Peaceful Farm Life

Chapter 1384: Chapter 1385: Setting Up Camp

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Su Chengyu ordered Xiao Changyi to lead an army of 400,000 to flatten the Chilin Kingdom.

Currently, Xiao Changyi is commanding 150,000 troops, with 100,000 soldiers stationed at the foot of Everlasting Mountain, waiting for him. Another 150,000 troops, being closer to Xilin City and having already received their marching orders, are hurrying towards the city.

The day of departure was the sixth day of the eleventh month.

Winter had arrived, and the weather was bone-chillingly cold. Despite this, the army set out, beginning their campaign against the Chilin Kingdom.

At midday on the second day, Xiao Changyi arrived at the foot of Everlasting Mountain and united with the 100,000 troops there.

After a simple lunch and a brief rest, the combined army of 250,000 soldiers followed Xiao Changyi towards Xilin City.

Xilin City is the closest city in the Xiyun Kingdom to the Chilin Kingdom. Xiao Changyi planned to establish a foothold there before deciding on the next steps.

If everyone were on horseback, the journey to Xilin City would be significantly shorter. The problem, however, was that there weren’t nearly enough horses. Aside from the generals and cavalry, most soldiers traveled on foot.

Even the ten female soldiers were walking.

This journey on foot...

It would take no less than two to three months to reach Xilin City.

That day, late in the evening, the sky grew ominously dark, and it looked like rain was imminent. Unable to march further, Xiao Changyi ordered the troops to camp.

After a month of marching, the biting cold had left many with frostbite on their hands and feet.

An Jing wasn’t spared either.

To be fair, An Jing could have used her status to ride in a carriage and keep warm with a brazier. If she had done so, she wouldn’t have suffered from the frostbite. But as the Brave and Martial General and the leader of the women’s unit, she couldn’t allow herself to appear weak when other generals were braving the cold on horseback.

Besides a few military doctors who couldn’t ride horses and were transported in carriages, no one else in the army was riding in carriages.

Although Gong Juechen was a military doctor, he could ride a horse and even owned one. He alternated between riding horseback and sitting with the other doctors in their carriages. As a result, he was completely unaffected by the cold and looked as healthy and spirited as ever.

After discussing the next day’s route with a few other generals, Xiao Changyi returned to his tent. As soon as he entered, he saw his wife sitting there applying ointment to her frostbitten hands and feet. He quickly walked over, took the ointment from her, and began applying it for her.

An Jing’s hands and feet were red and swollen from the frostbite, looking like bloody steamed buns. Seeing this made Xiao Changyi’s heart ache terribly.

As a result, his hands moved with extreme gentleness as he applied the ointment, afraid of causing her any pain.

But instead of crying out in pain, An Jing smiled and tried to pull her feet off his lap. ”Husband, it tickles...”

His touch was so delicate, like feathers brushing against her, that An Jing genuinely felt ticklish. She laughed uncontrollably because of it.

”Husband, this frostbite doesn’t hurt. It just feels warm and itchy. The way you’re applying the ointment is making it itch even more—I feel like scratching it,” An Jing added, chuckling.

Xiao Changyi immediately commanded, ”You mustn’t scratch it.”

An Jing understood that scratching could easily break the frostbitten skin and make it worse. She quickly promised, ”I won’t scratch it, I won’t scratch it. But could you press a little harder? If you keep doing it so lightly, I might not let you apply it at all.”

Only then did Xiao Changyi apply a bit more pressure.

Seeing the deeply pained expression still etched on Xiao Changyi’s face, An Jing reassured him, ”Husband, I’ll be fine. Gong Juechen said this ointment works very well. A few days of applying it, and I’ll recover.”

But Xiao Changyi wasn’t comforted in the slightest. ”This frostbite may heal, but new ones will only appear.”

Over the past month, An Jing had been plagued by recurring frostbite. The previous sores hadn’t even healed before new ones emerged.