Gu Moran carefully put the sandalwood seal into his bosom and looked up.
The open space at the base of the west wall in the front yard was already in complete chaos.
Shen Ling'er rolled up half of her sleeves and placed one foot directly on the blue brick of the steps.
There was a clump of yellowish medicine powder stuck to the tip of her nose, but she didn't bother to wipe it off.
He rolled the prescription into a paper tube and shouted at the apprentices carrying medicine jars below.
"Be gentle! You haven't even grown any bones yet...!"
"That box is full of Dragon Bone Powder that I brewed overnight. Try breaking a corner of it."
"Once we get to the front lines, are you going to scrape soot from the bottom of pots to use as dressings for the wounded soldiers' rotten flesh?"
The apprentices, hunching their shoulders, quickly lifted the two heavy wooden medicine chests onto the mule cart.
I dare not bump or scratch it in the slightest.
Shen Ling'er jumped down the steps and haphazardly wiped the medicine ash from her palms on the hem of her clothes.
He turned around and strode up to Gu Moran.
She pulled a tightly sewn suede medicine packet from her sleeve pocket and slapped it onto his chest.
"Take two pills daily with warm water."
She kept a straight face, but her eyes unconsciously swept over him.
" Dengzhou is very humid, and your cough is most aggravated by sea breezes. Don't take it for granted just because you're in good health."
Beside the red-painted pillars spanning the courtyard.
Lin Qingdai wrapped her arms around two long swords, leaned against a pillar, and closed her eyes to rest.
Two worn-out whetstones lay at his feet, along with a cloth soaked in tung oil.
Hearing footsteps at the courtyard gate, she raised her eyelids.
His gaze was fixed on Murong Xue, who strode in.
Murong Xue wore a dark silver soft armor from the Northern Territory today.
He wore a scarlet short cloak over his shoulders, and a newly made deerskin whip was tightly wrapped around his waist.
As she walked, she tightened the leather knot on her wristband with one hand.
His eyes kept scanning the direction of the main camp outside the city, and he couldn't suppress the impatience in his bones.
Their eyes met briefly in mid-air.
The lingering jealousy and resentment he felt in the inner quarters were completely washed away by the sight of the armored soldiers and spears filling the courtyard.
Lin Qingdai shoved her twin swords back into their leather sheaths on her back and clasped her hands in a fist salute to Gu Moran.
"The hidden sentries within the city were all eliminated last night."
"Leave the central army to me after Your Highness leaves the city."
Murong Xue raised her chin and placed her hand on the handle of the whip at her waist.
"The 3,000 elite cavalry of the Zhechong Command outside the city have completed their roll call; the vanguard is under my command."
"Anyone who dares to cause trouble along the way, I'll smash their bones first."
Gu Moran walked between the two.
He reached out and pressed on Lin Qingdai's taut shoulder armor, then turned his head to glance at Murong Xue.
" Qingdai, watch your back."
" Murong, calm down and don't just rush headlong into every fork in the road."
With just those two light and easy sentences, the tension between the two was completely extinguished.
The words had barely left his mouth.
A series of hurried footsteps broke through the puddles under the eaves.
Yun Shuyue changed into a dark blue night-time outfit and led a dozen or so capable couriers across the hanging flower gate.
She wasn't wearing that flashy snowman hat.
Her long hair was tied into a high ponytail, which swung wildly behind her as she ran.
When she reached Gu Moran, she bent one knee and slammed it heavily onto the wet, hard blue brick floor.
He raised his face, his eyes gleaming.
"Your Highness, all ten hidden agents in the north of the city have been converted into outposts along the route."
Yun Shuyue sniffed and grinned.
"We've booked all the scouts and forwards for this mission."
"We'll use faster horses than the official post stations to get a feel for the road conditions half an hour earlier."
Gu Moran looked down at her.
"Aren't you afraid of the ferocity of the Japanese at sea?"
Yun Shuyue patted the bulging leather pouch at her waist and smiled, revealing her tiger teeth.
