Chapter 41: The Governor of the North, Digging Canals Online

The next morning, Seweina woke up even earlier than Rex.

She stood at the entrance of the ancient castle, hands on her hips, looking at the farmland not far away as if surveying a battlefield.

Rex walked out of the house, carrying two shovels, and tossed one to her.

Seweina looked at the shovel in her hand with some confusion.

“What are we doing today?”

“Digging a channel.”

“A channel? Like a trench?”

“What trench… The waterwheel can only irrigate the low-lying fields. The higher fields haven’t gotten water yet, so we need to dig an irrigation channel.”

Rex pointed to the wasteland above the farmland.

“We’ll divert it from the river fork, about two hundred meters.”

“Just two hundred meters? I can do it in a day.”

Rex looked at her confident expression, as if she were a different person from the one who had been crying yesterday.

When they reached the field, Seweina wasted no time and immediately swung the shovel to start working.

Her movements were fast and fierce; with each scoop, a large chunk of soil was flipped up.

Her efficiency was astonishing, like a human excavator.

Rex stood by and watched her dig for about ten meters before he couldn’t help but speak.

“We’re digging an irrigation channel… not a trench, okay?”

Seweina stopped and wiped the sweat from her forehead.

“What’s the problem?”

“The channel needs a slope for the water to flow. You’ve dug too deep, and the direction is off.”

“Off?”

Seweina looked back at the section she had dug, then at the direction Rex was pointing.

“Looks about the same to me.”

“It’s way off.”

Rex crouched down and drew a line in the dirt with his finger.

“The channel needs to go from high to low, decreasing by a handspan every ten meters. The part you dug is deeper at the front and shallower at the back—water won’t be able to move past here.”

“…Then what do we do?”

“Fill it back in and dig again.”

“What?!”

She was the Governor of the North, never making a mistake in drawing lines and arranging formations on the battlefield, yet now she had dug a channel wrong?

She was a bit unconvinced.

“Are you sure the line you drew is correct?”

“I’m sure.”

“Based on what?”

“Because I’ve dug many times before. I have more experience than you.”

“…Fine.”

But filling in the dirt was even more tiring than digging.

Seweina worked for a while, and sweat started to drip from her forehead.

She took off her armor and tossed it onto the field ridge.

Underneath, she wore only a thin shirt soaked with sweat, clinging to her body and outlining her strong shoulder and back lines.

Rex didn’t look at that scene at all.

He quietly dug his own section beside her, each shovel full of soil neatly piled on the edge of the channel, the slope and depth almost perfectly uniform.

Seweina sneaked a glance at him and felt even more aggrieved.

She sped up, trying to surpass him in progress.

But the more she hurried, the more chaotic it got, and the channel’s direction started to deviate again.

“You’re off again.”

“I know!”

Seweina’s voice carried a hint of annoyance.

She stopped, took a deep breath, and slowed down.

This time, she stopped chasing efficiency and instead followed the line Rex had drawn, shovel by shovel.

With an extra pair of hands, the channel was finished by nearly noon.

Seweina stood at the end of the channel, watching the water slowly flow from the river fork, traveling down the newly dug channel, and finally reaching the wasteland on the higher ground.

“Finally, it’s working.”

“Aren’t you going to praise me?”

“Praise you for what? For going off course twice, filling it in once, and finally getting it right?”

Seweina glared at him.

“Can’t you say something nice?”

Rex thought for a moment.

“You… have a lot of strength.”

“You!”

Seweina raised her shovel as if to hit him, but Rex sidestepped and took the shovel from her hand.

“Time to eat.”

He turned and walked away.

Seweina stood there watching his back, muttering under her breath, “…Stingy.”

Back at the ancient castle, Seweina sat down and immediately started eating, having completely lost the restraint of the first day.

She cleaned the dishes off the table.

“Do you usually eat this much at the fortress?”

“I have a heavy training load. Besides, your cooking… is really good. Much better than the fortress mess. By the way, what are we doing this afternoon?”

“You don’t need to work this afternoon.”

“Why?”

“Those hands of yours are for holding a sword, not farming tools. I’m going to Wangfeng Fortress to buy some things this afternoon. You stay home and rest.”

“I don’t want to. What if something happens to you going alone to the town?”

“What could happen?”

“What if?”

“You’re the Governor of the North, not my bodyguard…”

“I…”

Seweina choked.

“I’m just… on the way. Yes, on the way. I also have business at Wangfeng Fortress.”

“What business?”

“I… need to buy things.”

“Buy what?”

“None of your business what I buy!”

Rex shook his head, too lazy to argue with her.

—

In the afternoon, Seweina led her horse slowly, deliberately matching Rex’s pace.

“Rex.”

“Mm.”

“Why don’t you want others to know your strength?”

Rex didn’t answer immediately.

After walking for a while, he spoke.

“What does it matter if they know or not?”

“It’s different.”

“How is it different?”

Seweina thought for a moment.

“If you didn’t hide it, those people in the Imperial Capital wouldn’t call you a waste. And your fiancée wouldn’t…”

Upon hearing this, a hint of guilt clearly appeared on Rex’s expression, but he still pretended to be nonchalant.

“She called off the engagement not because I’m a waste. It’s because she thought I had given up on myself.”

“What’s the difference?”

“The difference is: the former is others’ opinion, the latter is her own choice.”

Seweina fell silent. She found that she couldn’t understand what Rex was saying at all, yet it seemed to make sense.

“You always talk in such a roundabout way.”

“Clearly, you’re overthinking.”

Seweina snorted and stopped asking.

At night, Seweina lay in bed.

She touched the earring on her ear.

‘What is this person… really thinking?’