The morning sunlight slipped away like elusive sand, and two months passed in the blink of an eye.

Ji Sang still remembered that morning of their farewell. Her eyelids felt heavy, her lips were moist and soft. With a whimper, she slowly opened her eyes, revealing a narrow slit. The man sat on a smoke-gray wide-sleeved chair, his black eyes clear and bright. He watched her slowly regain consciousness, and his thin lips parted slightly. His voice was low, as if afraid of disturbing her.

“Awake?”

“…Mm.” Her throat was sore as she spoke. She rolled over and felt like she had been run over by a car, her body aching and sore.

“Sang’er, be good at home. I will write you letters.”

“Mm, I will write you back.” She replied in a daze.

The man’s fingers, which had been caressing her cheek, paused for a moment. After a while, he uttered a soft “Mm.”

Ji Sang felt the warmth of his fingers against her cheek. Suddenly, her watery eyes widened, and she looked at him intently, surprised. “You… you found out?”

A faint laughter escaped Wen Jian’s throat.

Ji Sang asked, “When did you find out?”

Wen Jian furrowed his brow. “That day when you were signing the agreement with the Bamboo Pavilion owner. You were reading the agreement carefully and even pointed out the mistakes.”

Ji Sang remained silent.

Wen Jian leaned down and kissed her lightly. “Sang’er, you can read and write, you understand strategy, you know how to make paper, and you also know this…” His rough fingertips pinched her undergarment…

The thin fabric could only cover half of her breast, but it conveniently concealed her nipples, making the deep cleavage incredibly seductive.

Ji Sang blushed and snatched it back from his hand. Her shiny eyes were filled with anger and shyness. “…Don’t you find it strange?”

Wen Jian nodded. “Mm, I find it strange.”

“Then why didn’t you ask me?”

“When you want to tell me, you will.”

“I just feel very lucky to have you in this lifetime.”

Ji Sang stared at the man in a daze, momentarily unsure of what to say. His pitch-black eyes were focused, deeply gazing at her, as if giving her enough trust and not pressing further.

He simply said, “Sang’er, I know your secret. So, you are not allowed to not reply to me.”

He raised two fingers in the air, resembling a child asking for candy. “Two days.”

“Two days for each letter, understood?”

Ji Sang remained silent.

This man…

He really…

Ji Sang’s heart pounded fiercely.

She remembered wanting to get up and see him off, but he held her in his arms, embracing her for a long time, telling her to sleep a little longer and not bother to see him off.

—

On the desk lay unfolded sheets of paper.

This was the fourth letter of the month, and today was the eighth day of September.

The weather had become cooler. The loquat tree in the courtyard was filled with golden beads, but unfortunately, Ji Sang was too busy to find time for picking them. So this year’s loquats were enjoyed by the birds flying in the sky.

Wen Jian held the position of Chief Historian in the fortress where Li Taishi was located. Li Taishi was the grandfather of the current empress, and the Li family’s fortress was situated at the border of Northern Liang and Wu’an. Due to the new emperor’s emphasis on agriculture, the Li family’s fortress was at the forefront, particularly focused on agricultural development. September was the time for planting the second batch of millet, and the commoners in the fortress worked diligently from dawn till dusk.

This year’s heat was particularly intense, and there was little rainfall. The fields had dried up completely, making it difficult for the millet to survive once planted. Although Wen Jian held the rank of a seventh-ranked official, in reality, he was more like a foreman on a construction site, responsible for managing everything from food, drink, and bodily functions on the fortress. Faced with such a severe drought year, he was also at a loss.

He couldn’t possibly expand manpower to carry buckets of water to the fortress to irrigate the fields, could he?

The letter, two lengthy pages, detailed the difficulties he had encountered recently. As usual, at the end, he left two big words, “Miss you.”

Ji Sang had no experience in farming.

However, during her college years, she chose an elective course on the history of agricultural tools, which she found fascinating. She furrowed her brows and began drawing with her pen.

According to historical records, the early method of water irrigation involved the use of a dragon-spine water wheel. The dragon-spine water wheel was first invented during the Eastern Han Dynasty. The wisdom of our ancestors is truly remarkable. However, during Ji Sang’s time, she had yet to witness a dragon-spine water wheel in person. Perhaps it had already been invented, but due to constant warfare and a lack of people engaged in actual farming, it might not have had the opportunity to be widely promoted.

The dragon-spine water wheel…

Its structure.

Ji Sang drew as she thought, although her drawing skills were not particularly good. She started with the components. The essential part of the dragon-spine water wheel was its transmission device, shaped like a rectangle with an internal connecting shaft. By utilizing the power from the transmission device, the water from the river could flow continuously from below to above, achieving irrigation in the farmland.

This power could be provided by manpower or wind power.

Ji Sang was afraid that Wen Jian wouldn’t understand, so she drew each component, the assembly process, and the final appearance in a graphic manner, filling several pages. She then put them into an envelope and handed it to Du, a guard by Wen Jian’s side.

