OBS Chapter 24 Qingyun, you and Zhao'er will stay together tonight.
Chapter 24 Qingyun, you and Zhao'er will stay together tonight.
Before dawn, Wei Zhao was awakened by a series of urgent knocks on the door.
Liu Jingshuang reacted even faster than him, turning over and sitting up while her hand was already on the long sword beside her pillow.
"Commander! The grain transport team has arrived!"
The guards outside the door kept their voices low, but their excitement was impossible to hide.
Wei Zhao suddenly threw off the blanket.
coming!
Su Qingyun's grain transport team arrived half a day earlier than expected.
He quickly dressed and went out just as the first hint of dawn appeared on the horizon.
Inside the city gate, one grain cart after another was filing in.
The wheels were wrapped in thick cotton cloth, making almost no sound as they rolled on the ground.
The mules and horses pulling the carts all had bridles on their mouths, so even a snort was muffled.
Su Qingyun stood next to the first grain cart.
She wore a plain-colored, narrow-sleeved short-sleeved shirt, the hem of her skirt tucked into her belt, her hair simply tied in a bun, and her face was full of weariness from her journey.
She was completely different from the shrewd and smiling second sister-in-law that Wei Zhao remembered in the mourning hall.
This woman was truly working herself to the bone to get there.
"Pure and elegant".
Wei Zhao walked over quickly.
Su Qingyun looked up and saw him, paused slightly, and then bowed.
"Commander, all the supplies have arrived."
Her voice was a little hoarse, and her lips were chapped, but her shrewd eyes revealed an undisguised smugness.
"One hundred and twenty carts, enough to feed an army of three hundred thousand for half a month."
Half a month!
Wei Zhao quickly calculated in his mind. Quan Ya Mao only had three days' worth of rations, or even less.
The outcome of this siege is already decided.
"You've worked hard." Without saying any more nonsense, he turned to his personal guards and ordered, "Distribute the rations to each camp immediately."
He paused for a moment.
"No fires allowed."
The guards were stunned.
"All food rations are only dry biscuits and raw millet; the cooks are not allowed to light any stoves."
This detail is extremely important.
Quan Ya Mao set up camp three miles outside the city, with the eyes of his 500,000-strong army fixed on Yanmen Pass.
Smoke from cooking fires is more conspicuous than flags on the wasteland.
As soon as a wisp of smoke rises from within the city, Quan Ya Shi will know—the Wei family army has enough food.
That one-eyed wolf was arrogant, but not stupid.
Once they realized something was wrong, the more than 200,000 cavalrymen could flee at any moment.
So we have to keep pretending. We have to keep pretending until the moment when Junya Shigeru's supplies are completely exhausted and he can't even run away.
The food was distributed very quickly.
Wei Zhao stood on the city wall, watching the movements of the various camps below.
There was no cheering, no commotion.
The sacks of grain were carried into the camp one by one, and the soldiers squatted in the corners, eating dry biscuits with cold water.
An old soldier grabbed a handful of raw corn, stuffed it into his mouth, chewed it a couple of times, and grinned.
Gritty.
But Wei Zhao could see clearly what was in that smile—it wasn't the satisfaction of being full, but rather a sense of confidence.
With food comes life, and with life comes the ability to kill.
……
Council chamber.
Wei Zhao sat in the main seat.
He had sat in this spot many times before, but today felt different.
With supplies arriving and the rear secured, the 500,000-strong Northern Rong army was like meat on a chopping board.
The old lady sat to his right, her iron cane resting on the armrest of the chair.
Liu Jingshuang stood to his left, expressionless. Su Qingyun stood to his right, having changed into a clean, simple dress, but the dark circles under her eyes were still very noticeable.
The old lady spoke.
"Once the supplies arrive, the battle is in our hands."
There was no preamble, no formalities; the tone was set directly.
"The provisions that Inuya Shigeru has are enough to last him three days."
"Three days later, he will either surrender or starve to death."
She glanced at Wei Zhao, her eyes conveying a sense of letting go after passing the exam.
"After this battle, I'll leave the rest to Zhao'er. I'm going back to the capital."
Wei Zhao knew very well what she wanted to do when she went back.