"As long as the prince has enough beef jerky and roasted chestnuts."
"Let's not even talk about the Japanese pirates."
Even if the King of Hell were to hold a banquet in the sea, I could still figure out what dishes were on his table for you.
The words hadn't even finished being spoken.
A draft carrying a strong smell of rust rushed into the courtyard.
"Hey, what's going on? Move aside! Everyone move aside! Don't step on the blueprints!"
Zhen Meili, clutching a large bundle of sheepskin scrolls tightly in her arms, stumbled and rushed over from the workshop.
Her hair was a mess, like a bird's nest, and both sleeves were rolled up to her upper arms.
His hand was attached to half an arm, which was covered in coal dust and iron slag.
She rushed to Gu Moran's side.
He slammed the bundle of blueprints onto the square table without a second thought, kicking up a cloud of lime dust.
"Make sure it's spicy!"
Zhen Meili leaned against the edge of the table, panting heavily, her finger poking at the protruding wing panel on the bottom of the ship on the blueprint.
"The cantilevered wing was reinforced with three layers of hardwood bracing, and the entire deck was riveted shut with wrought iron nails!"
"Once water gets in, even if the waves rise two meters high, the water force can flatten the boat!"
She grabbed a bowl of leftover tea from the side and gulped down most of it.
He hastily wiped the black ash from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand.
"Make sure you remember that."
"The wrought iron nails under the wings must be thoroughly heated before being hammered into the holes."
"If it's even slightly undercooked, and then soaked in the saltwater of the sea, the iron will become brittle and crack!"
Gu Moran stared at the neat and precise ink lines on the drawing and nodded slightly.
In the shadow of the eaves not far away.
Meng Jiuning had been standing there for a long time.
She had long since changed her luxurious silk dress from Dali into a simple coarse cloth garment, over which she wore a worn-out cotton-padded jacket.
Watching Su Yao calculate the money and provisions, watching Zhen Meili throw out the nautical chart, watching Murong Xue and Lin Qingdai each take on military power.
She stood there all alone at the base of the wall.
After that night, Gu Moran said nothing and made no promise of a formal title.
Was this given away for free?
Her fingers, hidden in her sleeves, clenched tightly into her palms, her fingernails turning a ghastly white, and her breathing became increasingly rapid.
During her stay at the Prince Yi Prefecture's Residence, she had long seen through Gu Moran's methods.
If we can't prove ourselves at this critical juncture...
Once the army leaves, she, the Dali princess who fled her fallen kingdom, will sooner or later never even be able to touch the threshold of the royal palace.
Seeing Gu Moran roll up the blueprints on the table and turn to walk towards the camp.
Meng Jiuning's eyelids twitched.
She lifted her skirt and darted out of the shadows.
His knees slammed straight into the wet, hard flagstones.
"Your Highness, please wait!"
She lay face down on the ground, her forehead pressed against the back of her hand.
He pulled a shriveled, brownish old sheepskin from his bosom and held it high above his head with both hands.
The courtyard fell silent immediately.
Several pairs of eyes immediately focused on the back of the Dali princess.
Gu Moran stopped in her tracks.
He turned halfway to the side, scanning his gaze from top to bottom.
"Why aren't you staying in the inner quarters? What are you doing here?"
Meng Jiuning's shoulders trembled slightly, and she bit her lower lip tightly.
When he spoke again, his voice was raised extremely high, as if afraid that others wouldn't hear him.
"These are fragments of documents intercepted by the Dali royal family from Japanese merchants in their early years."
"It contains the water levels of seven reefs in the East Sea."
"And the flag signals they used on their ships."
She raised her head, meeting Gu Moran's unfathomable eyes, and spoke faster and faster.
"Furthermore, the Japanese like to smear inkfish venom on the blades of their knives."
"Once it gets on your skin, it causes ulceration, and ordinary hemostatic drugs simply can't stop the bleeding."
" The Dali royal family has a secret formula to counteract this fish poison; I know the herbal proportions by heart!"