Chapter 106: Golden September, the Season of Slaughter

September.

The grasslands of the Northern Frontier were no longer emerald green but dyed in varying shades of golden yellow, as if gilded by the sun.

The greenness of the pastures was fading, and withering yellow quietly crept up from the roots.

For the Han people of the Northern Frontier, the most important moment of the year had finally arrived.

Harvest!

Outside Hexi Fortress, besides the endless yellow-green grasslands, there were also large swathes of farmland.

It was like a yellow gemstone personally embellished by the Han people on this land of the Northern Frontier.

In the golden autumn season, it rendered a thick layer of golden yellow onto this great earth.

The wind blew from the depths of the steppe, wheat waves rolled, and heavy ears of wheat hung their heads low.

The sunlight shone on the wheat fields, reflecting a golden glow.

These days, the Old Master had been living in a tent beside the farmland, watching with his own eyes as the wheat turned yellow little by little.

And the smiles on the Old Master’s face gradually increased.

“Ho ho ho ho—”

With a shout, the Old Master galloped quickly on the field ridge, constantly throwing stones from his hand, startling flocks of sparrows.

In the Central Plains, wheat was planted in September and harvested in April or May of the following year.

But in the Northern Frontier, the timing was completely reversed.

Planted in April, harvested in September, and then fallow for more than half a year until planting again in April of the next year.

Growing grain only once a year.

Because the weather in the Northern Frontier was too cold, accumulated temperature was insufficient, and snow covered the ground for too long, causing wheat to be unable to overwinter safely.

In addition, much of the land had just been reclaimed and wasn’t fertile, as it was barren mountain land before.

Therefore, to restore soil fertility through fallowing and due to climate reasons, the Han people of the Northern Frontier could only plant spring wheat once a year.

At other times, they focused their energy on livestock like cattle and sheep.

Now, it was already September, and the wheat in the Northern Frontier was about to be harvested.

But there wasn’t enough manpower.

The grand army led by Li Xiao remained at Wuya Village and had delayed returning. There were fewer than two hundred able-bodied men left in Hexi Fortress; the rest were the old, weak, women, and children.

This situation worried the Old Master greatly.

“San Bao, go to Wuya Village and ask when your eldest brother can come back,” the Old Master shouted loudly to San Bao in the distance after driving away a flock of sparrows.

They still needed Li Xiao and his men to come back quickly; otherwise, these old, weak, women, and children of Hexi Fortress couldn’t finish the work at all.

Because the current Hexi Fortress not only had the cultivated land in front of them but also the grain fields of Sanhe Fortress and Hou Village, which all needed people sent from Hexi Fortress to harvest.

“Oh, I know, Grandpa,” San Bao responded loudly, looking very happy.

Li Erjiang, Erhu, and Chen Erqiang had gone to Wuya Village earlier, so now the only ones the Old Master could order around were these few children like San Bao.

Soon, San Bao rode back home, preparing to pack up things needed on the road, then head to Wuya Village to see Li Xiao.

This kid looked extremely excited.

Finally able to go to the military camp. Although it was just to look this time, next time would be when he, Li Sanbao, displayed his skills.

Seeing this, the Old Master just shook his head slightly and continued to ride in the fields to drive away birds.

Soon, a fast horse came galloping quickly from the direction of Hexi Fortress.

The Old Master narrowed his eyes slightly and looked up.

“Big Brother, Big Brother.” The person coming was none other than the Old Master’s fourth brother, also Li Dashan’s father.

He rode quickly towards the Old Master and said loudly, “Old Bie just came back to report that a large group of people and horses appeared outside Sanhe Fortress.”

“From their appearance, they are preparing to harvest the grain of Sanhe Fortress.”

Hearing this, the Old Master’s brows furrowed instantly, and the muscles on his face, traversed by a scar, twitched slightly a few times.

He said in a cold voice, “Do you know who they are?”

“Old Bie said they definitely aren’t Han people, but he couldn’t make out which specific tribe they belong to yet,” Fourth Grandpa said.

The Old Master nodded slightly, instructing the Old Lady in the distance to watch over the grain fields and return to the village immediately if she encountered danger.

Then he hurried towards the village with Fourth Grandpa.

He had to gather men and horses, preparing to face the enemy.

Golden September was the season of harvest, but also the season of slaughter.

Because after September came winter.

The weather in the Northern Frontier was exceptionally cold. The grain harvested by the Han people could help them survive this winter, but the nomadic peoples didn’t have this condition.

Once the wind and snow became too heavy, their cattle, sheep, and warhorses might freeze to death.

For them, winter was the hardest season to endure, practically a gate of hell.

Thus, to pass the winter safely, some nomadic tribes would come to rob the Han people’s grain.

This was also the period with the most frequent small-scale combat conflicts in Jin Prefecture every year.

Although no one came to make trouble at Hexi Fortress this year, Sanhe Fortress became a piece of fat meat in the eyes of those nomadic tribes.

Because Sanhe Fortress was gone.

Most of the fortress residents had been killed by the Karluks, and the rest had migrated to Hexi Fortress.

