Chapter 127 Grain Robbery

Zhu Mingyue couldn't help but take another look.

Little did he know that in Guan Shao's eyes, his little actions were like those of a child who had made a mistake and was secretly watching his elders' expressions.

A smile appeared in Guan Shao's eyes: "What's your name?"

Zhu Mingyue turned her head and hurriedly looked at Xie Pei, her meaning quite clear.

Does General Guan still not know his name?

Xie Pei frowned when he caught Zhu Mingyue's gaze. Guan Shao had called Zhu Mingyue by her full name in front of him before, so why would he not even remember her name? It was obviously intentional.

Zhu Mingyue suppressed her doubts and replied neither humbly nor arrogantly, "Reporting to the General, my name is Zhu Mingyue."

"Oh, Zhu Mingyue! What a nice name." Guan Shao: "How about I just call you Mingyue? It's easier to pronounce."

ah?

Is this too formal, since it's our first time meeting?

He smiled and said, "Okay."

Guan Shao seemed to really get along with him, and then asked him some more questions, including about Zhu Mingyue's background.

Zhu Mingyue wasn't afraid of being investigated further; he just needed to insist that no one was home and that he had fled north from Ningjiang.

Ningjiang was captured by the Southern Barbarians, and the locals either died or fled. There were many people like him, and it would be difficult to trace them back.

“My family is just an ordinary family in Ningjiang. Our ancestors were merchants, but the business failed by my grandfather’s generation. Fortunately, we had accumulated some wealth, but by my parents’ generation, it was almost all squandered.”

“My parents did not die at the hands of the southern barbarians, but in an accident. I was all alone and had no ties, so on the eve of the city gates being breached, I mingled with the refugees and followed them north to Ganzhou.”

Guan Shao took out a packet of oil paper from his pocket, opened it, grabbed a handful for himself, and gestured for Xie Pei to give the rest to Zhu Mingyue.

Before Zhu Mingyue could react, a bag was shoved into her hand.

He opened it and found that it contained roasted pine nuts.

Zhu Mingyue smiled sincerely and stood up to thank her.

Guan Shao, cracking open a pine nut, waved his hand and said, "Don't be shy, go on."

Zhu Mingyue was familiar with his state; it was exactly the same as the way the ladies and young women in his teahouse looked when they listened to opera.

He treated matters of the heart like a storyteller.

He shared a handful of pine nuts with Xie Pei, then took a bite himself. The pine nuts were plump and fragrant, and he couldn't help but squint his eyes happily as he continued, "Then, by chance, I ended up in the Xie family!"

Guan Shao laughed heartily: "Regret it?"

"Wh...what?" Zhu Mingyue asked, puzzled.

Xie Pei frowned as he looked at Guan Shao, his face showing disapproval.

Guan Shao acted as if he hadn't seen it.

Instead, she repeated, "Do you regret joining the Xie family? I heard your husband died young."

Zhu Mingyue answered decisively this time without much hesitation: "No regrets." Perhaps everything was preordained. If he hadn't gone to the Xie family, he wouldn't have met Xie Pei as he is today, and perhaps due to the butterfly effect, his current achievements would be nonexistent. After all, the initial capital for his first pot of gold was given to him by Xie Pei.

But Guan Shao seemed to have a different understanding of his words about not regretting. "You are truly devoted to your husband. I have seen many women who lost their husbands as soon as they entered the family, and none of them did not regret it. You are the first one."

Zhu Mingyue: ...

What nonsense is General Guan spouting?

Is that what he meant?

Besides, Xie Hong died as soon as he entered the house, so how could he possibly have any feelings for him?

If there were truly feelings involved, she wouldn't be with Xie Pei, the man who plotted to kill Xie Hong.

Click

I heard the sound of something breaking.

Zhu Mingyue subconsciously turned her head away.

Xie Pei's face was so black it looked like ink could drip out, his lips were tightly pursed, and the pine nut shells in his hand were turned into dust.

Zhu Mingyue swallowed hard, instantly guessing why Xie Pei was acting this way.

"To tell you the truth, my husband and I are married in name only, and we have no feelings for each other. The reason I say I don't regret it is not because of him, but because of Xie Pei."

As he spoke, he secretly observed Xie Pei.

With each additional sentence he spoke, Xie Pei's expression improved, until, after the last sentence, Xie Pei, as if he had learned to change faces, suddenly smiled.

However, just as he had managed to appease Xie Pei and was about to breathe a sigh of relief, Guan Shao was about to start causing trouble again.

Guan Shao feigned surprise: "Oh? Because of him? Your brother-in-law is just a blockhead, always with a stern and fierce face. Not to mention the soldiers in the camp can't stand him, even I can't stand him."

Zhu Mingyue couldn't stand seeing her boyfriend being slandered like that, even if it was a high-ranking general who said it.

