The soldiers kept talking back and forth until Le Zheng Feiyuan scolded them away, allowing Si Jia to escape. However, even though he didn't go forward, his eyes kept sneaking over, leaving Si Jia both amused and exasperated.
Over there, Le Zhengfei, who was leading people to unload the grain, happily went to greet Luo Xi and the others when they arrived.
"Feiyuan, this year's grain is really good. Unlike before, there's no adulteration with bad rice or anything like that."
Le Zhengfei quickly realized what was going on.
"Perhaps Du Hong felt that since the grain would eventually come back to him after going through a roundabout process, it would be troublesome if it was mixed with inferior grain, so he did it this way."
"You've really tried to steal a chicken but lost the rice instead!" Le Zheng Feiyuan said with a mocking expression.
The two thanked Rosie again solemnly. Although they told the outside world that the grain was brought by Si Jia, they all knew in their hearts that it was all thanks to Rosie.
Meanwhile, the burly man who had originally disguised himself as a bandit had now changed into a magnificent suit of armor and was transporting grain back to the Nanyue County granary, waiting for Du Hong to inspect it before taking possession of the grain.
"Someone, go and tell the prefect that Zhang Qiang has successfully delivered the grain back to the county seat." He instructed a soldier beside him.
Du Hong was already waiting for them at home. As soon as the soldiers arrived, he rode in a sedan chair towards the granary.
When Du Hong saw truckloads of grain laid out before him once again, his heart, which had been in his throat, finally settled down.
He went to great lengths to deal with the Si brothers this time, and if anything goes wrong, he'll be furious.
"Men, open all the bags. I want to inspect them one by one."
"Yes!" The constables beside him quickly got to work, one person per cart, and began to untie the ropes on the grain sacks.
Half a minute later, the first bag was opened, and the color drained instantly from the faces of the constables.
I'm going to die, how could this be?
Their hands and feet were trembling even more, and none of them dared to make a sound, wishing they could crawl underground and hide.
Du Hong's heart skipped a beat: "What's wrong? Why aren't you saying anything?"
He rushed over and opened the bag, only to find no grain inside, just fine sand mixed with mud.
"Zhang Qiang—" Du Hong's murderous gaze shot towards the burly man.
Zhang Qiang, who was waiting to be commended, looked bewildered: "Sir, what's wrong?"
"Heh, what's wrong?" Du Hong laughed angrily. He drew a knife from a nearby constable with a "clang" and slashed at the grain sack with gritted teeth.
Zhang Qiang was startled and was about to rush forward to stop them when he saw a string of fine sand, swirling with dust, flowing out of the bag that should have been filled with grain. Only two words filled his mind... It's over.
"My lord..." He wanted to explain, but his mind was a complete mess and he had no idea what had happened.
Does Du Hong want to hear his explanation?
He didn't want to think about it; all he knew was that this person had messed things up and deserved to die.
"Take...it down!" he said grimly.
Before Zhang Qiang could figure it out, he was pinned to the ground, and he kept shouting that he was innocent.
But Du Hong wouldn't listen. What did it matter if someone who was incompetent was wronged or not?
He took the knife in his hand and walked over step by step.
"Useless! Idiot!..."
With each curse, Du Hong stabbed Zhang Qiang repeatedly with the knife in his hand, splattering bright red blood all over his head and face, but he didn't care at all, determined to vent all the anger in his heart, and only stopped after a long time.
At this moment, Zhang Qiang was no longer recognizable as a human being.
Du Hong slowly took off his blood-stained outer garment, wiped his face, and threw it into the pile of meat.
"Burn them all," he ordered expressionlessly.
"yes!"
After Du Hong left, there was still no sound in the entire granary, and everyone's face was filled with fear.
After Du Hong went back to bathe and change his clothes, he sent people to investigate what had happened. However, after investigating for a long time, they still couldn't figure out the reason.
However, news came from the border army that Si Jia had transported provisions to Le Zhengfeiyuan and his men, and the situation he had painstakingly built up was thus easily shattered.
"Ha, Si Jia transported the grain? How is that possible?" Du Hong had checked before doing this, and Si Jia had long since run out of extra grain, so what could they have used to transport it?
"Go check again, I don't believe it." This matter is full of strange things, and Du Hong couldn't figure it out for a while, so he could only place his hopes on the information found below.
Luo Xi had no idea how Du Hong was doing, because she had already bid farewell to Le Zheng Feiyuan and the others, and returned to the Fengchuan County Prefectural Governor's Mansion with Si Jia.
The drought in Toyokawa County is getting worse day by day, so he asked Rosie to help mark out a few places and dig some wells just in case.
Chu Zhe, thinking that he couldn't be of much help even if he came, stayed behind. He planned to return on his own once his legs recovered.
As for Jiuxian, bored, he disappeared somewhere again.
Since they were all living, breathing people, Luo Xi naturally didn't care about them and followed Si Jia to the Toyokawa Prefectural Governor's Mansion.
With the experience gained in Tongning County, Luo Xi was much faster this time. However, a prefecture was not comparable to a small county like Tongning County, and it still took her about half a month to complete all the markings.
That day, Luo Xi was finally able to rest. Si Jia prepared a large table of dishes to thank her: "Boss, you've been working hard lately. I don't know how to thank you, so I had the kitchen prepare some food to express my gratitude."
The food was delicious, and Luo Xi really liked it. She picked up her chopsticks and started eating.
However, after only a few bites, a constable hesitantly entered: "Sir, something has happened..."
"What's wrong?" Si Jia glanced at the constable who had stopped talking and thought he was reluctant to speak because Luo Xi was present. She explained, "It's nothing. Lady Luo is one of us. You can speak freely."
But the constable's expression didn't improve at all; in fact, it got even uglier. He stared at Luo Xi for a long time, then at Si Jia, before finally uttering a few words.
"My lord, Lady Luo, five days ago the barbarians invaded, the Crimson Soul Army was defeated in Fengling City, General Fei Bo died in battle, and General Fei Yuan and Mr. Chu... disappeared without a trace."
By the end, the constable's voice was tinged with tears.
With a crash, the bowl and chopsticks in Si Jia's hands fell to the ground, scattering rice everywhere. He staggered to his feet.
"No, no, how could this be? This is impossible!"
"The Si family's Crimson Soul Army is the strongest border army in Tianqi. Fengling City is also a fortified city with high walls and thick walls. Brother Feibo is a veteran of many battles. How could the city have fallen? How could he have died in battle?"
"And Fei Yuan, he is the most outstanding general of the Le Zheng family in this generation, even surpassing Uncle Le Zheng who died in battle many years ago. How could he possibly be missing?"
"I don't believe it, I don't believe it..."
Si Jia kept murmuring, tears slowly welling up in his eyes, flowing over his lower eyelids and silently sliding down his handsome but pale cheeks.
In his mind, he kept seeing images of Fei Bo playing with him and Fei Yuan when they were little, helping them chase away bad kids, and teaching him swordsmanship.
Then there's Fei Yuan, who always says he's a scholar while he's a general, and that a general should protect a scholar and not let him be bullied.
But now, are both of them... gone?
They had met just two days ago.
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