Chapter 237 Arriving in the Northwest for the first time, I must make some noise!

As if Zhou Ruyuan hadn't dealt enough of a blow, Liu Yanhui continued, "Now that the general has gone to the Northwest, the kinship has become distant. If Your Highness wants to solve the problem of provisions, adopting a godparent family would be a good solution!"

Zhou Ruyuan's eyes were deep and unfathomable. He was a member of the royal family, how could he claim kinship with an ordinary person?

They could not easily curry favor with the imperial family and nobility.

"General, please make a decision quickly! The army's food supplies can only last for another day or two at most!" Liu Yanhui added fuel to the fire!

Zhou Ruyuan was filled with rage. These people were definitely trying to intimidate him and wanted to see him make a fool of himself.

He will absolutely not let these people succeed!

"Quickly request the imperial court to allocate grain and fodder!"

"yes!"

Zhou Ruyuan's men immediately went to do it.

After that, Liu Yanhui, Che Mingyuan, and the others began to busy themselves with the handover to Zhou Ruyuan's men.

There was no handover; it was simply a matter of transferring the debt ledger from them to Zhou Ruyuan.

Everything took place right under the nose of Deputy Military Supervisor Wu Tong, who acted as a mere witness.

Late at night, Zhou Ruyuan's men secretly brought Che Mingyuan and Wu Tong to Zhou Ruyuan.

Let's put Che Mingyuan aside for now; he arrived rather late.

Whenever Zhou Ruyuan asked, he would simply say that he arrived late and didn't know.

Che Mingyuan's official appointment document is there; it can't be faked.

Zhou Ruyuan bypassed Che Mingyuan and questioned Wu Tong directly.

Ask Wu Tong a hundred questions and you'll find that the debt ledger is real, and the more than one hundred adopted sons, daughters, brothers, and sisters are also real.

Zhou Ruyuan and his men all fell silent!

The imperial court responded quickly, just as they had given Shen Lanxi before: Supplies should be provided independently; grain could be requisitioned.

Upon receiving the reply, Zhou Ruyuan nearly broke his teeth.

...

Sun Zhong knew that Shen Lanxi was going on patrol, and his expression was somewhat conflicted.

They are soldiers under the command of the Prince of Zhennan. It's not quite right for Shen Lanxi to be on patrol, is it?

Wei Dongzhu: "Our general doesn't patrol the military camps, but rather the people in the city and the nearby villages."

Sun Zhong was somewhat surprised after hearing this. What was there to inspect about the people in the city?

He didn't raise his doubts, as long as Shen Lanxi didn't inspect the military camp.

"General Shen, should we send troops to escort them?"

Shen Lanxi waved her hand: "No need, I have people with me!"

Sun Zhong thought to himself, with the guards she brought, if a riot really broke out, I'm afraid they wouldn't be able to hold them off!

Before he could make up his mind, Shen Lanxi had already led her people into the city.

Wei Dongzhu arrived early and was able to act as Shen Lanxi's guide.

"The young and middle-aged have already gone out to make a living, leaving behind only the elderly, weak, sick, and disabled who can no longer or are unwilling to go!"

Shen Lanxi had already walked onto the street, where there were a few shops and a few stalls scattered around.

This place is completely different from the previous Xiling City.

There was a stall selling flatbread ahead, and Shen Lanxi stopped.

"Go buy some flatbreads. If you want some, go buy some too!"

Wei Dongzhu stepped forward and bought two back.

"These flatbreads are really delicious, and there's a salt lake nearby, so getting salt is very convenient!"

Shen Lanxi smelled a peppery aroma, which greatly stimulated her appetite.

"Delicious!" It's salty with a strong peppery flavor.

Wei Dongzhu glanced at her and laughed, "Huangtucheng used to be the largest trading place for foreign merchants in the vicinity. But with the war these past two years, the foreign merchants would rather leave their goods here than come here again!"

Shen Lanxi listened as she walked.

Wei Dongzhu noticed that Shen Lanxi's eyes lingered on the grandfather and grandson at the stall a few more times, and said, "Most of the children have gone with their parents. Those who haven't gone are all children whose young family members have died."

