Chapter 35 Winter (Part 3) Those who believe in the goddess will not starve...
Night falls.
The snow has stopped.
The fighting in Anling County has also temporarily ceased.
The soldiers inside the city sat together, each holding a bowl of wheat porridge with vegetables. Some drank it down in no time, while others warmed their hands with the heat of the porridge and sipped it slowly.
"It's so cold." The person speaking brought their trembling hands to their mouth and breathed on them repeatedly.
"Do you have any firewood? Can we start a fire?" the soldier asked in a hoarse voice, rubbing his hands together.
"No."
"Where can we get firewood now?"
"Let's go visit the homes of ordinary people in the city?"
"Okay, I'll call some people, let's go take a look."
Someone licked the bowl clean, rubbed their stomach, and sighed, "No fire to roast is a minor matter, I'm so hungry."
Those around him also silently clutched their stomachs; who among them wasn't? They had been fighting all day, and by evening each of them only had a bowl of wheat porridge.
"Hey, what do you guys think..." A young man cautiously looked around, making sure no officers were watching, then lowered his voice, "Can people in Yunhe really have enough to eat three meals a day?"
The people present: "..."
Their expressions changed, and they muttered under their breath, "No way?"
“We don’t even have much food in our prefecture, how could their county town have so much…”
"It is said that they have a goddess..."
"Do you really believe in the goddess? Isn't this just them spreading rumors and fabricating stories? It's like how rebellions in history books imitate the howling of foxes."
"The prefect has already said that Yunhe is spreading rumors."
"But if... how dare they raise an army to attack us?"
"They only attacked us because they had nothing to eat."
A middle-aged soldier hesitated for a moment, then suddenly spoke up, "I suppose it's true."
The person sitting next to him didn't react at first, "Huh?"
The middle-aged soldier said in a low voice, "I wasn't supposed to be able to either, but I have an aunt who married into Tianshui County. Two months ago, she had her son bring some steamed buns to our family."
"Steamed bun?"
What is a steamed bun?
"It's made by steaming wheat flour."
After he said that, someone else spoke up in a low voice, "I also have relatives in Qingyang County who have given us green beans before."
"My family too... My grandma had my cousin send us cucumbers."
"My great-uncle's family once sent meat buns and vegetable buns to my grandma's family."
“Yes, my cousin’s husband said that they had harvested too many fruits and vegetables and couldn’t process them for the time being, for fear that they would spoil, so they distributed them to everyone. They were thinking of our family and specially sent us some.”
The soldiers, who had no relatives in the five counties of Yunhe, were stunned. "Really?"
"What's going on with them over there?"
Where did they get their food?
"You really believe they have a goddess there? How could there really be a goddess? If there were a goddess..."
"If there is a goddess, how could there be a drought for several years?"
"Does the goddess only favor Yunhe County?"
Hearing the crowd unconsciously raise their voices, someone immediately put their finger to their lips and kept saying "Shh, shh, shh," urgently saying, "Keep it down!"
Everyone: "..."
They glanced around hurriedly and, finding no officers had noticed, breathed a sigh of relief.
Some people looked up towards the outside of the city, wondering what the people on the other side of the Yunhe River were eating at that moment.
What kind of military rations can they bring? Will they drink wheat porridge like us? Or will they eat those steamed buns?
Outside the city.
The soldiers cleared away the snow, creating an open space. They piled the honeycomb briquettes they had brought on the ground and lit them with wood chips and dry pine needles to start a fire.
They sat down around the fire.
They happily ate the three dishes and one soup bestowed by the goddess.
Fang Qin finished his cucumber and preserved egg soup, placed the bowl on the iron plate, and turned to ask the person sitting next to him, "Is everything arranged?"
"Hehe, don't worry, we've already contacted the right people."
“Alright, they’ve probably just eaten and aren’t hungry yet. We’ll wait two hours and then arrange for someone to send the noodles to the people inside so they can also taste the food bestowed by our goddess,” Fang Qin said with a gentle smile.
"Have you made a decision regarding the goddess?"
Fang Qin nodded, "Don't worry, the goddess will give us hot noodles in two hours."
"Two hours later, we'll probably be hungry too..."
Fang Qin glanced at him. "Eat if you're hungry. When has the Goddess ever mistreated us?"
