Although he couldn't sleep, Xuan Yuanzhan still managed to doze off for a while.
It wasn't until Zhang Debiao and Zhao Wanqing came over and called him, "Third brother, wake up! Something's happened!"
Xuanyuan Zhan suddenly opened his eyes and leaped to his feet: "What happened?"
White Eagle, who was next to him, was clearly also unable to sleep, and quickly got up as well.
The two then discovered that not only Zhang Debiao and Zhao Wanqing had arrived, but also Li Yuanbao and Qian Ergou.
Zhang Debiao looked anxiously at Xuan Yuanzhan and said, "The underling who went ahead to scout has just returned and reported that the people will soon enter the northern lands."
Xuanyuan Zhan looked at the sky; it was indeed about to dawn. "Isn't that perfect? It's about the same time as we predicted, which means the Lord's information was accurate."
Zhang Debiao clapped his hands and stamped his feet in frustration: "What do you mean 'approved'?! They brought a lot of soldiers this time, probably as many as 100,000!"
The Lord initially only told them that there were about 10,000 to 20,000 soldiers, but he never expected that there would be as many as 100,000 soldiers!
Li Yuanbao and Qian Ergou also looked extremely anxious, like ants on a hot pan.
Upon hearing the news, Bai Ying also frowned deeply.
Only Xuanyuan Zhan stared wide-eyed in utter shock: "One hundred thousand soldiers? What kind of huge deal are you making?"
Ye Yun followed behind Xuan Yuanzhan, also seemingly quite frightened.
Bai Ying glanced at Xuan Yuanzhan and saw that he was acting quite convincingly, and his eye twitched involuntarily.
If it weren't for that conversation last night, he might still believe he had no idea what kind of big deal they were involved in. But now…
So what does this guy actually do? His acting is really good!
Seeing Xuan Yuanzhan so frightened, Zhang Debiao disregarded his own fear and quickly comforted him, saying, "Third brother, you must hold on! You can't give up now!"
Xuanyuan Zhan frowned deeply, but ignored his advice: "So, what kind of business are you in? Now that things have come to this, you don't need to hide it from me anymore!"
Zhang Debiao, Li Yuanbao, Qian Ergou, and the others exchanged glances.
Li Yuanbao gave Zhang Debiao a wink: "It's too late now, just say it!"
Qian Ergou also gave Zhang Debiao a mocking glare: "Boss Zhang, this is where you're wrong. Such a big matter, you should have explained it clearly to Brother Su. Making him risk his life like this, you're not treating Brother Su like one of your own!"
Upon hearing Qian Ergou's words, Zhang Debiao jumped up and angrily shouted, "Qian Ergou, what kind of time is this to add fuel to the fire!"
That son of a bitch, does he think things aren't chaotic enough already?!
Watching them bicker like dogs, Bai Ying sneered, "If you keep arguing like this, it'll be dawn, and the people will be gone."
With Bai Ying's reminder, Zhang Debiao dared not delay any longer.
With things having come to this point, Zhang Debiao could no longer hide the truth and had to honestly confess to Xuan Yuanzhan: "Actually, the big deal we were talking about was robbing government grain."
Xuanyuan Zhan narrowed his eyes: "Robbing government grain? This is grain sent by the imperial court to the north for disaster relief! You even robbed this kind of disaster relief grain. Do you know how many people in the north will die if this batch of disaster relief grain is lost?"
Seeing Xuan Yuanzhan's indignation and agitation, Shi Tianlei behind Li Yuanbao sneered, "Boss Zhang, where did you get this bodhisattva from? You've become a bandit, how can you still care about the lives of those common people?"
Zhang Debiao, Li Yuanbao, Qian Ergou and the others had initially felt somewhat ashamed after what Xuan Yuanzhan said, but Shi Tianlei's words instantly dispelled much of their shame.
Indeed, in such chaotic times, it was already difficult for them to survive, let alone care about the lives of others!
After being reprimanded by Xuan Yuanzhan, Zhang Debiao instantly recalled the time when he stood up for those refugees on Beian Street. Knowing that Xuan Yuanzhan was actually kind-hearted, he frowned and said, "Third brother, it was wrong of me not to tell you the truth at first, but the matter was of great importance. I had no choice but to keep it from you!"
Li Yuanbao also chimed in, saying, "The disaster relief grain is indeed life-saving food for the refugees, but the brothers in the village also need to eat!"
Xuanyuan Zhan frowned and remained silent.
Seeing this, Zhang Debiao advised again: "How about we do what we said before, and we'll give you half of the profits from Silver Tiger Village? Then you can still use your grain to help the people."
Qian Ergou also spoke up: "The officialdom in the North is corrupt, and how many officials in Eastern Chu are truly innocent? Even if we don't seize the disaster relief grain, how much will actually reach the people? We might as well seize it. Then we can decide whether to eat it ourselves, sell it for money, or distribute it to the disaster victims. Only then can we truly make our own decisions!"
"Things have come to this point, and everyone has no way out. Since we're going to die whether we go in or not, why not give it a shot?" Li Yuanbao said excitedly, brandishing his double bronze maces.
Xuanyuan Zhan scoffed dismissively, rolled his eyes, and said, "Easy for you to say, but there are 100,000 soldiers here!"
He really had to remind these reckless fools.
Knowing that the enemy has 100,000 soldiers, why bother fighting?
What do we use to fight? Our lives?
Upon hearing the mention of "100,000 soldiers," the group immediately deflated.
Looking at their expressions, Xuanyuan Zhan frowned and asked, "Didn't the Lord tell you before that there were 100,000 soldiers?"
He had previously found it strange that Chen Chuan was thinking this way.
This time, when he came to the north to provide disaster relief, he brought not only 10,000 dan of grain, but also 100,000 soldiers.
He only saw the grain and did not see the 100,000 soldiers.
This is truly putting money before life!
Or perhaps he himself was desperate, and these outlaws were the victims he threw out.
Zhang Debiao sighed and shook his head: "The Lord only said that there are 10,000 dan of grain to be transported to the north, and the number of soldiers escorting the grain is about 10,000 to 20,000, at most no more than 50,000. If it is less than 50,000, then our four villages combined have an absolute chance of winning!"
The northern lands are currently suffering from famine, and unscrupulous grain merchants have driven up the price of grain to exorbitant levels. Therefore, ten thousand taels of grain are now more valuable in the north than ten thousand taels of gold!
If they could obtain this grain and sell it at a high price, then the brothers from those villages would never have to worry about food and drink again for the rest of their lives.
Li Yuanbao and Qian Ergou thought the same thing as Zhang Debiao.
If the imperial court hadn't brought grain this time, perhaps they wouldn't have gotten involved in this mess.
But because the imperial court was transporting grain, and it was a massive amount of grain, it was truly more valuable than gold!
But who would have thought that the imperial court would send 100,000 soldiers to escort the grain shipment?
This is such a waste of talent!
Li Yuanbao couldn't understand, and frowned, saying, "Do you think the Lord's information is inaccurate, or is he deliberately lying to us?"
Such important information, how could the Lord not find it! That's a bit too much!
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