard to attack, with strategic importance to Goguryeo. They won’t abandon it easily.”

This means they might be in a stalemate for a long time, giving Manbao time to scour the mountains for ginseng and other precious medicinal materials.

Manbao said, “Then let’s go digging when we have time.”

But she wasn’t sure there would be any, so she asked Keke, “If I let you record it and ask again, will you charge points?”

Keke: “…No, record it quickly. You’ve rarely recorded anything in recent years, and now you hesitate even with rare finds.”

Keke helplessly said, “For any collectible species, whether recorded or not, I can scan for you.”

Is this acceptable?

Manbao was so pleased with Keke’s understanding that she asked, “Has the main system stopped monitoring you lately?”

“Yes, I’ve heard rumors that they found similar meteors in descent in other worlds and are luring hosts there to collect them. They won’t watch us closely for quite a while.’

Manbao, more excited than ever, started picking over the five ginseng roots. She definitely wouldn’t offer the two biggest and plumpest ones to the Encyclopedia. As for the remaining three…

After carefully comparing them, she finally picked one and set it aside, hesitating over the broken one and the smaller one, “Which should I part with?”

Bai Shan instinctively asked, “Is it for His Majesty?”

Manbao shook her head immediately, whispering, “The emperor doesn’t know about this, so we shouldn’t need to. Besides, with so many cities captured, the spoils surely include some of these.”

Bai Shan was surprised, “Is it for Little Father-in-law?”

Manbao was silent.

Unable to suppress a smile in his eyes, Bai Shan lowered his voice and asked, “Shouldn’t you choose the best for Little Father-in-law? Why pick the worst?”

Manbao whispered, “He’s not using it…”

She muttered, “It’s for sale.”

Bai Shan compared them. Finally, he pointed to the one with broken roots, “This one, though it’s missing a couple of roots, looks decent.”

Manbao picked it up and set it aside, then turned to organize the other plants. Bai Shan helped her. They were busy when a soldier came to summon Bai Shan, “Lord Bai, His Majesty summons you.”

Bai Shan glanced outside, frowning slightly. It was fully dark, so he immediately got up and told Zhou Man, “Store these away first; I’ll see what matter calls me.”

Manbao also expressed surprise, “We’re not pulling camp, are we?”

Bai Shan replied, “No, not in the dark, but some preparations might be needed.”

Bai Shan went to see the emperor.

Manbao pondered a bit, then decided to record one of each item, while storing the rest as a whole.

She wrapped the remaining ginseng and placed it in Keke’s space, then went to wash her hands and eat.

Gnawing on a bun, she headed out to find someone.

The Qibi Heli wasn’t in the main tent. She heard he was also summoned by the emperor, so Manbao returned to the tent, feeling melancholic. It seemed they were indeed pulling camp.

Sure enough, that evening upon returning, Bai Shan told her, “We’re pulling camp at dawn.”

“So suddenly, weren’t we supposed to stay here for a few more days?”

“A messenger came from State Duke Zhao’s side, where the siege isn’t going well. So, His Majesty intends to unite the forces. The wounded will all be sent back to Baiyan City; the rest will regroup towards Anshi City.”