"Isn't Strategist Fang afraid that the people inside will be motivated to fight if they see us eating so well?"
The people gathered around the fire couldn't help but murmur amongst themselves.
"If they rush out, we can circle around them and attack them. Hmm? What's that word?"
"What word?"
“I’ve heard my fourth sister mention a word that’s perfect for this kind of situation where someone is surrounded and beaten, but I can’t remember what that word is.”
"Luring the snake out of its hole, inviting the enemy into a jar, catching a turtle in a jar—which phrase do you prefer?"
A male voice suddenly came from behind them, startling everyone. They looked in the direction of the voice and saw Xiang Yuesheng standing behind them, looking down at them.
Everyone: "..."
Someone chuckled, "To the strategist."
Xiang Yuesheng said, "You guys should take turns getting some sleep. If the people inside don't know what's good for them and come out to fight, you'll have the energy to fight them."
Everyone: "...Yes."
Yunhe County.
He Qinglan lay on the bed, expressionless, watching the messages pop up in the "Quick Transmigrator Alliance" group in her mind.
[The stunningly beautiful imperial concubine: That scoundrel of an emperor, he actually tried to use me as a shield!]
[The stunningly beautiful imperial concubine: I am so beautiful, my beauty is unparalleled, and he not only doesn't appreciate it, but he also dares to use me as a shield for his innocent little love, making me fight the Empress to the death!!!]
[The stunningly beautiful imperial concubine: Damn it!!! I can't stand this suffering!]
[The stunningly beautiful imperial concubine: What era are we living in?! Using this as a shield is disgusting! Let me tell you, you dog emperor, you've crossed me! You'll pay the price!]
He Qinglan raised her hand to rub her temples, and seeing dozens of messages flooding the group chat in an instant, fearing that she might go on a rampage for hours, she replied to her: 【@Peerless Beauty and Noble Consort: How old is Zhongdeng's eldest son?】
[The stunningly beautiful imperial concubine: Seventeen years old, so what?]
He Qinglan's lips curled into a smile. "You and the Empress work together to cripple Zhongdeng, making him the Retired Emperor. The Empress becomes the Empress Dowager, and you continue as a Consort to the new Emperor."
【The stunningly beautiful imperial concubine: ???】
He Qinglan's idea caused the others to come back to life.
[The deposed emperor: I think it's fine. Anyway, your job is to be a concubine. Whether you're a concubine to the old emperor, the middle emperor, or the young emperor, it's all the same.]
[The strongest knight of the Elf race: I agree.]
[Savior Shrine Maiden Sakura: Talk to the Empress. The Emperor has a true love, and he plans to put her and her son on the throne. Ask her to cooperate with you. If the Empress is a smart woman, she will definitely agree.]
[Maple Leaf Galaxy Grand Prize-winning actress: In this kind of setting, the Empress who is constantly at odds with the Consort must not be a fool, otherwise why would the Emperor support a scapegoat?]
[Maple Leaf Galaxy's All-Award Best Actress: @PeerlessCharmingConsort, let's give it a shot. Plus, you have us providing you with resources that transcend time; there's no doubt the Empress will be tempted, and no doubt you'll win against Zhongdeng.]
[The Elven Knight's Strongest: By the time you finish your battle and the new emperor ascends the throne, he'll be over twenty. Why don't you change your identity, become his concubine, and continue doing quests?]
Located in an ancient world, Ji Tingting stared in shock at the chat group in her mind's eye. "Holy crap, are you guys serious?"
She wondered: Is it still possible to complete the mission this way?
But after thinking about it, she revealed a ferocious expression: Why not? My task is to be a concubine in this world and win over the emperor. It's not like I have to win over this emperor. It's the same if I become a concubine for the empress's seventeen-year-old son and win over the future emperor!
She excitedly replied: "Sisters in the modern world, send me a few mini fans with built-in nightlights! I want to utterly amaze the Empress!"
Having successfully diverted the blame, He Qinglan breathed a sigh of relief.
Newcomers to missions often lack flexibility, and mission takers like Cen Ying, who can gain the favor of the Heavenly Dao in various worlds as soon as they take office, are a minority.
She observed the situation in Anling County, opened the light screen in her mind, and began writing a plan.