Lu Song!
That treacherous minister who embezzled military pay and secretly colluded with foreign tribes.
The mastermind behind the nine deaths of the Wei family.
We must fight on the border, but we must fight even more in the capital.
The old lady paused, then turned to look at Su Qingyun.
"Qingyun, you deserve the most credit for this battle."
Su Qingyun's eyelashes trembled, and she quickly shook her head.
"I dare not take credit. Providing provisions is my duty. As long as we win this battle, I will provide..."
Her voice lowered.
"I would be content if I could avenge my husband."
The hall fell silent for a moment.
The old lady slowly glanced at Wei Zhao, then turned back to stare at Su Qingyun.
"Your husband is now Zhao'er."
Su Qingyun's body visibly stiffened for a moment.
Wei Zhao had not expected that the old lady would make her point out in this setting.
Although the order to take on all responsibilities had already been given at the funeral, this was the first time she had confirmed it again in this tone in front of everyone.
"Don't be shortsighted."
The old lady tapped her cane on the ground, the sound so deep it felt like it was hitting someone's heart.
"Our Wei family's enemies are not just the Northern Rong."
"Those treacherous officials in the court cut off our food supply and caused the deaths of nine of our people—this debt is even harder to settle than that of the Northern Rong."
"If you only focus on this battle in front of you, then your vision, Su Qingyun, will only go so far."
Su Qingyun's face paled for a moment, then she lowered her head and did not refute.
Wei Zhao watched this scene and understood very well what the old lady meant.
Although Su Qingyun said she wanted to avenge her husband, she was still thinking about her deceased second brother, Wei Po.
The old lady's slap was hard, but the reasoning was clear—the Wei family now only had one man, and his nine sisters-in-law were all his wives.
This is not a matter of saving face; it is a matter of the survival of the Wei family.
Su Qingyun remained silent for a few moments, then suddenly changed the subject.
"Mother, there's something your daughter-in-law has been wanting to tell you."
She raised her head, the panic in her eyes gone, replaced by her shrewd demeanor.
"There are our men among the Northern Rong army outside the city."
Wei Zhao's ears perked up.
really!
He had a premonition all along—it would be impossible to leak the news of the food shortage to Inugami Shigeru so accurately, luring his entire army into an attack, without an inside agent. He just had no idea who that mole was.
"That gentleman has risked his life. If there is any chance, I implore the commander-in-chief to find a way to rescue him."
Mr.
She used the title "Sir". Not a spy, not a operative, but a gentleman.
The person whom Su Qingyun addressed as "Sir" was no ordinary assassin. This person was willing to put himself in the game, mingling among the 500,000-strong Northern Rong army, where he could lose his head at any moment.
That's true, fucking righteousness.
The old lady remained silent for a while. Her fingers slowly caressed the tip of her cane, and a faint trace of sorrow flashed in her cloudy old eyes.
"Do your best."
The sound was much softer than before.
"He had already prepared himself not to come back before he left."
After those words were spoken, no one responded.
Wei Zhao did not press the matter further.
He understood that being an undercover agent meant constantly putting your head on the line.
On the battlefield, that's like handing your head to the enemy's blade.
Once that mad dog, Shigeru Inuyasha, realizes he's been tricked, the first person he'll kill is anyone suspicious around him.
That gentleman is probably in grave danger.
The old lady seemed unwilling to dwell on the matter and waved her hand.
"Enough of the small talk. There are still two days left. Inuya Shigeru isn't dead. The longer he stays outside, the more unpredictable things become."
She glanced at Liu Jingshuang.
"Jing Shuang, tonight you will patrol the camp in my stead. You will personally oversee the condition of the soldiers in each unit and the recovery of the wounded."
Liu Jingshuang clasped her hands in a fist and said, "Yes."
It was concise and to the point, without a single superfluous word.
The old lady nodded, then her gaze fell on Su Qingyun.
"Qingyun, you've been traveling for days, you should rest."
Just as Su Qingyun was about to express her gratitude, the old lady uttered her next words.
"You'll stay with Zhao'er tonight."
Su Qingyun's face flushed instantly. The redness ran from the base of her neck to the tips of her ears, making her look like a boiled shrimp.