Chapter 260 – Military Provisions Robbed
Seeing her curling up into a ball in the bedding, Wu Bin asked with some concern, “Is it serious? Do you want me to find a military doctor to take a look at you?”
Yan Xiaosi’s voice came from under the covers.
“Brother Wu, did you forget? I’m also a military doctor. Don’t worry, I’m fine. I’ll be okay after lying down for a bit.”
Wu Bin believed her words.
“Then rest a while longer. We’ll go to the kitchen to get you breakfast.”
“Much obliged then, Brother Wu.”
Yan Xiaosi curled up under the covers and breathed a sigh of relief.
Luckily, she had just come out from the Portable Space and didn’t directly appear in the military tent, otherwise she would have been exposed.
The drill times in the military camp were separated into morning and evening sessions.
Now it was time for washing up and eating.
As a military doctor, Yan Xiaosi didn’t need to participate in drills. With the two nations not at war yet, there were almost no wounded in the camp. She didn’t need to get up this early.
Wu Bin and the other two hurriedly got up, folded their bedding, took their eating utensils, went out to freshen up, then headed straight for the kitchen.
There was already a long line in front of the kitchen. With so many people eating, if you got up late, you really could only drink wash water.
Yan Xiaosi wasn’t sleepy at all. After Wu Bin and the others left, she sat cross-legged on the bedding to meditate for a while. Estimating that the three were about to return, she tidied up her own den, got dressed and went out to wash up.
When Wu Bin and the others came back with breakfast, they saw her doing horse stance in front of the tent.
Her horse stance looked quite proper.
The three were quite surprised.
Wu Bin said, “Brother Xiaosi, your stomach doesn’t hurt anymore?”
Zhao Xi said, “Brother Xiaosi, you’re a military doctor. Why are you practicing horse stance?”
Wang Cheng said, “Brother Xiaosi, your horse stance is really not bad.”
Yan Xiaosi released her stance and took the breakfast from Wu Bin’s hands.
“Thanks for your concern, Brother Wu. My stomach doesn’t hurt anymore. Brother Zhao, you asked the wrong question. Even as a military doctor, I need to practice, so I don’t become a burden. Brother Wang’s words are the most sensible.”
The four found a flat spot, squatted in a row again with Yan Xiaosi in the middle, chatting as they ate breakfast, quite intimate.
Long Yu came out of his tent to discuss matters with Murong Qinjian and happened to see this intimate scene. His brows visibly furrowed.
“How’s the research going?”
Long Yu stared at the two kinds of gray powder placed on the table by Murong Qinjian.
The dark gray powder on the right was what he had stolen from the Rong Di underground armory. The light gray powder on the left was what Murong Qinjian had formulated.
Ever since personally witnessing the power of this powder that day, he had secretly ordered Murong Qinjian to develop it upon returning.
Murong Qinjian frowned, “Not very well. Although I’ve figured out that the powder the Rong Di developed contains saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal powders, I can’t determine the proportions of these three powders. Without the proportions, the powder I make is far less potent than the Rong Di’s.”
If it were that easy to figure out, this powerful weapon would have probably come out long ago.
This result was also within Long Yu’s expectations.
“No rush. Take your time researching it.”
“Mm.”
Murong Qinjian nodded solemnly.
“Fortunately, we used talc to swap out the saltpeter from Four Sisters Mountain. In the short term, the Rong Di king also can’t collect large amounts of saltpeter.”
The Rong Di was a grassland kingdom. There were almost no undulating mountains in the country, only endless plains. Very little saltpeter existed in the plains. The Rong Di king needed large quantities of saltpeter and could only purchase it from other countries. But Long Yu had already issued an order prohibiting Great Chu merchants from selling saltpeter, and his men were also buying up saltpeter in large quantities all over the country and in other small nations.
Under these circumstances, even if the Rong Di king Chunyu Hanfeng had the formula, without enough saltpeter, he still wouldn’t be able to produce this powerful weapon in a short period of time.
“My lord, Divine Physician Murong, something urgent has occurred.”
Long Yi suddenly appeared outside Murong Qinjian’s tent and reported gravely.
Long Yu and Murong Qinjian walked out.
“What’s the matter?”
Long Yi said, “Long Si and Long Wu went to transport grain and provisions. When passing through Mount Cangwu, the provisions were robbed.”
This batch of provisions was sent from Luo City. A lush Mount Cangwu range was sandwiched between Luo City and Xize County. Because both Luo City and Xize County had troops stationed, the bandits all gathered on Mount Cangwu. This place was far from the government offices and had no troops stationed nearby, very safe and suitable for robbery.
Long Yu knew there were bandits on Mount Cangwu, so he specially dispatched Long Si and Long Wu to transport the grain and provisions. He didn’t expect this batch to still be robbed.
Murong Qinjian stroked his chin and sighed, “The bandits on Mount Cangwu are getting bolder and bolder, daring to rob Long Yu’s grain and provisions.”
In the past, the bandits on Mount Cangwu only robbed some passing merchants and only took money, not lives. Plus, with the war between the Great Chu and Rong Di at a critical stage, Long Yu had no time to deal with them. So he had turned a blind eye until now. He didn’t expect this group of bandits to actually take desperate measures and set their sights on the grain and provisions.
Long Yu snorted coldly, “A mere group of bandits wouldn’t have such guts. I’m afraid someone is fanning the flames behind the scenes.”
For example, the empress dowager and the four dukes with authorities in the East, South, West and North. These people all hoped he wouldn’t make further military contributions. If he was defeated, these five could use it as an excuse to find someone from the court to replace him.
“Long Yu, you mean…?”
Murong Qinjian immediately understood what he meant.
“These people are really bored and have nothing to do. For the sake of a bit of power, they actually disregard the lives of the people on the border.”
Long Yu laughed coldly in ridicule, “They want the power in my hands that I won’t give to them.”
In recent years, he had fought battles in all directions, disregarding his own safety, originally just to protect the Great Chu Dynasty. When the flames of war were extinguished, he would return military power to the emperor. Now those people were so wary of him, so eager to seize the military power in his hands that he simply wouldn’t give it to them.
“Long Yu, what do you plan to do then?”
Long Yu said, “First, go to Mount Cangwu and annihilate that nest of bandits.”
The corners of Murong Qinjian’s mouth twitched violently as he silently mourned for those bandits on Mount Cangwu.
“Long Yi, go to the drill field to mobilize troops.”
“Yes, my lord.”
That day, Long Yu personally commanded, leading five thousand elite troops, leaving the Tongluo Plain military camp and heading straight for Mount Cangwu.
With no tiger in the mountain, the monkey becomes king.
With the War King leading the army on an expedition, Yan Xiaosi felt much more relaxed. As soon as the War King left, she rode her reddish-brown horse out of the military camp with a clippity-clop.
Long Yu had instructed before that she could move about freely. The soldiers at the camp entrance didn’t dare block her way and could only watch helplessly as she rode her horse out with great fanfare.
“What’s the background of this Little Doctor Yan?”
“Who knows? His Highness the War King seems to value him a lot. We’d better not provoke him.”