Du was sixteen years old, and it was his first time being assigned the task of delivering a message by Wen Jian. He was completely bewildered by this. Wen Jian was known for his cold temperament and efficient work style. Originally, the management of the Wupo stronghold was under the control of Ye Jiangtou, a servant of the Li family. However, due to the distance from Beiliang and the busy political affairs of Li Taishi, there was simply no time to attend to it. It could be said that Ye Jiangtou took advantage of the situation and secretly kept the account books at the stronghold.

But faced with the coercion and enticement of Wen Jian, Ye Jiangtou had no choice but to obediently hand over the account books from these past years. This matter cannot be explained in just a few words, but experiencing this, Du was deeply in awe of Wen Jian.

—

Wen Jian was extremely busy at the Wupo stronghold.

At the end of August, a sudden raid by barbarians occurred in the southern part of Xijun County. The surviving villagers had nowhere to go and roamed from the southern part of Xijun County to the border of Wu’an.

It was the busiest time for farming, and the stronghold needed manpower. Wen Jian immediately took charge of gathering these displaced people.

This was no trivial matter.

After all, there were only so many stone houses in the stronghold, and accommodating such a large number of displaced people at once was a problem in terms of housing. However, Wen Jian did not see it that way. He believed that with people, there would be development, and with people, there would be a home.

Take the flourishing Zhufang, for example. Originally, it was just a bamboo workshop, but because of Ji Sang, a paper workshop was established beneath it. The paper workshop required people to peel the bark from trees, pound the pulp, and wash the pulp. Finally, the paper was sun-dried. In this step-by-step mass production process, who didn’t need people?

The same applied to farming.

Li Taishi’s stronghold covered an area of at least two thousand acres, but only three hundred acres were truly usable. The rest was filled with wasteland.

These displaced people could at least help with cultivating the land! If they wanted to eat, where would the food come from without labor?

And then there was the matter of managing the displaced people.

This was a headache-inducing task. During times of war and chaos, everyone’s hearts were uncertain. Without seeing anything that outweighed their own interests, who would obediently follow orders?

Fortunately–

On this occasion, the talented Liu Hu was dispatched to Wuan as General Zhongwu, three ranks higher than Wen Jian. He truly looked down on Wen Jian, a weak scholar. However, when the cunning Ye Jiangtou was tightly controlled, his perception of Wen Jian changed.

Wen Jian directly sought Liu Hu’s help to allocate manpower for the displaced people.

Liu Hu thought he was going to suppress the displaced people, so he arrived with great momentum. However, in the end, only one team of soldiers was needed to guard the stronghold. The displaced people had long been frightened by the barbarians, and seeing the heavily guarded stronghold left them with no other thoughts.

When Liu Hu stood in front of the stronghold’s gate, his face turned green. How could a high-ranking fourth-grade general like him be subjected to the orders of a mere seventh-grade official? Unfortunately, he had to comply…

The registration of the displaced people was personally overseen by Wen Jian, organized by families in groups of ten households, with each group having a leader for easier management.

Those who could be assigned to stone houses were immediately allocated, while those who couldn’t were sent to the rear mountains to break and shape stones, constructing houses on-site. The women and children accompanied the original local households to the warehouse to select seeds.

The busy farming season would arrive soon. Before it arrived, the displaced people had to be settled. When the busy season came, the original local households would sow seeds, while the displaced people would go to cultivate new land.

When Wen Jian received the letter from Ji Sang, he was crouching at the edge of a field, staring straight at the nearby river.

Little Du ran over, panting heavily, holding the letter high and shouting, “Lord Wen… a letter from home.”

Upon seeing Little Du approach, the furrow in Wen Jian’s brow slightly relaxed, and he quickly stood up. After being away for some time, the thing that brought him the most joy was receiving a letter from his wife at home.

Wen Jian eagerly unfolded the letter, gently caressing the paper with his fingers.

This batch of paper was even finer than the previous one.

Several drawings were sketched on the white paper, and the more he looked at them, the more excited he became. His handsome features brightened, but when he reached the last page, his brow furrowed tightly once again.

Is this it?

There were only annotations for the drawings, nothing else after that?!

Not even a few words.

Wen Jian suddenly looked at Little Du and asked, “Little Du, did my wife say anything when she gave you the envelope?”

Little Du hesitated for a moment, seemingly contemplating, and replied, “My Lord, Lady didn’t say anything, only… ”

“Only what?”

“She only said to hurry.”

Wen Jian choked on his breath, so infuriated that he didn’t want to say a word.

Normally, he would write “Miss you” underneath the envelope, but she didn’t even want to write those two words…

They hadn’t seen each other for so long, and he was going crazy missing her. They had agreed on a letter every two days. Sometimes, when she was in the bamboo workshop, she couldn’t reply in time, so she sent Little Du back empty-handed…

…

He had written four letters this month, and she only replied with this one.

It was maddening!