Chapter 108 Shi Qianhu Disappears

Lin Changning picked up half of it and then sent Qi Rong home, telling her to tidy up and bandage her wounds before going to the garrison.

Lin Changning glanced at the collapsed ruins, did not refuse, and went home looking somewhat dejected. The granary was far from her home, and Shilang had also come out to help yesterday. Seeing that there were more and more people, he went home first to cook a meal for Lin Changning. Lin Changning had hardly eaten anything yesterday, so she would definitely be hungry today. So he went back and cooked some white porridge with cured meat and stir-fried some side dishes for Lin Changning to come back.

Lin Changning pushed open the door, looking listless, as if all her energy had been drained away. Shilang heard the noise from the door and came out from the stove. Seeing Lin Changning, he hurriedly came out to greet her; "What happened? How did you get hurt on your shoulder?"

He then pulled the person into the house, saying, "Take off your clothes, let me show you."

Lin Changning returned to her room, took off her coat and undergarments, revealing her bare, snow-white shoulder to Shilang's gaze. A fist-sized burn was visible on her delicate skin, the outer garment melted by the heat and congealing on the wound. A large blister was also swelling at the wound, with transparent, pinkish fluid slowly seeping out. Lin Changning hissed in pain, feeling as if Shilang was about to tear the skin and flesh off her shoulder.

"It hurts, be a little gentler."

Shiro frowned, holding the red-hot needle, and said, "The clothes and skin are burned together, so we have to peel it off. You'll have to bear with it for a while, and the blisters also need to be popped."

Lin Changning was sweating profusely from the pain, and his face suddenly contorted in agony: "It hurts! It hurts! Tenth Brother! It hurts!"

"Bear with it, it'll be over soon." Shiro said as he used a needle to pick out the pieces of clothing. Before Lin Changning could even breathe a sigh of relief, Shiro suddenly popped a few blisters on Lin Changning's shoulder. Sweat dripped down Lin Changning's face as he gritted his teeth and asked, "Is it done, tenth brother?"

Shilang nodded: "Wait for me a moment, I'll go get some clean water and medicine. There should still be some leftover egg yolk juice from Sister Hu's last time. I'll go get it and apply it to you. Don't take a bath recently, as getting the wound wet can easily cause wind and cold to enter the body."

After saying this, Shiro went out and returned a while later with hot water and a towel. After treating Lin Changning's wound, Shiro left to serve the meal. Lin Changning changed his clothes again, ate the meal, and then went to the garrison.

There will be no shortage of things to do today. The granary was burned down yesterday, and the remaining grain is probably no more than 30%. That means they probably have less than 2,000 dan of grain left. The sheep flock is only a little over 3,000 left. Their garrison has more than 5,000 people. This amount of grain and mutton will last at most two months, and the New Year is just around the corner. Someone will definitely have to take responsibility for the burning of the granary.

Lin Changning slowly walked to the camp and found that everyone's mood was not very high today. Lin Changning sighed and was about to walk towards the tent when he was suddenly stopped by someone.

"Sixth Brother, I, I, I found evidence! I found evidence!!"

Ma Sanniang, dressed in a yellow jacket and skirt, stood in front of the garrison gate, but was stopped by soldiers who held something up and called out to her. Lin Changning paused, turned around and went back to the garrison gate. The two soldiers on duty saw him and immediately clasped their hands in salute; "Greetings, Commander."

Lin Changning waved his hand, his tone serious: "Let her in. Yan Yan, give me the things."

Ma San Niang breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly came in, stuffing the letter in her hand into Lin Changning's hand: "This was also found in my house. I went home to look for evidence. There were two or three pieces of paper stuck to the bottom of the bucket. The seal on them is very clear. Although the characters are a bit blurry, they can still be recognized. Sixth Brother, look, the characters here haven't been smudged. Look, this isn't my father's handwriting. Look at this name, it's Shi Qianhu!"

Lin Changning took the fragile, dirty letter paper, still stained with yellow mud and water. He looked at the corner of the letter and saw that the handwriting was strong and sharp. This was definitely not the handwriting of Ma Qianhu. Moreover, the last two slightly blurred but still recognizable characters were clearly Shi Qianhu's: Jinzhong.

Lin Changning said seriously, "Yan Yan, I'll take you to find the commander. Come with me."

Lin Changning strode forward with his long legs, with Ma Sanniang jogging behind. When Lin Changning reached the tent, he rushed in without saying hello, clutching the letter and shouting, "Commander, the traitor isn't Commander Ma. Ma Sanniang has found evidence!"

As soon as Lin Changning entered, he noticed that Commander Zhou and Zhiqi looked unwell, while the Commander leaned back in his chair with his eyes closed, seemingly lost in thought. Just as Lin Changning was about to speak, Commander Zhou interrupted, "We all know about Changping. The traitor is Lao Shi."

Zhi Qi looked at Lin Changning's gloomy face and said, "It was Commander Shi who sent the patrol team away last night. When the fire broke out at midnight, he fled with his family and the Duke. We..."

Zhi Qi knelt on the ground and said, "Please punish us. We failed in our duties and let them escape."

Qi Rong didn't speak, nor did he let Zhi Qi get up. Commander Zhou gritted his teeth in hatred, his fists clenched tightly: "They all deserve to die!"

Qi Rong took a deep breath and sat up straight: "Old Zhou, go and bring Old Ma back. Tell Old Zhang to come to the camp later. Tell Zhiqi what happened last night. Changping, sit down and listen."

Old Zhou accepted the order and went out the door, while Ma San Niang stood at the door waiting. Seeing this, Old Zhou took Ma San Niang with him to fetch the person. Inside the tent, Lin Changning found his seat and sat down to listen to the report.

"Last night, the commander ordered us to give chase, but halfway there a group of guards met up with the Duke of Qi and his entourage. There were too many of them, and they were all skilled soldiers, so we had no choice but to retreat."

Qi Rong responded and then fell silent. Lin Changning also sighed, for these were troubled times. After a while, Ambassador Cang, his face covered in dust, came to see him outside the tent. Qi Rong said, "Come in."

Ambassador Cang's face was still as somber and serious as it had been that morning. He said, "Commander, the inventory has been completed. The granary lost 4,000 shi of grain last night. We salvaged 1,376 dan of grain that was intact. The rest were either burned or doused with kerosene and were inedible. The sheep are temporarily safe, with 3,216 live sheep remaining."

Qi Rong nodded: "How long will it last?"

Ambassador Cang wiped the sweat from his brow: "Reporting to the commander, if we save some grain, it will last about a month and a half, and if we save some sheep, it will last for two months."

Qi Rong waved his hand, signaling the man to leave first: "I'll figure something out. You can go now. Organize the remaining grain as soon as possible, so that nothing else goes wrong."

Ambassador Cang acknowledged and left. Lin Changning looked at Qi Rong and asked, "Whose responsibility is this fire? The commander?"

Qi Rong looked at Lin Changning earnestly and said, "I will take responsibility. I will just report the truth to the court. I will accept any punishment, whether it's demotion or demotion..."

Lin Changning looked at Qi Rong's helpless expression: "Commander, even if you take all the blame, given His Majesty's suspicious nature, the court probably won't send any more grain."

Qi Rong shook his head: "Their purpose in doing this is nothing more than to bring me down. Once I'm off the horse, no one will make things difficult for me regarding the supplies."

"But......"