Jiapingguan Chronicle

Just as everyone had predicted, the snow did not stop there. It only gave people a brief respite, allowing them to prepare for the cold before it resumed at midnight, falling even heavier than the snowfall during the day.

In what seemed like an instant, the entire Jiaping Pass was shrouded in a white blanket. The signs of warming up had been reversed by this blizzard, and winter had returned.

Xue Ruitian joked with Bai Meng, saying that it was fortunate that it wasn't June, but early March, otherwise they would have suspected that there was some kind of injustice.

Thanks to the heavy snow, the generals and princes of the Zhenguo Duke's Mansion and the Shen Family Army camp barely slept all night, and the night was extremely busy.

Although Shen Haolin, Shen Cha, Shen Jiu, and Xia Jiu had all gone door-to-door to inform residents to prepare for the cold weather and heavy snow during their afternoon patrol, many unexpected problems still arose.

After the heavy snow had been falling for about two hours, the patrolling soldiers had already cleared the snow from the front doors of several houses. If they hadn't cleared it, the doors would have been blocked by the next morning, and the people inside wouldn't have been able to get out.

In addition, some people's walls collapsed due to the thick snow. Fortunately, no one was injured. The patrolling soldiers and the homeowners worked together to stack the broken bricks and prepare to rebuild the walls after the snow stopped.

And then the most worrying thing happened: despite countless warnings, some people still kept their doors and windows tightly shut for warmth. If it hadn't been discovered in time, it could have been fatal.

These were all major problems, along with a whole host of other minor troubles. In short, people were constantly coming and going from the Duke's mansion throughout the night. Shen Haolin, Shen Cha, Xue Ruitian, and Song Yaojia barely slept, dealing with one problem only to have another arise, and the flow of people was almost nonstop.

Jin Miaomiao and Jin Jing did the same. Jin Miaomiao stayed in the small kitchen, personally brewing refreshing tea for them and preparing late-night snacks. She was busy for almost half the night, preparing everything they needed to eat and use. She also personally watched Shen Cha drink her medicine before she finally breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't go back to her own courtyard, but instead took a blanket and lay down on the chaise lounge by the window in the flower hall. Before falling asleep, she mumbled to Shen Haolin and Shen Cha that they should wake her up if they needed anything.

Jin Jing, along with Bai Meng, Shen Jiu, and Xia Jiu, each led patrolling soldiers around the city, rushing to wherever problems arose or where there was a need.

Eagle Leopard and Falcon originally wanted to go along, as they had extensive experience in handling blizzards. However, Shen Haolin and Shen Cha stopped them, as they were entrusted with a more important task: to patrol the camp with the generals to ensure the safety of the entire camp.

"Keep an eye on Wanyan Xi."

Shen Haolin and Shen Cha's words effectively shut down Yingbao and Yingjun, who had originally wanted to try their luck. Although they didn't believe Wanyan Xi had the ability to escape, they were just being cautious, and at such a critical moment, they had to be extremely careful.

Therefore, they gladly accepted the task of staying in the main camp. After confirming that Wanyan Xi would stay obediently in his own tent, they arranged for skilled spymen from the Eagle King Army to secretly lurk around the area.

"Wanyan Xi?" Knowing that Shen Cha had sent people to keep an eye on Wanyan Xi, Jin Miaomiao, who was about to go to sleep, raised an eyebrow slightly. "There's no need for that. After dinner, I brought him some medicine, saying it was to treat his leg injury. And it was indeed for treating his leg injury. However, I put a homemade sleeping potion in it. It's very effective. He will definitely fall asleep within half an hour after drinking it, and he'll sleep until tomorrow."

"What if he..." "No, I watched him finish drinking it, and I watched him fall asleep. I waited for more than half an hour to make sure he showed no signs of waking up before I left."

With Jin Miaomiao's words, Shen Haolin and Shen Cha felt somewhat relieved, but they still had Yingbao and Yingjun keep an eye on him. After all, the Wanyan family members were all cunning, and who knew what might happen?

Fortunately, Wanyan Xi was indeed subdued by the medicine. The people responsible for keeping watch sneaked into the tent several times and saw Wanyan Xi sleeping soundly. No matter how they called or touched him, he did not respond, as if he had fainted. If it weren't for his faint breathing, they would have thought that he was gone.

Upon receiving the news, Shen Cha breathed a sigh of relief. He then sent people to investigate the teahouse and horse farm. They learned that although the old men had gathered together to play cards, they went to sleep after a short while. After all, Chu Han had been traveling for more than ten days and was already very tired. It was already quite difficult for him to stay up all day. Asking him to play all night would be too much to ask.

No matter how young he looks on the surface, Chu Han is already very old, and his body can't withstand this kind of torment.

As for the horse farm, Huihui's situation was much better than expected. Qibo had already rested in the latter half of the night and did not stay up for long, which reassured Shen Haolin and Shen Cha.

Although it was a very busy night with various incidents, they were all minor troubles that have been resolved properly, and thankfully, everything turned out alright.

As dawn broke, the snow began to subside, and everyone who had been busy all night finally breathed a sigh of relief and could relax a little.

"Xiao Cha, why don't you go to sleep, okay?" Song Yaojia looked at Shen Cha, who was dozing off on Shen Haolin's shoulder, sighed softly, and said, "We'll take care of the rest!"

"I can hold on for a little longer." Shen Cha opened her eyes slightly and yawned. "After I eat and take my medicine, I'll go back to sleep." She looked at Shen Haolin, Xue Ruitian, and Song Yaojia, who were also exhausted. "Don't just talk about me, you guys should go to sleep too. With such heavy snow, probably not many people will go out. I've already arranged for people to patrol the city. If anything happens, they'll come and tell us."

“That’s what we were thinking too.” Xue Ruitian stood up, stretched, covered Jin Miaomiao, who was lying on the chaise lounge by the window, with the blanket she had kicked off, then walked to the door, looked outside, and said, “We were just saying the snow was getting lighter, but it’s gotten heavier again in no time.” He thought for a moment, then waved to Song Yaojia and Bai Meng, “Shall we go build a snowman to cheer ourselves up?”

"Alright, you've been sitting for half a day, it's time to stretch your legs properly."

The two people whose names were called stood up at the same time, stretched, and together with Xue Ruitian, rubbed their faces vigorously, moved their legs and feet, put on their thick cloaks, and slowly strolled out.

(End of this chapter)