Chapter 274

"Seeks profit and fame?" "Otherwise, suffering such a disaster, he would either be dead in heart and hide his name, or be resentful and wait for an opportunity to take revenge; how could he be so actively serving as an official?"

By the time the ghost ape was barely saved from the gates of hell by Dong Rui, the sun was already setting in the west.

Hong Chenglue had just listened to the report from the scout, who had hidden in Xinhuang City for a night to inquire about the enemy situation and had only just returned to the mine pit.

"They plan to set off tomorrow morning?"

Hong Chenglue waved this person away, tapped his finger on the dilapidated wooden table twice, and asked again: "What about the scout sent to Baiting Town, has he returned?"

Xu Yingxian immediately said: "Not yet."

"We are so close to Baiting Town, why not?"

"This..." Xu Yingxian was also clever, "I will send someone to go again immediately!"

Hong Chenglue didn't speak until Xu Yingxian walked out the door, then called him back: "Come back!"

"General?"

"Who did you send?"

"Liu Si."

"Is this person usually reliable?" After all, these were Xunzhou mobile cavalry, not even knowing him a few days ago, not the Beijia army he led in the past. He didn't have a deep understanding of the combat habits and capabilities of this troop.

"Liu Si has always been punctual and cautious; this is the first time he hasn't returned after the time has passed."

Abnormal events must have demons; Hong Chenglue felt a chill in his heart, secretly thinking it was bad. He had lived in Baiting Town for several years, and the horse feet he left behind couldn't be wiped clean in a short time.

"No need to go look." This was his negligence, "Order to break camp; it's not safe here, let's change places!"

This old, abandoned mine pit was only known to a few locals and was originally an excellent place for concealment.

What a pity.

"Ah?" Tao Ze was startled, and the others heard it too; Xu Yingxian immediately responded "Yes," but the other two generals stood up: "Inappropriate! Perhaps Liu Si was delayed on the road, not necessarily that something happened in Baiting Town!"

"General Baili and so many brothers have just been rescued and treated; it's not suitable to move and bump around now. We cannot mobilize the crowd just because Liu Si is half an hour late."

"Yes, inappropriate!"

These were all Xunzhou people, Nian Zanli's subordinates; even if Nian Zanli designated Hong Chenglue as the main general for the operation behind enemy lines, they weren't truly convinced in their hearts, instead being closer to Baili Qing.

Even if there were other places to stay, they couldn't walk the official road openly, and this path was definitely the most difficult mountain road, shaking people until their butts went numb; let alone Baili Qing and these critically ill patients who feared shaking the most. Shaking a few times might cause their wounds to split open again, posing a life danger.

Under these circumstances, they only felt Hong Chenglue was chasing shadows and making a mountain out of a molehill.

Hong Chenglue didn't get angry, only asking them: "Then in your opinion?"

"Send someone to Baiting Town again to inquire clearly."

Hong Chenglue had no objection, even smiling: "Fine, then let's do that."

These two generals felt that General Hong seemed quite gentle, not as murderous and intolerant of disobedience as rumored.

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He Lingchuan and the others entered the mountain under the guidance of the old man.

This old man was surnamed Shan and wasn't good at riding horses; He Lingchuan even hired a carriage for him to avoid his old bones falling apart before reaching the place.

"That mine pit, I haven't been there for ten years." Old Manshan lay by the window to identify the scenery, fearing to miss the small path. "Mr. Hong is a recognized good person; my old woman stole things from his house, and he didn't care too much, often going into the mountains to hunt wild game and sharing a bit with us neighbors. I remember he hunted a big wild boar once, truly big, must have been over five hundred jin. He wasn't stingy either, sharing it all with the neighbors in the alley. Sigh, truly didn't expect it, he would actually work for the Xunzhou people."

Was Hong Chenglue working for the Xunzhou people? Clearly, he was going to be the leader of the Xunzhou people; Old Manshan didn't know. He Lingchuan said casually: "There is a lot of wild game in your mountains."

"Running all over the ground in the past, but in recent years, there's less and less; if you can hunt back a rabbit after a whole day in the mountains, it's the old heaven rewarding your face." Old Manshan shook his head, "Once Mr. Hong went into the mountains for two days and came back empty-handed, saying the forest was empty."

"Eaten clean?" They had walked for so long and indeed hadn't seen a single wild rabbit.

"Yes, the harvest in the fields has been poor these years, and the government is fierce in asking for money, so everyone has to find ways to eat something else?" Old Manshan suddenly pointed, "Right here, go in!"

The place he pointed to had no road, only dense grass. Jiao Tai grabbed a machete and hacked twice, cutting down a pile of long grass leaves, only then seeing a barely passable small path inside, but small trees were standing everywhere, all clearly grown in recent years.

"Sure enough, it's here; look, I carved a mark on that big rock!" Everyone looked, and there was indeed a triangular mark carved by a small knife on the black stone beside the dwarf locust tree, although covered by moss, it was barely recognizable.

"We used to take this shortcut when we finished work and returned to town; it could save half an hour!"

The carriage couldn't drive in, so Shan Youjun put the old man in his front seat, and the group continued on their way.

This journey was high and low, even having to wade through rivers and streams; without a guide, there was no way to find the path.

More than half an hour later, Old Manshan pointed to the dwarf mountain ahead: "Climb over and you'll see the mine pit."

