At this moment in Fengfu City, a messenger arrived and gave Ming a stamped scroll with the King's royal crest. He raised a brow while touching the crest for this mark showed a royal edict but the message inside was bad news for him.
The king of Yōushì country ordered Ming to strengthen the city's defenses because of the impending attack from the neighboring nation, Goding. And for Ming to prepare a place to house and welcome the royal army generals and for the arriving royal army.
The news didn't stop coming. Another one came from the foreign merchants telling him that Goding country's thousands of military might were on their way to attack the border cities at the south, which were mainly Shendai, Ninpu, and Fengfu. The foreign army set their camp just ten days travel to Fengfu. It meant Ming's governance was the first target.
Ming closed his eyes thinking of the outcome of this war. Where will he placed the women and children? He called Zhang Wei, Lifen, and advisers for a meeting in the old Governor's office, which was still under construction ever since he took office. He had wondered what men were the previous governors to spend more money for the mansion than to this small one-story official building for the ten clerks and city officials.
He had to send the workers for today so he could have the meeting here while Anjing was under renovation.
"My Lord, as a border city, our walls were made as a fortress in the past but this stone walls had weakened in time," an old man with a long beard said.
"Green molds have covered the walls. It has lost its former glory," another elder said, shaking his head.
Ming's temples tightened to listen to their nonsense. "Can you tell me something I don't know? Are there anything special about these walls and the defense system of this city? If you can provide me a drawn city construction plan will be helpful."
"I'm sorry, my Lord. We have nothing of that sort for the last governor had no interest in this city. He always hated this place and was happy when he learned he will get an office job in the capital city."
"Never mind." Ming looked dismayed at the two elders and dismissed them early. Only him, Zhang Wei and Lifen remained. "Ma, we don't have good doctors here. I can only rely on you and Lei An to help me check the medicines and the local clinic for its supplies and needs," he said as he gave a list to her.
Ming and Lifen were in serious discussion while Zhang Wei wondered why his governor called Lifen 'Ma' with her youthful beauty. 'Is she his second mother but they almost look alike? Maybe his older sister?'
"Zhang Wei, show me the walls and our weapons so we can plan what to do next. Send men to warn the villages and for them to escape to other cities for now..." He thought of his other plans but paused when he saw the dumbstruck Wei staring at Lifen, who in turn had a bit of blush on her cheeks while reading the medicine list.
"Ahem, ahem." Ming's harrumphing alerted Zhang Wei and looked straight at the governor with his red face. "Shall we go now so we will be finished soon?" asked Ming, concerned with the attention her mother's young face brought to his people. 'I hope I won't face more problems in the future.'
After the meeting, Lifen went directly to the cave and begged Xionmao for the medicinal herbs in there. The panda, as the guardian, didn't give her much but only a few with a written guide on how to plant these herbs outside the cave. Though disappointed, she knew Xionmao had the family's protection in mind.
With these new herbs, Ming created another walled garden behind Anjing. In other words, Xinyi's Anjing became larger than it was. The building plan now included the herbs' plantation. They dug underground to form mini caves to plant those needed no sunlight, like the Moon Fuyen plant.
As an herbalist trained by her late grandmother, Lifen spent more time listening to Xionmao's teachings after she learned the panda was already a century old and knowledgeable with herbs.
Lei An, though suspecting on how her mother bought such rare herbs during her travels, she continued learning from her mother and decided to become an herbalist herself. However, after knowing about the rare herbs, Qinfen began scouting a good spot for not just for beauty but also for an herbal pharmacy within the city market, but Lifen was against it.
"Stop this nonsense. We are in the middle of an impending war. You can do this business later after the war," she scolded her son. Qinfen held up their plans for now but had some other thoughts. That was to sell it in the underground market.
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I would like to apologize that this story is now under the contract of Webnovel and has been locked up for premium reading since Oct. 7. I'll just post up to Chapter 50 here. But I would appreciate it if you follow this book and continue reading on Webnovel's platform.
It has the same title but the author's name is JoanB.
Thanks.