Chapter 121 It’s Borrowing, Not Stealing
Seeing General Wei asking, Shen Yuexi felt bad. If the other party knew his identity, things would be even more difficult.
Her mind raced as she fabricated an identity: "My name is... Yang Cong, and I'm here on behalf of Xiaogang Village."
Anyway, Yang Cong will definitely not care, so I might as well borrow her identity for now.
"Yang Cong?" General Wei looked Shen Yuexi up and down from the city wall. "Why are you covering your face so tightly?"
"The wind and sand were so strong along the way that my face is chapped," Shen Yuexi said. "Although I come from a poor family, I do pay attention to skin care."
General Wei said, "Oh," and turned to the soldiers around him and said, "All of you go down and warm yourself by the fire."
Shen Yuexi watched the soldiers on the city wall leave one after another, and felt puzzled. He sent the soldiers away, pretending to have a secret conversation.
After the soldiers left, General Wei asked again, "You are the deposed Crown Princess Shen Yuexi, right?"
Her face was covered so tightly, how could the other party recognize her?
"General, you've got the wrong person. I don't know anyone named Shen Yuexi."
Qiu Liming also echoed, "General Wei, she is indeed a villager of Xiaogang Village."
"I knew you two were colluding to deceive me," General Wei said to the two men. "General Qiu, when you led your troops past me, I shouldn't have opened the gate to let you pass. And then Meng Yue led his troops past me as well, right?"
"That's right, I, Qiu, am deeply grateful to the general." Qiu Liming immediately clasped his hands and bowed.
"Even if you didn't say it explicitly, I knew you were going to follow the imperial criminal Xiao Zhuo. Why did I let you go?"
"Please explain clearly, General."
General Wei said, "My parents died at the hands of the Northern Di people."
Shen Yuexi understood. This General Wei was no fool. He knew where Qiu Liming and Meng Yue were going, and he let them out because Xiao Zhuo was fighting against the Northern Di and avenging his parents.
"I see," Qiu Liming said, "General, we are clear about gratitude and resentment. I will repay you later."
"So you two don't have to lie to me. How could a dignified general be on the same level as a village girl? Apart from Shen Yuexi, I can't think of anyone else."
Seeing that General Wei had seen through her, Shen Yuexi no longer concealed her true intentions. She reached out and pulled off her headscarf, revealing her face.
"General Wei, I am Shen Yuexi."
General Wei nodded and said, "Chen Yuexi, His Majesty has ordered the capture of you and Xiao Zhuo. I should have sent troops. However, General Zhao has ordered that no soldier of the border guards be allowed to leave. I dare not disobey the order, so I will not capture you."
Shen Yuexi saw General Wei's good intentions and said, "General Wei, I appreciate your kindness. However, these five thousand captives have come all the way here and are starving. I hope you can provide them with food to save them."
"The Western Rong and Northern Di are birds of a feather, and I, Wei, deeply hate them," said the Wei general. "However, my soldiers have been living on the border for a long time and are extremely bored. I will lead the entire army to hunt this afternoon, leaving only the soldiers guarding the beacon tower. I will return at noon tomorrow. Goodbye, goodbye."
After saying this, General Wei turned and left.
Qiu Liming raised his hand to shout, but General Wei had already disappeared. He patted his horse's head and said:
"Why did you just leave like that without giving us anything?"
"No, he has already agreed," Shen Yuexi nodded, "This General Wei is a good man."
"What did he promise?" Qiu Liming was completely confused.
"Let's go back and talk about this," Shen Yuexi turned her horse's head, "It's windy here, and if we stay any longer, our faces will be chapped."
Although she started to impersonate Yang Cong, she didn't want to really become like Yang Cong.
Returning to the camp where the captives were, Yang Cong came forward to greet them. Seeing that the two had returned empty-handed, he asked, "The border guard refused to accept them? Didn't they send any food or fodder?"
Her voice was quite loud, and the prisoners sitting in the camp heard it clearly. When they saw Qiu Liming nod, they immediately became agitated. Many of the prisoners began to cry softly.
"Crown Princess," Qiang Lin said weakly beside the group of captives, "Crown Princess."
Shen Yuexi dismounted and quickly walked over to Qiang Lin. The captives were now so hungry they were staggering, many unable to stand. She wasn't worried they might attack her.
"Qianglin, I'm here." She half-knelt in front of Qianglin.
Qiang Lin leaned against a Xirong soldier and said to Shen Yuexi, "Crown Princess, you have done enough to keep us alive. The border's failure to distribute food and fodder has nothing to do with you."
Shen Yuexi comforted him, "Don't worry. Tell everyone, if you hold on for another afternoon, there will be food in the evening."
Qiang Lin said, "The gods let us die here, and we have no resentment."
His voice became lower and lower until it was inaudible, and he closed his eyes.
Seeing that he no longer had the energy to speak, Shen Yuexi stood up and walked out of the crowd, calling Qiu Liming aside and said to him:
"General Zhao has issued an order forbidding General Wei from lending us food and fodder. He certainly wouldn't dare. But he has already agreed to help us. The rest depends on our own abilities."
Qiu Liming said: "Madam, I don't understand."
"He can't lend the food voluntarily. If the food is stolen, he can just find an excuse to shirk responsibility."
"Madam, do you mean...steal?"
Qiu Liming was shocked. After all, the Madam was born into a Duke's family. How could she have been thinking about petty thefts?
"It's not stealing, it's borrowing." Shen Yuexi quickly corrected, "General Wei specifically told us that he would lead his soldiers out hunting this afternoon and would be back at noon tomorrow. Why did he tell us this specifically? It was to give us time to do this."
"Ah," Qiu Liming suddenly realized, "but how are we going to get the food? The city walls are so high, and we don't have any ladders."
"Since they've agreed to lend us food and fodder, we should naturally go through the city gate. Why would we need to set up a ladder?"
"The city gate must be closed." Qiu Liming still didn't understand. "If we force it open, wouldn't that be like attacking the city?"
"Don't worry, I have a way to unlock it. Wait until late at night and I will go to the city wall first. You send 500 soldiers to follow. Don't use torches. Use the method of stealing the camp."
Qiu Liming looked at Shen Yuexi in disbelief. What did the second lady of the Duke's Mansion learn before she married the prince?
He scratched his head: "Why don't we go now?"
"If we go now and the soldiers see us, it will be difficult for them. We can only do this secretly."
"oh."
Shen Yuexi turned around and called Yang Cong, saying, "Let the prisoners drink some more water so that everyone can hold on until night."
"Madam, everyone's drunk a lot of water," Yang Cong said, looking at the prisoners in embarrassment. "The more we drink, the hungrier we get. We can't drink any more."
"Hold on a little longer, there will be food." Shen Yuexi said as she looked at the city wall in the distance.
She must save these five thousand lives.
Late at night, she mounted her horse and rode alone to the foot of the city wall, while Qiu Liming followed on foot with five hundred soldiers.
It was pitch black on the city wall, without a single torch, and there was no sound of anyone.
Shen Yuexi jumped off the horse and reached out to touch the heavy door.
This city gate wasn't officially for pedestrians; it was only three meters high, wide enough for a carriage to pass through. She tried pushing it gently, and the gate swayed slightly, with the iron lock rattling inside.
Done.
Shen Yuexi withdrew her hand and silently said in her heart: "Is Daxiong here?"
"Dear Master, Big Bear is here. What do you want to make?"
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