Chapter 634: Plot
Editor: Atlas Studios

So there was a large group of bachelors working under Qi Haoran?

Mu Yangling flipped through the thick list and saw Liu Dahei’s name on the first line. “It’s fine that Liu Dahei’s name is included, but why is Lin Man’s name also on it? I remember that he has a house full of concubines.”

“Although he has a house full of concubines, he doesn’t yet have a legitimate wife.” Xiao Ting asked hesitantly, “Do we have to remove those who have concubines?”

Mu Yangling thought of Jinhua’s personality and felt that in order not to harm those girls, it was better to eliminate such candidates. Thankfully, a brief description of the men’s family situations and visible personality traits were written on the list.

Mu Yangling picked up her brush and crossed out all those who already had concubines. Then, she frowned and looked at the remaining candidates.

Mu Yangling took out a red pen and crossed out those who were older than 30 years old. The remaining men were between 19 and 29 years old, but Jinhua was only 16 years old. Hence, Mu Yangling set her sights on the youngest ones amongst them.

She wondered if Jinhua would fancy any of them.

Mu Yangling was just planning to go to the military camp to ask Qi Haoran for his opinion when unexpectedly, the latter snuck back at noon the next day. Seeing the shocked Mu Yangling, he explained, “I came back to see Little Bear.”

If Little Bear heard this, he would definitely protest because Qi Haoran only looked at him quietly in front of his small bed for a while before going into Mu Yangling’s room. He did not even kiss him.

Seeing that he was unshaven and reeked of sweat, Mu Yangling hurriedly instructed Spring to prepare hot water.

Qi Haoran was very unhappy. “It’s rare for me to come back, and all you notice is the fact that I didn’t take a shower?”

Seeing that he was not in a good mood, Mu Yangling coaxed him, “It’s healthy to practice good hygiene. I’m just being considerate of your health.”

Qi Haoran was suspicious. “You don’t disdain me?”

“No.” Mu Yangling leaned forward and kissed his cheek. Only then was Qi Haoran satisfied. He scooped his wife over and bent down to kiss her lips, then kissed her for a long time before letting go.

Seeing that he was frowning, Mu Yangling stroked his glabella and asked, “Have you had lunch? I asked Xiao Ting to send you your favorite braised pork today.”

“No.” Qi Haoran said, “I wasn’t in the military camp. I came straight back from the col after dragging those brats out for training.” Hence, he was totally starving.

Seeing that there were snacks by the side, he reached out to grab one. Mu Yangling quickly slapped his hand away and said, “You shouldn’t be eating snacks before the proper meal. Wait for a while. Since we just had lunch not long ago, there’s still food in the kitchen. I’ll get someone to get some for you.”

When Rain, who was outside, heard this, she quickly went to give orders.

As soon as the cook heard that the Prince was going to have lunch, she quickly scooped up the leftovers from lunch and quickly added the ingredients she had prepared for dinner into the pot. In less than half an hour, she prepared a table of medium-grade dishes.

When Rain brought the food into the main house, Mu Yangling was bathing Qi Haoran in the bathroom and almost scrubbed off a layer of his skin.

She decided to talk to Fei Bai later. Although it was not easy to take a shower in the military camp, he had to take a shower every two to three days. Had Qi Haoran not taken a shower ever since leaving home?

After coming out of the shower, Qi Haoran sat on the brick bed with his hair down and pointed at Mu Yangling for her to feed him.

Mu Yangling rolled her eyes and said, “You have hands and feet…”

“I’m tired.” Qi Haoran did not want to move at all.

Mu Yangling could only pick up the bowl and chopsticks to feed him. When he was half-full and was no longer starving for food, she asked, “Did something happen in the military camp?”

Qi Haoran did not say anything, so Mu Yangling did not ask further.

After eating his fill, Qi Haoran hugged Mu Yangling in frustration and buried his head in her neck. “Training these brats is even harder than I imagined…”

It could be said that Qi Haoran had suffered quite a blow in the past few days. These soldiers were not new recruits or veterans who had been to the battlefield. They were once undisciplined bandits and were too damn difficult to reform.

Ever since he was 12 years old, he had led an army to train soldiers independently. Over the years, he had trained many soldiers. Now, one-fifth of the most elite troops in Great Qi had once been under his command. However, those were newly recruited soldiers who were easy to train or veterans who had survived the battlefield. Although they were veterans, there was somehow a way to train them. However, Qi Haoran felt that it was troublesome to deal with these soldiers who had been bandits for several years and whose bad habits were hard to change.

It was not that he could succeed in training them, but it took too much effort and time.

Mu Yangling patted his shoulder and said gently, “You’re too anxious. There’s nothing wrong with taking things more slowly.”

“How can we be slow? The Jin Kingdom and West Xia are eyeing us covetously. I’m afraid that there’ll be a war again before we even manage to train our soldiers. Won’t these brats be courting death if they go to the battlefield in this state?”

Qi Haoran didn’t dare to say that he loved his soldiers like his children, but he did treat them as his responsibility. Just thinking about them made his heart ache, and then his anger began to rise.

“I have to think of a way to suppress their temperament.”

“Then train them to death. Once they’ve used up all their strength, will they still be in the mood to go against you?” Mu Yangling said, “In time, you’ll definitely be able to subdue them.”

Qi Haoran said, “That’s what I’m doing now, but these brats are full of energy. Even if I train them to the extreme during the day, they’ll still have the energy to make a ruckus at night. Every few days, they come up with little tricks in the dark…” Otherwise, he wouldn’t be so troubled.

“Are they too well-fed?” This was the only reason Mu Yangling could think of.

Qi Haoran nodded. “But we can’t reduce our rations. We’re relying on this to stabilize the soldiers’ hearts and keep them around.” He looked at Mu Yangling eagerly and said, “Tell me quickly if you have any way to wear down their strength and energy.”

Mu Yangling pondered for a moment and said, “Actually, I wanted to discuss it with you a few days ago. The weather in Qiannan is a little abnormal this year. I don’t know if there will be a drought or flood next year or if the weather will be good. Most of the water conservancy facilities in various places are paralyzed now. Since it’s winter, we can get laborers to repair the water conservancy facilities. Considering Qiannan has a small population, I wonder if the military can help.”

Qi Haoran frowned. “Does the government office have the money for the repairs?”

Repairing water conservancy facilities didn’t just require laborers; it also required a lot of money. Not to mention anything else, just the tools and materials accounted for quite a considerable expense.

Mu Yangling said with a smile, “We’ll leave Teacher Liu to worry about that.”

Qi Haoran immediately said, “In that case, it shouldn’t be a problem. I have enough manpower. Since we’re going to repair it, we can mobilize the soldiers in the entire area of Qiannan.” A dark glint flashed across Qi Haoran’s eyes. “Other than Ju Prefecture, Qiannan still has two other prefectures where the magistrates haven’t been replaced. It’s time for them to fork out money and effort.”

Qi Haoran instantly had a plan.

Mu Yangling pursed her lips and smiled. She asked, “Do you want the Miao stockade to help too?”

Qi Haoran frowned. “Of course, they also have to contribute. Why do you ask?”

“I’m asking if we should hand the Miao people over to the chieftains of the Miao stockades to manage. If we let the Miao people be managed by the Miao chieftains, there will be fewer conflicts. Although we have to give up some benefits on the surface, the effects shouldn’t differ much from if the Imperial Court officials were to direct the Miao people. I heard that there will be some accidents every year when the Miao people are forced to work.”