Submerged entirely in a wooden barrel with only a pair of damp, wide eyes exposed, Yun Zhensong enjoyed a long, comfortable soak. Once the hot water had thoroughly soothed his aching muscles, he slowly stretched out his limbs, only to be hit by the chill of the outside air, causing him to shiver violently.
Hearing the sound of water splashing, Yusheng stepped in from outside the screen, gracefully draped a comfortable robe over his master’s shoulders, and spoke softly, “Master, please rest early.”
Yun Zhensong loosely tied up his smooth, dark hair, sweeping all of it over his nape, and murmured an “mn” in a sleep-induced fog.
Night fell, shrouding all things in silence.
Just as he prepared to lie down, however, the sound of rustling conversation suddenly drifted in from outside. Initially, Yun Zhensong thought he was hallucinating, but the courtyard was small, and the moonlight cast human silhouettes clearly against the thin paper of the window. Yun Zhensong smiled sleepily: It’s like a shadow puppet show.
“Who’s out there?” Yun Zhensong raised his voice slightly.
The exterior instantly fell quiet, followed immediately by the sound of Qi Jianshuang’s distinctive voice: “Asleep? Let’s talk tomorrow.”
He had just rushed back from the training grounds. Although he lived in Yun Zhensong’s residence every day where conditions weren’t exactly convenient and weren’t all that great—Qi Jianshuang had chosen not to move out mostly to maintain close contact with Yun Zhensong. If he truly moved out, going ten days or half a month without seeing Yun Zhensong would inevitably become the norm.
“Wait.” Yun Zhensong’s sleepiness mostly vanished. He hurriedly lit a candle and got out of bed, muttering hastily as he threw on his outer garments, “Wait a moment, I’ll be right out…”
The busier his hands were, the more flustered he became; the knot of his sash grew tighter the more he tried to untie it. He abandoned it with a sense of resignation: “Hongke, just come right in.”
The servant blocking the way quickly stepped aside. Separated only by the door panel, Yun Zhensong added hurriedly, “A-Da, from now on, you don’t need to stop Hongke when he comes to look for me. Let him come straight into my room to wait.”
“Y-Yes, sir!”
Qi Jianshuang pushed the door open and stepped inside. The sudden, chilly night wind made Yun Zhensong sneeze; he promptly abandoned his clothes, kicked off his shoes, and scrambled beneath the covers, wrapping himself tightly.
“I’ve disturbed your rest,” Qi Jianshuang said, apology lingering in his brow. “I’ll come back tomor—”
“No, no, I wasn’t resting yet.” Yun Zhensong squeezed his chin out from the blanket, gazing with innocent, bewildered eyes at the man standing against the light and shadows. “Did you come to see me because of some urgent matter?”
Still covered in sweat, Qi Jianshuang kept his distance, remaining where he was as he said, “I wanted to discuss training plans for that kid Zhou Si with you. My original intention is to first have him spar with Lu Yi, with Cheng Sui teaching him military strategy. After a few months, I’ll have Deng Hua spar with him, and by then I’ll instruct him in strategy myself. Step by step, Zhou Si can grow very quickly.”
“As you see fit.” Yun Zhensong thought it over and nodded earnestly. He rolled over onto his back, clutching a hand warmer tightly to his chest, and closed his eyes lazily with a smile at the corner of his lips. “When we first met, I didn’t communicate with you and assumed you wouldn’t understand my intentions. Now it seems you think much further ahead than I do.”
Yun Zhensong recounted softly: “Zhou Si has loved martial arts since he was a child, studying it diligently on his own. Though it yielded results, the impact was minimal. He’s quick-witted and grasped the truth that the world is won by force long before I did, but the psychological hurdle of protecting me was simply too high. I had to give him a hard push, or he never would have crossed it. Fortunately, I met you, giving him a foundation to lean on. From now on, he can pursue his own goals and fulfill his dream of marching into battle and slaying enemies, so he won’t have lived in vain.”
“Don’t you agree?”
