SFS Chapter 118 The Supplies Won't Arrive
Chapter 118 The Supplies Won't Arrive
"Hao'er, what do you need so many people for?" Qiao Feng asked, his face full of doubt.
Qiao Tinghao quickly replied, "Father, you don't know this, but our Jinwan Village is only separated from the Western Rong Kingdom by a mountain."
"In order to protect the safety of the village, we specially formed a guard team here," Qiao Tinghao explained.
Then he added, "I'm just afraid that the people of Xirong Kingdom might launch a sneak attack one day. At least the more than two thousand people in Jinwan Village can protect their families."
Therefore, there are quite a few people participating in the training, but now when training these team members, we've found that there's a severe shortage of manpower to help with the training.
Upon hearing this, Qiao Feng was quite surprised. He then asked, "I know Jinwan Village. We often send people to patrol the mountaintop there."
The patrolmen who went out earlier reported that there were people on the mountaintop. They probably saw your people, right?
He never imagined that his son would end up in that village. They hadn't been able to find him for so long. Who was preventing them from finding their son, and who wanted to harm him?
With these questions in mind, Qiao Feng thought of another one.
"So how many people have you trained? And for how long? This is a complicated matter. The imperial court is very wary of unauthorized military training..."
Qiao Tinghao reported to his father truthfully: "Including Jinhe Village, a total of more than 800 people participated in the training."
However, at present, usually only the three of us are responsible for leading the drills.
Due to the large number of people, it was necessary to disperse them to three different training venues.
Qiao Feng was quite surprised that they had come up with the idea of training in separate venues.
So, out of curiosity, he continued to ask, "Oh! Who came up with the idea of training in separate areas?"
Standing to the side, Ruan Mumu quickly explained, "Reporting to the general, this arrangement came from the idea of a doctor in our village."
After hearing this, Wang Dezhu couldn't help but exclaim, "It seems your village is truly full of hidden talents! The person who came up with such a brilliant plan must be a person of great insight."
Ruan Mumu smiled slightly after hearing this, thinking to herself: Of course, this doctor is a prince, so it's no surprise that he has such knowledge.
But you can't say that out loud, after all, the two men here are both brave and resourceful generals, and you can't afford to embarrass them.
“General, we are only trying to protect our homes and families; we have no other intentions,” Ruan Mumu emphasized.
“Yes, Father. When I was seriously injured and rescued in Jinwan Village, the villagers there didn’t have this awareness. It was I who brought it up after I got there,” Qiao Tinghao chimed in.
Qiao Feng waved his hand: "It's good that you have this awareness. I was just worried that there were too many of you, which would attract the attention of the imperial court, and then things would get complicated."
Then, after saying that, he looked at the four large boxes again and said, "I won't ask about the origin of these supplies, but if such good things are in your hands, the imperial court will definitely try every means to take them away once they find out."
"Hmph~ It's all those bandits disguised as officials who have tarnished the reputation of the court." Liu Ziyun roared angrily.
Qiao Feng and Wang Dezhu hadn't paid much attention to this person before, but now, hearing his words, they felt a mix of indignation and disappointment, and were quite puzzled.
"Hao'er, who is this young man?" Qiao Feng asked.
"Father, have you received the grain allocated by the imperial court yet?" Qiao Tinghao did not answer directly, but asked about something else.
"Hao'er, how did you know? Didn't you say you couldn't remember anything?" Qiao Feng was even more puzzled.
If the son remembers nothing, how could he know that the imperial court had allocated grain supplies?
“Father, you won’t receive your supplies because…” Qiao Tinghao pointed at Liu Ziyun and said, “Because the person who was supposed to deliver the supplies to you was kidnapped, and he was one of them.”
Upon hearing this, Wang Dezhu realized that the supplies were gone, and he nearly stumbled and fell to the ground. "The supplies are gone! How are we supposed to fight this battle? Do they really want the Western Rong to come and destroy my Northern Sheng?"
Qiao Feng's reaction to the news was similar to Wang Dezhu's. "I received word that the Third Prince was escorting supplies, but where is he?"
Qiao Feng approached Liu Ziyun, gripped his shoulders tightly, and asked urgently, "Tell me, where did the Third Prince's men go when the grain supplies are gone?"
How did you protect the Third Prince? If something were to happen to him in my western border region, how could I explain it to the Emperor?
Although Liu Ziyun was about the same height as Qiao Feng, he was thinner and Qiao Feng was more burly. So when Qiao Feng grabbed him, Liu Ziyun had no way to resist.
"General Qiao, General Qiao, don't worry, don't worry." Liu Ziyun struggled to break free from Qiao Feng's grip.
Seeing Qiao Feng's strong reaction, Qiao Tinghao quickly stepped forward, pulled his father's large hand away, and rescued Liu Ziyun from his grasp.
“Father, this is the person you’re looking for,” Qiao Tinghao explained.
"what?"
"what?"
Qiao Feng and Wang Dezhu couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.
They never expected that the Third Prince would be with Qiao Tinghao and his group, and they were even more surprised that the grain supplies had been stolen.
Liu Ziyun recounted the whole story of how he escorted the grain.
"I never imagined these people would be so ruthless, daring to harm even a prince," Wang Dezhu roared.
"So, Third Prince, are you living in Jinwan Village now?" Qiao Feng asked tentatively.
“Yes, he lives in her house just like your son,” Liu Ziyun said, pointing to Ruan Mumu.
"Thank you so much for saving my son's life, young master. You not only saved my son but also the current prince. If you ever need any help in the future, please don't hesitate to ask. I will do my best to help."
After Qiao Feng finished speaking, he was about to bow to Ruan Mumu, but Qiao Tinghao couldn't stop him.
Ruan Mumu dared not accept such a grand gesture from him, and quickly jumped behind Qiao Tinghao, saying, "Brother, you should tell your father that I can't accept this bow from him!"
Qiao Tinghao whispered something in Qiao Feng's ear, and Qiao Feng laughed loudly after hearing it, "Okay, okay, Dad knows, Dad knows."
“Third Prince, why don’t you move back to the military camp? If you stay in Jinwan Village, what if those villains find you and harm Young Master Ruan’s family?” Wang Dezhu asked Liu Ziyun.
“Deputy General Wang, if I didn’t tell you, you wouldn’t even recognize me. Even my guards haven’t been able to find me yet, so it’s even less likely that those people would find Jinwan Village so quickly. It’s safer for me to stay in the village,” Liu Ziyun refused.
"General, how are we going to get through this winter without supplies?" Wang Dezhu asked with a worried expression.