They have to be prepared for the worst, so the villagers would be moved to Dong Shan City.

There were not many people living in Prince Ji Sheng's City so far and only the families of many soldiers dared to stay there. They wanted to be close to their husband or father who was serving in the military.

"You're comfortable here, Yi?"

"Well, it's not like I can return to roam around when I'm worried about Lu Wen. Besides, you're the one who told us that there might be another war coming up soon even though you have already signed the treaty."

"The treaty is only between Han Shi Kingdom and Xiong Tribe. Other tribes didn't have any obligation to follow us. However, it's indeed very interesting that many tribes who didn't even have 100 members in their entire population dared to come into Han Shi Kingdom's territory," Yang Xian said unhurriedly.

Shan Yi furrowed his brows. "What are you planning?"

"Investigating."

"In person? Again?"

"What do you mean again?" Yang Xian refuted. "It's better to see everything with my own eyes before I fell to someone's trap again. It's annoying when I find out that what I have been fighting so far is nothing more than fake ones."

Shan Yi: "…" I recall that the last time you miscalculate so badly was a few years ago when you just started to join the military, right?

However, he chose not to say that because he knew that Yang Xian didn't want to lose any of the soldiers. If only the real world could be that beautiful, it would have been great. Unfortunately, it was completely impossible.

All they could do was to make sure that the number of the casualties didn't increase so much.

"You can drive them back to the north."

"If it's possible, I would like to do that," Yang Xian replied. "The situation at the north is not as peaceful as it is on the surface. Even if you think that nothing is going on because of the calm, there are a lot of hidden undercurrent."

Shan Yi frowned. "Why are you telling me all of this?"

"In case Dong Shan City has to become the frontline, I want your help to protect the people here."

Chills ran down Shan Yi's spine when he heard what Yang Xian said. Prince Ji Sheng's City has become the frontline for the past few years. Even though in the early times there were still times when soldiers managed to pass, they didn't reach Dong Shan City anymore. As the result, Dong Shan City has been flourishing with more people and all.

But if war were to reach this place again, it was inevitable that many people might be too afraid to stay here. It would severely undermine the plan to expand their territory to the north by making cities.

"Do you think, it'll be possible for the war to push us back so far?" Shan Yi asked quietly.

Yang Xian looked back. "Who knows?"

"You…" Shan Yi messed up his hair and sighed deeply. He knew that Yang Xian was only making the worst possible estimation to prepare them for the worst. However, he still felt that it was annoying.

Very annoying.

Yang Xian glanced inside. "The girls should have already finished cooking. Let's have our dinner."

"Ok."

The two of them entered the house and found the table was already filled with food. Shi Lu Wen glared when she saw Yang Xian. "Why didn't you send any news or something like that before you come here?"

"I don't think it's necessary."

"It's necessary!" Shi Lu Wen fumed. She was annoyed by the fact that she couldn't prepare the food so quickly and had to have Wei Liuying's help.

"Come on, let's just eat."

"Wash your hands first, Yi."

"Ah, it's already clean…"

"Wash your hands!"

In the end, Shan Yi relented and rushed to wash his hand with the water from the well. Yang Xian was also ordered to wash his hand by Shi Lu Wen.

"To think that a great strategist will follow a little girl's order."

Yang Xian arched his eyebrows. "Shall I tell the story of how a great bandit like Shan Yi have to follow the instruction of a young girl who's not even an adult yet in a fight?"

Shan Yi's face turned dark. Now that he thought about it, Wei Liuying was also a girl. Not to mention, she was only 14 years old, which meant that she was not considered as an adult yet.

This realization only made his mood sourer.

"Come on, time to eat and rest."

Slowly, they walked into the house and have their dinner together with Shi Lu Wen and Wei Liuying. The four of them talked about some unrelated things before they rested in separate rooms.

…

Shi Lu Wen's house was small, but there were several additional rooms. It was usually intended for Shi Yan's friends when they came to visit, so Shi Lu Wen always cleaned them regularly.

This time, Wei Liuying and Yang Xian borrowed the rooms while Shan Yi was kicked out by Shi Lu Wen because she didn't trust him. The other two merely sent him gazes filled with pity when they saw his state.

"It's morning, Ying."

"I'm awake," Wei Liuying responded. She sat up on her bed and looked at the door. Even though she couldn't see him, she knew that Yang Xian was standing near the door. "What is it, Strategist Yang?"

"I want to go and check Huang River's site. We're planning to create a smaller river to flow to the north for water supply for Prince Ji Sheng's City."

Wei Liuying thought for a moment. "Is that also in order to prevent flood?"

"Yes. You're quick to catch it."

"If you can prevent flood this way, why don't you also apply the same method on the south area?"

Yang Xian was silent for a moment. "Do you really think that the governors in the other areas are going to listen to what we're going to say?"