Chapter 222

Bazhou, Jin City, the Xia Mansion Council Hall. The late-summer sunlight filtered through the carved wooden window lattices, casting mottled light and shadow across the massive sand table. Xia Huai'an stood before the sand table, his fingertips gently tracing the mountains and rivers along the border between Bazhou and Chu Prefecture, where small red and blue flags were densely planted—red representing the Huaxia Army, and blue representing the possible defensive lines of the imperial court. Main Bookkeeper Zhou walked briskly into the council hall, holding a thick stack of ledger books, sweat beads glistening on his forehead in the sunlight. He was followed by Yang Tieshan of the Armaments Department, Shen Huanyin of the Medical Team, Zha Zhongping, Commander-in-Chief of the Huaxia Army, and Zha Zhonghe of the Logistics Department. Each of them held documents, their expressions solemn.