A family of loyal martyrs, starting with nine wives to continue the family line.

When Huo Qingluan slammed the third letter on the table, the paper was already crumpled from her grip.

That was an urgent message sent by the deputy general of Yangguan.

The first letter arrived half a month ago, the second seven days ago, and this third one just arrived last night.

The deputy general's handwriting grew increasingly messy with each letter, revealing his frantic anxiety.

The bluestone slabs for Yangguan have piled up into mountains, and the craftsmen squat under the city wall every day, basking in the sun. Without a blueprint, no one dares to begin construction.

Huo Qingluan leaned back in her chair, her fingers tapping rhythmically on the table.

She had been in the capital for almost half a year. During this time, she went to Shang Wanqing's courtyard every afternoon to look at the ship drawings.

She discovered that the keel of the ship and the load-bearing pillars of the city wall were connected, and that the curvature below the waterline and the reverse slope of the barbican were similar in their ability to mitigate impact.

She even considered modifying the north gate of Yangguan, adding a new type of ramming structure so that the Beirong's battering rams could slide right off it.

She likes doing this.

But Yangguan is her territory.

Her third brother, Wei Jun, died on that defensive line, so she had to make that wall as solid as an iron barrel.

After autumn, the Northern Rong cavalry will definitely head south to raid for supplies, so there can be no gaps in the defense line.

She stood up, without even changing her clothes, and went straight to the Imperial Study with the letter.

Wei Zhao was looking at the money and grain treasury that Li Huai had sent.

The Ministry of Revenue nearly emptied the national treasury to promote the new land system in Jingzhou, and Li Huai complained in various ways in his memorials.

Hearing footsteps, Wei Zhao looked up.

Huo Qingluan was dressed in a slightly worn black outfit, her belt tightly fastened, and leather boots suitable for riding. This was her attire for a journey.

"Are you leaving?" Wei Zhao placed the vermilion brush on the inkstone.

Huo Qingluan nodded.

"They've been urging us from Yangguan three times. The deputy general can't control the craftsmen under him, so I have to go back and decide on the blueprints for reinforcing the city walls."

Wei Zhao leaned back in his chair and looked at her.

He knew what Yangguan meant to Huo Qingluan.

That was her obsession, and also the gateway to the north of Xinwu.

"How long will you stay this time?" Wei Zhao asked.

Huo Qingluan thought for a moment.

"We'll see. We'll discuss it again once the city wall is repaired."

There is no set date.

It might take a year or three years to repair.

As long as the Northern Rong still exist, there will always be room for repairs to that wall.

Wei Zhao nodded. He didn't say a single unnecessary word to try and persuade him to stay.

The women of the Wei family each have their own battlefield.

Huo Qingluan's battlefield was on the city wall; he couldn't possibly force her to stay in the capital.

"Have the Embroidered Uniform Guard clear the way and bring plenty of dry rations," Wei Zhao instructed.

Huo Qingluan responded and turned to leave. Quick and decisive.

In the mornings of mid-May, the wind already carried a hint of heat.

Shang Wanqing stood at the courtyard gate, holding Wei Yao, who had just turned one month old, in her arms.

The little guy was fast asleep with his eyes closed, his little fists clenched tightly against his cheeks.

Shang Wanqing's complexion was much rosier than when she was out of confinement, but she was still thin.

A dozen or so steps away, Huo Qingluan was leading a horse. The horse carried two dusty gray bundles, and there wasn't a single attendant with it.

Huo Qingluan checked the girth of the saddle to make sure it was tight before mounting the horse.

The movements were clean and efficient, without any hesitation or slackness.

She sat on the horse's back, pulled on the reins, and turned the horse's head.

The two were about ten steps apart.

No one spoke. There were no pleasantries, no of the usual polite greetings like "be careful on your way back soon."

Neither of them are the type to say such things.

Shang Wanqing glanced at Huo Qingluan on horseback and simply nodded at her.

Huo Qingluan nodded as well.

The whip cracked and fell. The horse's hooves struck the bluestone slabs with a dull thud.

