Chapter 211: Chapter 206: This matter is a deadlock!
Tushere was shocked to see the painting, first widening her eyes in astonishment, then letting out a sigh of relief and rolling her eyes.
"Scared me to death, making it so mysterious, I thought something major was happening."
"..."
"In the end, it’s just this painting, who is so bored to play such a prank."
She had relaxed, but Shang Ruyi’s expression did not ease. Her eyes were fixed on the painting, from left to right and then from right to left, suddenly she seemed to discover something, her eyes instantly lit up.
Tushere said, "Miss, shouldn’t we just ignore such pranks?"
Shang Ruyi said in a deep voice, "Who would pay five taels of silver to the doorman, just to play a prank?"
"...?"
Hearing this, Tushere was momentarily stunned and came to her senses—such an expensive prank?
She immediately looked at the painting again, but still couldn’t make sense of it, and said, "Then, what does this mean?"
Shang Ruyi’s expression grew more solemn.
She reached out, pointed at the stalk of wheat on the far right of the painting, and said, "Wheat means food. The matter directly related to food in front of us now is the Xingluo Granary. So, this wheat stalk represents Xingluo Granary."
"Huh!?"
Tushere was startled, then looked at the painting again and suddenly understood, "Then, this person facing the wheat in the middle, is it the young master?"
Shang Ruyi nodded, "Exactly."
"..."
"This person represents Yu Wenye. He is attacking Xingluo Granary."
Tushere’s eyes moved to the sword on the far left of the painting, and she said in horror, "Then this sword—"
Shang Ruyi said, "This sword is aimed at Yu Wenye’s back."
"..."
"The meaning of this painting is that Yu Wenye is attacking Xingluo Granary, and someone is about to stab him in the back!"
Tushere gasped.
She seemed unwilling to accept such a dangerous and cruel possibility, quickly saying, "Miss, couldn’t it just be someone’s prank, meant to scare us? Our Duke Mansion indeed has a lot of enemies, like General Wang—spending five taels of silver to make us restless wouldn’t be a big deal to them."
Shang Ruyi glanced at her without speaking.
Indeed, the hint of this painting could be either true or false. If it is fake, then it’s not worth mentioning.
But if it is true—
Chu Yang had already made it very clear today, if Yu Wenye loses again, loses soldiers and generals, he will never spare him. If the implication of this painting is true, someone is plotting against Yu Wenye, then this matter is a deadly trap!
Yu Wenye is bound to die!
Thinking of this, Shang Ruyi clenched her fist, crushing the painting into a ball in her palm.
Seeing her like this, Tushere instinctively grabbed Shang Ruyi’s wrist and said softly, "Miss, do you really believe, believe that this painting is true?"
Shang Ruyi looked at her, gritted her teeth, and said in a deep voice, "I can’t take this risk!"
Tushere said, "Miss, then what do you want to do?"
Shang Ruyi composed herself and said, "Where is Jiang Kesong?"
Jiang Kesong was the captain of the two hundred men Yu Wenquan left her when he left the Eastern Capital. This group couldn’t stay in the city due to their conspicuous size, so Yu Wenquan sent them to one of his estates outside the city for martial training. Jiang Kesong would visit Yuwen Mansion every few days to pay respects to Shang Ruyi and report on the situation outside the city.
Tushere said, "He went out to the estate."
"Damn it..."
Shang Ruyi frowned, thought for a moment, then got up and grabbed paper and pen, hurriedly writing a letter, sealing it, and handing it to Tushere saying, "You go out of the city right now and deliver this letter to the estate, give it to Jiang Kesong. He will know what to do after reading it."
"Yes."
Tushere was straightforward, took the letter, and was ready to leave.
But as she turned to leave, she saw Shang Ruyi beginning to change her clothes, not into resting attire but into traveling clothes, and she was startled, "Miss, what are you doing?"
Shang Ruyi said, "While the city gates are still open, I must hurry out of the city."
"Miss, this isn’t right! It’s too dangerous for you to go alone! Wait for me to call the people back from the estate, let them accompany you to go together."
"There’s no time,"
Shang Ruyi said as she was changing clothes, her tone urgent but exceptionally calm, "The estate is to the north, going back and forth, at least half a day is needed, and things on the battlefield change in an instant."
"Then at least bring a few people with you."
"I can’t. Our Duke Mansion is already in a precarious position. If I leave the city alone, I’m not a big target and won’t draw attention. If I bring many people, I’m afraid we won’t even be able to get out of the city."
"But—"
"She’er!"
Shang Ruyi interrupted her, speaking sternly, "If someone truly intends to harm Yu Wenye in the army, they wouldn’t wait for just one night."
Hearing her say this, Tushere had nothing more to say.
Shang Ruyi said, "Alright, you hurry out of the city, and be careful on the road!"
