Chapter 402: The Grain and Fodder Are Missing!

Eighteen years……

Come back alive.

Qing feng turned his head aside, his eyes reddening quietly.

No one knows what these four words 'come back alive' mean, and no one knows whether Ningguang could hold on if she waited for news of death!

Jiang Yunchu stood before the three people, then slowly knelt; in this life and the last, aside from her imperial uncle, she had never knelt to anyone.

"I know, my life is not just my own; it is protected by my mother with her life, and also by the elders' bit-by-bit scheming, withdrawing from the martial world and the court, to keep it safe."

"I will protect it well."

"What are you doing, child?" Ningguang stepped forward, usually stern-faced, now tears poured down as she helped Jiang Yunchu to her feet.

That child, before leaving, was exactly this one kneeling before her, kowtowing three times, bidding farewell.

But after that bow, he never came back.

Jiang Yunchu rose, "I have never properly thanked them, just like those children; I have grown up, and from now on let me walk my own path."

She smiled lightly, as if she were gradually letting go.

Only, she is already nineteen, while those children, the youngest is only seven.

They are small, but she believes they can grow.

"Good." Before anyone else could speak, Kang Mengxian opened his mouth.

"There's my maternal grandfather in Jingdu; nothing will go wrong."

This was the reassurance the old man gave her; everyone is striving, for this country, to protect a group of people, and also for a woman named Kang Ying in a faraway place.

"What did you say?" The Emperor looked down at the person wearing Princess Consort robes, who set down what was in hand and then retorted.

"I want to go to Xijiang."

"Jiang Yunchu! Not even Ning Jing, you dare not think of leaving!" the Emperor answered lightly.

But Jiang Yunchu smiled; her smile was warm and gentle, her brows and eyes losing their usual chill and the former tension, instead carrying a soft grace.

She resembled the little junior sister.

"Imperial Uncle, for the Xijiang campaign, have you already chosen someone in your heart?" She did not insist, but asked another question.

The Emperor glanced at him, "The Jiang family army can take over quickly; only one person can resist the foreign foe."

"My second aunt." Jiang Yunchu didn't wait for him to reveal the answer, she gave it outright.

She smiled lightly, "Although my second aunt is of the Jiang clan, she is ultimately a woman, and troop morale is not easy to stabilize."

"Moreover, my second aunt has ample bravery but insufficient strategy."

When she said these things, she was quite objective, not because of her own aims, nor because her second aunt is of the Kang Clan.

"As for me, I have medical skill."

"Those children also need to be taken out for training."

"Before I thought of throwing them onto some barren mountain; I knew that the day Xijiang sent word, I already had a choice."

Jiang Yunchu looked at the Emperor, who was still thinking, "I have married into the imperial family; whether I want to admit it or not, this Regent's Consort identity cannot be taken off for now."

"Since that is the case..."

"Then let's use this identity to do a bit more."

The Emperor sighed, "Yun chu."

His words were no longer stern; his gaze at Jiang Yunchu grew ever more affectionate.

"I cannot let you go on an adventure."

He did not use the imperial 'I', but an ordinary 'I'.

Even Jiang Yunchu only now realized that unless her imperial uncle was truly angry, in everyday speech he used 'I' when talking to her.

How had she not noticed before?

"Is it not dangerous even in Jingdu? The Jiang family's barren mountain is a breach; who knows where those people, like rats, have hidden?"

"A cunning rabbit has three burrows; I've already broken two, who knows how many rabbits they have?"

"If those people are well-armed, might they not expose the Jiang clan's private weapon manufacturing to the world?"

"How should the Grand General's residence conduct itself?"

Jiang Yunchu threw out her questions one by one, watching the Emperor's expression; now all the shops have gotten on track, the children have passed the Bing list examinations, their genius aura is too brilliant, needing to be hidden for a time.

"Imperial Uncle, Jingdu, the frontiers—all must be stabilized, so we can have more time."

"Then you don't need to go either!" The Emperor still refused; after saying all that, she still wasn't thinking of going to Xijiang herself?

"What place is Xijiang?"

"Is it something she can bear?"

"Let's make a bet."

Jiang Yunchu fiddled with her fingers, as if the Emperor's reaction were all within her guess.

"What are we betting on?" the Emperor asked.

"Bet… that within three days, my second aunt will not be able to leave Ning Jing."

She smiled lightly; the Xijiang war had already begun, a leaderless group is a major taboo.

Now, as long as we delay my second aunt's march to Xijiang, their plans there will succeed.

"Within three days? What if she leaves?" The Emperor looked at Jiang Yunchu with an air of having victory in hand.

He had long ago issued a secret order; tonight they would depart secretly, together with the grain and fodder convoy sent out.

"If she leaves, then I won't go."

"If she doesn't leave, I will request an Imperial Edict to appoint me to Xijiang." Jiang Yunchu looked at the Emperor, speaking earnestly.

The Emperor nodded, "A promise is worth a thousand gold."

That's fine; this way the child won't sneak over.

If she hadn't stayed willingly, even Ning Jing couldn't hold her.

That night, when the grain and fodder set out, the Minister of Revenue wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, "Your Majesty, I have sinned."

"What happened?" Emperor Ning glanced at the kneeling person, suddenly having a bad feeling.

"The grain and fodder are missing!"

Emperor Ning's face was overcast like dark clouds, "Heh—beloved official, what are you and I talking about?"

"The grain and fodder are missing?"

"Beloved official, are you here to relieve my boredom?"

The Minister of Revenue knelt on the ground, beads of sweat the size of beans falling drop by drop, his face turned pale and his whole body trembled.

"Xiao Xi Zi, summon the Jingzhao Prefecture."

"Let Fang Zi Lun come over."

……

One order after another was issued, and the military provisions of the three major warehouses—if they said they were missing, they were missing.

Emperor Ning couldn't help but think of Jiang Yunchu's words; the people over there had taken action, delaying the army's departure time.

"Let the Regent's Consort enter the palace, side hall." Emperor Ning added another sentence.

"Hey!"

Xiao Xi Zi promptly agreed, hurriedly sent someone out, and went outside to convey His Majesty's oral order; since it's the side hall, that means a secret summons.

"Has all the grain in Jingdu been tallied?" Jiang Yunchu looked toward Su Xin.

After these past two years of training, Su Xin became even more steadfast, the whole person filled with confidence, "The tally is complete."

After she finished speaking, she directly handed over the locations of each warehouse and the quantity of stored grain.

Jiang Yunchu looked and said, "Not enough!"

Over the past year, all the estates and grain of the Regent Prince's Manor were not sold outward but kept being gathered; only when grain was needed did they realize it was completely insufficient.

It could be used for emergencies, but to feed an army of a hundred thousand, this grain is insufficient.