Shang Wanqing stood at the door, watching the black figure grow smaller and smaller.

She lowered her head and glanced at her daughter in her arms. Wei Yao smacked her lips and spat out a bubble of saliva.

Shang Wanqing looked up again, and only turned back into the house when she could no longer see anything at the end of the long street.

In the past six months, she has gotten used to sitting across from someone and arguing with them until they are red in the face over a piece of information.

Huo Qingluan viewed the blueprints from a completely different angle than her, focusing on blind spots and flaws.

Now that the person is gone and it's quiet, she feels the courtyard is excessively empty.

three days later.

Shang Wanqing rummaged through a record of information on the South Pacific currents on the table.

The blueprints on the table were piled up like a small mountain. She casually pushed aside the top stack, revealing a thick atlas underneath.

That was something Huo Qingluan had seen.

Shang Wanqing paused for a moment. She pulled out the picture book and opened it.

The first page is a side sectional view of the third-generation Clippers.

The corners were covered with dense red charcoal annotations.

The handwriting is stiff, as if it were carved with a knife.

Shang Wanqing turned the pages one by one.

Huo Qingluan recalculated the stress points in the middle section of the ship, circled several blind spots that were easily hit by oil canisters, and even gave the specific dimensions of the reinforcing ribs.

This woman truly treats shipbuilding like building city walls.

She was looking at where it was easiest to break and where people were most likely to die.

Turn to the last page. A two-finger-wide note fell out from the crevice of the booklet.

Shang Wanqing picked it up. There was only one sentence on it.

"Add a thin layer of sheet metal to the sides of ocean-going vessels. To protect against pirates."

Shang Wanqing held the note and stared at it for a long time.

The intricate abacus in her mind suddenly started spinning.

Thin sheet metal. How much will the weight increase if it's wrapped around the sides above the waterline?

How deep is the draft?

How much will the speed decrease?

She quickly went through the information in her mind.

It doesn't affect the overall situation. But in boarding action, this thin layer of iron is a deadly barrier.

The curved blades on the other side could not cut through it, nor could the cold arrows pierce it.

Even when pirates swung their grappling hooks up, they couldn't get a firm grip because the metal was slippery.

She remembered what Huo Qingluan had said when she first came to help her look at the drawings: "Don't turn my ship into a fortress."

In retrospect, fortresses have their advantages.

The open ocean is not an inland lake; once you're out at sea, a ship becomes a mobile, isolated fortress. And an isolated fortress must possess the resilience of an isolated fortress.

Shang Wanqing smiled. She put the note back in the booklet, picked up her charcoal pencil, and added a heavy line to the side of the new drawing she was working on.

In late May, the weather turned extremely hot.

Shang Wanqing blew the ink off the last piece of parchment. She rubbed her aching wrist and let out a long breath.

The final chapter of "Essentials of Ocean Voyages" is complete.

This thick manuscript almost completely drained the last bit of knowledge Ke Zhenchuan had, and together with the actual measurement data brought back by the secret agents of the Embroidered Uniform Guard at the risk of their lives, it is currently the most detailed nautical chart data in the New Martial Dynasty.

The door was pushed open.

Hua Jieyu walked in.

She wore a plain-colored long dress today, her hair was simply tied up, and her gaze fell directly on the stack of manuscripts on the table.

"Are you done?" Hua Jieyu walked over and sat down opposite her.

"It's over." Shang Wanqing pushed the manuscript forward.

She leaned back in her chair, looking at Hua Jieyu.

"The next edition will include a map of the new Nanyang landmass. Ke Zhenchuan says that the harbor there is even larger than Quanzhou Port."

Hua Jieyu picked up the top stack and flipped through a few pages.

The paper was covered with densely packed shipping lanes, reefs, and ocean current markers.

She couldn't understand the complexities of these things, but she knew their value.

"I'll proofread this for you."

Hua Jieyu closed the manuscript and said in a serious tone, "I'll mark any mistakes or omissions."

Shang Wanqing nodded.