Sanhe Fortress was empty, but the grain planted before was still there.

It seemed to have become ownerless property.

But in fact, the Old Master had always been thinking about Sanhe Fortress’s grain.

Since the people of Sanhe Fortress had become people of Hexi Fortress, Sanhe Fortress’s grain fields naturally should also belong to Hexi Fortress.

So, the Old Master had sent people early on to keep watch at Sanhe Fortress.

Preparing to harvest Sanhe Fortress’s grain together when the harvest time came.

Unexpectedly, that pack of wolf cubs ultimately wasn’t prepared to let go of this fat meat of Sanhe Fortress.

As the bronze bell in Hexi Fortress rang, nearly two hundred Hexi men gathered.

All riding on warhorses, holding spears, with bows and arrows across their backs.

The Old Master stood in front of everyone and said loudly, “Someone is coming to rob our grain.”

“Don’t fucking cower on me. Anyone afraid of death isn’t a man of Hexi Fortress.”

“To Sanhe Fortress! Charge—”

Accompanied by a loud shout from the Old Master, nearly two hundred cavalrymen rushed out of Hexi Fortress yelling.

Among them, more than half were old men of the Old Master’s age, and the rest were teenagers of San Bao’s age.

Standard bearded soldiers and boy scouts.

But their charging momentum made people dare not underestimate them in the slightest.

Wei Xuan and a group of Sanhe Fortress teenagers were also among them.

He wore a tattered sheepskin coat, holding a spear in his hand, his face chapped by the cold wind.

But with hot blood rushing to his head, he only felt his whole body restless at this moment, his cheeks exceptionally red from being too excited.

He turned to look at his sister and said loudly, “Stay at home; wait for me to come back.”

After speaking, he followed the main force out of Hexi Fortress.

Erya stood at the back with other women, silently watching everyone leave.

She could only pray secretly in her heart that Wei Xuan could return safely.

“Sigh, this place, Jin Prefecture, has been fighting and killing like this for hundreds of years. When will it truly calm down?”

Qin Da Ni watched the Old Master’s disappearing back and sighed gently with emotion.

Turning to look at Erya beside her, she patted her head and said, “People… living or dying, getting hurt or not, it’s all fate.”

“Instead of worrying about them all day, it’s better to take good care of yourself and the home.”

“That can also give the men peace of mind on the battlefield.”

After spending time together during this period, Qin Da Ni felt this little girl was clever, virtuous, and capable, quite likable.

The only drawback was that her hips were too small; Qin Da Ni worried she wouldn’t be good at bearing sons.

In her heart, she still wanted to find a daughter-in-law with big hips.

But listening to the Old Master’s meaning, he seemed to like this little girl quite a bit.

Qin Da Ni could only suppress her petty thoughts and take extra care of the Wei siblings’ lives usually.

Maybe she really would become her daughter-in-law in the future.

“Mmm, I understand, Auntie.” Erya nodded gently and said with a pursed-lip smile.

Only she was still worrying about Wei Xuan in her heart.

His injuries hadn’t completely healed yet. If a fight really broke out this time, Erya was worried he would suffer.

“Alright, look at your drooping face; it could hang a water kettle.”

“Your brother left and won’t be back in a day or two. Come home with Auntie first, so we can look after each other.”

Saying this, Qin Da Ni pulled Erya towards home.

Unable to decline, Erya could only follow bashfully.

The distance between Sanhe Fortress and Hexi Fortress was about forty li; riding a horse, one could arrive in less than an hour.

A group of Hexi men arrived mightily outside Sanhe Fortress.

They saw large herds of cattle and sheep grazing in the distance, and hundreds of tents erected on the rolling grasslands.

“These people really treat our Sanhe Fortress as their own home.”

Beside Wei Xuan, a teenager from Sanhe Fortress said angrily.

Wei Xuan, however, had a cold expression, silently observing the number of people in the nomadic tribe in the distance.

Clearly, since the other party had already set up tents outside Sanhe Fortress, they were prepared to spend the autumn here.

Harvesting all the grain here before leaving.

“Go ask them, which tribe are they from?”

“This is our Hexi Fortress’s territory; tell them to leave immediately,” the Old Master said in a deep voice.

Beside him, Third Grandpa nodded and immediately stepped forward, preparing to shout across the distance.

There were many ethnic groups in Jin Prefecture. Besides Han people and Karluks, there were also many indigenous tribes.

Their heritage was long, and could even be traced back to the Wusun Kingdom, the once glorious overlord of the Western Regions.

Although these ‘Wusun’ lineage tribes had long since split apart for many years and could no longer be regarded as a single ethnic entity, their languages and living habits were still very similar to each other.

So, it was hard to distinguish which tribe they were from purely by appearance.

The tribe opposite had discovered them long ago and immediately gathered their people; both sides looked ready for a fight.

Soon, Third Grandpa learned the origin of the opposite tribe.

“Wuliji Tribe?”

Hearing this name, the Old Master’s face became even colder, and he snorted lightly: “So it’s them.”

“Dogs that can’t change their habit of eating shit.”