“…Mn.” Qi Jianshuang saw that he was drifting off to sleep. “You should sleep, I’ll take my leave.”
At some point, Yun Zhensong had raised one arm to his forehead, partially blocking the glaring candlelight. His delicate, porcelain-white chin outlined an alluring curve, looking smooth and cool to the touch.
Qi Jianshuang paused, reined in his burning gaze, blew out the candle, pushed open the creaking wooden door, and stepped outside.
“Hongke.”
Yun Zhensong called him back.
His footsteps hung suspended in mid-air before landing firmly back in place. He turned his head to look at Yun Zhensong, who had already pulled his arm back and wrapped himself snugly in the blankets: “What is it?”
“From now on, when I say ‘cold,’ can you hold me to keep warm just like you did last night?”
Qi Jianshuang turned fully around, crossed his arms over his chest, and stared quietly at him.
“…If you don’t speak, I’ll take that as a yes,” Yun Zhensong said awkwardly.
“Mn.” Qi Jianshuang gave a soft assent, seating himself on a stool at a neither-near-nor-far distance. “Sleep, I’ll wait until you’re asleep before I go.”
Whether it was wishful thinking on his part or not, he always felt that tone concealed a trace of indulgence and compromise.
His face instantly flushed crimson and his ears burned hot. Yun Zhensong carefully pulled the blanket over his face, curling up into a ball. A moment later, with extremely light movements, he rolled over to lie on his side, turning his back to Qi Jianshuang, who sat by the table.
Yun Zhensong was thoroughly impressed with his own fluttering heart. He found himself helplessly and uncontrollably craving Qi Jianshuang’s chest and his silent, steadfast gaze.
I’ve lost my mind.
A soft sigh drifted into Yun Zhensong’s ears.
What is it now?!
Yun Zhensong started in surprise, immediately hearing the sound of Qi Jianshuang pushing the door open and stepping out. A massive wave of disappointment instantly engulfed him; the hand warmer was utterly useless, his extremities remained ice-cold, and a chill broke out along his spine.
However, just as Yun Zhensong was resigning himself to disappointment, someone opened the door and came back in.
As the person drew closer, they unfastened the wide belt at their waist, saying, “Move inward.”
Yun Zhensong’s eyes snapped wide open, and he stared in a daze at Qi Jianshuang, whose hair tips were still dripping wet.
“I was dirty, so I rinsed off.”
Qi Jianshuang slid his arms beneath Yun Zhensong’s body and scooped him straight into his embrace, lying down with absolute composure. Then he began “rescuing” Yun Zhensong, who was attempting to suffocate himself inside the bedding. The quilt covered them both simultaneously, and before Yun Zhensong could feel the chill, Qi Jianshuang gathered him into a warm, cozy embrace.
Like coaxing a child, he patted Yun Zhensong’s back. “Too thin, I could feel the bones.”
Yun Zhensong rested his head on Qi Jianshuang’s arm, burying his face without a word.
Qi Jianshuang glanced at the back of his blushing neck, averted his eyes, and said, “It’s not cold anymore, go to sleep.”
Sunlight slanted through the crudely made window lattice, casting mottled shadows across the grey brick floor. A cup of tea sat on the desk, curling wisps of hot steam mingling with the slanting beams of light, making even tiny specks of dust clearly visible.
Stacks of official documents and case files buried the person behind the desk. Outside the hall, footsteps echoed incessantly; for a time, officials of all ranks scurried about, busier than bees. A junior clerk trotted across the threshold, handing over the administrative data newly organized by the chief clerk regarding the county’s farmland conditions, historical tax rates, and backlog of unpaid debts.
“Magistrate, please review these.”
Yun Zhensong raised his eyes, lowered his writing brush, and went to reach for them before realizing his palms were stained with ink. Pulling his hand back in a rush, Yusheng was quick-witted enough to hand over a wiping cloth. Yun Zhensong said, “Just leave them on the desk.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Wait a moment,” Yun Zhensong wiped his hands, picked up the lengthy records, and told the clerk while reading through them, “Wait until I finish reading this, it won’t take long.”