Once Hu Dazhu and his men take over Anling County, their plans are twofold: first, to unify the counties, rebuild the administrative center, and establish Anling County as their central hub; second, to construct factories, including agricultural product processing plants, sugar mills, wineries, glass factories, brick factories, ceramic factories, and iron mines…
He Qinglan thought for a moment, then opened the map of this world in the system center. There was a salt-producing area in the west and north of Jinzhou, both producing well salt. Very good, very good, it's good to have salt.
Two hours passed quickly while people were asleep.
It's 11 PM.
He Qinglan opened the backend of the canteen system and sent several thousand steamed buns, mantou, and pancakes to Hu Dazhu and the others. After thinking for a moment, she added tea eggs and sweet soy milk.
It's so late, our personnel must be hungry too.
As He Qinglan had predicted, after receiving the food, Xiang Yuesheng and Fang Qin immediately organized people to distribute pancakes, tea eggs, and soy milk to our night-duty personnel.
Red bean pancakes, scallion pancakes, pumpkin pancakes, savory pancakes, small sugar pancakes, egg pancakes—eating these steaming hot pancakes warms you up completely.
Some people who were still asleep were woken up by the aroma and were quickly given one by the person handing out the pancakes. They opened their mouths in a daze and asked for it.
Those who received the mission carried a bag of steamed buns and mantou and jogged towards the enemy camp.
The silvery snow illuminated their path.
Fang Qin watched their figures disappear into the snow.
He looked up at the night sky; the gray clouds hung low, but no more snow fell.
The middle-aged man sighed inwardly, "Is this also a blessing from the goddess?"
Anling County.
Everyone in the city, except for those on guard duty, was fast asleep.
Suddenly, a heavy object crashed to the ground with a loud thud, startling the sleeping soldiers awake. "What happened? What happened?"
What happened?
"Has the enemy attacked?"
"No, no, no!" A thin man hurriedly shushed him, "Don't go call Shangguan, my uncle brought me food!"
The soldiers who were about to get up, the soldiers who were about to grab their weapons, and the soldiers who were rubbing their eyes all looked at him in surprise.
The man dragged over a burlap sack, opened it, and revealed a bag full of steaming white buns.
The sound of swallowing saliva was incessant.
The man didn't say much. He took out a broken bun, showed everyone the braised meat inside, and asked simply, "Want some?"
Those closest to him immediately nodded, "Eat!"
The man said, "My uncle said that's all he could give me. I'll keep one for my parents, wife, and children, and we can share the rest."
He glanced in the direction of the officers' quarters, then made a pleading gesture, saying, "I only ask that you not tell the officers."
At this moment, naturally no one would tell their superiors that if they did, the steamed buns would be confiscated, and it would be uncertain whether they would even get to eat them.
But if they don't report it, they can share the whole bag of buns.
With their stomachs rumbling, the group swallowed their watery steamed buns.
The buns were surprisingly delicious, with cabbage, sauerkraut, vermicelli, and dried tofu seasoned with oil and salt, fresh pork sauce, and a soft and delicate wheat flour wrapper.
Many soldiers had never eaten such delicious food before. After finishing the buns in a few bites, they stared at the man who had provided them with red eyes.
man:"……"
He sighed, "I never imagined my uncle and his family ate such delicious steamed buns every day!"
Everyone: "..."
Some people couldn't help but look in the direction of the Yunhe soldiers: Do they get to eat meat buns all day long?
Dozens of bags of steamed buns and mantou were thrown to the soldiers and civilians in the city, and some were given to the soldiers guarding the city whom they had bribed.
Xiang Yuesheng said to Hu Dazhu, "It's only because the goddess is here that we were able to pull this off."
Since the goddess can provide an unlimited supply of food, it doesn't matter if the plan fails.
"But if we succeed, we can save a lot of manpower and resources." Xiang Yuesheng smiled. "We will use our strength to tell the other side that it is meaningless to slander the goddess's divine power. Our goddess can make those who believe in her have enough to eat."
"Those who believe in the goddess will not starve."
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Author's Note: My dad picked a bucket of mushrooms this morning, and I was incredibly tempted. But then I remembered that the mountains in the counties I described are still barren, and it will be several years before the trees grow back. Regrettably, I gave up on letting them pick mushrooms for soup. [Sigh]
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