Meanwhile, a thousand li south of Shu Prefecture City.
Within a dense forest.
The trees across a hundred-zhang radius had been cleared away. Some stumps remained, while others had been uprooted entirely before the ground was leveled.
Bonfires illuminated the surroundings.
On the clearing stood dozens of neatly arranged, hastily built wooden cabins.
The wooden fences around the perimeter bore the Xiao Family Red Banner and wolf-head carvings of the Wumeng Mountain Tribe.
Several Xiao Family personal guards in black armor patrolled the area.
It was already deep into the night, yet Xiao Jinghong had not rested.
She was bent over her desk, handling all manner of official business. Beneath her Half Armor Mask, her eyes were calm and unruffled. The Wolf-hair Brush in her hand circled certain passages or wrote down a few characters.
She was not slow.
These past days, because she had needed to oversee the Mutual Market survey and blueprint designs, she had been handling Dingyuan Army affairs late at night.
Fortunately, Su Zhenyue helped her organize everything beforehand according to urgency, allowing her to attend to both beginning and end.
Otherwise, if these official matters dragged on for several days, it would do neither the Mutual Market nor the Dingyuan Army any good.
After half an hour of bustling work, Xiao Jinghong finished handling all the official documents. Once she checked again to make sure nothing had been missed, she finally rose and said:
"Zhenyue."
Su Zhenyue, who had likewise been bent over a desk outside writing something, heard her voice and hurried over.
Xiao Jinghong pointed to the four stacks of ledgers on the table one by one and instructed:
"These four concern the summer harvest. Take them to Yan Hong and tell him to send them to the Commander's Office overnight without fail."