Jiapingguan Chronicle

Shen Cha wandered around the courtyard for a while, but Shen Haolin didn't return. She looked at the sky and felt that something was wrong.

At this time of year, unless I'm on night duty, I should be back by now. Even if something unexpected happens, it won't take too long.

She raised an eyebrow slightly and waited patiently for a while, but half an hour passed and Shen Haolin still did not appear.

"I'll go to the main camp to check on things; my brother might be stuck on something."

"Hey, it's nothing serious. If it were something serious, he would have sent Shadow back to explain to us. Since Shadow wasn't sent back, it's not a big deal." Xue Ruitian waved his hand at Shen Cha. "I know a little bit, but there have been so many official documents these past few days that I haven't been able to keep up."

Upon hearing Xue Ruitian's words, Shen Cha was taken aback, but immediately realized what he meant.

"We are not."

“Although we’ve looked at a large portion of them, there are still quite a few that require his personal review and approval.” Xue Ruitian gestured. “Before Lao Qi and I came back, there were still three stacks of documents that hadn’t been touched, and they all need to be approved and sent out today.”

"I remember now." Shen Cha sighed. "This morning, my brothers said that today would be very hard on the eyes."

“That’s right.” Xue Ruitian smiled. “Don’t worry, Haolin probably won’t be back until he’s finished approving all those documents.”

Shen Cha thought about it and agreed with Xue Ruitian, but she still wanted to go and take a look.

Even if you can't help much, it's always good to keep him company, otherwise, he seems a bit lonely.

“Okay.” Xue Ruitian nodded and waved to Merlin, “Go with your boss.”

"No need for her, I can go myself."

Hongye stopped Meilin, stood up and walked to Shencha's side. Xue Mu had just told her that her midnight snack would take a while to prepare. Since that was the case, she might as well take this opportunity to go out for a stroll.

Besides, she had been spending the last few days with the soldiers of the Eagle King Army and hadn't seen Shen Cha at all, so she had a lot to say to Shen Cha.

Thinking of this, she patted Merlin on the shoulder and smiled at her.

"You can stay here with peace of mind."

Merlin gave an "oh" and watched as Hongye, arm in arm with Shen Cha, walked away in a clingy, affectionate manner.

Qi Zhifeng watched Hongye's retreating figure, shook his head helplessly, sighed, and said, "Look at her like this, when will she ever mature? It's really worrying!"

Upon hearing this, Xue Ruitian couldn't help but laugh and flicked his forehead.

"Don't be so mature for your age!" Seeing Qi Zhifeng pouting and rubbing his forehead, he continued, "Also, it's fine to say these things behind her back, but don't say them to her face."

"why?"

"For no reason." Jin Miaomiao looked at Qi Zhifeng with the expression of someone who had been through it all. "If she heard this, she would talk to you for three days and three nights and tell you what it means to be mature and prudent."

Qi Zhifeng glanced at Jin Miaomiao's expression, then at Xue Ruitian's meaningful smile, and obediently shrank back. He didn't want Hongye to hear him and nag him. "Achoo! Achoo! Achoo!" Hongye, who had walked away, sneezed loudly. She rubbed her nose and looked back. "Who's talking about me?"

Shen Cha reached out and touched Hongye's forehead. She didn't feel anything unusual, and felt a little relieved.

"Don't worry, I didn't catch a cold. I've probably just been training a bit too hard these past few days." Hongye smiled. "How are you? Do you notice any slight changes in me?"

"Changes?" Shen Cha held up the lantern and shone it on the red leaves. "Yes, they've gotten darker and thinner. They're truly little black monkeys now."

"What's wrong with you? Can't you speak properly? Can't you speak properly?" Hongye took the lantern, rolled her eyes at Shen Cha, and snorted, "How can you not be dark and thin? You're out in the wild for ten out of twelve hours a day. Anyone would be dark and thin in that situation."

"tired?"

"It's incredibly tiring," Hongye sighed. "I thought our training was already tough enough, but there's always someone better, and there's always something more to learn. After seeing the Eagle King Army, look at ours, tsk tsk tsk." She shook her head. "It's like comparing a small witch to a great wizard, it's completely insignificant."

"Isn't this normal?"

“What’s normal about that?” Hongye sighed. “We can’t say that our Shen family army is the elite force when we go out in the future. The Eagle King Army is the real elite force. Compared to them, we are nothing. It’s too embarrassing!”

“The Eagle King Army was able to sweep across the world back then, truly invincible, and that’s what made it so special.” Shen Cha sighed. “The training methods of the Shen family army were learned by my father, mother, and Uncle Xue from their uncle, the Emperor. They were then adjusted and integrated to varying degrees according to the Shen family army’s own situation. Isn’t it normal that we can’t compare to them?” She looked at Hongye, pulled Hongye and turned right. “Besides, we mainly rely on a human wave tactic, while the Eagle King Army is a true elite force, completely different.”

“That’s true.” Hongye nodded. “If we train them the way they do, more than half of our nearly 100,000 people will be eliminated.”

"Then we're in trouble. While elite troops are good, sometimes..."

"It's quite a headache, isn't it?"

"Definitely." Shen Cha smiled. "So, that's enough for us; the rest is up to us."

"Lower the difficulty and integrate it with our own, right?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I mean!" Seeing a small stone on the ground ahead, Shen Cha pulled Hongye around it. "By the way, why didn't you take this opportunity to chat more with Uncle Shi? Why did you have to come with me?"

"No, what's there to talk about?" Hongye snorted. "Isn't it always the same old stuff? Apologies, promises of making amends, and so on. Haven't we heard those words enough over the years? Besides, if anyone's really going to make amends, it's not your great-uncle who's doing it, right?"

"Indeed," Shen Cha sighed. "Whether it's those two Yelü princes, or Uncle Shi, or even Young Master Xiao and Little Qi, they all have the intention to make amends. But the one who should truly feel guilty and should make amends is the one lying in the Liao King's palace. What a pity."

“He has neither the will nor the ability. And I don’t need his pity or charity. However,” Hongye looked at Shen Cha, “since we’re on the topic, I’ve always wanted to ask you, when did you find out?”

“I don’t know about others, but I knew it from the very beginning.”

"At the beginning?" Hongye was taken aback and stopped in her tracks. "At the beginning?"

"While we were still in the dilapidated temple." (End of Chapter)