Tushere nodded, turned to leave, thought for a moment, then turned back, "Miss, you too should be very careful going alone. Your safety is what’s most important to me..."
Shang Ruyi felt a warmth in her heart.
She smiled and nodded, and Tushere immediately turned and left.
Then Shang Ruyi took a few more items and followed out the door.
|
Night gradually deepened.
The already silent mountain ridge now seemed to fall into a void-like emptiness, with the harsh cold freezing everything in the mountain, only the occasional wind blowing with scattered snow prevented this place from descending into complete silence.
This was Xingluo Warehouse City on Huangtu Ridge.
The vast Warehouse City had now completely fallen into the hands of the Wanggang Army, with guards stationed at every checkpoint and passage. A long road wound and threaded out from the mountain ridge, leading into the city, directly reaching the largest assembly hall.
Here, the lights were bright, like a purposely ignited cluster of candle flames in the silent mountain ridge.
Inside the assembly hall, the noise of people was even more intense, hotter than the flames in the several fire basins placed around the hall. On the hall laid two rows of eight Hu stools, with eight small leaders sitting on them, each followed by three or five subordinates, all speaking loudly, with endless noise and quarrels.
And at the very top of the assembly hall, there was a low table, on it laid a map of the area surrounding Xingluo Warehouse City.
A person sat behind the table, looking down at the map.
As he propped one hand on the edge of the table, and the other hand pressing against the corner of his forehead, plus being farthest from the surrounding fire basins, with no candlestick torches nearby to provide light, the light was dim, rendering his form almost indistinguishable, one could only sense a strong build, even just sitting there, resembling a crouching tiger, emitting an intimidating aura.
No matter how the assembly hall quarreled, he remained silent.
Gradually, everyone around felt his sullenness and quieted down.
At this moment, a young man in his twenties, with a handsome appearance, stood up and said, "Elder brother, what exactly are your plans?"
"..."
The man didn’t speak, still gazing at the map.
Another middle-aged man, with a full beard and showing impatience, said irritably, "Hua Ziyang, why the unnecessary question! We’re guarding so much grain now, as long as we hold the gate, the court’s troops can’t do anything to us, why care about outside matters?"
Others also echoed one after another, "That’s right, no need to care about the outside."
"With so much grain here, we don’t need to go to battle anymore."
"That Yu Wenye is not a worthy opponent."
Listening to these confident voices, the person sitting at the main seat remained wordless staring at the map, instead, the young man called Hua Ziyang uneasily said, "Ladies and gentlemen, although by defending this Warehouse City we have endless grain to eat, now is not the time for us to rest without worry. I’ve received news that the court is again planning a military campaign against Liaodong, and for that, they’ll rely on Xingluo’s grain, so they’re definitely going to find a way in."
"Alas,"
The bearded man waved a large hand and said, "Xiao Hua, why are you fussing like an old woman? Yu Wenye has sent out troops three times in the past few days, only to return in complete defeat, and many of his men died, it’s clear he’s incompetent, what are you afraid of him for?"
The people around were amused by the ’Xiao Hua’ term, laughing and saying, "Exactly, he really lives up to his name."
"I see, Yu Wenye is nothing but trash, a straw bag!"
"Hahahaha."
Hua Ziyang, being called "Xiao Hua," immediately showed anger on his face but at this moment, he could only bear it, saying, "I don’t think so. Although Yu Wenye’s three attacks were hasty, he didn’t dispatch many troops, which clearly were probing moves, and today the scouts reported that he has already—exhibited such unusual signs; there’s surely something amiss in this! Brother Lu, we cannot underestimate it."
"Unusual signs? You call that unusual signs? We call that complete defeat, hahahaha."
"Xiao Hua, your name is girly, and you act like one too!"
"You’re scared of him, but we’re not scared of him."
Seeing the people around mocking and jesting again, Hua Ziyang became white with rage, his chest heaving violently, gritting his teeth, he turned to the tall figure sitting on the main seat, cupped his hands, and in a deep voice said, "Elder brother, what do you think?"
The hall fell into silence.
In fact, no matter how they quarreled, the final decision lay with this elder brother.
After all, he was the one who led them out of Wanggang Village, capturing the largest granary in the country at one stroke, and gathering heroes from all sides, now ruling one area with such might, making the court tremble with fear!
All eyes gathered on him.
The wind blew in from the open door, causing the flames in the fire basins to flicker and sway, casting a serene yet dangerous aura on his sturdy form.
After a while, a deep voice sounded—
"Immediately gather the troops and leave the city!"
The people around were shocked and hurriedly wanted to speak, but saw that man slowly lift his head, his bright eyes revealing a sharp gleam, and in the dim light, they shone resplendently!
"We must take the offensive."