The Lucky Farmgirl

Chapter 2313 - 2288: Making Friends (April Monthly Ticket Bonus 17)

Junior General Guo saw that they had just come out of the Protectorate, worried that his father might have done something untoward again, hurriedly asked: "Lord Zhou is here because..."

Manbao smiled and said: "We’ve gotten some clues about the cowpox method, so we wanted to give it a try and came to ask General Guo for help."

Junior General Guo wanted to know more, but with Lord Zhuang present, there were many things he found difficult to express.

Seeing his hesitation, Lord Zhuang smiled to Bai Shan and Manbao and said: "You’ve just returned, catch up with the two young generals, I’ll head back first."

Bai Shan immediately had Daji escort Mr. Zhuang back.

Junior General Guo exhaled a sigh of relief, then invited them to a restaurant to drink and eat, taking the opportunity to chat.

He poured tea for them, smiled, and asked: "When did you return?"

"Just two days ago."

Indeed, it hadn’t been long.

Junior General Meng curiously asked them, "Where did you go? It’s so chaotic outside now that even merchants rarely travel. Weren’t you afraid of encountering soldiers or bandits on the way?"

"Didn’t you already eliminate most of the horse thieves and bandits?"

Junior General Guo couldn’t help but say: "That’s the trade route going east, but aren’t you going west to search for the cowpox method?"

Bai Shan said: "We headed north first, then west."

And since Kucha is southwest of Xizhou, it indeed diverged.

Junior General Guo relaxed a little, he was actually quite worried about their safety, especially within Anxi’s jurisdiction.

Junior General Guo subtly asked, his father shouldn’t have done something foolish, right?

Bai Shan smiled and mentioned their request this time: "General Guo has already agreed to help us. I think it won’t be long before we find the right place and people."

Junior General Guo began to ponder. This matter wasn’t particularly difficult, he felt it could be accomplished even without his father. He decided to inquire with the Protectorate later about who was responsible for this, reminding them to help facilitate it as much as possible.

He also hoped Zhou Man and Bai Shan would complete their business and leave Xizhou soon, not because they weren’t welcome, but to avoid further conflicts with his father.

To be honest, he quite liked them. After all, he had few friends his age, aside from Junior General Meng, only two others could be called friends, and neither were nearby.

It was rare to meet people who, unaffected by his father, were neither intimidated by nor had an unusual view of him at his age, and he genuinely wanted to befriend them.

Especially since they seemed to have good character and appearance.

Unfortunately, they didn’t fear his father, nor did they have an unusual gaze towards him, yet they were somewhat at odds with his father.

After eating, Junior General Guo and Junior General Meng even escorted them back to the entrance of their courtyard before mounting their horses to leave.

Once out of the alley, Junior General Meng glanced back and said to Junior General Guo: "It’s a pity there are few medicinal materials in Xizhou City. They aren’t making much medicine now; otherwise, I’d really like to buy some from them."

He said: "You’ve used their hemostatic medicine too, it’s better than what our families brought, isn’t it?"

Junior General Guo nodded, "Xizhou is short of supplies; it’s unavoidable. But the grain and forage will arrive in a few days, and there will surely be medicinal materials needed by the army. I’ll keep an eye on it and allocate more to you. You can ask them to help make it into finished medicine."

Junior General Meng was delighted, "Good brother, thank you in advance. We didn’t bring much wound medicine, and the last attack by Tubo injured a lot of people, consuming most of our medicine."

Junior General Guo said: "From what General Ashina has said, he might send someone else to guard the southern border line this time, allowing you to join us in conquering Kucha?"

Junior General Meng smiled: "It’s my father who entrusted it to General Ashina. Although being at the forefront is dangerous, it’s easier to earn merit. On this visit, the Western Regions can be settled. You’re better off, staying here with your father, still getting chances to skirmish with Tubo and the Western Turks. At Yumen Pass, there’s hardly anyone daring to challenge it, so opportunities for merit are few."

"Do you intend to stay at Yumen Pass permanently?"

"I’m the eldest son; my father still wants me to stay at Yumen Pass and succeed him in guarding it in the future."

Junior General Guo pondered something else, a bit disappointedly saying: "I might also need to stay with my father in Anxi."

There are many opportunities for merit in Anxi, but it’s far less important and prosperous than Yumen Pass.

Moreover, General Guo’s character...

Junior General Meng patted his shoulder and asked: "By the way, how’s the morale in your army?"

"It’s okay."

It was more than okay; ever since General Ashina arrived, the morale of the army had greatly increased.

Possibly because the general manager was there, General Guo personally promised all the soldiers that if they conquered Kucha this time, everyone would be rewarded based on merit after the battle.

This promise by General Guo essentially meant that the soldiers could share in the spoils.

Soldiers who hadn’t received new winter clothing in two years heard this and were in high spirits, eager to embark on the campaign to Kucha soon,

rarely did their general exhibit such generosity.

Junior General Guo thought of something and reined in his horse: "I need to go back to the military camp."

"Are you going to find prisoners for Zhou Man and the others?"

"The office is busy preparing for the expedition, I’m afraid they won’t have enough strength, so I’ll go check."

Junior General Meng understood his concern and didn’t follow, choosing instead to part ways with him.

And after Manbao and the others watched them leave, just as they were about to step into the courtyard, the opposite door swung open, and someone who had been peeking through the crack jumped out immediately, "You’re back?"

Manbao and Bai Shan turned to look at them with a blank expression, "Didn’t we meet before we returned?"

The evening before they came over, they insisted on celebrating and had dinner together.

Daji awkwardly chuckled and quickly pointed to the person beside him: "We’ve seen each other, but you haven’t met Batur yet, right?"

He said: "Not long after you left, he came over to deliver a message."

Bai Shan said: "Erlang told us, thank the Town Leader for his kindness, we’ll be sure to express our gratitude before we return."

Daji immediately asked: "When are we returning?"

Manbao, slightly embarrassed, said: "Maybe next year."

Daji frowned. It’s still unstable outside; although the trade routes are open, it’s dangerous during wartime, who knows when they might run into a scattered band of soldiers?

Encountering remnants is more dangerous than running into horse thieves.

Moreover, there were always troops from Yumen Pass crossing over for support, what if they are mistaken for bandits along the way...

It was heard that when General Ashina passed through, all the horse thieves and bandits they encountered were dealt with without pause.

Daji and Batur exchanged looks and gritted their teeth, "Next year, then."

They hoped their skin could stay intact on the way back, who knew escorting once would delay them for so long, wouldn’t the Town Leader really peel their skin?