The capital was currently in early autumn, signalling the arrival of the strong winds that would blow and disturb the people’s daily lives every once in awhile. On the other hand, the northern border- specifically the city of Liangzhou- was already in the early stages of a desolate winter.

The roaming nomads had already stopped grazing their herds. They set up tents instead, storing up food to pass their winter. In the army camp just 5 kilometres away from Liangzhou, other than handling their normal daily chores, the army was still training for battle.

Smoke was rising from the cookhouse in the camp. It was already time for dinner.

The setting sun hung at the boundary of the horizon, casting its red light over the wide, vast plains, breathing additional colour into the scenery. However, no matter how vibrant and warm the colours, they couldn’t erase the cold, piercing winter winds that blew over the plains at this time of year.

A crisp, loud signal began to ring throughout the camp, transmitted to every nook and cranny.

The moment the last section of training on the grounds ended, there was a roar of male voices as the captains shouted to begin eating.

Even though it was the start of winter, the northern border troops were on standby, so they only got to eat two meals a day. One in the morning and one at night.

After training for the whole day and getting drenched in sweat, the troops were so hungry that they could eat a horse, each. When the captain gave the order, they dashed towards the cookhouse at a speed that even the general’s fastest shot couldn’t match.

In Captain Guo’s camp, more than three hundred elite soldiers charged towards the cookhouse like hungry wolves.

The tall, burly Captain Guo followed behind his soldiers. His tanned face carried a smile as he mock-scolded his speedy troops.

Two men followed behind Captain Guo. The one on the left was sturdy, and even taller than Captain Guo by a full head. His eyes were like deep pools and his nose was tall and straight. He looked to be about twenty or so. However, his good looks were obscured by a thick, full beard covering half of his face. What a pity.

The man on the right was about as tall as Captain Guo. He was clean-shaven, but his face was too square and his eyes were too small. Furthermore, his body was about one size bigger than Captain Guo’s, so he wasn’t as good-looking as his companion. However, this burly, square-faced man seemed to be rather young as well.

Captain Guo patted the backs of the two people next to him. “Zixiang, Yuhong, you should manage these brats carefully. They’re too rowdy!”

Zixiang was He Changdi’s name, while Yuhong was the burly square-faced man, of course.

Due to Count Jing’an and Prince Jin’s influence, although this was He Changdi’s first time serving in the northern border troops under Captain Guo, he was able to start off a little higher than the rest thanks to his status. He had managed to join as a lieutenant.

In the Great Wu Dynasty, the rank of lieutenant meant that he had a small group of about a hundred men or so under his command.

Captain Guo had three lieutenants serving under him. Other than He Changdi and Xiao Yuhong, there was also a man in his thirties, Zhang Mai.

He Changdi and Xiao Yuhong quickly chuckled and agreed with the captain.

When Captain Guo saw that they had already started fighting over the food over at the cookhouse, he quickened his pace. “Let’s move a little faster before those hungry brats eat up all of our food.”

Captain Guo was only joking. The army cooks would always keep his and his three lieutenants’ meals aside.

But even with this little courtesy, Captain Guo treated his soldiers like brothers. His meals were exactly the same fare as what the troops ate, although his portions might be a little larger. He was an upright, honest person who never ordered any separate or special meals from the army cooks.

𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

The only time he had ever eaten something different from the troops was when he had insisted on leading their training even while he was sick. The old army cook hadn’t been able to bear with seeing this, so he had specially made some wild chicken soup for him. That had already been a whole year ago.

However, the northern border was a poor place to be anyway. Although the troops were regularly given provisions and money, there was still a limit to the circulation of goods in this place. The army provisions were also rough fare. When they weren’t preparing for battle, it was only enough to fill the stomachs. Even if Captain Guo wanted to have something better, there wasn’t really much else to eat.