He tugged at the oil paper package and whispered in protest, "No, that's not it."

Xie Pei treated him very well. Except for the first few months when he was indifferent to him, he was quiet and never scolded him. He was very kind to him.

Guan Shao raised an eyebrow and asked with interest, "What do you mean, 'not'?"

“He’s not fierce, nor is he a blockhead.” After saying that, Zhu Mingyue almost buried her head in her arms.

"I see you value your brother-in-law Xie Pei more than your deceased husband!" Guan Shao teased.

Zhu Mingyue's face turned bright red, like a steaming hot water bottle. He didn't know what to do. He couldn't very well admit it himself, so he simply remained silent.

Guan Shao found it utterly adorable and burst into laughter. His hearty laughter broke through the tent, leaving the guards outside looking at each other in bewilderment.

Xie Pei couldn't stand it anymore and said helplessly, "General, stop teasing him."

Guan Shao genuinely found the child amusing and intended to tease him, but little did he know that the child was so easily amused.

"Alright, alright!" Guan Shao waved his hand. "It's stuffy in the tent. Mingyue's face is all red from being cooped up. Why don't we go out for some fresh air? I need to talk to Xie Pei about something. I'll let him out later."

"Do as you please..." Zhu Mingyue stammered, unable to speak coherently. Having received permission, he didn't care about anything else and immediately made a hasty retreat.

Xie Pei watched his hastily fleeing figure: ...

After Zhu Mingyue left, only the two of them remained in the tent. One was cold-hearted, and the other had a fiery temper, and the atmosphere instantly cooled down.

Xie Pei's tone was not good: "General."

Guan Shao quickly interrupted him: "What? You want to blame me?"

"What's it to blame me for?" Guan Shao teased. "It's not because I talked about your brother in front of Mingyue, which made you lose your temper, is it?"

This time, Xie Pei surprisingly did not deny it: "You know perfectly well that he's shy. And he doesn't know that you already know about my relationship with him."

Guan Shao chuckled: "I figured it out." That's exactly why it's even funnier!

The soldiers are all tough guys, they don't care if he beats or scolds them. It's not easy to find someone like Zhu Mingyue, so he has to tease her a lot.

"Tsk! You're always wearing that long face, who can stand you!"

Xie Pei glanced outside the tent, his meaning clear.

Guan Shao: ...

That's a real slap in the face.

"I really regret giving you advice on how to win over your sister-in-law. I thought he was lucky to be with you, but it turns out you're the one who's lucky to be with him. Such a good person, what a waste."

“I have several nephews and nieces in the capital, and they are much more cheerful and considerate than you. I remember one of them is fond of men, and now it seems that she and Mingyue are a perfect match. What a pity, what a pity! You beat me to it.”

Guan Shao slapped his thigh in regret.

"So what if we're a perfect match? He only loves me."

Guan Shao choked, never expecting Xie Pei to say such shameless things.

He hesitated even to confess his feelings before. If it weren't for his order, this kid might still be suffering from unrequited love, and he wouldn't have had the chance to show off in front of him.

"Hmph," Guan Shao snorted. "Let me tell you, I do find Mingyue pleasing to the eye today. He's a good child, but he's shy and easily embarrassed. Don't use that to bully him. If I find out, you'll be dealt with according to military law."

Xie Pei lifted his eyelids: "Bending the law for personal gain?"

Guan Shao picked up a book and threw it at him: "I think you're a rebel against the Heavenly Gang."

Zhu Mingyue stood obediently outside the tent, unwilling to go anywhere, and immediately tensed up at the sound of movement.

Seeing his appearance, the guard comforted him, "Don't worry, the general values ​​talent, nothing will happen."

Zhu Mingyue bit her lip and gently reminded her, "I heard something being thrown away."

The guard responded with an "oh," his expression unchanged. "That's just the general's habit when he speaks."

However, this habit was only formed recently, when a major traitor emerged in the military camp, and Guan Shao led a staged performance.

During that period, the number of teacups in the camp decreased sharply, and the culprit was Guan Shao.

It's said that it only takes twenty-one days to form a habit, but Guan Shao is completely unable to quit. Whenever he says something sarcastic, he can't stop throwing things around.

The teacup shouldn't be thrown away, but it's okay to throw away some unimportant things.

Zhu Mingyue glanced silently at the tent and thought to herself, "General Guan's habits aren't very good."

He knew from his past life that being irritable and easily angered must mean that his body was lacking something, perhaps vitamins and carbohydrates.

He clenched the pine nuts in his hand, wondering if he had accidentally taken someone else's precious medicine.

Having received a gift, he naturally felt obligated to reciprocate. He decided that in the future, when preparing food for Xie Pei, he could also give a portion to General Ye Laiguan.

Perhaps if you eat well, you won't be so easily angered.

