Flowery Hair: A Maidservant

Chapter 188 The Crisis of Food Supply

The Prince of Jin has been away from his residence to attend to the ailing Prince of Jin in the palace for more than half a month now. The inner quarters of the Prince's residence are like a lake whose waters have been stirred up, with undercurrents surging.

After discussing with Aunt Mei, Hua Yan instructed Ming Yue to stay close to Consort Zhen at all times, and even when she was on night duty, she had to sleep on the foot couch with Hua Yan.

Indeed, ever since Prince Jin entered the palace, Hua Yan has spent every night with Consort Zhen.

Not only that, Hua Yan also made full use of Dong Gua's sense of smell, patrolling the Yunyi Palace inside and out twice a day.

Chun'er and Xia'er both come from the Duke of Qing's mansion. After observing them these past few days, they are both useful, but Hua Yan still has concerns in her heart and will not easily let them into the bedroom to serve her.

Dong'er has an honest appearance. After Qiu'er was sent away, she was assigned to clean the courtyard every day, with Ruizhu watching over her from time to time.

The Yu brothers, He Yuan and Yu Jingnian, were a steady and unconventional pair. Yu Jingnian's personality was somewhat similar to Ruizhu's, and he was responsible for relaying almost all the news from the front hall. After Hua Yan informed the concubine, she simply left him outside, also keeping an eye on when Prince Jin would return to the mansion.

With these arrangements in place, the situation was relaxed on the outside but tense on the inside, which finally put Hua Yan and Aunt Mei at ease.

Consort Qu was grateful for Consort Zhen's care and often came to Yunyi Palace to keep her company. Hua Yan felt relieved—Consort Zhen had a new chess partner of equal skill and was no longer forced to play chess with her every day to pass the time.

......

The continuous rain made us unaware of spring's passing; only when the sun shines do we realize how deep spring truly is.

In the blink of an eye, the war in the Northwest had dragged on for more than a month, and the situation was at a stalemate.

During the previous tribal battle, Chen Lin and his group acted quickly and managed to rescue Zhou Bai from the jaws of a tiger. However, Zhou Bai suffered from a persistent high fever and remained unconscious for two days. Chen Lin and his group of more than ten people had to stay in the valley. Fortunately, they had some medicine with them, so Zhou Bai's life was not in danger.

Meanwhile, through the guide's translation, Chen Lin also learned from the lone Xiongnu cavalryman that Zhou Bai was actually a guest of honor of the Xiongnu Chanyu...

General Xunhui Jiang Wei led an army of 50,000 in a fierce battle day and night. At first, the food and supplies were relatively plentiful, and the soldiers were in high spirits, repeatedly defeating the invasion of the Xiongnu cavalry.

However, the day did not fulfill everyone's wish.

After the rainy season began, several official roads leading to the border were washed away by floods, making it difficult for the imperial grain transport teams to move forward. The grain that should have arrived in half a month was nowhere to be seen.

At the same time, the imperial court was shocked to receive two urgent reports.

Nearly 80,000 dan of grain and fodder were looted; even worse, Prince Heng, under the pretext of purging corrupt officials, personally led an army of over 10,000 men from Ankang County into the capital.

The Prince of Jin was furious and summoned Minister of Revenue, Lord Min, overnight to urgently allocate grain supplies. He also summoned Minister of War, Lord Li, and Minister of Rites, Tang De, to the palace for a meeting. At the same time, he sent a secret letter to Tang Xian, who was in Jinzhou...

......

Wang Fu, the grain officer in the Northwest Army, was extremely anxious. Every day he calculated how to supply the tens of thousands of soldiers with the dwindling grain supplies, and his brows furrowed more and more tightly.

"General, if this continues, the soldiers will run out of food in less than ten days!"

Wang Fu reported this to Jiang Wei with a worried expression.

"Furthermore, regarding the group of people that Lieutenant General Lu brought back from outside the valley two days ago, Lieutenant General Lu sent men overnight to verify their claims, confirming that what they said was true..."

The group of people Wang Fu mentioned were Chen Lin and his associates.

After Zhou Bai awoke from his coma, he brought back crucial intelligence: the Left Wise King of the Xiongnu had suggested to Huzheng Chanyu that they dump the dead cattle and sheep upstream of the water source at the northwestern military camp of the Great Zhou, thus polluting the water...

Upon hearing this, Chen Lin and his companions were greatly alarmed and immediately set off. On their way back to the border, they happened to encounter General Lu on patrol. Fortunately, they had a guarantee written by the head of Xuanquan Post Station and a token from the Tang family business, so they were not mistaken for spies.

However, Jiang Wei was naturally suspicious and imprisoned Chen Lin and the others in his tent. He sent Lieutenant General Lu to investigate overnight. Fortunately, he also sent a military doctor to treat Zhou Bai.

Jiang Wei stood in front of the tent, surrounded by the sounds of battle raging at the front, his heart heavy with sorrow.

Without food and now without water, even the bravest army of 50,000 will likely struggle to survive.

"Send someone else to urge them on. Send a message by express courier, covering 800 li. 80,000 dan of grain has been robbed. Transport Commissioner Shen is to blame. I will definitely impeach him. Has any news come from the rear?" Jiang Wei asked in a deep voice.

"Several groups of people have been sent, but the road is too difficult to travel, and the people sent out have not returned yet. We only heard that the imperial court is organizing the repair of the road and allocating grain and fodder, but no one can say for sure when they will arrive."

Wang Fu frowned and sighed helplessly.

The atmosphere in the army became increasingly oppressive as supplies dwindled.

The soldiers' daily rations have been reduced by more than half, and many soldiers are going hungry while defending against the occasional harassment from the Xiongnu.

One day, after polluting the water source, the Xiongnu finally realized the Zhou army's food shortage and launched a fierce large-scale attack at the end of May.

The Xiongnu cavalry surged towards the border city walls like a tidal wave, their battle cries shaking the heavens and the earth.

Although the soldiers of the Great Zhou were hungry, they still fought desperately.

Jiang Wei and his son led from the front, wielding their spears and driving their soldiers back time and again. However, each time they repelled the enemy, the soldiers were exhausted, and many were nearly collapsed from hunger.

"General, the brothers are truly unable to fight any longer. What should we do?"

A lieutenant, his lips cracked and bleeding, looked exhausted as he spoke to Jiang Wei.

Looking at his exhausted soldiers, Jiang Wei felt a pang of sorrow. If the food shortage couldn't be resolved quickly, these 50,000 troops would likely perish here.

Just as Jiang Wei was falling into despair, the sound of horses' hooves suddenly came from afar.

Everyone looked up and saw a fast horse galloping towards them. The soldier on the horse was covered in dust, but he could not hide his excitement.

"General, the supplies have arrived! The supplies from the rear have finally arrived!" the soldier shouted.

For a moment, cheers erupted throughout the army.

A hint of surprise flashed in Jiang Wei's eyes. He strode forward, ready to greet them personally, but he was also annoyed and wanted to question them. However, the person he saw was not the official in charge of transporting grain on imperial orders.

The leader, dressed in a blue scholar's robe, sat astride his warhorse, facing Jiang Wei from a distance of several dozen feet.

It was Tang Xian.

Behind them, a convoy stretching for miles was erected with banners of the Tang Family Trading Company.