A Crescent Moon Shines Over the Nine Provinces, Some Rejoice, Some Grieve

A sheet of clear light shone over the Nine Provinces.

Shen Le raised his head. A cacophony filled his ears. Everyone was running, shouting, crying out in alarm:

"They're coming—"

"They're coming—"

"They're coming."

Though Shen Le was clearly an outsider, his heart suddenly clenched. Fear surged through him so fiercely that he could not move.

The next moment, a shrill wail pierced through the fog and tore apart the veil:

"Mother—Mother—Mother, I'm scared—"

Shen Le shuddered and finally realized he could move. He hurried forward and found a small child curled into a ball in the corner of the room, hugging his knees. His face was covered in snot and tears as he wailed:

"Mother—"

"It's all right, it's all right now. Mother's here." Amid the chaos, a plainly dressed woman hurried over and lifted the child from the floor. Gently patting and rocking him, she passed through the crowd. "Everyone, work harder! We need to finish a thousand bandages today and send them all to the front! Our husbands, our brothers, our sons—they've been wounded on the front lines. Whether they have clean bandages for their wounds depends entirely on us!"

As she spoke, she patted the child again, set him down beside her, and continued swiftly cutting and tearing strips of cloth. She had no time to tend to him, but with his mother's warm presence beside him, the child soon calmed down.

Tears still clung to his face, yet he was already smiling sweetly. With his thumb in his mouth, he curled into a tiny little ball and slowly fell asleep.

Shen Le let out a breath, finally finding the time to look around. This courtyard was quite spacious, with five rooms in the main house and wings to either side. Women hurried constantly back and