Another officer brought up a suggestion: how about raiding the barbarians?
Heh heh. The barbarians were even poorer than the Tuhuns. They only knew how to graze their livestock and they didn’t even know if they would be able to survive the winter themselves. There was nothing for them to raid there.
The barbarians were much fewer in number than the Tuhuns anyway. Most of them were scattered all throughout the plains. They also suffered from regular raids by the Tuhuns, so they were likely all hiding under a pile of snow somewhere. The troops couldn’t depend on finding ten thousand nomadic barbarians to feed their fifty thousand soldiers. Even the suggestion of having one last meal and fighting it out with the Tuhuns was better.
In the end, no one had a solution that was sound enough.
Most of the leaders in the army were old generals who had experienced many battles. Despite their many successes and ideas in the past, when it came to the current situation, all of them could only scratch their heads in futile search of a good solution.
It wasn’t as if General Qian hadn’t tried sending men to Su City to bring back their supplies. However, half of the party had already suffered frostbite even before making it out of Liangzhou. Their carriages hadn’t been able to move in the knee-deep snow. If they did miraculously make it to Su City, then how were they supposed to get the supplies back? They couldn’t possibly rely on just men and packhorses.
Transporting supplies for fifty thousand soldiers on just the backs of men and horses?
That was impossible!
In the blink of an eye, two days had already passed. Right now, each passing day meant that their food supplies were shortened by a day. The secretary of the army was so worried about the food left in their stores, his originally white hair had grown even whiter.
No matter how much they tried to scrimp and save, the food wasn’t enough to last a single month.
Early in the morning, Laiyue packed up a small bag. A red object shaped like a rod was sticking out of his bag.
Right before he left, Laiyue came to He Changdi’s tent to report.
Xiao Hongyu was away leading his subordinates on a morning training exercise, so only He Sanlang was left in the tent.
Laiyue set down the bag he was carrying on his back and stared at the objects in the bag while trying to hold back his drool. “Third Young Master, are you really not going to eat some of this? This servant can keep some of this aside for you. All you’ve been eating in the army is bean gruel for so many days. Wouldn’t it be nice to have some of this to chew on for a change of taste occasionally?”
He Sanlang was holding a military tactic book in hand as he cast a cool glance at Laiyue. “No need. These are all women’s snacks, why leave them for me? Give them all to your Third Young Madam.”
Laiyue could only take up the bag once again. “Third Young Master, is there any message you would like this servant to pass on to Third Young Madam?”
He Changdi thought for a moment before walking over to his bedside and taking out a letter from under his pillow. He passed it over to Laiyue casually.
Laiyue received the letter with both hands and smiled eagerly. It seemed like his master was warming up to his mistress.
When He Sanlang caught sight of Laiyue’s silly and joyful smile, his expression stiffened up a little and he aimed a kick at Laiyue’s behind. “Why haven’t you gone yet? Are you waiting for me to escort you out?”
Laiyue dodged his young master’s kick skilfully before chuckling, “Third Young Master, please calm down. This servant will leave right now! This servant is good at riding, so Third Young Madam will definitely get your letter as soon as possible!”
After saying so, Laiyue carefully placed He Changdi’s letter in the bag containing stalks of sugarcane.
When he left He Sanlang’s tent, Laiyue was still carrying a smile on his face. Even though Third Young Master had claimed not to like Third Young Madam, just look at what he was doing now. He had spent so much effort to bring back this sugarcane, but Third Young Master wasn’t keeping a single piece. Instead, he was sending them all to Third Young Madam!
After an hour had passed, a familiar voice called out to He Changdi from outside the tent. He Changdi looked up from his tactic books with a frown.
What was wrong with Laiyue? Hadn’t he left just a while ago? Why was he back so soon?
In the next second, He Changdi’s cold and handsome face was contorted into an ugly expression.
Had something happened to that wicked woman Chu Lian?
When he thought of the possibility, He Sanlang couldn’t hold still any longer. He stood up abruptly in panic, almost toppling his chair over. Just as he was about to grab his cloak and sword and rush out of his tent, the tent flap lifted and Laiyue entered from outside. His face was filled with joy and he immediately started shouting even before he had completely entered the tent, “Third Young Master, good news!”
He Changdi could sense Laiyue’s excitement and uncontainable joy from his voice alone, so the tension and fright drained away from his heart.
His grip on his scabbard loosened, although there was still some frost in his tone when he spoke, “What happened? If you don’t give me a good reason for all this, I’ll sentence you to a suitable military punishment!”
The news was just too uplifting. Laiyue completely disregarded his master’s threat and finished stepping into the tent. When he saw what He Changdi was holding in hand, he spoke up curiously, “Third Young Master, are you on the way out?”
He Sanlang harrumphed and set his cloak and sword back to their original places.
Laiyue felt shivers go down his spine from the cold aura that his master was emanating, so he quickly reported everything he had just heard.
“This servant was on the way to Liangzhou’s He Estate this morning, but while on the way there, this servant met Sir Tang and Uncle Mo with a party of men and horses. On such a cold day and so much snow on the ground, they actually brought out a large carriage. This servant was stunned speechless so this servant was about to go up and ask about what was going on when Third Young Madam spoke from the carriage…”
After He Sanlang finished listening to Laiyue’s explanation, the depths of his eyes grew darker. “What did you say? The carriage that Chu Lian was sitting in didn’t have any wheels?”
Laiyue nodded furiously, disbelief still clear on his face.
“This servant doesn’t know how Third Young Madam’s carriage was built. It’s strange enough that it doesn’t have any wheels, but it can move really fast over snow, as if it’s flying! It won’t sink into the snow either!”
Thoughts flew through He Changdi’s mind at lightning fast speeds. Almost in the same instant, he thought of how this wheel-less carriage could be used.
His eyes lit up like stars in the night sky. Even the cool and reserved He Sanlang had moments of excitement like this. “Where is she now?! Tell me! Where is she?”
