Chapter 213

Chapter 213

No wonder Li Mu was puzzled. Even if Shanzhou had surplus grain, it would be too late by the time it arrived, as the Turkic forces were expected to attack the city within three days.

Chen Qingyan surveyed his surroundings and asked, "Is there any spacious open ground nearby?"

"The backyard is empty..." His current encampment was at the Liangzhou prefectural office, which boasted a large, unused area behind it.

Chen Qingyan dismissed the servants and walked into the central courtyard. Mentally, he commanded the Experimental Field to open, then began pulling out sacks of grain, one after another. Bags of millet emerged from the field.

Li Mu was so startled he nearly stumbled. He rubbed his eyes, ensuring he wasn't mistaken, and murmured, "Good heavens..."

The grain piled higher and higher, soon filling the entire courtyard. Li Mu’s expression shifted from initial shock and excitement to profound confusion. Just how much grain had his cousin brought?

As the last sack of wheat was tossed out, Chen Qingyan, drenched in sweat, asked, "Is this enough grain? If not, I can have them procure more."

"It’s enough, more than enough! As long as we hold out until reinforcements arrive!" Li Mu’s eyes gleamed with emotion. He rushed over in three quick strides, grasping Chen Qingyan’s hand firmly. "With this grain, my soldiers and I will survive!"

Chen Qingyan let out a relieved sigh. "Good thing I made it in time."

Li Mu wiped the corner of his eye. "But where did all this grain come from?"

"Brother Sui and Wang Ying gathered it from Jizhou."

"Jizhou? But Jizhou is thousands of miles away. How could—"

Chen Qingyan interrupted him. "First, have your men secure this grain. I’ll explain everything later."

"Alright!" Li Mu immediately summoned his trusted officers to store the grain.

When Lang Qianping first heard the news, he was utterly stunned. "What did you say?"

"The Marquis said to take men to the prefectural office to retrieve grain so the soldiers can have a hearty meal tonight."

He scrambled out of bed, pulling on his shoes as he spoke. "Has the Marquis lost his mind? This city has been thoroughly scoured. Where could there possibly be any grain left?"

With over twenty thousand troops, the daily grain consumption was enormous. Nearby prefectures had already been stripped bare. If there had been grain, it would have been used long ago—not saved until now.

Soon, he arrived at the prefectural office with several commanders of a thousand. They found the Marquis and Assistant Prefect Chen chatting idly. Puzzled, the commanders asked, "Where’s the grain?"

Chen Qingyan pointed to the backyard. The group was dumbfounded by the sight of grain piled mountain-high.

"Good gracious! Where did all this grain come from?" The commanders of a thousand rushed over excitedly, opening the burlap sacks to find them filled with golden millet and wheat. Tears streamed down their faces without warning. "Marquis, this grain..."

Li Mu declared, "Ask no questions. Heaven provides. Quickly store the grain properly. These next few days, we must conserve our strength and prepare for the barbarians' attack!"

"Yes, sir!" The commanders of a thousand, eyes red-rimmed with emotion, hurried back and forth transporting the grain. They were saved—they were truly saved!

Heaven knew they had been living on one meal a day, and even that was just watery porridge. They were so hungry they were seeing stars. The little grain they had left was reserved for the day of the siege.

Li Mu had even joked with his subordinates that they should at least die on full stomachs, so they wouldn’t be starving ghosts.

Now, with so much grain suddenly delivered, the siege of Liangzhou could be broken!

That very night, a portion of the grain was used to give the soldiers a hearty meal. The rest was stored away, enough to last at least four or five days. This hearty meal was like a powerful tonic for the soldiers, bolstering their courage for the battles ahead.

*

Late that night, in the study.

"Cousin, can you tell me now where this grain came from?"

"First, come with me to a place, Marquis. You’ll understand once we’re there." Chen Qingyan took his arm, and in the blink of an eye, the two of them arrived in the Experimental Field.

Being a general, Li Mu maintained his composure despite his inner astonishment. After scanning the surroundings, he asked, "What is this place? Why have you brought me here?"

"It’s a long story," Chen Qingyan said, sitting down on a stone stool nearby. Li Mu also took a seat, ready to listen carefully.

"I don’t know if you’re aware, Marquis, but years ago I was falsely accused of cheating in the imperial examinations and had my qualifications revoked."

"I’ve heard a little about it." This matter had come to light during the investigation into Lin Sui back then.

Chen Qingyan lowered his head with a bitter smile. "At the time, it felt like a death sentence. After that, I fell seriously ill. Medicine couldn’t cure me, and I nearly died several times. My mother, worried sick, went to a Taoist temple to have my fortune told. The diviner said I needed to marry a woman or a man with a 'water-element fate' to counter the bad luck."

"As it happened, Wang Ying was water-element. My mother paid ten strings of cash for him, and we married. Curiously enough, after that, my illness gradually improved, and this land suddenly appeared around that time."

Li Mu pondered for a moment. "So, this land is inside your body?"

"In a way." Chen Qingyan took full responsibility for the Experimental Field, hoping to protect Wang Ying even if the truth were exposed later.

"However, only Wang Ying and I can open this Experimental Field. At most, we can bring six or seven people inside—any more than that isn’t possible. All these years, we’ve never revealed this ability to anyone, fearing it would attract envy and danger. So, I hope you can help keep this secret, Marquis."

Li Mu understood perfectly. If not for helping them, his cousin would likely never have revealed this ability in his lifetime.

"Don’t worry. I’ve already told my subordinates that the grain was found within the city. Aside from the two of us, no one else knows about today’s events."

"Thank you." As soon as Chen Qingyan finished speaking, Wang Ying entered with Lin Sui.

