When Jiang Shuoye opened his eyes, he found himself once again surrounded by clouds and mist, his body plummeting downward.

Here we go again.

Unlike last time, Jiang Shuoye didn’t panic. Having gained experience, he was able to steady himself right away.

When he landed, he walked straight ahead as if following a familiar route.

He walked a little over ten steps before he saw the long table again, along with the hazy, towering silhouette shrouded in mist.

People often said that “what you think about during the day, you dream of at night.” Jiang Shuoye figured that since this place had been on his mind all day, he had found himself back here again in his dreams.

Since he was already here, he decided to make the best of it, and sat down on the only chair.

He looked up at the silhouette, his cool voice echoing: “Are you truly a god?”

Chu Jiubian lowered his eyes to look at him, and didn’t answer right away.

“You appeared in my dreams for a reason,” Jiang Shuoye continued. “As the old saying goes, ‘immortals come to teach in dreams.’ Are you here to teach me as well?”

His face was devoid of any frivolity, and his tone was even somewhat respectful.

This was Jiang Shuoye.

Even though he was of the opinion that it was a dream, he wouldn’t act rashly. The one-in-a-million possibility that the other party was really a god was always on his mind.

Of course, he had also learned his lesson after being bullied by Chu Jiubian once before.

Chu Jiubian was very pleased with his attitude.

After all, no one enjoyed being offended.

Feeling that he had pretended enough, Chu Jiubian said: “I know that you have been troubled by something recently, so I came to help you.”

“Help me?” Jiang Shuoye’s troubles in recent days consisted of the Tatars harassing border towns, as well as his newly-trained cavalry.

The common people were going through hard times nowadays, and even the Imperial Court was in trouble after suffering the extravagant consumption of two emperors. The army was weak and depleted, and their allocated rations had been reduced year after year. As a result, the soldiers had difficulty getting enough to eat and drink, not to mention the increased number of war horses.

If this continued, Jiang Shuoye might have to send soldiers back home in order to avoid not being able to support them in the future.

But even so, he was determined to train a group of powerful light cavalry.

Plains were abundant in the Northern Desert, and the Tatars were adept horsemen. If the Mobei Army didn’t have its own cavalry, its combat effectiveness would be far inferior to that of the Tatars.

If actual war broke out, they would lose even more soldiers.

Thus, a cavalry must be trained.

But since ancient times, cavalry had always been the weakest point of the Central Plains people – because their soldiers were practically all commoners.

How many farmers had the opportunity to even see a horse?

Let alone ride one.

Because of this, the cavalrymen he was training now had all started from the simplest step of “mounting a horse,” and their progress was extremely slow.

Jiang Shuoye couldn’t help but frown at the thought of this.

He really was worrying himself to death, to the point that he even began to hope that a so-called god could help him find a solution. Would he be having such ridiculous dreams otherwise?

Chu Jiubian regarded the man in silence as he frowned and sighed, obviously lost in thought again.

Was this first Believer of his a little autistic, ah?

Chu Jiubian had to make some noise to jolt this person out of his thoughts.

Jiang Shuoye heard the crisp sound of jewelry colliding, and looked up at the silhouette of the High Priest.

“The biggest problem with the cavalry is that they can’t sit comfortably on horseback,” Chu Jiubian said in a serene tone. “Equipping the warhorses with these items will solve the problem.”

Jiang Shuoye discovered that a piece of thin paper had appeared out of thin air on the table in front of him.

He picked it up with a frown, and the first thing he noticed wasn’t the contents of the paper, but the “paper” itself.

This paper was white and smooth, hundreds or thousands of times better than the “Langya Gold paper” of the Great Ning Dynasty.

He couldn’t help but stroke it, thinking that such a magical thing could only appear in a dream.

Chu Jiubian watched quietly and didn’t rush him.

He had drawn the blueprints directly in his study, but when he touched that rough, yellowed paper, he’d felt that it wasn’t “magical” at all. Very uncool.

Thus, he’d bought a stack of pure white 4A paper from the System Mall, spending only 0.5 points in total. The System had also given him ten free gel pens as a gift.

So what Jiang Shuoye was seeing and touching now was high-quality paper that was only available in modern times.

Jiang Shuoye finally gave up studying the paper, and turned his attention to what was written on it.

At first, he didn’t understand where the stirrups and saddle went or how they were used.

But to the side was a drawing of a cavalryman equipped with these two tools. He was riding a horse, but under his hips was a saddle to fix his body in place, and further down were stirrups where he could rest his feet.

It only took a glance for Jiang Shuoye’s dark eyes to light up.

He sat up straighter and compared the tool blueprints to the cavalry drawing more closely.

This saddle could stabilize a cavalryman’s body and protect his hips and legs from being injured by all the jolting. And the stirrups not only made it easier to get on and off a horse, but also helped a person ride more steadily.

