You're the one who wants to marry a mistress, and I'm marrying someone else, yet you still

"Xuanyi is a good child, but I don't know when God will grant her and Long'er a child."

The Queen said in a low voice.

She was anxious, but she didn't want to put too much pressure on Xiao Long and his wife, so she never mentioned these things in front of them.

Xie Wanru heard it clearly. She had already told Wu Xuanyi that she and the Crown Prince would get their wish when the peonies bloomed, so there was no need to tell the Empress again.

"Perhaps it's just not the right time yet. When the time is right, it will come naturally."

Xie Wanru responded lightly.

This time, her stay wasn't as long as before. The Empress knew she was bored in the palace, so she kept her for a few days before letting her return to the Xie residence.

Spring is blooming, and all things are revived.

The people faced another problem: their stored grain for the winter had run out. Knowing the high demand, some merchants were selling grain at high prices. Although the imperial court intervened to prevent a disaster, it still put some pressure on ordinary people.

"Steward Xie, our grain reserves are priced according to the imperial court's prices, and we've moved the soup kitchens from the gate of our mansion to the west gate."

Xie Wanru gave the instructions.

Butler Xie didn't ask any further questions, made a note of it, and went to take care of the matter.

Dongzhu, who was listening in, was completely confused. "Miss, I understand that the price of food is not going up, but why do you want to move the soup kitchen to the west gate? It's very remote there, and there aren't many refugees there."

Of the several city gates of Xuancheng, the one on the west side had the fewest people and few houses nearby.

“Those who come back to the Xie residence in winter are the ones who truly need help, because it’s cold and those who are greedy for small gains won’t come. But now that the weather is warming up, more people will come. We can’t support everyone in the world; we can only help those who are truly starving. These people won’t think the west side of the city is far away.”

Xie Wanru patiently explained, and Dongzhu roughly understood after listening.

People's hearts are unpredictable. The people who came to collect the porridge came from all corners of Xuancheng. The Xie family was not short of money, but they could not overcome the shortage of porridge for the large number of people. If they did not come up with a solution, the people who came to collect the porridge might just be people who wanted a bargain, rather than people who really needed help.

These kinds of people are often lazy. They probably wouldn't be willing to go to the west of the city to beg for food every day, since it takes an hour to make the trip.

Just when Xie Wanru thought life would continue peacefully, the imperial court received news that there might be war in the northern border.

The Northern Barbarians have been restless for many years, but fortunately, the Xie family army is there to guard the area. We fought once at the end of the year, but it turned into a small battle because of Xie Wanru's reminder.

But this time, it seems to be more complicated.

That very night, Shen Cong'an secretly went to Xie Wanru to discuss countermeasures.

"Didn't you say it would be a few more years before the Northern Barbarians launched a full-scale southward invasion? How could they suddenly attack? Are you mistaken?"

Shen Cong'an looked into Xie Wanru's eyes, trying to find some clues in her gaze.

The North was already suffering from a severe snowstorm, and this war would only make matters worse.

"They withdrew their troops after the Battle of Ancient Huang City in my previous life, how could that be..."

Xie Wanru was also somewhat puzzled. In her previous life, when the Northern Barbarians attacked Guhuang and were repelled, they realized the strength of the Great Zhou and withdrew their troops.

"Could it be that because you changed some things, the subsequent events also changed? You said that in your previous life, your elder brother suffered a crushing defeat, and Guhuang City fell. Your father must have attacked the northern border at that time, crushing the northern barbarians' arrogance. But this time, your elder brother's Guhuang City remained unscathed, which angered the northern barbarians?"

Xie Wanru's brows furrowed, and after a moment of contemplation, she slowly spoke: "Perhaps you are right. I altered part of the course of history, causing the Northern Barbarians' reaction to exceed my expectations. But in any case, we must be fully prepared."

"In this situation, my father and brothers will immediately strengthen the northern border defenses and mobilize troops from surrounding prefectures as reinforcements. However, after such a long winter, their remaining food supplies are certainly not much, Shen Cong'an! You must ensure that there are no problems with military supplies, understand? If there are any problems with this, what happened in the previous life will definitely repeat itself..."

Xie Wanru's eyes gleamed with determination and resolve.

She never expected that even after divorcing Shen Cong'an, she still couldn't escape the fate of her past life. Could it be that she really couldn't escape it?

In her previous life, the Crown Prince was framed over issues related to military supplies, and she thought she had escaped unscathed.

Shen Cong'an nodded, his expression grave: "I understand, I will make the arrangements. However, you must also be careful. If all of this is brought forward because you changed history, then Shen Nian'an... Shen Nian'an will also take action against you because she harbors resentment towards you..."

Xie Wanru smiled slightly and said, "Don't worry, I will take good care of myself. You should too, be careful."

After Shen Cong'an left, Xie Wanru sat alone in the study, pondering how to use her understanding of the future to gain more chances of victory for the Great Zhou.

She definitely needed to make use of the Xie family's wealth and connections. She had earned a little money these days and could secretly prepare supplies for any eventuality.

The news of an impending war wouldn't spread widely, so only a handful of people knew about it.

Shen Cong'an was originally just a staff member of the Crown Prince and had no official duties. At this time, His Highness the Crown Prince naturally could not let the opportunity pass and suggested to the Emperor that he be given a formal official position.

After the Emperor learned of the Crown Prince's intentions, he pondered for only a moment before granting the Crown Prince's request and directly appointing Shen Cong'an as the Vice Minister of War, specifically in charge of military supplies allocation.

The exceptional promotion was a stroke of good luck for Shen Cong'an. However, since the Marquis of Yong'an had recently resigned, no one thought much of it and assumed that Shen Zhan had asked the Emperor for it.

Shen Cong'an was both excited and nervous to receive this important task, and he was well aware of how heavy the burden on his shoulders was.

Meanwhile, Xie Wanru was also making preparations in full swing.

She first secretly contacted the Xie family's caravan, instructing them to collect military supplies such as grain and medicinal herbs from various places and arrange for them to be stored in hidden locations.

She also used her connections in the palace to secretly observe the movements of various parties in the court, cooperating with Shen Cong'an to prevent anyone from taking the opportunity to cause trouble.

For several days in a row, Xie Wanru was busy until late at night. Occasionally, Shen Cong'an would bring Shen Mo to see her, but when the two were talking, Shen Mo would be taken away by Dongzhu.

Shen Cong'an felt that if he brought the child with him and people saw him entering and leaving the Xie residence, he could explain it as Shen Mo missing Xie Wanru and him accompanying the child.

Dongzhu felt sorry for Xie Wanru, but there was nothing she could do to help. She could only silently prepare hot tea and snacks and place them on Xie Wanru's desk.

"Miss, please take a rest. If you continue like this, your body won't be able to take it," Dongzhu advised softly.