"Too many people have died in the past two years of war and conscription!"

As Shen Lanxi was walking, she encountered someone robbing her in the street.

"Good grandpa, this is all we have left in the house. If you take it all, my little grandson won't be able to hold on!"

Two burly men with fierce faces kicked the old man away.

"Taking you a little something is a favor from your grandfather. Get lost now, or I'll kill you if you say another word!"

The old man was forced into this situation by the need to make a living, and he would rather be beaten than let go.

"Good grandpa, can you take half? My little grandson is waiting to use these things to exchange for some money to buy medicine."

"Buying medicine? It's perfect that you gave us these things, saving your family money. Just dig a hole and bury your grandson, it's so easy..." A loud, arrogant laugh rang out.

Shen Lanxi frowned: "The sesame flatbread has lost its flavor!"

Wei Dongzhu's eyes turned cold. He drew his sword and stepped forward, ending the two men's lives with two slashes!

Shen Lanxi raised the corners of her mouth: "This pancake tastes good again!"

The surrounding people were so frightened that they all ran away.

Shen Lanxi was in a very good mood!

"We've just arrived in the Northwest, we have to make a splash!"

Wei Dongzhu raised an eyebrow: "Should we behead him and display his head?"

Shen Lanxi: "No, no, they weren't really that wicked. Let's leave them with their bodies intact!"

"Hang him at the city gate and whip his corpse as a warning!"

Wei Dongzhu: "..."

Soon news of Shen Lanxi's actions reached Sun Zhong and the marriage alliance delegation.

Who did it?

"Wei Dongzhu!"

"The Wei family army has lost 400,000 men. This time, Wei Dongzhu is likely to unleash a bloodbath in the Northwest!"

"Shen Lanxi is nothing to fear; just keep an eye on Wei Dongzhu!"

"yes!"

Soon news spread from Huangtucheng that Wei Dongzhu, the young general of the Wei family army, had arrived in Huangtucheng and immediately used swift and decisive measures to intimidate the three Turkic tribes!

Shen Lanxi toured the city and then went to the nearby villages.

The nearby villages are mostly inhabited by the elderly and infirm, with very few young people. Some villages are completely uninhabited, while others are more than half empty.

There are still traces of weapons such as swords and knives left in the village.

Shen Lanxi: "Arrange for our people to go to an abandoned village."

Wei Dongzhu: "Yes!"

Xiao Fang, Qian Feng, and the others spent the whole day running around and then reported the information they had gathered to Cheng Zheng for compilation and verification.

As Cheng Zheng listened, he flipped through the records of Huangtucheng to verify them.

All the information we obtained matched up perfectly!

Shen Lanxi didn't return until sunset, bringing back many unique local items.

Council Chamber

Wei Dongzhu: "Some of the people on the list were sent to the salt lake to mine salt, and others were assigned to build city walls and forge weapons."

Shen Lanxi had previously obtained a list of personnel escorting the Wei family army's provisions from the Ministry of Personnel and the Court of Judicial Review. After reviewing it, she made a copy and had Xiaoxue deliver it to Wei Dongzhu.

In recent days, Wei Dongzhu has been searching for information about the three Turkic tribes and looking for the people on the list.

After Wei Dongzhu finished speaking, his face darkened, and he continued, "Most of them are dead, and two are still missing!"

Ban Sicao slammed her hand on the table and said angrily, "They must have been silenced!"

Shen Lanxi: "Did they leave anything useful behind?"

Wei Dongzhu shook his head: "After they joined the Northern Expeditionary Army, they were demoted step by step for various reasons. One of them, Yan Huai, was the chief of the escort team and had already reached the fourth rank, holding the official title of Zheng Ya Jiang. Because of a retreat mistake, he was demoted to supervise the construction of the city wall, and later he was demoted to a lowly soldier. There was also a soldier named Sun Qian whose whereabouts are unknown. The document states that the two of them accidentally fell into a deep valley while quarrying stones for the construction of the city wall."