Most importantly, the cavalrymen could possibly use the stirrups to stand up while fighting the enemy.

Swinging a spear while seated was naturally not as comfortable and efficient as doing so while standing.

Jiang Shuoye’s breathing grew rapid, and he couldn’t help but look at the third tool – the horseshoe.

The hooves of warhorses suffered a certain degree of damage after training and galloping, but with the horseshoes, that damage would be greatly reduced.

Divine objects!

Calling these things divine objects was no exaggeration!

Jiang Shuoye thought to himself that, having reached the position of military commander at such a young age, he should be able to remain calm even in the face of disaster. But now, looking at these treasures, he was so excited that his hands were shaking.

He couldn’t imagine how much their combat effectiveness would improve if the Mobei Army’s horses and cavalry were equipped with these things.

Jiang Shuoye held the blueprints tightly, studying them over and over again. He even had a variety of cavalry tactics running through his mind.

Some formation strategies that he couldn’t even conceive of before seemed to be achievable with such equipment.

He very much wanted to make this equipment straightaway and begin training with it.

At this thought, he suddenly remembered where he was.

He abruptly stood from his chair and looked up at the huge silhouette of the High Priest, his eyes gleaming like torches.

“Jiang Shuoye would like to thank the High Priest for his assistance.” He took a few steps back as he spoke, then knelt straight on the ground and kowtowed three times in Chu Jiubian’s direction.

Chu Jiubian watched his Faith Value skyrocket by three points, and the corners of his lips curled up uncontrollably.

Well done, Xiao Jiang!

“No need for all that.” Chu Jiubian seemed as if he was just casually lending a hand, and his tone remained calm as he said: “These books are also for you.”

The three books he had purchased earlier immediately appeared on the table.

Jiang Shuoye quickly stood up again and walked over, holding the books carefully. When he saw that they actually contained methods to raise horses and train soldiers, his heart pounded like a drum and he started to kneel down and kowtow to Chu Jiubian again.

However, white mist swept over like a pair of hands and prevented him from kneeling any further.

“Thank you, High Priest.” Jiang Shuoye clasped his fist and said, “I cannot repay your great favor. If there is anything I can do for you, I will do my best until the day of my death.”

Chu Jiubian’s cool voice was unaffected as he said: “You only need to protect the common people of the Northern Desert.”

For now. In the future, he might actually need Jiang Shuoye to fight on his behalf.

But if at all possible, Chu Jiubian didn’t want that day to come.

The gratitude and admiration in Jiang Shuoye’s eyes practically overflowed. He could only clasp his fist and bow deeply: “This one thanks the High Priest on behalf of the common people and soldiers of the Northern Desert.”

Jiang Shuoye would be thankful to such a righteous and compassionate god and remember his kindness forever. 

Chu Jiubian smiled and reminded him: “Do you know that all of this equipment is made with iron?”

Iron was currently scarce in the Great Ning Dynasty. If Jiang Shuoye couldn’t find enough of it, Chu Jiubian wondered if he should buy some more books on “how to find ore,” or directly ask the System if there was some method to locate it.

But Jiang Shuoye said after hearing this: “To be honest, although my Jiang family has fallen on hard times, we do have an iron mine in the Northern Desert, which is sufficient to meet the needs of our cavalry.”

In fact, the iron mine was as big as a mountain, and half the weapons in the Mobei Army were obtained from there.

Otherwise, given the character of the Imperial Court, the Mobei Army would have run out of weapons long ago.

But the Imperial Court did not allow the private sale of ironware, and the Jiang family mine was kept secret. Were this not the case, Jiang Shuoye could have supported the Mobei Army solely through the sale of iron.

This was beyond Chu Jiubian’s expectations, and it saved him a lot of trouble.

He had explained everything that needed to be said and obtained his Faith Points, so Chu Jiubian said: “If there is nothing else, you may go.”

Jiang Shuoye hurriedly asked: “High Priest, will I be able to see you again in the future?”

“I will seek you out again.” After speaking, Chu Jiubian told the System to send Jiang Shuoye out of the Divine Realm.

Jiang Shuoye awoke from his dream and immediately sat up.

His gleaming eyes continued to sparkle in the darkness, lacking any trace of sleepiness.

When he dreamed before, he would forget everything soon after waking up. Now that he was awake, he wanted to draw all of the equipment blueprints right away before he forgot them.

However, he had forgotten the books given to him by the High Priest and didn’t know if he would have a chance to enter the dream again. If he did, he would definitely memorize the contents of those books.

He reached out to take the flint from under his pillow and light a fire, but before he could locate the flint, he brushed against something else first.

The sensation was familiar, just like the “magical paper” he had touched in his dream!

Jiang Shuoye’s heart beat like a drum as he continued to hurriedly grope around. After locating the flint, rather than getting out of the bed to look for tinder, he directly set his underclothes on fire and stared at his pillow under the light.

