There was only silence in her warm tent, now. After a few days and nights of fighting, she should have long been sound asleep in bed, but Sima Hui wasn’t sleepy at all. She listened to the north wind howling outside her tent with a bitter and helpless feeling in her heart.
Actually, when she had returned to the main tent, Xiaoju had already reported the day’s events to her. She just hadn’t expected Xiaoyan to have betrayed her expectations so badly.
The corner of Sima Hui’s lips tugged downwards bitterly. Xiaoyan had been too naive. Honoured Lady Jinyi had managed to teach them a lesson with nary a change in expression. How could someone like that be taken down by such a weak scheme?
A few moments ago, when she had passed by the hurried Captain He, he had most likely been chasing after that Honoured Lady Jinyi.
She was a little curious about this Honoured Lady Jinyi now.
As Sima Hui immersed herself in her thoughts, Xiaoju brought over some food.
She knew that her young miss was still angry over Xiaoyan, so Xiaoju was even more careful and conscientious in her service. “General, please eat. You haven’t eaten anything since you’ve returned!”
Sima Hui took a deep breath to calm her emotions and nodded.
When she picked up the silver chopsticks on the table, her gaze took in the food displayed before her.
Sima Hui was momentarily stunned. She asked, “Why isn’t there any rice today?”
Although Sima Hui’s ancestors were from Shandong, her likings were more akin to her mother’s, who had come from the southern parts of the country where there were many lakes and rivers. She loved rice. When she had the luxury to, she would rarely eat things made of flour as her main dish.
It was usually Xiaoju who took care of her clothing and food in the main camp. She usually had rice or porridge for all three meals of the day. However, there wasn’t a single grain of rice in any of the dishes before her. What was going on?
Xiaoju sunk into silence, but after a moment, she said, “General, we’ve used up all the rice we brought with us.”
Sima Hui paused in thought for a short while, but ultimately, she didn’t say anything. She picked up a wheat pancake and bit into it. In the end, she had to pair it with water before she managed to swallow the tough pancake.
She looked again at the other dishes. There was a small saucer of some sort of black sauce and half a plate of salted meat. She set down the wheat pancake in her hands and asked, “Is this what all the officers in camp eat every day?”
With Xiaoyan’s example before her, Xiaoju didn’t dare to hide anything from her general.
“Yes, this is what this servant was given by the cooks in camp. Even the great general himself eats food like this. The dried meat and sauce were specially given to you because of General Qian’s orders.”
Sima Hui’s brows furrowed. Her gut told her that something wasn’t right.
“Other than those under my command, what do the normal soldiers eat?”
“For the soldiers who aren’t deployed at the frontlines, they get two bowls of bean porridge and one wheat pancake each day. The soldiers at the frontlines get three meals a day and each meal consists of one wheat pancake and a bowl of bean porridge.”
Upon getting this answer, Sima Hui’s eyes widened in shock. “When did the border troops start eating bean porridge?!”
Xiaoju was much more reliable than Xiaoyan. She had a conscientious personality, so she normally scouted for more news in camp.
“They started eating bean porridge even before we arrived. However, that had only been for one meal a day back then. There was also some rice porridge in the morning and night. However, since the end of last month, the camp has completely stopped eating rice. The quartermaster said that they’re saving the grains to pass the winter.”
Sima Hui wasn’t that naive. Her expression was full of worry. She stood up and walked over the tent entrance. The moment she lifted the flap, a bone-piercingly cold wind came barrelling in from outside, complete with ice and snow. It was enough to make anyone shiver.
Saving supplies? Who would start saving supplies in winter? Their men would freeze to death if they tried to cut back in this cold weather.
She was afraid that their supplies had most likely run dry…
