Le Zhengfei's mind raced, and soon he had an idea: "Let's investigate ourselves first, then send someone to question Du Hong and see what he has to say?"
"I think there's no need to ask; it's all a show orchestrated by that guy surnamed Du," Le Zhengfei said angrily.
How could Lezheng Feiyuan not understand? But they were still waiting for supplies from others and were at the mercy of them.
Loxi gave the two of them a strange look, but didn't say anything.
Chu Zhe, who knew Luo Xi exceptionally well, immediately noticed her unusual behavior.
"What?" he asked silently with his eyes.
Rose smiled without saying a word.
A few days later, the messenger returned, his face full of anger: "General, Du Hong said that bandits are rampant now, and he is powerless to suppress them. It's no wonder that the grain supplies were stolen."
"Now, Zhou Fan, the person involved, has also committed suicide out of fear of punishment. No one knows the truth. He told us to wait and said he would send someone to investigate and help us recover the grain."
Isn't this just a way to stall for time and eventually leave the case unsolved?
The messenger got angry just thinking about how indifferent the guy seemed.
"Didn't you tell him that we're running out of food and can't wait, and ask him to send another batch first?" Le Zhengfei asked anxiously.
Now is not the time to assign blame; they must replenish the rations, or the soldiers will go hungry.
Although they all knew in their hearts that this was probably Du Hong's doing, what they needed more was food and supplies. As long as he was willing to provide them, what did it matter if they suffered a loss in silence?
The messenger was even angrier: "I told him, but that man surnamed Du said that the last batch of grain was all that they had managed to squeeze out and had already sent it to us. Now there is no more grain in Nanyue County."
"Bullshit!" Le Zhengfei couldn't help but swear, slamming his right hand on the table with a "bang": "Since the beginning of this year, our grain and fodder have been supplied by Fengchuan County. This is the first time that Nanyue County has sent them. How could they be out of supplies? They clearly don't want to give them any."
Le Zhengfei's eyes, beneath his sword-like eyebrows, were incredibly deep: "Elder brother, we probably can't count on Du Hong for the time being. Perhaps we should think of another way."
"Once the issue of provisions is resolved, I will report this matter to His Majesty. He will be in for a beating then."
Le Zhengfei sighed and said helplessly, "That's all we can do."
He thought for a moment, then looked at Chu Zhe beside him: "Mr. Chu, do you have any good suggestions?"
Now Chu Zhe has practically become their guest advisor. Whenever there is an important matter, the Le brothers would call him over, and this time was no exception.
Unlike the two men's worried expressions, Chu Zhe appeared completely relaxed. After slowly sipping his tea, he said, "Why don't you call Luo Xi over and ask her?"
Chu Zhe dared to say that she must know something, but judging from Luo Xi's current state, she might not meddle if no one asked.
That guy always has good luck, like his leg. After drinking what she gave him, he can now walk normally. If it weren't for the need to avoid suspicion, he wouldn't be in a wheelchair anymore.
Lezheng Feiyuan and Lezheng Feibo exchanged a glance, stunned: "Lady Luo, this..."
They had all heard Chu Zhe talk about Luo Xi becoming an outlaw, and they had also inquired about it themselves. They heard that Chaoyang Manor had now taken over the entire Tongning County, and even the county magistrate Rong Bai had sided with them, making them the local tyrant of Nanyue Prefecture. Du Hong was very troubled by this.
The two men were filled with extremely mixed feelings about this. As the imperial army, they should have been dispatched to eliminate all those who rebelled against the court, but...
This Chaoyang Manor neither oppressed the people nor caused harm to the village. In fact, during this year of disaster, it even built a paradise for many people, providing shelter from the wind and rain.
Just like the Wei family, who were dedicated to serving the people but were almost wiped out, where would they have gone if there hadn't been a place of rebellion like Chaoyang Manor?
Therefore, when Du Hong asked them to send troops to wipe out Chaoyang Manor, Le Zheng Feiyuan refused, citing his busy schedule dealing with the barbarians outside the pass.
He guessed that this grain supply incident was probably a scheme orchestrated by Du Hong as revenge for his previous refusal.
Therefore, they had no prejudice against Chaoyang Villa.
As border troops of the imperial court, they did not ask the court for food and supplies, but instead had to take them from those who rebelled against the court.
This is just so strange.
Moreover, they may not even have it, and even if they do, why should they be given it to them?
"Let me think about it some more," he said.
Chu Zhe just smiled and didn't insist.
He was naturally intelligent and understood Yue Zhengfeiyuan's concerns. He was just making a suggestion; whether or not to use it was none of his business.
In the days that followed, Le Zhengfeiyuan was busy investigating bandits who had robbed grain supplies, urging Du Hong to send more grain supplies, and collecting supplies from wealthy households in the surrounding area. He was so busy that he barely had time to breathe, but no matter what he did, nothing came of it.
Meanwhile, their grain reserves were slowly running out.
In the study, the two most outstanding young generals of the Yue family could only sit together with worried expressions, completely at a loss.
“The soldiers’ food is now half-dry. If no more food is brought in, I’m afraid… they’ll only be able to eat thin porridge.” Le Zhengfei pulled out several strands of his long hair.
“Thin liquid won’t do. The brothers are ready to fight at any time. How can they have the strength if they drink thin liquid?” Le Zheng Feiyuan always valued the lives of his soldiers very much: “Tell the kitchen to make sure everyone is well-fed no matter what. If it’s really not enough, I will lead a team to go hunting in the mountains.”
"This..." Le Zhengfei hesitated for a long time before finally cautiously suggesting, "Feiyuan, why don't we listen to Mr. Chu and go ask Lady Luo?"
"We both know Mr. Chu's character quite well; he would never harm us."
“I naturally trust Brother Chu’s character, but…” Le Zheng Feiyuan hesitated for a moment before saying, “Don’t forget Lady Luo’s identity.”
He never judged people by their status; otherwise, he wouldn't have allowed Luo Xi Jiuxian to live in the General's Mansion, treated him with courtesy, and even made him sworn brothers with Chu Zhe.
Moreover, the fact that Luo Xi dared to defy public opinion and leave behind the Wei family, who were known as traitors, is truly admirable.
But if they ask Luo Xi for supplies, even putting aside whether she'll give them any, Luo Xi's identity could cause them a lot of trouble.
"..." Le Zhengfei fell silent again.
"Sigh, Du Hong has always wanted to find something on us. If he finds out that we are taking supplies from..., he'll immediately accuse the Si family of treason."
“If Wei Qing, a mere county magistrate, gets in trouble with anyone who gets in the way of his interests, then he’ll certainly not let us, who have always disliked him, off the hook.”
"A despicable character!" This was the only assessment Le Zhengfeiyuan gave to Du Hong, yet they were now helpless against this man.
He let out a breath and said, "Although we all know that Chief Luo is a righteous man, we can't help but have people watching us with ulterior motives, so it's better not to take this step."
"Don't worry about this problem, I've taken care of it for you." At this moment, a clear and refined voice rang out from outside the study.
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