The entire county had finally succeeded in sowing its crops: the eighty mu of fine fields to the west had been entirely planted with rice, while the barren land of Qingshan, after being measured and calculated, still yielded nearly fifty mu of usable soil managed via the “pit-cultivation method” dividing the land into numerous small plots for meticulous farming managed by formerly displaced refugees who were now newly registered residents. What they planted were oil-seed sunflowers, potatoes, jujubes, and honeysuckle herbs sent by the system.
These were all salt-tolerant, high-economic-value crops. When harvested, they could be sold to other counties or offered as tribute to Zhongzhou, yielding a handsome profit.
Meanwhile, the hundred mu of saline-alkali land had been divided into four plots where wheat and sorghum were sown; following several days of observation and maintenance, signs of sprouting were already visible.
Thanks to Yun Zhensong’s tailored arrangements of region-specific farming methods and novel, high-yielding quality seeds, the entirety of Yuanqing County erupted in jubilation. Daily gossip in the streets and alleys transformed overnight into praise for Magistrate Yun.
The seeds had only just been sown without even reaching harvest, yet the feedback was already this enthusiastic. Once the food ripened, there was no telling how ecstatic the whole county would go.
Right now, everyone was brimming with drive; even the bandits were following Yun Zhensong with absolute, unwavering loyalty.
Having finished reading, Yun Zhensong found the data matched what he had gathered himself through browsing and field visits. He pulled a list of precautions he had personally drafted from a pile of dog-eared official files and handed it to the clerk: “The maintenance guidelines and operational methods for the different crops are written right on here. Copy them down into several versions and distribute them. Also, have the chief magistrate lead the bailiffs to plant signposts in each plot of farmland, clearly stating on each sign what crop is grown there, who is responsible for it, and how to tend to it.”
Clutching the document that Yun Zhensong had stayed up several late nights to compile, the clerk nodded vigorously. “Yes, sir!”
“Wait a moment, clerk Ming,” Yun Zhensong hurriedly called out to the clerk, who was about to dash off. “Untether Dahuhu and his men; let them work with a bit more ease.”
【Congratulations, Host, on over-completing the third task. Rewards are now being distributed.】
Yun Zhensong rubbed his hands in eager anticipation.
【Rewards: +6 months of lifespan
+10 skill points
+10 luck value
Persuasion value originally set to increase by 10, now increased by 15.】
【Extra bonuses: 1,000 gold coins, modern improved flood control blueprints.】
The sheer volume of rewards was overwhelming; Yun Zhensong instantly felt all fatigue vanish, his body growing significantly lighter and more comfortable.
Just in time, Yusheng brought in lunch, and noticing the uncontainable smile on his master’s face, tilted his head with a smile. “Master is so happy, what good news has happened?”
“The county won’t have to worry about food this year,” Yun Zhensong took a bite, suddenly recalling something as he frowned down at the half-eaten braised pork, asking a rhetorical question: “Does everyone get to eat meat?”
Yusheng froze, blurting out, “Huh? Of course not.”
Men like Hongke were doing heavy labor every day and expended massive amounts of energy, yet didn’t even get a single meat dish.
“That won’t do.” Yun Zhensong sighed.
Yusheng realized he had spoken out of turn and scrambled to make amends: “Master, you’ve already done wonderfully! Truly! Now everyone gets to drink congee and even eat steamed buns! We originally thought the granary stores wouldn’t last a single month, but you insisted on searching the granary carefully, and unexpectedly dug up an extra hundred shi of rice! If not for you, goodness knows how many more people would have starved to death!”
Yun Zhensong waved his hand dismissively. “Being fed is being fed, but that small amount of grain can’t possibly last until the harvest, and besides, we need to eat better. Going without meat for long periods will cause health problems.”
“I overlooked it before; I’ve decided I’m going to borrow grain and purchase livestock.”
【Congratulations, Host, on triggering a hidden task: Unlock new map, resolve food supply issues.】
【Issued 100 gold coins.】
【Complete the hidden task to obtain additional rewards.】