Mao Tao dived to the top of the mountain to probe, then nodded to He Lingchuan.

He Lingchuan immediately took out three taels of silver and stuffed them to Old Manshan: "Thank you, this is the reward."

He gave more than the agreed amount, and Old Manshan was very grateful, wiping the spider webs from his forehead and saying: "Do you want to know the other exit of the mine pit?"

The group was startled: "The mine pit has another exit?"

"Originally no." Old Manshan drank some water and hung everyone's appetite. He Lingchuan reached out and gave him a few more pieces of broken silver, and only then did Old Manshan lead the group around the back of the mountain.

On this point, He Lingchuan felt that he and the old woman were indeed a perfect match; not of the same family, not entering the same door.

"Fourteen years ago, there was still mining here, with nearly a hundred people working every day. I remember at that time, it was two days before the New Year, and everyone wanted to finish quickly to go home, but when they were digging in full swing, the mine tunnel suddenly collapsed again."

"Four or five died on the spot, and over a dozen were trapped. We thought we were dead for sure, but the stone wall deep in the mine tunnel was also shattered, and light shone in; it's just that the opening was too small. We used pickaxes to open the stone crack into a cave entrance, and the mountain rocks slid down several times in the middle, burying that crack several times, so we dug several times, suffering thousands of hardships before escaping."

"It's been so long, I don't know if that exit is still there."

Following the mountain trend, they walked down for over a mile, and Mao Tao in front suddenly hissed: "Don't move!"

The five people happened to pass between two giant rocks, and through the stone crack, they could see two people sitting around a fire outside the mountain stream, with weapons tucked at their waists.

These were guards.

He Lingchuan saw this and his heart settled. If the mine pit had no back door, why would the Xunzhou people send two guards here? Sure enough, Old Manshan pointed there, meaning "the exit is right there."

Hong Chenglue chose this abandoned mine pit as a base, and it truly had meticulous considerations, even preparing a way out.

Immediately, the five people tiptoed back, not alarming these two guards.

Returning to the vicinity of the mine shaft, Old Manshan immediately said: "The lords have business, I'll go back first." This looked like a precursor to a group fight; he, an old man, couldn't handle it, so he had to slip away first.

A carriage was waiting at the end of the small path, and he would drive it.

Until his background disappeared at the end of the small path, Mao Tao turned and dived toward the mine pit.

The three waited patiently.

About half a quarter-hour later, Mao Tao dived back and whispered: "There are at least six sentries around the mine pit, all guarding on commanding heights, able to overlook the whole situation. The diameter of the open-pit mine shaft must be seventy or eighty zhang; it's not easy to shoot at the people below from here. By the way, they are cooking below, over a hundred people are sitting on the stone steps of the mine shaft waiting for food, and there are Xunzhou people going in and out of the dozen or so low houses on the edge of the mine pit. I see some carrying blood water out to pour, perhaps there are wounded lying in the houses."

"I also heard a loud 'Ah' scream; it seems Dong Rui's strange bird is perched on the roof grooming its wings."

There was indeed the fragrance of rice drifting with the wind, and the group asked He Lingchuan: "What now?"

With several hundred enemy troops below and only four of them, they couldn't take it. He Lingchuan immediately pointed to Jiao Tai: "You go back to Xinhuang to report to Father and let him make the decision. The rest, just lie here with me and chew dry rations."

Jiao Tai took his orders and turned to leave.

Since Dong Rui's strange bird was also here, and that thing was sharp-eared and sharp-eyed and could fly, their actions had to be even more concealed.

He Chunhua sat in the bungalow, staring at the military damage report on the table.

The grain transport team was defeated in Baiting Town, losing ten thousand shi of grain; Xinhuang was a bit better, but also suffered over a hundred casualties, and over four hundred jin of grain was burned.

Given the current situation of the Yuan Nation, every time grain was raised, they had to tighten their belts, almost having to scrape the common people again. Just this bit of grain, Ke Jihai in the west would drool when he saw it. However, He Chunhua personally escorted it this time, and before reaching the front line, half of the two thousand shi of grain allocated by the Royal Court was lost.

Then when meeting Zhao Pan, they would have to be a head shorter in momentum.

This made him very unhappy.

At the same time, he was also very conflicted: should he stop to pursue the remaining Xunzhou cavalry, or transport the provisions to the front line safely first?

Starting from the big picture, he should choose the latter. Since it was a grain transport team, grain safety came first, and the warmth and fullness of the soldiers on the front line came first.

But even if he planned this, it was hard to say that Hong Chenglue wouldn't attack again, intending to burn the remaining provisions as well. Then their side would be passive.

If they took the initiative to attack...

The surviving staff had already discussed it with him twice, and everyone insisted on transporting grain first.

But He Chunhua hadn't made a decision yet.

Just like this, ending the ambush battle this time, he was unwilling, and it wouldn't be easy to explain when he went back.

Just at this moment, it was reported from outside:

"The eldest young master's personal attendant requests an audience."

Finally, news came! He Chunhua's spirit lifted: "Enter."

Jiao Tai arrived dusty and tired, his lips cracked, but he didn't have time to drink water before coming to report the intelligence of Baiting Town and the mine pit to He Chunhua.

The book circle and chapter comments have returned to normal, and everyone can chat, blow water, and like again. Previously, due to force majeure, everyone's praise couldn't be displayed, only visible in the background.

How about you praise me again? Openly.

(End of chapter)