Three books lay neatly beside his patched straw pillow.

Along with the divine blueprints.

*

*

Yaotai Residence.

The main bedroom had long since fallen silent. Xiao Jinzi was currently on night watch, and was resting in the main room of the house.

However, the pavilion in the courtyard was bustling with activity at this time.

Xiao Yinzi’s eyes sparkled. He furtively motioned the other three closer and said in a low voice: “Do you know what I learned today?”

“What?” Shui Yun was somewhat confused.

Shui Qing said impatiently: “Hurry up and say it! Don’t keep us in suspense!”

Earlier today, Chu Jiubian had sighed in the courtyard and said that he missed Qin Xiao. Everyone was baffled, so Xiao Yinzi, who possessed the widest range of contacts, went to inquire.

“But it’s about our lord and the young master.” Xiao Yinzi cut himself off and looked around carefully.

There were only a few servants in this courtyard along with the young master, and many secret guards were hiding outside. It could be said that this was the safest place around aside from Yangxin Palace.

Xiao Yinzi dropped the suspense and said excitedly: “I asked the palace servants I’m familiar with, and they said that on the day of the coronation ceremony, the young master fell from the sky and landed directly in our lord’s arms!”

“And who is our lord? How could he take the initiative to hold someone? But he just went ahead and held our young master. Do you know what this means?”

“What?”

“This means that our young master is different from other people in his eyes!”

“I actually discovered this long ago!” Shui Qing said quickly. “Our lord really does treat the young master differently. In the past, our lord putting someone in prison would be a lifetime sentence, but our young master is the first person he’s released.”

“That’s right,” Xiao Yinzi responded at once. “So our lord definitely feels differently for our young master. Who knows, it might be as those people say, and the two of them are fated by heaven!”

Xiao Xiangzi frowned and said worriedly: “This only shows that our lord has feelings for the young master. But as for how the young master feels……”

Xiao Yinzi chuckled and pitched his voice even lower: “The young master is deeply in love with him! I found out everything. On the day the young master descended from the sky, he said in front of all of the civil and military officials that he was his love tribulation, and that he had come down to earth just for him!”

The three people gasped, and were speechless for a long time.

Xiao Xiangzi blinked, and asked after a moment of shock: “What’s a love tribulation?”

“This…..” Xiao Yinzi scratched his head. “Maybe it just means that the young master and our lord are in love.”

“In love?” Xiao Xiangzi asked, somewhat skeptical.

He had also observed the interactions between their lord and the young master, and felt that they were more unfamiliar than close.

Hearing soft sobbing sounds beside him, Xiao Xiangzi turned his head to find Shui Yun wiping her tears with a handkerchief.

“Shui Yun-jiejie, what’s wrong?” Xiao Xiangzi was bewildered.

Shui Yun looked at him with red eyes, tears streaming down her face: “Hong Xiang, you’re still young and can’t understand our lord’s mind, but I understand clearly.”

The other three were neither as old nor as mature as her, and they all listened intently to her words.

Shui Yun looked off into the distance, eyes full of sorrow as she said: “Flowers fall and water flows…..the young master copied that poem for our lord to hear.”

The three of them exchanged glances.

“Our young master is heartsick, ah.” Shui Yun couldn’t help but choke up.

Shui Qing quickly helped wipe away her tears.

Xiao Yinzi said anxiously: “Jiejie, don’t cry, tell us what’s wrong first.”

Shui Yun calmed down and said in a hoarse voice: “Our lord and our young master must share a fate cultivated over several lifetimes……”

*

*

There was a vat of ice in Chu Jiubian’s room, which Qin Xiao had delivered in the afternoon.

He slept well, mostly without dreaming, but someone residing in Cining Palace woke up three times that night.

When Empress Dowager Xiao Ruohan woke up for the third time, she simply got up and went to the courtyard.

Matron Liu helped her sit down on a bench, saying softly: “It’s very hot and stuffy today. I’ll send a message to our family tomorrow and ask the master to send more ice.”

Xiao Ruohan’s expression was unsightly.

The Xiao family could only use ice twice per day, but several barrels of ice had already been carried to Yangxin Palace and Yaotai Residence today, and the young emperor was even able to sleep soundly at night.

This was all the work of that Jiu-gongzi.

Xiao Yao, the head of the Xiao family and Xiao Ruohan’s younger brother, had sent a letter that evening telling her to find a way to get in touch with Chu Jiubian.

And if she could not, it would be good to find a way to get him out of the palace.

Right now, all of the major forces in the capital wanted to establish a relationship with Jiu-gongzi.

Xiao Ruohan’s eyes were filled with venom: “It seems I’ll really have to meet with this Jiu-gongzi tomorrow.”

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Chapter 13 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 15