"Marquis!"

"Sui Er..."

After so long apart, the two embraced, overcome with emotion. Wang Ying, knowing they must have many private matters to share, gently pulled her husband aside to wait elsewhere.

"Did you give them all the grain?"

"Yes, and it came just in time. The Marquis said their provisions were completely exhausted, and they were worried about how to survive the next few days. Our delivery couldn’t have been more timely—it solved their immediate problem."

"That’s good. Brother Sui and I bought some more medicinal herbs. They’ll arrive tomorrow, so we can send them over together."

"Thank you for your hard work."

Wang Ying reached out to straighten his collar. After days of constant traveling, Chen Qingyan had visibly lost weight, with bruise-like shadows under his eyes. "It’s not hard work. But when do you plan to return?"

"Let’s wait a little longer. If I leave now, what will happen to the ten thousand people in Shanzhou..."

"You promised me that if the Turkic forces attack, you’ll return ahead of time."

"Don’t worry. I value my life too much to throw it away recklessly."

On the other side, Li Mu and Lin Sui seemed to have finished catching up. Their emotions had settled. Lin Sui handed him several sets of clothing. "I know it’s inconvenient to carry spare clothes while marching and fighting, so I made you a few sets. The weather will turn cold soon—look after yourself and don’t catch a chill."

"Mm." Li Mu’s voice was thick with emotion, his eyes full of unmistakable yearning.

Lin Sui held his hand, tears spilling over at the thought of him risking his life against the barbarians. "You promised me you’d come back in one piece."

"Don’t worry. I won’t go back on my word."

It was about time, so the two couldn’t linger too long. They called Chen Qingyan and Wang Ying over. "Thank you, cousin and sister-in-law, for delivering the grain. I swear I will never reveal the secret of the Experimental Field. If I break this oath, may I die with no grave."

"Don’t say that. We are family. We revealed the Experimental Field because we trust you."

Li Mu said, "Cousin-in-law, you should know this, but the Turkic people are now stationed just ten *li* outside the city, waiting for us to exhaust our provisions before launching their attack. Our supplies in the city were completely used up. We thought we wouldn’t last until reinforcements arrived, and everyone had prepared for certain death. Who would have thought… the life-saving provisions cousin brought saved the lives of over twenty thousand of my soldiers! Please accept this bow from Li Mu."

Li Mu lifted his robe's hem and knelt to kowtow. Wang Ying was startled and quickly stepped forward with Chen Qingyan to stop him.

"This is too much, Marquis! You honor us too much. You lead troops and fight on the battlefield, while we just did our small part. It’s truly not worth mentioning!"

"Now that we have ample provisions, and Liangzhou's defenses are strong, we can hold out for another ten days to half a month without any problem. Once reinforcements arrive, it will be time for us to regroup and counterattack!"

Lin Sui breathed easier. "That’s good. In the coming days, I’ll keep gathering supplies with cousin-in-law. You focus on the battle ahead and don’t worry about provisions."

Li Mu nodded heavily, feeling immensely reassured.

"However…" Lin Sui hesitated before speaking.

"But what?"

Lin Sui scratched his head. "The money used to buy the grain was all yours. I’m afraid your bank savings are nearly gone."

Li Mu laughed heartily. "Don't worry about it! That money was spent where it was most needed!"

*

In the days that followed, the Border Guard Army had full meals every day.

At noon, it was whole wheat buns and millet porridge again. Today, there was even a hint of oil in the porridge. Everyone held their bowls, eating noisily.

A soldier surnamed Mu secretly glanced at the Centurion beside him while eating. When the Centurion was almost done, he handed over his own steamed bun. "Centurion Yu, please have this."

"Aren’t you going to eat?"

"I've got a small appetite. A bowl of porridge is enough to fill me up. I really can’t eat any more."

Centurion Yu laughed heartily, took the bun, and wolfed it down in three bites. After finishing, he wiped his mouth and let out a satisfied burp. "A full meal—now that's living!"

"Indeed! I just wonder where this grain came from. Didn’t command say a few days ago that supplies were running low?"

"Why do you ask?"

"No reason, no reason. I was just curious and asked casually."

"Ha! I thought you were a Turkic plant. To be honest, I don’t know where this grain came from either. But if there’s food, we eat. As long as we’re full, who cares where it comes from!"

The soldier surnamed Mu was so frightened by these words that he broke out in a cold sweat. After the Centurion left, he wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. He really was a Turkic spy. The news about the army’s shortage of provisions had been leaked by him. Just a few days ago, everyone had only one meal of thin porridge a day, yet suddenly, these past few days, there was food again.

He decided to check the granary at night to see if there really was still grain.

That night, the soldier surnamed Mu quietly got up and headed toward the army’s grain storage warehouse. He had already scouted the location beforehand and knew that the guards would be relaxed in the latter half of the night, so he wouldn’t be discovered.

When he reached the vicinity of the granary, he saw several soldiers moving things into the courtyard. It was fine until he looked closely, but what he saw shocked him completely.

Cart after cart of wheat and millet were being transported from somewhere. Besides grain, there were even pigs, sheep, chickens, and ducks?! Where did all this come from?

His face turned pale. He had to get this information out, or the attack would fail.

However, before he could slip away, he was captured by several men. The leader was none other than Centurion Yu, to whom he had given his steamed bun earlier.

"Seeing you lurking around, I knew you were up to no good. Seize him!"

"Sir, have mercy! I am wronged!"

"Wronged? Advisor Lang said that anyone inquiring about the origin of the grain is to be treated as a spy. Take him away!" Without another word, Centurion Yu had him tied up.

The next day, the Turkic people, who had been waiting for several days, prepared to launch their attack.