Speaking of gift-giving, Zhu Mingyue suddenly remembered the grain he had asked Wang Zongxiu to transport to the military camp that morning, but there was still no sign of it. He couldn't help but wonder, if he didn't still have some trust in Wang Zongxiu, he would have suspected that the grain had been sold.

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of Jizhou Camp, Wang Zongxiu was robbed of his grain supplies, and the situation was at a standstill.

"Put down the grain, and our adults will allow you to leave this place on your own. If you don't know what's good for you, hmph, don't blame us for being impolite."

The speaker was a burly man with a full beard, his features contorted in a grimace, making his speech even more unbearable to watch.

Wang Zongxiu spat in disgust, his arrogance reaching a fever pitch: "Who the hell are you? Do you even know where this grain is headed? You dare to rob it?"

Wu Shan was about the same size as the person who was shouting at him. He stood in front of Wang Zongxiu and said in a gruff voice, "You blind fool."

"Huh?" The other party was stunned at first, then obviously laughed in anger: "Are you blind? You don't even recognize me? Do you still want to stay in Jizhou?"

These words had no effect on them. They were going back to Ganzhou after the New Year anyway. What did it matter if they offended a local thug in Jizhou? They outnumbered and outgunned them. What were they afraid of?

Wu Feng, who had the highest martial arts skills, was about to start a fight upon hearing this, but was suddenly blocked by a hand that swept across Wang Zongxiu's side as he passed by.

Wang Zongxiu shook his head at him with a very slight gesture.

Don't forget the purpose of Zhu Mingyue's trip: to open a restaurant in Jizhou.

They didn't know the other party's background yet, and if something went wrong, it would end up harming Zhu Mingtian instead.

In the end, Wu Feng listened to the advice and took a step back, but he still refused to completely retreat back into the group.

At this point, the two sides were on the verge of war, and it seemed that all it took was a single command for them to go to war.

Wang Zongxiu silently observed the other person, pondering who they might be.

This road isn't far from the military camp, yet they dared to bring so many people to block the grain they were delivering to the Jizhou camp.

That's incredibly audacious.

Who exactly is behind this person to have such confidence?

Wang Zongxiu frowned deeply, his head throbbing with pain.

"Hey! I'm asking you questions, so you have to tell me the truth," the burly man shouted without any politeness.

Who exactly are you?

"Who are we?" Wang Zongxiu's heart skipped a beat. He decided not to answer for now, but instead threw the question back at the other party: "I'd like to ask you who you are! Why are you causing trouble here for no reason? Aren't you afraid that the soldiers patrolling outside Jizhou Camp will see you?"

laugh!

The man suddenly laughed, and then most of the opposing team burst into laughter along with him.

Someone winked at Wang Zongxiu and his group, saying, "Where exactly are these outsiders? Are we causing trouble? In this Jizhou City, it's our Prefect Wang who calls the shots!"

The governor of Jizhou? Wang Zongxiu was even more puzzled. How could a governor of a prefecture allow his servants to rob grain near the Jizhou camp? Wasn't this clearly going against the Jizhou army?

Before he could figure out the key point, the other party had already started to get impatient.

"Alright, you bunch of lackeys, whose orders are you working for?"

By whose orders?

Of course, it was at the behest of that little brat Zhu Mingyue.

Wang Zongxiu's mind raced, putting Zhu Mingyue out of his mind and desperately wanting to find himself a powerful patron than the governor of Jizhou.

However, the current emperor certainly cannot be used by him. The person behind the other party can obviously find out whether what he said is true or false with a simple move. In the end, he can only use General Guan Shao as a pawn.

General Guan Shao was a rank comparable to the Three Dukes, and was much higher than a prefect.

The other party should be wary after hearing this.

But then something inexplicable happened.

Upon hearing that he was one of General Guan's men, the other party not only showed no fear or backing down, but his expression became even more arrogant.

Without further ado, the burly leader ordered, "Take their grain. If they resist, arrest them all!"

Wang Zongxiu suffered a sudden cardiac arrest and couldn't figure out the reason why. In the blink of an eye, they were surrounded by the other side.

Guan Jing was so anxious that his face turned pale. He leaned close to his ear and whispered, "Boss, what should we do?" This was the grain they were sending to the Jizhou camp. They couldn't let it be stolen on the way when it was almost delivered.

Wang Zongxiu was also at a loss. They thought they were safe in the city, especially since there were soldiers patrolling near the Jizhou camp. To make it easier to search people in the camp, most of them did not carry weapons. Only Wu Feng had a dagger that he never parted with.

They're probably really in trouble now.

They didn't fail on a remote mountain road, nor in the suburbs, but rather in the city, where they didn't even have the chance to draw their swords. Realizing this made Wang Zongxiu feel extremely frustrated.

"Damn it, don't touch me!"

A loud shout suddenly rang out from behind.